The Absence of Truth | S. Stilinski

XIX. | seduction

XIX. | seduction

                  "I'LL CALL STILES," I said after Allison explained herself. Apparently when she'd gotten home, Lydia Martin had been in her room, waiting patiently. I didn't understand how they got to the subject of the bestiary, or the excuse Allison gave the redhead for such an odd piece of literature, but that didn't matter. Lydia had agreed to translate the pieces she knew. The phone rang twice before Stiles picked up. "The kanima seeks a master!" I said it quietly enough so Allison's mother couldn't hear me downstairs, but I was just too excited so I said it again, this time a little more exaggerated. "The kanima seeks a master!"

"Huh?" He asked. "Wait a second."

There was the sound of movement, then a door slamming, then both Stiles and Scott were there. Scott talked first. "What do you mean it has a master?"

Allison took charge in explaining while I listened closely for the sound of her mother eavesdropping. I didn't expect her to, but something about her frazzled red hair and bright blue eyes kept me on edge. "Someone's controlling the kanima, not keeping him safe. But, if he doesn't know that he's the kanima, then he probably doesn't even know who's controlling him."

"Or he doesn't remember," Scott said.

Stiles broke through with, "What if it's the same kind of thing with Lydia when she took off from the hospital?"

"A fugue state," Allison supplied.

"Then, he'd forget everything." I chimed in, remembering when Lydia Martin came back to school after being found naked in the woods, knowing nothing about how she'd escaped the hospital, or where she'd been. Just to think, a few months ago I'd been out searching for her myself, without any knowledge of the creatures in the night. "The murders, getting rid of the blood." The idea of Jackson cleaning any trace of his victims from his body made me squirm.

"Are you two sure Jackson has no clue about any of this?" Allison's leg bounced in the air. Anxious. She was talking fast, casting glances at her closed bedroom door.

Stiles sort of chuckled. "Yeah. He thinks he's still a werewolf, and that being with Lydia somehow delayed the whole process."

"So, what?" I asked. "We try to convince him he's not a werewolf?"

I could hear the nod in Scott's voice when he responded with, "If it helps us find out who's controlling him, then yeah."

I laughed. "And you think he'll talk to us after what you did?" I was referring to the van. The kidnapping. The harassment.

"Yeah," Stiles said nonchalantly. "He'll talk to us."

-

A few days passed without issue, and the weekend flew by without a hitch. I heard nothing from Stiles, Scott, or Allison, so I allowed myself lean back and relax. At home, things had calmed down considerably. Sarah and I spent most of our time watching movies and baking. I even saw Lydia once on Saturday to study for a midterm. She was smart and capable at explaining parts of study guides that I didn't fully understand, and even brought extra treats of high end makeup from her collection that was too dark for her skin tone.

"It would look good on you," she'd said, wiping some mascara on my eyelashes while our textbooks sat idly on the edge of my bed. "You can't go without makeup when you've got such a good wardrobe."

On Monday morning, my skin was smoothened by makeup and my outfit Lydia approved. Sexy, according to her text. In actuality, my head pounded with nerves. Today was the beginning of midterms. Presley parked in the school parking lot, then looked over at me. "Ready?" He asked me. I shrugged and he leaned over to punch my shoulder. "You got this."