Secrets in the Hunt (Book 2)

Stori in the Making

The second Allison parks, I rush towards where Stiles had said that he was parked with the van. I see Stiles and run faster, crashing into him.
    "Oh, my God." He says, jumping back.
    "They know." I say, taking a second to get my breath back.
     "What?" He asks.
    "They know Jackson's missing." I say and Stiles shakes his head.
     "No, they can't. I've been texting his parents since last night. They don't have a clue." He insists, holding up Jackson's phone. I shake my head.
     "Gerard told me and Allison that his parents went to the police. They know." I say. Stiles' face drops as he glances down at Jackson's phone in his hand.
    "Oh." He gasps, holding the phone out like it's covered in acid. He rushes over to the van and turns on the radio.
     "All available units proceed to Beacon Hills Preserve as instructed. Proceed with caution until Sheriff Stilinski's arrival. Proceed with caution." The dispatcher says.
     "Oh God." Allison says, walking up behind me. I turn to her, my eyes wide.
     "You have to move your car. Hide it, somewhere, but your grandpa can't know you're out here." I say. She nods and rushes off. Stiles runs around the van and jumps into the driver's seat. I hop up into the passenger side.
     "Where are we going?" I ask.
    "Somewhere very far from this." Stiles says, dialing a number and throwing Jackson's phone out the window before driving away quickly.
     "What are we going to do, Stiles? We can't keep him locked in this van forever." I say, feeling the panic from earlier rising again. When we first moved to Beacon, I was always anxious. I thought I had gotten over it, but apparently not.
     "I have no clue." He says, driving farther into the preserve.
     "Did you talk to him at all today?" I ask, and he sighs, but nods.
     "He doesn't believe any of it." He says and I groan.
     "Of course he doesn't." I mumble, looking out the window. Things got worse.
***
    "If Jackson doesn't remember being the kanima, he's definitely not gonna remember stealing Danny's tablet." Scott says, after the van is parked deeper in the preserve.
     "Why would he steal the thing if he doesn't even know what's on it?" Stiles asks and Scott shrugs.
     "What if someone else took it?" I ask. Stiles' face scrunches up.
     "Then somebody else knows what he is." He says and I huff.
     "Well, it's possible." I say.
     "Someone might be protecting him." Scott says and Allison nods.
     "Like the bestiary says, "the kanima seeks a friend," right?" She says and Stiles shakes his head, waving his arms around crazily.
     "Okay, hold on. So, somebody watches Jackson make a video of himself turning into the kanima, and then just erases part of it so he wouldn't know? I mean, who would do that?" He asks and Allison shrugs.
     "Somebody who wanted to protect him?" She suggests.
     "There's something else. You said the only thing you found online about the kanima is that it goes after murderers. What if that's actually true?" Scott says, turning to Stiles and I shake my head.
     "No. It can't be. It tried to kill all of you, remember? I'm pretty sure none of you have killed anyone." I say, trying to ignore the taunting voice in my head that reminds but you have.
     "But I - I don't think that it was actually trying to kill us. Remember when we were at Isaac's the first time, it just went right by us, didn't it?" Scott argues, looking to Allison to back him up. Her eyebrows scrunch together, but she nods.
     "You're right. It just...ran off." She says.
     "And it didn't kill Stiles in the mechanic's garage." Scott adds, and Stiles shakes his head.                 "Well, yeah, but it tried to kill me and Derek in the pool." He argues and I think back to the night at the pool.
     "Did it?" Scott asks, voicing my thoughts.
     "It would've. It was waiting for us to come out." Stiles scoffs.
     "What if it was trying to keep you in." Scott counters. My eyes widen and I glance at Stiles. His jaw drops and his eyes widen, confusion and shock laced together on his face.
     "Why do I feel so violated all of a sudden?" He asks, his voice cracking slightly. I shake my head.
    "This is actually insane." I mumble, hugging myself.
     "Because there's something else going on. We don't know what it is. We don't know anything about what's going on with Jackson, or why someone's protecting him." Scott says, ignoring me.     ""Know thy enemy."" Allison says and everyone looks at her. She shakes her head and clears her throat. "Just something my grandfather said."
    "All right, I got it. Kill Jackson. Problem solved." Stiles says and I point at him.
     "Not that I completely agree with Stiles, but that plan kinda sounds like our best option at this point." I say and Scott shakes his head.
     "That's not how we do things Tori, you know that. He risked his life for us. Against Peter, you remember that?" Scott argues and I scoff.
     "Oh sure, he risked his life and then got the bite. That's not suspicious at all." I say and Stiles nods at me.
     "It's funny how he just got exactly what he wanted by supposedly risking his life for us, it's funny." Stiles agrees with me.
     "Yeah, it doesn't mean he's not still worth saving." Scott says and I huff.
     "It's always something with him though." Stiles mutters and Scott shakes his head.
     "He doesn't know what he's doing." He says.
     "So what?" Stiles huffs.
     "So, I didn't either. You remember when I almost killed you and Jackson?" Scott glances at Allison who nods, her lips pursed together. "I had someone to stop me. He has nobody."
    "That's his fault, not ours." I say with a frown.
     "Doesn't matter. If we can save him, we should try." Scott says with finality. I roll my eyes but nod. Looks like we get to save Jackson now.
***
I pulled Stiles' hoodie on over my tshirt and stared out the window of his Jeep, glaring at the back of the police van. It was freezing and Stiles and I were stuck watching the van so that Scott and Allison could make out.
     "Of course we get stuck on lookout duty." I grumble and Stiles laughs.
     "Stiles and Tori, professional lookouts." He teases and I smile. My phone ringing makes me jump. I frown before answering.
     "Hello?" I say.
     "Tori, it's Dean." Dean says and I frown.
     "It's about damn time you called me back. I've been texting you and Sammy nonstop and calling. Where the hell are you guys?" I ask, turning so that Stiles can't see the hurt on my face.

    "We're gonna be a little longer than we first thought. I'm just checking in to see how you're doing. I know Gerard can be a pain in the ass." He says and I laugh humorlessly.
     "You're impossible, you know that right? Why the hell have you guys decided to just abandon me all of a sudden? I want to help Dean. I want to help you, I want to help save you." I say, my voice cracking as I try not to cry.
     "Tor, you can't save me. Not without getting yourself hurt. I promise that once we get back, you can come on a hunt with us. We won't leave you like this again." Dean promises.
     "I'll believe it when I see it." I snark, hanging up, trying hard to stop the tears. Everything is falling apart all over again, and I have no idea how to fix it. How am I supposed to fix this? Stiles and I sit in silence for a few minutes, the only sound is my occasional sniffling. Stiles clears his throat and I turn to look at him.
    "How-um, how are you?" He asks, as he avoids looking at me.
     "Honestly, um, terrified. Like, all the time. I'm almost certain that Gerard knows about Scott, but he hasn't done anything yet which is weird. I know my only chance is to help him and make him think I'm on his side so that I can try to save everyone. But I'm scared that I won't be able to save everyone. And my brothers are always gone and I'm terrified that something is going to happen and I won't be able to say bye to Dean. I want to save him, I want Sam to help me save him, but if he's always gone, I don't know how I'm supposed to do that." I ramble, stopping and evening my breaths.
     "I could help you." He says quietly. I turn to him and raise an eyebrow.
     "Stiles, how could you possibly-" I start, but he cuts me off.
     "You don't have to do this alone Tori. Did you know I'm the one that did the research to figure out what Scott was? I was the one to figure it out. I can help you try to figure out a way to save Dean. I can be here for you Tori, you don't have to keep pushing all of us away." He says.
    "Stiles, if you got hurt helping me, I would be.....so mad at myself." I say, fighting back tears.     "You don't have to try to protect me, Tori." He says, grabbing my hand. I lean towards him, letting out a shaky breath.
     "I just want to be normal." I whisper. He frowns and leans closer. My breath hitches in my throat as his lips touch mine. My stomach erupts with a flurry of flutters. He pulls back slightly, but I reconnect our lips, my mouth opening as he slips his tongue in. I shift in the seat so that I can get closer to him, relishing the feeling of his hands in my hair and his lips on mine. I move my hands to the hem of his shirt and he pulls back.
     "Are you sure?" He asks, and I nod, smiling at him.
     "I don't want to push you away anymore." I whisper, leaning back into him. I reach back to the hem of his shirt when a loud bang makes me jump back away from him. I whip around and look at the police van, my eyes widening.
     "Oh shit." Stiles mutters, running a hand over his buzz cut. I jump out of the jeep and rush towards Allison's car, Stiles right behind me. I knock on the window, making Allison jump up, holding her arms over her chest.
     "You guys might wanna come see this." I say, nodding towards the van. I step back and turn away, letting Scott and Allison put their clothes back on.
     "Are we going to pretend that never happened? Like the kiss after formal?" Stiles asks, his voice quiet. I purse my lips together and shake my head.
     "No. I meant it, Stiles. I don't want to push you away anymore." I say softly. His face breaks into a wide grin, but before he can say anything else, the car door swings open and Scott and Allison rush out. I clear my throat and lead them over to the back of the van, where the door was ripped off.
     "I have to tell my father." Allison says, her eyes wide as she takes in the damage. I shake my head.
     "Allison-" I say, but she speaks over me.
     "He's going to kill someone, Tori." She says.
     "Tell him. Tell him everything." Scott says and I feel the panic start to rise. Gerard isn't going to like this. He's going to hurt Stiles and he might hurt Scott and he's gonna kick me out and then I'm going to have to leave Beacon Hills and I'll never see any of them again and-
    "Scott, I gotta tell mine too." Stiles says. I turn to him, my eyes wide. All Stiles wants to do is protect his dad, that's all he's ever wanted to do. I look over his face, realizing his bottom lip is trembling slightly. I reach over and grab his hand, squeezing lightly.
     "This is all my fault." Scott says and I shake my head.
     "It's not, Scott." I say, and Allison nods.
     "She's right. But we have to tell them. We're just a bunch of teenagers. We can't handle this." Allison says, her eyes filled with tears.
     "You're right." Scott says, running his hand over his face.
     "How are you gonna make your dad believe all this?" Allison asks Stiles.
     "I don't know." He admits, his face twitching as he shakes his head, worry clear on his face. I squeeze his hand again, stepping a little closer to him so that I can try and give him some sort of comfort.
     "He'll believe me." Scott says, turning and looking at us, his eyes glowing.

***
Three chapters in two days? Wow. Please comment and vote, I'd love to hear from you guys! 

LydiaRoseMartin