Wisdom's Daughter

14

Tessa tossed and turned in her sleep. Usually she had normal demigod dreams, abnormal to mortals, but that night, her nightmares consisted of a psychotic Alpha, a strawberry blonde, blood, and herself.

She screamed, seeing Peter attack her, then Lydia, and woke up with a sudden start.

Melissa rushed into her niece's room to try to console her, but couldn't.

Scott, who'd heard her screams, was already on the phone, hoping his best friend was awake.

Luckily, Stiles answered in a tired voice. "Yo."

"Stiles, you gotta come over. It's Tessa."

Stiles instantly jolted up. "Is she hurt? She's not hurt, is she? 'Cause she could've died, and-"

"No, she's not hurt. But she had a nightmare and I can tell she's terrified. You gotta come calm her down."

"Why me? You and Melissa are the ones related to her. And, need I remind you, it is 2:00 in the morning."

"You didn't have a problem when we were finding that body in the woods. It's Tessa, man. She needs you."

"Fine. I'll be there as soon as I can."

Stiles hung up and threw on shoes. He grabbed his keys and drove to the McCall house. He entered through the front door, which Scott unlocked for him, and made his way to Tessa's room.

Melissa was still trying to console her niece and looked up to see Stiles who said, "I got this. You get some rest."

She nodded and left the room.

Stiles sat next to Tessa who automatically put her head in his lap and he stroked her hair. "You wanna tell me what the nightmare was about?"

"Peter," she whispered. "I -- he-"

"Shh. Tess, it's okay. Peter's gone now. You're safe."

"Safe," she repeated quietly.

Stiles' arm suddenly felt wet and he glanced down at Tessa to see tear-stained cheeks. He dried them and smiled. "Tess, you're okay now. Do you want me to stay?"

She nodded. "Yes, please. If it's not-"

"It's no problem, Tessa." His voice dropped so she couldn't hear. "I'd do anything for you."

He started to make a bed on the floor and Tessa said, "No. Can you, uh -- I just need to be held."

Stiles almost had a heart attack at her words, but he managed to compose himself. "Uh, yeah. Sure. Um, whatever you need." He climbed into her bed and she cuddled into him, soon falling asleep.

---

At school the next morning, Tessa walked between Lydia and Allison. Allison looked at Tessa and Lydia. "You really don't remember anything? Tessa, do you remember?"

Tessa shuddered and nodded. "Yeah. Not really something I want to think about."

Lydia shook her head. "They call it a fugue state, which is basically a way of saying "We have no idea why you can't remember running through the woods naked for two days." But personally, I don't care. I lost nine pounds."

Tessa sighed and asked, "Are you ready for this? That's great about the nine pounds, Lyds."

Lydia looked at Allison. "Please. It's not like my aunt's a serial killer."

"Be nice, Lydia."

They entered the school and everyone turned to look at them, zoning in on Lydia and Tessa with a cold silence. Allison offered them a smile. "Maybe it's the nine pounds."