Wisdom's Daughter

26

Allison's eyes widened slightly. "Lydia, look."

Lydia didn't answer, and took the pen Tessa had pulled out. She started tracing around her bruise. "I don't know. It doesn't look like much to me."

Tessa frowned and said, "Stealing things isn't nice. It's a pattern of some sort. It means something, I just haven't figured out what; which is annoying me."

"You really think Scott's gonna know what it is?" Lydia asked.

Allison shook her head. "No, but he might know someone who does."

Lydia frowned. "How are you two so sure that it means anything at all?"

Allison bit her lip and they shared a look. "Because that girl wasn't just looking for Scott. It's like she needed to find him. Like she had to. And that means something."

Tessa fiddled with her necklace. "Scott mentioned he was going to a party earlier."

They drove to the party and Scott walked up to them. "This isn't the talk we were gonna have, is it?"

Allison shook her head. "I need to show you something."

She and Lydia held up their wrists for Scott.

A couple minutes later, Stiles appeared. "Tessa? Why are you here?"

Tessa opened her mouth to say something, then noticed Stiles' expression and asked, "What happened?"

He sighed, choosing to tell her. "We were here for a party for a girl I knew back in grade school. Her name is Heather. She brought me down to the basement and we made out. I went upstairs to get something, and by the time I got back, she was gone."

"I'm sorry, Stiles. You don't know where she went?"

"No. I don't, and it's scaring me."

"She'll turn up, Stiles."

"Are you sure?"

"If it makes you feel better, 26% of kidnappings don't end in death."

He frowned. "No, Tess. That makes me feel worse."

"Look, uh, she'll turn up, okay? Just hope for the best."

The next day at school, they met up with Derek in an empty classroom. Tessa held up Lydia and Allison's wrists. "Derek, look."

He shook his head. "I don't see anything."

"Look again," Scott said.

Derek frowned at Scott. "How is a bruise gonna tell me where Boyd and Erica are?"

Tessa rolled her eyes. "It's exactly the same on both sides."

"It's nothing."

Lydia pursed her lips. "Pareidolia. Seeing patterns that aren't there. It's a subset of apophenia."

Scott's eyes narrowed at the werewolf. "They're trying to help."

Derek pointed to the two girls. "This one, who used me to resurrect my psychotic uncle. Thank you. And this one, who shot about 30 arrows into me and my pack." He pointed to Tessa. "And this one, who returned after four months to tell me I'm wrong."

"Low," Tessa retorted. "But you are wrong. There's something there. You're just too stubborn to see it."

Stiles pushed her back and said, "Okay, all right, now, come on. No one died, all right? Look, there may have been a little maiming, okay, a little mangling, but no death. That's what I call an important distinction."

Allison glared at Derek. "My mother died."

Derek, in turn, rolled his eyes. "Your family's little honor code killed your mother. Not me."