CHAPTER NINE:
THEY KNOW
AFTER SCHOOL THE NEXT DAY, Allison was quick to drag Gwen with her to where Stiles and Scott had been keeping Jackson locked up in a Sheriff's van. Apparently Allison's grandfather knew that Jackson was missing. The two quickly walked through the woods, Stiles jumping in surprise upon seeing the two.
"Oh, my God." The boy breathed.
"They know." Allison informed.
"What?" Stiles asked in disbelief.
"They know Jackson's missing." Allison stated.
"No, they can't. I've been texting his parents since last night. They don't have a clue." Stiles shook his head.
"My grandfather told me his parents went to the police―︎they know." Allison sternly replied.
"Oh. . ." The boy mumbled before running towards the passengers seat of the van and pulling the door open, turning on the radio just in time to hear one of the dispatchers say: "All available units, proceed to Beacon Hills Preserve as instructed. Proceed with caution until Sheriff Stilinski's arrival. Proceed with caution."
The three were quick to get in the van, Gwen being forced to sit in the floor with her legs curled up and her head placed in Allison's lap. The huntress mindlessly played with the girls hair. "Where are we going?" Allison asked.
"Somewhere very far from this." Stiles answered, dialing a number before quickly throwing the phone out the window and driving away.
"Are you comfortable?" Allison asked, the position Gwen was currently in seeming very uncomfortable.
"I'm fine." She assured, titling her head back to offer her a small smile. Scott was quick to meet them and Gwen was quick to scramble out of the uncomfortable position, resulting in her falling on the ground with a grunt. Allison got out, looking down at her with a chuckle before pulling her up. The group of four all walked to the edge of the preserve with Scott sighing,
"If Jackson doesn't remember being the Kanima, he's definitely not gonna remember stealing Danny's tablet." Scott told them.
"Why would he steal the thing if he doesn't even know what's on it?" Stiles questioned.
"What if someone else took it?" Allison suggested.
"Then someone else knows who he is." Gwen pointed out.
"Uh, which could mean someone's protecting him." Scott spoke.
"Like the Bestiary says, 'The Kanima seeks a friend,' right?" Allison asked.
"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?" Stiles asked with a frown.
"Somebody who wanted to protect him?" Gwen shrugged her shoulders.
"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 asked. Gwen's stomach seemed to fall to the floor, and immediately she and Allison exchanged looks with one another.
"No, it can't be. It tried to kill all of us, remember? I don't know about you three, but I haven't murdered anybody lately."
"Well, I have." Gwen spoke, raising her hand. "My dad, remember?"
"Right." Stiles mumbled.
"That wasn't intentional though." Scott pointed out to the blonde. "But, 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?" He looked at Allison as he spoke.
"You're right." Allison nodded. "It just ran off."
"And it didn't kill you in the mechanic's garage." Scott pointed out towards Stiles.
"Well, yeah, but it tried to kill me and Derek, and Gwen in the pool." Stiles pointed out.
"Did it?" Scott asked.
"It would've. It was was waiting for us to come out." Gwen nodded.
"What if it was trying to keep you in?"
"Why do I feel so violated all of a sudden?" Stiles asked with a groan.
"Because there's something else going on 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 explained to the three.
"'Know thy enemy'." Allison mumbled, making the three look at her. " Just something my grandfather said."
"All right, I got it―︎kill Jackson! Problem solved." Stiles exclaimed.
"Dude, we're not killing Jackson!" Gwen said, slapping the boy on the back of the head.
"He risked his life for us, against Peter. You remember that?" Scott asked the boy.
"Yes, but what did we just find out? He got the bite from Derek. It's funny how he just got exactly what he wanted by supposedly risking his life for us. It's funny."
"Yeah. It doesn't mean he's not still worth saving." Scott told him.
"It's always something with him, though." Stiles sighed.
"He doesn't know what he's doing." Gwen told him before mumbling to herself, "He's not the only one."
"So what?" Stiles scoffed.
"So, I didn't either. You remember when I almost killed you and Jackson?" Scott asked. "I had someone to stop me. He has nobody."
"That's his own fault." Stiles dismissed.
"I didn't have anybody either." Gwen spoke up, looking at the boy. "And quite frankly I still don't. So it doesn't matter whether or not that's his fault. If we can save him, we should try." With that Gwen turned on her heel and walked away, sitting down beside the van whilst picking up a leaf and twirling it between her fingers. As it grew darker, Scott walked over to the girl with his hands in his pockets.
"Can I sit?" He asked.
"Go for it." Gwen answered. The boy sat down beside her, looking at the girl for a moment.
"He didn't mean it." Scott told her. "He's just frustrated with the situation." Gwen nodded her head in understanding. She wasn't upset with Stiles, not at all. She was just upset with the way he phrased his words. "Did you mean it?" Gwen looked towards Scott, furrowing her eyebrows in confusion. "When you said that you didn't have anybody? Do you believe that?"
She shrugged. "I mean, yeah." She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "You have Stiles and Allison. Allison has Lydia. Stiles has you. And that leaves me with nobody. For a moment I thought I had someone. But. . . turns out he's an asshole who listens to everything he's told to do." She muttered the words as she talked about Isaac, her heart seeming to break as she mentioned the boy. Scott noticed this.
"Gwen, I know that we haven't been the closest friends, but we've always been friends. We've always been there for one another. And I'm still here for you."
"Even though I'm a murderer?" She whispered.
"Gwen, you're not a murderer. You weren't in control of your actions. I've been through this before, and trust me when I say that it's terrifying when you don't have control over your actions. But even so, you can't blame yourself. Alright?" He grabbed the girls hand and she interlaced their fingers with a small frown. "And even though I myself don't have full control when it comes to the full moon, I'll be there to help you, alright?"
"You don't have to." She whispered. "I'm fine on my own―︎"
"Are you?" He asked. "Allison told me what you said. About how you believed that you weren't part of my pack because you were a murderer―︎which you're not―︎and you believed I wouldn't want you around."
"Of course she did." She mumbled.
"And whether or not you believe this, you are like a sister to me, Gwen. I will always care about you, and I will always protect you. No matter what." Scott sternly told the girl. Gwen looked up at him before offering him a small smile.
"Thanks, Scotty." She whispered.
"Anytime, Gwen." He smiled at the girl before standing up and making his way over to Allison's car. Gwen curled her knees up to her chest, placing her head in between her knees before she started to doze off. That's when Gwen stood up, her eyes quickly turning towards the van that was roughly shaking before the Kanima broke out of it. Before Gwen could move, it quickly scratched her shirt, the numbing poison that fell from its nails scraping against her stomach, and making her fall to the ground unable to move. After the Kanima was long gone, Stiles appeared.
"Gwen?" He kneeled down beside the girl before realizing she couldn't move. "Oh god. Alright. Let me get the lovebirds, and I'll be right back." He quickly scrambled over to Allison's car and a moment later the three appeared.
"Oh my god." Allison kneeled down beside Gwen who only gave her a blank look in response. They all looked at the now empty van and Allison glanced up at Scott from her kneeling position beside Gwen. "I have to tell my father. Scott, he's going to kill someone."
"Okay, tell him. Tell him everything."
"Scott, I gotta tell mine, too." Stiles told the boy.
"This is all my fault." Scott spoke, making Allison stand up.
"It's not." She sternly told him. "But, we have to tell them. We're just a bunch of teenagers. One of which is currently paralyzed on the ground. We can't handle this."
"You're right." Scott mumbled.
"How are you gonna make your dad believe all this?" Allison asked, turning towards Stiles.
"I don't know." Stiles sighed.
Scott then turned to face the two, making his eyes glow as he looked at them. "He'll believe me."
━︎━︎━︎━︎━︎
"You're sure you're alright?" Allison asked as the two entered Allison's house, walking up the steps towards the girl's room.
"Yeah. The tingling sensation's almost completely gone." Gwen nodded her head in assurance. The two entered Allison's dark room, Allison quick to turn the light on before gasping in surprise upon seeing Lydia sitting on her bed.
"You scared the hell out of me." Allison breathed.
"I've been sitting here for an hour, waiting for you." Lydia told the girl, offering Gwen a small smile to which the blonde returned before she took a seat in the corner of the room in Allison's chair.
"I can't hang out right now, Lydia." Allison told the girl.
"I don't need anyone to hang out with. I need someone to talk to." Lydia told her.
"I-I understand that it's important, but if it can just wait―︎" Allison responded.
"Why is everyone always telling me to wait? Why can't anyone have right now available?" Lydia sighed.
"Because you can't have everything right now." Allison snapped. "You know what I need? I need someone to translate five pages of archaic Latin. Obviously that's not gonna happen anytime soon."
"I know archaic Latin." Lydia informed.
"You do?" Gwen cocked an eyebrow at the teenager.
"I got bored with classical Latin." Lydia shrugged. Allison and Gwen exchanged looks before turning back towards her.
"Just how smart are you?" Allison questioned.
"Just show me the pages." Lydia sighed, and Allison quickly did so. The two girl's watched as the girl started translating the pages before deciphering something Ms. Morrell had told them, but differently.
"Are you sure?" Gwen frowned. "Ms. Morrell said that word means friend. 'The Kanima seeks a friend.'"
"She was wrong―︎it means 'master.'" Lydia told her.
"'The Kanima seeks a master. . .'" Allison mumbled.
"Why? Is that important?" Lydia quizzed.
"Yeah. . ." Allison nodded, looking towards Gwen.
"Someone's not protecting him." Gwen said with a sigh. "Someone's controlling him."