pretty reckless.
chapter four | web of lies
Stiles drove the jeep closer to Derek's house after the three saw Derek get into his car and drive off. Stiles, Scott and Clara were all packed in Stiles' jeep with only two shovels. Stiles had explained to the two werewolves that they were going to dig up the body for some stupid freaking reason. Stiles parked the jeep as they all walked towards the spot where "supposedly" the body was buried.
"Something's different." Scott said as the shovels that were dangling from Stiles and Scott's hands started to rattle. The wind was swirling through the oak trees that lied in the forest, the autumn season getting colder and colder.
"Different how?" Clara said through gritted teeth. Honestly, this was not how she would like to spend her night. She would love to go home and eat cheese pizza while watching some TV show, but nope, Scott and Stiles thought of some stupid antic that for some odd freaking reason involved her.
"I don't know?" Scott replied while she narrowed my eyes at him, "Let's just get this over with."
Stiles and Scott started to dig while Clara stood aside, holding the flashlight in her shivering hand. It was cold out and Clara couldn't understand how they weren't cold. Despite being a werewolf with a supernatural protectiveness to the weather, she could still feel the lowering temperature. They continued to dig and dig. They eventually made a hole that was large, but wasn't to deep. While Clara watched the two, she focused on her ability to smell and sniffed slightly, trying to pick up a scent. She smelt blood, but it wasn't human blood.
Clara tugged her jacket closer to her body as she listened to the owls, "This is taking too long."
"Just keep going." Stiles mumbled to Scott, ignoring her last comment.
"What if he comes back?" Scott asked, his voice filled with worry. Who knows what the hell Derek would do if he found them? Honestly, Clara was nowhere near scared or threatened by Derek Hale. Sure, he was handsome and Clara totally digged the whole "tall, dark, and handsome" thing, but she was not afraid to kick his ass if it came done to it. That could be considered slightly reckless, considering he was years older and probably possessed more strength. Those facts didn't discourage the teenage girl though.
"Then we get the hell out of here."
"What if he catches us?"
Stiles sighed, "I have a plan for that."
"Which is?" Clara rolled her eyes, having a feeling that this idea was probably something so idiotic that not even Einstein himself could figure it out.
"You run one way. I run the other. Scott runs another way. Whoever he catches first, too bad." Stiles shrugged as it was plain and simple.
Scott's eyes widened. "I hate that plan!"
All Clara did was shrug, crossing her arms. "Considering the fact that I'm faster than both of you, I like my odds."
"Oh, stop, stop, stop." Stiles hastily demanded once the two stopped digging. Clara peered over curiously, wondering if there was really something buried under the ground. The two brushed off some of the dirt to reveal a dirty sheet with thick rope tied around it.
Scott watched Stiles try to undo the knots, but apparently it wasn't fast enough. "Hurry!"
"I"m trying!" Stiles snapped back, still having trouble, "Did he have to tie the thing in, like, 900 knots?"
"I'll do it!"
Scott then began helping Stiles untie the rest of the knots at a much quicker speed. Once all the knots were untied, Scott grabbed one end of the sheet while Stiles grabbed the other end. They both jerked open the sheet revealing something defiantly dead, but not human.
Everyone screamed and backed away, even Clara who had her hand covering her mouth and her eyes filled with horror. The smell of decay lingered in the air, making the brunette gag at the scent. It was absolutely disgusting.
"What the hell is that?" Stiles yelped, clearly freaked out.
Clara took a step forward, a sudden calmness taking over. "It's a wolf."
Stiles nodded. "Yeah, I can see that. I thought you said you smelled blood, as in human blood."
"I told you something was different." Scott shrugged, curtly.
"That doesn't make sense." Clara heard Stiles mutter. "Help me cover this up."
While Scott and Stiles tried to cover up the deceased wolf, Clara's eyes adverted to a purple flower that seemed to be planted into the ground. Hesitantly, she walked over to it and bent down, eyeing the delicate flower. But once she smelt it, Clara let out a groan while covering her mouth and backing away. A tingling burning sensation spread through her nose, then her face and neck. Suddenly, her throat felt immensely dry and her skin felt hot. One whiff of that flower could do that much damage.
Stiles glanced at the flower and at her, "What's wrong?"
As Clara's face twisted in disgust, she answered. "Wolfsbane. Damn thing is revolting and toxic to werewolves, so Scott do not go near it! I mean it!"
Stiles quickly got out of the hole he and Scott had dug and gently yanked at the flower which was attached to rope. As Stiles continued to unravel the flower, a path of rope led around the hole like a giant circle.
"Stiles, stop!"
"Why?"
Stiles and Clara whipped their heads around and looked down into the hole. Instead of finding the dead black wolf, half of a female body lied inside with her eyes open and her corpse slowly withering away.
"Oh shit..."
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Scott and Stiles had called the police on Derek even though Clara very much disagreed. Its not that she didn't want him in jail, its that how would the police believe that three teenagers stumbled across the body while just hanging out in the woods? It seemed extremely suspicious, in Clara's opinion. But apparently Stiles had a cover up story. Scott was leaning against the jeep, blankly watching the whole scene play out without a single expression, but Clara could smell the anxiousness dripping off of him.
As Stiles and Clara walked closer to the Hale house, they saw two police officers escorting Derek into the Sheriff's car. The glare that Derek threw Scott's way didn't go unnoticed. Stiles and Clara walked casually up to the car and quickly slipped into the front seats, facing Derek. Why they were doing this? For answers, if Derek was willing to give them some.
Stiles glanced out of the window to make sure no one was looking, "Okay, just so you know, I'm not afraid of you."
Clara raised her eyebrows, scoffing, "You're kidding me, right?"
Once Stiles noticed the deathly glare that Derek was giving him, he gulped, "Okay, maybe I am. Doesn't matter. I just wanna know something. The girl you killed - she was a werewolf. She was a different kind, wasn't she? I mean, she could turn herself into an actual wolf, and I know Scott and Clara can't do that. Is that why you killed her?"
"Why are you so worried about me when it's your friend who's the problem? When he shifts on the field, what do you think they're gonna do. Just keep cheering him on? I can't stop him from playing, but you two can." Derek continued before leaning up closer to the two teenagers, "And trust me, you'll want too."
Once the door on Stiles's side was opened, Clara knew it was time to go. So she turned her head to Derek, tilting it to the side with a wide grin, "I'll visit."
Before Stiles was dragged out, him dragging Clara with her, Clara could have sworn she saw a faint smile on his lips. The Sheriff tugged Stiles away the car while Stiles had a tight grip on Clara's arm.
"There, stand." The Sheriff said, releasing Stiles, "What the hell were you doing?"
As Clara awkwardly stood next to him, Stiles huffed, "We were just trying to help."
"Okay, well, how 'bout you help me understand exactly how you came across this." The Sheriff questioned him while Clara waited for Stiles to answer.
"We were looking for Scott's inhaler." Stiles lied and Clara was surprised on how his voice was smooth.
"Which he dropped when?"
"The other night."
"The other night when you were out here looking for the first half of the body."
"Yes."
"The night that you told me you were alone and Scott was at home."
"Yes." His eyes widened as he realized he was caught in his own web of lies, "No! Oh, crap."
"So you lied to me?" The Sheriff questioned his son.
"That depends on how you define lying." Stiles retorted.
"Well, I define it as not telling the truth. How do you define it?" Sheriff Stilinski asked him but Clara knew there was no way Stiles was getting off the hook for this.
"Mm, reclining your body in a horizontal position?" Stiles sarcastically remarked while Clara stiffened a giggle. She's tried really hard not to laugh at some of Stiles's witty remarks.
"Okay then." The Sheriff sighed until his eyes adverted to Clara and suddenly he smiled, "Who's this?"
"Um, Hi, I'm Clara Lennon. I just moved to town a week ago." She greeted with a smile and Stiles's eyes widened at the kind and sweet sounding of her voice.
"Lennon, huh? Well, let me guess Clara. My idiotic and defiant son dragged you all into this." The Sheriff asked.
Without hesitation, Clara nodded, "Yes, sir, he did."
Whiles Stiles's jaw dropped open, an over-dramatic look of betrayal in his face, the Sheriff just smiled, "Alright, you too are free to go."
With that, Stiles and Clara walked back over to Scott who stood in front of Stiles's blue jeep. While walking, Clara started to laugh, "I think your dad likes me."
"Shut up."
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Stiles's jeep drove over the dirt road into the woods. Scott was in the passengers seat, looking through his phone while Clara was in the back, her arms crossed and not looking too well. Seconds after she stepped into the car, an immense headache started along with her feeling feverish, like she near the damn sun.
"I can't find anything about wolfsbane being used for burial." Scott stated, scrolling through his phone.
"Just keep looking. Maybe it's like a ritual or something, like maybe they bury you as a wolf. Or maybe it's like a special skill, you know? Like something you have to learn." Stiles pestered on while he continued to drive.
"I've heard some werewolves can evolve into a wolf." Clara said, leaning her head against her arm, "Never known one though."
"I'll put it on my to-do list," Scott muttered before adding, "right underneath figuring out how the hell I'm playing this game tonight."
"Maybe it's different for girl werewolves." Stiles concluded before looking at Clara through the mirror, "Hey, Clara, can you turn into a wolf."
Clara rolled her eyes in annoyance, the headache increasing momentarily, "If I could, you would be the first on my list to eat."
Finally Scott had had enough, "Okay, stop it!"
A bit startled, Stiles glanced at him, "Stop what?"
"Stop saying "werewolves"! Stop enjoying this so much" Scott groaned, his chest heavy as he was was breathless.
"Are you okay?"
"No! No, I'm not. I'm so far from being okay!"
"You know, you're gonna have to accept this, Scott, sooner or later."
"I can't!"
"Well, you're gonna have to."
"No! I can't breath." Scott panted, screwing his eyes shut. Clara yelped out in pain, her chest tightening up. She felt claustrophobic, like walls were surrounding her and she so desperately wanted to get out.
"Stiles, pull over." Clara whimpered, hunching over.
"Why? What's happening?" Stiles questioned, obviously not getting the urgency of this situation.
Scott suddenly went through Stiles's book-bag and found the wolfsbane rope. He snapped his head at him, bewildered "You kept it?"
"What was I suppose to do with it." Stiles defended himself.
Scott groaned once more in pain before looking over at Stiles, his gold eyes searing, "Stop the car!"
Finally, Stiles pulled over to the side of the road. Clara shut her eyes tightly, letting out small shouts of pain. She heard the doors to both sides of the car open but payed no attention to it. Suddenly, the smell of wolfsbane was gone and all the pain went away.
"Scott?" She heard Stiles called out weakly.
Clara opened her eyes to see that the passengers door was open and Scott was nowhere to be seen. This was going to end badly.
"Stiles, you know you can't call the dispatch line when I'm on duty." The operator said from the other line. Stiles called into the dispatch center to see if Scott was on their radar. Clara was feeling fine and there was no pain. She sat in the front, leaning against the door with a bored look.
"I just need to know if you've gotten any odd calls." Stiles asked, panicked and stressed.
"Odd how?"
"Uh, like an odd person or - a dog - like individual roaming the streets." Stiles said while Clara rolled her eyes, pinching the bridge of her nose. Honestly, Stiles needs to learn to keep his cool and casually lie. Or just not say anything.
"I'm hanging up now."
Stiles eyes widened, "No, wait-wait-wait!"
"Goodbye!"
That's when she hung up and Stiles whipped the phone away, cursing under his breath. Clara glanced over to him, "Relax Stiles, Scott's probably fine. He's probably out there, chasing bunnies or something. We'll find him."
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
It was later in the night and the lacrosse game was just about to start. Apparently after Scott bolted out of Stiles's car hours before, he went to Allison's house. Clara couldn't understand why but he just did. Either he's a love sick fool or an idiot. You don't go to a hunter's house in wolf form, Clara thought. But it was easily dismissed.
Clara sat in the front row with Tate next to her. He decided to come along for whatever reason. Not that Clara minded or anything. She hasn't really spent any time with him.
She glanced over to see Stiles sitting on the bench alone. She leaned over to Tate and quietly said, "I'm going to go talk to one of my friends."
He nodded, "Okay."
Clara walked down the row of benches until she sat right next to Stiles, "Hey there."
"Hey." Stiles uneasily said, tapping his foot anxiously on the ground.
"Don't be nervous. Scott will be fine." Clara tried to reassure him but it didn't completely work.
"I hope so."
Suddenly, the Mr. Stilinski ran up behind them and stood next to Stiles, "Hey kid. Hi there Clara."
She smiled, "Hey Sheriff."
"So, you think you'll see any action out there?" The Sheriff asked.
Clara's whole body stiffed while Stiles cocked his head to the side, "Action, maybe?"
The coach then blew the whistle and the game started. Beacon Hills got the ball first and Scott was clear to have an open shot. But no one was passing to him. Clara had a feeling that it was because of Jackson and his stupid ego.
Half way through the game, Scott already starting to shift. Some of the other players noticed something was wrong with him after they backed away. But it did get better. Scott scored even more points and tied us with the other team. Everyone cheered him as there was only 36 seconds left. Finally, Scott scored the winning goal.
Everyone erupted into cheering and made their way to the rest of the team. Before Clara could even move one step, a pounding headache starting. She hunched over, groaning in pain. The full moon was affecting her, right here and right now. Tate rushed over to her, wrapping his arm around her, helping her stand.
"You okay?" He asked, concern lacing into every word.
Clara shook her head, "Not really."
"Lets get you home." Tate said and then with that, the two left.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Once Clara got home, the full moon's affect wasn't that bad. The pain eventually went away and she was fine. Clara walked into her bedroom, flipping on the switch, and let out a yelp of surprise to see Derek Hale standing in the middle of her bedroom.
"Derek." She hastily glanced around the room, "How are you-"
"I was released." He said simply. It didn't seem like he was angry at her, which was a good thing.
Clara crossed her arms, quirking her brows at him, "Well there is a thing called knocking."
"Well, you are the one who said you would visit me while I was in a holding cell." Derek smirked but Clara saw a hint of disappointment in his eyes.
She winced, realizing she forgot, "Right, I'm sorry. I had to the lacrosse game and the full moon was affecting me. Trust me, I was in no condition to go anywhere tonight."
"I understand." He nodded, stepping closer to her, "Scott shifted tonight."
Clara didn't even need to question him on how he knew that, "But he controlled it, plus no one saw. He can do this."
As Derek stayed silent, Clara looked down at the ground, "I'm sorry that we got you arrested. I told them it was a bad idea but they didn't listen."
When she looked up, a small smirk played on his lips, "You thought I was innocent then?"
Clara looked away, chuckling while redness crept up her cheeks, "Don't flatter yourself Hale."
"I'll see you soon." Derek said but it sounded as if it was a question.
"Maybe." Clara tempted, smirking a bit as Derek left.
She let out a breath she had no idea she was holding. Clara was almost happy that he was released. Happy to see him, maybe. But the buzz of her phone interrupted her train of thought.
"Hello?"
"Clara, hey its Stiles. Um, I've got some news." Stiles greeted, his voice unsettling.
"Okay, what's wrong?" Clara asked him.
"Too make a long story short, Derek was released. And if that wasn't a bigger kick, they identified the dead girl." Stiles explained to her.
"Who was she?"
"Laura Hale."
Here is chapter four! I hope y'all like it.
Important News:
I finished my book "Say Something" and the sequel is called "Dark Minds". Please check it out on my profile.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Monrox (Katie)