━
CHAPTER FIVE
Disclosed
HARLEY NERVOUSLY SCRATCHED at her hands. She was stood in the hallway of the Beacon Hills Memorial Hospital with Scott and Stiles standing in front of her, waiting for her to say something.
Harley tapped her foot impatiently on the ground. "For the last time, I wasn't talking to anyone!"
Stiles aggressively gestured to Scott. "He heard you!"
"How could he have heard me?" Harley challenged, counting on their need to keep Scott's supernatural identity a secret. "You two weren't in the room yet."
"Ha!" Stiles exclaimed, pointing an accusing finger at her. "So you admit you were talking!"
"And you admit Scott has some kind of super hearing ability?"
"Wha– no– I..." Stiles stammered.
Scott shook his head before he held his hand out, his brown eyes looking at her in assurance. "Harley, you can trust us. We're not gonna hurt you."
Harley bit her lip. She knew who Scott was. She knew the kind of person he was. Derek's words the other day echoed in her head. If this Alpha pack really wanted something to do with her, she needed people who weren't her father, cousin or – well – dead. And Scott seemed like a good person to start with.
"Fine! I wasn't talking to anyone who you can see or talk to or... is alive." Harley said, looking at the floor tentatively before she met Stiles' eyes.
He was looking at her in confusion, his lips pursed and his eyebrows furrowed. After a second, his face shifted as he finally understood what she was telling them.
"Oh, you gotta be kidding me." He said sarcastically, scratching his temple. "I don't believe this."
"He has fangs, claws, and glowing yellow eyes." Harley pointed out as she gestured to Scott. "And you don't believe this?"
"You know?" Scott exclaimed as his jaw dropped. "And believe what?"
"Harley here seems to have a gift." Stiles informed. "For the sixth sense. Am I right?"
That wasn't the entire story but she didn't want to get into it now. Harley shrugged. "Sure, let's go with that." A loud scream erupted from down the hallway and the girl flinched.
"You okay?" Scott questioned, holding a concerned arm out to her in Scott fashion. "What happened?"
"Yeah, I'm just gonna put my headphones back on and go if you don't mind." Harley said casually.
Stiles blocked her way, waving his arms dramatically. "Uh-uh. No way. You're gonna tell us everything."
"Everything?"
"Yes! Like what you are, how you know about everything and how long you've known about everything!"
"Fine! But can we do it somewhere else? I've gotta go see Derek and Boyd. There's a ghost down the hallway that keeps screaming! This entire hospital is filled with ghosts screaming, so I am leaving!" Harley exclaimed as she waved her arms about in a frustrated motion and stormed to the elevators.
"Fine, but I'm driving you!" Stiles insisted as followed after her, nearly getting stuck in between the elevator doors.
"Fine!"
Scott stepped in after them, standing between the two who were just as exasperated as the other. He smiled warmly at them both before pressing the button.
They fell silent.
"Spice Girls!" Harley suddenly yelled, making both Scott and Stiles jump. She was looking at a spot on the wall next to Stiles. "Spice Girls over the Pussycat Dolls! God, do you two only argue over 90s bands? Broaden your subject debates!" She then looked at Stiles with a smile and flicked her index finger in a 'move' motion. "You might wanna step aside a little."
Stiles' eyes grew wide as he leaped towards Scott with a yelp. The two backed against the wall, lifting their chins up.
The ghost girl looked at Stiles. "Jeez, he's a little scaredy cat. Is he your boyfriend?"
"Oh, absolutely not." Harley replied, shaking her head.
"Then why is he staring at you?"
Harley glanced over her shoulder at Stiles to see he was staring at her. But it wasn't in endearment. His eyes were piercing and scrutinising.
"Oh, he just escaped from the third floor." Harley responded calmly. The ghost gasped.
"Third floor? What's the third floor?" Stiles inquired, looking at Scott.
Scott was trying to hide his smile as he looked at the floor. "It's, uh, the psych ward."
Stiles' face fell as he shot Harley an unamused look to which she only responded to with an innocent grin.
The ghost pointed at Scott. "He's kind of cute."
"What's your name?" Harley wondered.
"Julia."
Harley looked at Scott. "Julia thinks you're cute."
Scott's fear vanished in an instant as he beamed. His shoulder lifted bashfully up. His eyes looked around. "Oh, uh, thank you, Julia."
"He's cute too." Julia said, looking at Stiles. "But I don't know if deserves to know that."
Harley grinned. "He doesn't." She then turned to Stiles. "Stiles?"
The boy craned his head forward eagerly, almost as if he was expecting to hear the same thing she had just told Scott. "Hm, yeah?"
"You don't like ghosts, right?" Harley asked, tilting her head.
Stiles' eyes nearly bulged from his head. "Wha– I never said–"
"You think they're horrible, scary– The Shining level scary. Like purely, utterly evil. Like killing and torturing–"
The elevators door opened with DING! and Stiles abruptly exited in a determined march. He took a hold of Harley's wrist as he did so, dragging her out with him.
"Bye!" She heard Scott cheerily say as he followed them.
HARLEY GOT OUT of Stiles' Jeep and followed the two boys in the elevator to Derek's loft where the familiar scent of burnt sage filled her nose. Harley had advised him to buy it. It warded off ghosts, letting them know that they were not welcome. It kept them out for the most part.
The best way Harley could describe Derek's big loft was that it was very Derek Hale of him. The running theme and tone seemed to be dark, grey, and empty. There were no photos or posters or anything to make it look homey.
There was one double bed at the back and one leather couch with a coffee table in front of it.
"Harley?" A gentle voice said.
She turned her head to see Isaac Lahey sitting on the couch, looking confused at her presence.
"Isaac, hey." Harley greeted with a stiff wave.
The two had been friends in freshman year, but when sophomore year hit and Isaac got turned into a werewolf, he practically disappeared. Harley didn't hold a grudge though.
Though he relatively looked the same with his brown curly hair and blue eyes, his posture exuded confidence and strength, not like it did back in freshman year.
"What are you... what are you doing here?" The boy questioned.
"She's here to see me." Derek's voice informed. Harley looked up to see Derek coming down from the spiral staircase, splashes of blood all over his skin.
"You look terrible." Harley observed.
"How long have you two known each other?" Scott asked curiously.
"Since I moved here." Harley replied.
"And how long has he known about your... ability?"
"Since I moved here."
"And how come you never told us?" Stiles interrogated, looking at Derek expectedly.
"Because she asked me not to tell anyone." Derek deadpanned.
"Oh, so you're a secret keeper. Good to know. Did you pinky promise on it too?" Stiles remarked.
Derek looked at Harley in annoyance. "Why did you bring him?"
Harley shrugged. "I bumped into them in the morgue. He insisted on giving me a ride here."
She then glanced around, not being able to find the other person she needed to see. Panic arose in her as she thought the only way they might have needed to stop Boyd from killing people was to take him out. "Where's Boyd?"
"He's washing up." Derek informed. "Why?"
Harley sighed in relief. "I have a message for him."
"Who's this?" A female voice wondered.
Harley looked over Derek's shoulder to see a teenage girl walking down the same spiral staircase Derek emerged from. She looked like Derek. They had the same skin and hair colour. And that same murderous look in their eyes. This must have been his long lost sister, Cora Hale.
"This is Harley." Derek introduced.
"Ah, yeah. The girl who can see ghosts." Cora said with a nod.
"You can see what?" Isaac exclaimed incredulously, now sitting on the edge of the couch.
"Ghosts." Harley clarified.
Isaac stared at her. "You never told me that."
"And how do you think that conversation would have gone? 'Oh, hey, by the way I see dead people, but I swear, I'm not crazy.'"
"How do we even know you're telling the truth?" Stiles questioned suspiciously. "You might very well be crazy."
That struck a nerve as Harley's hands curled into fists. She had no reason to lie.
"She's telling the truth." Derek said frankly, giving Stiles a look. "Now shut up."
"What's going on?"
Harley looked up to see Boyd entering the room, his large and muscular frame hadn't changed. He still looked as intimidating as ever, but Harley knew how kind he was. He narrowed his eyes as he looked at the girl. "Harley?"
"Hi, Boyd." Harley smiled.
Boyd looked around at the room in confusion as he eyed Scott and Stiles. "What are you doing here? What's going on?"
"Well, to sum up, I can see ghosts and no, I'm not lying. I have a message from Erica."
The sound of Erica's name immediately caught Boyd's attention. He lowered himself on the couch, looking both distraught and anxious. In the haze of the full moon temptations, he had – for a few hours at least – forgotten that his best friend was dead. But here Harley stood holding Erica's last words to him.
Harley felt like being punched in the gut as she looked at Boyd. He was heartbroken.
"Before I start, I just wanna make it clear that I'm not some kind of medium for you all to use to talk to the dead." Harley stated firmly. "I don't make it much of a habit to talk to ghosts. But Erica asked me for a favour and it's hard to say 'no' to a dead person. Are we clear?"
Everyone nodded.
She looked at Boyd who was staring at her in anticipation. "She wanted me to tell you that it was her choice. And that it wasn't your fault. She would have done it even if you weren't there. She didn't die in vain. She said she died being things she never thought she could be. Powerful. Strong. And a lot of that was to do with you." She then looked at Derek. "Both of you. She wanted to thank you. You especially, Boyd. You... you gave her a friend. Someone who chose to care about her instead of being obligated to. And she will always be grateful for that." Harley took a deep breath, keeping her emotions at bay. "Always."
Boyd swallowed, looking down at the floor. He wiped his nose with his fingers. He stood up and took her hand with his calloused one. Hers was incomparable in his. The form of affection made her jump. She was not used to any contact if it did not come from her father or cousin.
He looked her in the eyes. A weight had been lifted off his shoulders. "Thank you." He said, his voice cracking.
Harley nodded and flashed a small smile. "You're welcome."
Boyd left the room, Cora right behind him.
Harley turned to Derek tiredly, scrunching her nose up. "I looked at the bodies more closely. Very human inflicted injuries. No claw or fang marks. They're one hundred per cent innocent."
"Here." Is all Derek said as he held out the money he promised her.
Part of Harley didn't want to take it. She felt good she had helped a couple of people find some sort of peace, but she needed it. So she took it.
"Thanks." She mumbled, tucking the money into the pocket of her sweatpants.
"Harley," Scott said gently. "C'mon, we'll take you home."
"Scott, can I talk to you?" Derek requested abruptly.
Harley took the hint as she nodded at Scott. "I'll wait for you downstairs."
"Keep an eye on her." Derek advised as soon as Harley left the room.
Stiles narrowed his eyes. "Is that a 'keep an eye on her' like look out for her or a 'keep an eye on her' like she's dangerous?"
Derek folded his arms as he took a deep breath. He looked at them, his eyes stern and piercing. "Yes."
THE WAY BACK to Harley's house was silent and awkward. She'd go back to the hospital later and get her car. She was too tired to drive. She spent the majority of the ride staring out the window, watching as the sun shone over the roofs and trees. But she couldn't do it peacefully as Stiles kept looking suspiciously at her through the rear view mirror.
"Is there anything you wanna say, Stiles?" Harley encouraged calmly.
"I don't know if we can trust you." The boy revealed bluntly.
"But you'd trust Lydia who has treated you like you were invisible all your life while you hopelessly mooned over her."
Stiles rapidly turned to her briefly. "I never told you that."
Harley chuckled as they pulled into her driveway. "You didn't have to. I pretty much know everything about what you guys have been up to in the last year."
"Everything?" Stiles echoed in disbelief.
"Everything." Harley confirmed. Stiles looked shocked as he exchanged a look with Scott. "Believe me, I'd rather not know any of it either, but the ghost I'm friends with happens to be a very big gossip and eavesdropper."
"You're bluffing."
"Why would I lie?"
"Alright then, tell me something that only the inner circle would know." Stiles challenged.
"Well, let's see. You tried teaching Scott here control by using a stop watch and keys. Allison is Scott's anchor that keeps him running rampant and killing people. Oh and Allison comes from a big bad hunter family and her aunt killed the entire Hale family in a fire. Lydia basically poisoned everyone at her birthday party with hallucinations and brought Peter Hale back from the dead which, by the way, did not go well with Edith. Allison's mother – scary woman – killed herself because Derek bit her. Hunter code and all that. Jackson Whittemore was the Kanima, but is now a normal werewolf beta running around London. Matt Daehler was the master of the Kanima." She then locked eyes with Stiles and sighed, her shoulders dropping. "And you– you're part of an online gaming community that battles mythical creatures."
Stiles stared at her, eyes wide and mouth hanging wide open.
"You okay?" Harley asked as she craned her neck forward and grinned. She wiggled her eyebrows. "You look like you've just seen a ghost."
Scott patted himself like he was worried a listening device had been put on him without knowing.
"Well, that's only mildly disconcerting." After all that, Stiles only had one question, "Who is Edith?"
"Trust me, you do not wanna know." Harley exhaled as she leaned her head back. "If she ever makes herself seen to you, it means you're probably about to die."
"Sounds a lot like a Grim Reaper." Stiles mused. Harley shot him a look. He straightened. "Seriously? You're telling me they're real too?"
"Who else is gonna deal with the death in this world? Especially in this god damn town."
Scott turned in his seat. "Have you met this Edith?"
"Oh, yeah." Harley nodded.
"Does that mean... does that mean you're going to die?" Scott questioned worriedly.
"With a bit of luck, hopefully." Harley grinned. The two weren't amused. "It's a joke. No, I'm not about to die. It's different for me."
The werewolf shot her a confused look. "Why?"
"It just is."
"That's not at all vague." Stiles quipped.
Harley looked at her bedroom window, wanting nothing more than to be in her bed, hugging her comforter and her dog. "Have I answered your questions? Can I go now?"
"Why?" Stiles suddenly asked, a hint of anger laced in his voice.
Harley furrowed her eyebrows. "Excuse me?"
"Why not tell us you knew everything? Why not help us?" Stiles questioned, his voice getting louder with every word. "I mean, we could have used your help. Like really used your help. Unless you're one of the people we should be staying away from."
Harley was beginning to get annoyed.
"Stiles." Scott scolded, giving him a warning look, don't push it.
"Wait, are you angry because I didn't tell you about me or are you angry because you think I'm the one going around... killing people?" Harley countered.
"Neither." Scott answered instantly, waving his hands in a 'no' motion.
"Let's say both." Stiles said. "You start acting weird and then these murders happen."
"Stiles!" Scott reprimanded.
Now Harley was annoyed.
Her hands clenched into fists. "What makes you think I owe you anything? If it wasn't for me, our dads would have spent so much more time on cases they never would have been able to solve instead of the ones they could. And as for these murders, do you seriously think I would have spent all night running around sneaking into morgues to get a closer look at the bodies to tell Derek Hale about the details if I had murdered them?"
Her entire demeanour had changed in an instant. She sat up from her relaxed position, her shoulders squared and her jaw set. That grin she wore most of the time that made her look a few years younger had disappeared only to be replaced by an angry glower.
"In my entire life, I've seen more dead people than living. I've seen bodies so mangled and mutilated someone might as well have put their insides on the outside. When I was younger, I used to wake up in the middle of the night to random people in my room. Some of which who had no body parts. So yeah, excuse me if I wanted to avoid seeing anymore dead people." She then pointed at the house in front of hers. "Look over there, tell me what you see."
Both boys turned their heads, but neither said anything.
"You see nothing, right? Nothing out of the ordinary. Just a normal house with a front yard in a suburban Californian town. But you wanna know what I see? I see a dead kid. Two dead kids. Georgie and Chris. Five and seven years old. Died in the 80s. Ever since I moved here, they come out and play when the sun comes up and they're still there when I come home from school. You think I like seeing that everyday? You think I enjoy seeing children dead? I don't even know if they know they're dead. You don't have to like my choice to stay out of it. But you don't get to act like you know a thing about my life. And you don't get to sit there and judge me like you guys are the only ones who are in hell. Because as far as I'm concerned, I've been here a hell of a lot longer than any of you."
She then got of the Jeep. "And not that you asked, but Heather wanted me to tell you she doesn't blame you. It wasn't your fault and she enjoyed making out with you. Why? I have no clue!" She looked at Scott who looked sympathetic. "Good night, Scott." And with that, she slammed Stiles' car door shut, making him jump. "Asshole."
✾✾✾
A/N: Stiles and Scott staring at her like 👁👄👁 when they find out Harley has known the whole time
Isaac when Harley reveals she can see ghosts: