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Vivian stared at herself in the mirror. Almost 30 hours ago she had been looking at the exact same image. Then she blacked out. She could taste the metallic of blood in her mouth and was worried until she looked down and noticed her dry lips. She had two small breaks that she couldn't stop licking.
The EMT's had given her something to help deal with the small cuts she had earned during her trek in the woods. After Stiles had brought her home she took a shower. Naomi told her to leave the door open, as if Vivian wasn't already going to do that.
While the water hit her, Vivian tried to remember anything but the only think she could see was Peter Hales face. She dried off quickly and put on the clothes her mom left for her, preparing for whatever Naomi was going to tell her.
She sat down at their small dinner table, next to Tara who had been waiting with Naomi who was staring at her entangled hands.
"I know you're going to want to go back to school as soon as you can, and you aren't going to want to stay in the hospital. I understand that, but I do need you to tell me you're okay. A picture at lunch, or a call when you're on your way home." Naomi explained reaching out on of her hands to grab her daughter's. "I'm really worried about you. We both are. We don't know what's going on."
Tara took a shaky breath making Vivian look over quickly. Tara knew what was going on, something supernatural. Something dangerous. "We just want to help you. So if you remember anything or just need to, talk to us. Please."
"I will. I promise." Vivian said with sensarity squeezing her mom's hand. "I'm pretty tired, so I was probably going to go to sleep anyway."
"Of course." Naomi said as Vivian stood up, Tara doing the same thing. "Get a lot of rest hunny, if you need I'll drive you to school later than usual. I took a week off."
Vivian snapped her head back to her mom. "What? You don't have to do that. You love work."
"I love you more, plus I have some house stuff to do. Like that one unfinished room, I can work on that while you're at school." Naomi said standing up and starting to walk to her room. "I want to be here in case you need anything, and I mean anything. That goes for both of you."
Tara ducked her head while Vivian just stared at her mom who held back tears. They both nodded before going to Vivian's room. She left the door slightly ajar going to sit on her bed with Tara right next to her.
"I already know what you're going to ask, and I'm not telling you anything new or shocking until you get some decent rest. We can talk to Scott, Stiles, and Sydney tomorrow." Tara said with a hard look directed at her best friend. Vivian gave her a tired smile before she laid down, falling asleep almost instantly.
Tara sighed while looking out the window next to her side of the bed. She could see her reflection in the mirror, focusing on her eyes.
She sat up straighter when she saw the flash of yellow for a small second.
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Tara messed with her hands as she paced the length of the abandoned room she was in. Derek knew she was there but he was just waiting for her to gain the courage to say what she wanted to. The bad thing about that was, she didn't know what she wanted to say. She just knew she had to start saying something to him.
Her thoughts were interrupted by a yell from above her. Issac was sprinting down the stairs and past her to a small train cart that she had been dreading having to enter. Tara didn't even think as she followed him.
"Derek! Derek!" Issac said stopping in front of the man with Tara next to him.
"Issac?" Tara asked concerned expression focused on him.
"I think my dad's dead." Issac said only slightly out of breath with a confused expression. Not one you would expect a mourning person to wear. But based on what Tara knew about Mr. Lahey, she wouldn't mourn him either.
Derek's eyes flashed red as he stepped out of the shadows into the light. "What did you do?"
"That's the thing." Issac said glancing over at Tara before looking back at the Alpha.
"It wasn't me."
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"We are now at the doors. We only have like 5 more seconds for you to change your mind and go home." Tara said coming to a stop facing Vivian.
"I promise, I'm 100% ready" Vivian said looking over at the doors before back at Tara. "89% ready."
Tara turned to walk away while talking. "Great, we can earn that 11% back by resting."
"I'll be fine." Vivian said amused while grabbing Tara's arm. "It was just a fugue state. Or that was just the excuse they gave my mom."
Tara still looked unimpressed making Vivian launch into the same speech she gave her mom, just with added, 'I need to help you guys' instead of, 'my education is crucial'. While she tried to convince Tara, Sydney, Allison, and Mikayla walked towards them with Lydia.
"You really don't remember anything?" Allison asked as they walked closer and closer. Sydney already knew that she wouldn't, Stiles had come home and told Sydney everything he knew.
"They called 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." Lydia explained to her friends and sister. Mikayla was still worried about what could have caused Lydia's little episode. So far nothing supernatural they'd seen, which worried her even more.
"I lost nine pounds." Lydia said when they finally reached the other two. Vivian just having finished her little speech.
"Nine?" Vivian asked gaining their attention. "I lost like 5."
"Maybe you found a nice pizza someone left on the ground?" Mikayla said with a smile making them all laugh slightly at the image.
"I suppose we have to walk inside now." Vivian said looking back at the doors with a deep sigh.
"Are you ready for it?" Allison asked concerned eyes looking at Lydia.
"Please." Lydia said tilting her head at Allison. "It's not like my aunts a serial killer."
She then turned and walked inside with Sydney. Vivian rolled her eyes before following with Tara next to her. Allison and Mikayla lagged behind for a second, Mikayla looking over at Allison apologetically. "She's just stressed, she didn't mean it."
"I know." Allison sighed before she followed the four with Mikayla.
When they came to a stop in front of the door, almost everyone in the halls that could see Vivian and Lydia, were staring at them. Lydia tensed for a few minutes, Vivian deflated and grabbed Tara's arm.
"We don't want to miss practice, do we?" Vivian said swallowing the lump in her throat before dragging Tara away from the eyes she couldn't seem to rid herself of. Lydia was still frozen, the focus now all on her.
"I bet it's the nine pounds." Sydney said with a reassuring look. She squeezed Lydia's hand for a moment before Lydia stood up straighter and walked with the easy confidence she always had.
Mikayla, Allison, and Sydney all looked at her with fond smiles. Proud smiles.
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"Tara, I need you." Stiles said after running over to them and grabbing Taras arm, he started running with her again before she could even respond.
"That's not good." Vivian muttered to herself. They had been in the middle of walking over to the boys when they had stopped behind Jackson and some other kid on the lacrosse team. Vivian was going to start walking when she heard a bit of their conversation.
"Do you have 100 bucks?" The guy asked Jackson as he put his gear on.
"I drive a Porsche. What do you think?" Jackson said with a judgemental look.
"That your parents have 100 bucks." Vivian said earning both the boys attention. "Oh, did I interrupt a drug deal or something?"
The stranger didn't hide the smile that formed, same with Jackson and his grimace. "Don't you have woods to go run in?"
"Don't you have a practice to suck at?" Vivian snapped back with a glare. She walked away, unaware of the eyes that followed her to the bench.
"Vivian." Scott said with a wide smile. "How are you doing?"
"As well as I could be." Vivian said with a smile before looking over at Tara and Stiles talking to Coach. "What's Stiles doing?"
"I think there may be another werewolf, I could just smell a specific scent. But I need to get closer to see who it actually is. So, Stiles is making a plan to help me." Scott explained quickly. "Now tell me how you're actually doing."
"I'm tired, people won't stop staring at me, and I'm pretty sure Stiles and Tara are going to walk on eggshells around me for 3 weeks." Vivian said casually but the annoyance in her voice was clear. "I've handled worse than a trek in the woods."
"You also got attacked by a werewolf before that. We have a reason to be worried." Scott said leaving no room for discussion because the trouble twins returned.
"We told Coach you're switching for Danny for the day." Tara rushed out with a small look over at Stiles before handing Scott the long stick.
"But I hate playing goal." Scott said looking down at the stick.
"Remember when I said I had an idea? This is the idea." Stiles explained to Scott with a small glance at Vivian next to him.
"It's a decent plan." Vivian said said looking over the players.
"What's the plan for?" Tara asked now that she had a moment to calm down.
"Another werewolf, Scott has to sniff him out." Vivian explained quickly noticing the slight fear in Tara's eyes. "I'm sure they aren't dangerous."
Tara nodded but the fear didn't leave her eyes as she looked at the field. Scott had a confused face when he looked back at the stick. "What's the idea?"
"I seriously don't understand how you survive without me sometimes." Stiles said with judgement before the whistle blew and they all got up except Vivian. Tara standing beside Coach while Stiles and Scott jogged to their places.
"Line up! Come on." Tara yelled as the players all ran onto the field, trying to keep the panic from her voice.
"Make daddy proud! Here we go!" Coach yelled after her as all the players lined up.
"Don't call yourself that Coach. Save it for the wife." Tara said looking over the players.
"We don't talk about her when I'm yelling." Coach said pointing at her as the drill started, Tara muttering under her breath, 'weirdest rules'.
The first guy was thrown the ball and Scott ran out of the goal and ran towards him. He tackled him after a minute. Everyone except his friends confused at Scotts actions. Scott helped the guy up after a second and came face-to-face with Coach.
"McCall!" Coach yelled even though Scott was right next to him.
"Yeah?" Scott asked acting innocent.
"Usually the goalie stays somewhere in the vicinity of the actual goal." Coach explained looking at the player that Scott knocked down with an amused smile.
"Yes, Coach." Scott said running back to the goal while the player walked away disgruntled.
"Lets try it again!" Tara said making Coach blow his whistle. The stranger that had been talking with Jackson went, and to Taras amusement, Scott ran straight to him. She held back her smile while Coach looked at him with utter confusion.
"McCall!" Coach yelled at Scott who ran back to his position. "The position is Goalkeeper. Not Goal Abandoner."
"Sorry, Coach." Scott said with a dopey grin on his face. Tara let her gaze linger on his smile before she snapped herself out of it and looked over at Issac, the one thing she should be worrying about.
Coach walked over to Stiles after Scott knocked down another player, Tara following after him. They stopped right next to Stiles while looking at Scott in the goal.
"Stilinski, Tara, what's wrong with your friend?" Coach asked making Stiles lean out of the line up slightly.
"Well he's a little socially awkward." Stiles started pointly avoiding the actual answer Coach wanted.
"He's failing two classes." Tara added with her arms crossed.
"And if you look close enough, his jawlines' kinda uneven." Stiles said tilting his head before coach pushed him back into the line.
"That's interesting." Coach said with an inquisitive look while he walked back to the sidelines.
Vivian had to keep herself from wincing when Scott knocked Danny down and made Coach blow his whistle furiously, which was kinda funny but not in this instance, when they needed Coach to just let Scott do his thing.
"McCall! You come out of that goal one more time and you'll be doing suicide runs till you die." Coach yelled while Scott ran back to the goal. "It'll be the first ever suicide run that actually ends in a suicide."
"No one record that!" Tara yelled with a sigh. Coach was begging for a lawsuit at this point.
"Got it?" Coach asked when Scott was back in his position.
"Yes, Coach." Scott said using the stick to scratching his back before looking over at Tara who gave him a warning look. Coach didn't joke about suicide runs. She looked over at the next in line and tensed when she saw it was Jackson.
"Um- Coach, my shoulders' hurting. I- I'm gonna sit this one out." Jackson said with a nervous tone. He then walked over to the benches and Tara relaxed. But then she saw that Issac was the person behind him and she gave up.
"Hey Coach. Since Scott can't follow directions, we should just stop the drill, you know. It just seems for the best." Tara stumbled over her words looking over at Coach.
"What's gotten into you? Why would we stop when we can just punish McCall." Coach said shaking his head at her. Before she could get another word in he blew the whistle and Tara knew she was done for.
Vivian could see Tara's impending panic. She looked over and saw Stiles tense position and Scott's challenging stance. Then she looked at Isaac, who was breathing quickly and had the same stance as Scott.
"It's him." She whispered to herself. She stood up from the bench and walked over to Tara. Both of them watching with anticipation as Issac started to run and then Scott. When they reached each other they both jumped to knock the other down, but it just resulted in them both falling to the ground.
Vivian's attention was taken away when she heard footsteps approaching, she turned and saw Sheriff Stilinski walking towards them with two other cops beside him. Tara's eyes stayed locked on the two, who were now on their hands and knees, eyes locked.
When they both slowly looked up, Tara saw both of them flash their eyes at each other. She refrained herself from doing the same and looked down. She had to calm herself when she looked where Vivian was and saw Noah. When she looked back Issac was looking directly at her, then he looked back at Scott, saying one more thing.
"Don't tell them. Please, don't tell them."
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"His father's dead." Scott explained to the 3. They were standing in a semicircle while looking at Isaac and the Sheriff talking.
Tara's eyes kept darting to the woods, and she was keeping herself from picking at her skin. She was trying to act calm as to not alert the others but she could feel Vivians looks every few minutes. If Stiles and Scott weren't so engrossed in what was happening with Issac, they might have sensed her worry as well.
"They think he was murdered." Scott continued to explain.
"Do they think he's a suspect?" Vivian asked from next to Stiles.
"I'm not sure. Why?" Scott asked glancing over at her.
"Because they can lock him in a holding cell for 24 hours." Stiles explained to further Vivian's point.
"Overnight. During the full moon." Tara summarized pinching herself subtly.
"How good are these holding cells at holding people?" Scott asked taking a glance back at Noah.
"People, good. Werewolves, probably not that good." Stiles said with a sigh.
"Stiles, remember when I said I don't have the urge to maim and kill?" Scott asked looking specifically at his best friend.
"Yeah." Stiles said with everyone waiting for Scott to finished what he was saying.
"He does."
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Vivian tried to pretend to take notes while listening to what Stiles, Scott, and Tara were saying. She had been right before, Stiles and Tara were trying to be as quiet as possible and not include Vivian to an extent. They would still respond if she had an idea, but they weren't mentioning her.
Which was nice. Vivian was still tired and sore. No matter how much she wanted to help and do.. something helpful instead of fuck things up. She couldn't when she was in this state. She could only listen.
"Why would Derek choose Issac?" Scott asked from behind Tara and Vivian with Stiles next to him.
"Peter told me and.. um Vivian that if the bite doesn't turn you, it could kill you." Stiles said cautiously, talking as quietly as he could. "And maybe teenagers have a better chance of surviving."
"Does being a teenager mean your dad can't hold him?" Scott asked with a spark in his eye.
"Well, not unless they have solid evidence, or a witness." Stiles said playing with his pen.
"Wait." Tara said perking up. She spun around to her left but when she didn't face who she wanted she spun the other way almost making herself dizzy. "Danny. Where's Jackson?"
"In the principal's office. Talking to the Sheriff." Danny said with a shrug.
"What? Why?" Vivian asked turning around herself.
"Maybe because he lives across the street from Issac?" Danny said like it was the most obvious thing, and it was.
"Witness." Scott said with a sigh.
"We gotta get to the principal's office." Tara said with a rushed tone.
"How?" Vivian asked, completely giving up on notes. She could see the hesitant looks on their faces when they turned to her. So maybe the careful consideration was starting to get annoying. Mr. Harris started talking again, giving Vivian and idea.
He had just finished writing his instructions on the board when a paper ball hit the back of his head. He turned around with a mean look in his eyes. "Who in the hell did that?"
They all pointed at each other.
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"Wait, so you're telling me that you knew Isaacs's father was hitting him?" Noah asked Jackson from inside the office. Vivian, Stiles, Tara, and Scott were all sitting on the chairs just outside the office, their bodies leaned as close as possible to the glass. Vivian's whole side was almost pressed against Stiles, the principal really needed to get larger windows.
Tara tensed, taking a deep breath looking over at Vivian. She was already looking back at her with a concerned expression.
"Hitting him? He was kicking the crap out of him." Jackson said with the same arrogant tone he usual had.
"Did you ever say anything to anyone?" Noah asked writing in his notebook. "A teacher, a parent, anyone?"
"Nope. It's not my problem." Jackson said shrugging. Tara clenched her fists taking a series of deep breaths.
"No, no, no, of course not." Noah asked but they could hear the undertone of judgement. "You know, it's funny that the kids getting beaten up are always the ones that least deserve it."
"Yeah- wait. What?" Jackson said looking up at Noah with confusion. Tara couldn't keep the smile off of her face.
"I think we're done here." Noah said not playing with Jackson anymore. The four relaxed in their chairs as the two walked out. Before they realized that they would both walk right past them. Stiles struggled to grab a magazine to hold over his face. Tara leaning her face so it was also behind the magazine.
Jackson and Noah stopped in front of the four. Noah didn't look surprised as he sighed at the four. "Hi Scott, Vivian."
"Hey." Vivian said while Scott waved at him. He looked back at the two who hadn't looked up from the magazine and just raised an eyebrow at them before walking away.
Stiles put the magazine down and they all looked at each other until a voice made them look back at the office door. "Boys, girls."
Gerard was standing at the entrance with a suit on and a polite smile. Vivian saw the shock and fear on her friends faces and looked at them in confusion. She searched her memory for anything and could only place his face on one thing. The magazine she saw on her kitchen table this morning. Then it dawned on her. It was Allison's Grandpa.
"Come on in."
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"Scott McCall. Academically not the most accomplished, but I see you have become quite the star athlete." Gerard said reading through his file on Scott while the other three sat there and watched him.
"Mr. Stilinski." Gerard said now picking up Stiles folder. "Oh, perfect grades but little to no extracurricular activities. Maybe you should try lacrosse."
"He is." Vivian said gaining his attention. "He is on the team."
"Ah." Gerard said staring at her before looking over her file. "Ms. Gasko. Similar to Mr. Stilinski with perfect grades but no extracurriculars.. oh and I did hear about your medical accidents."
Vivian held her glare when she felt something graze her fingers. She glanced down quickly and saw Stiles hand, a little closer to hers. She felt herself relax. Gerard picked up the last folder. "Finally, Ms. Varrington. You have.. decent grades and although no extracurriculars you are assistant coach of the lacrosse team. With Mr. McCall."
"Yup." Tara said with a clipped tone.
"Wait- McCall. You're the Scott that was dating my granddaughter." Gerard said searching his mind for a moment. Tara adjusted her position in the chair.
"We were dating. But not anymore." Scott said stumbling over his words with a nervous energy. "Not dating, not seeing any of each other or doing anything with each other... at all."
"Relax, Scott, you look like you're about to crack a cyanide pill with your teeth." Gerard said with a intrigued look. Vivian didn't trust it. She didn't trust anything to do with the Argents. Even Allison.
"Just a hard breakup." Scott excused darting his eyes anywhere but the amused look on Gerards face.
"Oh, that's too bad." Gerard said with a new look in his eyes. "You seem like a pretty nice kid to me. Now listen, guys. Yes, I am the principal, but I really don't want you to think of me as an enemy."
"Heh, is that so?" Stiles said passive aggressively.
"However this being my first day, I do need to support my teachers." Gerard said but Vivian didn't believe a word he said. "So one of you has to take the fall and stay behind for detention."
They all slowly looked over at Stiles who had distracted himself by playing with the tag on his chair. Stiles looked up at Vivian who was the closest to him. She gave him a sympathetic look before the realization appeared on his face.
"Mr. Stilinski it is."
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Sydney sighed while waiting for Lydia to finished whatever she was doing. She had a free period and was enjoying it by waiting on Lydia, who said she could go off if she wanted. But Sydney didn't have anything else she'd rather be doing. Well until she saw two of her friends sprint out of the office.
When Gerard was done with them, Tara ran out of the office with Scott behind her. Vivian had stayed back with Stiles for a few reasons. But when Sydney saw the two of them running somewhere she knew to follow.
Especially when she got a text from Stiles basically saying there's a new wolf who is going to be in holding overnight if they don't do anything. So she ran after them.
Tara didn't stop until she got outside of the school. She got there right before Noah started the car. Isaac was in the back and was staring hopelessly out the back window as they drove off. Tara sighed in defeat with Scott and Sydney behind her.
They were about to turn back when tires screeching stopped them. Derek's car stopped right in front of the school with the passengers side facing them. Tara felt relief flood her body and walked over to the car immediately.
"Get in." Derek said directed to Sydney and Scott.
"Are you serious?" Sydney asked making herself known to Tara and Scott.
"You did that. It's your fault." Scott said standing next to Sydney while Tara stood at the door waiting for them. "Tara?"
"He's innocent." Tara excused helplessly with desperate eyes. "And he knows that."
"Now get in the car and help me." Derek said with a frustrated sigh. Sydney took a deep breath and looked at the car disappearing in the distance before she finally walked over to the car.
"No, I've got a better idea." Scott said, not reading the room. "I'm going to call a lawyer. Because a lawyer actually has a chance at getting him out before the moon goes up."
Scott at least took a few more steps towards the car. Derek was just getting more and more frustrated. "Not when they do a real search of the house."
"What do you mean?" Tara asked, confused now. Scott was now right next to her and she had to force all her attention to be on Derek.
"Whatever Jackson said to the cops, what's in the house is worse." Derek said getting very tired of the questions. Sydney raised her eyebrows at him. "A lot worse."
Scott still looked hesitant. Tara opened the passengers side door for him and took a step back to be next to Sydney. "Get in the car, Scott."
He listened to her.
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