Luckily, we were put in one of the investigation rooms until the Sheriff and Jackson's dad were 'ready for us' whatever that means, when Allison calls.
"If Jackson doesn't know what he's doing, then he probably doesn't know someone's controlling him." she says over the speaker of my phone.
Yes. You heard that right.
Turns out, according to Lydia, who can read Archaic Latin, Ms. Morrell's translation was wrong, and the kanima seeks a master, not a friend.
So, someone's not protecting him, they're controlling him.
"Or he doesn't remember." Scott comments.
"What if it's the same kind of thing that happened with Lydia when she took off from the hospital?" Stiles suggests.
"A fugue state?" The girl on the phone clarifies.
"He'd have to forget everything. The murder, getting rid of the blood, I mean the whole shebang." I tell them.
"Yeah, he had help with one thing though- the video." Stiles points out, "And someone else helped him forget that."
"Probably whoever's controlling him."
"Are you sure Jackson has no clue about any of this?" Allison asks.
"Oh, I'm pretty positive. He's still convinced he's turning into a werewolf and Lyds somehow delayed the whole thing... which is insane, but not the point."
"So, do we try and convince him he's not?"
"If it helps us find out who's controlling him, then yeah..." Scott confirms.
"Do you think he'll talk to us after what we did?"
I answer, "No, absolutely not."
At the same time Scott does, "Yeah, it's us!" and he turns to look at me questioningly, "He'll talk to us, right?"
I immediately shake my head, telling him that I don't think he'll be open to it, but Scott decides he's going to try anyway.
Sighing, I take one of the seats and lean my head back against the wall, closing my eyes for a moment. I feel someone sit next to me and by the smell, I can easily tell its Stiles, so I rest my cheek on his shoulder and try to take a quick nap, seeing as I've been awake for almost two days straight.
I don't know if I actually slept or not, but the next thing I know, Sheriff Stilinski and Mr. Whittemore have come back into the room and have now added my mother to the mix.
Oh no, this isn't gonna go over well.
But what shocks me is that Stilinski sits the boys down at the table and starts reading off a clipboard to them.
And leaves me where I am.
He doesn't even mention me in the document he's reading from... which I soon figure out is a restraining order from Jackson against Scott and Stiles.
But not me...
My mom quietly signals for me to stand by her in the doorway, and I do as she asks while Noah tensely recites the regulations the others are being put under.
"You will not go within fifty feet of Jackson Whittemore. You will not speak to him. You will not approach him. You will not assault him or harass him physically or psychologically." He drops the clipboard on the metal table in front of him and the two boys.
Well, there went any hope of talking to Jackson about the whole controlling him thing. See, Scott should really take what I say into consideration instead of shooting everything I say down.
"What about school?" Stiles asks, bringing me back to the conversation at hand.
"You can attend classes while attempting to maintain a fifty-foot distance." The older Stilinski answers.
Of course, Stiles continues to push it, "But—ok, what if we both have to use the bathroom at the same time," all three adults sigh, crossing their arms, and my hand moves to cover my face, I wish he would stop talking...
Just when I don't think it can get worse, he continues, "and there's only two stalls available, and they're only right next to each other...?"
I not-so-subtly kick the back of his seat, telling him to shut up.
He innocently glances back at me, but when he is met with the angry glare adorning my face, and then notices the similar expression his father is wearing, he relents, "...I'll just hold it."
Not long after that, my mom is ushering me and my brother out of the interrogation room, and Stilinski is doing the same to Stiles, while also lecturing him.
Stiles ends up saying something about subjective humor and adding that we at least filled the van's gas tank. And overall, just digging himself a deeper grave.
Scott stops walking and tries to eavesdrop but is prevented from hearing anything else when my mom shoves him forward, shouting, "MOVE!"
Oh, She's mad mad.
It's the first thing she's said since being here, and the venom in her voice is enough to make me jump.
She sends me an apologetic look for scaring me, then motions for me to keep going down the hall so that she can talk to Scott privately.
I do as I'm told, but when I make it around the corner, I halt and begin trying to focus on what she's saying.
Eventually, my ears hone in on their conversation, specifically my mom's tired and shaky breath before she says, "It's not just this, although, a restraining order is a new low that I didn't think that you would reach quite this soon. It's everything on top of it—the completely bizarre behavior, the late nights coming home, having to beg Mr. Harris for you to make up that chemistry test you missed..."
"I missed a chemistry test?" Scott genuinely seems surprised.
Oh, dear sweet cheese and crackers Scott... really?!
My mom's response is practically identical to mine, "Really, Scott? Really?" before she breaks, "I have to ground you. I am grounding you. You are grounded."
"What about work?"
"Fine." She sighs. "Other than work. And no TV."
"My TV's broken."
"Then no computer."
"I need the computer for school."
"Then no, uh..." she briefly looks around for something to take from him, and her eyes light up when they land on my boyfriend, "No Stiles."
The boy in question offendedly yelps "What? No Stiles?" and he starts moving towards them.
"NO STILES!" my mom firmly yells, causing the boy to backtrack with an awkward look on his face, "And no more car privileges. Give me your keys." She holds out her hand. When he doesn't move to give them over, she shouts again, "Give em to me!!" At this point he hands her his entire set of keys, and she starts trying to get the car key off of the ring, but ends up struggling, "Oh, for the love of God..."
"Mom, do you want me to—" my brother tries, but is cut off.
"No." she continues to fight with the keys, getting more frustrated by the second.
"Mom, come on, let me just—Mom. Mom!" he finally gets her attention and wraps his hands around her trembling ones.
She lets out a heavy breath, "What is going on with you? Is this about Allison?"
From behind them, Stiles starts shaking his head.
But Scott doesn't pay him any mind, "Do you really wanna know?"
Stiles is now shaking his head VIOLENTLY and making the cut-throat sign, trying to get him to hush.
"Yeah! Is this about your father?" my mom asks. Stiles begins to nod at this, telling him to go with it. "It is, isn't it?" my boyfriend nods again, but more firmly, and Scott remains quiet. "Ok, you know what, um... we'll talk about this at home. I'm gonna go get the car." She takes a few steps in the direction to the exit, then rounds the corner, passing me briskly. I guiltily go back around the same corner with my head hung, too ashamed to even look at her as she passed me.
Even if the restraining order wasn't filed against me, it should have been. I was helping them.
I rejoin the boys who were sadly staring off in the direction my mom just went, and Scott sighs, "I'm the worst son ever."
"Well, I'm not exactly winning any prizes either..." Stiles huffs, looking back into the interrogation room where now, Mr. Whittemore is furiously screaming at Sheriff Stilinski about Stiles' 'bathroom' comment... and even goes so far as to throw the clipboard on the table towards the man, who just sits there and takes the heat.
I reach over and grab Stiles' hand, trying to bring him some comfort, and it semi-works, but I can still tell he's disappointed in himself.
I silently start hoping for a positive to come out of this, because as of right now, everything was going to complete and utter shit.
~•~
Despite all of the hell going on around us, Scott, and his determined little self, refuses to give up. So, at the moment, we're hiding in one of the only aisles of the library that is hidden from the multiple security cameras Allison's grandfather installed in order to stalk and keep tabs on her, trying to look as unsuspicious as possible... because she is trying to get us everything that Lydia could translate from the bestiary last night.
After about five to ten minutes of aimlessly looking busy, Allison appears in the aisle next to us and passes a tablet through the bookshelf to Scott, who immediately starts reading it.
"It's everything Lydia could translate... and trust me, she was very confused." The girl tells us.
"Yeah, what'd you tell her?" my brother asks.
I hear her let out an teasing half-giggle, "That we were part of an online gaming community that battles mythical creatures."
Sounds a lot like our actual lives if I'm being honest.
Scott chuckles at her excuse, but Stiles isn't as amused.
"I am part of an online gaming community that battles mythical creatures..." he spits out, but looks at me and widens his eyes, "Uh... I mean... I wa-used to be, uh, n-not like I s-still am or anyth- that would be so pathetic, am I rig-."
"Stiles." I cut off his rambling, "You're acting like I didn't already know that."
"I-Y-You wha?"
I roll my eyes, "Does it say anything about how to find out who's controlling him?"
"Not really." She sighs, "But, Stiles was right about the murderers."
"Yes" my boyfriend excitedly pumps his fist at being right. While Allison continues.
"It calls the kanima a 'weapon of vengeance.' There's a story in there about this South American priest who uses the kanima to execute murderers in his village—"
Doesn't sound very priest-y like, but ok.
"Alright, see?" Stiles interjects, "So, maybe it's not all that bad..."
The brunette grabs a random book off of the shelf in order to look natural as she explains further, "Until the bond grew strong enough that it killed whoever he wanted it to..."
"All bad. All very, very bad."
"Here's the thing though. The kanima is actually supposed to be a werewolf, but it can't be—"
"Until it resolves that in its past which manifested it." Scott reads aloud from the iPad.
"Ok, if that means that Jackson could use a few thousand hours of therapy," Stiles starts,
"We could've told you that ourselves." I finish for him, thinking the exact same thing.
"What if... it has something to do with his parents? His real parents?" Allison asks.
"Yeah." My twin looks at me and Stiles, "Does anybody actually know what happened to them?"
"Lydia might." I offer.
"What if she doesn't know anything?"
"Well, he doesn't have a restraining order against me, so I'll talk to him myself." She states, putting the book that she had picked up back on the shelf.
"Ok, what do I do?" he asks with his puppy-like enthusiasm.
"You have a make-up exam, remember?"
Scott looks to the two of us, and we simply nod in agreement with the girl, making him relent with a sigh, "Promise me," he reaches through the bookshelf and grabs her hand, "If he does anything, you run the other way."
"I can take care of myself." She assures him.
"Allison. If you get hurt while I'm busy with some stupid test, someone's going to need to take care of me."
And it'd probably have to be me and Stiles.
"If he does anything..." he is cut off by his girlfriend.
"Like?"
"Anything weird, or bizarre—anything."
Stiles pokes his nose into the conversation, literally and sticks his head through the bookshelf, popping out of the other side, "Anything evil."
Allison smirks, puts her hand on his face and forcefully shoves his head back through the shelf, causing him to fumble around and almost drop his book, "Ah! Ow!"
Ignoring him, I look at my brother, "Look, Scott if it'll make you feel better, I'll go with her."
Allison's eyes shoot over to me questioningly, which I disregard, and Scott frustratedly huffs, "Fine."
"Good. Everyone happy?" I ask, not waiting for a response before clapping my hands together, "Awesome. Break!"
I ditch Scott and Stiles and go with Allison towards wherever she's going to talk to Jackson. Which I assume is the locker room.
After a few minutes of silence, she speaks up, "Not that I don't enjoy your company, and please don't take this the wrong way, but... you do know I can protect myself, right?"
"Oh, I know that. This was strictly for Scott's peace of mind, and to make him shut up." I shrug, "In fact, I was planning on waiting outside and letting you handle Jackson. Scott just really cares about you and doesn't want to see you get hurt. I mean, I don't either, but I know you are one lethal woman, and if you are willingly helping... I'm not gonna stop you." I hold my arms up in a mock sign of surrender, making the brunette laugh lightly.
"Thanks Liza."
"Plus... if I tried to stop you... you'd probably put an arrow in my leg, and I don't really like pain. So..."
My comment makes her start laughing again, leading me to do the same, letting it fade as we get closer to the locker room.
Once our laughter dies down, we notice that our shoes are making clicking noises against the floor, which is really loud in a silent-echoey school hallway. We both seem to have the same thought, because we each stop and step out of our shoes, her carrying her grey heels while I hold my black heeled ankle boots.
We get to the locker room and Allison is about to go in, when the kid who always carries around the camera, Matt, is coming out,
"Oh, you just scared the hell out of me!" his hand flies to his chest.
"Sorry," she apologizes, "We we-we were just, um, we were-"
"Scott just sent me to get something for him, and Allison with already with me, so she tagged along." I quickly lie, saving her, and putting on a fake smile.
Matt seems to take notice of our shoes being in our hands, "Ah, that's a—nice heels."
"Oh! Yeah, uh, our feet were hurting," she explains awkwardly, "So we—"
Matt cuts her off, with a laugh, "At the same time?"
"Well, you know what they say. Girls always do things in groups!" she sing-songs the last part.
"Speak for yourself. I mean, I was actually trying to be sneaky in case I needed to murder someone. But I guess that's over now." I sigh, putting my shoes back on, prompting Allison to do the same.
When I look back up at Matt he's staring at me weirdly, and its kinda freaking me out.
"Jeez, I'm just kidding."
He lets out a nervous chuckle, "No, it's fine! Uh-actually it's the same reason I never wear mine."
What?
Was that supposed to be a joke?
He looks at the two of us kina expectantly.
Oh my God, it was.
"What?" Allison innocently questions.
"Uh, forget it." He awkwardly brushes it off, and turns to me, "Hey, did you hear about the underground show? Apparently, they've got some big name spinning."
"Oh, you mean, like a rave?" I ask.
"Oh, is it still a rave if you don't roll? I just call it a party."
What?
Ok, now I'm confused.
When I don't say anything, Matt continues to talk, "But hey, I got a friend who can hook us up with tickets if you're down. Want me to get you one."
Why the hell would I want a ticket? I don't like parties... or people... and Matt kinda weirds me out. But how do I say no?
I hate being mean when the only thing wrong with the kid is that he's kinda creepy.
"Yeah. Yeah, she'd love to." Allison speaks up for me.
Wait what?
Dude.
"Yeah?" He looks hopefully at me, and I sigh, nodding my head as I give in, "Alright, cool. Um, it's Friday, so..." he starts backing up, "Looking forward to it."
What did she just sign me up for?
Matt finally leaves, giving me the opportunity to turn to my friend, "What the hell Allison?!"
"I'm sorry! I just heard someone coughing in there and I could tell he was freaking you out, so I just said something to get him to go away!"
"And in doing so, you basically agreed for me to go on a date with someone who isn't Stiles!"
"Oh it's not a date."
"He sure seems to think it is!"
"Hey, everyone knows you're dating Stiles, so why should he have any reason to think it's a date?"
"You're right... Um, if you don't mind, I'm going to find Stiles. He went to talk to Lyds."
"That's fine, I'm just gonna go in and look around, to see if he's in there."
"Mkay. Stay safe!"
"I will." She promises before turning back and heading straight into the boy's locker room.
God, I hope he's clothed.
By the time I find Lydia and Stiles, the latter is chasing after the former and I only catch the tail end of the conversation.
"Well, tell me if this feels like an answer..." Lydia sarcastically looks into the distance as if pondering something, "No." then walks off right before I reach Stiles.
"Lydia! Lydia, come on!" Stiles calls after her, "Ly—" He's cut off by a clawed-hand to his chest, "Wait! OW! Ah. Ah! Hey, Erica..."
Erica (ugh) has her hand on his chest, planting him against the nearest wall, my blood starts boiling at the sight, and within two seconds I'm beside them, as she asks, "Why are you asking Lydia about Jackson's real parents?"
"Why are you bringing out the claws on camera?" he shakes his head at a security camera that was indeed pointed right at them.
I quickly decide she's taking too long to remove her hand, so I shove her off of my boyfriend and position myself between them.
I'm doing everything in my power to control my attitude towards this chick, and keeping my mouth shut seems to be the best chance I have at not frying her on the spot, so I let Stiles do the talking for now.
"That's right- you wanna play Catwoman? We'll be your Batman." He walks off, pulling me along with him, probably so I won't provoke the she-wolf with my big mouth.
"If you're wondering about Jackson's real parents, they're about half a mile from here." Erica's words grab our attention immediately, causing us to whip around to face her smug expression, "In Beacon Hills Cemetery."
Don't do it.
Don't do it.
Stiles don't even-
And here we go again.
Stiles drags me behind him as he goes after Erica, his unquenchable curiosity getting the best of him once again.
"Do you know how they died?" He asks her.
"Maybe..." she shrugs, "If you tell me why you're so interested."
"Um..." Stiles hesitantly mutters, which gives her all the information she needs, making her stop in her tracks.
"It's him, isn't it?"
"What? Who? Him who?"
The blonde begins walking again, piecing everything together, "The test didn't work, but it's still him. It's Jackson."
Stiles halts, dropping his mouth open.
"Nice work dumbass." I whisper, before running after the girl, "You can't tell Derek, ok? There's a lot more that you don't know about."
Stiles appears right beside me and continues my thought, "and just because you got the alpha-bite-makeover doesn't give you a license to go around destroying people."
"Awww..." She sarcastically coos, "How cute... you're finishing each other's sentences..." then she turns back around to us coldly, "And why not? That's all anybody ever used to do to me."
I didn't. I never once was mean to her.
"I used to have the worst crush in the world on you. Yeah, you Stiles." my grip on Stiles' hand tightens and I'm overwhelmed by this feeling of worry, suddenly, I feel my eyes burning, signaling that they've turned purple, and I can slowly feel the steam falling from my ears and nose.
Stiles ignores Erica, putting his full focus on me, and blocks me from her view, but that doesn't stop the girl from speaking.
"And you never once even noticed me. Exactly how you're not noticing me right now... you're too distracted by her."
"Lizzy... What's wrong?" he questions, lightly grabbing my forearms.
"Something's not right." I can feel the need to get to someone, but it's all fuzzy about who I feel the need to get to.
"What?"
The blonde in front of us scoffs and goes to leave but is stopped when Scott comes flying through the boy's locker room door, Jackson following.
Oh no.
Not good.
Not here.
When Scott makes impact with the wall, I swear I can hear some bones crack, sending me into overdrive.
That internal spark lights, and the sight of Jackson going at my brother again seals the deal, I feel my nails and teeth grow, and that tingling feeling around various parts of my body.
Yet in all the commotion, nobody notices.
That is, until Jackson lays another hand on Scott.
My anger flares, the steam from my mouth disappears and is replaced by a fiery inferno, as a screeching roar escapes. I spit the fire right at Jackson, sending him away from my brother, before launching at him, clawing him the rest of the way to the ground.
I hear the shocked sounds of the people around me, but I pay them no mind, because the only thing I can concentrate on, is making sure Jackson can't get to Scott.
A few seconds later, Jackson is pulled away from me and is being contained by Erica, and Stiles is in front of me, trying to calm me back down.
"Hey, Lizzy, shhhh look at me."
"JESUS STILES GET BACK!!" Scott yells, attempting to yank him away.
"Scott! Just trust me, ok? Let me handle it!" he shouts back, returning to his spot in front of me.
My breathing quickens as I start hyperventilating at the thought of Scott... the werewolf being afraid of me, and even worse, thinking that I would actually hurt Stiles.
I'm pulled into an embrace, and I immediately begin searching for the constant heartbeat of my boyfriend.
The longer I focus on it, the calmer I get, and soon tears are falling from my now-normal eyes.
"Oh my God, he's scared of me. Stiles he's scared of me... what did I just do?"
"Lizzy, Lizzy, Lizzy, shhhh, he's not scared of you, I promise, you just saved him from Jackson, he's probably just shocked."
"But I c-can- I can hear his heart, he's terrified." I sob.
I'm so wrapped up in my own crying that I don't notice the crowd that has gathered, and it shocks me when Mr. Harris comes marching through, angrily.
"What the hell is going on?"
I look over and he's getting between Scott and Jackson, "Hey! Enough! Enough! What do you idiots think you're doing?! Jackson! Calm down!" he then turns to my brother, "Mr. McCall, do you wanna explain yourself?" then to Stiles, "Stilinski!"
He now notices my tear-filled eyes, "Miss McCall, are you ok?"
I don't trust my voice, so I simply nod in response.
Another quiet comment interrupts, "You dropped this." It's Matt, and he's holding out a tablet to Scott, but Harris grabs it instead.
"You." he points at Jackson, venom returning to his tone, then at Scott, "and you." then looks around and motions to the whole group, "Actually, all of you... detention. Three o'clock." Harris even motions for Matt to be there, which leaves him very confused.
Harris then leaves, prompting everyone else to as well, Jackson of course, doesn't leave without sending Scott a death glare. But I think after what I did a second ago, he won't be going after Scott any time soon.
Once everyone else is gone, and it's only me, Stiles, Scott, and Allison, I can feel the latter two's eyes boring into the side of my head, but I refuse to acknowledge it, and instead choose to bury my face into Stiles' chest.
It's not long before my brother breaks the silence, "Ok, since nobody else will say it... I will. What the HELL just happened to Elizabeth?!"
Stiles, ever the protector he is, comes to my defense instantly, "Uh, clearly, she was about to rip Jackson apart." Completely ignoring the fact that I just spit fire out of my mouth.
"Yeah, and ALMOST BURN HIM TO A CRISP!" Scott shouts, causing me to jerk a little at his volume.
"...Yeah, and there's that." Stiles agrees, tightening his hold around me.
"...surprise?" I try to muster a smile, but I fail, so I'm left with an awkward look on my face.
My brother gawks at our responses, "Stiles, you don't seem nearly as shocked as you should be."
I exhale loudly, "It's because he's not. He's seen it before. He was there when it happened for the first time."
"YOU MEAN TO TELL ME THAT THIS HAS HAPPENED BEFORE?!"
I nod sheepishly.
"WHEN?!"
"My first full moon... at the station, when we went to save Isaac."
"When you told me you shifted, you never mentioned fire! Or scales!"
"You've had so much going on, I didn't want to worry you or make you feel like you had to figure out what I am!"
And I didn't want you to be afraid of me...
"So, what are you?!"
"We're still trying to figure that out." Stiles explains, lightly rubbing comforting circles on my back.
Now was the first time Allison spoke, "So... the night of the formal... the night Lydia was bitten..."
"Yes." I finish the thought for her, "I was bitten too. It just healed quicker than a werewolf would... which was our first clue that I was different." Everyone stays quiet for a moment, "I'm sorry I didn't tell you guys."
"I understand why you didn't." Allison says, putting a hand on my shoulder.
"I do too." Scott sighs, "But next time, I want you to tell me, ok? No matter what is going on. You're my sister and I want to know what's happening with you."
"Are you guys scared of me?" I ask, my voice barely above a whisper.
"Liza—" both Scott and Allison begin, but I cut them off.
"Are. You. Scared. Of. Me."
The couple share a look and bring me into their arms.
"No, of course not." The female says.
"But I heard Scott's heartb—"
He pulls back and looks me in the eyes, "Yeah, my heart was racing... but can you blame me? I just saw my badass twin sister blow fire from her mouth."
They pull me back into the hug, and I quietly take in the acceptance of my brother and best friend, before smiling, "Thanks for understanding."
A couple more seconds of silence go by, until Stiles breaks it, "Now, if I'm not mistaken... it should be lunch time, so... let's go eat." He holds his arms up in the air in excitement, making us all laugh, and then leading us to the cafeteria.