Disclaimer: teen wolf does not belong to me in any way, shape or form - I promised a quick update and I have delivered :) because I would never leave you all on a cliffhanger... ;)
The pain she felt was all-consuming and sharp, cutting through her and down to her very core. Her vision darkening to obsolete black for what felt like hours, every ounce of energy getting sapped from her body.
This was something she had never experienced before. She had been in the worst depths of agony, but this was different. It was as if a part of her was dying...
... But also, as if something inside her was reawakening.
His teeth, sharp and unrelenting, remained embedded deep in her forearm, as if he was savouring the rush of power it gave him. His eyes, a deep glowing red, trained on her pained expression but showed no hint of sympathy. If anything, he seemed to enjoy it. Revelling in the obvious pain she was in but being unable to move or resist. Helpless to his bite.
Once her arm started to bleed, crimson blood dripping down her skin, he finally pulled back, smirking as she swayed.
"I've just given you the greatest gift of all" he purred, keeping her semi-steady on her feet by holding her wrist up, "now, you can be who you're meant to be..."
She didn't understand what he meant, trying to focus on him but his face was blurring in and out of focus, feeling on the verge of passing out. She tried to pull away, to get as far away from him as possible, but he was much stronger than her and just laughed at her feeble attempts to escape.
It was at that moment Derek, followed by Stiles, came charging down the corridor and Peter pulled her back against his chest, his clawed hand threateningly resting around the column of her throat.
"You" Derek hissed, his voice full of distaste.
"Me" Peter smirked, "It's been a long time, nephew".
"Let her go" Derek growled, holding out his arm to keep a panicked Stiles back, "now. I'm not going to ask twice".
"We're just reconnecting" Peter grinned, tightening his hand and causing her to gasp, desperately gripping at his arm wrapped around her body, "I figure that's my job as a doting father".
The shock on Derek's face told Kayla that he, too, was completely taken aback by that revelation, his unsure and disturbed eyes meeting her teary ones as she tried not to cry.
"Don't look so pained, Derek" Peter drawled out, "she's still your cousin. She just has a different parentage than originally thought. But, come on, isn't it obvious? She looks so much like me. It doesn't take a genius to figure it out".
No one said anything, too taken aback to muster up any words.
"Your mother just likes to keep it in the family" Peter smirked, leaning down to rest his head against hers as he whispered in her ear, "Beautiful Jody Jacobs... oh, what fun we had. She was begging for me, for more. Dear old John obviously couldn't hit the spot".
She felt nauseous, on the brink of sickness.
"And how mad he got when he found out" he continued, "of course, it was too late by then. You were already here. I was shunned, yet your whore of a mother was forgiven... does that sound fair to you, sweetheart?"
"Shut up" Derek interrupted Peter's bitter words, "Enough".
"I haven't even gotten started" Peter hissed, almost cutting off her breathing as he grabbed at her throat harder, "sixteen years I was shunned and disowned. Six years I was trapped in my own body. I'm just getting started".
She bit back her cries, feeling her bottom lip wobble.
"Are you like me?" he continued, "or do you take after your whore of a mother?"
"You killed Laura" Derek said, desperately trying to change the subject.
'We've already been over this Derek" Peter exclaimed in faux annoyance, "that was an accident. I am so terriblysorry it happened. If you had been through what I have been, you would have acted out too".
"I wouldn't kill my family".
"Wouldn't you?" Peter smirked, "I feel that you want to kill me right now".
"You're not my family" Derek growled, "not anymore".
"Harsh" he said, "we're all family. We need to stick together. You know what we need to do".
"Let her go" Derek continued, "you've done enough".
She felt Peter shrug, his grip loosening.
"If you insist".
She was so weak that, when he let go of her, she crumpled to the floor by his feet, every ounce of energy being drained away as she gripped at her arm, trying to stop the bleeding.
"The bite will change your life, Kayla. I've just given you the greatest gift of all".
Then why didn't it feel like it?
"You could've just killed her" Derek growled, "her genes-"
"Are special" Peter interrupted, "the bite won't kill her. It'll just make her who she's meant to be".
She didn't understand the cryptic crap. She was a blunt, straight-to-the-point kind of gal. She didn't have the time or the energy to decipher the meanings of things, unable to understand what the hell was good about getting bitten.
Derek, riled up and angry, partly shifted, tried to take Peter off guard by charging at him, leaping over Kayla and tackling him backwards into the wall, both rolling along the floor of the corridor.
"Stiles" Derek shouted, "get Kayla out of here and go, go NOW".
She felt as if she was suspended in time, staring blankly up at the ceiling as her entire world crumbled down around her – yet again. Her mind was whirling but at the same time she couldn't think of anything, everything just seemed to get stuck in the cogs, as if her brain needed oiling. Unable to process what was happening around her, oblivious to the destructive fighting happened five feet behind her.
It wasn't long until a pair of gentle arms helped coax her up, half lifting her to her unsteady feet and she barely recognised Stiles' panicked voice trying to penetrate her mind.
"Kayla? Kayla? Are you okay?" he asked in worry, trying to coax her back to the present, "hey, can you hear me?"
Something about him drew her back, blinking back to the sudden and painful reality she was thrust into – everything she thought she knew about the world, and her family, being thrown into the air and she was left scrambling to pick up the pieces.
She didn't know what to say, frail and delicate in his grasp as he held her up, his warm brown eyes scared and concerned, swirling with anxiety.
"We... we need to help Derek" she murmured, fear welling up in her chest as she heard the fighting and knew Derek didn't stand a chance. If Peter wanted to kill him, he would. He had already killed Laura, what was stopping him from killing his nephew? She was not going to lose Derek, not like she had lost everyone else.
"Derek will be fine, we have to go" Stiles told her, beginning to pull and guide her down the corridor.
"But-" she protested weakly, trying to crane her neck to see what was going on but Stiles was determined, half carrying her down the corridor.
"No 'buts' Kayla... we're going now. I'm getting you out of here" he said, quickening their pace until he was coaxing her up into the passenger side of his jeep, taking care to buckle her in before racing around and leaping into the driver's side and skidding desperately from the parking lot.
Her mind, usually so sharp and quick, felt heavy with unease and confusion, blearily looking around at the scenery that blurred by, limply holding her bleeding arm on her lap. The sleeve of her white top stained a deep red.
Once Stiles had deemed he had driven a respectable and safe amount of distance from the hospital, he pulled over to the side of the road and turned to look at her, eager to help but unsure how.
"He's... He's my dad" she whispered, staring blankly ahead of her, the pain of her arm forgotten about, "Peter's my... he's my..."
Wordlessly, Stiles reached into the back seat of the jeep and pulled out a spare plaid shirt he had, gently taking her arm and wrapping it in the shirt, stanching the blood flow.
"This looks bad" Stiles whispered, his gaze full of worry, "and deep".
She didn't care, her mind elsewhere. The bite the least of her worries.
"Are you going to... are you going to be a-a werewolf now?" he asked, tying the sleeves into a makeshift and rather large bandage, "I mean... or will it..."
She had seen people die from the bite before. It was painful and messy and rather undignified. From the moment it didn't take, it was a terminal downhill diagnosis. As much as her family had believed that giving her the bite when she already had the werewolf genes inside her trying to turn every full moon would kill her, she didn't feel like she was dying. She felt different. Something new.
Not werewolf new. Something else. A deeper, more sinister power coming into play. As if the bite caused a switch inside her to suddenly get flicked to 'on'.
"I... I feel fine" she mumbled, finally meeting his terrified gaze, "I'm fine".
"Are you sure? Should I take you to get checked out-"
"I need to go home. I have to go home".
"Uh... I don't think that's such a good idea-"
"I need to go home" she insisted, "I need answers".
"There's time for answers, but Kaylz, I'm really worried about you-"
"Take me home" she interrupted, "or I'm walking".
He knew she didn't bullshit around so her promise, or threat – depending on what way you looked at it - would be followed through on. Leaving him no choice but to start the engine and begin the short drive to her house.
"Maybe-Maybe he was lying" Stiles suggested, clearly grasping at straws, "maybe he's just trying to get under your skin. Maybe he's not your... your..."
"He's not lying. I can tell" she murmured, too tired to explain that – whatever creepy connection they shared – she could feel his honesty. Some part of her soul was able to sense that he was indeed speaking the truth.
If anything, it made sense. Everything slowly falling into place. The reason why her mom had resented her for so long. Why she felt unwanted and unloved, like she was a mistake. Why she struggled to fit into her family unit. Why she felt out of place and different. Why she always felt like she had a little bit of the devil inside her at every waking moment, struggling to be the good daughter when all she wanted to be was bad sometimes.
It made sense because she was the product of an affair, and her real father was a psychopathic murderer. She felt like she didn't belong because she didn't. She was born to her mom's husband's brother... how fucked up was that?
"It's going to be okay" he reassured, casting her worried looks every few seconds, "I know it probably hurts and feels confusing, but it'll be okay. Your dad is still your dad. He raised you. That doesn't change".
"My dad was my uncle pretending to be my dad..." she whispered, "things are never going to be okay again..."
"I'll get you through this" he promised, "whatever you need, I'll be there".
She knew that. She knew that he would do anything for her, but right now he couldn't help her. She needed answers and they could only come from one person – her mother.
She felt herself shutting off, her usual response to anything painful or traumatic. Turning away from help because it felt awkward and foreign to her. Focusing instead on her anger that had now burned through the confusion and shock, bubbling through her veins.
It wasn't a helpful response, but she didn't care.
She wasn't just angry – she was fucking furious. So furious, in fact, she felt like she was about to blow.
Stiles pulled into her driveway, parking behind her mom and Jane's cars and gingerly switched off the engine, turning to face her.
"You look mad" he observed nervously, "do you think... I mean-" he correctly, gulping, "-is now the right time to ask for answers?"
"No" she admitted, "the right time was sixteen years ago".
"Do you want me to come with you?"
She shook her head, pulling away the bloodied shirt from her arm as her wound had stopped bleeding, not wanting Stiles to see her completely lose herself.
"No, I... I need to do this by myself" she said, "I need... I need to know the truth".
"If you're sure..." he resigned, sounding very unsure about this himself, "please just... just call if you need me. For anything".
She nodded in distraction, slipping from the jeep and left him sitting there in worry, watching her walk into the house – ready to face the music.
There was a buzz of activity from the kitchen so she followed the noise and found her mom, her aunt and her cousin all seated around the breakfast bar, tucking into some Chinese takeaway food, open brown boxes scattered across the counter.
"Hey Kay" her aunt greeted, catching sight of her first and sending her a wide smile, "grab a plate and help yourself. We got extra in case you came back for dinner".
She stayed still, standing in the doorway and looking in at her family, resentful that everything seemed so normal when she felt so detached and alienated.
Tabby had shouted her name in greeting but she ignored it, focusing on her mom who finally looked up from her plate of food, her gaze void of any real emotion and now she knew why. Her mom hated her because of what she represented – her adultery and betrayal. Always faced with the reminder every time she looked at her.
"Well?" her mom asked, "are you staying for dinner or not?"
Her fists clenched at her sides, glaring at her mother with a newfound hatred she had never felt before.
"Oh, Kayla" Jane exclaimed, frowning in worry, "your arm's been bleeding. What on earth happened?"
"Ask my mother's ex" she spat, "he's good at telling the truth".
Everyone fell quiet, an awkward silence being cast over the kitchen as her mom finally broke character, her eyes widening in daunting realisation.
"Um... Tabby, sweetheart-" Jane said softly, "-go to your room. The adults need a few minutes alone".
Tabby, miraculously, listened to her mom and slid off the stool, clearly a little anxious and worried as she ran past Kayla and up the stairs but not before giving her a legs a quick squeeze of a hug, although even that wasn't enough to break through Kayla's fury.
"Kayla-"
"Mom" she interrupted, her lip curling in disgust, "don't even bother trying to lie to me right now. I know the truth".
Her mom stood, casting a worried look at Jane before focusing back on Kayla.
"What do you know?"
"That you're a lying, cheating, manipulative bitch" she exclaimed, "how could you? How could you?"
"Kayla, honey, take a deep breath" Jane coaxed, "let's just sit down and talk about this-"
"Talk about this?" she demanded, her anger now spiralling out of control, "talk? Do you know what she's done?She's lied to me my entire life! She's a lying cheat".
Jane and her mom shared a knowing look, telling Kayla everything she needed to know.
"You knew" she muttered in betrayal, suddenly not knowing who her aunt was anymore, all her years of Jane being like a second mother to her flew out the window, "you knew about the affair with Peter? You knew he was my real dad and you didn't tell me?"
The deafening silence was her answer.
"Wow" she muttered sardonically, a raging fire of fury swelling through her body, "both of you are liars".
"Kayla-"
"If you say one more word to me I will end you" she threatened, glaring at her aunt, "I trusted you".
"Don't speak to her like that" her mom chastised, "what right do you have to question us-"
"WHAT RIGHT DID YOU HAVE TO LIE TO ME ABOUT WHO MY DAD WAS?" she screamed, "WHAT RIGHT DID YOU HAVE TO CHEAT ON YOUR HUSBAND WITH HIS OWN GOD DAMN BROTHER?"
"You think your dad was perfect but-"
"Well-" she scoffed, "-he must've been a fucking saint to get back with you - a lying cheating scumbag, and raise his brothers' kid. Don't you dare make him out to be the bad guy here".
"I made a mistake" her mom said.
"A mistake is picking up sugar instead of salt or forgetting to pay a bill – not falling on someone else's dick".
"I made a mistake and I paid for it" her mom continued, "I'm reminded of it every time I look at your face".
"Then you should've had an abortion" she spat, "instead of hating your own child".
"I wanted to" her mom screamed, losing her cool, "I wanted to but John didn't want me to. If he didn't find out, you would've been flushed down the toilet".
"That would have been better for me, than growing up with a sour-faced, unloving mother like you" she yelled back, unable to contain her fury as she slammed her hand into the wall, creating a hole.
"You keep telling yourself that just to make yourself feel better about your own" her mom scoffed, lashing out with low blow punches in retaliation to getting faced with her own lies and secrecy, "I may be a cheat, but at least I didn't whore myself out at fifteen and get pregnant".
She felt like she had been gut-punched, emotionally winded by those words said with such hatred and disdain she almost lost her balance, newfound resentment building up inside at those words.
"Don't you dare turn this around on me" she exclaimed, tears blurring her vision.
"You have no right to question my morals after everything you've done" her mom contained, taking no prisoners, "we gave you a good life. You had everything you ever could have wanted, yet you still find something to complain about".
"I WANTED A MOM" she screamed, her voice ringing throughout the house and nearly shaking the walls, "I WANTED A MOM THAT WANTED ME".
"AND I WANTED A DAUGHTER THAT DIDN'T DISGUST ME".
"Jody-"
"No" her mom said, shaking her head, "she needs to hear this. We've been too soft on her. All the crap she pulled, all the things she had done, should have been punished. You think two months in rehab taught her anything? She's loud. She's disobedient. She's disrespectful. She does what she wants, everyone else be damned. She sleeps around, makes an embarrassment out of this family, steals, racks up debts of hundreds of thousands of dollars on hospital bills and paying for drugs and when that money runs out, she whores herself out for them. What a stupid little girl you really are Kayla, and you should've ended up in jail instead of a cushy little rehab place that catered to your every need".
"Maybe I am the way I am because of you" she scoffed, "ever think of that?"
"You will not blame me for your mistakes".
"YOU'RE BLAMING ME FOR YOURS" she hollered, "I didn't ask to be born. Take some goddamn responsibility and stop blaming everyone else for the fact you cheated on your husband. Peter mom, really?"
"You are just like him" her mom said in a scathing tone, "I hoped for different".
"That's enough – the two of you" Jane cut in, coming to stand between them with her arms raised, "let's talk about this civilly-"
"Civilly?" she interrupted, "how dare you! Both of you have lied to me my entire life and you expect me to be civil about this? Go to hell".
"Let's just talk about this-"
"I'm done talking" she snapped, "and I'm done with this family and your lies. Neither of you cares what this has done to me... you just care you got found out. I'm done".
She went to walk away but Jane reached out and caught her arm, holding her back.
"Kay, please" she sobbed, "I'm sorry I didn't tell you, but it wasn't my place-"
"That's your excuse for everything" she yanked her arm away, shaking her head, "that it wasn't your responsibility. You're the one I trusted the most, and yet you still lied to me. Why did I ever wish you were my mother?"
Jane's stare was hurt, welling with tears but, in that moment, Kayla found herself not caring – too betrayed to feel sorry for her aunt, too caught up in her own hurt and anger to empathise. Throwing them both a withering look before storming from the house and slamming the door.
Beacon Hills was meant to be a fresh start, but since coming here it had been a shitshow. Slowly, lies and more lies were being uncovered and she found her usual steady footing being wobbled. Not that she was ever all that steady to begin with, but she had tried. Only now, everything was falling down around her. The fire, her family... so many lies and secrets, making her question who she actually was.
It had started raining, pelting down around her as she found herself sobbing uncontrollably, her tears mixing with the rainwater as she wandered with no destination in mind. Walking until she was sore and chilled to the bone.
She had always tried to keep emotions at bay because when she let herself feel them, they became unbearable. And when things became unbearable, when she couldn't deal anymore, she found unhealthy and dangerous ways to help make herself deal. It was her downfall, and she had experienced many downfalls.
She craved to forget what had just happened. She wanted to not feel this debilitating pain ever again. To not feel so lonely and betrayed, her entire life just one lie after another, making her wonder who she actually was. Questioning everything she had ever said, done and acted with a microscope. Struggling to accept, or even understand, how her dad was not her dad, but was her uncle, and her uncle was her dad. It was a mind fuck; one she was too tired to try and understand.
At this time, she wanted to be anyone but herself. To escape and forget.
There was one way she knew how.
A year ago, probably down to the very second, she was forgetting her pain by losing herself to the void of drugs and alcohol. They were dark and dangerous, but she needed them. They were her crutch through the unknown... through the wildness of her emotions. They were her release.
At this moment in time, she craved that release.
She wanted to forget.
She yearned to be anyone else but the person she was right now. The broken little girl with a dead family, daddy issues and enough trauma to fill six books.
She could taste the sweet promise of release on her tongue, that tantalising sweet nothingness that they always gave her. Living life on the edge by not knowing if the next hit would be the one that propelled her into permanent darkness.
It was a slippery slope, one that she was almost falling down. Only catching herself when she glanced around the street she was on and realised it was Stiles' Street, his home just a few houses down.
Subconsciously, she must have taken herself here. Some part of her not wanting to go down that road again because she knew, if she did, she might not come back from it.
Ignoring the shame she felt, she headed straight for the familiar house, knowing if she didn't then she might succumb to the darkness inside her, walking past the jeep and the Sheriff's cruiser and up to the front door.
She didn't remember knocking but she must have because the front porch light came on, making her squint at the sudden brightness, followed by the front door opening to reveal Sheriff Stilinski standing there in his pyjama bottoms and a grey tee, looking surprised to see her.
"Oh... Kayla" he murmured, just about to smile but noticed her expression and demeanour, dripping wet and shivering cold, "is... is everything okay?"
That was a loaded question... one she didn't know how to answer.
She stayed silent, feeling her bottom lip tremble as her existential crisis got the better of her and she burst into tears.
"Oh crap" the Sheriff muttered, reaching out to coax her into the house, shutting the door behind her.
"What happened? Are you okay?" he asked in concern, cupping her shoulders.
"Is-Is Stiles here?" she cried, not understanding why she needed him just knowing that she did.
'Uh... yes. Yes, he's upstairs... um..."
Stiles, who must've heard the knock at the door too, and was soon halfway down the stairs, meeting her teary gaze.
"Kaylz" he murmured, jumping down the last few stairs before clumsily rushing over to them, "hey".
"... I-I didn't know where else to go..."
The Sheriff was looking between them in confusion, trying to put the pieces together as he watched the scene unfold before snapping out of it and shaking his head.
"Stiles, get her upstairs and into warm clothes" he instructed, "I'll make a hot drink".
A/N) AHHHHH I know I say that a lot but AHHHH am I right? Lol. This chapter was mainly Kayla dealing with the rolleroaster of emotions finding out about Peter but, oh my god, she went to Stiles' instead of down a dark path... that's character growth. That's the beginnings of loveeeeeee lol
And slowly, Kayla's past is being revealed.... ooooohhhhhh...
Hope you all liked and please please review and I will see you all soon