Addison was scared.
She woke up in a dark room with her hands and feet duct taped together, with a single piece going across her mouth. She had no idea where she was, and if it was even that same boy from the hospital who kidnapped her.
She heard muffled voices coming from somewhere. It was pitch black besides the little rays of light coming from under a door. From what she could tell, she was locked in a closet. The pain on the back of her headed faded as if it hadn't happened.
Addy struggled, trying to get out of the restraints. She had no luck as she wiggled and pulled; the tape was just too tight. She heard footsteps near the door and instantly stopped struggling. She was beyond scared as a few tears streamed down her cheeks.
Light flooded into the room, and it hurt her eyes as they had become adjusted to the dark. Addy was shocked to see the one and only Scott McCall standing above her with his best friend, Stiles Stilinski.
"Are you kidding me?" Stiles groaned as he rubbed a hand through his hair. He had promised himself to never let his friends make the plans ever again.
"I panicked!" Scott defended.
"Yeah, well, you seem to be doing that a lot lately." The two juniors looped an arm around Addy and helped her stand up. She struggled in their hold, thrashing and elbowing with the little amount of movement she had. She managed to get a good hit on Scott, even though it didn't affect him.
The boys plopped her down on the bed and knelt in front of her. Addison's eyes darted around the room. Stiles stood in front of the door, and she didn't know how high up she was to jump out the window.
Scott was extremely confused with Addison. She had a weird aura around her that he couldn't place. It wasn't the same as a werewolf or anything he had ever seen before, but the thing that jumbled him most was her eyes. Instead of their normal dark brown, they glowed. They glowed a bright peach.
"We're not going to hurt you, okay?" Scott told her. "Okay? I'm going to take the tape off, but please don't scream." Addy nodded her head. Dry tears caked her cheeks, making her look vulnerable. She was vulnerable, and she hated it.
Scott carefully pulled the tape away, careful not to hurt her. She was tempted to scream and yell for help. She almost did, until Scott asked her a question.
"What are you?"
"I don't know what the hell you're talking about!" she cried out. He had asked the exact same thing out on the field earlier that day. She knew something was wrong with her, but part of her wished it was just her imagination.
"Your eyes are glowing orange! And the cut on the back of your head? It healed in seconds!" Stiles exclaimed. His eyes were flickering everywhere and he looked beyond frustrated.
"It's more of a peach, actually," Addy muttered. She knew what they were talking about. She knew that her eyes glowed sometimes, especially when she was scared or angry.
"So you do know what we're talking about..." Scott trailed off. Addy kept her eyes on her lap. She had a habit of not making eye contact whenever she got nervous. He could tell that she didn't know much about herself, otherwise she would have known that he wasn't human either. "How long has this been going on?"
"Since I was ten," she muttered, finally looking up. Her eyes had stopped glowing and returned to her usual brown ones. She took in Scott's room with greater detail. It was quite clean for a teenage boy's room, besides the few t-shirts that laid around and the pile of a broken chair and duct tape. Someone else was here, someone in the same situation as her, or similar at least.
Scott noticed her looking at the pile of garbage, and quickly changed the subject before she could ask who had been there.
"Look, it's late. Maybe we should get you home, yeah?" Brayden was not going to be happy that Addison was getting home so late. Her mother wouldn't be home yet, so she didn't have to worry about that, unless, of course, Brayden told her.
It was well past eleven o'clock. Addy wondered how long she was actually knocked out for. She knew it was dark out when they were at the hospital, but she didn't think it was that late. She rubbed her wrist where the tape had rubbed, leaving an ugly red mark. It would heal by the time she got home, so thankfully her brother wouldn't be able to question her.
Scott grabbed her phone off of his dresser and passed it to her. She had nearly a dozen texts, most of them from her brother, the other from Liam. She was surprised he texted her, or, more importantly, that he got her number.
'Hey, are you okay? - Liam'
She smiled a little. He was worried about her. Of course he'd be curious; some monster attacked them in the hospital, nearly giving Addy a concussion. She would heal, of course, but he didn't know that.
'I'm good. Just done with the day. Talk to you in school tomorrow?'
She sent a quick reply to him and looked at her brother's texts. They were all practically the same, just wondering where she was. The latest one was sent twenty minutes ago.
'Addison Leann Ryder where the hell are you?'
'I'm on my way.'
She decided to keep the text short. She knew she would get shit when she got home. The last time she never answered Brayden's texts was when she went to the movies. A couple of the girls she actually talked to in her grade invited her. Addy forgot to tell Brayden, and she had turned her phone off so it wouldn't light up half way through the movie. Brayden had gotten so worried about her and actually threatened to ground her until she explained everything.
Except this was going to be really hard to explain.
"Stiles, can you give her a ride home?" Scott asked. He didn't want to make her ride on the back of his dirt bike.
Stiles chewed on his nails. He still didn't trust the girl. Scott seemed to, but, then again, he seemed to trust everyone. He nodded anyway, agreeing to take the scared girl home. She scratched at her wrists, only making the redness brighten.
Scott grabbed her hand. "Hey, it's okay. We'll help you figure this out."
"Why?" She didn't know them very well, and she didn't know how they were so calm with all of this. She wasn't human for god's sake.
Scott McCall flashed his red eyes at her. Addy, shocked, took a step away from the two of them.
What was he?
"Because I think we know a little more than you do." Scott was surprised to see that when he made eye contact with Addison, her eyes began glowing, and as soon as he stopped, she stopped as well. He didn't think she even realized what happened.
"C-can I just go home?" She tugged her leather jacket tighter around herself. They still had school tomorrow, and by the time she was ready to go to bed it would be well past two in the morning.
Stiles grabbed his keys off of Scott's desk and nodded his head towards the door. The blue jeep stood right outside the door, shining in the streetlights. It looked like everyone on the street was already asleep. It wasn't surprising, it was a weekday.
Stiles didn't play any music as they drove. He was too busy thinking about everything that was going on. It seemed like once they finally defeated one thing, something else popped up. He just wanted to have a regular rest of the school year, or at least a solid two months would do. Instead, he gained two new problems.
Addy quickly told him the street she lived on. She was also thinking about everything. She was wondering what the hell Scott McCall was, and what she was too. It was years since she discovered her eye trick, and years she couldn't figure out what it was. Addison had known Scott for a couple years, she wondered why he never said anything to her about it before.
"What's Scott?" Addy finally asked. She was getting tired of the silence. Stiles looked at her for a moment before turning his attention back to the road. He wasn't sure if he should be the one to tell her. In the end, he caved. If they were going to help her then she was going to need to know the truth about everything.
"He's a werewolf."
Stiles knew she was going to get sucked into the supernatural world. Hell, she was supernatural herself. He didn't say anything more. It was best if Scott was the one to explain it to her, as he seemed better at that kind of thing. They were going to help her, it was just a matter of time to figure out what she was.
It was the full moon tomorrow night. Stiles knew Scott was under control, but it was Liam he worried about. If he survived the bite, he was going to be blood thirsty. Malia still didn't have it under control yet either, and only god knew how Addison was going to be. As far as they knew, she had no issues on the full moon - she would have said something otherwise.
"Do you really think we can figure out what I am?" Addy asked. She had given up two years ago. There wasn't anything on the internet that helped, and no mythological books held the information she needed. Hours upon hours were used up researching what was wrong with her but nothing was quite right.
"I think we know someone who can help," Stiles told her. He noticed her scratching at her wrists again. This time, she was actually bleeding. She didn't seem to notice that she was doing it, or that she was hurting herself. "Stop that."
"Huh? Oh, sorry," Addy apologized. The scratches started healing almost immediately. Stiles had never even seen Scott heal that fast. She was defintely different than Scott and the others, which made him more concerned. They knew nothing about Addy to begin with, much less how dangerous she could be.
"Why do you do that?"
"I don't know. I guess it's a habit when I'm nervous." She shrugged. They were almost at her house, and her anxiety was bubbling up. She hadn't checked her phone again, but she was sure that it was blown up with texts from her brother. She knew it would be her brother, and she really didn't want to face him.
Stiles didn't press on any further. They arrived at her house. A single light was on in the entire house. She knew it was her bedroom and that Brayden would be waiting there. There was no point in trying to avoid him, he was going to mad at her no matter what.
"Thanks for the ride." Addy hopped out of the jeep. Stiles smiled at her. She was just scared, and possibly even a good kid. He could see that now. She was just like Scott when he first got his powers, the only difference was that she was going to get the help that she needed. Scott would do everything in his power to make sure she was okay.
Addy opened the front door ever so quietly. It was unlocked, thankfully. She groaned as she realized she left her bag at the hospital. She hopped up the stairs two at a time and opened her bedroom door. Addy held her breath, waiting for her brother to start yelling at her for not texting him back.
But when she walked in, Brayden was passed out on her bed. His phone laid right beside his hand. She picked it up and saw that he hadn't seen her last text. Addy set it on her night side table, and without waking her brother, pulled a blanket up over his shoulders. He was already in his pajamas, and his hair was flattened.
Addy grabbed her pajamas off the foot of her bed and slipped out of her room, turning the light off as she went by. She didn't want to wake him, partly because she would get lectured and partly because she knew he wouldn't fall back asleep afterward.
As she plugged in her phone, she read the text message that was sent earlier. She smiled as the little contact name she made for Liam. It wasn't anything special, just his name and a little monkey emoji, the one where he covers his eyes.
'Good. See you tomorrow x'
The little 'x' was a cute little touch that made Addy grin.
Addy quickly changed into her pajamas and hopped into Brayden's bed. Her mom would be home soon from her double shift. She felt exhausted already for the day ahead of her.
)( * )(
"Addison Leann Ryder! I swear to god I am going to murder you!" Brayden yelled. Addy had tried sneaking in her room to grab a new pair of clothes for the day. She had showered already and was hoping that if she was quiet enough, she could get changed and leave the house without the older Ryder knowing.
Sadly, she and her clumsiness ruined it by tripping over the boots she kicked off the night before. She was positive she broke her wrist, resulting in multiple curse words that woke Brayden up. The bone was already healing as she tried backing out of the room.
"Don't even think about it. Where the hell were you last night?" He jumped up out of bed and slammed the door before she could get out.
"I was at the hospital?" she responded, but the tone at the end of the sentence raised, making it sound like a question. It was true, technically; she was for a while, and then she got knocked out and kidnapped. She was terrible at lying to her brother. Anybody else was easy as cake, but there was something about him that just made her stutter over her lies.
"Until after midnight?" he shouted. "I know you like this Liam kid, and I'm glad it's finally someone your age, but I know you weren't at the hospital for that long."
"That's because I went home with him," she blurted out. It was the first thing that came to mind, and she almost regretted it as she saw her brothers eyes widen. She stumbled over her own words in hopes to fix the situation she put herself in. "His dad invited me over for supper, and we played video games after. I guess we just lost track of time."
"Then why the hell did you not answer my texts?" Brayden snapped. He was beyond worried about his little sister, especially since she was over at a boy's house. It had been hours since she had last checked in with him. Not to mention that he had to lie to their mother when she arrived back late at night wondering where she was.
"It was on silent. I'm sorry." Her phone was on silent for the night, so she really did tell the truth. There was not a chance that she would tell him what really happened. If Scott was right, then he could help solve the life long mystery she had. "Look, I gotta get ready if we're going to make it to school on time."
Brayden sighed as he left her room. Addy was exhausted and in desperate need of at least a dozen cups of coffee. She slid on her clothes, bearing a simple black tank top and jeans. She wrapped her hair up in a bun. It was to tiring to deal with it down for a day.
Their mother was still sleeping. She didn't start work for another two hours, so Addy never really got to see her. They never saw much of their mom during week days, and Saturdays too. Sunday was the only day they really got to hang out as a family. She worked so many doubles that Addy barely knew her own mother.
"Can we stop and get a coffee?" Addy yawned as she closed the door to her brother's car. He had bags under his eyes as well, and she knew he would agree. Addy didn't drink nearly as much as Brayden did, and it had to have lots of cream, while her brother drank it black.They stopped in the drive-thru of McDonalds to grab some hot refreshments.
Addy groaned as she remembered having first class with Mrs. Row. "Can we just skip today?"
"You're lucky I even took you to get coffee." Brayden glared at his little sister. He wasn't happy about last night, but Addy knew he would get over it soon. As long as she was safe, he was going to forgive her for not answering him. She was a little spooked for a while, but she was going to be fine.
The car ride was silent. Even the music was turned down low, which really didn't happen very often. Her coffee was half gone, but she didn't feel anymore awake than she had before. It was going to be a long day for herself. She wondered how Stiles and Scott were that day too.
"I made the team," Addison announced. She had forgotten to mention it to her brother. There wasn't really any time either though.
Brayden couldn't keep his straight face. He was proud of his little sister. "See, I told ya you could do it!" Even though he was driving, he gave a solid punch to her shoulder. It didn't hurt her at all, it was more of a 'good job!' kind of punch, not an 'I hate you a lot' kind. The two gained that bad habit years ago.
"Shut up. The only reason is because 'It's time to get a damn girl on this fucking team.'" Addy rolled her eyes. She chugged the rest of her coffee. It seemed to help a little bit, but Addy knew it wouldn't last long. Without a good night's sleep, she was tired the whole day.
The two Ryders pulled into the parking lot. Addy stumbled out of the car. She didn't have her bag, which contained homework for math that was due today. She was doing badly enough in the subject, and that project was worth a lot, not to mention she actually tried hard to finish it.
"Don't forget to pick me up after school today," Addy muttered as she walked towards the school. Brayden rolled his eyes and waved her away. It happened once, and she still wasn't over it. Brayden figured it was because she had to walk home in the pouring rain.
"Oh shit, I'm sorry," Addy apologized as she ran into someone, or as they ran into her. She smiled a little as she met familiar blue eyes. "Oh, hey Liam."
Liam looked jumpy, like he was ready to bolt any minute. He seemed to calm down as soon as he saw Addison's smile. "Hey."
"How ya feeling?" Addy asked. She never really heard about what happened to him after the hospital. His ankle appeared to be fine as he bounced up and down on it. It must not have been nearly as bad as they expected. What worried Addy was the large, white bandage on Liam's wrist. "And what happened to your arm?"
"I-I'm fine. And I just cut it while making dinner last night, yeah." Addy could tell he was lying. He was hesitant with his answers. She didn't press on the matter any further. If he wanted to keep something from her, then it was probably for a good reason. They still didn't know each other very well, either.
"Speaking of dinner, I totally lied to my brother last night, and might've said I was over at your house having dinner and playing video games. So I would really, really, really appreciate it if you went along with it?" Addy rushed out, surprising herself to have enough energy to talk that fast. She looked around to make sure her brother hadn't heard her.
Liam chuckled. "Yeah, sure." He liked being around Addy. It made him feel safe. Sure, he felt like a wimp for it – it was supposed to be the other way around – but it was true. He did feel safe. She just had that vibe about her.
"Oh my god, thank you!" Addy was quick to wrap her arms around Liam. He stood shocked for a second before slipping his arms around her waist. She was warm, and the loose hairs that fell from her bun tickled his nose. He didn't know why she lied to her brother but much like himself lying, he was sure it was for good reason.
Addy could have fallen asleep right then and there. He was just so comfortable. She knew if she didn't pull away soon, she would end up actually falling asleep. Liam tensed up, finally giving her an actual reason to pull away. The warmth that they felt disappeared instantly.
"Hey, what's wrong?" She kept her hands on his shoulders. Liam looked over Addy's shoulder to where Scott McCall stood. He was staring at the pair with an odd look in his eye. If it was anything about their conversation last night, then Addy didn't think much of it. Liam on the other hand was nervous.
"Nothing. Let's just get to class." Liam grabbed her hand and pulled them into the school. She tripped over her feet twice before they even made it into the building. She yawned as they continued their trek to their lockers.
"Can we just skip today?" Addy yawned once more, asking for the second time. The coffee she chugged down had helped, although another would be great, or, even better, an energy drink.
"I wish." Liam smirked. The hallway was empty, and Liam had thankfully slowed his pace down to normal speed. "Are you okay?" He noticed how she was dragging her feet and the constant tripping. He thought it was just because he was walking fast, but the bags under her eyes said otherwise.
"Yeah I'm just ti-red." A yawn broke off her sentence. Even after her arrival late back home, she still didn't seep much last night. The news that Scott was a werewolf kept her up all night, she was worried about what she was going to be. Obviously, she wasn't human and that worried her. "Let's go."
Just as they continued walking, Stiles showed up at the end of the hall. "Liam, hey! Addy!"
Liam groaned and tugged Addy's hand in the opposite direction, only for Scott to appear right behind them. Liam glared at the two juniors.
"We need to talk," Scott said.
"No, you need to back the hell up, okay? Both of you," Liam snapped. He was beyond frustrated and didn't want Addy to get involved. The two were whackjobs and if he wanted to become good friends with her, then he didn't want them to ruin it for him.
"Can you just listen for one second? Please?" Scott asked. Liam huffed out a big breath of air and rolled his eyes. He really didn't want to listen to Scott's madness again. Addy was confused as to what was going on, even with knowing the truth about Scott. "Liam... We're brothers now."
"What?" Liam and Addy asked at the same time. The two shared the same confused face, and Scott found it cute. He really liked Addison; she was a good kid, and she reminded him so much of Allison. Even their names were close. They had the same kind of drive and determination.
"Oh god. That's," Stiles mumbled. The three ignored him. He couldn't believe he was using the same words Derek told Scott when he first got bit. It was embarrassing.
"What are you talking about? We just met, and you bit me."
"The bite – the bite is a gift," Scott continued. Stiles ran a hand through his spiked up hair. Definitely embarrassing.
"Scott, stop. Please stop. You," he pointed towards Liam, "we're trying to help you, you little runt."
"By kidnapping me?" Liam exclaimed. Addy may have been in the loop about Scott being a werewolf, but she was extremely confused right now. She had been taken last night by them, but as it seemed Liam was as well.
"Just to clarify, Scott kidnapped you, okay? I aided and abetted," Stiles defended himself.
"Okay, what the hell is going on?" Addy interrupted. She was tired of missing out on bits and pieces. She was ignored, which made her even more frustrated. If they really wanted to help her then she needed to know everything that was going on, and that meant what happened to Liam as well.
"Liam, I've gone through this before. Something's happening to you. Something big," Scott explained, ignoring her question. He needed to get Liam to understand what was going on. The full moon was coming, and they didn't have much time to figure things out. It was the worst possible time for someone to get involved in their world.
"Nothing's happening to me. Nothing." He ripped the bandage off his arm to reveal perfectly fine skin. There was no cut, no bite, nothing. Liam grabbed Addison's hand and dragged her to her first class. He didn't want to deal with Scott and Stiles pestering him that his life was suddenly changed.
"Addy!" Scott called after her. She stopped Liam's rampage, and told him she would meet him in class. He continued to walk away and she jogged back to the juniors. Though Liam may not have been happy with them, she still needed them. "You left this at the hospital last night. My mom brought it home."
"You are a life saver, McCall," Addy thanked him as he passed her the backpack she forgot. She shoved it over her shoulder, and wondered if the he had gone through it. She doubted it, though. There was nothing that she needed to hide in there, it was just school work and a few personal items she used daily.
"Are you okay?" he asked. Addy's normally tanned skin was pale, and the dark bags under her eyes resembled a zombie's. She had fallen asleep right away the night before, but staying asleep was a different story. She had gotten two and a half hours tops. It wasn't often that she didn't sleep well, but much in her life had changed that night and it was only going to get worse.
"Yeah, I'm just tired," she explained. Scott nodded. He wanted to help her. He wanted to help everyone. It was why he was the true alpha. Addy started down the hall just as the bell rang. She groaned as Mrs. Row would get mad at her, yet again. It was as if she only targeted Addy.
She walked into the classroom, all eyes on her, and received a disapproving look from her teacher. "Late again, Ms. Ryder?"
"Yup."
She met Liam's eyes, and started over to the seat behind him, her usual spot. His leg was bouncing up and down. It was easy to tell he was nervous about something. He relaxed slightly as Addy sat down, but not much. As soon as the teacher started talking, she leaned forward in her seat. "You have a lot of explaining to do."
Liam didn't want to tell her what happened at the hospital roof after she passed out. He didn't want to believe anything Scott said, especially when it didn't make any sense. He only nodded as he turned back to the front.
Thoughts raced through his head as to what he was going to tell her. Should she knew the truth? The whole truth? If what Scott said was right, then he didn't want her involved in that life. It was a chance that he wasn't willing to take.
Not even ten minutes after they finished their short conversation, Addy's head slumped against the desk, inaudible snores escaping her mouth. The loose hair that rested on her face flew up every time she breathed out. Liam smirked; she was adorable.
"Addy. Addy, wake up." He tried to be quiet, but she was a really heavy sleeper. He nudged her with his elbow, and made sure the teacher wasn't paying any attention to the two. "Addison." He resorted to hitting her forehead but with slightly more force than he intended.
Addy groaned at the force. She shook her head, realizing she fell asleep. It was only her first class: there was no way she was going to make it through the day.
"Shit," she grumbled. Addy sat up straight and stretched her arms out.
"Ah, Ms. Ryder, glad you're actually contributing to the class for once." Mrs. Row smiled fakely. Addy's eyes widened. She had missed out what the question even was. She heard a few of the kids snicker. It wasn't very often this teacher told off students.
"Actually, I was just stretching," Addy defended. She really wasn't in the mood to deal with her teacher's snarky comments towards her.
"Well, now I'm calling on you. Can you explain to the class what the reading for last night was about?" Mrs. Row asked. Addy glared at her. She didn't exactly have time for the reading last night, but she couldn't exactly say a teenage werewolf kidnapped her after she almost got killed by another supernatural creature.
"I, uh, I never did the reading." Addy scratched at her wrist under the desk. Mrs. Row looked like she was about to tell Addy off, but fortunately, Liam cut in. Addy was going to owe him so much by the end of the day.
"She went with me to the hospital!" Liam blurted out. She didn't know why he was defending her, but she was thankful that he was. Brayden was going to be mad if she scored yet another detention. "And my dad invited her over for supper. She didn't get home till late, so there wasn't much time to do any reading."
"Well, that was nice of Addison," Mrs. Row stuttered out. She was shocked that Liam defended Addy, along with an actually good excuse. She quickly called on to another student to take the attention away from herself.
"I owe you a lot, Dunbar," Addy murmured.
"I'm sure I'll figure something out."
^^^^^
Word count : 5153
February 11, 2016