Further down the hallway, my footfalls came quicker and I had to fight the urge to check over my shoulder for someone following me or someone who knew what we were doing. I had done my part: presented the bestiary snippet to the school's approachable language expert and translated the bulk of our mystery document. I'd fallen a little short on actually disproving Lydia as the kanima, but at least Latin was now comprehensible English and our idea of the creature was a little less foggy. It was something.
Rounding the corner, I halted in my tracks when my eyes fell on the very people I was hurrying to meet. Instead of waiting in the library, Stiles, Allison, a confused Lydia, and even a reluctant Jackson were trudging down the hall in the exact opposite direction.
I waited until they caught up with me and joined their current, our path now set for the parking lot.
"Change of plans?" I poised the question as casually as I could. Allison met my gaze with a strained look in her eyes, despite her grin and nonchalant shrug.
"Study group is just changing locations."
Lydia rolled her eyes as the group continued to gently push her along down the halls. "I don't see why we have to leave the library."
"We're meeting up with someone else," Stiles explained.
"Couldn't they just meet us in the library?"
Lydia's steadiness was met with a heartbeat of silence and a strangled laugh from Stiles.
"Wow! That would've been a great idea! Really, Lydia, you are just so... so smart," his eyebrows jumped up his forehead and he flailed his arm more than necessary. "Oh well! Too late!"
She pondered this for a minute, halting her tracks and pursing her lips. "Wait, hold on-"
Jackson huffed and pushed pass me to wrap his hand tightly around Lydia's upper arm in frustration. I winced as he yanked her forward and growled into her ear, "Just shut up and walk."
Outside, the sky was overcast and ominous. Watching the lesser co-captain push Lydia into Stiles' blue jeep and the flannel clad boy shaking his head vigorously to himself, I joined Allison outside of our own car.
"Where are we going and why is he here instead of Scott?" I hushed.
"Scott's still talking with Derek somewhere," she fidgeted nervously. "But we can't wait for him in the library."
"Why not?"
"Because Derek wasn't going to kill Lydia, he was going to get his minions to do it and we have to get as far away from them as possible."
I had thought Isaac, Erica, and even Boyd were just going to test our friend, but it turned out that they felt justified doing everything for the alpha in charge.
"Okay, but why does he have to be here?" I motioned to Jackson as he swung his feet into the jeep's backseat next to Lydia.
"I don't know, I thought he could help," she groaned and walked over to the driver's side of the car while she carried on in a whisper. "He said he needed to talk to her anyway. Deep down, I think they both still care about each other."
"Well he's definitely got an odd way of showing it," I mumbled in disbelief, but Allison had already opened her door and slid behind the wheel.
The journey to Scott's house was quiet as we tailed the Jeep closely. Through the back window of the vehicle, I shot daggers at Jackson for his scowl and the way he was manhandling Lydia, who I kept watch of simultaneously.
She had closed herself off by crossing her arms tightly around her body and she kept twisting in her seat to glance at the surroundings; still unsure of our final destination but well aware of the anxiety thick in the air.
When we finally came to a stop and waited to make sure Stiles had locked his jeep, Lydia looked up at the home questioningly. "If we're studying at Scott's house, where's Scott?"
"Meeting us here," Stiles nodded and led the way to the door. "I think... I hope."
Once we gained entrance easily and filed into the house, Stiles slammed the door dramatically behind us. I gnawed at my cheek as the group of us watched him go to great lengths to lock the door: the main lock, the deadlock, the chain lock. He proceeded to push back the curtain at one of the two narrow windows sandwiching the door, leaning back in satisfaction once deeming us safe for the moment.
Allison rocked back on her heels and Jackson furrowed his eyebrows. Meanwhile, Lydia scanned the boy with confusion and doubt on her face.
I glanced over my shoulder once - down the hall and up the stairway - even though I knew no one was there.
"Uh," Stiles looked at us all with his mouth open, obviously trying to form an excuse. "There's been a few break-ins in the neighbourhood."
I nodded in support of this cover but Lydia still looked skeptical, especially when Stiles grabbed a chair from the dining room and wedged it beneath the doorknob.
"And a murder," he added.
"Lydia, follow me," Jackson interrupted the awkward tension. "I need to talk to you for a minute."
His eyes darted sideways before he whipped around and began trudging up the stairs. Lydia uncrossed her arms to throw her hands up in exasperation.
"Seriously? You guys are acting like total nutcases, you know that right?" she muttered, following behind Jackson to the second floor but keeping a fair distance. "What is with everyone?"
Once a door was heard shutting in one of the upstairs bedrooms and the two were out of ear shot, Allison dropped her bag to the ground in a huff and pulled out her crossbow while Stiles pressed his cheek against the left side window he had previously checked.
I took guard on the opposite window.
"Do you have a weapon on you?" Allison asked, fitting an arrow to hers so she was ready for an assault at any moment.
"Err, yeah," mumbling, I reached into my own bag.
Stepping back from the window, I pulled out a smooth black case from behind my journal in a zippered pouch. Holding the case gently in my hands, I clicked it open to reveal my dagger I had begun to pack since our family's suspicious behaviour and my intensified visions.
The blade was shiny and unused but the handle was worn from my knife skill training with my mom.
Growing up with parents supposedly in the weaponry industry, our lessons of survival and self defense seemed natural. Looking back after realizing the existence of supernatural beings and the reality of our parents' careers, it was like we had always been raised to be hunters. Mom taught first aid and knife handling; subtle attacks being her forte. Dad taught us how to use guns, bows, and how to apply hand-to-hand combat. We were taught to be observant and deliberate.
It was an unusual upbringing but it worked somehow. Or maybe it didn't, I still wasn't sure. It'd been months since I made conversation with my parents about something that didn't involve my destiny or responsibilities as an Argent. They were warmer when we were younger and still loved us today, but we were officially part of the werewolf hunting family business now and their temperature had dropped.
"Holy shit," Stiles muttered, his eyes wide and fixated on the dagger in my hands. It was small enough to fit into a pencil case but wide enough to do some damage. "What? Are you gonna throw that at them?"
I simply shrugged and pretended not to notice the excitement in his tone. "If I have to, I guess."
Normally I would be hesitant to make such an assault, but it was justifiable if it meant protecting Lydia.
I pressed my nose against the glass and squinted my eyes. The sun was setting and painting everything darker so the street lamps had turned on, but I could still make out some abnormalities in the view.
"Um, Stiles?" I squeaked, panic rising. "Do you see what I see?"
"What?" he asked and tore his attention away from the knife to direct it outside. His face scrunched in concentration for a minute but fell slack when his eyes fell on what I had seen. "Um yup. Definitely."
Allison scurried to my side. "What? What is it? Are they here already?"
I moved my head so she could squeeze in beside me and waited for her to gasp.
"Oh God," she muttered, quickly reaching for Stiles' cellphone and punching in Scott's number. My sister had to keep covering her tracks that suggested her and the teen wolf were still together since our parents tracked all of her emails and calls, even in our precarious situation.
Outside, towering in matching leather and standing in the light under the street lamp on the sidewalk was Derek and his pack; their eyes glowing in the darkness ready to lash out.
They had found us too soon, Scott hadn't even met up with us yet, which meant it was only us against four completely capable werewolves. And even as the grip on my knife's handle tightened in anticipation, I knew without Scott for backup the odds were not in our favour.
"You need to get here now," Allison spoke into the phone, her voice wavering. "Right now."
With a quick reply, she hung up the phone and I watched her fidget and stare out the windows.
"Is he coming?" Stiles worried.
"He said he's on his way."
Stiles ran his hand through his short hair and cursed under his breath. "What are they doing? What are they waiting for? Are they trying to make us nervous before attacking everyone?"
"If so," I hushed. "It's working."
The sight of them all standing out there was making my chest constrict so I looked at my sister instead. She wasn't watching the pack either.
Instead, her gaze was trained on the phone still in her hand set to dial and her thumb was hovering over the call button. I read the number quickly and my eyes widened.
"Allison," I mumbled hesitantly, recognizing my father's number. "What are you doing?"
"I think we have to call Dad," her voice squeaked.
"But if he finds out about this, you and Scott-"
"I know."
She nodded solemnly and her dark eyes were pooling at the edges. My heart felt like shattering into a million pieces whenever I saw my sister hurt and this time was no different.
"What are we supposed to do?" Allison whispered. "They aren't here to scare us. They're here to kill Lydia."
"You don't have to do this," Stiles breathed, turning away from the window and letting the curtain fall in place.
"I don't?"
"Yeah," he nodded like he was convincing himself in the process. "We can take them, right? Well, you two can take them. Or take one of them at least. We've got Allison's bow, El's butcher knife-"
"It's just a small dagger, Stiles."
"-Whatever," he flailed. "Just... shoot one of 'em."
"Are you serious?" Allison hissed.
"We told Scott we could protect ourselves so let's do it. They don't think we're gonna fight without Scott so if we hit one of them I guarantee they'll take off."
"We could at least give it a shot?" I mumbled in agreement, surprising myself.
"Right? Yeah, come on, we've got this," Stiles bounced on his heels.
My sister let out a shaky breath and peered out the window. "Which one?"
"Derek," Stiles insisted. "Preferably in the head."
Allison scoffed at this. "If Scott can catch an arrow, Derek definitely can."
"Okay, just shoot one of the other three then."
"You mean two?" I offered, counting the bodies illuminated on the sidewalk.
"No, I mean three," he jumped to the window again and ripped back the curtain, noticing one of the pack members missing. "Where the hell is Isaac?"
I squinted into the darkness but I couldn't see him anywhere, causing my heartbeat to rage in my chest. My sister gulped in air beside me and lined up her bow with the glass. I stepped back to give her room.
Suddenly, I froze.
My back had collided with something solid. Someone.
"Found him," I whispered, my voice barely escaping my lips.
The room burst into a flash of motion.
I went to stab Isaac's abdomen with my dagger but his reflexes meant his hand was already clamped on my wrist and twisting it around violently. I yelped and his fist smashed into my hand, sending a shockwave up my arm and my knife sliding helplessly across the floor. With my wrist still in his grasp, I tried to use the other arm to pull him close enough to kick him in the groin but I was embarrassingly too slow and his knee was already slamming my stomach, winding me and making me collapse to the ground.
Within seconds he had slammed Allison's crossbow down and thrown her against the wall and as I winced at the pain in my stomach, I listened to him slam Stiles to the floor with the force of his elbow.
I rolled over and army crawled my way across the carpet to grab my knife, looking to see Allison recovering in the process.
Meeting eyes with my sister I jolted my head towards the stairs and she nodded, snatching her crossbow and sprinting up to the second floor in search for Lydia while Isaac was too busy prowling over a fallen Stiles.
I forced myself to my feet and staggered slightly. I was about to throw my knife at Isaac when a loud crash of glass shattering echoed through the hall.
Scott had finally arrived and he hadn't been subtle: smashing through his own dining room window in full wolf form and grabbing Isaac by the neck, wrestling him to the ground.
Seeing Stiles with more help, I changed my direction and ran up the stairs for Allison.
"Where's Lydia?" I urged, catching up to my sister.
"I sent her this way and told her someone's trying to break in."
"Well where's Jackson?"
"I have no idea."
I jogged behind her into one of the bedrooms, locking the door behind me and holding my dagger tighter in my hand.
"I think Lydia's in that bathroom," Allison motioned to another closed door connected to the room we were standing in. "We should stay in here until it's safe for her to come out."
I nodded at Allison as she held out her crossbow protectively. Crossing to the bedroom window, I pulled back the curtains to make sure it was shut and locked, closing any possible entrance to the room.
But it wasn't closed at all. The early evening breeze was billowing the curtain fabric and a clear sticky substance was oozing from the window frame.
The venom.
"Allison," I whispered. "It's here."
She rushed over to the window beside me and her eyes widened as she noticed what I was referencing. "Oh God."
Carefully, I switched my hold on my dagger so that I held the very tip of the handle and the blade was jutting outwards. I moved closer to the venom.
"Ellie, what are you doing?" my sister warned but I shook my head.
I stuck out the blade far enough so that the edge fell right under the venom's drip, coating the knife and tip of the handle.
"Werewolves can catch," I whispered. "Let 'em."
I stepped back from the window and glanced at her, a look of surprise on her face and even a hint of a smile.
Suddenly, there was a loud bang at the door, and the lock fell away. The bedroom door swung open and slammed against the wall to reveal Erica with her foot in the air.
We spun to face her squarely and held up our weapons as she lowered her boot to the floor, stepping into the room.
My knife was held out towards her and Allison was concentrating on her aim. This made Erica simply laugh.
"Well isn't this adorable," she snickered. "The Argent twins in action."
I held my knife steadier.
"Quite the scene downstairs. But I thought I'd like it more up here," Erica smiled slyly. "And I think I was right. How about we let the boys fight it out downstairs and have a little fight of our own up here. Girl on girl. It'll be hot."
We held our ground.
"No?" she pouted. "Maybe I'll go back downstairs then and get rough with the boys. I think I'll start with Stiles. You know, this may make me sound like kind of a bitch but I've always wanted to know what it feels like to steal somebody's boyfriend. Must be a sweet rush of power."
"He's not my boyfriend," I tilted my head.
"Oh that's right," Erica sneered. "You just wish he was don't you? But why would Stiles want any of that, when he can have all of this?"
With her last words she motioned to her body and I scoffed. She wanted a reaction out of me so I wasn't going to give her one. Not yet any way.
"Why are you wasting your time?" Allison interjected. "Did you come up here just to talk?"
Erica pouted back. "You're not having fun? I didn't offend you, Eleanor, did I? Too bad, I thought we might be friends. We got along in Chemistry so well. Remember that? Me, rubbing my hands all up Stiles' thigh and whispering in his ear? Stiles wanting all of it and never telling me to stop?"
Her eyes were on fire now, searing into mine.
"When you were watching and knowing there was nothing you could do about it? Knowing that you had no chance against me? You know, I think he even got a little excited-"
With that, I couldn't handle her mouth anymore and whipped my wrist back to send my knife piercing through the air. Like I had predicted, Erica caught it easily before it made any contact with the door frame behind her and she beamed.
"You didn't think that would actually work, did you?" she chuckled at the knife she had grabbed right where the blade met the smooth handle. Right where the venom had collected the heaviest.
"Actually I did," I smirked and waited patiently for her to clue in.
Her face fell and she stared back at her hand, releasing the dagger and noticing the wet, shiny, formula that was dripping all over her hand and making the tips of her fingers twitch.
Within seconds, the venom caught up to the rest of her body and she slumped down to the floor.
My sister lowered her bow with pleasure and followed behind me as I walked over to girl who was now paralyzed from the neck down.
At Erica's side, I crouched down and rested my hands on my knees, letting her see my smirk.
I bit my lip and tilted my head as if trying to recall something before leaning down closer so that I was inches from her ear.
"That's funny," I whispered heavily. "I thought you were psychic."
Erica visibly rolled her eyes but remained quiet, knowing she had been defeated. I smiled, pleased with myself, and raised to my full height. However, Allison stayed crouched on the ground and reached over to tuck a piece of Erica's golden hair behind her ear.
Allison smiled at me before leaning in closer and whispering like I had. "Bitch."
When my sister stood up I beamed at her and linked my arm through hers.
"Nice move," she praised me, a gleam in her eye.
"Thanks."
"Let's go get Scott, he can handle Erica."
"But what about Lydia?" I halted and my sisters' face fell.
"Either she's locked safely in the bathroom or..." Allison's voice drifted off as she stared out the window. I knew she was suggesting Lydia could've turned into the kanima and escaped but I wouldn't believe it without proof, and my sister's tone hinted that she didn't want to buy into it either. "Wherever she is, she can't see Isaac and Scott or even Derek and Boyd transformed. We'll come and get her as soon as it's safe."
We traveled together quickly to the main level to find Scott throwing Isaac out of the door, Stiles recovered and standing next to him.
"Minion number two is upstairs," Allison nodded towards her boyfriend and it wasn't long before Erica was being thrown out onto the front lawn as well.
Boyd was shrinking behind Derek, who was glaring at the four of us standing on the porch. The alpha let out an annoyed sigh and looked to Scott.
The teen wolf was standing in front of all of us slightly, as if still protecting us even during the momentary ceasefire.
"I think I'm finally getting why you keep refusing me, Scott. You're not an omega, you're already an alpha of your own pack." Derek boomed from the sidewalk. "But you know, you can't beat me."
I tensed up, but Scott didn't waver. "I can hold you off until the cops get here."
Derek faltered as if he was just hearing the sirens ringing in the distance now, but his attention wasn't towards the streets. Instead, he was focused on something on the roof.
That's when I heard it: a low hiss and the faint noise of something scattering above us.
The four of us scampered down the McCall's front steps and turned around so we could have a clear view of whatever was up there.
I was afraid but I wasn't surprised when I saw the kanima scaling the roof shingles and screeching down at us.
Scott threw his arm protectively around my sister and Stiles leaned into me as we all stared up at the atrocity. My palms were sweating and my mind was ticking while I wondered in that suspended moment of time if the creature was Lydia. I thought she had been locked in the bathroom and left upstairs to be kept from seeing the werewolves downstairs, and I denied and denied that she could've been the one to crawl out and leave slime behind on the windows.
Hissing one last time, the creature crawled into the darkness and I debated whether or not to call out her name.
But my thoughts were interrupted by the sound of quick footfalls pattering from inside the house, and I had to blink a few times to register the strawberry blonde standing before us on the porch in her floral dress and pink bomber jacket, adorning a scowl but absolutely no scales.
"Can somebody please tell me what the hell is going on?" she squeaked, the uneasiness in her voice clear to me.
Everyone fell silent, even Derek, and stared incredulously at the girl. We didn't have to search for any more evidence to prove Lydia wasn't the kanima, because the truth was glaring us right in the face.
Lydia was human and there was only one other person for the snake-like creature to be. Someone who I hadn't considered, but behind his demeanor might've fit the bestiary's description of lonely.
"It's Jackson."
"What's Jackson?" Lydia snapped.
Derek jumped into action and yelled at his pack members. "Boyd! Get those two out of here."
With those orders, the alpha was sprinting away into the shadows past Scott's house in the direction of Jackson. He was still lightning fast, even as he restrained from wolfing out in front of Lydia.
"Scott," Stiles called out, running to his Jeep parked on the sidewalks and waiting for his best friend to join him.
"Scott!" this time the call was from his girlfriend as Allison gripped onto his arm.
"Get Lydia home, we're going after him," Scott instructed my sister and made his way over to Stiles.
"What are you going to do?"
He struggled and ran his hand through his hair before jumping in the driver's seat. "We're going to try to save him."
I didn't wait for the Jeep to peel away before running over to Lydia and offering my hand. "Lydia, come on we've gotta go."
She looked at my hand like it was some foreign object and my heart fell. I didn't want Lydia to shut us out more than she already had and clearly wanted to.
The strawberry blonde didn't take my hand - keeping hers wrapped around her torso - but she followed me anyway.
We were fairly silent all the way to Lydia's house, the two of them in the front while I sat running my hands up and down my legs in the backseat.
The tires of our car crackled against the pavement as we rolled up the driveway to our friend's large mansion in an eerily calm neighbourhood which heavily contrasted the rush of action we had experienced earlier.
My sister killed the engine and we paused for twenty heartbeats.
Rubbing her temple, Allison turned to Lydia whose eyes were wide. "I need you to promise that you won't say anything about what just happened."
Our friend scoffed and her eyes darted between us.
"I'll promise not to say anything about what just happened if you can tell me what the hell just happened."
I picked at the ends of my hair. "It's kind of complicated."
"Well how 'bout you start with why was Derek there?" Lydia exclaimed. "Or where Jackson went, or what is wrong with Erica?"
Her expression was back to being confused and even hurt which made my stomach ache. I wanted to let it all go and tell her everything, give her as much as we knew, but it wasn't my decision to do that. Besides, in my circumstance I didn't have a choice when I was thrown into the supernatural world but in Lydia's she did whether she knew it or not.
Being swept up into everything had made me lose my focus on school, art, and my own sanity. Part of me wanted to prolong her safety or even ignorance as far as possible. But something Lydia Martin would never want to be was ignorant. She deserved to know.
I clenched my jaw and looked to my sister for where to go from here, but Lydia was already fed up with our silence.
"Oh, do you need a minute to come up with a plausible lie?"
"Part of the reason we're asking is because Scott and I aren't supposed to be seeing each other, okay?" Allison explained. "It'd just be better if you kept what you know to yourself."
"Fine," Lydia spat. "I will keep what I know about you and your boyfriend - which is nothing - to myself."
With that, she rolled her eyes and turned away from us; opening the door far enough to step a single foot out.
Allison had to put her hand on Lydia's arm to stop her. "Wait. He's not just my boyfriend, you know that, right?"
"Let me go-"
"Just for one second, please, try and remember-"
"Remember what?" Lydia exhaled sharply.
"Remember what it feels like," my sister's smile was soft. "All of those times in school when you see him standing down the hall, and you cannot breathe until you're with him. Or those times in class when you - you can't stop looking at the clock because you know that he's standing right out there waiting for you. Don't you remember what that's like?
Lydia's porcelain face was paler than usual and her eyelashes flickered.
"No."
"What do you mean 'No'? You've had boyfriends."
Our friend's voice floated in the silence. "None like that."
Allison's grip fell slack and Lydia used the opportunity to turn from us and stand up from the car completely. And we both let her go.
Watching the strawberry blonde trot to her front door and disappear inside, my sister folded her hands and sighed guiltily. "I-I thought her and Jackson..."
But her words stopped and the silence returned.
The truth was, Allison was extremely lucky to find Scott and vice versa. I'd read about romance stories, fairy tales, and fate, but the fact of the matter was that people rarely found that kind of spark in reality. My sister and her first love were extremely rare and exceptional.
Behind Jackson's crude exterior, I knew Lydia had somehow found a way to his heart. I knew they had loved each other despite how cold people expected them to be, but to have a love like Allison and Scott's was nearly impossible. That's why it was that much more heartbreaking that my parents were trying to force them apart even when they had something everyone dreamed of. Myself included.
"You and Scott are special," I whispered.
"Not even you and Stiles?" She tried but I met her with a knowing look. Allison knew it was different: Stiles made me feel fluttery but wasn't Scott her oxygen? Weren't they destiny?
"You know we aren't like that."
"But you could be."
"I'm just saying, Allison, not everyone can have something like you and Scott do. Hold onto it as long as you can."
"Or until Mom or Dad rips it from me," she sighed.
"Speaking of," I motioned towards the clock that was ticking later and later. "We should get back home."
When we came through the front door our mother was waiting for us, the icy eyes she passed onto me scanning us up and down as she stood in the kitchen sharpening knives.
"Hello girls," she hummed. "Studying went late."
"Midterm season, Mom," I explained and headed for the stairs.
"Well wait a minute!"
I froze and turned on my heels.
"I've barely seen you all week, come and chat!"
Allison sent me a look of uneasiness before shuffling over to the kitchen, taking a place on one of the tall stools stacked along the counter. I took this opportunity to grab a glass from the cupboard and fill it with water.
Mom filed the knives away in their holding slots and smiled at us.
"Where's Dad?" Allison offered quietly.
I tried not to spit out my own words too harshly. "Or Gerard?"
His name left a bad taste in my mouth.
"Oh, they had some business to take care of so it's just us girls," Mom swirled a glass of wine I hadn't realized she'd poured. "Tell me, what are we studying?"
"World History," I exclaimed simultaneously with Allison replying "Chemistry."
"Both actually," Allison blushed and I was suddenly extremely thirsty, prolonging my drink until it looked silly for me to hold an empty glass to my face.
Mom didn't notice our odd behaviour, or at least she didn't make it clear that she did, and carried on our friendly conversation. "Ah yes, I remember I used to gravitate towards the sciences myself. And mathematics. If you have any artistic talent it comes from your father's side."
She laughed and the sound was unnatural to my ears. It's not that she never laughed, it was that she hadn't in a while. But whether it was because of how late it was, or how many glasses of wine she had allowed herself, she seemed softer and warmer tonight; like the lines on her face weren't drawn as harshly and her wide smile was genuine.
It reminded me of when we were little before all of this, and it made me feel guilty that all I wanted to do was dump my dish and run to my room where I could call Stiles for a kanima update.
"I'm proud of you girls," Mom was still grinning. "I know all of this has been hard on you but you have really proven yourselves, especially after Kate's unfortunate death."
"Thanks, Mom."
"No, thank you," she smiled, but her eyes were far away and reminiscent. "I'm just glad I've got two daughters that are as beautiful as flowers and tough as nails. How could I be so lucky?"
I looked at Allison and thought she was just as lost for words as I was. So I simply smiled back.
Mom pushed her empty glass towards the edge of the sink and sighed. "Go on, then. I know you're tired."
"Thanks, Mom," I sang and headed to the stairs with my twin sister on my heels. "Goodnight!"
"Goodnight Allison!" our mother's voice reverberated off the walls. "And sweet dreams, Eleanor!"
The heavy weight on my shoulders was back, making it extra difficult to climb the rest of the stairs.
Before parting ways, Allison turned to me and whispered. "Are you calling them?"
"Yes."
"Tell me as soon as you can," she pleaded, and the pained look on her face made it clear to me how much it was killing her not being able to communicate with her boyfriend and find out what's going on. As nice as Mom was being downstairs, she was still too paranoid and overprotective.
"I will."
Taking a second once shutting my door, I leaned against the solid wood to catch my breath.
When my heart rate was back to normal I grabbed my cellphone and dialed it as fast as I could.
After so many rings I thought my heart was going to fly out of my chest, the tone stopped and was replaced by a soft rustling on the other end.
"Stiles?" I hushed.
"No, Scott."
"Oh."
"Don't sound so disappointed!"
"I'm not disappointed," I gathered myself quickly. "I just didn't know it was going to be you."
"Yeah, yeah," Scott's voice rang out through my phone. "Well Stiles is driving right now so he can't really talk."
"HEY ELEANOR!" I heard the voice of Stiles shouting presumably from the driver's seat.
I heard Scott groan and figured his shout would've been a lot louder sitting right next to him. "He says hello."
"Tell him 'Hi' back," I chuckled. "Now, did you find him? What happened?"
"We found him alright, trying to kill Danny and paralyzing six other club goers in the process."
"Oh God," I clapped my hand to my forehead. "Is Danny alright?"
"Yeah he's fine. Paralyzed temporarily, but off to the hospital and fine."
"Well where's the kanima - er - Jackson?"
"It's back to Jackson now," he explained. "Derek slashed at it and somehow the injury turned him back. He's in the back seat."
My eyes bugged out. "Is he angry?"
"He's knocked out."
"Oh," I raised my eyebrows. "I see. Well what are you gonna do with him? Drop him back at his place with no explanation?"
"Not a clue at the moment. But it needs to be somewhere where we can hold him for long enough to figure out what to do with him. Or long enough to convince him what he is and that he's dangerous."
"I still say we just kill him," I heard Stiles mutter faintly and I rolled my eyes.
"Stiles, we're not killing him," Scott disciplined.
"God! Okay fine," he huffed. "I've got an idea."
"What is it?"
"She wants to know what it is," Scott informed his best friend. "And obviously so do I. Does it involve breaking the law?"
"By now don't you think that's a given."
"I was just trying to be optimistic."
"Don't bother."
"Guys!" I cut in. "What's the plan?"
"I can get a prison transport van from my Dad's work and park it in the woods. It's got a set of cuffs in the back and a heavy locked door. We can hold Jackson there until it's safe," Stiles explained.
"Won't his parents worry?"
"We've got his stuff, right? I can just text them that he stayed over at a friend's house."
"If we don't get caught, it's a great plan," Scott agreed.
"We won't get caught... I hope."
"Can you tell all of this to your sister?"
"We're supposed to be asleep right now but I'll let her know first thing in the morning," I assured him.
"Okay," Scott paused for a moment. "And can you tell her that I..."
His sentence drifted off so I filled in the blank for him. "That you love her."
"Please?"
"I will. I promise. Even though she already knows," I grinned into the phone. "Alright, good luck. Don't hurt yourselves."
"We won't." Scott replied.
"We hope!" Stiles added and I laughed before shutting the phone off and crawling into bed, attempting to quiet my thoughts for at least a few hours.
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a/n: AH Jackson revealed!!!!!!!! (you already knew that but oh well)
I hope you liked this chapter and my attempts to write a good action sequence. I actually ended up in a deep corner of the internet watching krav maga videos lol @ my search history now
please tell me what you think and i will see you next update (this first book is almost over!) (not really but kind of!) (like 3/4 done!) xx