"Addison Leann Ryder, you get back here right now. I am your mother. and you will listen to me!"
Mrs. Ryder had come home earlier than Addy expected. She, Brayden, and Reyna were playing an old board game they found in the corner of his closet. They were all having a good laugh, until she showed up. Addy was glad that Liam had convinced her to be with her brother because in reality, her brother meant the most to her, even more than the beta werewolf she fell for.
He understood that. He would always understand that.
Liam knew the moment they met that her big brother meant the world to her. It was the way she spoke about him, the way she respected him and defended him against anyone that insulted Brayden. She was the best little sister he could have asked for. They had their fights, mainly in the past, but they always pulled through.
Just like they would pull through this.
The moment Addison heard her mom's car pull into the drive way, or more so heard her from down the street, she raced up the stairs to get a bag to go to Liam's. It was probably best that she wore her own clothes, although his were much more comfortable. The two watched her with confusion but finally put two and two together. She was going to avoid her own mother for as long as possible.
But she wasn't quick enough to get out of the house. Mrs. Ryder opened the front door just as Addy was about to leave. She was shocked to see her own daughter, but quickly regained seriousness and began to demand for her only daughter to listen. She had run away from home without any sign of where she was or what she was doing, not to mention that she got a call about skipping school. The behaviour Addy had was unacceptable.
"You were never my mother." Addy shook her head. "How many things have you missed out on in my life, huh? My first lacrosse game. My birthday: four of my birthdays to be exact. My first day of high school. My recital in elementary school! You even missed Christmas! I can go on and on and on about how many things you missed in my life because you were never there! Okay? So don't give me that crap about being my mother. A mother is supposed to be there for her daughter growing up!"
Addy had to get out of there. She could feel her anger get the best of her, and without any knowledge of what was going to happen to her, she didn't want to take a chance and stay. As much as she was mad at her mother, she never wanted to hurt the woman. There was a part of her that would always love her mom. How could she not? Every person loved their mother, even if it was deep down.
"I'll go check on her," she heard Brayden quietly tell their mother. There was no doubt that he was mad at her too, the woman lied about who is father was. It was a lot for him, but he managed to at least remain calm while talking to her. Addy failed to do that. She couldn't even look her in the eye anymore.
She made it half way down the block, walking straight down the middle of the road. The footsteps of Brayden running to catch up echoed perfectly clear in her ears. "Adster! Ads, wait! Stop, okay, just stop."
"Back off," Addy growled. Her eyes were glowing at him. She knew that. It felt a little different. The power flowing in her veins was different. Brayden held his hands up and backed up a step or two. "I'm going to Liam's. I'm not staying there, okay? I can't, you don't understand."
"I don't understand?" Brayden questioned. His voice rose at every sentence he spoke. "Oh, I'm sorry that this just affects you! I'm sorry that none of this has to do with me! I'm sorry that you discovered that your mother had an affair and turned out to not have the father you thought! Wait... that was me! I'm in the same boat that you are, Addison Leann Ryder. At least you know who your dad is! So don't tell me that I 'don't understand,' because I sure as hell do!"
"It's not just about mom, okay!" Addy shouted back. Once the siblings got started with the yelling, there was no going back. "It's about dad! It's about me! I'm not what I thought I was! I'm not anything like I thought I was! Dad he's, he's different, and because of that I'm different! So no, you don't understand."
"Don't make this about you!" Brayden shot his arms out. "This isn't just about you! It affects everyone, everyone in this god damn family! Stop making everything about you! I'm not even your full brother, Addy! You weren't the only one lied to!"
"I'm not making this about me!" Addy yelled. She took a breath and looked up at her brother, who was extremely stressed about everything going on. "I'm going to Liam's for the night. I'll be back tomorrow."
"Whatever, just run from your problems. It's not the first time you've done that."
"What did you say?" Addy whipped back around. She was riled up, and he was just putting more fuel onto the fire. Brayden crossed his arms over his chest and muttered out a 'You know what I said'. Addison grabbed the collar of his shirt, and pushed his threateningly against one of the parked cars. The car alarm blared, and she noticed the twinge of fear in his eyes. "If you faced half the problems I had, you'd be running all the time."
Brayden's jaw clenched. However, no words came from his mouth and she knew that he had nothing to say about it. They faced different kinds of problems, and while Brayden stressed over his grades, she stressed if she was going to make it to the next day. She had won on that one, and she knew it.
"I'll be back tomorrow."
)( * )(
'Come to Scott's. Just you.'
Liam was not surprised to see Addy at his bedroom window the night before. In fact, he was waiting for her. She was angry when she got there. He could smell it off of her before he could see her. And when he asked what was wrong, she had only snapped and said she didn't want to talk about it. Of course Addy felt bad and apologized straight after.
The next day they called a pack meeting at the McCall household, as well as Brayden. Addy reluctantly told Liam about the fight she had with Brayden. They used to fight all the time when they were younger, but as they matured, the less they fought. Addy thought it was because Brayden realized that he had to become the man of the house and the only way to do that was to make rational decisions. That included ending a fight before it started.
Addison was still mad at him, extremely mad at him. Brayden had no right to yell at her for what she had been through. Yes, she understood what he was going through as well, what they learned had to have some sort of effect on him. But Addy had a whole different world of problems, literally. Brayden didn't have to deal with the supernatural like she did, and for that, he would never truly understand.
So, when the last to roll into the house was Brayden, she began the story. The siblings had a lack of eye contact and it was easy to tell that they were still frustrated at one another. Addy cleared her throat. They all sat around in the living room while she paced around in front of the TV.
"So, um, as you all know, I, uh, finally found out some answers about myself. And I know you've all helped me with everything, and I can't thank you enough for it, and I figured you deserved the real story; the whole story."
It took over an hour to tell the story again. It wasn't the whole story because some things just weren't appropriate to say. Some things were meant to be kept hidden. They would never know that she was keeping things from them. She planned to keep it that way. Theo Raeken was gone, and he was never coming back.
The pack watched and listened to Addy intently as she told them the tale of how she ended up the way she was. The gruesome tale of the Dread Doctors to her father revealing her true identity. Not once did she stutter over her words or hesitate to dim down on the horrid details of what happened to her. If they were going to get the story, they were going to get it right.
"... And I still don't really know what I can do now," Addy finished. "I'm still weak from yesterday, and I don't think that I can test out whatever new powers I have quite yet. I'm not sure if I want to. I mean, what's going to happen to me?"
"You're going to be fine," Brayden assured. He stood up from his place and walked over to beside his sister. Through her story, he began to realize what she meant, and how things were different for her. It wasn't just about their mom; it was her dad as well. "Look, I'm pretty new to all of this, but I want to help. Just, whatever you need, okay?"
"He's right," Scott agreed. "Whatever happens to you, we'll be here to help you, no matter what. But, I can't ask you to put yourself in this world. It's dangerous and you don't heal like we do."
Brayden glared down at Scott. He wasn't going to take orders from a boy younger than him, not even if he was a true alpha. Addy meant more to him than not getting hurt, especially if she got hurt and there was something he could do about it. "Bullshit. Stiles is helping you all the time: he's human."
Scott McCall and Brayden Ryder argued for several minutes about him staying to help. The alpha wasn't going to take another death on his shoulder, especially not his. It was too dangerous to stay in Beacon Hills. Addy finally had enough of the arguing and stood up from her previously sitting spot.
"Stop it! Jesus Christ, just stop, both of you. He's right, it's too dangerous for you here. In six days, you're going to go back to college with Reyna, and you're going to take her on a nice date. You're going to get through school and have a life, okay? That's what's going to happen. That's it and that's all."
"Adster..."
"No, don't. Just, don't, okay? I want you to live the life I'm never going to be able to live. Please, just do it for me?" Addy looked up at her brother. The life she always pictured as a kid wasn't going to happen, because making it out of that town would leave a mark on her that would surround her heart to the point of no return. A white picket fence was at the back of her mind along with the rest of the list she may never get to see.
Brayden nodded his head. The siblings had tears brimming their eyes as they hugged out whatever differences they had. Their fight last night was forgotten and forgiven. They couldn't fight for very long; they never could.
"I'm sorry," Addy mumbled. "I'm so sorry."
"Me too," Brayden pulled away from the embrace. "I understand now. I understand all of it."
"I know."
)( * )(
"I've been through your bad plans before, but this has got to be by far the worst. Are you crazy? Like seriously, I'm genuinely concerned for what goes through your head all the time! We don't even know if this is going to work. You're going to get yourself killed."
Scott, Stiles, Liam, and Addy were standing around in the Beacon Hills Preserve once again. After everyone left, the four drove over and Stiles had proposed something extremely dangerous and extremely stupid: nothing new. After hearing the full story, he had come up with something to test her supposed new powers.
It was a stupid plan and she wasn't going to go through with it.
The idea was simple; hurt one of the werewolves bad enough so that she would want to use her powers and heal them. However, she didn't even know how to get it to work or if it would even work. All they would be left with would be disappointment, broken bones, and still being back at the start with no idea what to do. Not to mention she was still weak from before, she probably wouldn't even be able to use her new powers.
If she even had any new powers.
"What's the worst that could go wrong?" Stiles questioned.
"Are you kidding me?" Addy exclaimed. "Everything could go wrong. I'm not going through with this. You can't make me." Her arms were crossed over her chest, and a glare was sent to each of the boys in front of her. They could not have been more stupid with this idea. Not to mention that it wasn't just Stiles; it was the three of them put together.
"What have you got lose?" Liam asked.
"Uh, a true alpha, a great boyfriend, and an annoying kid that drives a shit jeep," Addy said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. There was a lot more that she could lose: her friends because she accidentally killed a different one of her friends. She wasn't going to get the blame for something as idiotic as that.
"Wow, okay, harsh," Stiles took offense. "Besides, that's not going to happen because you're going to heal them, not hurt them. Got that?"
"Thinking about hurting you," Addy growled. She took a threatening step closer to the sheriff's son, only to be pulled back by Liam.
"Alright, that's it. I believe in you, Ads." Liam extended his claws on his one hand and dragged them down his opposite arm. He groaned as blood dripped down his arm and tried with all his willpower to not use his healing abilities.
"Oh my god!" Stiles exclaimed. Even though the plan was mainly his idea, he didn't exactly think it through with the blood and everything.
"You can do it, Addy," Scott assured. She looked between the beta and the alpha and sighed. He was hurt now, and Addison knew that if she didn't at least try then he would pass out from blood loss before allowing it to heal. She had no idea what she was doing or how to do it. But, she figured the first place to start would be to wrap her fingers around his wrist.
Liam winced as she made contact with his skin. He watched her hands as they slowly got drenched in blood. Addy's eyes were glued shut, and as far as he could tell, no air moved through her lungs. All of her focus was trying to figure out how to get him to heal, for the blood to stop flowing out of the wound and the skin cells to grow back to normal. But that wasn't happening. In fact, nothing was happening.
"Guys, I can't do this. I mean, I don't even know how." Addy stepped away, taking a deep breath. She didn't even realize that she wasn't getting any oxygen. "I've never done this before, anything like this."
"It's okay, just focus on healing," Scott suggested. "You can do it."
Addy nodded her head. Words of encouragement slipped past her lips although a large part of her believed them to be false even thought she was giving herself the pep talk. Her hands wrapped around Liam's arm once more. Each and every strand of her energy, thoughts, and willpower were focused on healing Liam. She pictured him healing, the pain stopping, and his arm before the large cuts were made.
The two gasped in unison. Addison's eyes snapped open. They glowed a bright orange while meeting Liam's yellow ones. A tingling sensation spread through her body: not painful, but not necessarily pleasant either. It was like a static shock running through them. Her energy spread to his body, and the wound on his arm healed in seconds.
"Oh my god! Yes! Holy crap, I did it!" Addy exclaimed. Her hands were drenched red, but Liam was fully healed. In fact, he felt better than he had moments ago, refreshed almost. It was like the healing had given him an extra jolt of energy. "That was amazing!"
"Your eyes, they're different," Liam pointed out. Her eyebrows furrowed together, and she looked over at Scott, showing off her true eyes. He nodded confirming his observation. "It must have been because of the, uh, change."
"Just another thing the Dread Doctors couldn't get right," Addy sighed, running a hand through her hair, and immediately regretting it as blood got caught up in it. "Well this has been exciting and all, but–"
"Wha–you can't just stop now. We have to see what else you can do," Stiles cut her off. She had no idea why he was so intent on seeing her new powers. Addy had to admit that she was curious to what she could do, and the mention of wings from before did excite her. In fact, it excited her a lot. Maybe then she could fly away from all the bullshit around her.
"Fine," she agreed, slipping off the jacket she wore, being left in just a tank top. Addy cracked her knuckles, and felt the fire she loved surround her body. It felt all the same, and apparently looked the same. She was worried that something was going to happen, and that her body wouldn't be used to the fire anymore and she would feel every flicker of a flame.
"Do you still have your sword?" Liam asked. The three stood far away from her. As much as they wanted to see what was going to happen, none of them were too excited to get burned in a fiery inferno if something went wrong. They were pretty lucky that nothing happened yet. "Man, that makes her sound so badass."
She answered his question by allowing her sword to light up in her hand. Addison was unbelievably happy that she still had her weapon. There was a big part of her that was worried that she wouldn't have it anymore, or something would go wrong. Maybe something still would go wrong. They had no idea what was going to happen with her, if anything would.
In her eyes, she was a success for the Dread Doctors' experiments. Maybe that would be a good thing for once. The difference between being a success and a failure could have cost Addy her life more than once. Not only from before, but whatever caused her to die previously might have messed up everything internally with her after.
"Hey, do you think that I really have wings now?" Addy asked.
"I mean, you can make a sword out of fire. Why not wings?" Stiles shrugged. "Go for it."
Similar to healing Liam, she put every fiber of her being into creating a set of wings on her back. Addy imagined each feather lighting up in flames, the wing pan spreading wide and the force they would bring. Her mind was set on creating what she pictured as wings, the powerful strokes she could make that would send her up high.
However, things went black, and Addison went down.
)( * )(
Word count: 3322
November 14, 2016
TWO CHAPTERS LEFT AND TEEN WOLF IS TOMORROW FUCK YES.