▸Here comes the Sun - The Beatles
"Stile an arrangement of steps that allows people, but not animals, to climb over a fence." Scott read off of the computer. Lydia, Scott, and I were in the library researching the word Stiles. So far, no clues.
"Yeah, somehow I don't think these are the stiles we're looking for." Lydia said.
"Well, on the paper it said Stiles not stile so..." I trailed off.
"Maybe Malia's found something." Scott hoped. I shook my head, pursing my lips together.
"No. She's been taking a make-up test all morning." Lydia answered. Suddenly a familiar high pitched howl echoed throughout the entire school. The three of us looked at each other.
"Malia." I uttered.
"I guess the test isn't going well." Lydia grabbed her purse off of the chair as we all stood up. We jogged out of the library, following Scott as he sniffed her out. Going down the familiar hallway Lydia and I walked last night, I guessed where Malia currently was.
"Janitor's closet?" I asked Scott.
"Janitor's closet." He nodded. The alpha slowed down to a walk, holding a hand up at us. "Stay behind me. Let me check if it's safe."
"I can take care of myself." I rolled my eyes. Scott ignored me and slowly walked into the closet. Huffing, I walked after him. Lydia attempted to grab my arm, but I swatted it away. A low growl was heard.
"Malia. It's okay. You're safe." Scott softly spoke to a coyote version of Malia. She snarled again, baring her teeth. I quietly walked behind Scott, looking at Malia's blue eyes. "I'm not gonna hurt you."
"None of us are going to hurt you, Malia." I calmly told her. Malia let out another growl. She glared behind me. Turning around, I saw Lydia along with her mother and the Sherriff.
"I think she's calming down." Scott faced them. Malia let out a series of growls. I perked an eyebrow.
"Oh most definitely." I held back the urge to roll my eyes. "Maybe there's too much people?"
"Or maybe you should growl back?" Sherriff Stilinski offered. Malia snarled again. Ms. Martin jumped and let out a gasp. "Scott, you're the Alpha. Can't you, just make her a little more docile?"
"She's not the problem. We are. This is her territory." Lydia informed us.
"I-that's right. I forgot." I sent a small smile to Malia. "Oops?"
She let out another snarl.
"Maybe we need to get out of here." Lydia whispered. Scott turned to face Malia who was still snarling.
"Yeah," Scott muttered back. We all started to head behind the shelf. "Come on, come on."
"Malia came here to get through the full moons. Then we started using the lake house." Lydia explained.
"I thought you said a wild animal got in the lake house." Ms. Martin stared at her daughter.
"Well technically-" I started. Lydia and Scott shook their heads, knowing very well where I was heading. Frowning, I stopped talking.
"Just be happy about all the things I don't tell you." Lydia quickly muttered, keeping her gaze away from her mother. A soft growl caught our attention. We all checked on Malia. She slowly got out of her corner and started to transform into naked human Malia. Sherriff Stilinski and Scott averted their eyes away from Malia, giving her her privacy.
"Who has her clothes?" I asked. Ms. Martin sheepishly raised her hand.
"It's all right. I'm okay." Malia assured us. Lydia's mother walked forwards, extending the clothes out to Malia. She grabbed the clothing and started to change.
"Any idea what made her shift?" Sherriff Stilinski whispered to us.
"She's under a lot of pressure. School, her life after graduation." Scott answered.
"Her mom trying to kill her." Lydia added.
"That shouldn't maker her shift, right?" I asked.
"That shouldn't make her shift." Scott shook his head. He turned to look at Lydia and I. "Could it be connected to Stiles?"
"Maybe." I shrugged, the familiar ache coming again.
"Hard to tell since we don't know what a "Stiles" is." Lydia replied.
"It's a 'he'." Sherriff Stilinski cut in. The three of us looked at the Sherriff.
"Who?" Scott questioned.
"Stiles. It's a family nickname. I never used it but, uh, my father did."
▷
Sherriff Stilinski invited us to his house. We were currently sitting in the living room. His wife had left to go get a box. The Sherriff was on the couch, Scott on a recliner and Lydia and I sharing the other recliner. I took this time to study the living room. Everything was the same as it was in the picture I had on my nightstand. Claudia returned, handing the Sherriff the box.
"Thanks, honey." The Sherriff said.
"Mmm-hmm." Claudia responded, taking a seat next to her husband on the couch. He took off the lid. I eyed her, something in me was telling me not to trust her.
"He was an Army engineer." Sherriff Stilinski sighed, taking out a photo. He extended the photo out towards us. Scott took it. "Ended the war one bridge at a time."
"And he went by 'Stiles'." Scott examined the photo.
"So, what's this got to do with the Wild Hunt?" The Sherriff asked. Scott looked at Lydia and I. Biting my lip, I slowly nodded.
"We think that somebody was taken from us." Scott informed.
"Someone important." I mumbled, fiddling with my fingers.
"Any idea who?" Sherriff Stilinski interrogated.
"Uh," Scott shook his head, "the Ghost Riders would have erased our memories."
"Well, now, that's convenient." Sherriff Stilinski muttered.
"We found a clue." Lydia spoke up. Claudia and the Sheriff turned towards her. "The word 'Stiles'."
"And that's why you wanna talk to Elias?" Claudia realized.
"Mm, yeah, maybe he can help us figure it out. Maybe he knows who we're lookin' for." Scott said.
"Now this is someone your age?" The Sherriff questioned.
"Yeah. I..." Scott glanced over at me. "I think we was my friend. Maybe he was my best friend."
"How about you? Nevah?" Claudia tilted her head.
"I...I don't really know." I mumbled, staring at my lap. "I know for sure he was important to me. I have this feeling that I loved...love him. Maybe we were in a relationship? I honestly don't know. I just know he's really important to me."
"I can guarantee you, my father can't help you." Sherriff Stilinski stood up with the box, holding out his hand for the photo. Scott gave it to him.
"Couldn't we try?" He hoped. The Sherriff put the photo back inside the box.
"Trying is helpful." I nodded.
"Scott, Nevah, he lives in a nursing home three towns over. Hasn't had a visitor in years." The Sherriff told us. I frowned. In the corner of my eye, I saw Claudia staring at Lydia. Crinkling my brows together, I looked at my friend. Lydia was staring at the hallway.
"Can I used your bathroom?" Lydia asked.
"Sure." Claudia nodded. Lydia quickly got up and walked down the hallway, glancing at me momentarily. My eyes widened as I realized she was having a Banshee moment. Claudia stared at me. Clearing my throat, I sent her a sweet smile. She hesitantly gave me one back.
"We need to talk to him." Scott insisted, standing up.
"Lydia? Did you find it? The last door on the left." Claudia called out. I narrowed my eyes at her. Lydia was barely gone for a minute.
"You're not hearing me." Scott continued.
"Trust me, you don't wanna talk to him." Sherriff Stilinski shook his head. Lydia walked back into the entrance of the living room.
"We just need a few minutes." Scott pleaded. I nodded along.
"Scott, my father can't help you."
"Just a few minutes. Five minutes."
"Five minutes won't hurt him, Sherriff, please." I begged.
"You know, what? You don't just 'talk' to this guy." The Sherriff loudly said, his face growing red. I stared at him with wide eyes. Sherriff Stilinski took a deep breath. "Okay? Find another way."
"But, what if this is the only way?" Scott argued back.
"Scott's right." I stood up. Claudia gave me a stern look. I ignored her. "What if this is the only way to find out who Stiles really is? Or what if this actually helps us lead us to him?"
"Scott, Nevah, you have your answer." Sherriff Stilinski told us.
"Sheriff, please." Scott persisted. Lydia walked over to us.
"Scott, Nevah, please." Claudia stood up. My jaw ticked as I narrowed my eyes at her. Scott sighed.
"The answer's no."
▷
"Stilinski said no, didn't he?" Malia said as she put her stuff into her locker. Scott, Liam and I were waiting for Malia.
"Yup." I nodded.
"Yeah." Scott sighed, clutching the straps of his backpack.
"But we're going anyway?" Malia asked.
"Yep." Scott confirmed.
"Of course." I grinned. Malia closed her locker shut, revealing Liam.
"Or you could stay here and help me convince Gwen she's in danger." Liam offered, leaning against the lockers.
"It's not your job to convince her. It's your job to keep her safe." Scott advised his beta.
"Just kidnap her." Malia bluntly stated, walking away. Scott gave Malia look.
"Do not kidnap her." Scott corrected.
"Okay, fine. Do a surprise adoption." I shrugged, following Malia.
"Surprise adoption? What's that?" Liam asked.
"Kidnapping." I innocently smiled.
"No kidnapping." Scott looked back at Liam. "We'll be back tonight after we talk to Stilinski's dad."
"Do we really have to do this?" Malia questioned.
"He's our only lead." Scott told her.
"Okay. What if the Ghost Riders show up?" Liam asked Scott. We stopped and turned to face the sophomore.
"Then you'll handle it, Liam." Scott said.
"You can do it." I smiled, nudging his shoulder with my elbow.
"And look, you're not alone. You've got Mason and Corey and Hayden. Okay? Just find a safe place for Gwen and keep her there." Scott added.
"Any suggestions?" Liam hoped.
"It doesn't matter as long as she's safe." Scott went to open the school doors. He walked out. Malia and I smirked at each other before turning to face Liam.
"Kidnap her." Malia whispered.
"Do not kidnap her." Scott called out. Malia walked after her Alpha. Liam raised an eyebrow once he saw that I was still there.
"Surprise Adoption." I winked before running after Scott and Malia.
▷
"I can't believe we're about to break into a nursing home." Scott muttered. We were walking towards the Good Water Assisted Living building that Stilinski's father was currently living at. I stared at the building.
"I'm not." I shrugged. Scott and Lydia stopped in their tracks, looking at me with wide eyes. Malia shrugged. "What? I have broken into lots of things. Don't give me that look McCall. I'll let you know, breaking and entering is one of the reasons why I am still alive today."
"After the orderlies at Eichen House, pretty sure we can handle some nurses." Malia said. She walked off, heading towards the entrance of the building.
"We better go after her then." I quickly followed Malia, knowing very well on how the werecoyote acts in situations like these. I opened the door, seeing Malia drag an injured nurse across the floor and into another room. "Malia!"
"What?" She turned to look at me after she closed the door. I sighed, Scott and Lydia entering the building. They looked at me in confusion.
"What happened?" Scott questioned. Malia peeked over the counter and went through the patients' files.
"That doesn't matter. Let's go find Elias. I know where he is." Malia walked ahead. Letting out a groan, I followed her once again. We walked down a hallway that led to the meeting rooms. Scott glanced at us before slowly entering the room that Elias was supposed to be in. I saw an open room that held an older man sitting at a table near the window. A form of classical music was softly playing in the background as he blankly stared off into space. He turned around to face us.
"Yes?" The man asked. "Oh. Is it time for my medicine?"
"We don't have your medicine." Malia sternly said, her arms crossed.
"Malia." I scolded. She just shrugged.
"Oh..." The elderly man trailed off, his shoulders sagging.
"Are you Elias Stilinski?" Lydia questioned. The man slowly turned to face us.
"I am." He blinked. Lydia softly smiled at us before walking closer to Elias.
"I'm Lydia Martin." She introduced herself, now standing in front of Elias. "Do you know who I am?"
"Should I?" Elias looked up at her, crinkling his eyebrows.
"Erm, maybe?" I pinched my lower lip in between my fingers. I looked over at my friends, not certain on how we should answer him.
"Hey, Mr. Stilinski," Scott stepped forward, "we're looking for somebody who might be names Stiles. You went by that name in the Army, right?"
"Yes." Elias replied, softly nodding his head. "Best years of my life."
"Do you know any of us?" Malia questioned, still standing behind us with her arms crossed.
"Of course I do." Elias paused and looked up at Scott. We all turned to face the Alpha. "How could I forget my own son?"
"Your son?" Scott probed. Elias continued to look up at Scott. The True Alpha turned to face us.
"Mr. Stilinski. What year is it?" Lydia quizzed.
"Seventeen seventy-six." Elias answered. I sighed. "It's my son's birthday next week."
"Does he have-" I pointed at Elias, looking at Lydia.
"He has dementia." She nodded. Scott frowned, glancing at Mr. Stilinski.
"Is it time for my medicine?"
▷
"Scott McCall?" Elias stared at the Alpha. Scott nodded. Night has fallen and we were trying to explain to Mr. Stilinski that Scott wasn't his son. "No, no, no, no, no, no. You're my son."
"Keep it down, old guy. You'll wake the other old people." Malia harshly whispered. She picked a pea off of Elias plate and popping it in her mouth.
"Malia. That is no way to talk to your elders." I scolded. She rolled her eyes at me, picking more peas to eat.
"I don't like her." Elias muttered towards Lydia and I. Lydia sighed and sat down in a chair next to him. She placed her purse on the ground.
"Your son." Lydia placed her arms on the table. "He's the Sheriff of Beacon Hills."
"Sheriff? No, no, no, no. no, no. I was in the Army." Elias stuttered out.
"Use your claws, Scott." Malia said. Elias looked at the three of us.
"I don't think that would be wise." I told her.
"It could kill him." Scott agreed.
"I get that, but we're running out of time." Malia stated.
"I can't." Malia frowned at Scott's answer before releasing a growl. She flicked her claws out, taking a step forward. Scott immediately grabbed her wrist. "Hey! No. We're not hurting him."
"Young lady," Elias started. Malia looked up at him. "You need to clip those nails."
▷
"You shouldn't be here. If you don't leave, I'll have to report you." Elias sternly told us, wagging his finger. My eyes widened at the rapid change of his personality.
"What's wrong with him?" Scott muttered.
"The sun went down." Lydia stated, a hand on her hip as she looked out the window.
"So?" Scott asked. Elias was furiously muttering to himself.
"He's sundowning." Lydia stated. We all blankly stared at her. "It's when dementia patients lose their faculties after the sun goes down."
"I don't want to talk to you anymore!" Elias screamed, waving his hand around.
"So what do we do?" Malia walked next to me.
"We wait till the sun comes back up." Lydia simply said.
"That's it?" I hesitantly asked. "I don't think we can last that long."
"We can't wait that long." Malia hissed.
"No. No, no!" Elias reached for papers on the table.
"There's gotta be something we could do to keep him quiet." Scott hoped.
"Leave, leave, leave, leave." Elias cried out, waving his hand around while holding the papers in the other.
"I can calm him down." Malia offered, walking closer.
"No." Scott, Lydia, and I screamed in unison.
"Elias. Look at the equations." Lydia grabbed the paper out of his hand. "Look. It's binomial probability. What's 'P'?"
"Um, probability of success?" Elias guessed, tapping on the paper.
"Right." Lydia nodded her head.
"I can't even do math. How can he remember this?" I whispered to Malia. She shrugged.
"I don't know. I thought with his old age, he would barely be able to add."
"Malia." I hissed.
"Uh." Lydia quickly looked for another equation. "And that means N minus K is?"
"Uh," Elias said, holding the piece of paper. Lydia smiled and did a small fist pump. She chuckled as Elias ran his finger over the equation. "The number of trials minus the number of success."
"What's with the math?" Malia asked, eating some more food off of Elias plate.
"It helps dementia patients concentrate." Lydia explained. She pointed to another equation. "And this one?"
"That's, um..." Elias leaned forward to read the equation better, "Conditional probability."
We all smiled. Maybe we can wait until the sun comes up. Elias stood up with some of the papers in his hands. He stared at the equations. Scott sat down at one of the empty chairs, shuffling through the sheets. Malia and I got closer, peering over our friend's shoulders.
"Let's find the moment of inertia." Lydia grabbed another sheet of paper that had to deal with inertia. Elias didn't answer. Lydia looked back up at him. "Elias."
"That's Mr. Stilinski. Just who the hell do you think you are?" Elias glared at us. I blinked. Well, never mind. We can't last until the sun comes up.
"You know Scott isn't your son?" Lydia questioned.
"Of course I know that." Elias jeered. He used the back of Scott's chair to walk around the table. "Are brains getting smaller with the skirts?"
My jaw ticked at the remark. Malia lowly growled next to me, taking a step forward.
"Malia. It's okay." Scott softly spoke. Malia stopped growling.
"So you're that McCall kid." Elias faced Scott.
"You know me?" Scott said in surprise.
"I know your dad. Couldn't hold his liquor and he certainly couldn't keep that wedding ring on his finger. Pretty young thing would walk by and poof, that ring just disappeared like magic." Elias told Scott.
I carefully watched Scott, knowing very well that this hurt him. Malia growled again. I placed a hand on her shoulder, shaking my head. I could feel my anger flaring already.
"Do you know all of us?" Lydia questioned.
"Oh..." Elias pointed his finger at Lydia. "You're Natalie Martin's girl. Am I right? You look like her. She was pretty once, too."
"Stop talking." Malia flashed her blue eyes. I bit my tongue to stop myself from saying anything rude.
"Hey, Malia." Scott jolted up from his seat.
"And she also liked to talk like she was the smartest person in the room." Elias went on.
"Hey! Knock it off." I seethed, narrowing my eyes at Elias. "Leave them alone. Got it?"
"And you." Elias squinted his eyes at me, wagging his finger.
"Me?" I blinked.
"You. You're with him aren't ya? You're stupid enough to be with that loser." I looked at the rest confused at Elias' question. With who? Elias continued. "You filthy little street rat. Running away from home after your mother was murdered."
"I-how do you? How do you know that?" I stuttered out, taking a step back. Tears were starting to pool in my eyes at the mention of my mom. My heart was hurting.
"You're a coward." Elias chuckled. "I don't even know how your half-brother, better yet, your father, deal with you. You're a pathetic orphan."
I felt my heart break at the last two sentences. Malia let out another growl, taking a step forward. She flicked her claws out.
"Malia!" Scott warned.
"Enough." Sherriff Stilinski suddenly barged into the room with a male nurse.
"Sherriff, we-" Scott started.
"I explicitly told you not to come here." Sherriff Stilinski told us. I fiddled with my bracelet. The Sherriff pointed towards the nurse. "And who attacked a staff member?"
"That's her." The nurse stared at Malia. Another growl escaped from Malia as she glared at him.
"What the hell were you thinking?" Sherriff Stilinski asked us.
"Noah. We were just having a nice conversation." Elias said.
"Oh, most definitely. Very pleasant." I seethed. Sherriff Stilinski took note of my tone.
"The four of you. Out. Now."
▷
"We know this looks bad." Scott said as we stood in the Police Station where the holding cells were.
"It doesn't look bad, Scott. It is bad." Ms. Martin placed her hands on her hips. "You broke into a nursing home, you harassed a dementia patient-"
"Actually, he harassed us." I grumbled, crossing my arms.
"And you beat up a nurse. This could affect the rest of your lives. Especially you, Malia. They're talking felony assault." Ms. Martin lectured.
"I didn't beat him up. I could have. But I chose not to." Malia truthfully said.
"That's an improvement." Lydia noted. The door to the Sherriff's office opened.
"By some miracle the nurse decided to drop the charges. They're free to go." Sherriff Stilinski informed us before entering his office and closing the door behind him. Lydia and Scott sighed in relief.
"Just because you're not going to jail, doesn't mean you're not grounded for eternity." Ms. Martin said. "And I'm calling all of your parents to inform them of what happened."
"Do you have too?" I whined, already knowing I was going to get an earful from Sally and Paul while Percy laughed at me.
"Oh yes. And Sally is going to be the first to know. She put all of us in charge of you when you came back to Beacon Hills. So, if you got into trouble, we have permission to ground you." Ms. Martin explained. I frowned and looked at Lydia.
"Grounded For Eternity Buddies?"
▷
Scott and I went back to his house. Liam had called Scott earlier explained what happened with the Ghost Riders, Gwen, and Parrish. He told us how he threw a small party at the McCall house. When we went through the front door, we were greeted with a mess and Liam standing in the middle of the living room with a guilty face. Plastic cups, streamers, food, alcohol, and anything else that screams party littered the house.
"You said to find a safe place. So we brought the party here." Liam sheepishly said.
"Who said to throw the party here at all?" Scott asked, looking at all of the trash in his house. He stared at the broken part of the stairs.
"At least we saved Gwen." Liam positively stated.
"Yeah, that's the great news you keep telling us. You have also told us the bad news." I countered.
"But you saw one of the Ghost Riders." Scott added, walking towards his Beta.
"Corey made him visible so we could fight him." Liam informed us.
"All right, but doesn't the book say that if you see the Wild Hunt you'll be taken too?" Scott questioned, fiddling with his hands.
"But everyone at the party saw him." Liam noted. "Does that mean..."
"They're all gonna be taken." Scott realized. He moved his foot, glass crunching beneath it. "I should have been here."
"Same." I muttered, looking around the house. "You guys needed the help."
"Let's start cleaning yeah?" Scott looked at the both of us. I nodded already heading towards the kitchen to grab the trash bags.
"Well, you see-" Liam started.
"You helped cause this mess. You're staying to help mister." I narrowed my eyes at him. Liam groaned and nodded. I grinned. "Great. Now pick rooms. It will most likely go faster that way."
Double update yay!
Idk when the next update will be, hopefully around Spring Break:)
It's late over here, and I need to sleep. I have the entire weekend to study for two different exams. *sigh* pray for me :)
until next time!
much love,
Lux xx