Arias POV
I was sat in my room, we'd finally moved out of the old house. Derek bought an old lot and fixed it up enough for it to be a nice place to live in, as well as a refuge for the other werewolves in Beacon Hills. Despite having this new pad, Derek still spent alot of time in the old house doing god knows what.
Surrounding me were old leather bound books. They were scattered everywhere, completely covering the floor and my bed. I was desperately flicking through and scanning each page looking for something - anything on the Alpha Pack which declared its arrival into Beacon Hills with the sign left on the door frame.
That was one of the reasons why we... well Derek decided it be best to move, although the pack probably were already aware of the new place, they'd made no effort so far to make contact or even to give a threat. We took it as a good sign and hoped it stayed that way.
"This is totally useless." I muttered to myself, giving up on yet another book.
My phone dinged, alerting me to a message.
Derek - Told you so.
Stupid werewolf hearing.
"Whatever." I mumbled to what I thought was myself.
Another ding.
Derek - Haha
I rolled my eyes at his pettiness and heaved myself under the covers, cringing as I listened to multiple books hit the floor with quite a thud. Rolling over I thought about my situation. No one apart from Deaton and I knew about the witch and werewolf I had hiding within my bones. I'd been avoiding the vet at all costs afraid of news I didn't want to hear.
Sighing, I tried to allow my mind to go blank. I had school tomorrow and the last thing I needed was to miss sleep over something. Already hating school, I decided to prioritize sleep instead of being grouchy.
That was until Stiles popped into my head. I'd not spoken to him or heard from him all summer. Ever since the conversation after Jackson turned, I'd not had anything from any of them apart from Allison, and Scott. He messaged me a couple of times just to check up on me.
"Leave it for now Aria." I whispered to myself.
I agreed with my subconscious and let sleep consume me.
-
I woke up the next morning to my alarm blaring and the radio playing. Groaning I heaved myself out of bed and into the shower.
Putting on black jeans and tucking a tight long sleeved top into my jeans, I grabbed my boots and a necklace which came down to the center of my torso. I left my hair in its natural state and put on eyeliner around my waterline with mascara. A touch of matte nude lipstick I was done. Picking up my jacket and bag I got in the car and Derek soon followed.
"You ready?" He asked me.
I exhaled loudly, "Yep, I think so."
"I'll message you if I'm not going to be able to pick you up or if something even remotely important happens." Derek informed me, he thought everything was too quiet. I was enjoying not having to run away from lizard creatures to save myself but whatever floats his boat I guess.
As he pulled up to the school grounds I saw Scott on his dirt bike.
"Okay, see you later." I said before getting out of the car.
I walked into school and saw Scott and Stiles walking down the corridor. Neither of them saw me yet I couldn't decide if that was what I wanted or not.
Stopping at the notice board I saw two Missing Person posters. Erica and Boyd. They'd been missing for a long time, we tried to find them after Stiles and I got out of the Argents' but they weren't there when we went back for them. We were at a loss as to where they were, all we knew was that the Alpha Pack had them.
I shook it off and continued going. Looking at my schedule I saw I had English first. Great.
Making my way down the hall I turned into the class only to see Scott and Stiles already sat in there. Perfect. I quickly looked down to avoid any awkward eye contact with either of them and I sat in the seat that was closest to the back of the class room and nearest to the window meaning I could daydream.
Lydia and Allison walked in and Allisons seat got taken meaning she had the pleasure of sitting in front of her ex... oh boy.
My phone along with everyone elses buzzed at the same time. I began reading.
"The offing was barred by a black bank of clouds and a tranquil waterway leading to the the uttermost ends of the earth flowed somber under an overcast sky seemed to lead into the heart of an immense darkness. This is the last line to the first book we're going to read. It is also the last message you'll receive in this class. Phones off everyone." A new teacher announced, I put my phone on vibrate but I wasn't going to turn it off.
She walked around to the board and wrote down what it was she wanted us to do. Putting the name of the book on the blackboard she asked "I want you all the evaluate a possible storyline to this book but only knowing the title of the story. Begin." She announced and everyone picked up their pens and began writing. I did the same.
A different teacher walked in and whispered something to the teacher. She nodded and he left.
"Mr McCall." Scott stopped and looked up and she beckoned him closer wither finger. He stood up and walked over to her.
I finished writing and looked up to see Stiles looking at Lydia with concern before engaging in conversation. Deciding now would be a good time to begin daydreaming, I looked out the window.
A bang on the window startled me. A bird flew directly into the window at full speed, blood splattered on the window as the bird fell. I looked up and Stiles looked at me. I quickly avoided the eye contact.
Looking back out the window I saw a giant flock of crows flying towards the window. I was in shock. They weren't all going to fly into the window were they?
That is exactly what happened. Birds flew into the window and the windows started to smash.
"Get down! Everybody get down!" The teacher shouted at us. As she said that the window next to me smashed, a shard of glass cutting my cheek I slid off my seat and on to the floor and watched all the birds. Everyone was panicking, including me. I backed myself up into a corner and pulled my knees up into my chest. What was happening.
Everything stopped a bit later and everyone stood up, most of us with scratches and untidy appearances. I stood up and looked around, every bird was dead on the floor, covering the room with black feathers. Something was going on and I think the alpha pack had something to do with it. But I didn't think Stiles and Scott knew about it yet.
I wasn't going to be the one to tell them either.
The ambulance arrived and I decided to ring my brother.
Dialing his number in I pressed call and waited for him to pick up.
He didn't.
Soon enough a guy from the ambulance came over to assist me.
"Oh I'm fine, thankyou anyway." I told him.
"Well, something tells me that shard of glass on your neck isn't going to come out easily. It's only a small fragment but can I at least get it out and bandage the wound?" He asked, I read him name tag. His name was Eddie.
I nodded.
"So, I'm Eddie, whats your name?" He asked me as he pulled out a small pair of tweezers.
"Aria Hale." I replied.
"Thats a pretty name, this might hurt a little bit." Eddie warned me before pulling out the glass shard I didn't even realize was there.
I felt a small sting and squeezed my eyes shut as the glass was removed.
"You okay?" Eddie asked me.
"Yeah, thankyou Eddie." I replied. He smiled and grabbed a bandage, he then pressed it against my neck and used a small amount of tape to hold it in place so it wouldn't come off.
"No problem, leave this wrap on until tonight and it the bleeding has stopped then it should heal fine. If it's still bleeding by tonight wrap it again and leave it until the morning. If its still bleeding in the morning come into the hospital. It may have nicked a small vein in your neck its nothing to worry about." Eddie explained to me whilst gathering up the rubbish from the bandage.
"Okay. Thanks." I replied, nodding and taking his information in.
I pushed myself off the table I was sat on and went to leave the classroom to find my brother but a hand placed itself on my arm. Stopping I looked at the hand before following the arm to see who it was.
"Stiles." I acknowledged.
"I'm just making sure you're okay. That was pretty scary." He told me gently, as if he was afraid I was going to explode.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Thanks." I gave him a small smile.
Before he could say anything else I left the room.
Walking down the corridor I heard Stiles' voice ring out again.
"Aria wait!" He yelled.
I sighed, stopped and turned around to face him. Raising my eyebrows to give the all clear to start talking. I needed to find Derek.
"Scott's at Derek's house. Do you need a ride?" He asked.
Quickly I thought over it, that clearly meant that Derek wouldn't be able to come and get me and I needed to talk to him about what is going on.
"Yeah, that's a big help. Thanks." I told him. He nodded and grabbed my hand and started walking at a fast pace to get to his car. All the way to the house there was quite an uncomfortable silence, thankfully the journey wasn't that long.
We reached the house and I got out the car and went in.
"Derek?" I called. He appeared from around the corner with Scott.
"Why aren't you in school?" He asked, "What happened?" Seeing the cut on my cheek and the gauze on my neck.
"That's why we aren't in school. Birds flew into the window of the school, like loads of them. They got into the classroom and I got hit by the glass. There's definitely something wrong with the animals in this town." I informed him.
"We'll deal with it later, but for now we have to give Scott his tattoo, okay?" Derek asked.
I nodded.
Scott sat down and Derek's eyes glowed red.
"Yeah I see it, two bands right?" Derek asked, Scott nodded. "What does it mean?"
Scott thought for a minute before answering, "I don't know, uh, its just something I traced with my fingers." He drew it out in the dust on the table.
"Whys this so important to you?" Derek wondered. I was stood, just watching them.
"Do you know what the word tattoo means?" Scott asked Derek.
"To mark something." Stiles answered before Derek could. He looked smug about it as well.
"Thats in Tahitian, in Samoan it means open wound. I knew I wanted to get a tattoo when i turned 18. I always wanted one. I just decided to get it now to make it a kind of reward. Scott explained. All of us intently listening to what Scott was saying.
"For what?" Derek asked him, in quite a soft voice.
"For not calling or texting Allison all summer. Even when I really wanted to. Even when it was hard not to sometimes. I was trying to give her the space she wants." Derek was nodding and Scott sighed. "Going 4 months later and it still hurts. Still feels like a uh..."
"Like an open wound." I finished off for him.
He looked up at me before looking back down again and replying.
"Yeah"
"Pains gonna be worse than anything you've ever felt." Derek told him, grabbing his tools.
"Ah, that's great. I'll take that as my cue to leave." Stiles said as he began to make his way out of the room.
"Do it." Scott said confidently and Derek lit the blow torch and caught hold of Stiles before he could leave.
"You'll need to hold him down. You too Aria." Derek told us. I nodded and placed my hand on Scott's shoulder. I remember when Derek got his tattoo so I knew what was coming.
Derek moved the flame closer and closer to Scott and as soon as he began, Scott started thrashing around. But me and Stiles held him down firmly. He was yelling in pain but knew this is what he wanted.
Eventually he passed out from the pain and when Derek was done all we could do was wait for him to wake up.
Soon enough he jumped awake and looked at his arm. A smile appeared on his face.
"It worked."
Scott heaved himself up off the floor and he and Stiles began to make their way to the front door.
"Well it looks pretty permanent now." Stiles said.
"Yeah" Scott laughed. "I kind of needed something permanent. Everything that happens to us. Everything just changes so fast. Everythings so uh.. ephemeral."
They were becoming out of range for me to hear them properly so I began talking to Derek.
"Do you think it's the pack causing the animals in this town to go mad?" I asked him.
"I'm not sure yet. But this isn't your problem Aria. This pack aren't here for you. You know that. I want you to stay out of it as much as you can." Derek told me.
"That isn't for you to decide. It is my problem if they come to our door and threaten this pack. Don't forget that I am part of your pack. So we deal with it together like we always have." I told him, leaving no room for discussion.
"You painted the door." Scott called out to Derek. He painted it to cover up the sign left by the Alpha Pack.
"Why'd you paint the door?" Scott asked him, a look of accusing wonder came over his face.
"Go home Scott." Derek ordered him, a hint of worry apparent on his face and in his voice.
"And why only one side?" Scott asked, ignoring what Derek said.
"Leave it alone Scott." I told him. Standing by Derek.
Soon enough we heard claws scraping on the wood of the door. This is when Derek moved to stop him. This was when I noticed Isaac passed out on the table. Derek using a plant our mother used to heal wounds on the inside. I think he was attacked by an Alpha.
Wounds from an Alpha heal quickly on the outside but not on the inside. I felt his forehead and he seemed slightly warm but nothing major. I think he was going to be okay.
"An Alpha Pack." I heard Derek tell Scott. He'd completely scratched the paint off the door and Derek couldn't hide what was going on anymore.
"All of them? How does that even work?" Stiles asked.
"We've heard theres some kind of a leader. He's called Deucalion. We know they have Boyd and Erica. Peter, Aria, Isaac and I have been trying to look for them for the past 4 months." Derek explained to Scott.
"Lets say you find them. How do you deal with an Alpha Pack?" Scott asked.
"With all the help he can get." I answered.
"Where is she?" Isaac's voice came from behind us. "Where's the girl?"
I looked at Derek, then at Scott.
"What girl?" Derek asked him.
It was all kicking off again.