CHAPTER ZERO
PROLOGUE
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"Mom! Scott stole my iPod!" Violet called downstairs to her mother. The girl was going out for a run and couldn't find her iPod anywhere; the iPod that her older brother was known to borrow without asking.
She busted into her brother's room where she screamed upon seeing a certain buzz-cut boy hanging from the window ledge, trying to climb up, thus making him scream as well, "Stiles what the hell are you doing?!" Violet exclaimed.
The boy stopped dead in his tracks, hanging onto the ledge for dear life, "uh, you know....hanging out." He said awkwardly with a light chuckle punctuating his statement.
Violet's mother came running up the stairs with her baseball bat in hand and gave an exasperated sigh when she saw Stiles in the window, "hey, Ms. McCall. Violet."
"Stiles, what are you doing in the window? We have a front door, you know?" Melissa said.
"I was actually looking for Scott. He wasn't answering his phone."
"That's because he's showering." Violet said, pointing to the bathroom in her brother's bedroom. It seemed that this cued Scott to walk out of the bathroom. A towel was wrapped around his waist, and he looked confused as ever at the sight of everyone in his room.
"What's going on?" Scott asked.
"You took my iPod. Again. I want it back." Violet said to her brother.
"I didn't take it." Scott replied, almost shocked at the insinuation.
"I took it." Stiles intervened sheepishly, making everyone's eyes turn to him.
"Can I have it back?" she requested.
"Actually....I might have broken it." Stiles replied.
"Stiles!" Violet whined. "Now I have to run without music." She said, leaving Scott's bedroom and into her own.
Removing the band that would have held her now missing iPod, Violet left the house in time with her mother, who was working the late-night shift at Beacon Hills Memorial Hospital. A single mom with two kids and an extra Stiles was tougher than it looked.
Violet began her run, listening to the quietness of her surroundings as well her breathing and footsteps pounding against the damp pavement.
Behind her, she heard a car approaching quickly as she jogged. Without looking back, she moved more to the right side of the road. As the car zoomed past her with two honks, Violet looked up at the pale blue jeep driving by. She rolled her eyes and continued on her way to the Beacon Hills Preserve.
As Violet found her way through the trail she normally took, the woods seemed to be a bit darker that night, although the moon was full. The younger McCall girl squinted her eyes in the dark and saw some bright lights in the distance as she ran. The few bright lights turned into several and soon she saw the police cars.
She suddenly realized this might not have been the best night to go running.
Then, several, smaller beams of light were flashing all over the place. Violet stopped running when she saw the flashlights and sneakily made her way towards them.
Then she began to pick up words from a conversation, "Scott! Scott, you out there?" Called a man; the sheriff as she came to recognize his voice. Violet realized that the name being called was her older brother's as she noticed Stiles standing across from his father.
"What? Scott? Scott's—Scott's home. Said he wanted to get some rest before lacrosse try outs tomorrow." Stiles said. Violet walked over to the pair. Stiles turned around at the sound of her footsteps and jumped when he saw how close she was.
"Violet? What are you doing out here at this hour?" The sheriff asked.
"I'm just going for a run. But I think I might just go back home considering you guys are probably looking for something important." Violet said.
"I think that's a good idea. Stiles, why don't you take this lovely lady home on your way?" He suggested. "And I'll talk to you later." He directed at his son.
"Sure thing. C'mon Vi, let's go." Stiles said, defeated.
Violet looked over at Stiles and noticed her brother pressed up against a tree in the distance and gave Stiles a look of knowing. Stiles looked her in the eyes with a pleading face before touching the girl's shoulder and walking back to his Jeep.
"What about Scott?" Violet asked when she closed the car door.
"We can't go back or else my dad is gonna see Scott, and I don't want him getting into any trouble." Stiles said, starting the engine and driving back to the McCall residence.
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Violet hopped out of the car and was about to walk away from the Jeep when Stiles stopped her, "hey, if Scott doesn't get back by sunrise, call me."
"Gotcha." Violet replied, giving him a two finger salute before walking back into the house.
Trudging over to her room, Violet took her shoes off and glanced out the window. She saw two, small, red beams seemingly looking at her through the window, but they disappeared quickly.
What the hell? She asked herself, but shrugged it off as she walked over to the bathroom and began stripping down so that she could shower.
Violet turned the shower on and set the water on hot. After stepping in when it got warm, she let the water coat her body as she ran her hands through her hair. It was a typical night where she was the only one home. Mom was at work, and Scott was out.
As she was almost finished, she heard a thump outside the bathroom. It sounded like it had come from the front door. Her suspicions ruled out her brother as the culprit considering he was probably lost in the woods somewhere. And it wouldn't have been her mother because she had left for work about an hour or so beforehand. And it couldn't have been—well, there was a good possibility it was Stiles again.
Turning the water off, the young girl wrapped herself in a towel and exited the bathroom. Going down to the kitchen, she grabbed the biggest knife she could find and made her way around the first floor, scanning for anything suspicious, then went upstairs. Scott's bedroom light was on.
Violet walked cautiously into her older brother's room and walked into the bathroom when she saw the door open. "Scott?" She called.
The figure turned around and jumped when it saw Violet holding the blade at them. "Vi! What the hell are you doing?"
"How did you get back so fast?" she interrogated.
"I ran! Why do you have mom's kitchen knife?"
"I thought you were a predator!" She exclaimed before taking a glance at the gnarly bite on her brother's side. "What happened to you?"
"I think I got bit by a wolf."
"A wolf? Scott, there haven't been wolves in California for over 60 years." Violet said, dismissing his statement.
"I heard a wolf howling." Scott tried.
"That's not possible," she sighed, "are you okay?"
Her brother sighed, "mostly. I'm just gonna put a bandage on it and go to bed. You riding with me to school tomorrow?"
"Tomorrow" was Violet's first day as a freshman at Beacon Hills High School. Needless to say she was both excited and nervous. The girl nodded at her brother, "That reminds me. I have to get my bike out of the garage." Violet remembered, walking out of Scott's room, heading down to the kitchen to put the knife back, and back to her own room as she started getting changed.
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The next morning, the McCall siblings rode to school together on their bikes. Upon their arrival to the parking lot, Scott gestured to the bike rack by the front entrance to the school and parked their bikes adjacently.
Scott hopped off his bike and began chaining it to the rack when a silver Porsche quickly pulled into the parking space behind him. Upon opening the car door, it hit Scott on his ass. The guy got out of the car and looked at the door, then gave Scott a death glare, "watch the paint job." He said.
Scott didn't reply, so Violet took the initiative and did it for him, "you bumped into him, asshat!" She called after him. Scott's eyes widened as if he were asking his sister what she had just done. The conversations going on around them slowed to a halt and everyone was now looking at Violet and the guy who'd bumped into her brother.
"Excuse me?" The guy asked after he turned around. He held a lacrosse stick in his bag, so Violet concluded that he and Scott probably knew each other. She almost immediately regretted her actions.
"You...heard—me?" She stuttered more as a question than a statement.
"And, who are you, exactly?" He asked. Scott looked mortified and was about to run away, but soon realized he couldn't abandon his little sister. Not now, anyway.
"She's my sister." Scott owned up, although his tone didn't express it proudly.
"Well, that little stunt could almost cut you from an opportunity at first line, McCall. Watch your back." He said in a snarky tone before walking off and muttering something about freshmen under his breath.
"Who was that?" Violet asked as she and Scott walked to the main entrance of the school.
"Jackson. Captain of the lacrosse team and class A jerk." Scott replied.
"You can say that again." Violet said as they approached Stiles, who was waiting eagerly for Scott and proceeded to run over to the siblings.
"So let's see it!" Stiles exclaimed as his form of a greeting to the McCall siblings.
Scott raised his shirt, revealing a large band-aid with a small patch of blood on it. Stiles reached to touch it, but Scott swatted him away.
"It was too dark to see much, but I'm pretty sure it was a wolf." Scott explained.
"A wolf bit you?" Stiles scoffed. "No. Not a chance."
"That's what I said." Violet chimed in.
"I heard a wolf howling." Scott insisted.
"No you didn't." The amber-eyed boy laughed.
"What do you mean no I didn't? How do you know what I heard?"
"Because California doesn't have wolves—not for like 60 years."
"That's what I said!" Violet repeated in a more frustrated tone.
"Are you serious?" Scott asked, he was just now realizing the real-ness of the situation.
"Yes! Really. Look, there are no wolves in California." Stiles pried into Scott's feeble mind.
"And whatever it was that bit you, just have Deaton check it out. He's a freaking genius." Violet added, mentioning her brother's boss at the local animal hospital.
"Well, if you guys don't believe me about the wolf thing, then you definitely won't believe me when I tell you—I found the body." Scott revealed proudly.
Stiles basically jumped in shock at the news, whereas Violet had no clue what they were talking about, "are you kidding me?!" Stiles exclaimed.
"I wish! I'm gonna have nightmares for a month." Scott replied.
"What body? Is that why you two were in the woods last night?" Violet inquired.
"Yeah. Stiles said he heard over the police scanner that they were looking for a body in the woods." Scott explained.
"So naturally, you two numb nuts went to look for it." Violet replied irately at their stupidity.
"That is freaking awesome! I mean, seriously. It's the best thing that's ever happened to this town since..." Stiles exclaimed, ignoring the younger girl's retort as someone approached her.
"I love your outfit!" a stylishly dressed red-headed girl complimented as she walked past the trio.
"Thanks!" Violet replied.
"Since the birth of Lydia Martin! Hey, Lydia....you look...like you're gonna ignore me." Stiles trailed off as the girl continued walking off without a second look. "You're the cause of this, you know?" He accused Scott, "Bringing me down to your nerd depths. I'm a nerd by association. I've been scarlet-nerded by you. And your sister."
Scott began mirroring Lydia's actions, and began walking away with his sister, except this time, Stiles followed behind like a little lost puppy. Scott showed Violet to her first class before dragging Stiles along with him to their home room.
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Once first period was over, Violet had some extra time and found her brother in the hallway with Stiles and their friend, Harley. Scott looked distracted with something else while Stiles and Harley talked about how Lydia would never date him, but Stiles protested at every chance he could.
"Scotty?" Violet called, snapping her fingers in Scott's face. It seemed to get his attention and he turned to face her.
"Huh?" He asked, "oh, hey, Vi. What's up?"
"While you were ogling at that girl over there, mom texted me. She said she's working late tonight again, so it's your turn to make dinner."
"Domino's and I'll pay you back?" Scott asked, smiling down at his little sister.
"I get paid in allowance, which is dwindling more often than not because we're struggling. And you have a job yet you never have money." Violet sighed before rolling her eyes. "Domino's it is."
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hope you enjoyed, idk why I didn't put the date when I completed it smh but I published on
4-29-18