25. | NIGHT SWIM.
( abomination, part two )
Astrid zipped her warm-up jacket to her chin before stepping into the February cold. Actually, California's idea of cold wasn't cold at all; 55 degrees was nothing compared to -13. But anything less than 60 was an absolute disgrace in her eyes. The brunette bounced on the balls of her feet with her hands in her pockets, trying to hype herself up for her first official game. This one wouldn't be ruined by murderous Hales breaking out of an assisted living facility.
Her teammates were scattered on the bleachers behind her. Some were actually on the bleachers getting their equipment together, others were holding conversations. But there were also the opposing team members and fans there to cheer the Beacon Hills Cyclones on. One of which was Makoa Johansson, who smiled as he made his way down the bleachers to greet his daughter.
"I didn't think you would make it." the girl admitted, looking up at her dad with wide eyes.
"I think I should support my daughter in everything she does," Makoa said with a smile, though it fell.
He pulled Astrid in for a hug, to which the girl reluctantly pulled her hands out of their warm covers to wrap her arms around her dad. Makoa was always strangely warm and Astrid sighed at the heat. A kiss was placed against the top of her head, making her smile.
"I'm proud of you, you know?"
Astrid tilted her head back in order to look at her dad and tried her best to nod her head. In a teasing maneuver, Makoa pulled the girl's ponytail out from under her jersey before leaving to sit back on the bleachers. Astrid scowled at her father as she adjusted her hair once more. The brunette took a seat at the bottom of the bleachers and made sure that everything was set for the game.
Her game.
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Astrid watched as the largest player on the opposing team rammed number 9 on her team. The skinny boy flew at least two feet through the air before smacking against the ground. Her brown eyes were wide in terror the entire time.
"Holy shit," she whispered, making Stiles look at her in amusement until Finstock started to yell.
"Come on, is that thing even a teenager? I wanna see a birth certificate." Coach flailed his arms in anger as the person in question stood over the injured player.
The eccentric man sat down between Stiles and Astrid; the girl frowned and reluctantly scooted to the right so they weren't touching anymore.
"Who or what is that genetic experiment gone wrong?" she heard Coach whisper to the boy beside him.
"Eddie Abramovitz, Coach. They call him The Abomination."
"That's definitely some freak science experiment," Astrid muttered. "Or he's been held back for 10 years."
The girl fumbled to get her phone out of her bag, which was behind her, after feeling it vibrate. Coach had already gotten back up to continue his screaming match against no one in particular, so Astrid was able to lean over and let Stiles know that Allison had the keys. The boy left, leaving Astrid to worry alone.
With the way the Abomination had been taking out their players, their numbers were growing smaller. Astrid had already gotten a pass in the first quarter, due to Coach not wanting to risk her getting injured with her dad in the stands. But now she had no choice - she was a part of this team and being a girl had never been an issue. She wouldn't make it an issue now.
Stiles fell back onto the bench abruptly, forcing the girl out of her own thoughts. "You ready to go?"
Astrid didn't answer though, too focused on trying to energize herself. Another kid had just been carried by on a stretcher, leaving them with 4 extra players. Astrid was the only one that could really be put in - in Coach's mind anyways. Said man was chewing his nails in anxiousness.
"Coach I'll go in," Astrid called out. She stood up and stripped out of her warmups, leaving her in her burgundy shorts and jersey.
Stiles grabbed her arm when she went to grab for her pads. "Astrid there's a rhinoceros on the field! And we're supposed to be focused on the bestiary."
"I'll get out eventually," she whispered harshly. "But right now this team needs me because that's what I tried out for. I'll find you when I'm done."
Astrid waited for him to let go of her and got the rest of her uniform together. Coach subbed her in with a previously injured player, who didn't even have to say anything for her to hear his gratitude. She stood in the formerly occupied area, bending down and preparing to run.
"Scott, when you get the ball, throw it to me. I can get past this guy and Gerard will focus on me instead."
The werewolf looked back at her and nodded. Astrid exhaled and took off at the sound of the whistle. She watched as the ball was passed between various Cyclones, intercepted by the other team before they regained control again. Before Scott regained control. She followed beside him, somehow matching his pace, and waited for him to pass it.
Time slowed down for her as she watched the Abomination run towards him. Several players were running towards her as well, seemingly sensing the planned play. Just before the two boys made contact, Scott turned towards her and launched it. She didn't know the exact distance between them, but it didn't matter. Astrid extended her stick above her right shoulder and smiled as she caught the ball.
Cheers erupted from the home side of the bleachers as the girl took off, kicking up dirt under her cleats. Players surrounded her but she evaded them with ease. Sometimes it was completed by juking, or spinning or they just outright couldn't catch her. The net was in plain sight and she smiled wider underneath her helmet, readying herself for the winning shot.
Just as the net of her stick went behind her head, what felt like a brick wall threw itself at her right shoulder. She felt the metal of her stick press into her collarbone as she went down. Her lithe body fell against the ground; her head took the hardest hit.
Astrid groaned in pain and opened her eyes. They were still squinted, but through them she could see that experiment standing over her with a smile. She could hear her dad yelling from the stands about how that was definitely a penalty. Coach was also yelling too, more so than usual.
Instead of faking an injury at that moment, the brunette shakily stood up and ripped her helmet off, throwing the equipment to the ground.
"Hey Eddie!" Astrid yelled, not bothering to mess with the stray hairs that fell in front of her eyes.
The abnormally large player turned around with that stupid smile on his face. Astrid smiled too, before placing her hands on his shoulders and jamming her knee into his groin. Whistles sounded all around as his teammates crowded around the fallen boy. Astrid was almost ready to kick him until a strong hand grasped her upper arm, holding her back.
Astrid looked back into Jackson Whittemore's eyes as Coach ran over, walking the girl back to the sidelines with her helmet and stick in hand afterwards.
"You're sitting the rest of the game again. One, because you have a penalty now and two, I don't want your dad to kill me," noticing the girl's faraway expression, he shook her slightly. "You good? Need anything?"
Astrid grabbed her warmups off of the bench, grasping her shoulder afterwards. "I'm gonna walk it off."
The brunette avoided her father calling for her, instead focused on finding her way out to the parking lot. But his voice grew closer and she was forced to stop.
"I'm taking you home since you're out."
"Dad, no!" she protested.
"Astrid you need to go home and rest your arm. Rest your body in general."
"I want to stay and support my team," she tried her best to ignore the pain in her shoulder. "This is semi-finals and they need all the support they can get. Go home, I'll catch a ride from someone."
Makoa sighed and looked around him. He stared at his daughter for a moment before finally caving in. He had a suspicion that she wanted to stay for more than the game, but didn't give her any indication of such thought. "No later than 10:30."
Astrid waited until her dad was far enough away to pump her fists in the air, gaining the attention of fans returning from the concessions. The brunette brought her hands down and cleared her throat. She shrugged her jacket on slowly, tugging her pants up her legs after that. And with a speed that could be considered fast enough for her to be jogging, the girl started to make her way to the office.
But the sound of a girl sobbing stopped her in her tracks. Astrid looked around before her eyes landed on a smaller girl with a strawberry blonde crying her eyes out in the driver's seat. The brunette stared at the sight, internally conflicted with her two options.
Be a good person and see what's wrong even though they weren't technically friends; or sneak away and help Stiles since Lydia hadn't seen her yet.
Astrid mumbled an apology as she took off again. Following the normal route to the locker room, already knowing that the doors would be unlocked, the girl made her way through the darkened school. Shivers went down her spine at how quiet it was. The night that Peter Hale had chased them around the place for hours still haunted her mind.
She managed to find the principal's office already unlocked. Astrid hesitantly stepped inside and frowned when she heard the sound of someone wincing in pain. The Johansson journeyed further into the office and came face to face with Erica Reyes dragging Stiles out of the office by his ear.
Astrid glanced down at the boy before raising an eyebrow at the female werewolf. "Didn't your parents teach you to keep your hands to yourself?"
"I have bigger things to worry about than you, so move." Erica pushed past the girl, practically shoving her away.
Astrid's nose flared as she followed after the two, wondering how badly she would get her ass kicked if she just grabbed a handful of Erica's blonde hair and tried to land a few hits. But she kept her hands balled at her sides and followed behind quietly.
The smell of chlorine filled Astrid's nose. Before she could even ask what they were doing at the pool, Erica let go of the buzz-haired boy and stood beside Astrid's least favorite werewolf. Who, currently, stood beside the edge of the pool twirling a basketball around his finger.
The male smiled at the two teenagers. "Stiles. Astrid, as expected."
Astrid curled her lip at the man. Stiles didn't seem to mind or even hear the statement.
"Derek." the boy acknowledged him in a cracked voice.
Derek looked down at the basketball in his hand. "What did you see at the mechanics garage?"
"Uh, several alarming EPA violations that I'm seriously considering reporting."
Astrid watched as Derek extended his claws and punctured the basketball. He flattened it between his hands. Stiles expressed obvious fear while Astrid only rolled her eyes.
"Let's try that again."
"All right, the thing was pretty slick looking. Um, skin was dark. Kind of patterned. Uh, I think I actually saw scales-"
Astrid threw her hands out. "Is that enough? Because we really need to get back to the game before people get concerned."
Derek and Erica both narrowed her eyes at her as if she were supposed to be afraid. Astrid ran her hand down her face while Stiles, surprisingly, grumbled in agitation.
"All right, fine, eyes. Eyes are, um, yellowish. And slitted. Um, has a lot of teeth. Oh. And it's got a tail, too. Are we good?"
Astrid noticed Derek's eyes were traveling upwards while Stiles spoke. Erica's followed after, her breathing pattern increasing rapidly. Astrid's conscious told her to run, but that would mean turning around. Turning around would mean seeing that lizard thing from her visions and she really did not want to experience that in person.
A low hiss sounded from above them. Astrid immediately jumped behind Derek and pulled Stiles with her. The thing screeched and jumped down in front of the group. Erica was knocked away as Derek bared his teeth towards it.
The werewolf pushed both teenagers back, encouraging them to run. Doing so meant that his back was turned to the creature, who slashed his claws at the werewolf. Derek turned back to face it, exposing a small slit on the back of his neck to the other two.
Derek's legs buckled underneath him. Astrid and Stiles barely caught him before each of them took an arm to support him and run.
"Where is it? Can you see it?" Stiles asked, that horrible hissing sounding from behind them.
"I can smell it. Please hurry." Derek groaned. His legs were dragging behind him which made it harder to support him. "Call Scott!"
The boy fumbled for his cell phone; Astrid heard it clatter to the ground shortly afterwards. Stiles automatically went to grab it, leaving Astrid to support a six-foot and roughly two-hundred-pound man of muscle on her own, which didn't work at all.
The girl was the first to fall into the water, Derek falling in right on top of her. Astrid started to yell at him underwater though it only sounded like gibberish. She shoved him away, successfully freeing herself. Stiles dove into the pool just then and the two teenagers pulled the man to the surface of the pool.
Stiles took it upon himself to support the werewolf but Astrid felt no need. Just being stuck in the pool with that thing around made her nervous. Having someone depend on her to not drown? No thank you.
"Where did it go? Do you see it?" Stiles had to spit water out every other word.
"No." Derek wheezed.
All three surveyed as much of the area as they could in their position.
"Okay, maybe it took off." Stiles offered.
Astrid grimaced as she imagined the thing hissing at them. Her eyes widened as she heard a distant screech. "Maybe not."
The girl turned around at the sound of labored breathing. Stiles was definitely struggling to keep the two of them afloat. She sighed and placed Derek's free arm around her shoulders before gripping his side and treading water as best as she could.
"You two get me out of here before I drown," Derek demanded, making Astrid scoff.
"You're worried about drowning? Did you notice the thing out there with multiple rows of razor sharp teeth?" Stiles pointed out.
"Did you notice I'm paralyzed from the neck down in eight feet of water?"
"Would you two shut up and tell me if you see this thing or not?" Astrid yelled. Her voice bounced off of the walls.
Stiles moved his head around slightly. "Okay. I don't see it."
"Okay good," Astrid let go of Derek again. "I'll get out first and help pull him out. Follow me."
She pulled herself forward as quietly as she could. The sound of Stiles slapping the water to pull the weight he carried echoed behind her.
Almost there...
"Wait, wait, wait, stop, stop." Derek suddenly yelled.
Astrid froze in her spot and watched a shadow come from around the corner. The thing passed by Erica's unconscious body as it crawled towards the pool. It eventually began to circle around the edge. Far from the edge, actually.
"What's it waiting for?" Stiles wondered aloud.
"I really don't care to find out," Astrid mumbled, staring the thing in its yellow eyes.
It stared back at her as it perched forward. It placed a scaly hand into the water just inches from her face, though recoiled as if the touch of the water burned.
"Wait, did you see that? I don't think it can swim!"
⁂
Astrid wasn't sure how much time had passed. Only that she was freezing, her limbs were aching and she was definitely going to get grounded. Her bag had probably been stolen from the bleachers, which had her phone in it. If she was a werewolf she definitely would have already ripped this thing to pieces.
Derek grumbled from behind the girl. "Astrid can you do something for once?"
Astrid turned around in the water, floating from the edge of the pool in the process. "Like what?"
"Like grab the phone!"
"Do you expect me to outrun this man-sized lizard? Because that would never happen, alright?" Astrid took a deep breath, attempting to get rid of the rising anger. It didn't help at all. "Matter of fact, I shouldn't do anything to help you. You know why? Because all of the shit you've pulled since becoming alpha has brought even more drama to our lives. I would gladly let you drown but I might get a murder charge. Actually, maybe I wouldn't because no one cares about Derek Hale!"
"No one is letting anyone drown!" Stiles yelled. "But I don't think I can do this much longer. I'm getting the phone."
Derek's head fell back as he tried to move it. "No, no, no. Don't even think about it."
"Would you just trust me this once? Trust us."
"No." Derek repeated.
Stiles grit his teeth. "We are the ones keeping you alive, okay, have you noticed that?"
"Yeah. And when the paralysis wears off, who is gonna be able to fight that thing, you or me?" Derek spit out the water that had been accumulating in his mouth. "You don't trust me, I don't trust you. I really don't trust her. You need me to survive, which is why you are not letting me go."
"Astrid please hold him."
Astrid stared at the two before swimming over and placing herself under Derek's floating arm. "I'm not any happier about this than you are."
Stiles then let go of the werewolf and Astrid felt the weight on her side increase. She pushed her already exhausted legs to kick harder. It sustained them for a minute, but she could feel the water slowly climb farther up her neck.
"Take a deep breath." she ordered Derek.
"What? Why?"
"My legs, I can't-" she gasped as pain shot up her legs. It felt like one huge charley horse in her entire lower body. "Do it now!"
Astrid barely grabbed enough air before her head was fully submerged. Her arm fell from around Derek's waist. She felt him slip away and could feel the impact of his body hitting the bottom of the pool. Astrid tried to pull herself up with just her arms, hoping to call to Stiles before going under again, but each attempt resulted in numbness taking over each limb.
The girl kept floating down until her own body fell to the bottom of the pool. She opened her eyes and looked around, seeing a figure that she assumed was Stiles float directly above them. Astrid watched a small object float down, followed by Stiles, who managed to grab onto both Derek and her. They were pulled upwards, where Astrid gasped for breath and managed to push through the pain in her legs to tread water again.
"Tell me you got him." Derek rasped.
Stiles grimaced and Astrid frowned. "He hung up on you didn't he? I'm kicking his ass if we don't die."
The boy didn't respond to her, instead directing his attention to both Derek and her. "I can't stay up any longer, I need something to hold on to."
Astrid spotted a starting block across the pool, which had grips for everyone to hold on to. She directed Stiles' attention to it before taking off. She pushed through the cramps, making it just far enough to reach. Her fingers touched the grip, making her smile until she felt her arm give out again.
To her horror, she couldn't pull herself up anymore, and began to sink again. Until a warm hand gripped the back of her jacket and pulled her out of the water and onto the deck.
Astrid cried out in pain as she fell onto the deck, her shoulder absorbing the impact. Stiles and Derek were right beside her, and all three looked at a wolfed-out Scott preparing to take on the creature. Scott roared, perched on the block, before being tackled to the ground by the creature.
Both bodies tumbled but regained their stances quickly. The thing wrapped its tail around Scott's ankle and threw him into a mirror on the wall. The mirror shattered, sending shards of glass raining down around Scott. The werewolf recuperated quickly though, wielding a larger piece of glass.
The lizard-like being stared at its own reflection, something all four of the people in the room noticed. Scott waved the piece around and the creature lunged. Only it avoided Scott, instead climbing up the wall and escaping through the skylight.
Astrid let her head return to its normal position. "You wouldn't happen to have the time, would you? Or my bag?"
"It's only 9 something. And I have it in my car." Scott spoke with a sort of lisp, and Astrid figured he still bared his fangs.
"Great." she exhaled while still staring at the ceiling. No grounding for her. "You feel like giving me a ride home?"
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{Word Count: 3631}
I love a positive father-daughter relationship! I especially love that the gif turned out so well :)
But anyways, not much to say about this so see y'all next update!