-DISCLAIMER-
I do NOT own Teen Wolf
Comment, vote, fan, and let me know what you're thinking!
So I met Victoria Aveyard (author of the Red Queen series) today, and I love her so much omg. She is actually the sweetest person ever and signed my whole series and let me hug her and I love her.
If you haven't already, you should definitely read the Red Queen series!
Also this chapter is gonna be intense, so enjoy!
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"This is bad. This is very, very, very bad."
I began to hyperventilate slightly as we all stood in front of the gaping metal hole. We were still slightly in shock after seeing the Kanima leap through it and run off into the club.
Stiles ran towards the exit of the building, leaving us behind. The betas and I looked at each other, before silently agreeing to just follow Stiles. None of us had any better ideas.
"So we kind of lost Jackson inside, but it's. . ." I heard Stiles say. Who was he talking to?
Isaac, Erica and I went out the door, to see Derek and Stiles standing together near the Jeep. I was behind the betas, and nearly ran into them as they slowed to a stop. Isaac knelt down and stared at something on the ground, before looking at Erica with a worried look on his face.
I leaned over his shoulder to see what he was looking at.
"Mountain ash," I whispered.
Stiles' face split into a large grin as he threw his hands up, "Oh, my God! It's working. Oh, this is. . . I did something," he pointed to himself with a proud look on his face.
I smiled a little, stepping a bit closer. But that's when I felt it. Some force pushing at me softly; and I had a feeling that if I were to step closer to the line, it would grow stronger.
I wasn't a werewolf. So why could I feel the mountain ash? Or hear the things I could hear? I had so many questions, and the only one with answers was Peter and he's dead.
Suddenly the sound of a growl ripped through the air. I spun around in a small circle, searching for the origin of the noise.
"Scott," Derek said.
My eyes widened as I stopped spinning to focus on him. "Is he okay?"
Derek wasn't looking at us, but off into the distance. "Break it."
"What?" Stiles exclaimed. "No way."
"Scott's dying!" Derek shouting, pointing to a building which was in the vicinity of the mountain ash.
This immediately caught Stiles' attention, "Okay, what? How do you know that?"
"Oh, my God, Stiles," Derek got right up in his face. "I just know! Break it!"
Stiles spluttered, looking from me to Derek and back again. I nodded quickly, agreeing with Derek. The boy dropped to his knees, brushing apart the ash to create a break in the circle.
Derek rushed past as soon as it was broken, and Stiles just sat there looking disappointed that his hard work had amounted to nothing.
I jumped down off the step and past the line. Don't get me wrong, I was worried for Scott, but I was definitely glad that I didn't have to attempt to explain to anyone why I was unable to cross the mountain ash.
Upon further inspection however, I came to the conclusion that it wasn't the mountain ash that had him down. He was more disappointed then necessary.
"Hey, are you okay?" I asked, placing a hand on his shoulder.
He glanced up at me, before dropping down to sit on the cement and shaking his head. He looked like all the hope had been drained from him. It was strange seeing someone like Stiles like that.
I sat down beside him, wrapping an arm around him and resting my head on his shoulder. "What happened?"
He seemed to tense up a bit at my touch, but eventually settled. "It's- uh- it's my dad," he sniffled a little. "I just- I feel like I'm screwing up his life."
Pulling away from him, I scanned his face. He wasn't kidding.
"Why would you say something like that?"
"He was asked to step down because apparently a Sheriff's son having a record is looked down upon."
We sat in silence, Stiles remembering the conversation with his dad and me taking it all in.
"If that's you screwing up your dad's life, then I don't even know what I've done to my mum. She thinks every word that leaves my mouth is a lie these says. She's on the verge of sending me to a psychiatrist. I think I'm the reason why she's never home anymore; she doesn't want to be there if I'm there."
"I guess we're both pretty messed up then," Stiles sighed.
"I guess so."
I leaned back over and reclaimed my resting place on his shoulder. "You're not ruining your dad's life, Stiles. Things are just tough right now, but they'll get better."
I felt him rest his head on top of mine, a short sigh of exasperation escaping his lips, "I really hope so."
♡♢♤♧
The next night, there was a loud knock on my door. Stiles and Scott were supposed to be meeting me at the party and my mum was working late, so I couldn't piece together who would be there.
Leaving my room and walking downstairs, I heard the person knock again. "All right, hold your horses, I'm coming!" I shouted at them.
Opening the door, I was welcomed by the smiling face of the one and only Lydia Martin.
"Lydia?" I said in shock. "What are you doing at my house? Better question; how do you know where I live?"
"No time for questions," she said. "We're going to Allison's to get ready for my party."
Hold up. Lydia Martin was inviting me to get ready with her and Allison? I never thought I'd live to see the day. Ever.
"Um, sure, okay. Just let me grab some stuff."
She sighed, "Fine, but hurry up."
I turned on my heel and headed upstairs. I ended up just grabbing an overnight bag and stuffing the clothes I had planned on wearing inside, along with my makeup kit and heels. I was just going to wear my Converses on the way over.
"Alright," I said as I was walking down the stairs. "Let's go I guess."
Lydia smiled widely, "Great. Come on, we haven't got all night."
I couldn't help but laugh a little as we walked out the door and headed over to her car. Lydia was actually beginning to feel like one of my best friends, and I kind of didn't mind it.
"I still want to know how you knew where I live," I stated as we got in her car and drove off.
♡♢♤♧
"Clear your schedule," Lydia announced as we walked into Allison's room.
Seeing the surprise on Allison's face, I spun to look at Lydia. "I thought she knew we were coming?"
"I never said that," Lydia smiled. "I just said that we were going to her place to get ready."
Allison laughed at us both as she stood up. "It's fine, Riley."
"Good, because this could take a while." The strawberry blonde shook the Macy's bags she held in her hand, showing off the shopping she had done.
"How many outfits do you plan on wearing tonight?"
"It's my birthday party," Lydia replied simply. She held a grey striped dress up against herself, "I'm thinking host dress, evening dress, then after-hours casual."
I couldn't help but laugh, not surprised at all. I had been to one of these before, and nothing would have shocked me at that moment.
"I noticed that you didn't send out any invites," Allison said casually, but we could all tell she was confused.
Lydia pulled another dress out of one of the multiple shopping bags. "Biggest party of the year, Allison. Everyone knows."
Allison looks to me, eyes wide. I nodded to confirm what Lydia had said.
It was true. Ever since she became Queen Bee of Beacon Hills High School, she never required invitations for word to spread.
"I was wondering if maybe this year things, you know, might be different."
I began to discreetly shake my head in her direction. Lydia had no idea about any of it, and we needed to keep it that way for as long as possible.
"Why would anything be different?" The strawberry blonde's eyes never left the dresses. Something was going on in her head.
"Just 'cause things have been off lately. Things and people." She paused, before looking at Lydia and smiling awkwardly, "Like Jackson."
I looked at her with wide eyes. Was she serious right now?
This grabbed Lydia's attention, her eyes trailing to Allison. "What do you care about Jackson?"
Allison seemed to be thinking, before smiling and shaking her head. Thank God. "Do you know if he's coming tonight?"
"Everyone's coming."
Lydia seemed really off. Something was going on, and I didn't like it.
She smiled all of a sudden, picking up a dress and holding it against herself. "This one's American Rag. Mmm, I love it. For me, not either of you," She added rather quickly.
I couldn't help but laugh. Lydia had actually become my friend, and I don't think I minded. "Not really my colour anyway."
Lydia rolled her eyes with a laugh, before grabbing another dress. "This one's Material Girl." She held it out to Allison, "That's for you."
Just when Allison was about to say something, there was a knock at her door. We all turned to see Allison's mother standing at the door with a tight smile on her face.
"Mrs. Argent," Lydia said. "What do you think of this one?" She asked the woman, referring to the strapless, blue dress she was holding in front of herself.
"It's lovely," she replied kindly. "Allison, can I grab you for a moment to talk? Just the two of us?"
She was still smiling, but she seemed really on edge and fidgety.
"Umm. . . can we do it later?" Allison asked, pointing to Lydia and I.
Mrs. Argent rubbed her arm, readjusting her stance against the wall. "Actually, to be honest, sooner would be better."
"Party's at ten," Lydia threw in, backing Allison up somewhat.
"You'll be around before then?"
I kind of felt bad. She looked like she really needed to speak to Allison. Like, really needed to speak to her.
Allison held her hands up in a sort of shrug. "I think so."
"You think so?" her mother mirrored back in question.
Allison spun her head to look at her mother, frowning. "I don't know."
Allison and Lydia began to talk about dresses and Mrs. Argent was still standing there. She looked so sad.
'Sorry,' I mouthed to her with a small shrug and a sad frown. Just because she knew I knew about werewolves and we were on opposite sides, didn't mean I had to be awful to her. I didn't like watching that go down, because it made me think of how I had treated my mother recently.
Ever since the werewolf thing started things had changed between us. I knew that. So did she.
Well, she knew parts of it at least. But she knew something had changed; just not what.
♡♢♤♧
Later that night my mum dropped me off at Lydia's house.
"Be safe and call me if you need anything," she had said. That was the most she'd spoken to me in a couple of days.
It was crazy how one day she was basically my best friend, and then suddenly it's like we live in completely different places.
"No worries. Thank for the ride, mum."
With a smile, she said good bye and then drove home. I spun on my heel and walked up the drive way towards the house.
Lydia had brought a dress for me also, and I wasn't going to disappoint her on her birthday. Besides, I may not like dresses, but the one she chose for me wasn't awful.
It was a dark marine teal, which cut off just above my knees. It had a flat neckline and straps. I didn't actually mind it. I decided to pair it with some black ankle boots which had heels and some black earrings.
I was late, but thankfully Lydia was too busy hosting to notice. When I walked in I immediately searched for my two friends, who seemed to be searching for something themselves.
"Have you seen Jackson anywhere?" I heard Stiles ask someone.
Was my good hearing back? I guess I hadn't really tried to use it.
"No. Seen Allison?" Scott replied.
"No, but we should probably tell her what we found."
Finally I found them. I walked up behind them, "What did you find?"
Stiles jumped a little with a gasp. "Don't do that when there's a killer lizard on the loose," he whispered.
"Sorry. But back on topic, what did you find?"
Scott shrugged, "I'm still not sure to be completely honest."
Stiles sighed, "All the victims were on the swim team for their year."
"What about Mr. Lahey?" I asked, confused.
"He was the coach. And it all has something to do with water. You know, that fact that all the victims were on the swim team, the way the Kanima reacted around the pool."
I nodded, "Makes enough sense."
"So whoever's controlling the Kanima really hates the swim team?" Scott questioned.
"Hated the swim team," Stiles corrected. "Specifically the two-thousand and six swim team. So it could be another teacher. Maybe, like, a student back then. I mean, who are we missing? What haven't we thought of?"
"I'm sure there's a lot we haven't thought of," I sighed.
Allison appeared in front of us, a small smile on her face. "Um, Jackson's not here."
"Yeah, no one's here," Stiles pointed out.
I looked around, to the realisation that he was right. We were basically the only people there.
"Maybe it's just early," Scott tried to reason.
"Or maybe nobody's coming, because Lydia's turned into the town wack job," Stiles stated.
I put my hands on my hips and looked at them all, "And whose fault is that?"
Allison nodded, "We have to do something, because we've completely ignored her for the past two weeks."
"She's completely ignored Stiles the past ten years," Scott shrugged.
At this I scoffed, bringing my hand to my mouth to keep myself from laughing.
Stiles whipped his head around to glance at Scott, licking his bottom lip. "I prefer to think of it as me not having been on her radar yet."
Both Scott and I shook our heads in disbelief at him. Allison looked at me for support, to which I half shrugged.
"She may be my friend now, but Scott has a point. And they were my friends first, so their opinion comes first."
Scott nodded in agreement, "We don't owe her a party."
"What about the chance to get back to normal?" Allison asked, putting on the doe eyes which we all knew Scott would fall for.
Surprisingly, it didn't have then intended effect. "Normal?" He asked, eyebrows coming together in confusion.
"She wouldn't be the town wack job if it wasn't for us."
"That's what I said," I reminded them as I threw a hand up. Stiles gave me a look, and I dropped it. "Well, I did."
The boys sighed, glancing over to Lydia who was standing by the pool with a tray full of glasses of punch.
"I guess I could use my co-captain status to get the lacrosse team here," Scott suggested.
"Yeah," Stiles nodded. "I also know some people who can get this thing going. Like, really going." He pulled his phone out of his pocket, searching for a number.
"Who?" Allison asked.
"I met them the other night," he explained. "Let's just say they know how to party."
I chuckled, realising I knew exactly who he was talking about. The people we met at the club the other night. This party would be back to Lydia standards in no time.
♡♢♤♧
Less than an hour later Scott, Stiles and I were standing together as the party plays out around us. There were people everywhere, and Lydia seemed to be enjoying herself.
I was happy the boys were able to pull the strings they did. I would've felt awful if no one had come to her birthday party.
"Are you gonna apologise to Allison or what?" Stiles asked Scott. He was leaning against one of the structural columns of the patio, whilst Scott and I sat beside each other on a patio chair.
Scott's face twisted in confusion, "Why should I apologise?"
"Why should you apologise?" I scoffed as I took a sip of the punch I was holding in my hand.
Scott looked at me, and then to Stiles, shrugging.
"Because you're the guy," Stiles stated. "It's what we do."
I raised my eyebrows. "Are you serious right now? He needs to apologise because he was wrong."
"No I wasn't," Scott said quickly. "I didn't do anything wrong."
"Then you should definitely apologise," Stiles said with a nod. "See, any time a guy thinks he hasn't done anything wrong, it means he's definitely done something wrong."
I shook my head as I took another sip of my drink, mumbling obscenities under my breath. Boys.
"I'm not apologising," Scott said stubbornly.
Stiles tsked, "Is that the full moon talking, buddy?"
"Probably. Why do you care, anyway?"
"Because, Scott, something's gotta go right here." He seemed offended by the fact that his friend cared about his relationship. "I mean, we're getting our asses royally kicked, if you haven't noticed. People are dying. Riley's family is barely talking to her. I got my dad fired. You're gonna be held back in school. I'm in love with a nut job. And if on top of all that, I gotta watch you lose Allison to a stalker like Matt, I'm gonna stab myself in the face."
I felt like I wanted to stab myself in the face. He said he was in love with her.
I chugged down the rest of the alcoholic punch in my glass, staring down at my hands. Could this night possibly have gotten any worse?
"Don't stab yourself in the face," Scott said, standing up suddenly.
"Why not?" Stiles asked quietly, gulping.
"Because Jackson's here."
I looked up from my hands, to see said boy walking out of the house and onto the patio with the rest of us.
Me asking if the night could get any worse was a rhetorical question.
Jackson stared at us as he took a sip of the punch Lydia had handed him, his eyes full of anger.
This wasn't going to end well, I sighed as I grabbed another glass of punch.
♡♢♤♧
Lydia had changed outfits, and the party was still crazy packed.
Stiles and I were standing by the pool, watching everything happen around us, when I noticed that I couldn't see Allison anywhere. Scott was speaking to someone on the lacrosse team, Jackson was standing on his own and Lydia was handing out drinks.
But I couldn't see Allison anywhere.
"I'll be back. I just wanna check on Allison," I said to Stiles, before walking off in search.
I walked into the house, stumbling as I tried to get past people. I had had about five glasses of Lydia's punch at that point. It seemed to be doing the trick.
I'm not an alcoholic or anything; in fact I don't usually drink. But, after everything that had happened, it seemed like a good night to try and forget all of that.
Fumbling my way up stairs, I found Allison standing on her own, gasping.
"Hey, are you okay?" I asked, placing a hand on her shoulder.
She jumped a little, nodding her head, before shaking it. "I'm not sure."
"Let's go back down stairs, okay?"
She nodded, gulping. We helped each other down the stairs, taking the steps one at a time. Something felt wrong.
We walked outside, when I saw someone I recognised standing over by the door, shaking their head at me.
"I'll, uh, I'll catch up with you. Go get some water," I said to Allison.
She nodded, walking off.
I turned back and went over to the person.
"Look at my little girl. Dressing like she's off to a strip club," My father sneered.
My arms found their way in front of me, covering myself as I glared at him, "What are you even doing here?"
He laughed, "Your mother wouldn't let me see you, but I wanted to. I wanted to see how you had grown up. You're not at all who I thought you'd be."
"I'm sorry if I turned out some major disappointment-"
"Not at all," he chuckled. "I was worried you'd turn out like your mother. But, here we are. Lying, manipulating people, not stopping the bad things from happening; you're turning out just like your old man. I couldn't be happier."
"No." I felt my whole body shake. Was it from fear? Anger? Sadness? I couldn't tell. "No, you were the one who screwed up, not me. And there is no way I would do that to the people I love. I'm not like you, I'm not a screw up; I can still fix things!" I shouted at him. "I'm not like you!"
I went to shove him away from me, when the whole world shook and he was gone.
What the hell was going on?