I nervously fidget in the front seat of the Camaro. Derek hasn't said a word to me ever since the night of the rave. Honestly, I'm scared to hear what he is going to say about my actions. Tonight is the full moon and if I was a full werewolf, I'd be back with the rest of the pack chained up. Since I'm a hybrid, the full moon won't affect me as badly. By that I mean, I won't want to kill everyone and everything in sight. Derek is staying back to help Erica, Boyd, and Isaac during the full moon, whereas, he wants me to help Scott and his friends in any way that I can tonight.
"Why aren't you yelling at me?" I break the silence in the dark car. "You told me not to do something and I did it anyway. Shouldn't you be furious?"
Derek looks over for the first time this whole drive. "I'm not mad."
I furrow my eyebrows. "Why not?"
"Scott told me what happened in there. He said you fought against Victoria. You tried to save both of you and if she hadn't cut you, you probably would have saved the two of you. If you hadn't gone, Scott could have died. You're a lot stronger than I give you credit for, Chloe."
Tears gather in my eyes at his words. The last sentence sunk into me the most. No one has called me strong. I've never been strong. I could never be strong when I needed to. Not when Dad would abuse me, not when mom died, not when dad blamed me for mom dying, not when Isaac needed me to be strong. Strong has never been in my vocabulary.
"I clearly wasn't strong enough." I wipe away a tear that slide down my cheek.
"You're still learning." Derek parks his car in front of Lydia Martin's house.. "You kept the two of you alive. That's all that mattered."
"Victoria?" Her name tastes bitter on my tongue. "What happened to her?"
Derek turns to face me. "She won't be a problem anymore."
I stare at the house barely lit up. "Just make sure Isaac doens't complete lose control. I don't like being away from him. It doesn't feel right, it never does, but I know it's important if I help out tonight."
"Just call if you need anything." Derek says as I climb out of his car.
I nod my head before walking up the pebbled driveway. Stiles' jeep and is the only car I recognize. At least, I'll have Stiles to talk to. I reach the front door and hit the doorbell. I can do this. It's just a high school party. I should be fine, right?
The front door swings open and none other than Lydia Martin is standing there with a tray of drinks in her right hand. Her eyes narrow slightly and she cocks her head to the side. "And, you are?"
"Um- I-"
Stiles rushes forward out of nowhere. "She's a friend of mine."
Lydia presses her lips together for a second. Like a flick of a switch, she breaks out in a smile. "In that case, this is for you." She holds out a glass filled with a pink liquid that is no doubt some kind of alcohol.
I shake my head. "I don't drink."
"Oh, sweetheart, this is a party. Everyone drinks." Lydia sets the glass in my hand. She smirks and walks to another section of her house.
Stiles just stands on the other threshold. He rubs the back of his head. "You'll get used to her." I bite my lip, unsure of what to do next. Stiles realizes how awkward the situation is and claps his hands. "Uh...Scott is in the other room. Come on."
I follow Stiles into the house after shutting the door behind me. The house is huge, much bigger than the one I grew up in. There is a more a home-y feel to it. Scott is leaning up against a wall, his phone held in both of his hands. We haven't seen each other since that night. He tears his eyes away from his lit up screen and smiles.
"Hey." Scott shoves his phone in his pocket.
"Hi." I smile back.
Stiles turns to look at the two of us. He places hands on both of our backs and pushes us down the hallway. "Have you seen Jackson?"
"No." Scott says. "Seen Allison?"
"No, but we should probably tell her what we found."
I shake Stiles' hand off of my back. "What did you guys find?"
"My dad and I discovered that everyone who has been killed by the kanima was on the Beacon Hills swim team and, uh- That's it."
My hearing picks up on a skip in Stiles' heartbeat. Why would Stiles lie to me? What's so bad that he couldn't tell me the truth? "You just lied to me."
Stiles eyes widen, realizing that I caught him. "W-What?" He laughs, awkwardly. "N-No, I d-didn't...Hah."
Scott switch spots with Stiles, so he is standing in the middle. "Do you ever remember your dad working at the school?"
I think back to what my dad did before he started working at the cemetary. The only other job he had was before mom died. He worked at the school as the coach for the- OH! "He was the coach for the swim team." I whisper. "So, whoever is controlling the kanima has something against the swim team, including my dad. Why?"
"I figured out it has something to do with water. You know, the fact that all the victims were on the swim team, the way the kanima reacted around the pool." Stiles says as we walk through the house. Random teenagers pass by us with the same drink in hand. I set mine down on a table that we pass by. Drinking has never been my favorite, especially since that's all that dad did after mom died.
"So whoever's controlling the kanima really hates the swim team?" Scott asks.
"Hated the swim team." Stiles corrects him. "Specifically, the 2006 swim team. So, it could be another teacher. Maybe like a student back then. I mean, who are we missing though? What haven't we thought of?"
The three of us step out of the house on to the backyard of the house. More alcoholic drinks are on the table outside. Wow. Lydia must be a really big fan of that drink. Allison slowly walks over to us. She looks at Scott and quickly looks down at her feet. Scott shares the same awkward look on his face. What happened between the two of them? Or was it what happened in the rave?
"Uh, Jackson's not here." Allison states.
"Yeah, no one's here." Stiles says as we all look around.
This party is rather sad compared to what I have seen in movies. I thought they were supposed to have music blaring and teenagers being stupid. All I see is Lydia by herself with-what do you know- those drinks in her hand. "Maybe it's just early." I offer, nicely.
"Or maybe nobody's coming because Lydia's turned into the town whackjob." Stiles deadpans.
"Well, we have to do something, because we've completely ignored her for the past two weeks." Allison reminds the two of them.
"She's completely ignored Stiles the past ten years." Scott counters, shrugging his shoulders.
"Awh." I blurt. That's so sweet that Stiles has liked her for so long. Ten years is a long time.
"I prefer to think of it as me not having been on her radar yet." Stiles attempts to not make it as bad as it sounds.
Scott shrugs his shoulders for the second time. "We don't owe her a party."
"What about the chance to get back to normal?" Allison retorts.
"Normal?"
"She wouldn't be the town whackjob if it wasn't for us."
Scott sighs. "I guess I could use my co - captain status to get the lacrosse team here."
"Yeah, I also know some people who can get this thing going. Like, really going." Stiles emphasizes the last part while reaching for his phone.
"Who?" I ask, curiously.
Stiles glances in my direction. "I met them the other night. Let's just say they know how to party." He turns around and picks up one of the drinks. "You're probably going to need this. Things are probably going to happen that are far out of your comfort zone and this might make it a little bit easier."
+
Once the party picked up, I managed to lose Scott and Stiles in the mass of teenagers. Even with my advanced hearing, I'm having a hard time finding their voices. I grip the glass in my hand a little tighter, my nerves kicking in. What if I can't find them? Being on my own has always terrified me. I take another sip. I don't like drinking, but part of me hopes that if I drink a little bit, I'll stop worrying.
I wander in the backyard past the pool to a table and a few chairs are. Maybe if I just sit down for a second, I'll be better. I think being away from Isaac isn't helping my case at all. Before I can sit down, I spot a trail of blood, leading towards the house. I set my drink down on the table before I follow the trail. Someone could be seriously hurt.
No one notices the blood unlike me. They are too busy dancing and having a good time. The trail of blood leads me down a hallway. The blood puddles become larger and a footprint is next to it, marked in blood. I push past everyone quicker. I stumble in to the kitchen, where Isaac is laying on the floor. Blood is dripping down his wrist, a thick cut across the underside of his wrist. A puddle of blood surrounding him.
"Isaac!" I rush over and fall down on my knees. "Isaac! Isaac, please wake up!" I cradle his head in my arms, sobbing uncontrollably. "I-Isaac!" His blood soaks through my jeans. "P-P-Please. I can't l-lose y-you."
"Look at you." Someone sneers from above me.
I lift my head up to see my mom in the last outfit she was in. "M-M-Mom?"
She crosses her arms over her chest. "You did this, you know. This is all your fault. You killed him, just like when you killed me."
Tears pour out of my eyes at her harsh words. What's going on? This can't be happening. I can't lose Isaac. I can't lose him. "W-W-What?"
"Your father was right. You are pathetic and worthless. He had every right to abuse you. You are the reason I'm died. You should have died that night. We would have been better off with you." Mom's words cut through the air like knives. "If you had died, we'd all still be alive. You weren't necessary. Isaac should have been an only child." She walks closer. "You're a disgrace. And, now, because of you, Isaac killed himself. He hated always having to take care of you. You could never take care of yourself."
I shake my head, willing myself to not believe her. She's right, though. "I-I'm sorry."
"Sorry isn't going to save any of us." Mom scoffs. "The only escape Isaac saw to get away from you was suicide. Are you happy now?"
"NO!" I cry, hysterically.
"Chloe! Chloe, it's okay!" Scott's voice causes me to jerk away from Isaac's body. He grabs my hands in his, worry in his eyes. "It wasn't real. I promise you, whatever you saw, it wasn't real."
I desperately look around the kitchen, finding myself on the tile floor, the kitchen empty except for the two of us. Isaac's body is gone, along with my mom and the blood on the floor. Where did it all go? "W-What? W-Where's Isaac? My m-m-mom...She was here. It's all my fault. I'm the reason she's dead and now Is-" I burst out crying even harder.
Scott wraps his arms around my shaking torso. "Shh. None of that was real. It's the drink Lydia gave to everyone. Isaac is fine. He's with Derek." He strokes my back with his fingers, soothingly. "Listen to my heart, okay? I'm not lying." I hold my breath for a second, long enough to hear his heart beat regularly. No skips. "You're okay. You're okay."
"It was so real."
++++++++++++++++++++++++
Alright. I decided I would end this chapter there. I originally had a different plan for her to imagine, but I liked this one more. Pretty intense, right? I will admit, I did tear up a little writing the end.
So, I gave you a little bit of Schloe in this chapter. Not a whole bunch.
I'm excited for the next chapter. Things get really interesting. Like, really interesting.
Can you believe I'm in episode nine already? Only a few more to go! Yes, a sequel will happen. No title yet. I'm still thinking.
Question: How intense was that last scene?
So, yeah!