I lifted up Stiles' hood and a plethora of white smoke started floating out of it.
"I don't know much about cars, but I'm pretty sure that's not a good thing," I said. Stiles was too busy watching Kira and Scott hug (seriously? Just a hug?) to notice, then he groaned and sprinted over the few feet to mess with the hoses.
Almost everything in there had duct tape around it. God, this thing was just barely hanging on.
Malia, who was kneeling down by the front right tire, said, "Stiles. I don't think we hit something." She pulled out a medium-sized curved tool that looked like it was made of bone and wrapped in twine at one end while the other end was sharp and pointed. "I think something hit us."
Stiles took it and stared at it with fearful confusion.
"Any chance that looks like something made by someone harmless who's looking for new friends?" I asked, which earned me a look from him. I nodded and sighed. I didn't think so either.
"Alright, hand me my tools, babe. They're in the-."
"I know where they are," I said, already on the way to the back. I lifted the window and reached in, pulling out his small bag of tools, which was really just a screwdriver, wrench, and duct tape.
I handed it to him, and he grabbed the screwdriver and wrench. I leaned against the front, holding the tape in my hand because I knew he would need it at some point while he held the screwdriver in his mouth and got to work with the wrench.
"Maybe we should just walk," Lydia sighed half an hour later.
"Shouldn't have said that," I warned as Stiles inhaled and glared at her.
"Hey. I will never abandon this jeep. Okay?" Stiles grumbled. "You understand me? Ever." He stuck the wrench in his mouth, now using the screwdriver to tighten some kind of cap. "Ever." Stiles had one foot on the front bumper, the other on the side bumper as he straddled the edge of his jeep, using it as leverage to tighten something else.
I stepped to the left as he grunted, trying to pull something. His hands were covered in black grease and I was lost in mechanic fantasies of him while watching him struggle to be a mechanic.
Malia snapped me out of it by telling Stiles to work faster in a worried voice. We all looked up at her, and she was staring off into the hills like she was waiting for something to run out and scream boo.
"There's something out here with us," she said. I walked up to her side, looking out with her. I didn't know what she saw, but if it was the same thing that threw the bone shiv, then I certainly didn't want it any near Stiles.
I stayed on alert while Stiles tried to work faster. Every time he tried to start the jeep, it just sputtered and died again, so it was safe to say it wasn't working. This pattern continued all the way into nightfall. I'd lost track of the time as I patrolled the area around the jeep, sticking close to Stiles.
Lydia held the light for Stiles while he worked, and he was almost standing inside the hood by now. Kira had her sword, and I kept my claws out and ears open, ready to protect my friends.
"Lydia," Stiles huffed. "Could you please hold the flashlight still for a second? It's really hard to see anything when you keep shaking it like that."
Lydia looked at him with annoyance. "I'm shaking it like this because we're in the middle of nowhere with your broken-down jeep, and we're being attacked by yet another razor-clawed monster. And I'm terrified."
Stiles leaned up suddenly. "Well, just be slightly less terrified." Lydia rolled her eyes at him, and I fought back a smile. If things had been different, he would've been a lot nicer and flirty about that. He yanked something out, handing it to her. "And hold this."
"What's this?"
"I don't know. I'm hoping it's not important."
"Anything?" I asked Malia when I walked up to her.
She shrugged, shaking her head. "It's too hard to see. We should've brought another flashlight."
"We don't need another flashlight," I told her. She gave me a confused look. "You're looking with your human eyes. Try it with your coyote eyes." She stared at me like I was crazy, and I gestured to the darkness around us.
Unfolding her arms with a determined sigh, she stared into the night. After a minute, her eyes started to glow a bright blue. It wasn't like Derek's blue, it was lighter. Her eyes flicked through the hills and boulders as mine did.
A movement of something ducking behind a boulder caught our sights, and we looked at each other to see if we both saw it. Malia growled and ran at it without waiting for me.
"Stiles, don't move!" I demanded as I ran after her. He called my name but I ignored him, going after the bad guy with Malia. I was pretty sure he tried to run after me, but Lydia made him continue fixing the jeep. I heard him growl at her (very animal-like, surprisingly) and Kira's feet padded as she chased us.
The thing that was behind the boulder seemed to be made of bone on the outside, but it was too fast to really get a good look at it, and Malia and I attacked it. I took the top while she aimed for the bottom. We hoped to debilitate it, but it barely even moved. It threw us off of it, and Malia rolled to the ground.
As I leapt at it, something sharp and serrated slit through my side. I screamed in pain and fell to the ground, feeling the blood already gushing out. The thing was gone by the time I looked up, and Malia helped me up. I groaned as it sent pain radiating through my body.
Kira was calling our names, and we followed the sound. She nearly took our heads off when we startled her. Remind me not to run up on her when she's got her sword.
"What happened? What's out there?" Kira asked.
"I don't know. It's big and it's fast," Malia said.
I clutched my side, panting with pain. "And it cuts deep." I could feel myself slowly healing, and, not for the first time, I wished I could heal faster.
Up near the road, I heard the jeep start, and Malia helped me stumbled to it, Kira acting as our guide with a sword. Stiles saw me stumbling up, and despite Lydia's demands telling him to stay, he ran to me, worry draining from him.
"I'm okay. It's just a scratch," I panted.
"Just a scratch? Baby, that's not just a scratch! It's-."
"Already healing," I reminded him, showing him the wound. He winced at it, holding his hand out to cover it from his sight.
"Aw, that's disgusting," he muttered.
"Okay. Can we just get in the jeep please? I can heal on the way there." Stiles nodded and took me from Malia's arm, helping me back to the jeep. I got in after the girls, and Stiles closed my door before running across the jeep to get in on his side.
The radio wasn't on, so it made it awkwardly silent. The only thing I could hear was him breathing with fits of rage the longer he thought.
"Okay, what is it, Stiles?" I asked.
"You..." He pointed to me, finally letting out all the fear he'd held in before. "You please don't do that ever again."
"Do what?" I furrowed my brows, confused at what he was getting at. It wasn't the first time I'd been in a fight before.
"Run off like that! I was-. You could've gotten seriously hurt!"
"It looks like she did," Malia pointed out helpfully. Stiles gestured to her like it proved he was right.
"It's fine," I grumbled, though I was confused myself on why it was taking so long to heal. Normally, it would've sealed up by now.
"Are you sure?" Lydia asked. "That doesn't look so good."
I pulled my shirt back to look down at it and sighed. "Yeah. But I can feel it healing. I'll be fine." Stiles shook his head at me and I reached over to take one of his hands from the steering wheel that he was gripping with white knuckles. "Seriously. It's okay." He gave me a tight-lipped smile, but squeezed my hand, letting me know he was mad, but he still loved me.
"You didn't see anything?" Lydia asked.
"Barely," I replied.
"It had a strong scent, though," Malia added.
"Like what?" Stiles asked.
"Like death," I told him. The scent had been strong enough for me to smell from the jeep, which was an accomplishment on my part.
A scream of surprise escaped my mouth as I flinched, the sound of Scott's roar ripping through my ears. Stiles jerked the wheel, causing the girls behind me to scream. I didn't even register that or the look Stiles gave me as I stared out the front windshield, my eyes wide and my hand steadying myself on the dash. It seemed like nobody else had heard it.
"What? What is it?" Stiles asked.
"Stiles. Drive faster," I said.
"But I just got the jeep working-."
"Now!"
Stiles' eyes flicked to my serious expression and he nodded, stepping on the gas. The car lurched forward as it picked up speed.
10 minutes later, we were navigating our way through old, run down, half-built buildings. All of them were small compared to the large church in the center. Stiles jerked to a stop in front of it, and I jumped out quickly. It looked like the other buildings, except it had been fully built at one point.
Scott and Braeden dragged out a barely conscious boy around our age, and I ran up to help, Stiles close behind. We both stopped in front of them. I had thought the boy looked familiar, but now up close, I knew it was true. I'd seen pictures of him before, but he was supposed to be in his late 20's now.
"Is that him? Is that Derek?" Malia asked.
"Uh... Sort of," Stiles sighed. Derek raised his head, looking up at me with confusion. He looked so lost and scared.
"It's Derek, alright," I said. "10 years ago."