Question of the Chapter: What did you guys think of Allison and Isaac getting together in the show? Even if it was only for a brief time.
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The police arrived at the substation before I had the chance to run in and see what happened, meaning Lydia and I had to hear about everything as it was being explained. Whatever had happened had caused the entire town to black out, so it was serious.
It wasn't just any police we were talking to, however. Stiles, Scott, Lydia, Kira and I were currently sitting in Sheriff Stilinski's office with Special Agent McCall and the Sheriff himself.
After Scott and Stiles had explained what had happened that night, Mr McCall proceeded to question us.
"So when did you get there?"
"At the same time," Stiles replied.
"At the same time as who?"
Stiles pointed to Scott, who spoke next, "At the same time as me."
"By coincidence."
Stiles shifted beside me, "What do you mean coincidence?"
"That's what I'm asking you," Mr McCall told Stiles, starting to become a little frustrated.
We had all become rather good at avoiding certain truths to most extents.
"The two of you arrived at the same time. Was that coincidence?"
"Are you asking me?" The man's son asked, looking confused.
Stiles looked to him, "I think he's asking me."
"I think he's asking the both of you," Lydia told them.
"Or neither of you," I shrugged.
Mr McCall stopped us because we could go any further. "Okay, let me answer the questions."
He hesitated for a moment, sighing when he realised what he said. "Let me ask the questions."
Stiles winked, shooting me a quick smile before turning back to the federal agent.
"Just so I have this absolutely clear." The man referred to his notes as he continued, "Barrow was hiding in the chemistry closet at the school. Someone left him a coded message on the blackboard telling him to kill Kira. Then Barrow took Kira to a power substation and tied her up with the intent of electrocuting her, which blacked out the entire town."
There was definitely a few details excluded from this story, but that would require us explaining what was going on in this town, and that was bound to end with us all in Eichen House.
"Sounds about right," Stiles informed him.
"How did you know he'd take her to a power station?"
Stiles scratched his head, absent minded, "Well, 'cause he was an electrical engineer. So where else would he take her?"
Mr McCall had to look away for a moment, looking as if he wanted to laugh in all of our faces. He knew something didn't add up here.
"That's one hell of a deduction there, Stiles."
The boy smiled, "Yeah, what can I say? I take after my pops. He's in law enforcement."
He then proceeded to wink once more, this time towards his father, pointing over to him.
The Sheriff snorted, chuckling below his breath before coughing it off when the federal agent gave him a disapproving look.
"Stiles, just, uh. . . just answer the man."
I was surprised that Mr McCall had made it as long as he did, considering he looked like he was about to pop a blood vessel.
Stiles sat back, smile falling. "We made a good guess."
"You should feel lucky he did, or she could've been dead right now," I said quietly.
Mr McCall's jaw clenched at my comment, before he turned to his son and Kira. "What were the two of you doing?"
"Eating pizza," Scott answered, only to be contradicted by Kira who had said sushi at the same time.
They tried to correct themselves, but this time, Scott said sushi and Kira said pizza. Sighing, they both said rather firmly, "Eating sushi and pizza."
I felt my eyebrows pulled together. Tonight was super weird, for sure, but who eats sushi and pizza together?
The agent turned to the Sheriff, brows raised, "You believe this?"
The Sheriff, yes, no doubt about that. Agent McCall on the other hand. . .
The Sheriff half shrugged, "To be honest, I haven't believed a word Stiles has said since he learned how to speak. But I think these kids found themselves in the right place at the right time and that girl sitting there is very lucky for it."
Agent McCall faced us all again, addressing the new girl directly. "Kira, is that how you remember it?"
Stiles, Scott, Lydia and I all leaned forward enough to look at the girl. This whole half-lie only worked if she agreed that that was exactly how it went down, or we would be talking to agent McCall a while longer.
Finally, the girl nodded, "Yes."
I felt myself breathe out a relieved sigh, glad that she was on our side for the moment. Scott's dad looked disappointed by the answer.
"Could I get my phone back now?"
Mr McCall shook his head, "Sorry, but no. Everyone's parents have been called to make sure you all get home safely and that they know of the situation. If any of you think of anything, please call me."
Parents?
Shit. Mr McCall had called my dad. He never liked my sister, so he probably called him for the fun of it.
We all stood up, and I left the office. Stiles noticed the shift in my mood, giving me a questioning look as he walked over to me.
"Hey, what's wrong? We didn't get in trouble."
I shook my head, trying not to think about how my dad could use this against Charlotte to gain guardianship. "He said that parents had been called, Stiles. Not guardians."
Realisation dawned on the boy, "Your dad."
I nodded, jaw clenched at the thought.
"Is that really so bad, though?"
"It is when he's trying to build a case against Charlotte," I sighed, reminding myself we weren't supposed to be keeping secrets from each other. "And before you say anything, I know I didn't tell you, but we've just had a lot going on and I didn't want to think about it."
Stiles took a step forward and wrapped his arms around me, pulling me close. "Riley, it doesn't matter how much is going on. You can always talk to me about what's going on in your life. I love you and everything that comes with that."
"I know you do," I whispered, trying not to cry. "I just thought if I didn't talk about it, it might just go away."
I laughed sadly as I pulled away from him.
He looked sad, as if he pitied me. That's not what I wanted at all. "Do you want to talk about it?"
"Not tonight."
Glancing past his shoulder, I saw my father standing near the door of the station. I sighed heavily, before kissing Stiles good bye. "I'll see you at school tomorrow."
"Okay," he said softly. "Call me if you need me. For anything, any time."
I nodded, grateful, before gathering my courage and walking away from the protective circle that seemed to encompass Stiles. My father looked disappointed, his face drawn in deep, serious lines. I didn't know how the conversation was going to proceed, all I knew was that I wasn't going to enjoy it.
"Why is it that the only time I ever hear from you is when you're in trouble?" My father asked.
I stopped walking when I reached him, "You didn't 'hear from me'. Scott's dad called you. I would've called Charlotte."
He nodded his head slowly, heaving a sigh, "Let's go, I'm taking you home."
I hitched my bag up on my shoulder, before looking back for a moment. Stiles was watching me, giving a small smile when I made eye contact with him. It made me feel a bit better, relieving some of the weight off of my shoulders. I smiled back, before facing my father once more.
We went straight to his car and drove to my house in silence. He had a lot he wanted to say to me, I could feel it. And yet, I didn't want to hear any of it.
When we arrived at the house, my father locked the door as I went to leave.
"Let me out," I said, not looking away from the door handle.
"Why do you have to make things so difficult?" He asked with a sigh.
"Me?" I scoffed. "You cheated on mum. You left. So you aren't allowed to just come back and play white night when it suits you."
He shook his head, "Riley, I am your father and I am just trying to do what's best for you."
"If that were true, then you would realise that right now, all you're doing is hurting me. Charlotte is your daughter too, and she takes great care of me, whether you'd like to believe it or not," I told him firmly. I then leaned across and clicked the buttons that unlocked the doors. "If you give me time and actually get to know me again, I might be able to forgive you. But, if you take me away from Charlotte, I'll never even consider it."
I got out of the car so that he couldn't answer. I wanted him to be able to think so that he didn't answer out of anger. Maybe if he took the time to understand, he'd realise that he was just hurting me.
Looking back for less than a second, I saw his eyes following me. To me, the fact that he hadn't driven away yet was a good sign. My words had had enough effect that he couldn't move.
When I entered the house, I saw Charlotte sitting at the kitchen table, tapping it with her fingernails. She looked up at the sound of the door opening, eyes widening when she saw me. "I've been calling you for an hour. Where were you, I was so worried," She said rather quickly.
Honesty seemed like the way to go here.
"My new friend Kira had gotten kidnapped, so they were questioning us down at the station to get the full story. They called dad instead of you and wouldn't let me use my phone while they were interviewing us."
Charlotte looked at me carefully, her eyes searching me. "Are you being serious right now?"
"I wish I wasn't," I sighed as I put my bag down and sat at the table with her.
She nodded slowly, "Right. Well, I'm glad you didn't just straight out lie to me this time."
"What can I say? I aim to please," I sighed, rubbing my eyes.
"You should go to bed," Charlotte suggested. "Get some sleep. You always look so tired."
I laughed a little as I sat up straighter, "Exactly what a girl wants to hear."
She laughed, before telling me to go to bed once more. It was nice to smile and laugh with her, as if things weren't a mess. I wanted to tell her everything that was going on so badly. But not yet. Not until I know she'll be safe.
But would she be safer knowing?
♡♢♤♧
That night had been nothing but tossing and turning. I didn't know what to do about Charlotte.
I thought maybe Stiles would have some advice; since he usually knew what to do. I picked up my phone off of my bedside table and dialled his number.
"Hey Ri, what's up?" Stiles asked as he answered the phone.
I felt a smile reach my lips at the sound of his voice, "Can I get a lift to school with you today? I wanna talk to you about something."
"Yeah, of course. I'll be at yours in twenty minutes."
"Cool, see you then."
I hung up the phone and climbed out of my bed, walking over to my closet and grabbing out something to wear to school.
Carrying my bag down stairs, I saw Charlotte already in the kitchen filling a travel mug with coffee. "Morning, Riley. I've been called in early, they want me to look into Barrow and why he did what he did. Something about glowing eyes, apparently. Crazy stuff."
"Yeah, crazy," I laughed a little, but it wasn't helping me feel less nauseous about the fact that she was investigating the guy who tried to kill kids with 'glowing eyes'. Eg. her sister.
She gave me a quick hug before heading to the front door, "Let me know if you won't be home for dinner, please."
I told her I would, before going over and making myself a coffee. I never used to like it, but I was always tired recently with everything that was going on. Making time for sleep had just made its way to the bottom of my list of worries.
I grabbed a couple of travel mugs out and filled them both with coffee. I then made up some cereal quickly to eat before Stiles arrived. When I heard the shrill toot of the Jeep, I put my bowl in the sink and grabbed my bag and the two travel mugs before heading out the front door.
As I climbed into the car and handed Stiles one of the mugs, I decided it was best to not waste any time. "I think I need to tell Charlotte about the werewolves and everything."
"Good morning to you, too," Stiles chuckled. Something in his eyes seemed to suggest he didn't believe me, which made me frown.
"Stiles, I'm being serious. She only knows something is going on, and she's been told by her boss to write an article about Barrow. She's not stupid, if I don't tell her, she'll probably just figure it out. And if I'm not the one to tell her, I don't know if she'll ever trust me again."
Stiles hadn't started his car yet, just sat there holding the coffee as he stared at me. A moment later, he started nodding slowly. "Okay. Well, if you think it's the right time, then I'm with you the whole way. I know how hard it can be to explain all this. I tried to show my dad using a chess board; it kinda worked."
"Thanks," I smiled softly. I knew he would back me up on this decision, i just needed to be sure. Not all of my ideas have always been plausible.
The Jeep revved to life as Stiles put the key in the ignition and started the engine. As he began to drive, I let my mind wonder. How would Charlotte react? Would she stop talking to me like Melissa did with Scott? Not believe me until she saw it for herself like the Sheriff did with Stiles?
There were so many variables to consider with this. All I hoped was that she would understand why I was telling her. She was the last of my family, and I wanted to keep her safe.