[Thanks for your patience, y'all. I apologize for the amount of time it's taken for this chapter to come out.
This song kinda fit the end to me. Hopeful, yet an emotional tone to it.]
Nicolette's POV:
I stood on the side of the lacrosse field, watching Scott act odd on the field.
He started running towards the locker room.
Stiles glanced at me before running off and I followed him.
We entered the locker room and Scott started stalking up. I pulled out my sword and focused on the feeling in my gut.
"Get away from me!" Scott yelled.
The pipes rattled and water began pouring out, soaking both boys.
"Stiles, Nica - what happened?" Scott asked in a dazed tone.
"You tried to kill me and Nica. It's like we told you before. It's the anger. It's your pulse rising. It's a trigger."
"But that's lacrosse. It's a pretty violent game, if you hadn't noticed."
I crossed my arms. "Well, it'll get a lot more violent if you kill someone on that field. You can't play Saturday. You're gonna have to figure out a way out of that game."
"I'm first line."
"Not anymore," Stiles told him, turning to me. "What the hell was that? You can control water?!"
"Uh... yeah?" I replied.
"For how long?"
"For forever, I guess. Look, we don't have time to discuss what I can do."
Lydia sent me a message and I sighed, frowning at Scott before running off.
I met her at the hospital and asked, "How is he?"
"Well, your friend gave him a separated shoulder."
"I'm sorry. He's... He's just going through some things right now."
"Well, tell him to stop it and get it together!"
"Lydia, I can't, okay? This is something he's gotta figure out on his own."
She pursed her lips. "Fine."
The next day, after school, we gathered at Stiles'.
I glanced at my friend. "You seem more hyperactive than usual. You do anything out of the norm?"
"No, not really. Don't question it. You're just as bad as me. Maybe worse."
"Shut up."
"What did you find?" Stiles asked as soon as Scott appeared. "How did you find it? Where did you find it? And, yes, I've had a lot of Adderall, which Nica already questioned, so-"
"I found something at Derek Hale's," Scott interrupted.
"Are you kidding? What?"
"There's something buried there - I could smell blood."
"That's awesome! I mean, that's terrible. Whose blood?"
"I don't know. But when we do, your dad nails Derek for the murder. And then you two help me figure out how to play lacrosse without changing. Because there's no way I'm not playing that game."
I rolled my eyes. "Sure. Fine. Gotta go."
"Wait, where?"
"Nowhere you need to know. Bye-bye, Scotty. Don't get into too much trouble."
"No, that's what you're for."
"Hey, trouble finds me. I don't seek it out."
"Whatever. Just be careful, okay?"
"Yeah. You too."
I made my way to Derek's. There was something about him that intrigued me and I would be damned to Hades if I didn't find out what it was.
Derek stepped onto his front porch. "What are you doing here, Nicolette? Shouldn't you be with those friends of yours?"
"Well, I could be, but consider my curiosity piqued. You looked at me weirdly the last time we were here. Why?"
"You're not ready to know why."
"Why?"
"I'm not telling you."
"Why?"
"Nicolette, stop. Okay? I'll tell you when you need to know."
"Fine. Just tell me one thing. Am I important to you?"
He nodded. "Yes. Very."
"Well, okay, then. See, that wasn't so hard."
"Did you come here to ask that or are you here for another reason?"
"No, that was it."
"All right, well, I've got some things to do. Go home, Nicolette. You've got school tomorrow."
"School sucks. It's worse than the Underworld. I should know. Well, from what I've heard. Percy's been there, I haven't. Nico's been there too- and... he's gone."
Derek drove off and my friends appeared moments later.
Stiles sighed. "Good. You're still alive."
I frowned. "Why wouldn't I be?"
"Because that's Derek freaking Hale, Nica! He killed his sister!"
"You don't know that!"
"Wait, something's different," Scott said.
"Different how?" Stiles asked.
"I don't know. Let's just get this over with."
They started digging, leaving me to keep watch. Honestly wasn't the smartest idea... it's hard to focus for long periods of time when absolutely nothing is happening besides what's right in front of you.
"This is taking way too long," Scott stated.
"Just keep going," Stiles told him.
"What if he comes back?"
"Then we get the hell out of here."
"What if he catches us?"
"I have a plan for that."
"Which is?" Scott and I questioned.
"You run one way. I run the other. One of us takes Nica. Whoever he catches first, too bad."
Scott frowned. "I hate that plan."
I shrugged. "I don't mind it." The boys looked at me. "What? He's intriguing, okay? And if he tries anything, I'll stab him. My sword should hurt him."
"Oh, stop, stop, stop," Stiles suddenly said.
"Hurry," Scott told him as Stiles untied something wrapped in cloth.
"I'm trying. Did he have to tie this thing in, like, 900 knots?"
"I'll do it." Scott untied the object, revealing a wolf's head.
"What the hell is that?"
"It's a wolf."
I glanced at Scott. "Gee, thanks, Captain Obvious."
"Yeah, I can see that," Stiles said. "I thought you said you smelled blood, as in human blood."
"I told you two something was different," Scott replied.
Stiles looked down at the wolf. "This doesn't make sense."
"We gotta get out of here."
"Yeah. Okay, help me cover this up."
"What's wrong?"
Stiles pointed to a purple flower. "You see that flower?"
"What about it?"
"I think it's wolfsbane."
"What's that?"
I tilted my head. "Haven't you seen Wolf Man?"
"No."
i pointed to Stiles. "He made me watch it."
Stiles glared. "Shut up. Lon Chaney Jr.? Claude Rains? The original, classic werewolf movie?"
"No!" Scott yelled. "What?"
"You are so unprepared for this."
"Stiles. Nicolette."
Stiles and I looked in the hole. "Holy-"
"No. Oh, God."
The next day, Stiles glanced at me and Scott. "Stay here."
"What are you gonna do?" I asked.
"I'm gonna interrogate the bad guy." He started walking off.
"Stiles, he's not -- Ugh, seriously?"
Scott nodded. "Seriously. You know as well as I do that he doesn't listen to reason very well."
I scoffed. "Do I ever. Why are you looking at me like that?"
"You smell like the ocean. I mean, I noticed it before, but now it's really strong. What are you?"
"Something I won't tell you."
"Nica, come on. Just talk!"
"Nope. I'm enjoying you trying to figure out the mystery."
He rolled his eyes and a few moments later, Stiles returned to us.
The three of us climbed into the Jeep and Stiles drove down the road.
"I can't find anything about wolfsbane being used for burial," Scott said.
"Just keep looking," Stiles told him. "Maybe it's like a ritual or something, like maybe they bury you as a wolf. Or maybe it's like a special skill, you know? Like something you have to learn."
"I'll put it on my to-do list, right underneath figuring out how the hell Im playing this game tonight."
"Maybe it's different for girl werewolves," I joked.
"Okay! Stop it!"
"Stop what?" Stiles and I asked.
"Stop saying "werewolves"! Stop enjoying this so much."
I frowned. "Scott, I'm not enjoying anything."
"Are you okay?" Stiles questioned.
"No!" Scott yelled. "No, I'm not. I'm so far from being okay."
"You know, you're gonna have to accept this, Scott, sooner or later."
"I can't."
"Well, you're gonna have to."
"No! I can't breathe. Aah! Ah, pull over!"
"Why? What's happening?"
Scott rifled through the backpack and pulled out the rope containing the wolfsbane. "You kept it?"
"What was I supposed to do with it?"
"Stop the car!"
Stiles stopped the car and disposed of the wolfsbane.
Scott started leaving and I tried grabbing him, but missed.
"Scott!" I yelled. "For Zeus' sake."
Stiles returned saying, "Okay - Okay. We're good, you can - Scott? Scott? Nica, why didn't you stop him?"
I shot him a look. "You kidding me? I tried. Kid ran off."
"Well, you should've chased him!"
"Chase a werewolf. Good one."
He rolled his eyes and picked up his police radio.
The operator spoke. "Stiles, you know you can't call the dispatch line when I'm on duty."
"Nicolette and I just need to know if you've gotten any odd calls," Stiles said.
"Odd how?"
"Uh, like an odd person or - a dog-like individual roaming the streets."
"I'm hanging up on you two now."
"No! Wai - wai - wai - wai - wait!"
"Goodbye!"
Stiles hung up the radio. "Don't say anything."
I raised a brow. "What, like good job? Well done?"
"Nica, just stop. We gotta find our friend."
"Duh. Any ideas?"
"Nope. You?"
"No."
We found Scott walking along the side of the road shirtless.
"You okay?" I asked.
Scott glanced at me and nodded. "I think so."
That night at the game, Scott ended up playing and he was acting weird. Almost like he was starting to shift.
Stiles and I once again followed Scott into the locker room and I readied to blast him with water.
Instead, we found Scott and Allison kissing.
Allison pulled away. "I gotta get back to my dad. Hi, Stiles. Hi, Nica."
I offered a small wave as Stiles said, "Hey, yeah."
Scott had a goofy grin on his face as he stated, "I kissed her."
"We saw."
"She kissed me."
"Saw that too. That's pretty good, huh?"
"I-I-I don't know how, but I controlled it. I pulled it back. Maybe I can do this. Maybe it's not that bad."
"Yeah, heh. We'll talk later then."
"What?"
I frowned. "Stiles, what do you know?"
Stiles glanced between us. "The, uh, medical examiner looked at the other half of the body we found."
"And-" Scott and I began.
"Well, I'll keep it simple. Medical examiner determines killer of gel to be animal, not human. Derek's human, not animal. Derek let out of jail."
"Are you kidding?" Scott asked.
"No, and here's a bigger kick in the ass. My dad I.D.'d the dead girl. Both halves. Her name was Laura Hale."
"Hale?"
"Derek's sister," Stiles and I replied.
I hit one of the locker doors angrily. "Di Immortales! First you idiots try to convict Derek, who I think is innocent and now Laura's dead?! Gods!"
Stiles frowned. "Nica, calm down." He looked around. "Uh, seriously, can you calm down? You're shaking the pip-" the boys once again were drenched.
Scott, without a word, hugged me tightly as I cried softly.
"Are you okay?" he asked softly.
"I can't keep losing people I care about." I left the locker room and slid down a wall, resting my head in my hands as the tears continued falling.