It was pitch black outside, when riley finally snuck out. she usually would ask her grandma to go out, and she'd say yes, but she didn't feel right asking her tonight. because she'd probably asked what she planned on doing, and then she would have to lie..
because how was she supposed to explain, that she was sneaking onto private property to either uncover, or pin murder on someone. exactly. she couldn't.
the grand trio, of stiles, scott, and riley, pulled up in front of derek's old, ruined house, quietly, as they watched him leave. as the three teens climbed out of the jeep, riley wondered how on earth did derek manage to live in this place. it was a health infraction waiting to happen. or a death claim. half of the building was missing, and the other half was boarded up with wooden planks, like a vacant crime scene.
scott grabbed two shovels, and threw one to stiles, who caught it. he handed riley the torch, since she was on lookout, just in case derek came back.
the werewolf beside her, sniffed the air in confusion as he spoke up. "wait. something's different."
"different how?" riley remarked in confusion, as she held the torch up high, in front of them.
there wasn't anything around except for dirty and bushes. "i don't know." scott finally declared. "let's just get this over with." he sighed. he walked, to the side of the house, all the way towards the end before stopping. riley stood in leggings, and an oversized harvard hoodie, shivering.
"hold still." scott screeched lowly. "sorry, it's cold." riley replied, as she held the torch straight. twenty minuets later, the three had barely made any progress. the boys were panting, and sweaty, while riley was just freezing her ass off.
"this is taking too long." scott groaned, lifting up more dirt with his shovel, and throwing it over his shoulder.
"yeah. now remember that next time, you want to dig up someone's yard, in search of a dead body." riley hissed in annoyance. "just keep going." stiles muttered, not wanting to hear the two's arguing. they bickered like siblings. they practically were.
"what if he comes back?"
"play dead?"
"then we get the hell out of here." stiles corrected, while looking at riley in confusion. "what if he catches us?"
"i have a plan for that." stiles responded, as he stopped digging. "you run one way, riley and i run the other. whoever he catches first? too bad."
riley chuckled as scott looked annoyed. "i hate that plan."
stiles didn't respond, he just dug his shovel back into the ground, scooping up more dirt, when it suddenly hit something. riley raised her brows in confusion, as stiles warned scott to stop. she moved the torch forward, shining it over the object.
scott and stiles began digging rapidly, with their hands, coming across some ropes. "hurry." scott hissed. "i'm trying!" stiles exclaimed. "did he have to tie the thing with like nine hundred knots?"
scott sighed , before speaking. "i got it."
he began to help, the two of them quickly getting the knots undone. riley squinted her eyes, as they pulled away a material, which was covering whatever was buried. as soon as riley saw it, she gasped, and wished they had never come. the three teens screamed loudly, as the boys jumped out of the hole revealing a dead body.
only, it wasn't human. it was the dead body, of a dark haired werewolf.
"what the hell is that!" stiles screamed in fear.
"it's a wolf." scott replied, as if it was obvious. "yeah, we noticed." riley spat in response, as he tried to stop panicking, and control her breathing quietly. "i thought you said you could smell blood? as in human blood?"
"i told you something was different." scott defended. "that doesn't make any sense." stiles argued. scott started to cover up the head, when something caught riley's eyes, and she grabbed him to stop. using the torch, riley motioned to a single purple flower, which was growing out of the ground. it was the only colorful thing anywhere near this place.
"what?" scott asked in confusion. "do you see that flower?" riley asked. scott looked at it, then back to riley as he spoke. "what is it?"
"haven't you seen the wolf man?" stiles asked with a loud sigh. when scott shook his head no, stiles scoffed. "lon chaney jr.?" claude rains? the original classic werewolf movie?"
scott continuously shook his head, causing both of his friends to look at him stupidly. "no, what?" scott asked in confusion.
riley huffed at the reply before speaking, "dude. you are so unprepared for this." she frowned, as stiles crept towards the flower, and riley and scott followed. he began to pull it from the ground, when he realized the roots were attached to a rope. riley and scott both shared a look of confusion, as stiles continued to pull.
scott watched, completely shocked, as stiles carefully continued yanking and pulling. it lead all the way around, to where the dead body had been buried. riley looked back into the whole and screamed when she saw what was there.
"stiles!" she yelled, yanking his arm as she fell into him out of fear. the two both jumped, yet again, when they saw inside the hole. what was once, the dead body of a dark haired wolf, was now half a dead body. except, it was a girl, most likely a few years older than them, lying lifelessly there, eyes wide open, as if she was staring right at the three.
"call your dad." riley whispered with a shaky breath.
"now."
•••
the next morning, stiles picked up riley and scott knowingly, at six a.m in order for them to be there to witness the arrest of the infamous, derek hale. riley almost felt bad, because despite scott's beliefs, she had a feeling derek didn't kill the girl. but she couldn't deny the facts, that the dead body happened to be a wolf, and was buried in his yard.
as soon as the three arrived at the ruined house, stiles left riley and scott standing beside his jeep, as he went to investigate. riley's eyes landed on stiles who was walking behind the trees towards the police car derek was currently held up in, as he tried not to look suspicious. he was failing miserably btw. riley groaned as scott began shaking his head, whispering at stiles to retreat.
stiles shot them a questionable look before opening the door and climbing inside. riley cringed, seeing as she already knew this wasn't going to end well. it never really did. Stiles liked to think he was a smooth criminal but really he was..not. riley chuckled at the thought, as she watched her friend, in worry. scott turned away, as if mentally saying as long as he didn't see it with his eyes, he wasn't apart of the crime. stiles on the other hand, was speaking to derek quickly, and riley wished she could hear.
and quite literally second later, stiles was being yanked out of the car. by none other than his father, sheriff stilinski. stiles screeched, as noah pulled him forcefully away from the car.
"what the hell are you doing?" noah snapped at his son in disbelief. "uh..i'm just trying to help" stiles defended, putting up his hands in surrender.
the sheriff looked at him, unconvinced, as he nodded. "uh-huh. well, how about you help me understand exactly how you came across this."
stiles stood still, as he tried to find a way not to lie. "we were looking for scott's inhaler." he finally spoke, which was a lie, but not a complete one if that made sense. "which he dropped when?" noah asked. "the other night." stiles replied.
"the other night when you were out here looking for the other half of the body?" the sheriff proclaimed causing riley to sigh. they were caught. "yeah." stiles nodded. "the other night when you said you and riley were alone in the woods?" noah questioned knowingly. "yes." stiles replied, before realizing.
"no!" he exclaimed just as quickly. "so you lied." noah nodded. "that depends on how you define lying." stiles replied. "well i define it as not telling the truth. how do you define it?" noah tested.
"reclining your body in a horizontal position." stiles replied, causing riley to let out a snort, as she slapped a hand over her mouth, trying to contain her laughs.
noah didn't find it funny. he sighed, looking at his son. "get the hell out of here." he sighed.
"already on it." stiles replied, as he rushed away from his dad quickly, not wanting to be around his wrath any longer than he had to be.
•••
"i can't find anything about wolfsbane being used for burial." scott complained from the passangers seat, as he groaned, clearly aggravated. "well keep looking!" riley snapped.
"what she said, but in a nicer tone." stiles agreed.
"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." stiles explained, although he didn't really know. scott scoffed, rolling his eyes in annoyance. "i'll put it on my to-do list, stiles." he remarked, all too sarcastically. "right underneath, figure out how the hell i'm playing this game tonight." he added, causing riley to sigh.
"maybe it's different for girl werewolves?" stiles shrugged, ignoring scott's last comment. the last thing he was thinking about was lacrosse.
"stop it." scott snapped.
"stop what?" stiles asked in confusion.
"stop saying werewolf!" scott exclaimed. "stop enjoying this so much."
"scotty, are you alright?" riley asked her friend in panic and worry. "no, i'm not alright!" he remarked, as he started panting and wincing rapidly. "are you having an asthma attack?" riley questioned. "i thought you didn't get those anymore.."
"it's not an astma attack!" scott wheezed. "you know you're gonna have to accept this scott, sooner or later." stiles mumbled, trying to get his friend on board. "not helping." riley glared.
"i can't!" scott croaked. "well you have to." stiles retorted. "no..i cant breathe." scott clarified. the teen wolf suddenly hit the roof of stiles jeep, causing riley to jump, and stiles to look back in worry as he started to swerve out of panic. "whoa, whoa, whoa!" he exclaimed.
"scott, calm down." riley tried to coach, as she didn't want her friend to lose control. "pull over!" scott shouted. "what's happening?" stiles questioned. "i don't know, just pull over!" riley exclaimed. scott didn't reply, as he just yanked up stiles bag, and unzipped it quickly. he then pulled out the wolsbane wrapped in rope.
he held it tightly, turning to stiles, furiously. "you kept it!" he seethed, as stiles jumped. "what was i supposed to do?" stiles defended, trying to get scott to clam down. "stop the car." scott hissed. his eyes flashed a golden yellow, as his voice was hard and cold. stone cold. stiles widened his eyes, nevertheless, following his friends directions, as he pulled over alongside the road.
stiles quickly chucked his bag as far as he could, as he was out of the car within seconds. "you could've just threw out the wolfsbane." riley muttered, before turning to scott only to met with a window.
"he ran?" stiles huffed.
riley let out a shaky breath, as she looked out the windows and into the distance.
•••
"stiles, you know you can't call the dispatch line when i'm on duty." a voice spoke, from the other end of his father's old police radio that he had stolen. "i told him that!" riley exclaimed from the background, although she had move up to the front seat.
"I just need to know if you've gotten any odd calls." stiles explained in an urgent tone. "odd how?" the officer repeated in confusion. "odd like.. an odd-like person or dog-like individual roaming the streets." stiles sputtered.
riley glared at stiles' utter stupidity, as the officer disconnected. "seriously?" she sighed.
the two didn't say anything for a moment before stiles spoke. "i'm sure he's fine." he muttered, although riley didn't know if he was trying to convince her or himself. "yeah." riley replied. she then leaned over her seat and grabbed her bag, putting it in her lap, as she pulled out a book.
"ok so i was doing some reading about..you know." riley started, causing stiles to nod. "and the name payton..."
"it's mentioned in my mom's third journal like a thousand times." she explained. "at first i started to think that it was a character from a book or something because she only used it for metaphors.." the swindler girl trailed off.
"stuff like flowers in the attic."
"but there's an entry from march 14th, 1994. my second birthday." she started. "and it says, payton. so far away yet i know where you are. two years..two millenniums..regrets and mistakes, they're memories made." riley finished. "and i was like my god mom you're not anne frank..get to the point." riley mumbled, sighing.
"so you think your sisters name is payton?" stiles asked, with a smile. "yeah but there are like..millions maybe even billions of people with that name and surname." riley sighed.
"i'll never find her."
"don't say that." stiles frowned. "maybe we can run the searches with swindler, and your mom's maiden name." stiles suggested. "it's.."
"grey" riley interjected.
"riley grey would've had a nice ring to it." stiles mumbled with a smile.
"yeah." riley nodded. "it would have."
•••
riley's phone buzzed, as she took it out of her back pocket, reading the text quickly. "who's that?" stiles asked, as they were parked in a random parking lot, eating gummy worms. "allison." riley replied, covering her mouth with her hand, so stiles wouldn't see the food inside.
from allison: scott just showed up at my house and my dad hit him with a car??? he's okay though, but now my dad is coming to the lacrosse game tonight. (kmn.)
"scott's at allison's." riley spoke aloud, as she clicked off her phone. stiles rolled his eyes, sighing. "of course he is." he muttered, as he bit another worm. "we should get going though. i gotta get suited up." he added.
riley nodded, as she buckled up her seat belt, and putting the remaining snacks in her bag, sitting back in her seat. stiles then started the ignition, as he drove off towards beacon hills high. the car ride was pretty queit, except for the neighbourhood playing lowly. riley sang along to #icanteven quietly, bopping her head every now and then.
when the two made it to the school, they hopped out of the jeep in a hurry. riley grabbed stiles arm as he was about to sprint to the locker rooms. against her better judgement, she kissed him on the cheek with a smile. "um, good luck out there." she coughed. "uh thanks--, i'll need it." stiles joked, as he ran off to get changed.
riley walked towards the bleachers, and was greeted by her favorite nurse around, melissa mccall. "hey riles." melissa greeted, with a smile. "how's my favorite girl doing?"
"hey mel, i'm- i'm good." riley replied. which was kind of true. she knew she should be kind of falling apart, but her friends helped her through it. "are you excited?" riley smiled. "our boy made first line."
"yeah." melissa smiled. "i- i was shocked. i thought he sat on the bench with stiles." she shrugged. "that was last year." riley chuckled. "right." melissa nodded. "i'm very proud of scott, but.." she trailed off. "but what?" riley questioned.
"you don't think there's something wrong with him do you?" she asked, causing riley to cough. "what, no? what makes you think that?"
"i don't know..." melissa sighed. "he's probably just stressed, because coach..is looking for a new team captain." riley lied. "that makes sense." melissa nodded, happy that her son was okay.
noah stilinski came a few minutes later, and greeted riley, as him and melissa started talking. riley spotted stiles almost immediately, as she waved to him with a big smile on her face. stiles waved back, before focusing his attention back on the players around him.
suddenly, the whistle blew as both team ran across the field in full on rage. riley scoffed, as the ball seemed to be going everywhere, except in scott's direction. it was like they were avoiding him. he was in the perfect spot, yet nobody would pass to him, stiles stood around anxiously, as riley stood up angrily, looking in jackson's direction. "pass him the ball, you weasels!" riley yelled, jumping. when people turned around to look at her she winced. "sorry." she whispered, as she sat back down quickly.
finally, a player from the other team dropped the ball and it landed in the grass. scott seized the moment, as he ran towards the ball quickly. jackson did the same thing, and knocked into scott, sending him to the ground harshly, causing riley to slam her hands down on the bleachers. "that's it jackson!" coach yelled. "get fired up! get fired up!" he shouted, as everyone but scott's friends and family cheered at the nonsense.
riley heard extra loud whoops and hollers, as she turned around to see allison and lydia cheering, as the held up a sign that read, "we luv u jackson."
riley sighed, at the grammar and the entire thing in general, as she turned back around. she let her eyes trail to scott, who wore a look of anguish and defeat on his face, as he stared at the girls. riley knew he was upset. as the game continued, scott started panting, and bending over, causing people to stare.
riley began to scoot to the edge of her seat, praying he didn't shift.
she was nervous.
the referee blew the whistle, and the game started up again, as the ball flew through the air and scott dashed for it. he jumped, straight onto an opponent's shoulders, grabbing the ball mid-air and landing on the ground gracefully. he began to run as fast as he could, which was actually quite fast, as he dodged other players, cradling the ball for dear life. melissa jumped beside riley, nervous, but also excited, as her face broke out into a smile.
scott made the entire length of the field, before shooting the ball, which went straight through the net.
the crowd erupted into cheers, as did coach, as scott smiled.
"to mccall!" coach yelled. "pass to mccall!"
a player from the other team stole the ball, aiming to shoot it backwards, only to be met face to face with scott. he stared at scott, his eyes wide before he threw the ball to him, and ran off in fear.
???
scott ran towards the net, throwing the ball in quickly. the goalie lifted his stick to catch it, but the ball went straight through, slicing the netting. riley jumped up cheering happily, as she looked at stiles laughing, happily. the referee blew the whistle again, the ball going to scott. scott ran into the middle of the field and was stunned when nobody was surrounding him.
they were scared.
riley ran down to the bottom of the bleachers, screaming loud as ever, as the last two opposing team members closed in on scott. that did them no good, considering he threw the ball into the net with no effort.
the whistle blew and the game was over. beacon hills had won.
stiles started running towards riley, who was already running towards him. she jumped into his arms excitedly, as she cheered. "we won!" stiles exclaimed with a bright smile. "yeah!" riley exclaimed.
suddenly stiles expression changed, as he looked past riley, causing her to turn around. "dad what's wrong?"
•••
riley and stiles rushed towards the locker rooms in a hurry, desperate to find scott. after what stiles' dad had just told them? they were without a doubt, utterly, screwed.
stiles and riley rushed towards the boys locker room, but riley yanked stiles arm when she saw what was going on in the shower area. scott and allison were heavily making out, with their arms wrapped around each other. "just give him like five seconds." riley whispered. he deserved it after all.
stiles sighed, just as allison whispered, "i gotta get back to my dad."
scott nodded, as allison smiled, and turned away, walking out of the locker room. she stopped in front of riley and stiles smiling. "riles, stiles." she nodded awkwardly, before exiting the locker rooms. "hey." riley smiled at scott, as he grinned widely.
"i kissed her." he whispered in awe. "we saw." riley laughed, happy for her friend. "she kissed me." scott giggled. and man was it contagious. "we saw that too." riley chuckled.
scott sighed, before speaking. "i.. i don't know how, but i controlled it. maybe it's not that hard. maybe i can do this." he explained.
"we told you!" riley exclaimed, wrapping her arms around scott quickly, before pulling away.
"yeah." stiles agreed awkwardly. "we'll talk later then."
"wait, um.."
"what?" scott asked, as his smiled faded quickly.
riley hated that.
"the, uh, medical examiner looked at the other half of the body we found." stiles stated.
"and?" scott questioned, confused.
"well to keep it simple, medical examiner determined killer of girl to be animal, not human. derek is human, not animal. derek not killer. derek let out of jail."
"are you kidding?" scott sneered.
"no and here's the big kick in the ass.." stiles trailed off. "my dad id'd the dead girl, both halves. her name was laura hale." he explained, in a shaky breath.
"hale?" scott asked as realization hit him like a truck. he paused, as riley said what he was thinking. "derek's sister."
•••
riley crept upstairs to the attic, as she was trying to put her mother's journal back. her grandma never came up here, but she didn't want to take any chances.
the journal had told her some important things, but she had no real leads. she would never find payton.
the blonde placed the journal back in the box gently, as she sighed. she then walked over to the attic window, which was boarded up and frowned. there was a huge piece of wallpaper that was peeling off the wall.
riley saw a faint red scratch under the wallpaper, like someone had written on the wall. she knew she'd probably regret what she did next, but riley took the wallpaper in her hand and started yanking. small pieces, large pieces, scrapings.
she ripped and ripped until the second layer off wallpaper was no longer on the third wall.
throwing the paper down, riley stepped back to see what was written on the wall. at the sight of the words and symbols written on her wall, riley gasped. there as clear as day in bold red ink were two sets of equally trepidation words. they confirmed some of riley's inner conflict.
'protect the twins!!!'
riley stepped back, knocking into something as she did so. "shit!" the teen girl muttered, as she picked up the box by her feet, which she had almost stepped on. it was a brown wooden box, with a oval sized mirror in the middle, that had stars painted on it.
riley carefully opened the box, and furrowed her brows at the contents. it was dried up dandelions. riley paused for a moment before she realized, reciting her mother's words.
"flowers in the attic."
•••
a/n: writing teen wolf takes mega patience bc their episodes are so long lol.