Hi! Thank you guys so much for reading! This is an AU for Teen Wolf, and I really hope you guys enjoy it!
*Disclaimer* I do not own any part of Teen Wolf*
Skylar sat stiffly, her icy eyes fixated intently at the cluttered desk before her. The first day of her sophomore year was starting bright and early tomorrow morning and she wanted to get a head start on things. Truthfully, she could have been close to graduating by now, but she couldn't leave her knucklehead of best friend behind, who would keep him out of trouble then? So here she was, the night before the semester started, reading over her notes for Kafka's Metamorphosis that she had already read at least twice just in her own leisure time.
She let out a small yawn as she stretched her arms out over the dark colored mop of her head, and pushed her glasses gently back onto the bridge of her nose. She let her mind drift back to the last two months of summer break she had spent trying to build a relationship up with the father, who, until recently, had wanted nothing to do with her. It was hard, really hard, not to come back to the comfort of her own home early and never have to speak to him again. She told herself that she would try to mend whatever relationship she had left with him, even if she still harbored some resentment for him abandoning her and her mother when they needed him the most; she did try. However, his efforts were more spent on avoiding any sort of meaningful conversation with her before retreating to work than actually trying to make things better. So eventually, she stopped trying, and so for the remainder of her dreadfully agonizing stay, their only communication was a series of nods, smiles and "fine weather we're having" type of conversations you'd expect to have with a complete stranger in the check-out line of a convenient store. She guessed that's what they were anyways, strangers.
Her thoughts eventually drifted to Stiles, and she wondered what troubles he had gotten himself into while she was away. A sudden sadness pulsed through her chest. She had really missed him. Her mother had suggested that she not make any sort of phone calls to her or Stiles while she was with her father, hoping that the seclusion with him would help things, but not being able to vent to the one person she knew she could tell absolutely anything only made things worse. But she would see him tomorrow for sure, if, his father the sheriff, hadn't murdered or thrown him in jail yet.
She found herself dozing off slightly as the cool, night air, blew gently from her open window. A sudden thud startled her from her brief slumber, causing her to throw herself backwards out of the small wooden chair, and hit the floor with a yelp.
"Stilinski!?" She squeaked, as the familiar boy stood, rubbing the backside of his head.
"Do you not know how to use the front door?" She growled.
"See," He finally spoke. "This can be used as a learning exercise, you shouldn't leave your window open at night, anyone can just jump right in it." He says, flashing his signature grin her way. Her previous delusional thoughts of missing him all died away, replaced by the familiar annoyance that came along with being around him.
"And yet the only person I'm worried about jumping in my window at night is you…Wonder why that is?" She retorted.
"Aw, Sky, you know I'm the only person you want climbing in your window at night." He teased, rummaging through the small bowl of candy on her nightstand and stuffing a few handfuls of its contents in his pockets. "You always have the best candy." He mumbled to himself before saying, "Anyways, you know you love me."
"And by love you mean want to murder right?" She glared. "Now what do you want? It's 10 o'clock at night and I'm trying to get some studying in for the first day of school tomorrow."
"Right, studying. It actually looked like you were kinda sleeping." He teased, unwrapping a piece of chocolate and shoving the whole thing in his mouth.
"I was not. I actually take my school work seriously you know, unlike some people." She scolded, still perched at her spot on the floor.
Stiles nodded his head in mock affirmation. "Of course you do." He stated. "But, you got a little something on…" He motioned to her face. "Yeah, right, right on your face, just, a little something."
Skylar grasped the piece of paper fiercely that was attached to her face and forcefully threw it on the ground, earning a small snicker from her friend.
"Did you just come here to torture me and steal my candy or was there a reason you're here?" She sighed, standing up and cleaning the mess of papers and pens that had tumbled to the ground with her.
"Well I haven't talked to you all summer, I had just come over to make sure you were still alive or, like, not brainwashed by that sorry excuse for a dad you have."
"As you can see I'm still perfectly alive, and very much still me, not like he cares enough to brain wash me anyways." She exhaled impatiently, neatly setting everything back in its place on the desk.
"Sorry." He says sincerely. "Also, very glad you're still alive!"
"Why wouldn't I be?" She questions with a small scoff. "Did you think he would murder me?"
"No, but something is out there doing it." He says, flopping down on her bed.
Skylar squints her eyes quizzically. "I'm listening."
Seeing her intrigue, his face lights with eagerness, and he's back on his feet in an instant.
"Well, I was listening in on one of my dad's calls tonight," He began excitedly, "And they found a body! Well..half of a body." He corrected himself. "Not too far from your house actually, do you want to come help me find it?!"
"Hmm." She said, tapping her finger on her chin in mock contemplation. "Stay here in my warm, safe house, or go with you to a dark, wooded area, surrounded by police where there's half of a dead body?"
"Well?" He asked eagerly, his forest green eyes bright with excitement.
"No, I don't want to go!"
"Aw," he grumbled, giving her a small nudge as he walked past her to her door. "You're always such a party pooper."
"I'd rather be a party pooper than end up just another half of a body some idiot goes looking for." She retorted.
"Yeah, yeah, see you tomorrow party pooper!" He waves before disappearing behind the door.
Skylar walked to her window and peered out into the dark wooded area that lined her back yard. Stiles had said they found a body in the woods not too far from her house, and while she wouldn't let him see, (as to not be an enabler to his crazy antics), she was curious as to what had happened, and, slightly frightened that it was so close to her. I small smile crept onto her face as she realized Stilinski actually did come to check on her. He hadn't heard from her all summer, and the day she is supposed to be back they find a body not far from her house, in the woods that he knows she walks in frequently. What a dork. She thought to herself. He annoyed her to hell and back, but she couldn't deny that he was a great friend, even if he was the only friend she had.
A sudden flash of red on the edge of the darkened tree line caught her eye as she began to turn her gaze. Startled, she squinted her eyes, trying to see if there was actually anything there, and then it happened again. "Stiles?" She whispered aloud to herself. Did he seriously go out there anyways?
"Urgh!" She grumbled aloud as she slipped on some shoes and threw on her jacket. "I'm going to kill him!"
Quickly she made her way down the stairs and out the back door. The cool August air hit her with a slight force and she buried herself deeper into the warmth of her jacket. The winters in Beacon Hill were always dry and frigid, the type of cold that chills you to the bone and makes your body ache for warmth, but Skylar had always loved it. There was something about the crisp air mixed with the wild smell of pine needles that gave her this feeling of comfort that she couldn't quite explain. But comfort was the last thing she was feeling at the moment as she hesitantly trudged through the fallen foliage of the woods looking for her idiot friend, who in turn, was looking for a dead body, or half a dead body…A shiver ran up her spine at the thought, and for a moment, a slight, sliver of a moment, she wondered what half exactly they were looking for, and how, in fact, the body had ended up in two.
"Stilinski!" She yelled in a hushed tone. "Where the hell are you? I swear when I get my hands on you I'm going too-"Before she could finish her sentence her foot caught on something and for the second time today, she went tumbling to the ground.
"What the…" She muttered, pushing herself off of the ground, and lightly dusting the dirt off of her jeans. Fumbling around she found her phone she had been using as a flashlight, and shined it in the direction that she had tripped. Her breathe hitched tightly in her throat as the haunting pale face came into sight. She tried to scream but all that came out was a breathless gurgle. Stupidly dropping the only light source she had, she ran as fast as she could until she couldn't run anymore, (maybe skipping P.E. the past two years wasn't such a great idea after all), and until she realized the direction she had been running wasn't the right one at all.
"Dammit." She exhaled breathlessly, falling to her knees in the middle of what looked like a small grove. "Just calm yourself; everything's going to be okay." She reassured herself. And then she heard it; a growl. She had hoped it was just her imagination, the adrenaline from just tripping over a corpse, but the aching feeling in the pit of her stomach let her know that it wasn't. Her body began to shake uncontrollably, and she knew when she looked up there would be no denying that something was there in the shadows watching her, but she did anyways, and sure enough, there it was; It's scarlet eyes staring back at her with an immobilizing intensity. The small sliver of moonlight beamed down from behind the desolate clouds, outlining its enormous fur covered frame and reflected off its razor like teeth as it snarled at her. By the looks of the thing she had no chance of outrunning it, but she knew she had to try, and without any further hesitation she broke and ran for the safety of the brush, but for every one step she took, it took three, and it was at her back in an instant. She cried out in pain as she felt it dig its razor sharp talons into her side with such a force it sent her tumbling down the side of a steep hill that felt like it went on forever. When she finally hit the bottom, she let out an agonizing wail she had never once heard escape her lips before; and in that moment she realized that this was it for her, this was the last moment of her life, and she sobbed quietly to herself.
Without any warning, two hands firmly gripped her shoulders, spinning her around to face them.
"You need to get out of here!" The man barked at her. In the darkness it was hard to make out his features, but she could hear the fear in his brusque voice, and she knew he had seen it too.
"Do you know what that is?" She exhaled shakily, as he lifted her slowly to her feet.
Did it bite you?" He questioned dryly, ignoring her question and gesturing to her bloody hand clutched tightly to her side.
"No." She unevenly replied. "Just a scratch."
A howl suddenly rang out in the distance and she ducked under the stranger's arm instinctively. He turned his attention to its direction, and she could feel his body tremble underneath the taut leather jacket he was wearing. Gently, he pushed her away from him. "Run." He said, in such a low tone, it was almost a whisper.
"W-what about you?" She stuttered out as black speckles began to fill her vision.
The stranger grabbed her face in his hands and she could see the startling blue color of his eyes piercing the darkness between them; she knew they weren't that color before, and tears began to sting her eyes once again.
"Just go!" He growled, and without any further hesitation she did what she was told and ran as fast as she could through the darkness of the trees, ignoring the pain that shot through her body with every heavy step she took, ignoring the burning in her lungs that told her she was pushing way past her limits; she just ran.
She ran for what seemed like forever until she could suddenly see the light of her back porch pouring through the tree line like a ray of heavenly light and she cried out in relief, not stopping until she was in her room where she fell to the ground and clutched her side tightly, sobbing out uncontrollably until her vision went dark.