All Halina Slade wanted to do was sleep, but apparently the fates. . .or more specifically Stiles Stilinski would have none of that. After the third vibration of her phone, Halina finally answered it a bit reluctantly.
"I hope you know there is a special place in hell for people like you" the blonde teenager growled into the cell phone.
"Nice to hear you're ever pleasant voice Hal, but listen my Dad got a call from dispatch 20 minutes ago-" Stiles spoke back excitement in his voice. Halina merely rolled her eyes.
"So?"
"So?! Two hikers found a body in the woods! Well actually half of a body. . .we're going to check it out"
"We? Who is this we of which you speak?"
"You, me and Scott"
"Stiles the first day of school is tomorrow I'm going back to sleep"
"Wait! Wait! We're already outside though!"
Halina blinked, rolling over in her bed to peek out the window, the familiar headlights of Stiles' crap jeep shining onto the front lawn. She groaned into the phone, "I'll be down in five" She answered before hanging up on her friend. Taking off her pajamas and changing into a sweat suit and a pair of boots, Halina rushed to get ready.
The blonde had only known Stiles and Scott for a year, having moved into Beacon Hills with her Grandparents during Freshman year. The boys . . . or rather Stiles latched onto her pretty quickly making them somewhat best friends rather quickly. Already Sheriff Stilinski referred to Scott and herself as Stiles' 'partners in crime'. Tying her shoulder length blonde hair into a ponytail, Halina prepared for the toughest part of the night, sneaking out of the house.
"Okay Hal. . . stealth, think stealth" she muttered to herself biting her lip nervously slowing opening her bedroom door. Her heart nearly dropped to her stomach when she heard the door give a long ominous creek. She waited a moment or two before releasing a breath she didn't realize she had been holding in. So far so good.
Slowly creeping down the hallway, Hal took a minute to peer into her grandparents' room relieved to find both of them sound asleep, it gave her the courage she needed to move at a faster pace. She was never known to be the rebellious child that was all her sister. Eventually getting down the stairs and out the door, Halina hurried to Stiles' jeep. She had a strong feeling she was going to regret this later on.
"Are we seriously doing this?" Scott asked, it was pretty obvious to Halina he was having second thoughts, hell she was even having doubts about this whole thing.
"Hey you're the one always bitching that nothing ever happens in this town. Now here it is" Stiles challenged rolling his eyes. The idiot had taken the lead of the pack seeing as he was the one with the flash light.
"Well nothing ever does happen in Bacon Hills Stiles" Halina snapped back referring to the town by the oh-so-affectionate nickname the blonde had bestowed to it.
"I was trying to get a good night's sleep before practice tomorrow, I showered and everything. I wasn't exactly planning on being here" Scott added to the complaints.
"Yeah, cause sitting is such a grueling effort. Not like we haven't been doing that all summer playing COD." Stiles joked back. It made Halina roll her eyes at the boy's already knowing she was going to be cut out of the conversation. The girl slowly tuned out as she took in the forest, she wasn't as nervous as Scott. Her Dad used to take her out hunting with him all the time, she felt a lot better alone in the woods than she did at school surrounded by people at times.
'Keep your eyes and ears open Hali' her father always said, and that's what Halina did. Her green eyes scanned the trees and ground just taking in the forest for what it was. Something red caught her eye, it made her breath catch in her throat as she stayed locked on it. The creature was too far away to make out completely but Halina was sure it saw her, and whatever it was didn't look away.
"Hal!" Scott's voice and hand on her shoulder pulled her out of her thoughts. The girl turned to her friend with a small 'hm' turning to look at him. "I can't believe we got talked into this" Scott said to her with a whine in his voice before turning to Stiles, "We could die out here just like that girl did, we could be cut in half".
Halina gulped, looking to Stiles for an explanation then back to the woods, red eyes was gone. Must've been my imagination . . . she hoped, before hearing Stiles admit he hadn't thought of that. It made her roll her eyes, When do you ever think this crap through Stiles? The three remained quiet, following Stiles lead through the woods searching for the body. . .or half of the body rather. A while later Scott broke their silence.
"Maybe the severe asthmatic should hold the flash light?" He suggested leaning against a tree to get some air from his inhaler. Halina frowned feeling sorry for him, but she had stopped worrying about Scott's asthma for the most part, she adjusted to his breathing problems quickly enough. Though a small part of her was always worried he might have some sort of attack one of these days.
"Try not to die Scott, if the killer is still out here Stiles and I need to use you as our sacrifice" She teased with a smirk, Scott merely gave her a quick glare before looking past them.
"Ugh guys. . ." Halina and Stiles followed Scott's finger to see lights combing the woods. Stiles immediately fell to the ground, Halina and Scott quickly following his example.
"Shit. . ." Halina muttered glaring at Stiles, "We are so beyond screwed! What do we do now?"
Stiles looked at them both seriously, "We run. Zig-zag never in a straight line, run away from the lights" His sight turned from Halina to Scott, "Don't get caught" with that in mind they started running, Halina was the fastest of the three, she was easily able to keep up with Stiles though didn't bother to check if Scott was close behind. She reached out trying to grab Stiles' arm, "Stiles I think we-"
"Hold it right there!" A police man shouted.
"Fuck. . ."
Halina glared at Stiles with a look that clearly said she blamed him from this, Stiles was just trying to look at anywhere but her.
"Hang on. Hang on, these delinquents are mine" Sheriff Stilinski said coming into the light. Both Halina and Stiles looked even more defeated than from before. "Hi Mr. Stilinski. . . " Halina greeted meekly as she struggled to make eye contact with him.
"Dad. . "Stiles greeted brushing himself off, looking just as nervous as Halina did.
"Do. . .Do you always listen in to my phone calls?" He asked not. . .kindly but stared directly at Stiles for this one. Halina almost felt bad for the poor boy, except you know . . . this was all kind of his fault.
"No. . .well not the boring ones" Stiles replied, Halina rolled her eyes at him, now was not the time to be witty. His father turned his attention to Halina, he always regarded her as the responsible friend and probably expected her to be honest with him. That hurt even more when Stiles gave her a look that clearly said to lie.
"Now where's the other one?" the Sheriff asked
"The other one?" Halina repeated confused.
"The other boy, your usual partner in crime"
"He's at home! He wanted to get a good night sleep for the first day tomorrow. It's only me and Hal. . .in the woods. Alone." Stiles stammered, Halina almost wanted to face palm at his horrible lying skills. 'Smooth Stiles' Sheriff Stilinski seemed to share Halina's thoughts.
"Scott!? Scott are you out there?" The Sheriff flashed the light around but no sign of Scott McCall. "Alright guys" The Sheriff started grabbing Halina by the elbow and his son by the scruff of the neck, "Now I'm going to take you two back to your car' he started looking at his son "And the three of us are going to have a conversation about something called invasion of privacy".
The lecture took about twenty minutes in total, and afterwards Stiles was ordered to drive Halina back home. Immediately the two tried to get a hold of Scott with no avail, after about the fifth text from Halina she was starting to bite her lip in worry. "Stiles we can't just leave him there" she complained looking out the window as if hoping Scott would magically appear.
"Scott's a big boy Hal he'll be fine" Stiles reassured her though Halina could tell deep down he was just as worried as she was. Eventually the jeep pulled up to a two story house with a large patio and separate garage. However all the lights in the house were on causing Halina to curse, "I am so dead" she muttered leaning her head against Stiles' window.
Her friend gave her an apologetic look but Halina just shrugged. "I'll see you at school" she replied weakly given him a half hearted wave good bye before exiting the Jeep. Halina took her time getting to the door; in fact she waited till Stiles drove off before making her trek to the door. Inhaling a deep breath and some courage she entered the house seeing her grandparents in the living room.
Her grandmother, April Slade, stood up first in surprise. "Halina! We. . .we thought you were still in bed where were you?" She exclaimed hurrying to her Grand-daughter's side. Halina could only offer her a sheepish look, "I was . . . but Stiles sorted dragged me and Scott along for some adventure" She explained though she knew that wouldn't hold up in court. Her Grandparents however didn't seem to concerned with Halina oddly enough, it was then the teenager followed their gaze looking toward the kitchen door. She gaze the two a questioning look, "Who's here?"
April opened her mouth as if to speak, but closed it just as quickly looking to her silent husband who was still on the couch. They clearly had this, should you tell her or I? Vibe going on. Halina decided to see for herself, she pushed open the door her green eyes widening at who she saw there.