I do not own Teen Wolf. All the characters except the one I made belong to Jeff Davis and MTV, so does the plotline that happened before the beginning of this book. The plotline of the book and the events in it are mine. {Prologue} The Beacon Hills Preserve has always been the place of strange activities, although only a few people really knew what that meant. It was a start point of many events for the past year and a half, but that was managed to be kept a secret. From werewolf bites and fights, to strange deaths and ritual sacrifices, it was never a normal forest. However, the citizens of the nearby Beacon Hills were kept in the dark, so secrets have always stayed secrets. Deep in the heart of the Beacon Hills Preserve, or just the Preserve, a young girl was trying to find her way out, and the full moon was the only thing lightening her way through the woods. She definitely wasn't one of the Beacon Hills people-her accent was a strong British one, even stronger when she was afraid. She didn't belong here, but even a blind man could see that. Not only by the way she talked, but her actions were much different than anyone else's. She was more special than one could even guess, and she knew that. "They are here..." she muttered under her breath as she quickly looked around. She felt it in her bones, the goosebumps on her skin that were there for a while were only confirming it. She could even smell the fear they left behind-it was just as tangible as her own body. They were monsters, creatures that haunt us in our worst nightmares. She was playing hide and seek with them, she was trying to destroy them; but she couldn't do that, not when she was completely on her own. Help was the answer, and she was coming for it. She looked around one more time, just to make sure nobody was there. She wasn't paranoid, she was just realistic. They were one step behind her, but she knew it wouldn't keep them for long. She didn't have much time, she knew that deep in her bones. If she doesn't reach her goal in matter of an hour, no hope will remain. Reaching in her pocket, she took a black marker and opened it with her teeth. It was the only thing she had beside her clothes, maybe even the most important one. Clothes meant nothing to her, while the marker meant everything. "They are here," she whispered as she wrote the exact same words on her left arm. Her dark brown-just a shade lighter than black-hair was falling to her hips, in long, countless and very messy loose curls, that would be pretty if they weren't covered with mud and sweat. She put the marker back into its place, and closed her eyes-listening and smelling. She couldn't smell anything; they were here, with her. Her plan didn't keep them as long as she thought it would, an hour less. They were walking and flying around her, laughing at her poor and lame appearance, and mocking her. She covered her ears with her palms and let out a real scream. Her throat hurt, but at least the shadows were gone-but not for long. Quickly standing up and running away, she got enough time to reach him; but she knew if she doesn't get to him in time, she won't be able to shove the shadows away. This time, she won't win. Her scream won't save her. She'll die, just like everyone else did. Nothing will be different for her, nothing. She'll finish just like they did-dead. But they at least had someone to mourn them, to bury them. She won't have even that. "Run." Her voice was shaky and was threatening to crack, but she cleared her throat and tried one more time, "Run." This time, she didn't fail. Her eyes were glowing in the night of the full moon, her claws were long and ready to kill, and her fangs were sharp and ready to bite. She wasn't going to give up without a fight. "Where are you now, monsters? Where are you hiding?" she asked in the dark, her voice echoing in the woods. "I'll come back. And I won't be alone," she hissed at the shadows that were starting to appear behind her. "Catch me if you can!" Her tiny body and athletic built came in handy once again, as she was avoiding branches and trees in almost unbelievable speed. Wind was howling near her ears, her feet were barely touching the ground. She was fast, much faster than any human could ever be-not even Bolt could be faster. She was what she was by her nature, it was giving her abilities to do she could never do in other circumstances. Her journey taught her to survive when she has no chances, to fight when she is almost without any strength, to escape from living nightmares. When she concluded she escaped from them, at least enough to confuse them, she stopped. Putting her hands on a tree in front of her and leaning against it, she sucked in enough air to keep her running for a while. Her heart was beating faster than ever-the fact that both death and success were at her arm length, and were speeding towards her, was upsetting enough. She had to win, not because of herself but because of the ones she lost and the ones she'll save. After a few more rounds of running and resting, she was practically at the end of the Beacon Hills Preserve; but something was even closer to her, just a couple of steps away-the Nemeton. The place where everything started and nothing finished, the place of legends and myths. A part of her world, but more important than she could ever imagine. It was the place that regained its energy and awoken the fears of the supernatural itself. Making a few steps toward it, she placed her hand on the Nemeton and felt the power of it streaming through her veins. Although she wasn't a druid herself, her mother was and the power she had in herself was enough to connect with the Nemeton's power and to give her just enough strength to let out one last scream when the time will come. She had no more magic left in herself, she spent it during her journey, trying to keep the shadows on an acceptable distance. Taking the marker again, she wrote another words on her body, this time on her right palm. "You are Tara," she read and closed her eyes. Covering the words with her left hand and touching every single of the letters with her forefinger, she gave each of it enough magic to stay visible for more than six months. It didn't take her much magic, so she was able to do it every time she would write something on her skin. The words were her marks, her reminders of the life she once had. Her memory started to fade-she was too long without the ones she missed, without her pack. "Bradley?" she called, but her dog didn't answer. She lost the contact with him a long time ago, about four or five days to be precise. That actually isn't long time, but to her it seemed like forever. Bradley was the only living being that was making her company on her journey, but he went missing after the last fight with the shadows, the last one before she came to Beacon Hills. Her ears caught a high pitched voice singing a song-song of the dead. The shadows were coming back, and she wasn't sure she will be able to run away from them once again. Her energy was getting low, and her stomach hasn't felt anything to eat for more than a week. Even the fact she was a part of supernatural wasn't helping at that point. She started writing another note on her right upper arm when one of the shadows covered her and started sucking her soul. She grabbed the best memory she had and threw it into the shadow, killing her. She didn't have much more good memories; only the bad ones remained. She had to run as fast as possible, because she will have no more second chances. Picking up the marker from the floor while the shadows were trying to keep the hurt one on life, she had enough time to escape them one more time. Her bare feet now really hurt and blood was streaming down her face. The place where the shadow hit her, right above her left eye was bleeding and a huge part of her skin was hanging and blocking her sight. Clenching her teeth so she won't scream and give away her position, she grabbed the hanging part of her skin and quickly pulled it, completely separating it from her body. The scream was muffled in her mouth and the pain above her eye was almost unbearable. It was sharp and shocking, bringing tears to her eyes. She wiped them away and kept running. Not long after, she came to the road and was looking for the hospital. At the moment her bare feet touched the road's concrete filled with small parts of glass bottles, her feet started bleeding too. She was losing a lot of blood and from her experience she knew she won't be able to stay conscious for long. Time was now even less, and she still had to find the hospital. She took the marker and tried to finish the note she started writing, the last note, but her vision blurred and she barely saw anything. She was even in a worse state that she thought she was. If she doesn't get to a hospital in less than twenty minutes, she's going to be dead. Bowing down, she picked up the marker and started walking towards some lights she saw. Her balance was poor. She could hardly see anything. Loud beating in her ears definitely wasn't a good sign. The pain she was feeling all over her body was just making things worse. The newly discovered fact that she had a very big open wound on her abdomen that was bleeding and maybe the wound she had to worry about the most, wasn't nice either. Usually, she would just look at the bright side, but she had no bright side this time. Everything was dark. She saw a car coming in her way. She raised her left arm in the air, trying to tell the driver to stop, while her other arm was lying on her abdomen, trying to stop the bleeding. She wasn't healing, and that was the fact that was worrying her the most. She was supposed to heal in matter of minutes, but her wounds were even getting bigger. She was losing her power, she was out of energy-her chances to survive were low, very low-almost non-existent. The car stopping and a driver coming out of it was the last thing she saw before everything blacked out. Her senses were coming back, but she was still trapped in the dark world of shadows. They were dancing all around her in a deadly trance, surrounding her and preparing her for their last fight-the one she has already lost, even before it began. Her wounds were bleeding and she was trying to escape from this nightmare, but the shadows were holding her as their hostage. Half of her was in the black world with shadows, already giving in. She couldn't fight anymore, she was too weak. But to lose the fight right before she reached the goal...that would be just disappointing, un-heroic. She would be a loser, weak and a coward. Black thoughts were in her mind-the shadows have already started to possess her and suck the goodness from her soul. The other half was in the real world, trying to keep herself breathing. It was harder than ever, but at least she was in the hospital, with people who could save her. She was trying to fight the feelings of tearing apart, but she knew that if she won this fight, a part of her would be trapped with the shadows. There will be loss for her-there is always loss. She blinked, and the trapped half got back to normal one in speed of light, colliding into one. Somebody pulled the girl's eyelids up and the bright white light blinded her immediately. She tried to close her eyes, but the person's fingers didn't let her. To her, time was going slowly; everything slowed down, even her heartbeat. She was giving in, the shadows...they came out of their little black world and were in the hospital now, they were mocking her, making fun of her. She was defenseless, an easy target. They could take her at any moment. Somebody shouted at her and covered the light with something-a head. She realized that was a woman that was telling her something. She was talking slow, really slow-or was that just her brain? "Stay with me, stay with me!" the woman screamed at her. One last try. One last chance to make things right. One more chance for forgiveness. One last chance to save everything. She had no more chances, no more attempts, no more time. "Help...Scott." The words left her mouth after a second or two inaudible screams. She didn't feel or say anything. "Help Scott...McCall." The shadows were back. They were dancing around her and singing, their arms were pulling her with them. The song that was always telling her she has to run, it was now here too. And this time, she was welcoming it. She wasn't afraid of it, but singing along with the shadows. She started to fade; she was going away with the forgotten, becoming one of them. Tick, tock, goes the clock You are falling into shock Run, run, you can't hide Scream, scream you are tied You will now count to ten To become the FOR GOT TEN Hey you! This is my first ever fan fiction and I really hope it's not too bad. I promise I'll do my best not to make it cliche. And if someone has already written a similar story, just want to say it's coincidental and I'm not copying anyone. I think this one's going to be completely different that any other story. Updates are going to be once per week.
