Chapter 1
Gabriella Myers sighed as she finished French braiding her long blonde hair. Her bright electric blue eyes shot to her phone as a text message appeared on her screen. It was from one of her best friends, Scott; shouldn't we be asleep?
Gaby laughed and responded well yeah. I have six am practice tomorrow lol and don't you have lacrosse tomorrow too?
She waited for a few minutes for his response but it never came. Sighing she threw her phone onto her bed and decided it was time to follow Scott's example and go to sleep. Before she could actually fall asleep, however, her phone started ringing. Looking at the caller i.d she saw it was her other best friend, Stiles. Rolling her eyes she answered the phone "What Stiles?"
"Nice to talk to you too Gabs," the boy responded sarcastically.
"What do you want I was just about to fall asleep," the blonde groaned rolling onto her stomach.
"Come outside I need to talk to you."
"No I'm tired now go away," she pressed the end call button on her phone and closed her eyes again, whatever it was could wait until the morning. Her phone rang again this time the caller i.d. read Scott. Sighing she answered her phone. "What the hell Scott I thought you were asleep?"
"I can't believe you hung up on me," Stiles said into the phone.
Gaby rolled her eyes "Well believe it 'cause I'm about to do it again."
"NO NO NO Wait it's important," Stiles yelled before the blonde hung up the phone.
The girl sighed "What is so god damn important that you have to call me in the middle of the night?"
"Come outside and Scott and I will tell you."
She hung up, sighed, and grabbed a pair of sweatpants and a jacket to go over her lacey tank top. Gabby pulled on a pair of black uggs and walked downstairs. "When did you get here?" she asked the two boys in the jeep.
"When I called you," Stiles answered her.
Gaby nodded "So why are you here?"
"I saw my dad leave twenty minutes ago. Dispatch called and they're bringing in every officer in the Beacon hills department even the state police."
"Why?"
"Two joggers saw a body in the woods."
Gaby's blue eyes widened "What?"
"Yeah, but that's not even the best part," he told her excitedly.
"Stiles your excitement in this matter is a bit disturbing."
"Shush. They only found half so that's why the police are out there searching."
"They're searching for the other half," Gaby said nodding her head.
"So are you in?" Scott asked from the passenger seat.
Gaby sighed and nodded "I know I'm going to regret this later, but count me in."
She climbed into the back of the jeep and let them drive off. Stiles drove up to the entrance of the woods. Scott let Gaby out and she walked up to the sign. It read Beacon Hills Preserve NO ENTRY AFTER DARK. She scoffed "I like how we always ignore the signs that tells us to stay away."
"What fun would that be if we always followed the rules," Stiles told her leading the other two into the woods.
"I was trying to get a good night sleep before practice tomorrow," Scott complained.
"Right because sitting on the bench is such a grueling effort," Stiles retorted.
"No because…I'm playing this year. In fact I'm making first line."
"Hey, that's the spirit. Everyone should have a dream even an incredibly unrealistic one."
"Stop being such a jackass Stiles," Gaby told him.
"You think I can do it Gabs?" Scott asked her.
The blonde girl shrugged "You've been practicing all summer, it's possible."
"Just out of curiosity," Scott began "What half of the body are we looking for?"
"Huh…I didn't even think about that," Stiles responded.
Gaby and Scott shared a look. "And what if whatever killed the body is still out here?" Gaby asked him.
"Also something I didn't think about."
Gaby and Scott shook their heads and scoffed. "It's comforting to know you planned this out with your usual attention to detail," Scott said as the three began climbing up a steep hill.
"And yet we still follow him," Gaby laughed.
Stiles and Gaby stood at the top of the hill and waited for Scott to catch up. "You know," he started "maybe the severe asthmatic should be the one holding the flashlight."
Gaby turned around and waited for him. When Scott caught up the two fell to the ground next to their other friend when they noticed the police force. "I knew I would regret this," Gaby said shaking her head.
"Ok come on," Stiles said running off in the direction of the cops.
"STILES!" the other two shouted.
Gaby pulled Scott up and chased after their friend. They continued calling after him until Scott hid behind a tree pulling Gaby with him. The two heard a dog bark and their friend falling to the ground. "Hang on, hang on," Sheriff Stilinski called out "This little delinquent belongs to me."
"Dad," Stiles said "How you doing?"
Gaby shook her head and their friend. "So do you listen in to all my phone calls?" the Sheriff asked again.
"No…well not the boring ones."
This time Scott shook his head. "Now where are your usual partners in crime?" Stiles dad asked.
"Who Scott? Scott's home said he wanted to get a good night sleep for the first day of school tomorrow."
"And Gabriella?"
"Same, she has early morning cheer practice and she yelled at me when I called her."
The sheriff sighed and pointed his flashlight towards the woods behind his son looking for the other two teens "Scott! Gabriella!" When nothing happened he sighed again and grabbed his son "Well, son I'm gonna walk you back to your car and we're gonna have a conversation about invasion of privacy."
"Scott?" Gaby whispered.
"Yup."
"That's our ride."
"Yup."
The two quickly ran the direction they came from trying to get back to the jeep before Stiles could leave. "I hate this. I knew I was going to regret this," Gaby complained as the two hiked through the woods in the dark with no flashlight.
The two stopped when they heard a noise right in front of them. For a second nothing moved, then out of nowhere a heard of deer bounded out of the woods causing the two teens to fall to the ground. Scott quickly shielded Gaby so she wouldn't get trampled. They lay on the ground breathing heavily. "Scott," Gaby said.
"Yeah."
"We need to get out of here now. Whatever caused those deer to run is still there and I don't want to be its next prey."
He nodded and stood up. Gaby looked around the woods looking for the thing that scared the deer. The next thing she heard was Scott screaming. Gaby quickly turned around and watched him fall down a hill. "SCOTT!" She screamed chasing after him. When he stopped rolling she helped him up from the ground "You ok?"
Scott started wheezing "Yeah."
Gaby gently rubbed his back trying to open his airways "Where's your inhaler?"
"Dropped it when the deer ran."
Gaby nodded then noticed a black furry mass in the woods looking at them. It had bright red eyes and was breathing heavily. Gaby's heart rate picked up and she began breathing faster. "Scott," she whispered.
"What Gabs?" he asked her without turning around.
She opened her mouth to say something but a deep growl interrupted her. The thing began running towards them. They both backed up trying to avoid getting attacked. Gaby tripped on a root and screamed. The animal jumped over Gaby and attacked Scott. She closed her eyes waiting to feel the claws or teeth of the animal, but it never happened.
Gaby opened her eyes and noticed she was alone "Scott! Scott! SCOTT!"
She quickly got up and ran away from the spot. Gaby again tripped over a root causing her to fall and this time she hit her head. Everything was spinning and she felt an intense pain in her head. She felt a hand on her back causing her to jump "Are you alright?" the voice asked.
"What?" she asked still dizzy from her fall.
"Are you hurt?" the voice asked.
"I…I don't know," she stood up shakily.
The guy said taking a step towards her when she started swaying. A branch snapped under his shoe causing Gaby to scream and jump back. "Hey, it's ok. It was just me."
"There's something out there."
"What was it?"
"I…I don't know," she whispered before falling unconscious.
"I wanna live my life with mermaids and poets the ones who fly and fall from the stars. 'Cause love comes to the people who show it home is right wherever we are."
Gaby rolled over and hit her alarm clock. She looked over at it to see what time it was. The blonde sighed when the numbers read 5:00 am. "Whoever's stupid idea it was to have a morning practice should die," she grumbled as she stumbled to the bathroom.
The blonde looked at herself in the mirror and realized how bad she looked. She was paler than usual and her hair was a tangled mess. Did she really move around that much in her sleep? She grabbed a brush and ran it through her hair, but stopped when she heard a crunch. It sounded like a dried up leaf and when she pulled it out of her hair she looked at it. Why would a leaf be in her hair? Gaby gasped and dropped her brush as everything came back to her.
She and Scott were attacked by something last night. Gaby could still hear the growl and see the red eyes clearly. She vaguely remembered talking to someone but she couldn't see him she could just hear his voice. "Gaby is everything alright?" someone asked from the other side of the door.
Gaby threw away the leaf and picked her brush up before opening the door. "I'm fine just dropped my brush," she answered her Aunt Lisa.
Lisa looked at her niece not believing a word "Have you taken your medicine this morning?"
Gaby shook her head as she threw her hair into a ponytail "That's probably why I look so bad."
Lisa nodded "I'll go get them for you and start breakfast." Gaby was about to shut the door when her aunt yelled "Oh and Happy Birthday!"
Gaby smiled she was officially sixteen and getting her license in two days. The blonde finished gathering her stuff that she needed for after practice from the bathroom and walked into her room. She passed a picture of her parents and smiled sadly. Her mom, Kristen, had blonde hair and kind light brown eyes while her dad, Thomas, had dark brown hair with dark eyes. She wished her parents could have been here to see her now, but sadly they weren't. "Gaby breakfast is ready!" her aunt yelled "I have to get to work have a good day at school!"
Her Aunt Lisa was by far the most amazing person in her life. She was kind enough to move down from New York and live in Beacon Hills with Gaby. Her aunt was a fashion designer and worked in her own boutique here in Beacon Hills while still selling to places like Macy's, Forever 21, and Charlotte Russe.
The blonde shook her head and cleared her thoughts. She finished packing her cheer bag and her backpack before heading downstairs to eat. Gaby smiled at the chocolate chip pancakes, bacon, and scrambled eggs on her plate. She noticed a thing of balloons on her chair and a bag right next to her plate. The note attached to it read Brand new design needed a model. Enjoy! XOXO Aunt Lisa.
Quickly she opened the bag and saw a box inside. When she opened the box she squealed with delight at the dress. It was strapless and baby blue that would end in the middle of her thigh. Another note was in the box P.S wear the black leather jacket and blue shoes with it! Gaby put the dress back into the box and shoved it into her cheer bag. She ran up to her room and grabbed the leather jacket and the baby blue peep toe heels that had sequence on the outside and a baby blue bow in the front. She grabbed her pearl studs that belonged to her mom and grabbed her phone. Gaby noticed missed calls from Scott and Stiles. She ate breakfast while she listened to them.
"Hey Gabs, Happy Birthday!" Stiles' said into the phone. "I just wanted to know what happened to you. Scott told me you two got separated, but your aunt never called in saying you were missing. Did you get back home safely? Did you see what attacked Scott? Did you find the body? Anyway tell me at school, happy birthday again!"
Gaby laughed and shook her head. After deleting his message she listened to Scott's.
"Gaby what the hell happened last night? Where were you? I know you're not dead because your aunt never reported you missing. I'm really worried Gabs is everything ok? Call me back I need to tell you something important."
She deleted the message and dialed his number. He answered on the second ring "Gaby Oh my God are you ok?"
"Yeah I'm fine."
"Did the wolf attack you?"
"Wolf? That was what came after us?"
"Yeah and it bit me."
"What? Are you ok?"
"I'm fine, but what about you? What happened after we got separated?"
"Honestly I don't know. I called for you then tripped and hit my head again, and it's all kinda fuzzy after that. I talked to someone and he carried me home, I guess."
"Some stranger carried you home?"
"It's Beacon Hills Scott. Everybody knows where I live. I just didn't see his face is all." There was a loud honk from outside. "Hey listen Katie's here I got to go. I'll talk to you and Stiles at school ok?"
"Alright oh and Gaby?"
"Hmm?"
"Happy Birthday."
"Thanks Scott," she said before hanging up the phone and grabbing her bag.
"Hey girly, happy birthday!" Katie said giving her a small bag when Gaby reached her car.
"Thanks Katie," she said opening the bag. Inside was a photo album that read Freshman Year on it. "Oh I love it thank you!" she said hugging the brunette girl.
"Yes, yes you can sing my praises later now let's go to practice at 6:30 in the morning." Both girls groaned and continued to drive to their school.
ONE HOUR LATER
Gaby quickly dried her hair and started curling it. She slid on her outfit and did her makeup. By the time she was finished she had ten minutes to spare. She got a text from Scott saying he was out front parking his bike. The blonde shoved her bag into her cheer locker and grabbed her school bag. Gaby made her way out of the school waving at people and thanking people wishing her a happy birthday. She quickly made her way to her two friends.
"A wolf bit you?" Gaby heard Stiles say as she joined them.
"Uh huh," Scott confirmed.
"No not a chance."
Gaby and Scott laughed. "I heard a wolf howling," Scott told him.
"No you didn't."
"What do you mean no I didn't? How do you know what I heard?"
"Gaby did you hear a wolf howl?" Stiles asked the blonde in between them.
"Uh…no, but…"
"See she didn't hear a wolf howl you wanna know why? Because California doesn't have wolves, not in like sixty years."
"You didn't let me finish," Gaby told Stiles "I didn't hear a wolf howl because I was too dizzy to understand what was going on."
"What do you mean?" Stiles asked her.
"I hit my head a couple of times and I was extremely dizzy."
"Yeah dizzy enough to let a stranger carry you home," Scott mumbled.
"You let a stranger carry you home?" Stiles asked the blonde girl.
"It's Beacon Hills everybody knows everybody. Plus if the stranger was bad why did he take me home? He could have easily just killed me."
"Maybe he was saving you for later and trying to devise a plan to kill you," Stiles said.
Gaby rolled her eyes at him and turned to Scott "Anyway Stiles is right. There are no wolves in California."
"Well if you don't believe me about the wolf…you're not going to believe me when I told you…I found the body," Scott told them.
Gaby's blue eyes went wide as Stiles freaked out "Are you kidding me?"
"Again Stiles your excitement is disturbing," Gaby said shaking her head.
"I wish I was kidding you. I'm gonna have nightmares for a month," Scott said.
"That is freaking awesome," Stiles told him. "This is going to be the best thing that has happened to this town since…" he trailed off when Lydia walked past them "since the birth of Lydia Martin. Hey Lydia you look…like you're going to ignore me." Gaby rolled her eyes at Stiles' crush on Lydia. He's liked her since the third grade and never once has she spoken to him. She didn't know why he tried. Stiles to turned the two of them "You're the cause of this you know."
Gaby raised an eyebrow while Scott said "uh huh?"
"Dragging me down to your nerd depths. I'm a nerd by association."
The bell rang causing the three to begin walking to class "Stiles two things wrong with your theory. One, I'm actually pretty popular in this school. Two, Lydia wouldn't notice you unless you grow a couple of inches, become captain of the Lacrosse team, tone up…a lot, and become super rich."
"Thank you Gaby for your encouraging words."
"Whatever, you guys know you love me."
"Well today we kinda have to," Scott laughed.
"That's right it's be nice to Gabriella day," Gaby smirked before walking ahead of them to get to English.
Gaby sat down next to Katie and the two shared quick smiles. "Welcome class," the teacher, Mrs. White, said to the class "This is Advanced English. This is an extremely challenging class at least the first few weeks. If you don't think you can handle this there is a grade level English class right next door you can join."
The class began with a discussion on the book they had to read over the summer. Then they ended it with a short pop quiz to make sure everyone actually read it. Gaby smiled as she joined Scott and Stiles in the hallway. "What's up?" she asked them.
"Scott's in love," Stiles answered.
"What?" Gaby exclaimed "Oh Stiles our little boy is growing up."
She went to pinch his cheek but he slapped it away "Shut up you guys."
"What's her name?"
"Allison," he replied in a dreamy voice.
Gaby laughed at him "You're such a girl sometimes." Scott playfully nudged her with his shoulder but he couldn't help but laugh at the comment.
The rest of the day went without a hitch for Gaby. During her third period she was called to go to the office. The secretary handed her a vase full of lilies and roses. The card said the generic Happy Birthday message from her boyfriend of a year, Nick.
Nick was a lacrosse player. He was tall, about as tall as Jackson, muscular, with short blonde hair, and blue eyes. Nick was a year older than her so she rarely saw him in school, but they hung out every Friday night and every other chance they got.
After school was released Gaby went to her locker to gather everything she needed. She felt a pair of arms slide around her waist and a chin on her head. "So what are you doing after school today?" Nick asked her.
"I've got to go take Scott's shift at the vet clinic since he has practice today. Then I have dinner with my aunt. Why?" Gaby answered turning around in his arms.
Nick shrugged "It looks like I will be taking you out to dinner Friday then."
Gaby gently kissed him "Sounds like a plan to me. Good luck at practice!"
"Thanks Babe," Nick responded kissing her gently before leaving.
Gaby walked up to Katie's car because she was kind enough to give her a ride to the vet clinic before going home.
When she reached the vet clinic, the blonde tied her hair up and walked into one of the examination rooms. Deaton smiled warmly at the girl as she entered the room "Good afternoon Gaby."
She smiled back "Hey." Gaby looked at the husky puppy on the table "What's this one in for?"
Deaton sighed "Someone found him and brought him in."
"He was abandoned?" The vet nodded. "How old is he?" Gaby asked moving towards the puppy.
"About six weeks old."
"How did you manage to survive?" She asked the puppy. The little husky looked up at her. Gaby leaned closer and the puppy licked her face causing her to laugh. "What do you need me to do?"
"Well since this puppy has taken such a liking to you why don't you feed him, bathe him, and brush him. I've already looked him over and everything."
Gaby nodded and smiled "I'd love to."
After taking care of the puppy and putting him in a bed Gaby did the rest of her 'duties'. She fed all the animals, gave them all fresh water, brushed them all, and give medicine to the animals that she could (like a cat who needed ear drops or the dog who need liquid medicine). After all that was completed Gaby got a call. Sighing she answered the phone "What's up Stiles?"
"Ok so Scott has super powers now."
Gaby bit her lip to keep herself from laughing. "Dude!" Scott shouted in the background.
"What you do," Stiles responded "You can caught every single ball that was thrown at you including Nick and Jackson's."
"Wait what?" Gaby asked when she heard Nick's name.
"Yeah, your super stud of a boyfriend got his ball caught by Scott who now has super powers."
"That sounds wrong on so many levels," Gaby laughed.
"What like you don't catch his balls…"
"Alright I'm hanging up now," Gaby interrupted her friend.
"NO, NO, NO,NO WAIT!" Stiles yelled trying to get her attention again.
"What?"
"How much longer is your shift?"
Gaby checked her watch "Uh…about five minutes why?"
"Scott needs to find his inhaler and wants you to help look for it."
Gaby sighed "Alright come pick me up."
After saying her goodbyes to the vet Gaby went out front and waited for Stiles and his crappy blue jeep to show up. She didn't have to wait long because Stiles came speeding into the parking lot and waited for Gaby to get into the jeep.
"I can't believe I'm doing this again," Gaby complained walking through the woods.
"You said you would help," Stiles said laughing at her trying to get across a creek.
"I know I thought I had my cheer tennis shoes with me, but obviously I don't. So now I'm hiking through the woods in three inch heels."
Scott took pity on her and bent down so she could climb onto his back. "I don't know what it was. It was like I had all the time in the world to catch the ball," Scott told the two of them.
"Whose ball?" Gaby asked.
"Both Jackson and Nick's."
"Not that I'm doubting you, but how?"
"I really don't know, but that's not the only weird thing. I can hear stuff I shouldn't be able to hear. Smell things."
Scott gently let Gaby off his back and continued walking. "Smell things? Like what?" Stiles asked.
"Like the Mint Mojito gum in your pocket," Scott told Stiles "And Gaby's peach lip gloss."
Stiles and Gaby stopped. "I don't even have…" Stiles looked into his pocket pulling out the old gum from his pocket "Huh." He turned towards Gaby "Are you wearing peach lip gloss?"
Gaby nodded eying Scott "Yeah I just got it today from Brooklyn. How did you know?"
Scott shrugged "I told you I can smell it."
The blonde nodded and continued walking forward. "So all this started with a bite?" Stiles asked following his two friends.
"What if it's like an infection, like my body's flooding with adrenaline before I go into shock or something?" Scott asked.
"You know what? I think I actually have heard of this. It's a specific kind of infection."
Scott and Gaby stopped and looked back at their friend. "Are you serious?" Scott asked.
"Yeah. Yeah, I think it's called Lycanthropy."
Gaby rolled her eyes. "What?" Scott said causing Gaby to shake her head. "Is it bad?" he asked looking at Gaby.
"Oh yeah," she responded "the worst."
"But only once a month" Stiles added.
"Once a month?" Scott asked his two friends.
Stiles nodded his head "On the night of the full moon." After a pause Stiles howled to emphasize his point causing Gaby to laugh. Scott shoved stiles away. "Hey man you were the one who heard a wolf howling."
"Hey there could be something seriously wrong with me," Scott told Stiles.
"I know! You're a werewolf…Ok obviously I'm kidding, but if you see me in shop class trying to melt all the silver I can find it's cause Friday's a full moon."
"Scott I'm sure there's nothing seriously wrong with you. We would know by now," Gaby told him squeezing his shoulder to reassure him.
Scott nodded "I'm sure this is where I dropped it."
"Maybe it flew when we fell down. I'll look over here," Gaby said pointing a little farther away from them.
She walked away from them arguing and bent down to look for Scott's eighty dollar inhaler. "Gabs…" Stiles said she ignored him and kept looking "Gaby!" he said a little louder.
"What Stiles," Gaby sighed looking at the hyperactive boy.
He nodded to someone standing behind her. Gaby slowly stood up not looking behind her. "What are you doing here?" A familiar voice asked. Gaby felt her blood turn cold. Her heartbeat sped up as she turned around to look at the guy who brought her back home from the woods last night.
