Author's note: This was written for Malia Week over on tumblr. This is kind of a way to show where Malia could've been when certain events happened. The title is taken from Paramore's song "Future". I hope everyone enjoys this story. Please let me know what you think. Hate for the character in this story will not be responded to.
Malia was roaming around the reserve when she heard rushed footsteps just up ahead at that abandoned house. It's been hard for her these past few years living as a coyote, but she transitioned quickly. It seems that trying to make friends with people that she assumed would be her classmates in this form wouldn't be ideal.
Especially since she's been noticing that a huge ugly wolf has been traipsing around lately. Killing poor innocent people like that pretty wolf that Malia would notice going in and out of that abandoned house. It was weird for her to think about, but whenever she saw the older woman; she felt safe and oddly familiar. Unfortunately, that gargantuan creature running around took her away before Malia could try to make friends with her.
Malia kept her distance and stood alert as she watched a human girl her age run into the house. The girl was tall with long dark hair pulled up into a messy bun. She wore black workout clothes and wore a look of utter determination as she entered the dilapidated home.
The young coyote took a dangerous risk as she tip toed to the first floor window to see what the other girl was looking for. Malia saw the girl shaking as if she'd seen something she shouldn't have. Even though she was outside she smelt it before she ever saw it creep across the girl's porcelain features. Fear was an awful smell. It wasn't just fear, but anger and frustration. The smells seemed to twist and turn from pungent to saccharine, when she saw another woman with blonde hair enter the house.
It pained Malia deeply that this girl was hurting so badly. She wanted in that moment to turn back into her human skin and comfort the girl, but she was stuck in her pelt on the outside looking in.
If she could smile, she would've smiled brightly at the other girl's bravery for wanting to get over her fear and the blonde woman promising that she would help her. It made her happy, but sad at the same time however, because she missed her sister and mother greatly. Not to mention her father, but it was better this way.
She spent years hating herself for what she did to her sister and mother, but she realized that self-hatred wasn't the way. If she wanted redemption she had to learn to control her animalistic urges in her coyote form and protect those for which she wanted to feed. Speaking of feed, it was getting late in the day and Malia needed to eat. She gave one more look at the two figures in the house before running across the reserve to catch some food.
The night was cold.
Well, at least that's what Malia gathered when she saw two people wearing leather jackets running through the woods. One was a tall dark skinned boy and the other was a blonde hair girl with fair skinned. They smelled slightly fowl. Wolves. It was that moment when Malia wanted to count on her paws how many she had seen in the past few months, but continued on watching the pair run through the woods.
Malia settled on just watching, wanting to have a companion like the girl did the boy. She didn't care who, just someone to share this with. Her reverie was cut short when she heard the engines of four by four's coming closer. She felt rage and did what she knew how to do in order to protect those wolves. She made her path and started to run as she let out a long howl hoping the humans would follow her and leave the other two alone.
She stopped and waited. The roar of an engine made her yip just in time to lead them to a dead end. She leaped over the cliff and howled in triumph. Her victory was short lived because a few moments later she heard pleading coming from whence she just came. Malia let out an aggravated sigh before jumping back over the clearing to the two wolves.
Surprisingly, Malia had never been to this part of the woods and took note that civilization had to be near about a mile and half.
"Please Allison, Stop!" Malia heard just up ahead. She snarled at anyone wanting to hurt the innocent wolves. She traipsed over toward the commotion and watched thinking of what to do next.
The girl, Allison, smelled familiar like the girl from a few months ago, but different. She smelled like grief and pure anger. That girl was her, but the girl that Malia was looking at now was not approachable like she was before and she seemed dead set on killing the two wolves. She did the only thing she could think of and charged.
Her body collided with the girl's weapon successfully making it fall to ground. She tip toed over the brunette and sniffed her. She didn't smell evil, she smelled confused. Malia felt bad for her. She gave the girl a sad yelp before getting away from the hunter. She let out an excited howl before licking at the dark skinned boy's wounds and running off into the night.
There's been a girl running around the woods lately.
At first Malia thought the girl was lost. After watching her for a few days she realized that the girl was bearing a message. The message of death. Malia would often find the girl running around the abandoned house in a haze as if she were being controlled.
It scared Malia a lot. She'd seen a lot of things in these woods, but never a messenger of death.
One night, Malia saw the girl just entering the reserve and decided to stay by her side just in case someone or something tried to harm the strawberry blonde. The other girl didn't seem to mind and gave her a small smile and rub of her pelt.
They walked until; the other girl led her to "the car". It didn't make any sense to Malia. That happened years ago. They were dead.
The coyote felt a cold shiver drive up her pelt and looked up. Right before her blue eyes were yellow fireflies. The girl next to her smiled brightly before walking around the car deeper into the dead part of the woods. At least that's what Malia called them.
The strawberry blonde stopped and watched as a cloaked figure pulled a small branch from the stump in the ground. It wasn't a normal stump and Malia could tell because the power hit her like waves and she wanted to take the human girl away before something bad happened. So, she gave a concerned cry and tugged on the girl's jacket sleeve leading her away.
They were half away through the woods when the girl seemed to have woken up. She slapped herself lightly on the face to ensure she was awake and in the middle of the woods, and then gave a small shriek when she noticed Malia.
"Please don't eat me!" She pleaded backing away.
Malia shook her head and sniffed before slowly approaching the girl and bending down, so the girl could pet her. She let out an excited sound when she felt the girls hand run through her pelt softly.
"I guess I should thank you. I don't know what's been happening to me lately, but I keep wandering around in a fugue state. It's pretty scary, but I'm glad I wasn't alone this time. My name is Lydia by the way." The girl said as she continued to pet Malia. The coyote was happy. She did something good and made a friend, a real friend.
Malia liked how Lydia smelled. She smelled like lavender and watermelon. It was a comforting smell for her. She wanted to tell Lydia her name, so she stepped back and started to draw her name in the sand. She had just finished the letter "L" when a voice interrupted her.
"Lydia. Oh, thank god. I thought you were lost. Are you okay?" The girl asked checking Lydia over. She looked around and her eyes landed on Malia. "The coyote didn't hurt you, did it?"
Malia half started to growl when the girl referred to her as in it.
Lydia marched toward Malia and started to pet her comfortingly.
"I'm fine Alli. I was just in a fugue state and Mal here was just leading me back to safety. I think you owe her a thank you, since she returned your girlfriend back in one piece." She replied.
The brunette stepped toward her and gave Malia her hand to lick. The coyote sniffed her and yipped before licking the girl named Alli happily. The other girl smelled familiar like-
"Allison, you've been here for all of two minutes and you already stole my new friend."
Malia let out a sad sniff before Allison began to pet her. Tonight was a good night. Malia made not only one, but two new friends. One of which she always wanted to befriend despite what she did that cold night.
Allison let out a soft giggle. "What can I say? I'm hard to resist."
Lydia cupped the brunette's cheek. "You're cocky at this time at night. Maybe, Mal and I should leave you and go back into the woods," She joked wrapping her arms around her neck.
Allison let go of Malia's pelt and placed her hands on Lydia's hips. "Rude. I guess I'll go find someone else to take to prom." Lydia bumped her shoulder.
"You wouldn't."
"Of course I wouldn't. You're the only one for me Lydia Martin." Allison replied before giving Lydia a light peck on the lips.
When they pulled away from each other, Lydia let out a yawn.
"What time is it?" Lydia asked.
Allison took out her phone and checked the time. "It's 1:30, Lyds. I know it's still fall break, but it's late and Mal should get some sleep too."
Lydia nodded her head in agreement. "Fine, but only because Mal needs sleep." She placed a kiss Malia's nose and gave her a ruffle through her pelt.
Allison did the same before they said there goodbye's. "We promise that we'll be back soon Mal."
Malia gave an excited yip before running back to her den in the woods.
"Was it just me or was that coyote more human than coyote?" Allison asked holding Lydia's hand as they exited the reserve.
"Definitely not just you. Does your dad have anything in the bestiary about were-coyotes?"
"I'm not sure, but we can look."
Allison and Lydia would come and visit Malia whenever they could. The coyote would watch with Lydia as Allison practiced her archery.
When Malia looked at Allison and Lydia she longed for a family as well and when the girls would leave she would run through the woods back to her old home to see her father.
She never moved too close to the home because the last time that happened, her father started shooting his .33 toward the direction in which she ran.
Malia came back to the car one night and noticed that her sister's doll was missing.
How could anyone do such a thing?
The coyote was angry. She let out a howl and started running. She went to her den just in case she left it there. Then she checked any other nearby areas. She was just about to let out a cry when she smelt it.
A wolf. She snarled.
She tiptoed to where she found a wolf and a human lugging her sister's doll around like it was a joke. It was fast, but then the wolf turned to her and started running.
She had no choice but to run. She thought she lost him over the clearing when she heard his steps closely behind her. She turned to him and growled as a warning before his eyes turned red and he growled right back. Her eyes flashed back and that's when the boy faltered.
"Malia?" He said before she ran off.
She didn't understand how this boy new her name. She heard people were trying to find her, but it had to be a trick. It had to be a nasty trick to get her away from her new friends.
A few days past, since she'd seen Allison and Lydia; she chalked it up to them being busy.
It had been a busy couple a days for her as well. She tracked her sister's doll to Beacon Hills High School and found it attached to that zippy boy's backpack. She didn't mean to be so ferocious towards the nice brunette, but they had taken something that didn't belong to them and she needed it back. Right before she had a chance to get it, she found herself on the wrong end of her dad's rifle. She got out there unscathed, thank goodness.
So, she went to go visit her father instead. To get the doll back. She was almost safe and secure. Then she smelled them. Allison and Lydia were nearby. She had to warn them to run before any of this mess got to them. She quickly dropped the doll back at the car. She circled back. She was just about to reach Lydia when she smelled that wolf boy again. Her friends would have to wait. She ran her usual course, but this time when she turned around.
The boy's eyes turned red and he howled the loudest howl she's ever heard. Her ears were ringing and her pelt was no more. She felt the cool air touch her skin. She was human again.
The zippy boy, Stiles and his father reunited Malia with her father. It was nice and warm at first, but then it just became depressing. She would hear her father crying every night. It hurt and it made her feel worse.
She would lay awake at night and think about Allison and Lydia. She missed them terribly. She felt awful for missing her friends more than her father, but his cries made her feel self-hatred again and she didn't like it.
One night, she packed up a few of her things and went out to find her friends. She'd find their scent, but then it would lead to nothing. She started to pick up a scent when she ended up at a weird house.
"Eichen House" she read aloud before entering the gate.
Upon entering the building she was confused at the different people whispering, but she didn't give it a second thought. She walked over to the desk.
"Malia. I've been expecting you." A woman said from behind her.
The woman was about her height with caramel colored skin and long dark hair. She seemed familiar.
"I'm sorry. Do I know you?" She asked looking at her inquisitively.
The woman walked closer to her. "No, but you will. My name is Marin Morrell and I am here to put you on the right path."
"And what path will that be?"
"The path will be entirely your choice. Don't worry. This path will lead to your friends as well."
"How do you know about Lydia and Allison?"
"I just know." She replied as she started to pull Malia into her office. "First I need you to help a troubled boy for me."
She closed the door after that.
Malia tried to follow everything that Marin was saying, but after a few sessions she understood. A boy named Stiles was possessed by something and the only way to help him would be to get a katana to Scott aka wolf boy. Those were her instructions. She followed each one, but she also helped Stiles leave Eichen House and go back home to his father.
The young coyote found Scott's house easily thanks to Stiles's directions. She was shocked to find that no one was home, so she took the less legal approach and snuck into his house and placed the katana with a note on what she assumed to be Scott's bed.
After leaving Scott's, she found Lydia and Allison at Lydia's house watching a movie. She wanted to knock on the door, but decided that seeing them happy was all she needed.
A few days later after Marin set her up in an apartment downtown. She felt a terrible pain in her abdomen. It hurt so bad that it made her crumble to the ground.
It took a while, but when she got up she left her apartment and ran as fast as she could. To where? she had no idea. She ended up at an old building littered with trash and covered with graffiti.
She followed a saccharine smell that flew through the air when she crossed through the gate. That was when a wave of emotion hit her. Sadness, grief, anger and pain. So, much pain was in the air that it hurt. She had to use all of her strength to literally sift through to where the saccharine smell was coming from.
Malia found Lydia holding a body. She couldn't tell who because Lydia was cradling them whispering something so soft her heightened hearing couldn't pick it up.
Looking around the coyote could name almost everyone that was there, but someone was missing. In an instant her heart sank.
"No." She said in a whisper. "Allison can't be dead, she-she can't be. I never got to say goodbye. She never got to see me. I have to get to Lydia." She was just about to go to her friends, but she stopped herself. This wasn't the time. Lydia needed to be with her beloved. "Goodbye Allison, you were the bravest one of all." She whispered in her direction before sprinting back in the direction of her apartment.
When she got back to her apartment Marin was waiting for her with her arms out open.
"I'm sorry about, Allison." She said. Malia ran into her arms letting the tears roll down her cheeks as she cried for her friend.
"Why?" She asked. "Why did she have to die? I never- I never-"
Malia felt Marin hold her tighter. "Death is a sad and mysterious thing. Just know that Allison didn't die in vain. She would've been so proud of you."
After what felt like hours of crying, she begged Marin to get her into school. She obliged on the grounds that she would have to pass a few tests to get in. Malia agreed and she spent the rest of the night studying.
Something happened to Malia that night. A type of determination formed inside of her. It was a primal need to be better to do better for Allison.
Malia passed her tests with flying colors making nearly every teacher crap themselves. She strutted down the hallway proudly, when Coach Finstock started talking to her. They just walked downstairs to the first floor when she smelt lavender and watermelon. Lydia.
Lydia was at her locker talking to Kira, when she looked up and saw Malia walking past her. It was odd for Lydia to see Malia in her human form, but she couldn't help, but smile as she remembered all of the good times they had with Allison.
It was like the same thing was happening to the both of them. Malia didn't want Lydia to be sad, but she knew that she needed to take time to grieve for Allison. She just wanted to be there to hold her as she cried.
Malia just put her books in her locker, when she felt someone poke her side.
"Hey, you must be Malia. I'm Kira." The brunette girl introduced.
Malia stuck her hand out so the girl could shake it.
"It's nice to meet you, Kira. Is there anything I can help you with?" She asked.
Kira smiled. "Yes, actually. My friend Lydia and I were wondering if you would like to eat lunch with us."
Malia smiled back. "I'd like that."
Malia, Kira and Lydia sat together at lunch. At first it felt weird because they would each take sad glances at the empty space next to Lydia, but they got through it.
They all figured that Allison would've wanted them to be happy, so they tried their best to be each other's rock. Sometimes, the air would get so thick and opaque they could've sworn that the hunter was with them.
It was an odd and interesting journey, but they were all glad that they had one another.
