I brushed out my hair, a new gentle curl forming with every stroke. My slate gray eyes stood in the rising sun that glowed through my window.
"Callana!" Jake yelled down the steps. "Get your butt to school!"
"Coming, Dad!" I shouted back to him. I turned quickly around, my hair bouncing off my shoulders. I snatched my bag off my bed and smiled at the picure of me and Derek on my nightstand. It's been about a month since he left but he was coming back. I was sure of it. I pivoted gracefully on the balls of my feet and ran out of my room and started running down the steps. Half way down the stairs, my right ankle twisted and rolled underneath me, creating a loud snap, crackle, pop sound. I rolled the rest of the way down the steps, landing on the floor on my stomach, groaning in pain. Footsteps thudded agains the wood floor, heading towards me.
"Hey, Kiddo, you ok?" Hands wrapped around my waist and helped me up. I tried to put pressure on my ankle but I immediately pulled back when I felt a sharp, searing pain.
"I'm not healing. I should be healing? Why am I not healing?"
"I thought you said werewolves could heal."
"I did. I mean, they can. But I'm not for some reason."
"Well, I got some crutches in the closet that you can use. Stay there and I'll give you a ride to school." I groaned again but not in pain, in embarrassment.
TTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT
Jake pulled up to the school and got out to go to the other side and open the passenger door. He helped me out and placed the crutches under my arms.
"Thanks, Dad." I muttered.
"You sure you don't want to go to the hospital?" He questioned me and I looked at him like he was a special kind of stupid and he laughed. "Right, you rather die before going to a doctor."
"I'll go to Melissa after school. I'll have Scott drive me. See you later."
"Be careful, Callana."
"I hear you." I limped around the car and headed to the steps of the school. I stopped by a window and looked at my reflection. I sighed as I saw the same beautiful alpha staring back at me. Something caught my attention and I raised my hand to my chin and wipe at a black substance that was coming out of my mouth. It was thick and sticky like molasses. I looked at my fingers to see that it was black blood. The same black blood that werewolves would produce when they're bodies were trying to heal themselves but wasn't succeeding. More blood dripped from my mouth and I tried to wipe it away but it kept pouring out.
"Calla!" I quickly turned around to see Stiles and Scott as I began to hyperventilate. I reached up to my chin with a shaking hand and gingerly touched my mouth but found no blood. I turned back to my reflection to see the same beautiful alpha with no blood. "Calla?" I looked at Scott and Stiles again. "What happened to you?"
"I broke my ankle falling down the steps at home."
"Aren't you healing?" Scott questioned me.
"If I was I wouldn't be using crutches now would I?"
"You don't look alright, Calla." Stiles said as I continued to breath heavily trying to catch my breath. "It's happening to you too. You're seeing things, aren't you?"
"How'd you know?"
"Because it's happening to all three of you." We turned to see Lydia and Allison behind us.
EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
"Well, well, look who's no longer the crazy one." Lydia gloated as we walked into the school.
"We're not crazy." I snapped at her and she stopped to pivot her body to face us.
"Hallucinating? Sleep paralysis? Yeah, you guys are fine."
"We did die and come back to life." Scott said. "That's gotta have some side effects, right?" The school bell rang for the first period.
"We keep an eye on each other." Stiles said. "Okay? And Lydia, stop enjoying this so much."
EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
"Good morning, everyone. My name is Mr. Yukimura." The Asian teacher said.
"Try saying that ten times fast." I muttered as I sat down behind Stiles.
"I'll be taking over for your previous History Teacher. My family and I moved here three weeks ago. I'm sure, by now, you all know my daughter, Kira. Or you might not since she's never actually mentioned anyone from school. Or brought a friend home for that matter." A female sighed from the back of the classroom and a thudding sounded and everyone turned to Kira drop her head onto her desk. "Now, let's begin with American History at the turn of the 20th century."
EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
"Maybe we need a little more time to get back to normal." Scott suggested after class as we stood by Stiles' locker as he fumbled with the lock.
"Yeah, try not to forget we hit the reset button on a supernatural beacon for supernatural creatures." Stiles reminded him as he tried his combination for the third time. "There's a pretty good chance things are never going back to normal." Stiles yanked on the lock but it wouldn't open. He stared down at it in confusion. I sighed and grabbed the lock from him and yanked it down, trying to break it but it wouldn't budge.
"Oh, great, I now not only can't heal, but I don't have my supernatural werewolf strength anymore." I growled. "That's just wonderful." Scott started to breath heavily beside us and I looked to see his eyes glowing a neon red.
"Oh, dude, your eyes."
"What about them?" Scott asked.
"They're starting to glow."
"You mean like right now?"
"Yes, right now. Scott, stop. Stop it." Scott started to pant as he shieled his eyes with his hand so no one else could see his glowing eyes.
"I can't...I can't control it."
"All right, just keep your head down. Look down, come on." Stiles forced Scott's head down and guided him to an empty class room and I limped after them. Scott growled as he fell to the ground, his canines growing and eyes getting brighter. He clenched his fist so hard that his fingernails dug into his palms causing blood to drip down to the ground. He sighed in relief as the pain got to his human side and his eyes returned to their normal chocolate brown eyes and his teeth dulled down. Stiles crouched down in front of him. "This just isn't in our heads. This is real. And it's starting to get bad for me too. I'm not just having nightmares. I'm having dreams where I have to literally scream myself awake. And sometimes I'm not even sure if I'm actually ever waking up."
"What do you mean?"
"Do you know how you can tell if you're dreaming? You can't read in dreams. More and more, the past few days, I've been having trouble reading. It's like I can't see the words. I can't put the letters in order."
"Like even now?" Stiles stood up and looked towards the chulk board that was covered with notes about the American Revolution.
"I can't read a thing."
NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN
"Ok, so what happens to a person who has a near-death experience and comes out of it seeing things?" Scott questioned us as we sat at a pinic table together at lunch.
"And is unable to tell what's real or not?" Stiles added.
"And can take away the ability to heal and strength while having hallucinations of bleeding black blood?" I put in.
"They're all locked up because they're insane." Isaac said and I glared at him.
"Ha." Stiles gave a fake laugh. "Can you at least try to be helpful, please?"
"For half my childhood, I was locked in a freezer. So, being helpful is kind of a new thing for me."
"Hey, Dude, are you still milking that?"
"Yeah, maybe I am still milking that."
"That's enough, Isaac." I snapped at him.
"Hi." I turned to see the new chick, Kira, standing at the end of the table, books in her hands. "Hi, sorry, I couldn't help overhearing what you guys were talking about. And I think I actually might know what you're talking about. There's a Tibetan word for it. It's called Bardo. It literally means in between state. The state between life and death."
"And what do they call you?" Lydia questioned her.
"Kira." Scott answered immediately. "She's in our History class."
"So are you talking Bardo in Tibetan Buddhism or Indian?"
"Either, I guess." Kira said. "But all the stuff you guys were just saying? All that happens in Bardo. There are different progressive states where you can have hallucinations. Some you see, some you just hear. And you can be visited by peaceful and wrathful deities."
"Wrathful deities?" Isaac inquired. "And what are those?"
"Like demons."
"Demons." I said. "Notice how she says it with a smile on her face."
"Hold on, if there are different progressive states, then what's the last one?" Allison asked.
"Death." Kira answered. "You die."
"And the smile is still on her face as she says." I muttered. "Wonderful."
WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW
"It sounds like your subconscious is trying to communicate with you." Deaton informed us when we went to visit him after school as he flipped the sign to closed.
"Well, how do I tell my subconscious to use a language that I acutally know?" Stiles asked as we followed Deaton into the back room.
"Do you remember what the sign language looked like? The placement and movement of the hands?"
"You know sign language?" Scott asked.
"I know a little. Let me give it a shot."
"Okay, the first one was like this." Stiles said as he held up a finger and moved his other finger around it. "Then..."
"That's when." Then he tapped the sides of his hands together before pulling his right hand back and then placing it next to his left hand again.
"Then there was this, twice."
"That's door." Stiles flicked his hand from chin back to his hand to finish the message.
"Then there was that in between it."
"That's it?"
"Yeah."
"When is a door not a door?"
"When is a door not a door?" I repeated the question. "What the hell is that suppose to mean?"
"When it's ajar." Scott answered.
"You're kidding me." Stiles said. "A riddle? My subconscious wants to tell me a riddle?"
"Not necessarily." Deaton corrected him. "When the three of you went under the water, when you crossed from unconsciousness to a kind of a superconsciousness...you essentially opened a door in your minds."
"So what does that mean?" I asked. "The door's still open?"
"Ajar."
"A door into our minds?" Stiles asked.
"I did tell you it was risky."
"What do we do about it?" Scott inquired.
"Well, that's difficult to answer."
"Oh, no, wait a second, I know that look." I said as Deaton's face crniged up. "You've been my boss for three years now, I know your expressions. That's the we know exactly what's wrong with you, but we have no idea how to fix it look."
"One thing I do know is that having an opening like that into your mind, it's not good. You each need to close that door. And you need to do it as soon as possible."
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
As Scott, Stiles and I walked out of the clinic to head home, a car pulled into a parking spot, blinding as with the headlights. The headlights turned off and the door to the driver's seat opened and my father got out and walked over to us.
"Dad, what are you doing here?" I questioned him.
"I'm here because I could use some help." Jake answered. "Actually... your help." He pointed to Scott and me.
"Why us?"
"Because eight years ago, almost an entire family died in a car accident. One of the bodies, a young girl named Malia, was never found. There's enough evidence to have me thinking that...that a werewolf could have caused the accident, and then dragged her body away. If you could somehow get a lock on her scent, if you could somehow help me find her body, it might provide the missing clue."
"Well, that's your job then, Scott, cause my werewolf abilites are out of commission at the moment. What if it was a werewolf?"
"Well, there's somebody out there who mudered an entire family. Someone who still needs to be caught."
LLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL
I took the lead as Stiles, Scott and I walked gently across the back porch to the door that lead to Malia's room. Jake was in the front of the house, trying to distract Mr. Tate. I started to open the door but stopped when it started to squeak. Quickly swinging the door open, I stepped into the room closing the door after Scott and Stiles ran inside behind me. Stiles began to throw some stuffed animals at us and I took one to my nose and inhale deeply trying to catch any kind of scent but all I could smell was wet dog.
"All I'm getting is some kind of animal smell." Scott said.
"What kind of animal?" Stiles asked he walked behind us to find something new for us to smell. A growling sounded from the doorway and Scott and I turned to see a rottwieler staring at us in an attack stance.
"Dog." Stiles stopped what he was doing to look at the dog too as the dog started to snarl at us.
"Hi, puppy." Stiles whispered to it as we held completely still, never taking the eyes off the dog. "Get rid of it."
"Me?" I questioned him.
"Yes, you. Glow your eyes at it, something, be the alpha." The dog continued to snarl at us.
"I can't. I don't have control."
"Okay, Cal, you're going to have to try something." I cleared my throat and took a step towards the dog, holding my hand out to him.
"Nice doggy..." As soon as I started to speak, the dog started barking, teeth snapping together as his jaws came together. I took a step back and pushed Scott and Stiles in front of me so that if the dog decided to attack, it wasn't going to be me.
"Apollo!" Mr. Tate yelled from the front of the house. "Apollo, shut up!" Apollo continued to bark. "Shut the hell up!" I felt my eyes glow and Apollo stopped barking. A growl rumbled in my chest and Apollo turned around and trotted back down the hallway, whining. My eyes cooled and I looked at Scott and Stiles.
"I didn't do it. Well, not on purpose anyways." Stiles turned and handed a book to Scott but Scott shook his head.
"All I'm getting is that dog." Scott said and Stiles sighed. His eyes flickered over a picture of two little girls and he quickly pulled out his phone to take a picture of it before turning back around to head out the door again with Scott and me behind him.
FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF
We met Jake furthur up the dirt road, away from the Tate house. He leaned against his SUV as we got out of Stiles' jeep and walked over to him.
"I'm sorry." Scott said. "We tried as hard as we could."
"If it wasn't so long ago, we might have been able to do it." I added.
"It's okay." Jake muttered, a cloud of disappointment washing over his face. "It was a long shot. In fact, it was a pretty terrible idea. I think I just ripped a wound open in that poor man. I never should have brought you guys here. I don't know what I was thinking. Thank for trying, all right?"
"Yeah." He turned and got into his SUV.
"See you at home." I waved at him as he started the car and pulled away from us, dirt kicking up from his back tires.
"Aren't there a lot of cases that go unsolved?" Scott asked.
"Yeah, I just think this is one he felt like he could've figured our right now." I explained. "But I just don't understand why it's so important now." Stiles sighed beside me and groaned as he turned to me.
"Yeah, Calla, I should have probably told you this sooner. My dad told me that your dad wants to be able to solve one more while he's still Sheriff." My face went absolutely blank as he soft gray eyes turned to a hard, slate storm gray color.
"What do you mean, still sheriff?" Stiles groaned again as if he was afraid that I would hurt him if he told me the truth.
TTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT
I limped around my room, adrenaline running through my veins. I had every urge to go yell at Scott's father with Scott but I knew that he was taking care of it. But I mean, who the hell did Scott's father think he was? Who was he to come into Jake's town and try to get him fired? My father is a good sherriff. The best sherriff that any town could have. There was a knock on my door and I looked towards it to see it open and reveal Scott and Stiles.
"Hey, what's going on?" I asked.
"You, me, Stiles." Scott said. "We're going out to find a body. A dead body."
EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
"You know, your dad's right, that means there's another werewolf in town that we haven't met yet." Stiles said.
"I know." I agreed.
"If it turns out to be something like triplets that form into, like, a three headed hound of hell, I'm seriously not up for that."
"Yeah." Scott said. "Me either. Especially if I can't even control my own transformation anymore."
"Or even heal." I added. The leaves crunched beneath our weight as we trudge through the deserted forest. The air was still and not a single night creature moved. A howling sounded in the distance and Stiles jumped, grabbing onto the back of Scott and mine jackets. Scott dropped his phone down some boulders and it landed in a puddle with a plop. Scott looked back at Stiles and glared at him.
"Sorry, buddy." Stiles muttered. "I hate coyotes so much. They always sound like they're mauling some tiny, helpless little animal." Scott cleared the boulders with one jump to land beside the puddle as Stiles and I slowly climbed down the rocks, careful not to slip and snap our necks. Scott bent down to pick up his phone and he rubbed it against his shirt to get the excess water off. He looked at the screen and played around with it for a moment, sighing in relief when everything still worked.
"It still works." Scott annouced.
"Let me see the flashlight." He snatched the flashlight from Scott and began to walk off into the trees to where they was a large crater next to a large oak. "I think we found it." Scott and I followed him and saw a rusted, crumbled car turned over onto its roof.
"Why wouldn't they move it? Isn't it evidence?"
"Probably too much of a pain in the ass to tow out." I said as we got closer to the car.
"Look at this." Stiles said and he stepped up to one of the back doors. He shined the flashlight onto the door to reveal four long claw marks that were carved into the metal. "See those? Animal claws would be closer together, right? A lot closer."
"Then it was a werewolf." Scott said as he ran his hands over the marks.
"So, your dad was right." Stiles bent down to look inside the car. He stared off into oblivion for a moment before crawling into the car and pulled something out. He stood back up and held up a ragged baby doll out in front of him. We stood there examining it for a moment.
"I'm hungry." An electronic voice came from the doll. Stiles dropped the baby and stumbled back, screaming causing me to scream with him as I fell back, my heart racing a thousand beats per minute.
"I think I just had a minor heart attack." Stiles held out his hand to me and helped me up after catching his breath. I panted before my breathing went back to normal too and my heartbeat slowed down. A growling sounded from the other side of the car.
"Hey, Calla." Scott called softly to me. "Please tell me you see that." I looked past the car too and saw a set of glowing eyes in the tree line.
"I see it." I muttered. The glowing eyes moved and leaves kicked up as the animal shot off away from us. Scott took off after it. "Scott!" I growled. "Wait!" Scott ignored us and continued to run through the woods after the coyote. I groaned and turned to Stiles. "Great, now all I have is you for protection."