I see the bad moon arising.
I see trouble on the way.
I see earthquakes and lightnin'.
I see bad times today.
-Bad Moon Rising by Creedence Clearwater Revival
Part 1 ~ The Bite.
The high school's empty halls were dark and silent, the students at home stressing about their various adolescent problems. Karen Bellamy, however, sat at her desk in the music room, sorting through the sheet music. The piles of paper covered the entirety of the desk, and some of the floor as she worked. She let out a soft groan and stretched herself out, then took a sip of coffee. Her pale grey eyes wandered to the clock at the back of the classroom, realizing she had stayed back for hours longer than she had intended.
"Dammit, Bellamy, you are a workaholic." She scolded herself, and started to gather up her things and tidy the papers as much as she could, ready for the next day.
It was as she was sliding her grey suit jacket over her white blouse that an awful mockery of a howl filled the school, and Karen grit her teeth.
"Freaking kids." She muttered, and quickly scooped up her bag and keys.
Her leather boots squeaked lightly on the linoleum as she headed towards the PA system, threats of detention and police intervention on her tongue. As she turned the corner, she saw the shapes of two boys leaving the building, and could faintly hear the sound of their excitement. She frowned and quickly followed them, but didn't make it far out the door. She faltered when she spotted another man waiting in the car park in front of a black Camaro. He was obviously older than the other two, and didn't look happy with the teenagers. She couldn't make out what they were saying, but she saw the older man look around suddenly in confusion, looking to the back seat of his car, and then to the empty lot behind them. That's when she saw it, emerging from the edge of the woods. It was large, black, furry and terrifying. A dry squeak emerged from the woman's throat as the monster was suddenly behind the man, with its claws stuck through his gut. Even from her distance, she could see the blood splutter from his mouth, and then he was carelessly tossed aside.
The boys started running back towards her, and she quickly span and ran back into the school. All three of them pulled the doors closed behind them and braced themselves.
"Lock it! Lock it!" One boy said, his shaggy brown hair falling into his eyes.
Now that Karen was so close to them, she vaguely recognized them, but her state of panic and shock prevented her from recalling their names.
"Does it look like I have a key?!" Exclaimed the other boy, eyes wide.
"Grab something!"
"What?"
Karen adjusted the grip on the keys in her fist and rattled them, breaking the boys from their panic. She swiftly flicked one out and locked the doors.
"Now what?" she asked. "Will the doors even hold that thing back?"
"Probably not."
As if on cue a howl filled the air. The three of them ran into a nearby classroom, closing the door. Karen leaned against it, watching as her hands trembled with adrenaline. She vaguely heard the boys talking, something about the local vet, Deaton, and an Alpha, but her mind was stuck on glowing red eyes and fiendish growls.
"Miss Bellamy?" she jumped and her eyes snapped to the boys.
"Boys…I can't… I don't… We need to get out of here."
They nodded, and one came up and put a hand on her shoulder. He was pale and had short, shaved dark hair, a shaky smile on his lips. She vaguely recalled a memory of a funeral, and the sheriff holding the boy to his side.
"Stilinski?" she asked shakily.
"Stiles. That's Scott McCall." He said, gesturing to the darker boy standing on the other side of the desk with the chunky yellow flashlight in his other hand.
Karen took another deep breath before she stood and moved across the room to the large windows, carefully peering out.
"I can't see it." She muttered.
The boys joined her at the window. Scott tried to open the window, but Stiles quickly reminded him that they wouldn't open.
"Then we smash it open, and run to the Jeep." After a quick glance back to the cars and the distance between them and the school, Scott added "really fast."
"Stiles, what's wrong with the hood of your Jeep?"
Stiles frowned and pushed between the two staring out the window, trying to get a better look as he said "What do you mean? Nothing's wrong."
"It's bent." Karen stated.
"What, like dented?"
"No, bent." Scott repeated.
Karen let out a shriek and cover her face as something was thrown through the window and skidded across the floor.
"That's my battery!" Stiles said.
Scott and Stiles exchanged a panicked look, and as Stiles went to stand, Scott was quick to stop them.
"Don't"
"We have to move!"
"He could be right outside." Karen reminded, and Stiles looked towards her.
"He is right outside!"
Scott breathed out a quick "Just let me take a look." And peered over the edge of the window, eyes darting.
"Anything?" Karen asked.
Scott shook his head and dropped away from the window.
"Move now?" Stiles asked.
"Move now." Scott confirmed, and the trio left the classroom.
"This way." Scott went to lead them left, but Stiles grasped his forearm before he could take another step. "What?"
"Somewhere without windows."
"Every single room in this building has windows."
"Less windows then. The locker room." Karen stated, already headed in that direction. They didn't take long to follow.
Karen entered to boys locker room and held the door open for the boys as she checked the halls behind them for any sign of danger. As she shut the door, she heard Scott say "Call your Dad."
"And tell him what?" Stiles asked.
As they listed the various pros and cons of calling the Sheriff's department to the school, the older woman scanned the rest of the locker room, biting her lip nervously. Her boots squeaked slightly as she moved further into the room to check out the areas still hidden from her paranoid gaze.
"What about Derek's car?" Scott provided. She could practically hear the light bulb above their heads.
"That could work. We get outside, get the keys off his body," He made a disgusted noise in the back of his throat, "and then we take his car."
"And him!" Insisted Scott.
"Fine. Whatever." Stiles rolled his eyes. "Miss Bellamy, come on."
Karen made an affirmative noise and headed back towards the door. As Stiles reached to open it, Scott grabbed his wrist.
"What?" Stiles asked.
"I think I heard something."
Karen stepped back a couple feet, ears straining over Stiles' "Like What?" and let out a harsh 'shh!'. The three of them backed away from the door, quickly turning off the yellow torch in Stiles' hand.
"Hide!" whispered Scott, so softly Karen barely heard it. "No, Stiles, no, no!" he protested weakly as Stiles pushed himself into an adjacent locker.
Scott followed suit, squeezing into a locker of his own, but Karen ran into the coach's office and hid under the desk, the seams in her skirt creaking in protest.
After a few moments of heavy breathing filling the silence, she heard the door open, and then footsteps as they walked through the locker room. She clasped a hand over her mouth to quiet the breathing and trembled. Suddenly, a locker door opened and a man screamed, making Karen jump and hit her head on the top of the desk. There was a bustle of shushing, and she heard a familiar voice.
"Quiet my ass, what the hell are you trying to do? Kill me? Both of you get out!"
"Donny?" Karen muttered to herself, pulling herself out from under the desk as she heard the boys protesting as they were pushed out of the room.
There was a scraping sound behind her, a thud, and then a huff, and Karen froze. She whimpered and slowly turned to see a dark mass rush past her. Then Donny screamed. Karen let out a cry of her own and backed up against a wall as she heard the man's pain. There was a loud bang, and the screams stopped, only to be replaced by the sound of something heavy being dragged towards her. Karen closed her eyes tight.
The sounds stopped.
She didn't open her eyes, until she felt a hand brush hair back from her face. She screamed, opening her eyes.
Before her, crouched a naked half burnt man, his hair dark and messy and blood dripping down his chin from the amused smirk on his lips. Karen whimpered, as she met his eyes and they glowed a hauntingly familiar red. His large sticky red hand cupped her cheek, his expression mocking. She flinched as he leaned in, and she felt his hot breath against her ear and the smooth bumps of his scars against her other cheek as he held her in place with fear.
"I'm not going to kill you." He whispered.
Karen sobbed and squeezed her eyes closed, feeling a tear slide over her cheekbone. He pulled away, and let out a thoughtful hum.
"Well, it might kill you, but I certainly hope not."
She let out a final scream as sharp throbbing pain burst from her neck. As she dropped to the floor, she weakly watched the figure change to the hulking beast, and climb back out the window.