Dublin, Ireland
The chilly night air of the Irish city wasn't enough to keep the bohemians out of the street and some laughs could be heard in the distance.
The doors of Kanavaghs Pub burst open and three shadows could be seen walking out into the night, all of them bearing smiles on their faces, stumbling on their feet and yet with their arms hooked around each other.
"Whoever got this idea, thank you very much." One of them said, her head falling back and a giggle escaping her lips.
"Why, you're welcome, my dear Allison." The girl in the middle slurred. "It took a little longer to convince this strawberry blonde one," she chuckled. "But we managed it."
The three girls looked at each other and laughed. They had never imagined something like that would have happened. Being in Ireland? All alone? Surely not something three teenagers from Beacon Hills, California, would have thought of.
"Ok, so... How do we get to the hotel now?" Allison asked looking around. She wasn't sure how she got to the pub in the first place.
"We call a taxi, obviously," the strawberry blonde one said with a shrug.
It wasn't that hard. Considering the late night, finding a taxi was far easier than what they expected. Remembering the name of the hotel, however, was a completely different story.
"I'm pretty sure it's something with mount in it."
"Yeah... it's not that far from a cemetery. Donnybrook Cemetery." The middle one said, earning odd looks from the other two girls. "What? Is it so bad that I want to visit it?"
Allison shook her head and held back a laugh.
"Oh my God, Andromeda, you have some serious problems." She said while reaching into her purse, fiddling with some papers until she found what she was looking for. "Sandymount Hotel" she read. "Lydia was right. It did have something to do with mount."
"When aren't I?" She replied with a smirk and got into the taxi, finally giving the name of their destination to the driver.
The ride wasn't that long, Andromeda could tell. When she least expected, they drove by the cemetery she had mentioned and something ignited inside of her. She had to get in there.
"Stop the car!" She said scooting over the seat, pushing Allison against the door. "Stop. Stop. Stop." She insisted and the car came to a halt.
Urging Allison to give her space, Andromeda walked out and marched down the street, completely unaware to the shouts of her friends, leaving them not understanding what was happening.
To be honest, she didn't either. Ever since stepping her feet in Dublin, Andromeda had felt something different inside of her. She had thought it was about the adventure she was sailing into, but now it felt like it was something more. Andromeda felt like something was calling to her and drawing her to the place she was headed to.
It was almost 1 am, the streets were deserted and yet there she stood in front of the gates of Donnybrook Cemetery, not knowing what she was doing, but following whatever was calling her.
The girl reached out and the gate opened, like it had been expecting her. She didn't take any time to let her mind comprehend what was happening and just kept walking, passing each grave with her heart racing faster and faster. She couldn't hear her friends anymore and, somehow, it didn't bother her. Andromeda felt at ease and peaceful.
In a trance-like way, she made her path through the graveyard. The wind started picking up, making the leaves on the ground twirl around Andromeda as she walked in by. The atmosphere seemed filled with magic, but the girl didn't look like it scared her the least. Leaving in Beacon Hills had its perks. Dealing with supernatural forces on a daily basis made you ready for situations like that.
Not that it was Andromeda's case. She seemed more like hypnotized and out of control. Her face didn't show any emotion and, listening close, it almost could be heard a chanting under her breath.
Suddenly, everything stopped. The air froze and the low drum Andromeda was hearing vanished. She looked around and frowned, not remembering walking that deep into the dark cemetery.
"What...?" She whispered turning left and right, trying to find the way out, until something caught her attention.
There, a few feet away, stood an ancient looking tombstone, but its age wasn't what made the girl stop. In fact, it was glowing. A little bit at first, but it kept getting brighter and brighter the closer the girl got.
When Andromeda stood fully in front of it, a vibrant white glow coming from the tombstone, her hand reached for it and then everything went black.
Hushed voices followed by a slightly loud bang were enough to wake Andromeda up. The light in the room, however, made her squint her eyes at once.
Taking a deep breath and opening her eyes slowly, she took a look around noticing she was back at her hotel room, not knowing how it happened. All she could remember was walking out of the pub and into the taxi. The rest seemed like a crazy dream she couldn't remember quite well. That had to be the worst hangover ever.
Throwing the covers aside, Andromeda got up from the bed. Her legs trembled a little and she sat back just in time the bathroom door opened and Lydia walked out.
"Hi", she said with a small smile. "How are you feeling?"
"Hi. " Andromeda replied confused. "I'm ok, I guess. What happened yesterday?"
The strawberry blonde girl sat down next to her cousin and just looked at her, a strained smile on her face.
"What do you remember?"
"Walking out of the pub and into the taxi." She said, her shoulders tensing. "What happened, Lydia?"
Andromeda saw when her cousin looked down and to the other side of the room, as if expecting someone to come in. Thinking about it, Allison was no where to be seen.
"Where's Allison?" she asked getting up, her hands running through her hair as if expecting something bad.
"She's gone to check us out." Lydia said getting up as well. "We're going back home, Andromeda."
The brunette didn't fully understand and cocked her head. Had they not just gotten there?
It was as if Lydia had read her thoughts, because before anything could come out of Andromeda's mouth, she was already explaining what had happened the night before.
Everything seemed vague and distant in Andromeda's head. She remembered the pub, the taxi and some of the way back, but not getting out of it and walking straight into a graveyard.
"You found me lying there?" She asked as soon as her cousin stopped talking. "Just... lying there?"
"You were out." Lydia explained. "We couldn't wake you up and that was terrifying, but we managed to carry you back out and into the taxi."
Andromeda shook her head, trying to grasp what she was being told. How could that have happened? It seemed like some freaky horror story, but if she was being totally honest, hadn't her life turned into freaking Halloween party everyday?
Shoving those thoughts aside, she sighed and decided not to say anything. Of course she believed what Lydia had told her, but she just didn't know how to answer to all of that.
"Yeah... ok." She finally mumbled and got up from the bed, walking to the bathroom. "I'll just..." and closed the door.
That could not be happening. When she finally had some time to be a teenager, why did supernatural things have to start all over again? Wasn't it enough back in Beacon Hills?
With all those thoughts running around her mind, Andromeda opened the faucet and washed her face, trying to clear her mind a bit. What she didn't expect, however, was to find a weird looking scar around her wrist.
It didn't have any kind of form, it was just there, shapeless, but it didn't exist until last night. Whatever that meant, she didn't know, but it couldn't just be there for no reason. If she had believed it, she would be too naive.
For the past three days, Andromeda hadn't left home that much. She had buried her face in books and more books, websites and everything she could find, trying to find answers to what had happened to her in Dublin, but it wasn't easy. Every new discovery led to dead ends. Each new book mentioned nothing more than the last one.
The girl was growing impatient, but she didn't want to give up. In fact, she had made the decision that, if necessary, she would research into the night, even if it were the last day of summer.
Lydia, however, had different plans that included her cousin and even though Andromeda had said no a lot of times, it didn't suffice and she ended up in the back seat of the strawberry blonde's car on her way to a triple date along Allison.
"Honestly, I have so much more things to do." Andromeda mumbled under her breath, her arms crossed on her chest. She didn't want to go out with some guy when her life had just turned upside down. She had lost about 10 hours of her memory and no one seemed to care.
"This is not a triple date." Lydia said looking at the other two girls. "It's a group thing."
"Do they know it's a group thing?" Allison asked, her tone suggesting she knew what Lydia was up to. "'Cause I told you I'm not ready to get back out there."
On the back seat, Andromeda shifted uncomfortably hearing the word "date". It wasn't like she didn't want anyone, but she was sure Lydia was not dragging her to a date with the person Andromeda wanted.
"Yeah. Me neither" The brunette said leaning in between the front seats, her head peaking at both of the girls.
Andromeda could see her cousin rolling her eyes, even if she was a bit more concentrated on the road ahead of them.
"First of all, you weren't dating anyone." Lydia said turning her attention to Andromeda for a brief second. "And you," she pointed to Allison. "Were in France and didn't do any dating for four months?"
"Did you?" Allison shot back making Andromeda wide open her eyes. She didn't want to get into that subject with Lydia again. Not after last time. "I mean, after..."
"Do not say his name." Lydia snapped keeping her eyes ahead.
A thin layer of tension seemed to fill the car and all that Andromeda Flynn wanted, at that very moment, was to be back at her house reading the countless books she had borrowed from the public library. Or even under her comfortable blanket watching Netflix and eating a month-worth of junk food. Maybe she even liked the idea of being passed out on a graveyard in Dublin better than to be in that car.
"Seriously, let me out." Andromeda mumbled with a soft groan. There was time and place to have that kind of conversation and, to her, it seemed like on her way to a triple date (that seemed a little more like certain death to her) was not the right occasion.
"Shush, Andromeda!" Lydia snapped one more time, her eyes darting back to the brunette being incredibly childish about the whole situation.
The silence did not ease into the tension and the three girls just kept looking around, trying not to say the wrong thing.
"Is he okay?" Allison finally said, no longer being able to keep herself quiet. "I mean, did everything work out?"
At that point, Andromeda tuned the conversation out. She already knew what Lydia was going to say. The doctors couldn't explain how Jackson turned out alive and it seemed to be the only thing the whole town talked about for a week, but everyone got over it, eventually. Derek took upon himself the position to teach Jackson a few things about being a werewolf and then Mr. Whittemore flew his son off to London, where he was going to live as an American teenager werewolf. It even sounded like a show.
Shaking those thoughts aside, Andromeda couldn't help but wonder what was going to happen now. It wasn't as if she wanted all the attention turned to her. In fact, she wouldn't even mind if anyone ignored her, as long as she would be able to try to figure out why she passed out in a graveyard and woke up with a scar around her wrist. Was it even linked? Maybe she had just cut herself at the pub and didn't remember. Maybe it happened when she walked past the gates in the cemetery. How did she get through the gates, anyway? So many doubts were crossing her mind and the only conclusion she could get was that she was never going to be able to answer those questions. Not alone.
With a deep sigh, Andromeda thought that maybe, just maybe, she should've stayed in Dublin to investigate some kind of thing, even if she knew the only person who could help her was in Beacon Hills, even if he didn't know anything about it either. Andromeda was sure he would be able to come up with something to discover the answers, as it always had been this way, and she still hadn't told him about her being back. Stiles, for sure, would kill her.
Stiles Stilinski was, in every possible way, brilliant. Thinking back to all the happenings ever since they got thrown in this supernatural life, it was him who had made the all the right guesses. Scott being a werewolf? It might have started as a joke, but there was Stiles, researching to the point of driving Andromeda insane, but he ended up right. Matt was the one who was controlling the Kanima? Ok, maybe Stiles just didn't like the guy for some unknown reason, but he still called it, even if in a sarcastic way.
The truth was Stiles would be able to help her figure it all out and Andromeda wouldn't have it any other way. That's how they worked ever since they were 10 and, secretly, Andromeda liked it more than she should.
The most cliché thing, to be infatuated for your best friend, and yet it had happened to her. Even with all the times she had told herself that she was just being silly and she didn't actually feel anything like that for him, the more the years went by, the more it dawned on her that she was fooling herself.
So there was where she stood. In the back seat of her cousin's car, thinking about how her best friend (who she totally liked) could help her understand what happened to her a few days ago. With that realization, Andromeda had reached the point where there was no turning back and all that she wanted at the moment was being able of talking to him before school started and as if some kind of force was hearing her silent prayer, not after a few seconds Lydia's car stopped on a red light, a light blue jeep stopped beside them, drawing Andromeda's attention back from her thoughts.
A smile crept upon her face, like she suddenly had come face to face with the most amazing news in the world and her eyes snapped to the front seats of the jeep, making sure it was Stiles'. She was not disappointed when she saw Scott's head showing through the passenger seat. Her two best friends since childhood were so close, but their eyes remained ahead of the road, not noticing her or the other two girls with them.
What if she just opened her window and called out their names? Surely that would attract their attention and, with that in mind, Andromeda reached the button the roll the window down, but stopped as soon as she caught Stiles' eyes looking directly at her.
Grinning like a mad man, Andromeda opened her mouth, whether to say something or nothing at all she didn't know, but closed them as soon as she understood the look Stiles was giving her. He was surprised, there was no denying it. She could see some kind of sparkle in his caramel orbs, but she also saw anger. He was mad at her and she couldn't blame him. She had promised she would tell when she would get back so they, along with Scott, could do something before school started.
"Oh my God." She heard Allison say in a panic. "I can't see him. Not now."
As if realizing for the first time what was happening, Andromeda looked between Scott and Allison and mentally scolded herself for not seeing this sooner. Of course it was not a good idea to be so close to the boys right now. Allison was having a break down.
"Will you go?" she said once again, her voice almost desperate to get away from that situation. "Just go!"
"But the light..." Lydia tried to reason with her and that's when they saw Stiles opening Scott's window, a clear attempt of trying to talk to them, and Lydia just floored the gas pedal, darting away from the intersection and leaving the blue jeep behind as Andromeda watched, still confused with all the havoc, Stiles' face disappearing.
Sighing deeply, she adjusted herself in her seat, now even more upset about this whole date thing.
"Lydia, stop." Allison said out of nowhere, her eyes looking back. "We need to go back and talk to them."
By them, the brunette knew her friend meant Scott.
"They stopped too..." Andromeda said, her eyebrows frowning.
"Why would they stop?"
"It's Stiles and Scott. Do you really wanna try applying logic to those two?" Lydia said making Andromeda not know if she agreed or felt offended.
"Maybe we should go back." Allison said.
Andromeda saw it coming. She saw a big dark shadow running straight at them, so fast that before any of them could say or do anything, it smashed against the windshield, antlers and a head breaking the glass and heading right at them.
The girl didn't have a time to react. Her voice was stuck in her throat and she could feel her body trembling. It wasn't until she felt someone pulling her out of the car that she noticed everyone was out and Scott and Stiles had reached them, their eyes running from one side to the other, making sure the girls were ok.
"Are you alright?" she heard a low, soft voice next to her and looked at the person holding her arms. "Andie, are you ok?" Stiles asked one more time, his eyes filled with worry and despair, trying to get anything out of her.
"Yeah..." she whispered, still trying to get over the shock, and hugged him like her life depended on it. Maybe it did, since she couldn't stop shaking and she was sure her legs would give out any time soon.
Stiles held her back with the same amount of strength. He knew Andromeda was at the point of breaking down. He had known her for far too long to not notice the small details.
"I saw it coming." She said in a low voice, her head pressed against his chest. "I saw it coming."
"Hey... Hey, it's ok." Stiles reassured her, his hand running up and down her back in a soothing way. "You're not hurt, are you?" he asked pulling an inch away, looking her in the eyes.
Andromeda shook her head repeatedly still murmuring incomprehensible words and Stiles just pushed her against his chest again, holding her dearly as her heartbeat tried to calm down.
As Stiles' Jeep stopped in front of Andromeda's house, the lights from outside were still on, meaning her parents, had been told what happened and were worried to the point of being extremely protective. That only seemed terrible in the girl's mind as she knew she would have to explain how nothing serious happened and that she was completely fine.
The sound of the jeep's door opening made the girl look at Stiles' side, noticing he had gotten out. Fiddling with the seatbelt, Andromeda opened the door at the same time Stiles reached her side and helped her out. He was so worried he couldn't stop helping her even in the smallest thing. She knew she should find it exaggerated, but she couldn't.
With a sigh, the brunette turned to Stiles and smiled.
"Come on, I'll walk you," he said putting his arm around her shoulders, leading the way to the front door.
"Kinda makes you miss the 'what I did on vacation' essays back in seventh grade, huh?" Andromeda tried joking, but her voice was still a little shaken.
"You always had the best score." He smiled back, pulling her closer to him.
The girl just smiled back at him and leaned against his side, breathing in and out a couple of times, trying to regain control over her erratic heartbeat.
"Why didn't you tell me?" Stiles said as soon as they reached the porch. He's been meaning to ask that ever since he saw her in the car, but with everything following that, the question slipped his mind.
Andromeda knew he had the right to ask and she really wanted to tell him, but how could she even start?
"It's kind of a long story." She said stepping away from him, finally looking him in the face ever since she got back. Throughout the summer, Stiles had grown his hair, making him look better than ever, making her want nothing more than to run her hands through it while kissing him.
"I kind of have all night." He said with a shrug, his eyes begging her to give him a reason.
And then she told him. She told him everything that happened ever since they left Beacon Hills, how they met with Allison in France and after a few days they went to Dublin, her suggestion, and everything that happened there. The pub, the way home, the trip to the graveyard, waking up in the next day and not remembering it and the weird scar on her wrist.
Stiles listened to everything she had to say, not interrupting her once, letting the girl get everything out of her chest and confessing she needed help. His help. If anything, that was when he felt something inside of him, something he tried to control so hard, roar with hope.
"And I am so freaking scared I don't even know what to do, Stiles." She finished.
"Hey, don't worry. It's probably nothing." He said in an attempt of comforting her.
"It's never nothing when it comes to us, right? It's Beacon Hills." She said looking down.
"Andie, you're going to be fine."
"You don't know that."
"I do..." Stiles trailed off, his look over her head.
"What?" the girl asked looking around, trying to find the source of his attention as she felt him holding her shoulder and picking a single shard of glass out of her hair.
For a moment, she just stood there, looking at his hand holding that little fragment, his arms so close to her body, his eyes staring into hers. It seemed like time had, somehow, stopped and she didn't have to go anywhere or do anything. She felt pathetic too. It was only her best friend taking a freaking piece of glass out of her hair. What did she expect? That he just leaned in and kissed her like in a chick flick? Even if her heart screamed for it to happen, she knew this was real life.
"Thanks" she managed to breathe out, putting all her thoughts aside.
"Yeah, no problem..." Stiles cleared his throat, his body leaning away from hers. "And don't worry, Andie. I'll help you."
The words coming out of his mouth seemed to put all her worries aside. She swung her arms around him, gratitude coming from her, and leaned against his side, her head halfway towards his cheek. Their friendship had long reached the state they demonstrated affection, however, she didn't expect what happened next. Stiles, in an attempt of looking at her and saying everything was going to be fine, turned his head a bit making her lips brush the corner of his mouth lightly, but it was enough to send shivers down their backs.
Why, hello!
This is my first ever Teen Wolf fanfiction and I gotta say: I've spent the past three years meaning to write it, but I always kept changing my mind. Like, at first, it was supposed to be since season one, but I decided that, since the things would take a turn in season three, why not start it there?
So here we are, three years later. The first chapter.
Hope you guys like it and, please, if you have anything you think would be cool to have in the story, message me. I'm open to new ideas.
Another thing, I'm sorry if there's any spelling or grammar mistake throughout this book. English is not my native language and even though I try my best to write it the best I can, something will escape me, so, please, feel free to tell me and I'll correct it as soon as possible.
Oh! I'd appreciate a lot if you could vote, comment and shre this story.
Tell your friends, tell you brothers, your sisters and mothers. Tell everyone.
Lots of love,
Fern.