*Note, the Vashta Nerada in this story are combined with the Supernatural shadow demons from Season 1, episode, Shadows
It all started with a 911 emergency phone call to the sheriff. Sheriff Stlinski had a lot to deal with at the moment, especially since he figured out that his son's best friend was a werewolf. In the past year, he had learned a lot of things about the supernatural. However, this was different. The body he found was different and more horrifying than anything he had seen.
Earlier that day, a girl was said to have gone missing. She had gone into the woods with her boyfriend, and just like any other teenagers, they had gotten drunk. However, she didn't return home, and her family members started to get worried. They were waiting at the police station when the call came in. Someone had found a body…sort of. It wasn't really a body. There was nothing left, just some bones scatter around in a strange shape. It couldn't have been the missing girl. Even if someone had killed her and scraped off all the…meat, there would have been blood and remains left. The bones showed no sign of decomposition, in fact, they seemed completely healthy, not what you would expect from a skeleton sitting out in the woods. However, when they checked the dental records of the skeleton, it fit the missing girl's. Sheriff Stlinski wondered what could have possible done this in this amount of time.
"Hey dad. What's up?"
Stiles Stlinski walked into the office, holding a plastic bag containing a veggie burger with no fries.
"Nothing, just the usual," said the sheriff. He didn't want his son getting involved with anymore than he had to. However, Stiles was sharp, he noticed something was wrong immediately.
"What's that?" asked Stiles. He picked up the forensics report off of the sheriff's desk.
"That is none of your business!" the sheriff snapped. He wrestled for the file, but Stiles had already seen the details.
"Dad, what the hell is THAT?"
"Nothing, just go home Stiles, and mind your own business." The sheriff pointed at the door, and Stiles slunk out.
In his jeep, Stiles debated two options. He could either go home and mind his own business, like his father told him to, or he could solve this mystery on his own. Of course he chose the second option.
The first thing he did was to call his best friend, Scott. Scott probably knew nothing, but still, a werewolf buddy was always the best place to start. He drove straight to Scott's house, and let himself in using the spare key he made.
"Hey Scott. Something's happened. Something bad. I'm not sure what it is, but I think we got something new on our hands, something supernatural. And it does not look pretty."
Four hours of Internet research later, they found nothing. Nothing. Stiles was starting to get frustrated. It was the freaking twenty-first century, where was all the information. How hard could it possibly to find a creature that licks the bones of its victim clean?
"Ok, bro. This has been a complete waste of time. We need to find another way to find this thing, and kill it," said Scott. "I can think of only one person that could probably help us, and that's Derek."
"Derek! We are NOT going to Derek Hale for help," protested Stiles. "Even though you two may be little werewolf buddies, I do not trust him. He scares me, man. Have you seen the evil glares he gives me? It's like he's probing me by just staring at me. Ugh. It gives me the creeps."
"Dude, how else are we going to find this thing? What if it starts killing more people? What are we going to do then? Let your dad handle this? He could be the next person to get hurt! C'mon, we have to go to Derek, or else, something could happen!" argued Scott.
"Fine!" Stiles gave up. "But if he gives me just one creepy stare, then I am getting away from that dude-wolf."
Scott wrote a note to his mom, telling her that he was going to be out for a bit. They were just about to pull away, when suddenly there was a knock on the passenger window.
"Holy Shit!" Stiles jumped.
"Dude, calm down. Its just Isaac."
Isaac Lahey waved at them from outside the jeep. He smirked and mouthed roll down the window.
"Hey guys. Where do you think you're going?" asked Isaac.
"Nowhere, we're just sitting in my crap car because we feel like it," Stiles interjected. He still didn't trust Isaac much; even after all they'd been through together. He felt like ever since Isaac had moved in with Scott, he'd been fighting for Scott's friendship. Stupid werewolves.
"C'mon Stiles, its Isaac, we can tell him," said Scott. "Stiles's dad found a body, but it was weird, like someone had scraped everything off, and then washed the bones and threw them all around the ground. We think something, you know, not human did it, but we can't find what. We've been looking for hours, but we found nothing. We're on our way to Derek's now, hopefully he'll know."
"Really? That sounds interesting. Mind if I come along?" asked Isaac.
"Yes" "Not at all" said Stiles and Scott at once. Scott gave Stiles a stare, and turned to Isaac. "Hop on in." Stiles rolled his eyes, and started the jeep as Isaac climbed in.
When they got to Derek's, they found the flat empty.
"Hello? Is anybody home?" Stiles called.
"Why? Does the human need assistance from the big bad werewolves?" A voice taunted from behind them.
"Derek, if you think that I need your help-" Stiles began. He turned around and found himself face to face with Peter Hale.
"Hello boys," Peter smirked. "Need anything?"
"Not from you," growled Scott.
"Well, if you're here about the new creature that moved into our forests, you probably want to talk to me. Derek's still young; he won't know anything about it. But me, I'm the aged veteran werewolf. I know exactly what's out there."
"What is it?" Isaac asked. The other boys leaned in to listen, their curiosity getting the better of them.
"The Vashta Nerada." Peter paused dramatically. He stared at the blank faces staring at him. He sighed. "It seems that I will have to take this from the beginning."
"The Vashta Nerada are shadow creatures. Some call them aliens. I prefer to think of them as demons. You cannot see them, you cannot touch, you cannot hurt them. They are the piranhas of the night. They originally came from a library somewhere out in space. Maybe that's why they prefer to hunt in forests, because they were hatched in a forest of dead trees. However, somehow they made it all the way here, to our planet. Something dark must have happened, something evil, to release the Vashta Nerada. Now, we are forced to face with this evil."
"But, how do we stop them. I mean, there must be a way to get rid of them," Scott asked.
"The only thing you can do tell where the Vashta Nerada is to count your shadows. If you have more than one shadow, then you know the Vashta Nerada is on you," answered Peter.
"But if you have two shadows, then what do you do?" question Stiles, getting impatient.
"Run. Or stand still. Either way you're dead. There's no escaping them. Did you see what they did to that girl in the woods? You'll be a bare skeleton before you blink. That is, unless they're not hungry. Then, they'll just rip you to shreds. These demons are creatures that not even werewolves and heal from."
"So, what do we do now? If we can't stop, how do we save people from getting killed?" asked Scott.
"Always the moral one, aren't you?" Peter asked. "There is no 'saving people'. Not with the Vashta Nerada. You can run, but there is no hiding from a shadow."
"Well I'm not just going to let people die! I have to find a way to save Beacon Hills. I mean, at this rate, everyone's going to die. And if we don't do something about it, it'll be our fault!" Scott cried.
"Calm down, man. We'll find a way. We always do. Besides, Peter just said they only hunt in the forests. We just have to stay away from the woods for a while until we figure out how to kill these things," Stiles patted Scott on the back, trying to relax his friend.
"I said they usually hunt in forests. That doesn't mean they won't come out and kill people in the cities. For all we know, the Vashta Nerada are in this room right now, with us."
"Fine! If they're shadow creatures, then we'll just keep everything lighted up. They won't be able to get us then," Stiles said.
"Don't think that these creatures are stupid. They know how to cut lights out. You could use a flare, but then, those run out too," Peter said.
"Thanks for being a dream crusher," Stiles snapped.
"OK, guys, we'll figure out something. But don't you think we should tell the sheriff? I mean, he's the one that could evacuate everyone and keep them from getting killed," Isaac said, intervening before Peter and Stiles killed each other.
"No. There is no way that I'm telling my dad about this. He was totally traumatized after he found out what Scott was, there is not a chance that I'm gonna tell him about these freaky shadow creatures. Besides, even if he did know, what could he possibly do about it? There has to be a really good reason to evacuate a town, he won't be able to manage that," said Stiles.
Scott sat in silence. After everything he'd been through, he didn't want to a couple of shadows ruin his hometown. He knew Allison liked to go jogging in the woods. For all he knew, she could be the next victim. Even if they had broken up, he still cared about her. He got some sort of an idea, but didn't know if it would work.
"Peter, is there a way that these things could be controlled? I mean, werewolves have an alpha telling them what to do. What about these things? They have to have some sort of a weakness, otherwise the entire planet would be dead by now," asked Scott.
"Yes. There is a spell. These shadow creatures have been extinct for years. I think the only reason they are back is because someone brought them back, and is holding them from destroying everything," answered Peter.
"Then, we just find out who's controlling them and kill them," said Stiles.
"No, you dumbass," Peter scowled, "If it were that easy, then someone would have already done it. If you kill whoever is holding them back, then the Vashta Nerada will get free. On top of that, whoever is holding them back is going to have a lot of power. It won't be just any human. I'm thinking a real demon is behind this."
"A demon? Like, as in The Exorcist, demon? You mean a demon, demon?" stuttered Stiles.
"No, I just said demon to be funny," Peter mocked sarcastically "Obviously I meant a demon. An actual hell-burnt creature that somehow managed to dig its way out from the pit. It won't be easy to kill. Demons can easily overpower a werewolf, and I don't know how anyone could kill them."
"Or maybe you just don't know. I mean, you did screw up our lives once before. How do we know you're not lying now?" asked Stiles.
"Fine. If you don't believe, that's not my fault. Just don't ask me to save your skin when you get stuck with a Vashta Nerada for your shadow."
The three boys left. Scott told Stiles and Isaac to research what they could find about demons and the Vashta Nerada. He hoped for a way to catch the demon. He decided that he would ask Deaton at work tomorrow. If anyone knew, it would be Deaton. However, tomorrow at work turned out to be a lot different than he expected.
Deaton wasn't there when he arrived. Scott walked around the small animal clinic, wondering where his boss was. Deaton was a very punctual guy. He didn't like being late. Scott sat on top of the metal examining table in the middle of the room. He heard the door open.
"Deaton isn't here, but you can come back later!" shouted Scott. He walked to the door, and then stopped. There stood Deaton, but his expression puzzled him.
"Hello. You must be Scott," he said.
"What do you mean? You know who I am…Deaton?" stammered Scott.
"Yes. Of course I do," he responded.
Scott took a step back. Something was wrong. Deaton wore a very strange expression. Then, he blinked. His eyes changed color. They became very, very black, with no whites showing at all.