This was a stupid idea, Seth was certain of that. He never should have agreed to this game, especially since he was already on edge about being in the woods at night. Li and Joshua had convinced him that it would be fun, but shining his flashlight through the eerily tall trees around him, he couldn't see the entertainment in this. "Guys, I don't want to play anymore!" he shouted into the darkness. Rather than chuckles or sighs of defeat, Seth heard nothing but nature. He dragged his feet as he began walking, searching for the others. They couldn't have gotten very far considering he'd only counted to fifty. Nervously, he twisted the ring on his left middle finger.
He should have expected something like this from his friends. Ever since he'd moved to Beacon Hills two months ago, Li and Josh had gotten him into more trouble than he could recall. Whether it be super gluing things together to piss someone off or pranking teachers throughout the day, there had never been a dull moment. For a new kid, they'd taken him under their wings quite easily, so he couldn't complain too much. It was better than being rejected by everyone at school. Seth's hands sweat as he gripped his flashlight.
"Josh! Li! I give up, guys!"
Silence. Seth continued on, grumbling to himself. As he walked, a breeze blew through the trees and dark leaves cascaded around him. He picked one off of his beanie and crumbled it up in his fist. When he held his hand out, palm facing up, the wind carried the broken pieces away. He smiled with mild satisfaction. There was a crunch to his left and he quickly aimed the beam of light in that direction. Shadows danced as he moved, unnerving him more than he wanted to admit. "I heard you!" he called out.
Seth ran towards the sound, eager to get this stupid game over with and head back to their tents. His search left him empty-handed, unfortunately. Just as he was about to give up, the boy shone his light further out. Two red orbs hovered no more than five yards away from him. Startled by the sight, he stepped back, stumbling over a fallen tree. The two glowing lights disappeared for a split second before returning, almost as if they blinked. That was when Seth's stomach dropped. They had blinked.
He had no idea what the creature staring back at him was, but he turned and ran the opposite direction. Forcing himself to keep from looking back proved harder than he'd imagined. Seth glanced over his shoulder, crying out when he saw that the glowing red eyes were following him. He could vaguely make out the shape of a large animal speeding towards him. "Guys!" he screamed, "Get back to the car!"
If this thing attacked him, then at least his friends would have a head start getting away. He tripped over something unseen and lost his flashlight, reaching out into the darkness and steadying himself on the trunk of a tree. Gasping for breath, Seth powered through his pain and continued running. He spun around, searching for those eyes. They seemed to disappear, much to his relief, but he'd seen enough horror movies to know that things were never that easy.
Seth turned back and continued running, wanting to distance himself as much as possible. He blocked out the growing despair after realizing he had no idea where he was. He'd run so far that he couldn't even see the hopeful glow of the flashlight he'd dropped. He opened his mouth to call out for Li or Joshua before stopping. If that animal was still out there, it would surely hear him and come running. Panicked, he ran his fingers through his hair and glanced at his watch. The sun would be up in an hour. If he couldn't find the campsite soon, at least he'd be able to see easier soon enough.
"This is what we get for coming here," he said to himself. They should have turned around when they saw the sign prohibiting any night visits to the Preserve. "Great idea for a sleepover, Li! Yes, let's totally go to the Preserve. You know, the one where that girl was found brutally murdered? It'll be fun!" Seth complained as he walked, not realizing he'd stepped into a clearing until the crunching of leaves ceased.
Frowning, he squinted at the large tree stump in the middle of the clearing. Judging from that alone the tree must have been huge before it was cut down. Seth wondered why it received the axe. He stepped forward, his curiosity drawing him closer. The buzzing sound was enamoring, he soon decided. It was as if there was a small hive of bees trapped inside that grew angrier the closer he got. Soon, the tree was practically screaming. Seth winced but pressed forward, determined to see what was happening.
The wind picked up, so hard that it threatened to knock him over. He continued forward, unable to stop moving. Finally he touched the stump with his left hand. The wave of pain that washed over him brought Seth to his knees. He cried out, all of the strength in his body sucked dry. He felt empty, his frame shuddering weakly. With heavy eyelids, he spotted those same glowing eyes along the tree line. Terror settled into his stomach and try as he might, he couldn't pull himself up. Instead, he clutched the stump with his other hand, holding himself up.
A howl pierced the night and there was no doubt in Seth's mind that it had come from the animal in the trees. The wolf waiting in the distance. He struggled to keep his eyes open but he couldn't even manage that. His grip on the tree faltered and he fell to his side, his vision fading and hands burning.
"Get up," a husky voice ordered. Seth lazily opened his eyes, blinking away the darkness that had enveloped his mind. He groaned and turned to his right, searching for the sound of the man's voice. Had he just imagined that? "Get up." No, there was someone there. The person watching him must have grown tired of waiting around because a moment later he was being yanked up. He nearly fell forward but kept his balance, digging his fingers into the man's arm. Seth looked at him in confusion.
"Who are you? What's going on?"
"Be quiet," he growled, dragging Seth with him, a cautious glance thrown over his shoulder. Seth followed behind the unnamed man, unsure what had happened. He didn't ask again though. Something about the man's urgency kept him quiet and obedient. He trudged through the woods with him for a few minutes before the dizziness of waking up had faded. Once he'd regained his head, he stole a glance at the other male.
His beard and hair were both the same color and he stared ahead with the determined gaze of someone who knew these woods quite well. Seth cleared his throat. "So, um… I never caught your name."
"I never gave it to you."
"Ah. That explains it, then," Seth said. "Well, can you at least tell me where we're going? My friends are probably still looking for me out there and I don't want them to freak out." The man sighed and stopped in his tracks.
"Your friends are dead. You're going to see them on the news tonight, and while you'll probably be sad, you'll be alive. We're going to my old place." And with that, the man continued walking, his large shoulders hunched just slightly. Seth stood still, unable to process that information. There was no way his friends were dead. Li and Joshua were still out there. They'd probably given up hiding and returned home after he had passed out. But something in the man's tone assured him that the guy wasn't making this up.
"Hey, wait," he called out, jogging after him. "How do I know you're not lying to me? I don't even know who you are, and I'm pretty sure we're walking in the opposite direction of my friends. You could be a murderer for all I know."
"Yeah, maybe, man. But if you want your life to go back to normal as smoothly as possible, you'll follow me. The police department is going to come looking for you and the other two. When they see that you're the only one alive, they'll question you for hours. They'll fact check and try to gaslight you. We've got enough unsolved murders out here, and if they can pin this one on you, they're likely to try that. We're going up to my old place so that I can tell you exactly what you're going to say."
Seth's eyes were the size of dinner plates. He then chewed on his bottom lip and nodded. Even if he didn't believe a word the man said, he might give him a ride home. Seth followed the man up to a home that looked as if it had been attacked by a dragon. One very pissed off dragon. He climbed the charred staircase carefully, praying that he didn't fall through any of the wooden boards. The interior of the home was just as destroyed.
In the room to the side, the man had set up a table. Stacks of books sat atop, as well as a few maps and a small group of pens. "What happened here?" Seth asked.
"Fire."
"That sucks…"
"Tell me about it. Alright, this is what you're gonna say." The man grabbed his chair and spun it around, straddling it from behind and taking a seat. "You're gonna say you heard your friends start screaming. You knew you shouldn't have been on the Preserve, but you couldn't say no. They pressured you into it. The second you heard them scream, you took off in the opposite direction. You ran for hours until you made your way back into town. That's all you know, okay?"
"But that's not all I know," he said. "I saw something in the trees."
"Did you not hear me? That's all you know. You don't tell them anything else. At least, you don't tell anyone that isn't Sheriff Stilinski."
"Who?"
"Don't worry about it. Just… keep your mouth closed until after they question you, okay? Everything else will be explained after that." While that may have been reassuring to anyone else, Seth had just woken up in the woods after passing out from touching a tree stump. Waiting for answers wasn't something he wanted to do at that moment.
"Why are you doing this? Why are you helping me?"
"A friend of mine told me somebody was in danger. I was too late for your friends, but you're still alive, and I'm trying to keep it that way," the man said.
"A friend told you three guys in the Preserve, miles away from any houses or buildings, were in danger? How did he know?" The man chuckled and shook his head.
"It's… complicated. She's got a funny way of knowing things sometimes."
"So, in other words, she's a psychic or something?"
"Or something."
"Right. So, the next step is for me to lie to the police. Then I come back to this burned up old house and meet with you, the guy who woke me up in the middle of the woods. I don't even know your name!"
"Derek." Seth nodded, happier that at least now he knew the name of the guy coaching him through a future police investigation.
"I'm Seth."
"Well, Seth, I want you to tell no one that you were up here. We've never met before. I'm gonna drop you off down the road and hopefully you can flag someone down and they'll take you to the police. Either that or you'll have a long walk there. It'll make your story more believable that way," he smirked, standing up from his chair. Seth watched as he adjusted his v-neck.
"I… I hate walking, though."
"Oh man, I'm sorry to hear that. Let's go," he shrugged, walking outside. Reluctantly, Seth followed him out and climbed into the car parked out front. Derek started up the engine and looked back as he spun the vehicle around and headed off. Seth spun the ring on his hand absently like he always did but pulled his hand away quickly, startled by the electric feeling that coursed through him. Derek noticed his quick movement and raised a bushy eyebrow.
"What's wrong?" Seth looked up quickly.
"Huh? Oh. Nothing, just… nothing." As he looked back at an unconvinced Derek, Seth fought the urge to tell him about the fact that just looking at him felt warm. Not in the romantic way, either. It made Seth feel like there was something off about the man. He couldn't describe it other than just knowing, deep in his gut, that Derek wasn't all that he appeared.
Derek stopped the car and turned to him, a smile on his face. "Enjoy your walk." Grumbling, he stepped out of the passenger's side. Part of Seth wanted to return to his seat and tell him that this joke wasn't funny anymore. He wanted to say that he knew Li and Joshua were behind this whole elaborate prank. But the other part – the one that had seen those glowing eyes in the distance and had felt the weakening effects that tree stump had – would do anything Derek said just to get out of this mess.
He closed the door with a sigh and hugged himself, looking around while the man drove off. This was it. Soon, he'd be telling the cops everything he knew about what had happened last night. Or at least, everything Derek told him he should know. Seth really didn't want to, but despite his hatred for mile-long walks, he hated being alone in the woods much more than that.