Preface:
Lana stood, wind blowing her hair in all directions. She didn't dare to open her eyes, for fear of what might be lurking there. She knew of the dark and dangerous creatures, and all the possibilities.
When she finally opened her eyes, there were masses of swirling shadows rising from the ground, forming human shapes. They stood in a circle around her, and she spun wildly in hopes of breaking the circle and running. Despite her efforts, she wasn't getting out of that circle. The shadows began to drift toward her, with eerie grace, making no sound. She began to sob, squeezing her eyes shut. She heard a sound and her eyes flew open. In the distance, there stood a girl with strawberry blonde hair and green eyes. She began to run toward the circle, and the shadows stopped as she pushed through them to stand in front of the girl. The shadows slowly seeped back into the ground, as silently as they came. But none of this mattered to Lana. All she could think about was the girl in front of her.
"Lydia?" She said. She had no idea how she knew the girl's name. It seemed like someone whispered it into her brain, like there was no way she could have not known. The girl looked as scared by it as she was. Her green eyes flew wide and she took a stumbling step backwards.
"W-what's going on here?" Lana begged, crying again. "What's happening?"
The girl went still and her eyes unfocused. "Death." She answered and threw her head back and let out an ear-splitting scream. Lana screamed and fell to her knees, clutching her head in her hands as if she let go, her head would fall apart. When her hands came away, they were bloody.
Lana flung herself into a sitting position on her bed, haunted by the images her sleep had brought her. She knew where she had to go. She had to find the green-eyed girl and find out who she was. Although it scared her, she knew exactly where to find her. Beacon Hills.
Chapter one:
Lana stepped out of the car and stretched her legs. It had been a long ride, and she had finally reached Beacon Hills. She saw two boys walking down the street. One of them had a motorcycle helmet in his hand, and the other one was hauling a red duffel bag out of his Jeep. The dark-haired one sat down the motorcycle helmet on the seat of the Jeep and looked deep in serious conversation with the other. Maybe they knew where she could find this Lydia girl, whoever she was.
Lana locked her car and set off in that direction. When she got up close, they gave her a strange look. She ignored it and leaned against the Jeep. She saw the brown-haired boy wince the second she touched the car.
"Hey boys, do you know where I might find Lydia Martin?" The two boys looked at each other suspiciously.
"Why were you asking for me?" Lydia hissed angrily. Lana was astounded. Of course she knew who she was. Didn't she? She had to.
"You don't know who I am?" Lana asked, disappointed and a little angry. When she had played this out in her head, she would just walk up and Lydia would automatically know who she was and tell her everything she needed to know, and why she had shown up in her dreams, and how Lana already knew a lot about her. But now, in front of her, it seemed unlikely at best. Maybe her dream had been a mere coincidence, and now she was caught up in something she was never meant to be a part of.
"No I don't know who you are! Now tell me why you were asking about me!" Lydia yelled. "Are you one of them? What, did you come to kill me?" Lydia scoffed. Lana's eyes grew huge.
"What are you talking about?!" Lana said. Lydia threw a look back to the two boys who she now knew were named Stiles and Scott. They seemed to be there to protect Lydia. The boys shrugged innocently.
"How were we supposed to know? I'm not the crazy one with psychological power." Stiles said, crossing his arms. Lydia muttered something under her breath about always having to clean up their messes.
"I'll call Derek." Stiles sighed, pulling his phone out of his pocket. Scott gave him a look. "What? I should have him on speed dial by now," he said. He stepped into the room and I heard mutterings of something about assassins. What have I walked myself into? Lana thought.
Scott sat down in a chair across from the table. They were at his house. They had ushered Lana back there the second she uttered a word about having to find Lydia.
"What did she mean about me being here to kill her? Why would I want to kill her?" Lana asked him. He leaned forward, resting on his elbows. He seemed to really consider this question.
"It's been rough these past few weeks to say the least," Was all Scott said. When Lana's eyes grew huge, he continued. "There's a lot you don't know about, Lana."
"Wow. That was just vague enough to work. What do you mean there's a lot I don't know about?" Lana asked impatiently. Scott sighed and looked at her helplessly.
"Please just wait till Derek gets here." He said. She resisted the urge to ask him who Derek was and simply sat back in her chair. If you really looked, she thought, Scott had an uneven jaw line, but it didn't detract from his appearance. He had a tattoo on his right arm of two thick black bands. She wanted to ask him what they meant, but something made her think that if she asked another question he would explode.
Stiles reentered the room, shoving his phone in his pocket. He sat next to Scott and said Derek was on his way, and turned his focus toward Lana. Lana noticed he was fidgety, and couldn't sit still.
"So, if you aren't here to kill us in a very morbid fashion, why are you here?" Stiles asked her. She was surprised how long it had taken anyone to ask this question. She didn't know whether she should even answer, for the fact that everyone would think she was a head case if she told them why she was really there. She had never taken into consideration the fact that she sounded like a psychopath, but she was telling the truth. That had to count for something, right? She hoped so.
"If I told you, you'd think I was crazy." She said doubtfully, grabbing at her locket that hung on a chain around her throat. Stiles laughed.
"Unlikely. I spent a few weeks in a mental asylum." Stiles retorted. Lana looked terrified, which made him laugh harder. "No, it not what you think. I was possessed by an ancient evil spirit, known formally as a nogitsune." He winked. This time, Scott laughed too.
"What is a nogitsune?" Lana asked. But no one seemed willing to answer that question. A man she assumed was Derek walked in at that moment with Lydia at his side. He sat down next to Lana and Lydia hovered just over his shoulder.
"So, are you going to tell me why you are here?" Derek asked impatiently, eyebrows raised. Everyone looked at Lana expectantly, all wanting to know the answer to the question. So Lana answered.
"For a while now, I've had these dreams. These shadowy figures would come up out of the ground and circle around me. They terrified me. Slowly, the circle would close around me, and I would wake up when they touched me. But two nights ago, it all changed. She showed up," Lana pointed to Lydia, "and she made the shadowy figures go away. Then I looked at her, and I just knew. I knew who she was I knew how to find her and I knew things about her that would be impossible to know from just looking at someone. I knew I had to find her and get answers. Then I asked her what was going on, and she said death, and screamed. It was horrible screaming, unlike anything I have ever heard before. It made my ears bleed, it was so loud. Then I woke up."
Everyone was dumbfounded. All eyes flicked to Lydia, and she stared straight at me with a glare. If looks could kill, Lana thought.
"Lyd, it kind of sounds like she might be a ban-" Derek started, but Lydia cut him off with an acid glare.
"She's not. She just made all of that up. She's a liar." Lydia growled. She walked up to me and ceased my arm with an iron grip, and wrenched me out of my seat. "Please excuse us, ladies and gents." She bit.
She dragged me out on the front porch. When we got there, she let go of my arm and looked at me apologetically. "I do know who you are. I lied before." She said. I looked at her like she was insane, and I was beginning to think she really was.
"Why?! You made a complete fool out of me back there!" Lana said, her mind blown at how insane all of this was and how convincing Lydia had been.
"Oh, please. What, did you think? You and Scott were going to be besties, and Stiles would take you to prom?" Lydia rolled her eyes, a tinge of jealous anger in her voice. "Just so you know, I might have just saved your life. You're a banshee. And right now, there is a dead pool out for the death of every supernatural creature within miles of here. As of right now, your name is not on that list. Would you like it to be?" She was so angry. Why was she so against Lana?
"I'm not a banshee." Lana stated plainly. She had heard stories of banshees and what they were capable of. She knew she wasn't one.
"Do you even know what a banshee is?" Lydia spit harshly.
"Of course I do. I'm not an idiot. I know what a banshee is, and I know that your one. And I'm guessing your name's on that list." Lana said, eyebrows raised. "My grandmother told me stories. Stories of people like you. Of people like them." Lana said, gesturing to the door.
"Then why did you play so doe-eyed bambie with Derek?" She narrowed her eyes at Lana, as if she was so horrid she could barely stand to look at her. "Why don't you go back in there and tell him you knew who I was and who they were since the moment you walked in the door and see how long it takes him to throw you out." She snarled.
"I don't know what your problem with me is, but I advise you drop it. I'm not here to hurt you, but I want answers. Why were you in my dreams?" Lana questioned, looking at Lydia. Studying her for any answers she could get.
"Because you're a BANSHEE!" Lydia yelled like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "That's why you were in my dreams, too."
"So the fact that I'm a 'banshee' explains everything? Because I don't understand any of this." Lana said. But Lydia was glancing back at the door.
"They're going to start to wonder. You're going to go back in there and tell them it was all just a joke, and that you're really a long-lost friend of mine and we just wanted to play a prank on them." Lydia demanded. And so Lana did what she was told.
Stiles sat on his bed, and Malia sat next to him. He had told her what had happened with the Lana girl today. "And you just let it go? You don't think they lied, do you?" Malia said worriedly.
"Well I didn't until now. But now I'm not so sure." Stiles said. Malia took his hand in hers and leaned toward him.
"I'm sure they didn't lie. Why would Lydia lie to us like that?" Malia said, meaning for her words to be comforting, but they came out making Stiles paranoid. Surely there was a good reason if she was lying, right? He couldn't bear the fact of Lydia lying to him. Then there was the fact of how vicious she had been toward Lana. She almost seemed… jealous.
Malia kissed his temple. "It'll be okay, Stiles. You worry too much."
"I know…" he sighed. "It's a social anxiety thing." Stiles said quietly, thinking of all the times he had used those words as an excuse for the things he was really feeling, and to disguise the reasons he worried so much, and why he cared so much, and how he hated parties because he was always the wallflower. Sure, he really did have extreme social anxiety, but nowadays, it had become more of an excuse from having to explain the way he was feeling to Malia… or anyone really.