Through the darkest shadows creeps

by alienated-alien

AU: "Should we put up more decorations for tomorrow? Or do you think the scarecrow in the front yard is enough to freak people out?" "Do you want people to actually come to your house?" Scott asked. "Because when I first saw that thing, I thought about walking straight back home."

Alright, this is my second fic in the Teen Wolf fandom. I have been having trouble with my muse in the past months due to various personal issues. However, since it's almost Halloween, I decided to write a silly little thing for the occasion.

It's not been beta-read, but I did my best to pick out the mistakes I found by myself.

This is an AU oneshot, because I like to live in denial.

Please, Enjoy! And a Happy Halloween in advance! (Also, Teen Wolf does not belong to me... but I believe everyone knows that?)

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Through the darkest shadows creeps…

The fog had settled thick and heavy between the ominous trees. Ghostly white and persistent, the mist crept out of the thicket, as if reaching out towards whoever came too close to the treeline. The trail leading past the forest was lit by large clay jack-o'-lanterns and lead them straight towards the wide open field.

Perfect.

"It's gotten really cold," Stiles muttered, glancing back at Scott. "Are you coming, or what?"

"I'm not sure this is a good idea, Stiles," Scott whined. "We wanted to do a horror movie marathon, remember? This wasn't the plan."

Stiles pouted. "What's the point of Halloween when you don't go out and get scared?"

"We can get plenty scared by watching 'Halloween', man," Scott straightened the headband keeping the fake knife attached to the side of his head. "And it's really cold. You know how this weather messes with my asthma."

"Dude, come on, I've never been to a Haunted Maze before!" Stiles grinned, rubbing at his left eye and smearing the black paint even further. So much for his skull make-up. "You don't even have to go in, you big chicken. You can wait-"

Scott shook his head. "Dude. No way, I'm not leaving you to walk around a Haunted Maze by yourself. The last time I left you somewhere alone, you ended up stuck in the slide at the playground."

"I was bored!" Stiles huffed, then smiled again. "So, that means we're going, right?"

With a heavy sigh, Scott nodded. "Yeah. Let's go. But we're still doing the horror movie thing when we get home. And pizza. You promised me pizza."

Stiles snorted and grabbed Scott's sleeve, dragging him down the winding trail. It lead them through a pumpkin patch, a few parents still roaming about to appease their children's need to find the 'perfect pumpkin' for their house.

Of course, Stiles had already peppered the porch with small pumpkin lanterns and stocked up on candy to ensure that no one would go home empty handed on Halloween. He frowned and turned his head to address Scott, "Should we put up more decorations for tomorrow? Or do you think the scarecrow in the front yard is enough to freak people out?"

"Do you want people to actually come to your house?" Scott asked. "Because when I first saw that thing, I thought about walking straight back home."

"I'm taking that as a compliment," Stiles hummed, stopping close to the entrance to the Haunted Maze. "This thing is huge."

"That means we're going to be in there forever," Scott grumbled.

"Oh, shut up. So, do we pay something or do we walk right in?" Stiles peered at the large corn stalks obstructing the view on both sides of the entrance.

"It's free, but you have to tell the lady over there that you're going in first, in case you get lost, y'know?" Scott zipped his jacket shut completely. "I haven't been to one of these for years… it's really dark."

"Duh," Stiles said. "It's a Haunted Maze, Scott. I don't think it'd be particularly scary to get jumped at by a guy wearing a Jason Voorhees mask at lunch time."

"It would be, if it was the real Jason," Scott mumbled.

Stiles shuffled over towards the booth where a young, dark-haired woman was sat. "Uhm, excuse me? We'd like to try the Haunted Maze."

The woman smiled. "Sure, can I get your names, just in case you get lost in there?"

"I'm Stiles and this is Scott," Stiles gestured at his best friend who had gotten distracted by a small child and a teenager running in circles on the pumpkin patch, chanting the Campfire Song for whatever reason.

Narrowing her eyes, the woman gave a sharp-toothed grin. Those were some really convincing fangs right there. "Oh, you're the Sheriff's kid."

Stiles flushed a bright red, hoping that the light of the lantern beside the woman's head did not illuminate him enough for her to notice. "Yeah. How'd you know?"

"Your Dad's my boss. I'm Laura Hale," she held out her hand for him to shake, "Nice to finally meet you. Your Dad tells the craziest stories about you on the quieter days at the station."

Stiles shook her hand with a huff, "Yeah. I figured. Nice to meet you, too. Uh… so, do we just go into the maze now?"

"Yeah, just go right in. Have fun and if you find yourself being hunted by a growling creature, just yell, maybe someone's quick enough to help you," Laura chirped, winking at him.

Offering a lopsided smile, Stiles backed up and grabbed onto Scott's arm, "Okay. Come on, Scottie, let's get going!"

"Do we really have to?" Scott complained while trudging along anyway.

"Yes."

Entering the maze was like stepping into another world. It reminded Stiles uncomfortably of the movie 'Signs'. The corn stalks swayed in the gentle breeze that had picked up seconds before and apart from the soft rustling, it was silent.

Stiles swallowed, curling his arm around Scott's elbow. "Wow, this is actually freaky."

"Uh-huh," Scott squeaked. "Which direction do we go?"

"Let's take the left path for now," Stiles began to walk, noting that there were a few lanterns glowing along the trails leading through the maze.

At least it was not as dark as Stiles had feared it would be. Complete darkness and Stiles were not a very pleasant combination if the broken arm and the bruised ribcage two years ago were any indication. Just because he wanted to get a glass of water at three in the morning. How could he have known that his Dad left the vacuum cleaner by the staircase? Tripping over an unexpected obstacle was a perfectly normal thing to do.

"Why didn't you warn me that the Hales are the ones responsible for the Haunted Maze, Scott?" Stiles asked, "I just made a complete fool of myself in front of Laura Hale!"

"How should I have known that she's manning the booth, dude? You think I know every Hale by name? There are like… hundreds of those here! And I thought you already met all of them, since your Dad works with Laura!"

"Talia Hale has a husband and five kids, you moron, not a hundred. And I think there's an uncle, too, but I've never seen him. And, what the hell, Scott, do you think they just invite us to dinner every Sunday just because Dad works with Laura? Ugh!"

"Yeah, well, it's still a lot of people!" Scott huffed, "Not my fault you got a crush on-"

A soft growl to their right caused them both to jump. Scott started to jump on the spot, "Oh no, no, let's go, let's go!"

Stiles let himself be dragged along, giggling as they stumbled their way down another path, "That sounded like an actual thing! You think they got a dog in here?"

"Dude, no, just stop," Scott whined, slowing down again.

"I was kidding," Stiles snickered, glancing around the large, circular clearing, "You think this is the middle of the maze?"

"I doubt it, we haven't been walking that long. Probably one of those spots you should wait in if you feel like you're lost or you don't want to continue, I guess."

"Huh," Stiles pointed towards the right, "Let's try this way. I want to get scared some more."

"You're crazy. Fine, let's go."

The growling seemed to follow them around, getting louder until it was interspaced with the sound of the corn stalks being pushed apart, as if someone or something was waiting for the perfect moment to strike.

"Dude, this maze is crazy," Scott said, "Nothing's happened yet and I'm freaked out."

Somewhere in the distance, the scream of a woman pierced the cold night air, quickly drowned by the chilling howl of what could only be a wolf. Stiles licked his upper lip, "That sounded really convincing, too. I wonder what kind of technology they use here, those must be some heavy duty loudspeakers they got going."

Scott nodded, "Uh-huh. Are… are you almost done wanting to be scared?"

Stiles snickered, "You're such a chicken, Scott, seriously."

A moment later, Stiles regretted everything he said up until this point of the day. A hot breath puffed against the back of his neck, the familiar growl suddenly much too close as a large hand wrapped loosely around his elbow.

Even if he had tried, Stiles would have never been able to deny the scream that escaped his throat at that exact moment. People in Hawaii were probably able to hear it. Scott joined right in a second later and took off, causing Stiles to stumble and almost fall face-first into the dirt. Somehow he managed to regain his equilibrium and scampered after Scott further into the maze.

They continued to yell and screech until Scott ran out of air and stopped to wheeze. Stiles patted his friend's back, "You okay?"

"Am I okay? Dude, I thought you were being murdered for a second!"

"You thought I was being killed and instead of helping me the first thing you do is abandon me?" Stiles gaped, "Dude!"

"Yeah! I mean, no! I mean… this isn't even real! Don't get angry at me for nothing!" Scott gasped, coughing as he rubbed at his chest.

Stiles snickered, "I know. But, man, that was scary as hell."

"Poor little lambs… did I frighten you? Where are you? Come out, come out, wherever you are…" a rough voice off to the side whispered and Stiles felt like he hopped ten feet into the air.

"Holy shit!" Scott wheezed. "We're going to die. I'm gonna die, give me my inhaler."

Stiles fumbled for the inhaler tucked safely into the inner pocket of his jacket. Scott had a tendency to forget or loose these stupid things like they were hairbands. After handing it to Scott, he turned around to see where the voice had come from.

And froze.

A pair of blue, glowing eyes stared at him from between the corn stalks.

At first, Stiles thought it was a prop, a cheap thing to scare whoever passed it. But then, the glow vanished for a brief second, as if, whatever they belonged to, had blinked.

"Oh my…," Stiles squeaked. "Scott."

"What?" Scott asked, lowering his inhaler. "What is it?"

"There's a thing in the corn and it's staring right at us," Stiles said, both giddy and scared. "This is crazy, Scott, why haven't we gone to a Haunted Maze before?"

"Because it's scary and it's cold?" Scott followed Stiles' gaze. "Uh… is that… what is that?"

"I dunno- it's moving!" Stiles exclaimed, shifting as the eyes began to advance towards them, corn stalks rustling violently as the creature pushed its way through them. "Let's go! Let's go!"

"Found you," the gravelly voice hissed, a clawed hand reaching out towards them from the darkness.

Stiles flailed and Scott sucked in another breath through his inhaler. The hand dropped away and their pursuer gave a low chuckle stepping out into the faint light of the lantern. Allowing his shoulders to slump, Stiles felt his face turn a bright shade of red, "Ugh, seriously? We got scared by Derek Hale? Are you… dude…!"

Derek smirked. "How about I take you two heroes back to the pumpkin patch before you manage to actually hurt yourselves?"

Stiles narrowed his eyes. "Don't mock me, my Dad's the sheriff, I could have had you on the ground if you so much as touched me! You should have been more careful!"

Derek laughed, exposing large fangs as he threw his head back, touching a hand to his left side, "I'm sure," he grinned once he had calmed down, "So, you want to continue exploring the maze or are thirty minutes of wandering around enough for the both of you?"

"Is there more to see?"

"I'm pretty sure Cora's waiting with her chainsaw somewhere and Uncle Peter's dressed up as a Wendigo. But I'm guessing that the guys that entered the maze after you two are enough to keep them both entertained," Derek shrugged.

"How did you do the thing with the eyes?" Stiles blurted out, patting Scott's back when his friend coughed.

"Secret," Derek winked then turned around and started to walk, "Let's go, your friend sounds like he could use a hot bath and some tea. I could hear him breathing without even trying."

With a grumble, Stiles grabbed Scott's hand and followed Derek along the winding path. Maybe taking Scott out while it was both cold and wet had not been one of his best ideas; Derek was right, Scott was wheezing pretty loudly.

It took them barely five minutes to reach the exit. Derek ushered them over to Laura's booth and Stiles was finally able to see the extent of the man's make-up. It looked professionally done, the coarse hair on Derek's face adding to the furrowed brows and the fangs protruding from his gums. Stiles was suddenly very glad that he had not met Uncle Peter.

Wendigos were a pretty scary thing from what he could gather by watching Supernatural.

"Laura? I'm giving these two a ride home, can you get Adam to take over for me?"

Laura peered at them, rising halfway out of her seat, "What happened? Do we need to inform Sheriff Stilinski?"

"Uh, no!" Stiles exclaimed, "No, it's… uh, Scott's got asthma and dragging him out in this kind of weather was pretty bad idea. But, uh, it's okay, we can walk home. Right, Scottie?"

Scott gave them a thumbs-up, coughing into his other hand.

Laura lifted an eyebrow at them. "Sure. Alright, I'm telling Adam to get his ass over here. Are you going to come back or drive right home afterwards?"

"I think I'm done scaring people for today," Derek answered, "I'm going to take care of my face, be right back. Don't let those two escape, Mrs McCall's going to have our heads if Scott ends up at the hospital again like in 2004."

"As if you didn't deserve the scolding you got for that stunt," Laura mumbled and Stiles snickered into his hands.

Fifteen minutes later Stiles and Scott found themselves in Derek's Camaro. Stiles had deliberately taken the backseat with Scott, certain he would end up babbling if he sat in front. The drive was rather silent apart from Derek drumming his fingers against the steering wheel along with the music and Scott's coughing.

"You still doing okay back there?" Derek asked after stopping at a red light.

"Yeah, he'll be fine soon," Stiles answered, patting Scott's shoulder.

"Uh-huh," Scott croaked. "Throat's irritated, that's all. I'm okay."

"Alright," Derek said. "So, where do I take you? Scott's house or yours, Stiles?"

"Mine," Stiles flailed a hand through the confined space of the Camaro, prompting Scott to duck his head. "Whoops, sorry. Anyway, Mrs McCall's got a nightshift and we're having a horror movie marathon at my house. Dad's bringing home pizza later."

"Sounds great," Derek smiled, manoeuvring the car around the next corner.

"You could stay too," Stiles blurted out. "Uh, for the horror movie marathon. I'd have to tell Dad to bring more pizza, but I don't think anyone would mind having more pizza to eat, right, Scott?"

Scott looked at him, grinning as he wiggled his brows at Stiles. Stiles wondered if throttling your best friend in your crush's car was bad etiquette, if you did not inform your crush of your intentions of doing so beforehand.

"I'd love to, but I might have to help Mom and Dad prepare the garden for the trick-or-treaters tomorrow," Derek glanced into the rear-view mirror and smiled back at them, eyes lingering on Stiles, "Maybe some other time?"

"Uh," Stiles swallowed, "Y-yeah. Sure, no problem!"

They arrived at Stiles' address ten minutes later.

As soon as Derek had turned off the engine, Stiles had clambered out of the car. Scott followed, a lot slower but not any less ungraceful. Derek stepped out, shutting the car door as he accompanied them to the front door. Either Derek was an incredibly well-mannered person or he thought they would get lost on the way.

Stiles unlocked the door and Scott scampered past Stiles with a loud groan of relief. Scott toed off his shoes and vanished into the house while clicking on each and every light he could find.

After all, there might be some crazy monster hiding somewhere; only idiots walked through their house at night without turning on the lights first.

"Uh, so, thanks for taking us home," Stiles said, glancing down at his muddied shoes.

"No problem," Derek smiled. "I hope you had fun at the maze although Scott's asthma acted up?"

"Yeah, definitely," Stiles nodded, "It was really awesome and scary. Are you sure the glowing-eyes trick is really a secret? It's really neat and I'd love to know how you did it. It made me feel like there was actually something chasing us. Like it was real."

Derek tilted his head. "Maybe it was real."

Stiles blinked, then laughed. "Sure it was, Derek. I get it, it's a secret. Jerk."

Derek chuckled and made to walk towards his car again. "Have a nice evening, Stiles. Take care, alright?"

"You too. And let me tell you, I will find out how you did the glowing-eyes thing!"

The man stopped walking and turned. Derek's mouth quirked into a grin, exposing the fangs that Stiles had thought he had removed back at the maze. The porch light caught in Derek's eyes, causing them to reflect a familiar bright blue glow.

"Holy shit."

The End