Scott was running.
He didn't know who it was, or what it was. All he knew that he was being hunted by a wolf-like thing and that he needed to run. Every nerve in his body wanted to freeze in terror but his instinct burned in him, yelling at him to run and save himself.
What felt like hours, but were only minutes, he ran when his lungs started to burn in a way that was familiar. The way your lungs burned when you couldn't breath and your lungs begged for oxygen and you felt like you were about to collapse. Scott made a quick decision and hid behind a fallen tree. He wheezed as he fumbled with his inhaler, shaking it before taking two quick breadths. After he felt the burn fading a little and the cold air entering his lungs it was that he noticed the lack of noise. It was not the normal silence, but the horror movie silence when you couldn't even hear the crickets.
Scott was so haunting Stiles' ass if he didn't survive this.
The next few seconds were a blur but Scott remembered a burning pain on his side and being terrified out of his mind. He was not proud of the very unmanly shrieks that left his mouth. The relief he felt when the heavy weight disappeared from above him made almost him cry with relief. Blindly he stumbled and tried to run before something grabbed him, making him stand on two legs. Scott froze only briefly enough to notice the brilliant red hair and the lack of wolfy-ness before he grabbed at their jacket and followed them.
"Keep running!" He heard over the pounding of his heart.
Hope blossomed in Scott's heart when they stumbled on the road, which was immediately replaced with terror when the head lights of an SUV shined on him. Convinced that the blaring horn was going to be the last thing he heard before he died, reflexes kicked in and he grabbed the other person and curled protectively on them.
The SUV swerved around them, the tires screeching on the wet road, and kept speeding away until it disappeared into the darkness, leaving both him and the other person breathing heavily as the terror slowly started to fade from their bloodstreams.
Scott finally took a long look at the other person and noticed that it was a girl. He knew who she was. He almost didn't recognised her because of her newly dyed red hair. It was Crazy Grady. He remembered that her family and been found dead in what people said seemed like satanic ritualistic sacrifice thingy. This had made her an easy target for the bullies. And after a while the bullying had gotten so bad, her Satanist uncle (that's what everyone whispered) had taken her out of school in the middle of the year, and she wasn't seen for the rest of the freshmen year.
"You okay?" Grady asked him, light brown eyes looking him up and down for any injuries.
Scott went to answer he was fine when his right side suddenly throbbed with pain. He winced when his hoodie rubbed against the crescent shaped wound on his side as he lifted it up. Oh god, his Mom was going to kill him.
The sudden howl of a wolf made him look up. Even Grady looked around warily as if the wolf was going to suddenly pounce on them and finish its job. Her grip tightened on his arm, which had Scott blushing because he suddenly noticed that she had never let go of his arm the whole time. A girl was grabbing his arm. God, Scott, seriously? This is so not the time!
"Let's go." Grady murmured quietly, before leading him towards the opposite edge of the road and into the preserves.
When they were far enough from the main road Grady let go of his arm and started leading him towards...um? Where were they going?
"Where are we going?" Scott asked, wincing every time the bite on his side pulled too much.
"My house." Was her short reply.
Was he the only one feeling uncomfortable with the awkward silence? Grady's constant unwavering stride said yes. The way she walked was how someone would walk in their own backyard, knowing exactly where to step and the branches she avoided in the darkness. Scott had to squint to see 6 feet in front of him. He couldn't stop the sudden hiss of pain that escaped him when he had to climb over the fallen tree.
Grady stopped and turned to look at him, a frown on her face. She had this conflicted took on her face, as if having an internal battle.
"My house is not far. I have a first aid kit you can use to patch yourself up. Then I'll drive you to the hospital." She tried to give him a comforting smile.
"No!" Scott immediately exclaimed, and felt guilty when her smile disappeared. "I mean, you don't have to do that. Point me in the right direction and I'll just…. Walk." Grady's face just screamed that he was being stupid.
"You have an injury that might get infected and cause you a very ugly death, and you'd rather just walk?" Grady raised her eyebrows as she mocked him.
"My Mom's a nurse. I know how to dress a wound, so I'll be fine." He could not, in any way, let his Mom find out about this. He'd be grounded for life!
Grady's face just seemed like she realized something, but rather than voice it she turned around and started walking again.
"I'll drive you home." And the discussion was over.
Awkward silence.
"Thank you." The falter in Grady's step was the only sigh that she had heard him. "For saving me from that thing." Scott choked out when she didn't say anything. God, why does this have to be so awkward!
"Would have done it for anyone." Was the only thing she said before the forest terrain cleared up into a well maintained Garden. Scott couldn't see much, but he could see a small patch of vegetables, and besides it lots of flowers.
Scott had to stop his jaw from dropping when his eyes fell in the giant house. It looked like it was made of wood and stone (yes, he knew that was not a helpful description at all), like the Victorian period house. From the time when the women still wore gowns and stuff and men had to wear suits and people travelled in carriages.
Grady led him towards the front door which had a big metal bell besides it rather than a normal doorbell. Scott noticed that she just opened the door and walked in.
"You don't lock your door?" Grady's lips twitched into a small smile at Scott's gaping expression.
"No one comes here." She assured him leading him to the living room which had a fire place. Not an electrical one either, but a legit fire place that had a stack of fire wood besides it.
Scott felt like a fish out of water in the giant posh room. Grady dropped her one shouldered bag on one of the couches and lead Scott down a hallway. She opened the third door on the right revealing a bathroom. Compared to the rest of the house the bathroom was pretty modern with its marble floors and sink and the giant ceramic tub.
Scott had no idea how this had happened. The day had started normal. That should have been first his sign. Then Stiles and his half dead body, then the mutated wolf thing and now he was standing in a bathroom in the house of a girl he barely knew but everyone had called crazy. And he had to pee.
Grady entered the room and threw a small Tupperware box at him that he fumbled to catch. He really needed to practice lacrosse more. He couldn't expect to be first in line if he kept fumbling his catches like that.
"I'm Scott McCall." Scott suddenly blurted out, when he realised that he never introduced himself. Grady was now sitting on the black marble counter besides the sink fiddling with her phone. Her explanation 'I'm not letting a stranger roam around unattended in my house. I'd rather have you in my sight at all times'.
"I know." She said. She looked at him as he modestly tried to bandage his side without removing his clothes, which made her supress a smirk. God, he was adorkable.
"You can remove your clothes, you know. It'll be easier for you." She hummed, before she raised her eyebrows. "Unless you want me to do it for you." Scott made a sound that sounded like a choked cat. "I meant dressing your wound, not removing your clothes, idiot."
"I'm good." Scott choked out, puppy eyes wide and avoiding eye contact. Was the room getting warmer?
Another awkward silence.
Before Scott could say something stupid to break the silence, again, Grady spoke up.
"I'm Evan." She shifted on the counter and cleared her throat. "Grady."
The smile that Scott gave her was brighter than her soul.
"Nice to meet you, Evan Grady." Scott smiled. Scott hesitated on his next words, not sure if he should speak them or not. "We had some classes together in freshman year." Scott blurted out, wincing. Well, apparently his mouth had a brain of its own.
Evan looked up from her very expensive looking phone, and her eyes darkened at the memories.
"I know." She conformed his statement. "I remember you." She motioned towards her mouth. "You used to have braces."
Scott subconsciously moved his tongue over his now brace-less teeth. "Yeah."
"And my family was killed." Scott dropped the roll of tape from his hands. "And I was bullied to the point that I had to be taken out of school." Scott's mouth opened and closed like a fish, no idea what to say to that.
"I-uh…" He stammered. She winced at what she had said, crinkling her nose (which was cute).
"Sorry. My psychiatrist said that I get really offensive whenever someone brings up my family." She said, fiddling with her phone. Scott picked up the tape and continued taping the bandages on his side. "Sometimes I even beat the crap out of them."
Scott contemplated for the first time Grady actually was crazy.
Evan burst into sniggers at the look on his face, which kinda relaxed Scott.
"Relax, I'm just kidding." She said to him.
Scott cut off the tape with some scissors before starting to put everything in the box.
"Let it be. I'll clean it up later." Evan spoke up from the doorway of the bathroom.
Scott hesitated looking at the mess of blood soaked balls of cotton he had made.
"At least let me clean away the blood." Scott tried to compromise.
"Blood doesn't scare me." Her eyes were hard again.
"I'm not saying it does. I just don't want to trouble you more than I already probably am." Scott said, standing firm. His mom had taught him better manners than that. Evan just raised her eyebrow at him, turned to walk away the door.
"Fine. I'll be standing by the front door." She muttered before walking away.
Scott sighed before searching for the trash can which he found under the sink. He carefully wrapped up the trash bad before pushing it in the trash can. He washed the blood from the sink so it was white and shiny again. Then he packed up the first aid (just the way his mom had taught him) and just left it in the counter not knowing what to do with it.
Evan was waiting by the front door just like she said, and walked out when she saw him. Scott followed her towards a beat-up looking four door brown truck. And in a few minutes they were driving towards Scott's home, with Scott giving the directions.
"Are you attending the school this year?" Scott spoke over the screaming voice blaring from the speakers.
"Yeah." Evan answered. "Can't wait." Even he didn't miss the sarcasm in her voice. And he didn't blame her after what happened in freshmen year.
"You know," Scott started. "You can sit with me and my friend during lunch." Scott's ears were suddenly burning. "I mean, if you want to." He mumbled.
Evan gave him a small smile (choosing to ignore his horrible grammar). "That's sweet of you, McCall. But I think I'll brave out the first day by myself." She let out a breath. "Facing my demons and all that crap."
"Well, my offer still stands." Scott said. "Turn left here. My home will be the fourth one on the left."
Evan nodded, and in a few moments they were outside a cosy looking house that was nowhere near as impressive as Evans house, but it was homey.
"Thanks, again, for helping me." Scott said, before a yawn escaped him. "See you at school tomorrow?"
"See you tomorrow." Evan said, giving him a small smile. With a wave she was pealing out of his driveway the tires screeching, disappearing into the night.