Authors Note: SEASON 3 IS FINALLY HERE! Thank you all for reading Strangers and What Lies Beneath. IF you've made it this far, thank you for sticking with the story. I hope you're ready for all that's about to happen. Thing's get a bit intense but you probably already know how I roll considering you've made it through the first two installments. Again, thank you for continuing this journey with Maggie. I look forward to hearing what you all think.
[Isaac's POV]
I felt my body being slowly dragged across the wet pavement, my own limbs too heavy to even move on my own. I could smell the blood in the air and knew it was my own. The pain from the alpha's claws in my side burned more than anything I'd ever felt before but the blow to the head I took kept me from gaining complete consciousness. I was aware I was being moved but I just couldn't bring myself to really snap out of it until I was hit with a sudden volt of electricity making my eyes spring open wide.
"Be quiet!" A voice scaled me with a harsh whisper. It wasn't Maggie though. It was another girl with a dark complexion and dark hair to match.
"Maggie…where's Maggie?" I asked trying to keep my vision from blurring.
"I'll take you to her but you've got to stay with me." The voice hoisted me to my feet and started to drag my body as best as she could. I reached back feeling the sharp pain on the back of my neck and felt bloody puncture marks.
"My neck-" I started to panic.
"It's from their claws. It's how they share memories." The girl explained keeping her eyes open for any sign of incoming threats.
"But I don't remember anything." I could hear how raw my throat was like I'd been screaming for hours but the strain to remember just how I'd gotten so messed up was making my head hurt even worse.
"It's also how they steal them. Listen to me, no matter what happens you've got to hold on, okay? You hold on tight." The girl wrapped my arms around her waist. I leaned my chin on her leather clad shoulder as she pulled on a helmet and started her motorcycle up. I did as I was told and held onto the girl's waist as tight as I could, pushing aside the pain my body was in. I focused my eyes on the slick pavement of the road under the bike as we sped through the streets of the warehouse district but the sound of something approaching quickly stuck in my ears, even over the sound of the bike's revving.
"I hear something…someone's coming." I glanced over my shoulder and focused on the thing thrumming towards us. The person came into view so quickly I could actually feel how wide my eyes got just before he took a swipe at the bike with his claws.
"FASTER!" I screamed terrified causing the girl to pull back on the accelerated just in time to avoid the strike. That didn't stop the alpha as it ran full speed towards us but when I dared another look back, there was now two of them running after the bike. I vaguely remembered the twins from the attack a month ago with Maggie but I was too scared of falling off the bike to concentrate on that.
When they finally caught up, they managed to swipe the bike so hard it veered. I tightened my grip on the girl and she took a sharp turn to avoid an oncoming truck almost sending us into a wall. The bike came to a stop giving me time to readjust my grip on her.
"You remember what I said before?" She asked firmly staring down at the two alphas that were now walking towards us.
"Hold on?" I questioned worrying that we might not make it out of this but trying desperately to push those thoughts out of my head. Maggie would lose it if I didn't make it back. I couldn't do that to her. She needed me.
"HOLD ON!" She thrusted the shield back down on the helmet before hitting the throttle of the bike. We were now barreling towards the threat at a high speed causing me to hold my breath but before we struck them she hit the brake quickly taking a turn narrowly avoiding the pounce from the alpha. I let out the breath I'd been holding but suddenly felt my heart jump into my throat.
"WHOA!" I yelped looking up just in time to see us flying through a wall of glass. The sudden scare gave me a head rush so bad I started to black out, grip slipping and the girl yelling echoing in my ears. I felt the bike being laid on it's side before rolling towards some empty oil drums. I sat up shaking my head, trying to keep my eyes steady on the twins approaching us once more with even more aggression.
I watched them stripping their shirts off in confusion until one of them crouched to the ground. The other stuck his fist into his twins back but instead of punching a hole through his body it was like he had absorbed the arm itself morphing intoa bigger, fiercer super wolf. I stared at the giant alpha in shock. I didn't even think that was possible but the vibrations from it's feet stomping towards me lit the fire under me. I started to crawl away, unable to get my legs to work properly but it didn't seem fast enough.
"ISAAC! GET DOWN!" I looked back at the girl, seeing her face for the first time clearly as she wielded a huge gun right in my face. I ducked down just before she fired, blasting electric volts into the huge alpha making it separate back into the twins it was made of. The brightness of the flashes caused me to cover my eyes but when I opened them back up, they were both gone.
"I thought I told you to hang on?" She scolded me one last time before I fell back against the pavement, dizzy and exhausted from running for my life. I prayed that the next person to stumble across us was Maggie and not the alphas. I didn't have anymore energy in my body to fight. I let the darkness take over hoping that when I came to, I'd be okay.
I sat up when I felt the bang of doors at my feet and bright lights in my eyes. I was being rushed into Beacon Hills hospital on a stretcher, shirt gone from the paramedics working on me and my arms strapped to the gurney.
"Hey wait a minute, I know this one!" Melissa McCall ran towards me as I glanced back at the gurney behind mine. The smells of the hospital were too overwhelming to know if she was alright or not but I knew she was in worse shape than I was since she was human.
"What happened Isaac?" Melissa tried to keep her voice down. For a second I forgot she actually knew about werewolves.
"You need to call Maggie. Call Maggie so she can help that girl, she's worse off than me." I felt around for my phone knowing that there were few people with the capability to reach Maggie but my phone was missing. It must have fallen out when the bike went down.
"Why aren't you healing?" Melissa questioned lifting the blanket away from the deep gashes in my side causing me to flinch.
"I will! Please just help her!" I shouted as they wheeled me around the corner away from the girl and Ms. McCall. I laid back against the pillow and felt a nurse inject me with something that made me instantly tired.
"F-find...find Maggie." I breathed out before the medication forced my eyes closed and a blanket of darkness took over.
[Scott's POV]
I sat in the chair bouncing with excitement trying to block out all the smells in the tattoo parlor. I had survived summer school and my SAT prep that I decided I wanted to take so I'd be ready for junior year and the initiative swayed my mom into finally signing off on me getting a tattoo. I'd been itching for one the closer school got and I'd finally made it here against Stiles suggestion.
"Dude, how about something like this?" Stiles held up the book of tattoos and I rolled my eyes at his suggestion. The tattoo looked like the kanima and despite all the time that had passed, it was still something I'd prefer never to see or talk about ever again.
"Too soon?" Stiles joked putting the book back down. The tattoo artist, Lou looked at my drawing and started setting up his equipment as my adrenaline pumped through my veins. I honestly felt like I was being rewarded for surviving the summer. I felt accomplished and proud of myself. After all that had happened, rolling into the summer and dealing with the Maggie drama and still being able to get ahead of my school work, I deserved this.
"I don't know about this man. These are pretty permanent. Are you sure this is what you want? I mean why the two bands?" Stiles questioned trying to keep his eyes off of the fresh needles Lou was opening.
"I'm not changing my mind. This is what I want and the two bands is just something I like." It was hard to explain just what the symbol meant to me without upsetting Stiles. To me, it was like coming full circle. Not everything that happens in life that sets you back can destroy you. Sometimes you just have to start over.
"Your first tattoo should kind of mean something Scott." Stiles chuckled at my vagueness.
"Getting a tattoo means something." I tried to defend but Stiles just laughed.
"He's right. Tattooing goes back thousands of years. The Tahitian word tattooa means to leave a mark like a rite of passage." Lou explained as he readied his gun near my arm.
"See! He gets it." I pointed to him and Stiles eyebrows shot up.
"He's literally covered in tattoos, Scott. That's not really objective-" Lou cut Stiles off.
"Are you ready?" He asked ready to get started. I gave him a nod and let out a deep breath.
"You aren't afraid of needles are you?" He questioned before turning the machine on.
"No no I'm good." I made sure not to look at the buzzing of the needles as he brought it to my skin and got started. The sensation wasn't too painful but I definitely felt it.
"I tend to get a little squeamish so..." Stiles looked over at the needles dragging across my skin just as I clenched my eyes shut from the pain but I opened them quickly when I heard the thud of his body hitting the floor of the shop.
"Sorry about him. He doesn't like needles...or blood...or pain really." I apologized to Lou who just shook his head.
"Happens all the time. We'll get him an icepack when we finish up. Best to let his mouth rest for a bit." I chuckled at Lou despite the pain he was inflicting on my skin. It took almost 3 hours for him to finish up and by that time Stiles was up and rubbing the knot out of his head. Something about my arm didn't feel right. I wasn't exactly sure how it was supposed to feel but it didn't feel right.
"Great, now that you've successfully managed to cause me pain indirectly by getting a tattoo...hey are you okay?" Stiles asked seeing me wince looking at the bandage that covered my tattoo.
"It kind of burns." I admitted.
"Yes...you just had your skin stabbed about a hundred thousand times with a needle." He shook his head readjusting the icepack.
"Yeah but I don't think it's supposed to feel like this." Stiles started up the jeep when the sudden sensation of pain increased like my skin was being eaten by fire ants.
"OH! AHH! No it's definitely not supposed to feel like this!" I gritted out making Stiles jump.
"I gotta take this thing off." I started to yank at the bandage, not bothering to listen to Stiles protest about possibly throwing up if he had to see my bloodied arm but the moment the bandaged came off, you could see the ink slowly disappearing. Once the skin was completely clear of any tattoo, the burn went away.
"It...it healed." I whined disappointed.
"God I hated it." Stiles breathed making me look over at him offended. He caught my gaze and frowned.
"Sorry." Stiles pulled away from the parlor and I was defeated. All that work for nothing. It didn't make sense.
"I don't understand. Derek has a tattoo. How come it didn't stick?" I asked confused.
"Derek's tattoo was probably burned in with all his manpain and angry eyebrow brooding. It's just a tattoo, man." Stiles brushed it off and I knew why. Mentioning Derek always made me think of Maggie but we'd agreed a couple months back not to bring up Maggie after finding out she was hiding from us. It had been a rough few weeks after we decided not to search for her but the daily grind made it easier to push it to the back of our minds.
"I can hear you thinking and I'm almost afraid to ask." Stiles broke through my thoughts.
"It's nothing...I just...I wonder if Maggie will be in school tomorrow. She's got to go to school right?" I glanced over at Stiles to see his grip tighten on the steering wheel.
"If we've learned anything from this summer it's that Maggie doesn't have to do anything that she doesn't want to. Be a decent friend, be honest and considerate." Stiles rolled his eyes bitterly. He had managed to keep himself together after his panic attack but I still worried about him. He'd thrown himself into other things while I was busy but I always felt like there was a part of him that was just sad.
"What about Allison? Heard anything from her yet?" Stiles changed the subject.
"No we haven't called or texted all summer, that was the agreement but I don't think she'll be back at school tomorrow. Not after all that happened anyway." I shrugged sadly. I would love to see her, talk to her and ask her how her summer was but thinking too much about it would only bring me down.
"Well I think she is." Stiles chuckled making me look over at him as we stopped at a red light.
"I'd say pretty definite, like 100%." Stiles nodded his head to the car parked next to us and my eyes almost bugged out of my head when I saw that it was Lydia and Allison. Just seeing her smile made my heart slow down. She was just as beautiful as she always was, hair shorter, lighter than the last time I saw her. She looked happy. That was of course until she caught sight of me.
"Oh my God...oh my God!" I freaked out trying to lean back in the seat to disappear. Stiles ignored my freaking out and waved at Lydia.
"Can you just drive please Stiles!" I begged.
"Scott, it's a red light. It's illegal and I'm the Sheriff's son." Stiles shrugged making me glare at him.
"You break the law on a daily basis, probably more than anyone else in town! Please just go!" I pointed out.
"While that it probably true, it is pretty hurtful. Maybe we should just talk to them, you know? Just say something and get it out of the way." Stiles was being serious and I shook my head at him.
"No! Stiles don't!" He leaned across me to roll down the window but even though he disregarded my pleas, Lydia ran the light driving away from us. I let out a sigh of relief but became instantly mortified.
"You know they probably didn't see us." Stiles pulled a face and I shoved him back to his side of the jeep.
"You're the worst kind of friend! God! I never would have done that to you if it were Maggie." I covered my face with my hand trying not to think about the utter fail that just happened.
"Well Scott you'd have to find her first to do that. What's the big deal? Are you two just going to avoid each other?" Stiles pressed on the gas once the light turned green and started down the road. Lydia wasn't too far in front of us and I suddenly panicked.
"What are you doing? They're going to think we're following them!" I freaked.
"Do you see any turns Scott? There's not much I can do." Stiles waved his hand around.
"Well do something!" I raised my voice getting him to look over at me before biting his bottom lip and hitting the breaks hard.
"Happy? Now we look like weirdos, way more than usual." Stiles complained. I noticed that Lydia's car stopped a few feet ahead though. Stiles and I exchanged a look of confusion and I actually wished Maggie was here to tell me what to do. She was always good at explaining strange occurrences like this. Their screams filled the air suddenly and we both jumped out running towards them as they barreled out of the car. I put my hand on Allison's arm and she looked surprised.
"It ran right into us!" She yelled looking at the deer that had busted it's way into the windshield. I'd never seen something so bizarre.
"Are you okay?" I asked looked her over. She let out a heavy breath and nodded.
"I'm okay." She gave a reassure smile and I dropped my hands from her arms. There was a brief moment of silence before Lydia started shrieking.
"I'm not okay! I'm totally freaking out! How the hell does it just run into us!?" Stiles tried to comfort her as I walked around to really get a good look at the deer. The fur on its back was raised and I thought back to something Deaton had told me.
"I can't put my finger on it. I keep thinking back to the night she said goodbye. She was up in arms and distant. I keep thinking about her body language because she never really stood with her shoulders up like she was preparing to fight-" Deaton cut me off.
"You know when animals are scared, the hair on their back tenses up. The scarier the threat, the more tense the coat. Perhaps she was just afraid of telling you what she was doing out of fear of disapproval." Deaton suggest.
"She should know that she doesn't have to be afraid of me." I argued but he put his hand on my shoulder.
"Not scare of you Scott but for you."
"I saw its eyes right before it hit us. It looked…it looked crazy." Lydia rubbed the back of her neck but I shook my head.
"No it was scared." I put my hand on the tensed fur and cringed.
"Actually it was terrified." I took my hand off of the deer and looked back at the darkness of the road. Whatever the deer was running from literally scared it to death. Stiles called his dad and a police officer took Lydia and Allison home. I wanted to stop by the clinic and tell Deaton about what had happened but it was getting too late. I had to be up early for my morning routine which I wanted to continue into the new school year which meant up by 6AM, work out, shower and off to school. Mom was working the late shift so I'd have to get myself up and out like usual but now that I had my new bike, I wouldn't need to catch a ride with Stiles.
When I got home I looked through my phone contacts and stared down at Maggie's name under my favorites. Her voicemail box had been full for quite some time but I decided to send a text on the off chance the phone would somehow be near her.
Text to Mags:
If you find your way home, be careful. Something's up.
I put my phone on charge and tried to get some sleep in spite of all the thing's running around in my head.
[Stiles POV]
I had gotten up early and started researching some statistics on animal collisions across the United States. Last night had peaked my curiosity more than anything has in a while. Animals didn't just run head on into cars. They were usually hit crossing the road. Drivers are supposed to hit animals, not the other way around. I could hear my dad roaming around the house and calling up the steps to me but I was too engulfed in what I was reading to answer him until he'd come to the doorway.
"Do you know how many vehicle collisions last year involved deer? 247,000!" I informed him making him let out a sigh.
"Oh God please go to school." Dad groaned but I just waved him off.
"That's just deer crossing the road. This one came right up the middle." I kept typing trying to dig for more logical answers considering I couldn't just tell my dad that something supernatural was probably brewing.
"Come on, I'm not going to beg you." He walked into the room and I snorted.
"Good I'm impervious to your influence anyway." I shrugged.
"Would you consider a bribe?" He inquired.
"Couldn't meet my price." I still didn't bother to stop what I was doing. He'd give up eventually.
"Extortion?" He tried making me laugh. If only he knew what was really going on in Beacon Hills.
"You've got nothing on me." Dad and I had worked through the tension that was caused by Matt's attack. I think it mostly got better because of how Maggie pretty much decided she was going to pull a disappearing act on me but I didn't care. I'm glad I was able to talk to my dad again without feeling like the worst son on the planet. There was still room for improvement but I'd take what I could get.
"Is this about Maggie? Are you dragging your feet because you think she'll be there today?" My fingers stopped typing immediately. Much like Scott and I, my dad agreed not to bring Maggie up for the rest of the summer. After my episode in his office, I decided that it would be best to try and block all things Maggie out of my head for my own sanity's sake. I couldn't think about where she was. I couldn't think about what she was doing or who she was with because just knowing that she was okay with having us worried about her pissed me off to no end. I also couldn't think about it for too long without realizing that I told her I was in love with her before she took off and it didn't seem to matter.
"I thought we had a deal?" I breathed closing my eyes in frustration.
"Summers over kiddo. You two are going to have to face each other eventually." I looked back at my dad who held that familiar frown. The same frown that he held when I told him I didn't want him to tell me if Maggie contacted him again. The same frown that I got whenever we ran into Nathan in the grocery store. I hated that frown. It was like a pity frown.
"Really? Because you know for a fact that she'll be back at school? It's been 4 months Dad. Radio silence." I reminded him but he just shook his head.
"I just don't want you to go back to how you were when she first came home. That was a really hard time for you and I don't want to see you like that again. You've managed to get through the summer, maybe you should let her explain-" I cut my dad off, unable to hear his speech.
"I told her I was falling for her dad. She knew how I felt and she took off anyway. Whatever happens now is on her. It's not like before. I could never hate Maggie. All of this would be so much easier if I could but I can't. All I can do is keep going, you know?" Dad gave me that same frown again and I spun around in my chair unwilling to look at it for any longer.
"Can we focus on what's important here? Like how the animals of Beacon Hills could be in an uproar that we are ridiculously unprepared for?" I gestured to my computer screen before continuing my search.
"Alright, that's it." I felt my chair being pulled backwards as I struggled to keep my fingers typing but Dad managed to flip me out of my desk chair.
"Police brutality? That's the angle you decided on? You're becoming a statistic, Dad." I looked up from the floor rubbing my elbow as he extended his hand to help me up.
"You're tough, Son. I think you'll be just fine. Now get your butt to school and stay out of trouble. Let's try something different this year, like attending classes and not torturing the staff." Dad gave me a push towards the door and I rolled my eyes. I made no promises for any of that, especially considering I would probably have to beg, borrow and steal just to make sure I got through the track team crap in order to make the team in the spring.
I pulled into the parking lot at school and noticed it seemed busier than usual. New freshman, old faces but I was only worried about finding Scott. He managed to find me first and started rambling about a set of bikes in the lot that were better than his dirt bike.
"Scott let's be real here, dirt bikes aren't really up on the list of super cool things. I mean I know some huffy's that are cooler than a dirt bike." Scott glared at me as we walked up the huge set of stairs.
"So I was thinking of texting Derek for help." I knew Scott was merely using words to get back at me for calling his bike lame but I was still unamused by his tact.
"You want to ask Derek for help? Why? Why would anyone ever ask Derek Hale for help with anything? Unless you want tips on eyebrow maintenance or how to brood in a leather jacket." I mocked as we walked through the hallway.
"He's got the triskele tattoo on his back so he obviously knows a way I can get my tattoo to stay without it healing." Scott pointed out. I remembered the tattoo from when I got stuck with him in my room with Danny. I wondered briefly how a tattoo would stick to a born wolf but never bothered asking.
"Yeah but don't you think his hands might be a little full?" I gestured to the missing posters with Erica and Boyd's faces on them. I had asked Maggie in one of my postcards if she knew where they might be but after the whole debacle, I suspected the cards weren't even coming from her to begin with so it was pretty much pointless.
"Maybe he knows where they are. Maybe they're with-" I put my hand up stopping Scott and he let out a sigh. I didn't have to say anything though, we both got distracted by the sounds coming from the principal's office. After Gerard, we'd basically gotten the original staff back but it was apparent that he left some unusual things behind.
"What the hell is this?" We watched him pull a large sword from under the desk to show his secretary and I shoved Scott down the hallway.
"Don't make eye contact. Stay off their radar." I muttered keeping my head down. I pulled Scott into the English classroom and sat down near the back. Scott didn't sit down next to me though. He sat closer to the front which meant I had to get up and move which I groaned about letting him know I was still not completely happy with his pro-school attitude. I mean I was proud of the guy for stepping up but school was still school.
I watched people enter the classroom and tried not be anxious about every dark haired girl that came through the door. I hated that I'd gotten so good at pushing my anxieties away that just hearing her name brought me right back to where I'd started at the beginning of the summer. Lydia and Allison walked into the classroom and looked for empty seats. Lydia surprisingly sat next to me but Allison was sort of forced into the seat in front of Scott.
"Is this for Maggie?" She asked quietly.
"Uh no no way. She's gone. I mean she's not gone-gone, actually I'm not sure but that seat is totally available." Scott rambled pathetically as I watched in horror. She sat down awkwardly and Scott looked at me for assurance which I was unable to give without a sarcastic thumbs up.
"Maggie's not back yet?" Lydia asked making me look over at her.
"How did you know she was gone?" I questioned unaware that she was even privy to Maggie leaving.
"She was the one who helped Derek teach Jackson the wolfie way. She mentioned a vacation." I was baffled by that information. I had no idea she had a hand in all that.
"Did she tell you where she was going or what she was doing?" I asked curiously earning a strange look from Lydia.
"Why are you asking me?" Lydia countered.
"Because she didn't tell any of us. She just sort of took off. We haven't talked to her in months." Lydia looked at me with a slight frown, that same frown my dad always gave me. I quickly cleared my throat.
"That's not true, Nathan's talked to her and according to him she's fine and dandy. She just doesn't want to talk to us." I explained further.
"I'm sorry to hear that. I'm sure she has a good explanation." Lydia couldn't even look at me when she said it.
"Yeah...she always does." I rolled my eyes as I said it wanting to press more into whatever Lydia seemed to know but before I could, my phone vibrated in my pocket along with everyone else's in the room.
"Well that's very pretty little liars." I muttered earning a look from Allison and Lydia.
"Not that I watch that…I'm just-"
"The offing was barred by a black bank of clouds and the tranquil waterway leading to the uttermost ends of the earth flowed somber under an overcast sky, seemed to lead into the heart of an immense darkness." A woman with dark hair and ruffled blouse walked in reciting the text message that read on my phone.
"This is the last line of the first book we are going to read. It is also the last text you will receive in this class. Phones off everyone." She smiled at the room as she wrote her name on the board and I put my phone back in my pocket. There was no way I would ever turn my phone off completely. My dad was a police officer. I was worry prone. The last bell finally rang and she closed the door making me take a deep breath.
Maggie wasn't coming back to school.
[Isaac's POV]
I came to with the burning sensation in my side still very much taking over my body but when I tried to get up, my legs refused to work.
"Whoa! Back in bed!" Melissa came back in, shutting the door and helping me into the bed.
"I need my clothes-" I started to scramble but she put her hands up.
"You can't leave like this Isaac. You're still in bad shape and you're scheduled for surgery, which is going to be pretty hard to explain." She peeled away the bandage on my side and looked at the wound.
"It's visibly healing but there's not much I can do." I looked at the people moving around outside the door and felt dread settling him.
"Isn't there something you can do? Anything at all? I mean I don't need surgery, obviously." I pointed out but she shook her head like she was unsure of having me move around with my side looking as bad as it looked.
"It doesn't hurt that bad." I tried to put her mind at ease.
"Well it looks horrible." She rolled her eyes.
"Maggie will fix it. I'll be fine. I just need to get out of here." It took me a second to realize I had slipped up again mentioning Maggie and I wasn't getting away with it this time as she stared at me stunned.
"You mentioned Maggie earlier but I thought it was because of blood loss. Do you know where she's been?" Melissa asked holding my gaze but I felt like looking into her eyes would only make me look like a liar.
"Yeah I know and she's safe." That was the blanket story we were supposed to tell but I could see by the look on her face that she had already been told by someone else and she wasn't having it anymore.
"You know what? If you want me to help you with all this, you're going to have to give me more than that." She clicked her tongue to her teeth and waved her hands over my body. I let out a sigh and knew Maggie was going to be pissed but I was out of options. I had no way of contacting her or Derek and if I didn't hurry up and get out of here, I was going under the knife.
"I know Maggie's safe because she's been with me all summer." I said slowly watching her eyebrow's go up.
"Been with you where?" Melissa pressed making me look up at her.
"Here…in Beacon Hills…she never really left." Melissa's jaw dropped at the new information and glanced towards the door at the sounds of people arguing. I could hear that it was the Sheriff but the smells were all too hard to pinpoint in the hospital to see who he was arguing with.
"Have you tried calling Derek?" I broke through her silent battle with her thoughts and she shook her head.
"I've tried like 5 times. Do you have any other emergency werewolf contacts that pick up their phones or aren't in hiding?" She questioned almost bitterly.
"Yeah…call Scott." I watched her face freeze. I'd definitely catch a beating from Maggie for involving Scott but I was desperate. I needed help and there was no way I was going to be able to do this one on my own.
"I'm sorry that I have to ask…really I am but he's the only one-" She put her hand on my shoulder.
"I'll call him but you're going to tell him about Maggie. He deserves the truth." I put my weight back on the bed and watched Melissa walk out of the room, shutting the door behind her. I looked around the room and felt helpless. We'd been in some tight situations this summer but none that left me alone without a way to get ahold of anyone. Certainly not this close to the people we were trying to hide from. Scott was probably going to level me, if Maggie didn't get to me first.
I started to doze off for a few moments but when I let my eyes blink open slowly, I saw Maggie standing over me.
"M-Maggie? We've got…we've got to get out of here." I felt my eyes growing heavier and heavier by the second.
"Silly boy, I'm not Maggie but we'll find her after we take care of you." I used all my strength to keep my eyes open and really stare at the woman's face knowing it was not truly Maggie. I glanced down at her feet and felt my heart jump into my throat.
"Count with me now…one…two…three." I watched Kali's eyes go red and her claws extend as my eyes rolled back in my head again sending me back into darkness as my heartbeat pumped a mile a minute. My time had finally run out.
[Scott's POV]
After completely making an ass of myself in front of Allison, I decided that I needed to try and shake it off and just focus on what I promised myself I would. School. I started copying the notes on the board that Ms. Blake instructed us to copy when Allison's arm twisted backwards holding out a slip of paper. I glanced at Ms. Blake before taking the note and opening it up. I was surprised that it said she wanted to talk to me. I mean the two times I've seen her since she's been back were either embarrassing or chaotic. I really wanted to talk to her, ask her how her summer was and see how she was doing. I knew it would be insensitive of me to ask about us considering what happened with her mom but I knew we had to talk about that eventually. I just hoped it was what she wanted to talk about too.
"Mr. McCall? Gather your things please." I quickly put my hand over the note assuming I was busted but Ms. Blake gestured for me to come to the front of the class. Stiles gave me a confused look before I followed Ms. Blake out into the hallway.
"I'm sure it's an emergency if your mother says you need to leave school but I'm going to give you a warning in the nicest possible way. I'm well aware of your attendance record and I don't want to see you slip back into old habits." Ms. Blake seemed nice enough. Most teachers wouldn't care about their students that much but she genuinely seemed concerned about my education.
"I won't. It's going to be different this year." I reassured her.
"Resolutions are only good if you stick with them, Scott." She didn't seem to believe me.
"I will. I promise I won't be ephemeral." I smiled at her proud of myself for using my word of the day on someone other than my mom or Deaton. I turned my phone back on and immediately called my mom.
"Scott? Are you on your way?" She sounded upset.
"Yeah what's wrong?" I asked picking up my pace as I ran out into the parking lot.
"Isaac's here. He was in a really bad accident and I can't get ahold of Derek." I jumped on my bike and situated my backpack on the back.
"I'm on my way." I hung up the phone and kicked the bike started. I tried not to speed the whole way to the hospital but something about my mom's voice made me anxious. What the hell could have happened to Isaac? Where had he been all summer anyway and why wasn't Derek keeping track of his beta? I parked in the lot and my mom was standing at the front doors.
"How bad is he?" I asked putting my hand on her arm but she nodded her head.
"He's healing but slowly. He needs to get out of here before they try to operate on him but he came in with another girl who we can't seem to identify and she's also looking for Derek." We started down the hallway and I tried to stay focused on everything mom was telling me.
"Scott, Isaac said he's been with Maggie all summer." I froze before we got to the elevator at the mention of Maggie's name.
"What? What do you mean? Is she here?" My mom frowned at me.
"No sweetheart she's not here but he said she never left Beacon Hills." I was trying to comprehend what my mom was saying but it was impossible to believe that Maggie had been here this whole time.
"I wasn't sure if I should tell you because of all the progress you've made this summer. I know it was hard for you and Stiles when you found out she was gone and whatever Maggie's been doing seems to be pretty dangerous considering the condition Isaac showed up here in. I just want you to be careful." I put my hands on my mom's shoulders and she let out a heavy breath.
"Nothing is going to change. This year I'm going to be a better everything. A better son, a better student, a better friend. I promise you that all my hard work won't be in vain. I'll get Isaac out of here and I'll figured out where Maggie's been. Stiles will let me borrow his notes." I explained seeing the tension leave her body.
"Okay, he's in room 215. If you hurry then you should catch him before surgery." I kissed mom's forehead before running towards the elevator. I jumped in and hit the button for the second floor but before the doors could close a walking cane stopped the doors from shutting.
"Can you hit the button for the second floor please?" A blind man walked into the elevator and stood behind me. Despite the button already being lit up, I hit it again just so he would hear that I'd hit it for him. When the doors finally opened on the second floor, the man put his hand on my shoulder.
"You wouldn't mind helping me out for a second, would you?" I couldn't really blow the guy off. He was blind after all.
"Yeah sure." I led him slowly down the hallway, realizing all the time I was wasting by doing a good deed but the moment I dropped him where he needed to be dropped, I took off in the opposite direction trying to find Isaac's scent. He wasn't in the room that smelled the strongest but the scent didn't stop. I followed the trail and watched him being wheeled into the elevator by a tall, bald guy who smirked at me. I immediately picked up the guys scent and knew he was a werewolf. I saw Isaac was slumped over, non-responsive in the wheelchair and let out a low growl.
He laughed at me as if I wasn't going to challenge him but when I started sprinting towards the closing elevator doors he let out a growl of his own. I jumped into the elevator just before the doors could close and got to my feet quickly. When I looked at the man now, I could see that he was an alpha. He wasted no time in tossing me against the wall of the elevator hard making Isaac's chair drift to the corner of the elevator. Every time I tried to fight back, he got the jump on me, throwing me from one side to the other.
"When will you pathetic little wolves learn?" He snarled at me before chucking me into the light fixture above.
"Looks like you'll learn the hard way just like the little Hale wolf." My eyes went wide when he mentioned Maggie. He picked me up by my throat and held me about 2 feet off the ground.
"You're dealing with an alpha." I tried to take in air but it was impossible with his grip. The doors to the elevator opened and he suddenly let go of me.
"So am I." Derek appeared practically out of thin air, tossing the alpha out of the elevator and making him slide down the hallway. Derek looked down at me extending his hand.
"Aren't you supposed to be in school?" He asked as I let out a relieved sigh.
"Who the hell was that and what the hell is going on?" I asked letting Derek hoist me to my feet.
"There's no time for that. I need you to help me get him out of here." Derek hit the button for the garage of the hospital and I watched the doors close on the alpha has he glanced back at us. I followed along behind Derek as he picked Isaac up out of the chair and carried him towards a new SUV.
"This is yours?" I questioned as he got Isaac into the backseat. I opened the door on the other side to help pull him in.
"Yeah, Maggie has the car." He said not even looking at me. I thought for a second about letting him take off with Isaac but I had to know what was going on. I had to find out what he knew about Maggie. I jumped in the passenger seat and gave him a look that he didn't question as he took off towards the preserve. I helped him get Isaac inside the dusty, condemned house and settling him on a table that wasn't there the last time I'd been in the house. I looked around and actually noticed quite a few things that had changed as Derek moved things around.
"You don't still live here, do you?" I questioned as he knelt to the floor and started pulling up floor boards.
"No the county took it over but there's something here she'll need to help heal the wound of an alpha." Derek kept his eyes down as he rummaged through whatever rested below the charred wood.
"She…you said she." Derek looked up at me for a moment.
"The alpha in the elevator, he said I'd learn the hard way like the little Hale wolf." Derek let out a sigh and I stepped closer to him hovering.
"You've been with her this whole time while we were freaking out, worried to death that something bad was happening to her. Is she alright? Where is she now? Who was that alpha and what did he do to her?" Derek finally stopped what he was doing to look at me.
"You're asking me questions that I know you already know I can't answer. The alpha is from a rival pack and I'm handling it. I know you want to help and you already did. I owe you one but as far as Maggie is concerned, as far as this pack is concerned…it's my problem. Go home and be a teenager." Derek stood up on his feet and walked towards the table to spread out what he'd retrieved.
"Fine. You won't talk about Maggie and you won't tell me about what's going on but can I at least cash in that favor from you?" I figured if I could get Derek sitting down and worried about something other than Isaac and the current threat, I might be able to talk him into letting me know what's really going on with Maggie.
[Stiles POV]
I waited for Scott to text me for the longest time about why he was pulled out of class but he never texted back. I caught sight of a bandage on Lydia's ankle.
"Hey…did you get that in the accident?" I gestured to her leg and she rolled her eyes.
"No Prada bit me." I felt my jaw slack.
"Your dog?" I said in disbelief. Why would her dog bite her? She's had that dog for ages. Dogs don't just suddenly forget their owners and bite them.
"No my designer handbag. Yes of course my dog." She rolled her eyes at me.
"Has he ever done that before?" She nodded at me but didn't hold eye contact.
"Okay then maybe this is a pattern? You know how like animals start to act weird right before an earthquake or something?" I pointed out. It couldn't be a coincidence. The summer was too quiet. Not one peep out of supernatural land and now suddenly there are suicidal deer's and dogs are biting their owners.
"So what? An earthquake is coming?" Lydia shook her head clearly doing the probability silently.
"Or something. Maybe it means something's coming, something bad." My phone lit up on my desk and I glanced up at Ms. Blake who was writing on the board.
"It was a deer and a dog." Lydia said as I looked at the message on my phone.
Text from Unknown Number:
Keep your head down. Protect Lydia.
I pinned my eyebrows together, confused by the text. Who would send me a text like that from an unknown number? I looked around the room and everyone else had their head in their notes.
"What is that thing you say about three's? Once, twice-" Lydia was cut off by the sound of a bird slamming into the window. We all looked over towards the impact where a blood stain and a crack were all that was left of a kamikaze bird. I looked down at my phone reading the message over again and jumped when another bird slammed into the window making Ms. Blake jump backwards.
Suddenly the birds started breaking through the glass like a scene ripped straight out of the Hitchcock film. Students scrambled and I winced when a bird clawed my forehead. I remembered the text as Ms. Blake screamed for everyone to get down. Screams and the sound of flapping wings filled the small classroom as people tried to fight birds out of their hair and clothes. I looked over to Lydia who was on her knees panicking. I shoved the desk out of the way and shielding her from the birds, letting her take cover under the desk and my body. Lydia's whole body shook beneath mine and I kept batting birds away with my free arm.
It felt like the attack lasted a few seconds before we all slowly started to get to our feet to see the room in complete disarray, dead birds everywhere and people with cuts all over their bodies.
"Are you okay?" I looked at Lydia as she stood up and she nodded her head looking around the room. I glanced over my shoulder as Allison got to her feet and saw that she had a cut on her hand.
"You're bleeding." I pointed out and she pointed back at me.
"So are you. Is she okay?" Allison looked past me towards Lydia and I nodded. I tried calling Scott but he still hadn't answered his phone yet and by the time my dad arrived with some of his officers, they were releasing kids to go home. Ms. Blake was thoroughly shaken by her first class but she was maintaining. I almost felt like I needed to say welcome to Beacon Hills where strange, supernatural occurrences is the norm.
"Mr. Argent, you wouldn't have any insight to this would you?" Dad walked up to Chris Argent as he spoke privately with Allison.
"Me?" He seemed surprised by my dad's question. I was surprised by my dad's random question so I could understand his confusion.
"Yeah all this bizarre animal behavior…you must have seen something like this before, right?" Dad pressed on making Chris look over at Allison.
"I'm not sure why I would or why you'd think I would?" He chuckled trying to understand where my dad was coming from.
"I'm sorry I could have sworn I overheard my son talking about how you were an experienced hunter." My eyes went wide when Chris Argent looked over at me and I instantly went back to checking my phone wishing for the power of invisibility.
"Right. Not anymore, sorry." Chris Argent was no longer a hunter. That was new information. Information I'd have liked to obtain without my dad throwing me under the bus but obtained nonetheless. Dad checked on Allison before heading for the door. I followed him out and he rubbed his temples.
"I want you home. Whatever's going on with the animals around here is bizarre enough without you getting caught in it." Dad pointed his finger at me.
"What are you going to do?" I asked curiously. There wasn't much my dad could actually do as the Sheriff. I mean this is mother nature we're talking about. He couldn't slap some handcuffs on her.
"I'm going to the animal clinic to see if Dr. Deaton has any answers for me. Get home and stay inside." Dad took off once more and I finally got Scott on the phone as I walked out to the jeep.
"Finally I've been trying to reach you! We've got a serious problem at school. Ms. Blake's-" Scott cut me off.
"Can you tell me about it later?" Scott seemed preoccupied.
"Um nope I'm pretty sure this qualifies for immediate discussion." I said firmly. I could hear Scott let out a sigh like he was in the middle of something.
"I'm at Derek's. Meet us here." Scott said quickly before hanging up before I could ask him what the hell he was doing at Derek's. I hadn't seen Derek since the night things went down with Jackson and Gerard. He'd managed to successfully avoid all of us all summer as well. He apparently didn't know how to answer a text either judging by all the times I sent him one asking about Maggie with no response.
I hit my steering wheel frustrated with myself. I was off to a terrible start with the whole blocking Maggie out thing. It seemed like my brain was determined to keep her in there, even as I pulled up to the charred house. I hated coming here. I hated what it made me think of. I walked through the door to see Isaac in a hospital gown passed out and lying on a table and Scott sat in front of Derek.
"I'm not even sure I want to know what's going on." I waved my hands between them and the unconscious Isaac.
"Derek agreed to help me with my tattoo after I got him out of bind." I watched Scott give Derek a strange look as he narrowed his eyes on Scott's arm.
"A bind that ended with Isaac wearing a dress and being knocked out? I mean not that I have a problem with that. I like him silent as opposed to annoying me with every word that falls out of his mouth." I moved towards the two of them.
"I can see you haven't changed much in the last few months." Derek held out his hand towards Scott and he lifted his arm so he could grab it. I rolled my eyes at Derek's snide comment and moved behind him as he surveyed Scott's arm.
"Yeah I can see it. Two bands right? What does it mean?" Derek asked making Scott sit back on the crate he was sitting on.
"I don't know. It's just something I trace with my fingers. I can't get it out of my head." Scott explained making as much sense now as he did at the parlor.
"Why is this so important to you?" Derek pressed much like I had.
"Do you know what the word tattoo means?" Scott asked making me snort.
"To mark something." I answered giving Derek a wink. He didn't acknowledge my answer but Scott shook his head.
"That's in Tahitian. In Samoan it means open wound." My eyebrows went up in surprise at Scott's random fact. I didn't know he'd actually researched into tattoos up to this point. I thought it was more of an impulse buy.
"The night that Maggie left, I could tell something was off. Not because she rushed a goodbye or because she told me not to keep in touch but because of what she said when she showed up. She said that when you fall in love, you open yourself up to someone. You give them the ability to completely break you down in the worst way possible and sometimes love just isn't enough. Sometimes all you're left with is an open wound. All you can do is learn to deal with the aches and pains and keep moving forward." I swallowed the lump that had been growing in my throat the moment he mentioned Maggie.
"I always knew I wanted to get a tattoo when I turned 18 but I decided I wanted to get it now as a reward for not calling or texting Allison all summer. Even when I really wanted to. Even when it was so hard not to, especially without having Maggie around to talk to. I was just trying to give her the space she wanted. The space they both wanted. I know why Allison wanted space, I get it. I just…I don't know why Maggie wanted space too." Scott let out a sigh and leaned forward, putting his elbows on his knees.
"Four months later and it all still hurts. It feels like-"
"Like an open wound." I finished his sentence making him look up at me.
"Why didn't you ever tell me she said that?" I asked seeing him shrug his shoulders.
"You were already going through losing her again, I didn't think it would do you any good to hear that when you were already feeling it." Scott explained. Derek finally glanced over at me recognizing what Scott had just said before pulling something out of a box next to his leg.
"The pains going to be worst than anything you've ever felt." Derek said with a straight face like a true sadist.
"Do it." Scott took a deep breath as Derek lit a blow torch.
"Oh wow…nope. I'm out. I'll be outside playing angry bird-" Derek reached back and grabbed my shirt.
"You can hold him down." Derek shoved me back to where I was standing and I tripped over a root that was on the floor before getting behind Scott and placing my hands on his shoulders.
"Oh my God." I mumbled the closer Derek got with the torch. The moment it made contact with Scott's skin, he started freaking out.
"HOLD HIM DOWN!" Derek yelled at me over Scott's screams. I pressed down harder on his shoulders but Scott was a freaking werewolf. There was only so much I could do as his skin was being burned through. After a few moments of trying to grit my way through Scott's screams, his body went slack and he passed out.
"He'll be okay." Derek finished burning the skin of Scott's arm and put the torch down. I admired the black ink that now adorned Scott's bicep and had a new respect for it after hearing what he'd said earlier. Scott deserved it. I admired the restraint he had with giving Allison her distance this summer. I actually felt a bit ashamed in myself for having slipped so many times with trying to contact Maggie. I looked over at Derek as he sorted through some things in a box on his lap. I watched him walk over to check on Isaac and he glanced at his watch like he was waiting for something.
"So I guess asking you how Maggie's been would be stupid." I finally broke the silence that had filled the room.
"Why would it be stupid?" Derek shrugged like it was stupid for me to mention her and not actually ask.
"Because I'm not a complete idiot. If Nathan knows where she's been then so do you and I'm sure you'll just give me the blanket statement like he did." Derek turned around to face me.
"She's doing the best she can." I felt my body tense. Doing the best she could was hardly fine. Nathan had been saying she was fine and that she was safe but Derek had basically just shattered that illusion.
"What's that supposed to mean? I thought she was doing fine?" I took a step towards Derek and he pursed his lips like he knew he'd already said too much.
"She's been through a lot these past few months." Derek dismissed as he walked towards me to put the torch away.
"We've all been through a lot." I said throwing my arms out but this time Derek stopped what he was doing and looked over at me with a pained expression.
"I guess I didn't realize how important you two were to her life until you weren't there to help her through." I held Derek's gaze for a few moments before Scott shot awake and started breathing heavy. He grabbed his arm and smiled at the two bands that decorated the skin now.
"It worked." Scott ran his fingers across the bands and Derek looked away from me.
"How do you feel?" I cleared my throat handing Scott his shirt. He pulled it over his head and moved his sleeve up to look at the tattoo some more.
"I feel surprisingly good." Scott looked over at me and I tucked my hands in my pockets.
"It looks pretty damn permanent now." We started for the door, leaving Derek back in the room with Isaac.
"Maybe we need something permanent right now." I laughed at Scott.
"I'm not getting a tattoo Scotty but it's a nice thought." I hit his chest but he shook his head.
"No I mean about the other stuff. Everything that's happened the past few months. Everything just changes so fast. Everything's been so ephemeral." I stopped and looked at Scott impressed.
"Studying for the PSAT's?" I questioned proudly.
"Yup." Scott opened the front door and I glanced back at Derek watching him look at his phone. Before Scott could walk out of the door, he stopped to stare at it.
"You painted the door…why'd you paint the door?" Scott looked back at Derek who stepped away from Isaac.
"Go home Scott." Derek's face was pleading but Scott just turned his attention back to the door. Scott flicked his wrist and let his claws come out enough to scrap away some of the red paint to see there was a black mark underneath.
"What the-" I tried to focus my eyes on the imagine underneath the paint as Scott started to tear the layer of paint away, slash by slash.
"Scott!" Derek galloped towards us and stopped when he saw just how exposed the foreign symbol was.
"You said there were birds at school right?" Scott looked over at me and I nodded.
"The deer the other night was just like the deer that freaked out in the woods the night I got bit by the alpha…how many are there?" Scott asked Derek who let out a heavy sigh.
"A pack of them…" I ran my hand down my face. A new school year had just started and there was already a new big bad.
"An alpha pack." Derek added.
"Wait what? How is that even possible?" I questioned knowing the basic structure of a pack was made of one alpha and at least 3 betas.
"They have a leader. His name is Deucalion. We know they have Erica and Boyd. We've been trying to find them for the last four months." Scott stepped up towards Derek.
"We who?" I looked from Scott to Derek waiting for the answer but the sound of a rickety door being pried open came from the back of the rotting house.
"Who is it?" I stepped up behind Scott hoping he could tell me if there was a threat about to emerge.
"I can't get a scent on them." Scott whispered over his shoulder as Derek let his gaze drop to the floor.
"You can't get a scent on me because I won't let you." I felt my entire body tense up as the voice came into view around the corner. She stopped short as her boots made the floor boards beneath her feet creak, dark jeans and a dark tank clung to her body as she crossed her arms over her chest.
"Maggie…" Scott said her name in disbelief and she merely nodded her head as a confirmation. After months of radio silence, many embarrassing voicemails and a drunken confession to her bedroom, there she stood. She almost looked taller, more built and somehow darker. Her hair, her skin, her eyes. Everything seemed different. Her eyes flicked to mine and wavered slightly. It was hard to stare at her without feeling the pull in my stomach. I wanted to scream, I wanted to hug her but I couldn't move. I couldn't even say anything.
"Maggie-" Derek breathed but Maggie cut her eyes away from me to put her hand up at Derek.
"Don't. You've said plenty already." She glared at Derek like if she could, she'd knock his head clean off his shoulders.
"What the hell is going on?" Scott moved towards Maggie but she backed away quickly making Scott stop.
"I appreciate that you want to help but we've got it under control. Thank you." Maggie tipped her chin down at Scott showing gratitude before walking towards Isaac as he started to sit up.
"Where is she? Where's the girl?" He said groggily. Maggie ran over and put her hand on his bare chest.
"What girl? Who is he talking about?" Derek walked towards them.
"I called for backup when we got separated. I'll find her but first we need to get him home. I can't work on him here." Maggie pulled the blanket up around Isaac's shoulders and he leaned into her neck. The way she touched him made my jaw clench.
"Maggie, wait a damn second." Scott finally moved close enough towards her for her to actually stop what she was doing and look at him.
"Can you please just talk to us? You've managed to keep us in the dark for months and now that you're back-" Maggie cut him off.
"I'm not back. I never left." Maggie raised her voice.
"What?" I finally spoke up and all three of them looked back at me. I felt my neck heat up from anger but I knew that there was so many things on the tip of my tongue that nothing would come out right.
"Look I can't stand here and catch up with you right now. Isaac is hurt and I'm the only one that's going to be able to make sure he gets healed as quickly as possible. We've been doing just fine on our own so please just stay out of it and let us handle it." Maggie kept her eyes on Scott as he stood with his jaw slack. Derek picked Isaac up and she helped carry him out to the car without another word. Scott turned around and looked at me stunned. Just as quickly as she appeared, she was gone again.
Scott and I stood rooted in the shambles of the Hale home for almost 10 minutes before I snapped out of it. He followed me to the jeep and I drove him home in silence trying to process what had just happened. Maggie was alive and well and apparently hadn't left Beacon Hills. She was wandering around town with Isaac and Derek doing who knows what while I went through a complete meltdown. I walked into Scott's house still fuming, feeling Scott's eyes on me, watching me carefully like he was waiting for me to erupt but I just shook my head.
"At least we know she's safe. I mean that's a plus right?" Scott finally broke through the silence.
"Safe with Derek? When has anyone ever been safe with Derek? Somethings off with her. I can't put my finger on it but she's not the same Maggie we knew four months ago. She's hiding something." The way she moved to help Isaac made me fume. They had clearly gotten closer over the summer but how close was something I wasn't sure I wanted to know.
"So what are we going to do about it?" I looked over at Scott. I kept thinking of what dad had said about not going back to the same angry, bitter version of myself that I was when Maggie had come back the first time. I didn't want to be that guy again. I didn't want to hold onto that anger but there was no denying the hurt that threatened to poison my system with anger.
"Nothing. She put us in the dark for four months. She obviously doesn't want us to a part of whatever the hell she's gotten herself in so why bother?" I shrugged my shoulders but Scott let out a sigh.
"The guy I fought at the hospital was an alpha, Stiles. A really big, pissed off alpha that apparently had already had one run in with Maggie before. What if whatever is going on is something really dangerous? What if it gets her killed?" I met Scott's eyes this time and knew that he was seriously worried that this threat could actually be capable of killing Maggie. I pinched the bridge of my nose before clasping my hands together. I had no idea what the hell to do now. What I was supposed to feel or what I was even supposed to do about it. Maggie was back and somehow we were both still incredibly lost.