Season of the Witch
Chapter One / Bite Mark
She was having a rather odd dream, one involving a teacup, Alice in Wonderland and her cousin Rachel, so maybe she could have been pleased with the interruption.
Wren let out a loud snore as she came back to reality, before realising that it was her phone. She scrambled to reach it, knocking it off the bedside table. "Oh you have got to be kidding." She groaned, searching the ground for it, before finally finding it and answering.
"What?" Wren snapped
"Well aren't you a ray of sunshine." She let out a loud groan at the sound of Stiles Stilinski's voice.
"Oh my God Stilinski, what do you want?" She snapped, not too pleased about being woken up. You see, Wren really likes her sleep. Scott, at Stiles' side, laughed loudly.
"Well, I heard my dad's going out into the preserve. Someone found a dead body. Scott and I are going to try and find it." He explained. Wren groaned. Did he seriously wake her up for this?
"And?" She asked.
"Want to come with?" He asked.
"Why?"
"Because they only found half of the body! Scott and I are going to find the other half." Silence. "Come on Wrenny, you and Scott always complain that nothing happens in this town! Now we have the chance to find half of a freaking body!" He said excitedly.
"Why are you so happy about this?" She sighed. He did have a point. Beacon Hills was a quiet town, something exciting rarely happened. Her father loved that, mainly because it meant she wouldn't get into too much trouble. Well, that's what he hoped anyway. "Give me five minutes and promise to never call me Wrenny ever again. Okay?"
"Good! See ya!" He hung up and she scrambled out of bed, one foot on her favourite black jacket, the other on a discarded Gotham City Sirens comic. I'm going to regret this, aren't I? She thought, while pulling on black leggings. Ah, fuck it.
Wren climbed out of the car, letting out a content sigh as her feet hit the ground. "Are we seriously doing this?" Scott asked.
She pulled up my hood, shivering at the cold. "It had to be the preserve didn't it? Couldn't have been a nice, warm shopping mall that doesn't give me the creeps."
"Oh come on, I'll remind you two that you both always bitch about how nothing ever happens in this town. And if you're too cold Wren then why don't you just sit in the car?" Stiles asked, smirking slightly. Wren narrowed my eyes at him. There was no way in hell that she would stay in the car after coming all the way out here. "I thought so." Stiles added.
"I just wanted to get a good sleep before practice tomorrow." Scott explained.
"Yeah, because sitting on the bench is such a growing effort." Stiles replied. Her cousin wasn't the greatest at lacrosse. She was pretty certain that he would end up on the bench again for ninety percent of the year again.
"No, because I'm playing this year! In fact, I'm making first line!" He said.
"A boy can dream." Wren said, letting out a laugh as Scott elbowed her side and grabbing his arm as she tripped over yet another rock.
"Yep, even a pathetically unrealistic one!" Stiles added.
"Just out of curiosity, which half of the body are we looking for?" Scott asked.
Stiles stopped for a moment. "Huh," Oh no. "I didn't even think about that!" Wren groaned loudly. Fantastic.
"And uh, what if whoever killed the body is still out there?" She groaned even louder. Well, this night had just gone slightly downhill.
"We're all going to die, aren't we?" Wren said.
"We are not going to die!" Stiles exclaimed. "It's just something I didn't think about."
"It's comforting to know you planned this out with your usual attention to detail." Scott remarked. She let out a snort, turning back as she heard Scott let out a wheeze. She gave him a look of concern and mild panic. This night would go really downhill if Scott had an asthma attack.
"You okay?" He nodded and the trio continued their journey. She groaned when she saw the flashlights, and hit the ground. Great. I was definitely going to be grounded for sure. Her eyes widened slightly when she realised that her father was most likely among those cops searching the woods. Yep, definitely grounded.
"C'mon!" Stiles exclaimed, making a run for it. Scott and Wren exchanged a look before sprinting after him. She quickly tried to duck behind a tree as a police dog started to bark, which scared Stiles.
"Hang on, this little delinquent belongs to me." Sheriff Stilinski said, Deputy Logan Delgado standing beside him.
"Dad, how ya doing?" Stiles asked. Wren tried to crouch behind the tree, just to buy herself a few minutes until the cops left.
"So do you, uh, listen in to all my phone calls?" He asked.
"No!" Stiles exclaimed. "Well, no the boring ones." Wren's foot slipped, kicking a rock away. The sound was loud enough to get flashlights pointing in her direction. Fuck.
"Wren, Scott! Come out!" Sheriff Stilinski called. Wren sighed and stepped into his view. She was caught, time to give up.
She put on her best innocent face. "Dad, Sheriff, hi! How are you on this fine evening?" Logan pinched the bridge of his nose. This wasn't the first time his daughter had been caught out with Stiles or Scott.
"Where's your cousin Wren?" Logan asked.
"Who Scott?" He shoot her an unamused look. "He's at home, in bed probably! Right Stiles?" Wren said.
"Right! Yeah, he said he wanted a good nights sleep before school tomorrow." Stiles explained. "Just us, in the woods. Alone." Wren frowned at how incriminating that sounded.
Logan walked forward, grabbing his daughter by the scruff of her jacket, and pulled her away. "Stiles is going to drive you home and when I get home, you and I are going to have a very long talk about how stupid it is to go out into the middle of the preserve, while the killer might still be out there." He sighed. "You're very lucky your mother is out of town at the moment, young lady." Wren silently agreed. Her father's anger might be bad, but that was nothing compared to her mother's fury. Her mom was out of town, visiting some sick relative.
"We're were just trying to help you find the body!" Stiles exclaimed.
"Yeah! Wouldn't it be better if you found the body sooner rather than later?" Wren added.
"Not when the killer might still be out there." The Sheriff replied.
"We were just trying to help!" Wren said again.
"Wren, if you want to not be grounded until college, then I suggest you stop talking." Logan instructed. Wren nodded and sighed before climbing into Stiles' jeep. She pulled on her seatbelt and gripped the door handle tightly as Stiles started to drive off.
"Well, that all went a bit wrong." Wren said.
"Yeah, we kind of fucked up that one." Stiles replied. "If Scott finds the body by himself, I'm going to be so annoyed."
"He probably won't be looking, he's probably going home now." Wren replied.
"Why would he do that!" Stiles exclaimed.
"Would you like to look for a body by yourself if it was cold and wet and dark?" Wren asked, as rain began to hit the windows. She hoped Scott got soaked.
"And?" Stiles asked.
Wren snorted. "God, you're so weird." She gulped when she saw the speed they going at. "Slow down at bit."
"Oh yeah, sorry." Stiles said, slowing done to a speed that didn't make Wren's heart thump. They pulled up beside Wren's house. "See you at school."
"That's if I'm not dead." Wren replied, opening the door.
"Nah, you would only be dead if your mom was home." Stiles replied. He knew Evangeline Delgado's temper was bad.
"That's very true. See you tomorrow." Wren replied, closing the car door behind her.
Wren pulled on her boots, a ping from her open laptop grabbing her attention. She rolled her eyes at the Skype notification. Really Lydia? You're calling me now? She pressed the answer button. "What have I done wrong now?"
"That depends. Let me see your outfit." Lydia replied.
Wren rolled her eyes. "Seriously? That's what you're calling me about?"
"Well Wren dear, there are times where I wonder if you looked in a mirror. Now stand!" She commanded. Wren stood, giving the girl full view of what she was wearing. Black skirt, Batman shirt, stockings, boots and a hoodie. She got a rare thing in reply, complete approval.
"Clearly you were blessed over vacation with good taste." Lydia replied.
"Nah, been spending too much time around you." Wren replied. "I'm even wearing jewellery!"
"It's a miracle. Even if it is a Black Widow necklace." Lydia commented.
Wren's jaw dropped, hand over her heart in fake shock. "Did Lydia Martin actually recognise a comic book character? I might faint!"
Lydia rolled her eyes. "It's only because you never shut up about her!" Black Widow was one of Wren's favourites.
"Still a miracle." Wren said, suddenly growing uncertain. "I can keep on the bracelet right?"
Lydia's face softened, her eyes flicking to the bracelet. It was a plain thing, just beads spelling out the name Anna and blue stars on each end. "Of course. Now get moving Delgado and don't be late for school!"
Wren smiled. "Wouldn't dream of it." She ended the call and turned off the laptop, before grabbing her bag and walking out of the room, before grabbing her bag and walking out of the room. She froze as she noticed the open door that lead to her sister's room.
Wren walked towards it and saw her father sitting on the bed. Nothing had been changed. The JLS posters were still up, her snow globe collection untouched, her jewellery still scattered on the desk. Everything was now covered in a thick layer of dust.
Her father sat on the end of the bed, his dark uniform standing out from the pink of the room. "Dad, you okay?" Wren asked.
He answered with a quiet sniff and a shaky smile. "Yeah, I'm fine sweetheart. Just was thinking about your sister."
There was a moment of silence between the pair.
"I miss her." He added.
"So do I." Wren swallowed. She was never good at talking about Anna. She twisted the bracelet around her wrist, a little memento of her sister. "I have to go dad, it's time for school."
To her surprise, he pulled her into a tight hug. "I love you Wren."
She hugged back tightly. "I love you too dad."
Later that morning, Wren pulled up beside her cousin at the bike racks. "So you're not dead!" She exclaimed, climbing out of her car. She was so glad she didn't have to ride a bike to school anymore, especially since she was wearing a skirt.
"Neither are you!" Scott replied. "How did your dad react?" Wren frowned. Her father had shouted at her, in the privacy of their own home, ("WREN ADRIANA DELGADO, WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING?") and proceeded to lecture her for twenty minutes about the stupid schemes the trio got into.
"He was a little pissed off." She replied. A Porsche pulled up beside the pair and the door opened, hitting Scott's legs. Jackson Whittemore stepped out.
"Dude, watch the paint job." Jackson said, making Wren roll her eyes
.
"Ugh, dickhead." She muttered as he walked off. Scott smirked.
"Come on, I've got something I need to show you and Stiles." He said.
"What is it?" She asked.
"Just come on." He replied, speeding up when he saw his best friend. "I have to show you guys something. There was this thing in the preserve last night and it bit me." He explained to Wren and Stiles.
"Let's see this thing." Stiles said. Wren's jaw dropped at the large bandage that covered it, blood staining the white.
"It was too dark to see much but I'm pretty sure it was a wolf." He replied, making Wren raise her eyebrows.
"A wolf bit you." Stiles and Wren said unison.
"I don't think that's possible." Wren added.
"I heard a wolf howling." Scott replied.
"No you didn't!" Stiles said.
"Are you sure it wasn't like a coyote or something?" Wren asked.
"I'm pretty sure I heard a wolf. Why would I not hear a wolf?" Scott asked.
"There aren't wolves in California, not in like sixty years." Stiles told him. Wren assumed that Scott had been bitten by some freaky animal and probably imagined it was a wolf in a haze. Which reminded her, shouldn't he be getting a tetanus shot or something?
"If you don't believe me about the wolf then you definitely won't believe me when I tell you I found the body." Scott replied as Stiles started to get excited.
"Why are you so happy about this?" Wren hissed.
"Because he freaking found it! Are you serious? Please tell me you're serious." Stiles said, grinning from ear to ear.
"Yeah, I'm going to have nightmares for months." Scott replied.
"And on that note," Wren said, when she saw Lydia Martin walk near them. "I'm going to leave. See you in class." She turned and fell into step beside the redhead. "Morning."
"Ugh, I don't know why you insist on associating with this two." Lydia said.
"We've talked about this before Lydia." Wren replied, earning an eye roll from her friend. "You try not to insult my cousin and I try not to insult your boyfriend."
"Ha!" Lydia laughed. "You actually try to get along with Jackson?"
"I do! It's not my fault his douchebag personality makes me want to hit him." She insisted as Lydia took some books out of her locker.
"We've talked about this Wren." She replied in a patronising tone.
"I hate you." Wren said.
"You wish you could." Lydia said, before closing her locker. "Come on, makeup check before class."
Wren's fingers drummed against the desk, her eyes watching the world outside. English class wasn't her favourite, thanks to her dyslexia and her dislike of Mr Steward, the teacher. The dislike was due to a prank gone wrong in freshman year and Mr Stewart blaming Wren. It wasn't even her fault, Stiles was to blame! She looked up at the words 'Group Project'.
He explained the project and the class let out a collective groan when he announced that he would be picking the pairs. "Oh grow up! It's not the end of the world!" Mr Stewart snapped. He went through the list, some were happy with the results, some were not. Carmen Crawford, who sat beside Wren, did not look too pleased at her girlfriend's ex-boyfriend being her partner.
"Kill me, kill me, kill me now!" She muttered, banging her head on the desk.
"How bad was the breakup?" Wren asked.
"You really, really don't want to know." Carmen replied.
Wren looked up as her name was called, pairing her with Isaac Lahey. She swivelled in her seat, sending a smile to the boy who was sitting two rows away. He returned it, however his was slightly more nervous. She was mild acquaintances with the boy, they had never spoken for more than ten minutes and she was pretty sure it was mostly school related. He seemed nice though, but quite shy.
The class ended and Wren packed up her books, before making her way over to her partner.
"Hey Isaac." She greeted.
"H-hey Wren." He replied, giving her a small smile.
"So I was wondering if you would maybe like to study at my house on Wednesday or Thursday so we could work on the project, does that sound okay? Whatever day works." Wren told him.
"Yeah, um that sounds good. I just have to ask my dad." He replied.
Wren smiled. "Okay, just let me know. In fact," She pulled out a piece of paper from her notebook and scrawled her number on it, before handing it to Isaac. "Text me. I'll talk to you later."
Isaac smiled. "See you later."
The rest of the day passed without much incident. The most riveting thing of the day was the new assigned seats in Biology. Wren had been placed beside Danny, thank God. The pair got along well. The only problem was Jackass Jackson sitting in front of them.
Ugh.
Wren left her classroom and went to her locker to leave in a few books. She threw them in as the girl beside her struggled with her locker. Wren looked over at the combination before saying "Oh God, you got that locker? Just kick the locker hard before you put in your combination." The girl gave it a swift kick before managing to pull it open.
"Oh thank God! Thank you so much, I thought I was going to have to get a teacher or something." The girl told Wren. "I'm Allison Argent by the way."
"I'm Wren Delgado, are you new?" She asked.
"Yeah, I moved here…." She trailed off, something caught her eye behind Wren. Wren turned and looked over her shoulder, before rolling her eyes at the sight of Scott smiling over at Allison.
"Oh sweetie no." She said, trying to hold in her laughter.
"Wait what?" Allison replied.
"That jacket is absolutely killer." Lydia stopped Wren before she could reply. "Where did you get it?"
"My mom was a buyer for a boutique in San Francisco." Allison replied.
"And you are my new best friend." Lydia said.
"So I'm just dropped then?" Wren asked.
"Obviously. Aren't you going to introduce us?" Lydia asked.
"I'll cry myself to sleep tonight." Wren muttered sarcastically, earning a laugh from Allison. "Allison Argent, Lydia Martin. Lydia Martin, Allison Argent."
Jackson appeared at Lydia's side, pulling her into a kiss. Wren made a gagging motion, making Allison laugh again. "Jackson Whittemore, Lydia's boyfriend. They do that a lot, get used to it." Jackson and Lydia finally stopped sucking face.
"You're still here Delgado?" He sneered.
"Congratulations Whittemore, your eyesight works." Wren snapped back.
"Oh my God, could you two get along for like five seconds please!" Lydia exclaimed. Wren only tolerated Jackson for Lydia. If it wasn't for the redhead, Wren would have already kicked him in the balls by now. "Anyway, so this weekend there's a party."
"A party?" Allison asked, sounding slightly nervous.
"Yeah, Friday night. You should come." Jackson added.
"Uh, I can't, it's family night on Friday. But thanks for asking!" Allison replied. Wren had a feeling that wasn't true.
"You sure? Everyone's going after the scrimmage." Jackson said.
"You mean like football?" Allison asked.
Jackson laughed, making Wren when she watched Allison shrink slightly. Great job at intimidating the new girl on her first day. "Football's a joke here." Jackson replied. "The sport here's lacrosse. We've won the state championship here for the last two years."
"Because of a certain team captain." Lydia added.
"Yes, because the nine other guys just stand there and do nothing." Wren said.
"Well, Scott was a big help- Oh wait, he just sits on the bench all year being useless." Jackson said to her.
"Screw you." Wren snapped.
"Witty." He replied.
"It's like dealing with five year olds." Lydia interrupted the pair. "Come on, practice is starting. You two are coming with." She grabbed each girl by the hand and pulled them with her.
Jackson left the group to go to the locker rooms and the trio walked onto the field, taking a seat on the bleachers to watch. "Why did you say oh sweetie no to me earlier?" Allison asked Wren.
Wren laughed. "Because I saw you the look you gave Scott and I was just laughing at your taste in guys."
Allison raised her eyebrow. "Why, is he weird or something?"
"Oh no, he's really sweet. He's just my cousin and I just think it's weird when a girl likes him. It's like when someone has a crush on your brother and you wonder where the appeal is." Wren replied. Allison let out a relieved laugh.
"I like him. He's kind of cute." She replied.
"Really? Have you spoken to him for more than five minutes? He will prove you wrong pretty quickly." Wren said.
Allison's jaw dropped and she let out a laugh. "You are so mean!"
"I know, but I do it because he's family." Wren said.
"He seems sweet. He gave me a pen in English." Allison replied.
"How adorable." Wren commented.
"What did you say his name was again?" Allison asked.
"Scott." Wren winced as the ball hit him in the face. A surprised smile broke out on her face as Scott caught the ball. Well that was a rare occurrence. Her smile grew wider as he caught the ball again and again and again.
"He seems like he's pretty good." Allison commented.
"Very good." Lydia added.
"He must have put something in his cereal this morning because holy shit." Wren added. She gulped as Jackson ran toward the net. "Come on Scott." Her jaw dropped as Scott actually caught.
He actually caught the ball.
"It's a Christmas miracle!" She laughed, before getting up and cheering.
"I don't- I don't know what it was, it was like I had all the time in the world to catch the ball." Scott explained as the trio made their way into the preserve. "And that's not the only weird thing. I hear stuff I shouldn't be able to hear, smell things."
"Smell things? Like what?" Stiles asked.
"Like the dog shit someone forgot to pick up around here?" Wren added.
"No, like the pasta salad you had for lunch or the mint mojito gum Stiles' has in his pocket." Scott replied.
Wren frowned and blew her breath into her hand, smelling it while Stiles said "I don't even have any mojito-"He pulled out the gum and Wren gave Scott a wide eyed look.
"What the hell is going on with you?" She asked. Scott shrugged in reply.
"So this started when you got the bite?" Stiles asked.
"Shouldn't you being a shot in case you get rabies?" Wren said.
"Is that what happens when you get rabies? Like my body gets flooded with adrenaline before I go into shock?" Scott replied.
"Y'know it might not actually be rabies, I think I've heard of this." Stiles said. "It's like a specific kind of infection."
"You're serious?" Scott replied.
"Yeah, I think it's called…..lycanthropy." Wren rolled her eyes. Really Stiles? Her cousin however didn't realise that Stiles was messing with him. She let out a snort as Stiles let out a howl.
"There could be something seriously wrong with me!" Scott exclaimed.
"Well make you should ask the opinion of, I don't know, your mother who also just so happens to be a medical professional?" Wren replied.
"I don't think his mom would anything about werewolves Wrenny!" Stiles told her. Wren and Scott both sent exasperated looks at the boy. "I'm kidding! But if you see me in shop class on Friday, melting all the silver I can find, it's 'cause Friday's a full moon."
Scott stopped. "I could have sworn this was it. I saw the body, the deer came running and I dropped my inhaler."
"Maybe the killer moved the body." Stiles said.
Wren stopped listening to the rest of the conversation, as she saw a really creepy looking guy watching them. "Uh guys." They looked up and Wren motioned towards the guy.
He started to approach and alarm bells started to go off in Wren's head. Now would be a great time to start running.
"What are you doing here?" He asked. "Huh? This is private property."
"Sorry man, we didn't know." Stiles said.
"We were just looking for something." Scott trailed off as the guy threw something at him. It was his inhaler. Wren narrowed his eyes at the man, he seemed oddly familiar.
What the hell? She mouthed at Stiles as he walked away
.
"Dude that was Derek Hale!" Stiles said.
"That's why he seemed so familiar!" Wren exclaimed. "Stella used to go out with his sister Laura!"
"Your sister?" Stiles said.
"No, my cat. Of course it was my sister!" She replied.
"Don't you remember what happened then?" Wren's eyes widened. "His family all burned to death in a fire like ten years ago." Stiles replied.
"I'm pretty sure that's why they broke up, because they moved away." Wren added before sighing. "Come on, let's go."