Chapter 1: The Start of a New Year
It had been five months since that fateful prom night. Surprisingly Beacon Hills had gone quiet, but there was still that lingering feeling; where were Jackson and the others? Jackson's family had posted a reward to his whereabouts but it was still unclaimed. The other families appeared on the news several times a month, wanting to keep the slightest bit of hope that their child was safe but there were whispers around town that the teens weren't coming home. For Derek there was a small relief that Jackson was gone, at least there was one less thing for him to worry about but he was still apprehensive. The unknown seemed to haunt him.
The girls handled the aftermath of that night in different ways. Michelle had thrown herself into training for the upcoming school year, a new year meant a new track and field season. She ran twice every day, once in the morning and another at night before sunset. Most of the time she would run to Derek's house to spend time with him. Mostly everything between them was quiet, but it was a comfortable silence now. Michelle knew she had to be patient, she was just happy they had their first kiss. A couple weeks after prom she surprised him with a bag full of tacos, burritos, along with chips and salsa. After they had eaten they were just sitting on the front porch of his house looking up at the sky. No clouds above them leaving them a crystal clear night with an endless amount of stars. It was perfect. Finally Michelle whispered his name getting his attention. Without another word she pressed her lips to his but it took Derek a minute to respond. Finally she felt him kiss her back. They hadn't really talked about the kiss since it happened but Michelle couldn't deny it, she wanted to do it again. As many times as he would let her.
Lynne was still working in the veterinary office, she wished she had something else to do instead of washing dogs as a job but she was happy she at least had a job. Her and Scott were still going strong, they had continued their tradition of walking home together after work. Lynne kept a smile on her face on the outside but inside she had one thought continuously running through her mind. A couple days after prom, rumors were running rampant through town that the Argents had returned and that they were here to stay. No one had seen a certain brunette girl out in public but Lynne knew that when school started, and if the rumors were true, she would have a new classmate.
Taylor and Stiles had spent a lot of time together over the summer vacation. Whenever she was at his house she would find herself glancing out the window at Samuel's house. A couple days after his death Samuel's house had burned on this inside, the fire had burned everything on the bottom floor but the top floor had minimal damage. Without Samuel around the bank took over the property and was rebuilding it to sell. Even though she knew it was empty the house still gave her the creeps, she tried to distract herself if she ever had to walk by it.
It was worse at night, each were plagued by nightmares. Taylor was cuddling with her tiny stuffed bulldog Bruiser, looking out her bedroom window unable to sleep. The digital clock she kept on her desk read 2:30. Sighing to herself she heard her phone vibrate on her bedside table. She saw a text from Lynne. 'You awake?' It read.
'Yeah, for the ninth night in a row.' She replied. A couple minutes later her phone lit up with another message. 'Same here. W/ me and Michelle. OoVoo?'
Without replying Taylor trudged to her desk to turn her laptop on. Michelle and Lynne were already signed in when she logged on to her account. Holding Bruiser in her lap she called both of them. "Hey, here we are again," Michelle sighed leaning her head on her stuffed Simba.
Lynne nodded running her hands through her hair. "School starts in a couple days, I hope we're able to sleep by then."
Taylor nodded. "How does Scott feel about the Allison rumors?"
"He doesn't really talk about her," Lynne explained. "Ever since the whole 'Allison' file thing he hasn't mentioned her."
"Did he delete the file?" Michelle asked.
"I don't know, but now I'm for sure, even if he didn't delete it he cares about me a lot." All of a sudden Lynne blushed.
Taylor chuckled. "Oh boy, what's that smile for?"
"I'm not sure yet, but I'll be sure to tell you once I know." She smiled. "So are we going to this back to school party tomorrow night?"
"Uh, sure I don't see why not. Is Derek coming, Michelle?"
"I don't know yet, I haven't really talked to him about it. I'll ask him when I go on my run tomorrow."
"Michelle why don't you take the day off?" Lynne asked. "I mean you've gone running every day all summer, twice a day."
"Guys if I'm gonna win a state title I have to train every day." Michelle snapped.
"I'm just saying it won't hurt to take one day off."
"Well maybe it won't but its still not gonna happen."
Taylor and Lynne both sighed, but they let it go. A couple hours later the girls all fell asleep but Michelle went ahead and stayed awake to get ready for her morning run. Lacing up her tennis shoes she thought about what her friends said, she didn't need a break what she needed to do was train harder. Stepping out into the cool morning air she saw the sun rising over her neighbor's houses. Michelle did a few stretches before jogging down the sidewalk. The only sounds she heard were the birds, some cars whizzing by, and her feet against the concrete. She usually ran with her iPod but in the morning she liked feeling the calmness of sunrise. Breaking into a sprint she ran until she reached the park to stop for a breather. Sighing to herself Michelle decided to cut her morning workout short, passing by two elderly women power walking she jogged back to her house.
Stiles walked into his kitchen that morning to see his dad looking over police reports. "Dad, what's going on?" He asked walking over to the fridge.
"Oh, uh, some robbery's at local convenience stores and shops downtown." His dad explained taking a sip of coffee.
Stiles bit his bottom lip. "Any clue who it is?"
He shook his head. "No, security cameras couldn't catch a clear shot of the robbers. Its like they were professional acrobats or something."
Stiles gulped down some orange juice. "Oh, well, I'm sure they'll..." He stammered earning a weird look from his dad.
"Have you been sleeping much lately?"
"What? Yeah, I'm fine." He chuckled. "I'll see you later." He said quickly walking out of the room.
Sheriff Stilinski shook his head, his son was definitely up to something. Scott was just waking up when he heard his door bust open. "Stiles, what the hell?" He exclaimed.
"Sorry, I was talking to my dad earlier and he told me about a string of robberies that have been going around town."
"So?"
"So? Scott, my dad said the robbers were like freak show acrobats, security cameras couldn't catch them."
Now Stiles had his friend's attention. "Do you think it's Jackson and his pack?"
"I don't know, but who else has that kind of speed and agility?"
"We should tell Derek."
Stiles nodded. "We'll go before the party tonight."
Later that day Lynne was sweeping up the front lobby of the veterinary office to start off her shift. Sometimes she worked with the vet instead of the grooming station, other times she just had to do small things all over the office. She had one earbud in, slightly sweeping to the beat of 'Cheers' by Rihanna, as long as the floor was clean who cared what she did? Hearing the door open Lynne's head popped up. "How can I..." She muttered her eyes slightly widening.
In walked in Allison Argent. Her brown hair perfectly curled, wearing a white halter top and jean shorts. She looked just like she had when she went to Beacon Hills. "Um, hi." Allison smiled.
"Hello," Lynne whispered her lips pursed. "Can I help you with something?"
"I was just wondering if Scott McCall was working."
"No, he's off today." Lynne said sharply, unconsciously gripping the broom tighter.
"Oh, well, can you tell him Allison stopped by?"
Lynne sighed. "Sure."
Lynne went back to sweeping ignoring the other brunette. Allison glanced around the office before walking back out the door. What Lynne didn't understand was Allison had all summer to try and talk to Scott, why was she waiting til the last minute?
Taylor was laying out in her pool when she heard the sliding glass door open. She leaned up to see Michelle walking out with her phone in her hand. "Lynne called me, she said Allison came into the office today."
"Really?" Taylor asked hopping off her float to get out of the water.
"Yeah, she was asking for Scott."
Taylor wrapped her towel around herself before sitting on a lawn chair next to Michelle's. "Wow, so the rumors were true. She's had two months to see him though."
"I know, that's weird." Michelle muttered leaning back on the chair. "Do you think she knows Lynne and Scott are together?"
Taylor shrugged taking her hair down. "I wonder if she's coming to the party tonight."
"Oh, that reminds me, Lynne said she was coming over here to get ready later."
"Well before then can you give me a ride to that cafe they're building downtown?" She asked rising from her seat.
"Sure, what for?"
Taylor sighed ringing out her damp hair. "I need a job, my mom said I don't get my car unless I pay for half of it. And that cafe is opening up next week, the perfect place to work."
Her friend nodded standing up from her chair. "Ok, go get dressed we'll go before Lynne get's off work."
Stiles and Scott were on their way to Derek's house talking about the possibility of Jackson causing the string of crime throughout the town. "Why would he rob stores? I mean, aren't his parents rich, they can buy him anything he wants?" Scott asked rolling down his window.
"I know, he drives a Porsche to school for God's sake. Why would he need more money?"
They had so many questions, so many both were worried they would never be able to answer them all. Stiles sighed as they pulled up in front of the Hale house. Derek must have heard them pull up because he walked outside to greet them. "What is it?" He asked.
"You know, people usually say 'hello' when someone comes to their house." Stiles grumbled slamming his door shut.
Derek ignored him, "What's going on?"
Scott took a seat on the front steps of the porch. Taking a deep breath he said. "Stiles' dad said there have been a string of robberies throughout the town. We're thinking it could be Jackson and his pack."
"Why are you so sure its them? Robberies happen all the time, doesn't mean they're the culprits." Derek sighed crossing his arms.
"Dad also said that security cameras couldn't get a clear picture of the robbers," Stiles interjected. "And unless the robbers are some kind of parkour masters, its a group of werewolves."
The alpha processed the new information. "Why would they need money though?"
"That's what we were talking about. Jackson's family is rich, it doesn't seem like he would need to do something like this." Scott sighed looking down at the broken steps.
"I'm not saying its definitely them," Stiles mumbled. "I'm just saying, right now, they are the prime suspects."
The two werewolves nodded, they would have to keep an eye on this situation. Sure, it didn't make sense but Jackson's pack doing the crimes couldn't be ruled out as a possibility.
Downtown Michelle and Taylor were walking the streets looking for the newly built cafe. In one of the older brick buildings they saw workers setting up chairs and tables inside. Walking up the steps Taylor knocked on the open glass door. "Hello?" She called.
"Hey, can I help you?" A man who looked to be in his late twenties walked out from the back of the restaurant.
"Hi, I was hoping to fill out a job application." Taylor smiled placing her bag on the wooden counter.
Michelle took a seat on one of the red and white chairs beside the counter. She noticed the man pull a sheet of paper out of the bottom of the bar. "Here you go," He sighed handing Taylor the paper. "Just give it to me when you're done."
Taylor nodded signaling Michelle to follow her to a table. "Have you talked to Derek today?" She asked digging out a pen from her purse.
Michelle, out of reflex, looked down at her phone. "No, I forgot to text him about the party earlier."
"Well do it, we still have a couple hours."
Typing out a new message to Derek Michelle quickly asked. 'Hey, there's a party tonight, want to come with me? :)'
She found herself watching Taylor fill in the application. Finally she saw her phone light up with a reply from her boyfriend. 'Maybe, we need to talk about something anyway.' Inside Michelle felt her stomach drop, she just read the four words you never wanted to read in a relationship. Without a word she pushed her phone to her friend for her to read. Taylor cocked her head to the side. "What does he need to talk to you about?"
"I have no idea, I just hope its nothing bad."
Taylor walked back to the counter, application in hand. "Ok, well I'm Jack, I'm the owner." He smiled holding his hand out.
Taylor took it. "Hi, so do I have an interview or anything?"
"Uh, yeah, I'll review this and give you a call."
She said thank you to Jack before walking back to meet Michelle at the door who still had a freaked out look on her face. "Look, I'm sure everything's fine." Taylor said trying to comfort her friend.
"I'm sure it is, but I'm more worried about...what if Samuel's back?" Michelle whispered wrapping her arms around herself.
Taylor hadn't even thought of that. "I don't know," she muttered. "How could he be? Jackson slit his freakin' throat, how could he be alive? It's not possible."
"Tay, me and Lynne are dating werewolves, I think we've past the idea of impossibility."
Later that night the girls were all in Taylor's room getting ready for the end of summer party. All they heard was it was being held at an abandoned house just outside of town, everyone was going, and that probably included Allison Argent. "So what all did she say?" Michelle asked Lynne who was raiding Taylor's closet.
"She just asked for Scott and then asked it I could tell him she stopped by like I'm a secretary or something." Lynne grumbled going throwing hangers behind her. "I know I never really talked to the girl but I have a feeling she's still into Scott."
"Lynne, Scott's into you, you don't have anything to worry about." Taylor sighed picking up one of the discarded tank tops Lynne had thrown on the floor.
"I know, I trust him, I just don't trust her." She whispered finally deciding on a bright red tank top.
Taylor slipped on a white and blue off the shoulder blouse before glancing over at Michelle who was cradling Bruiser. "Michelle what's wrong?"
"Huh?" She exclaimed. "Oh, nothing, just tired I guess."
"You know we don't have to go to the party if you're not feeling up to it."
"No, I'm fine, I'm just hoping Derek is able to come. I haven't really spent that much time with him lately."
Lynne stepped out of the bathroom tying the tank in a bow at the waist. "Well even if he can't come we'll have fun." She said sitting next to her friends.
Michelle nodded picking up a black lace ruffled tank that had been thrown on the bed. "I'm borrowing this by the way." She smirked to her blonde friend.
"Go ahead." Taylor laughed.
An hour later the girls were pulling up the gravel driveway to the party location. They already saw cars parked anywhere there was an opening, and the music could be heard for miles. The humid summer air was replaced by a comfortable coolness as they walked up a dirt path that went from where they parked the car to the house. Lynne sent Scott a text telling him they were there, she felt calmer knowing she was going to see him soon. As they were walking to the house they finally saw the party location in full view. It somewhat looked like Derek's but was more run down, shutters were falling off, and there were no windows or doors in sight. The house was in view of a lake, the half moon shining against the water. The girls saw Scott and Stiles standing by some guys trying to build a bonfire. "Hey," They called catching their attention.
Scott and Stiles smiled seeing their girlfriends walking towards them. Michelle looked around the yard trying to spot Derek, but there was no sign of him. "Hey, I'm going to get a drink." She sighed walking into the house.
"Hey, how was work today?" Scott asked as Lynne approached him.
"Um, same as always." She smiled. "We did have a visitor though."
"Really? Who?"
Lynne was about to answer when she saw who she was talking about. Walking up the dirt path to the house was Allison with Lydia, their friendship still as close as ever. "She's right over there," Lynne whispered directing her head to the brunette girl before walking away to Taylor and Stiles.
Scott looked confused until he looked in the direction his girlfriend was talking about. His eyes widened and his mouth dropped open seeing Allison for the first time since she moved. 'What's she doing here?' He thought. Taking a deep breath Scott walked over to where the kegs were set up. Grabbing a red cup he filled it, he was going to need a drink to get through this night. "Scott?" He heard, that familiar voice filled his ears.
"Allison," He muttered taking a sip of his beer. "What are you doing here?"
"I'm back, for good. How are you?" She asked nervously playing with the bottom of her black tank top.
"Fine, better than ever. How long have you been back?"
"A while, I would have come around sooner but my dad told me to keep a low profile. Something about recent attacks here. Are you ok?"
"I'm fine." Scott repeated. "Look, I gotta..."
"Scott," She sighed putting her hand on his upper arm. "I thought you would be a little more excited about me moving back."
Scott took in a deep breath shrugging off her hand. "I'll be honest Allison, I wished for months that you would come back. I was in a dark place that I never thought I would come out of. I'm finally back to normal, the way I was before I met you." He sighed. "It tore me up when you broke up with me but I found someone that helped me out of that place. I'm happy you're back, I really am, but I'm sorry its not going back to the way it was. We're not going back to the way we were." He said walking away back to his friends.
Allison stood stunned for a couple seconds. Taking a deep, shaky breath she walked into the house to find Lydia. "Is Lynne all right?" Stiles asked Taylor as they watched Lynne walk off to meet Scott halfway.
"I think she'll be ok." Taylor smiled. "Oh, I forgot to tell you I might have a job."
"Really? Where at?"
"In this cafe downtown. Its opening next week."
"Downtown?" Stiles muttered thinking about the local crime sprees happening all over town.
"Yeah," Taylor chuckled. "Is something wrong?"
He didn't want to worry her. They just had gotten over the whole Samuel thing. "Nothing, it sounds great. I'm happy for you."
Michelle was sitting at the lake looking down at her empty cup, she had taken one sip of her beer before pouring it out on the ground. Now she knew why she hated these kind of parties. Shifting slightly she swore she was going to have splinters from sitting on a log but it was the only place she could sit. "You know the party's up there." She smiled hearing that voice.
"I know," She laughed looking back to see Derek walking towards her. "I wasn't having a good time."
"Why?" He asked sitting next to her on the log.
"Doesn't matter, what did you need to talk to me about?"
Derek sighed, looking down at his hands. "Stiles said there have been a string of robberies in town. Apparently security cameras couldn't even catch a clear picture of the robbers."
"So who do you think it is?"
"We're thinking Jackson and his pack. Even if they don't necessarily need money they could be doing it for kicks, knowing they can get away with it."
Michelle nodded. "So what are you going to do?"
"I'm going to let the police handle it, we're not for sure its them so there's not really anything we can do."
She was about to say something else when she felt her phone vibrate in her pocket. Pulling it out she saw a text from Taylor. Her eyes shot up to look at Derek. "Speak of the devil."
"Jackson!" A few boys called seeing the co-captain of the lacrosse team walk up the path.
Scott's jaw tightened seeing the new alpha wolf, sauntering around like nothing happened one that night. Jackson felt pairs of eyes staring at him across the yard. He smirked seeing two of his teammates, Scott and Stiles with their girlfriends beside them. Lynne gently took Scott's hand as Jackson walked over to them. Taylor stood a little closer to Stiles who wrapped his arm around her waist. "Well, nice to see all of you again," The new alpha chuckled stuffing his hands in his jeans pockets.
"Glad to see you took a night off from robbing gas stations." Scott snapped making the girls eyes widen.
Jackson smirked again. "Robbing gas stations? I think you've got the wrong guy for that."
"Jackson, what are you..." Stiles was beginning to ask when a few players from the lacrosse team called Jackson's name.
"See you at school." He smirked taking a few steps back to join his friends.
Taylor waited until he was out of sight before turning to Scott and Stiles. "Is he really going around robbing gas stations?"
"We're not sure, but there have been a series of robberies around town, several shops and convenience stores have been hit." Stiles explained. "There has been no security camera footage or pictures of the robbers."
Lynne gulped. "So you think its Jackson and the others...but that doesn't make any sense."
"We know, that's why we need to keep an eye on them." Scott sighed. "And be careful if they are around."
The girls nodded looking around to see Allison and Lydia with Jackson and the rest of the lacrosse team. Even amongst their friends, and with a light atmosphere they could still feel the danger that was looming up ahead.