author ;; silverslivers
summary ;; In years to come, people will tell the story of little Annabeth with her biting words and sharp eyes and how she managed to make wild the innocent monsters beneath her bed. au, eventual isaac/oc
Baby you need to leave
Cause I'm getting drunk on your noble deeds
It doesn't matter that they don't get done
When I feel this cold they're like the fucking sun
Vampire Smile – Kyla La Grange
1.
Annie's fingers toy with the stiff blanket draped over her legs, wrinkling her nose in disgust at the guy drooling on her shoulder and shoving him roughly to the side. Her eyes watch the sky through the window over his shoulder, and she supposes she's supposed to come up with some poetic metaphor to describe it, but she won't. She knows it's beautiful, however, but any and all descriptive talent has seemingly disappeared in the face of recent events.
Over the intercom, the pilot announces that they'll be landing in LA, and she sighs because even though someone's sleeping on her, she really doesn't want to get off this plane. She's too scared to face the world, orphaned and scared. She pushes the guy beside her again, fingers fiddling with her handbag in a blind attempt to find her iPod. Her ears ache from the earphones, and she winces and massages them momentarily before she pushes everything into her bag. The sunlight has seemingly woken the guy beside her and he goes about his business like he hasn't been drooling on her for the last four hours. She rolls her eyes with a long-suffering sigh, leaning back in her chair as the plane descends.
She can already tell she's going to fucking hate it here.
000
An hour later, when Annie's gone through customs and gathered her luggage, she stands outside the airport impatiently. It's eleven in the morning, but already the heat of California has crept up on her and trailed its fingers over her skin; she can feel herself sweating through her clothes. She pulls her phone out of her bag disinterestedly, dialling the number for her uncle Jared and scowling irritably when he doesn't pick up. It's too fucking hot here. She doesn't want to be here. She wants to be home, in Chicago, with her irritating big brother Seth who brings home too many girls and her mom and dad who never let her do what she wants. She wants to have the cat on her lap while she blasts her music as loud as she can and ignores her mom's yells to 'turn it down, for god's sake Annie!'
I really should have listened to the whole 'I want doesn't get' thing. She muses, looking around once more for her irresponsible uncle. Seriously, where is he? She scowls, picks up her suitcase and is about to find a cab that she'll somehow scrape together enough cash for, when her uncle's familiar bashed-up truck rounds the corner.
"Annie!" He yells, beaming, and she rolls her eyes and tries to keep in mind that the last time he saw her she was a little eight year old with pigtails.
"Uncle Jared." He grins at her, climbs out of that godawful truck to hug her. She winces into his shoulder, tries not to say anything and lets him take one of her suitcases. He tosses them into the back carelessly as she climbs in at the front, flinches at the bang they make when they fall. The truck smells like cigarettes and gasoline, and she wrinkles her nose and tries to ignore it.
Fails.
He's a guy, though, so she shouldn't be all that surprised. Instead, she flicks her chocolate hair over her shoulder and smiles blandly, like she isn't dreading the next two years she'll be spending with him (because she won't be staying after high school, cross her heart). He climbs in beside her and this awkward silence settles over them that she could seriously cut with a knife. He clears his throat and starts the engine and there they are, sitting awkwardly for the next three hours.
Occasionally, Jared will ask her a question, something boring and really out of place like 'how's school?' which she'll answer with the obligatory, polite 'good' because seriously, he doesn't give a shit how school's going and she knows it. They'll look at each other for a second; waiting for the other to expand on the conversation, before she'll turn back to the window and turn up her iPod and he'll look back at the road. It's painfully obvious he hasn't dealt with a teenage girl since he was her age, and why should he? He's a mechanic; he doesn't really cater to the female gender.
She toys with her hair for a while, chewing on some gum she found at the bottom of her purse and nodding her head along to the beat. Trying to pretend she can't feel the tension between them. She can feel it, even now, that he's dying to say something about the accident that cost her family their lives. He'll probably apologise, something she doesn't ever understand, not even now that she's older, because he's not the drunk driver that barrelled into them, is he? But still, he'll offer his condolences and look at her with this unbearable pity in his eyes because that's what everybody does.
They pull over at a gas station and he doesn't say anything as he climbs out of the cab, loads up with gas. She sighs, pulls her earphones out and rummages through her bag for a couple of bucks. Annie tells him where she's going, before going inside and looking for something to eat. Her stomach grumbles uncomfortably, and she's forcibly reminded that she hasn't eaten since yesterday, having refused the awful plane food they pushed at her. Plane food is a no go.
Five minutes later, munching on a bag of cheetos and smiling absently at her uncle, they carry on their journey. After another while of silence, he clears his throat and says, "You'll like it in Beacon Hills, Annie." Lie.
"Yeah, I'm sure I will. I don't really... remember it. Just a lot of trees, I guess." He smiles at her reply, and she feels a twinge of satisfaction that this actually seems to be a productive conversation. Score for Annie!
"I've already enrolled you in school," She has to hold back a groan, "and I'm sure you'll make friends quick. You used to know some kids back when you used to visit." She winces. His tone isn't accusatory, but she still feels a little bad. She just... got caught up in the whole 'being a teenager' drama, and she didn't see him again for a while. And now, well, now she doesn't really have a choice.
"I hope so." She replies, trying to keep the conversation going, because she's seriously not going back to silence now. After a pause, she states, "Listen, I'm... sorry, about this. I mean, me staying with you. I'm sure you'd much rather..." She trails off, unsure of what else to say. Beside her, Jared frowns and shakes his head.
"Annie, it's not your fault. Really. But I don't mind anyway. From what I heard, you're a great cook, and I'm... not. It works out for both of us." He spares her a smile, before turning a corner and driving past a sign saying 'Welcome to Beacon Hills'. She almost flinches at the tiny population stated, resting her head on her hand and letting out a long-suffering sigh. She's here now; no going back.
000
Jared deposits her suitcase in a small room down the hall from his, telling her to 'come down when you feel like it' and leaving her to unpack. She slumps on the bed, studying the room absently. It hasn't changed much since she was a kid. He's, thankfully, gotten rid of the kid's bed and replaced it with a double, and she notes that she'll have to thank him lately. Her fingers trace a thread on the smooth green sheets, and she wonders how he knows green's her favourite colour. Maybe her mom told him, before the accident. Either way, it makes things feel a little more homely.
There's a beat up computer in the corner on an even more beat up desk, and she approaches it almost cautiously. It's one of those old ones; bulky and big. She hums thoughtfully as she drags her fingers over the keyboard, remembering hours at her own trying to finish off an assignment or get out some worthless drivel somewhat resembling a novel. There hasn't been much time for that since the accident. Annie sighs softly, turning away from the computer to the window. There's a makeshift windowseat below it, which she drops down on with a heavy sigh. The sky's still light, but the amount of trees around casts shadows on the yard below. Her room overlooks the backyard and the preserve that begins behind it, and she smiles in memory of the days she used to spend out there. Her eyes comb between the trees, the same content smile on her pretty face, before they catch on something hulking and furry. It's huge; standing on its back paws it's easily taller than her uncle Jared, and it looks around with bright brown eyes. As though feeling her gaze on it, it snaps its head and stares up at her. She shivers; those eyes aren't brown. They're red. Crimson. It gives her something akin to a smile, showing all its teeth and nearly making her heart stop, before turning and lolloping away on all fours.
Later, she'll ask Jared about any recent animal attacks, and he'll give her a weird look and laugh and say "Annie, we don't get shit like that in California."
Lie.
{so, hi (: chapter one, which i actually got out in good time, go me. not much action right now, unfortunately, but i mainly just really wanted to set the scene. anyway, annie's had her first encounter with the alpha, which is good. speaking of, yes this is set in season one, maybe a little bit before. i've also got casting up on my page. plus, i've already started the next chapter, which should hopefully be up within the next few days. thank you, FormofJane, for being my first reviewer, and i'm glad you like it (: hopefully, i did a good job on this chapter too.
review?}