Author's note:
This story has been sitting on my desktop for a long time now but I have finally decided to take the plunge and publish! Please let me know what you think :)
Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Wolf, its plots nor characters. I do however own Lena Stilinski and her story.
CHAPTER 1: LEATHER AND CHARRED WOOD
"Get up!" A voice shouted from the bedroom next door; followed by a slamming door and heavy footfalls. "Get up, get up, get up, get up!" He continued, slamming her wooden door off the light blue walls and running into the room. His hazel brown eyes were wide with excitement before it was replaced with panic as the rug slid out from underneath him. She bit back a laugh as he fell, arms flailing around in the air before clutching at her blanket which provided no anchor. The paintings on the walls and the mirror on her desk shook with fury as he collided with the wooden floor, pulling her guitar down on top of him. Rolling her eyes, she paused the movie and looked down at her brother as he reappeared as merely a head amongst his own destruction: "They found half a body in the woods!"
"A dead body?" She asked, her eyes wide in shock.
"No. A body of water." He responded, sarcastically, staring at her with a deadpanned expression before animating once more and causing her to jump. "Come on, we've got to get Scott!" He exclaimed, his eyes as jittery as his hands.
"We're not the Ghostbusters, Stiles."
"Tell that to third grade you." The boy retorted, raising an amused eyebrow in recollection of the year that his twin sister had demanded that the three of them attend every fancy dress party as the famous group. However, as she kicked him away from her and moved for the television remote, he adopted another approach. Narrowing his eyes, he leapt for the remote and added: "Lenny, I really didn't want to have to do this but…You owe me."
"For what?!" She scoffed, however, her outrage was short lived as realisation dawned. Silence engulfed them, allowing her a moment to contemplate a refute but the guilt of her prior actions had left her with nothing to do aside from sigh. Pursing her lips, the slender girl stood, pulled her long brunette hair into a ponytail before grabbing her jacket, and sliding on her boots. Taking the hint, Stiles grinned in victory; screeching with joy and punching the air as Lena asked: "Are you driving, or am I?"
"I said they found a body not that I wanted to be a body."
Sharing a near identical shudder with her brother, the teenage girl nodded: "You drive."
Her hand massaged her temple as the powder-blue jeep came to a halt at the entrance to the Beacon Hills Reserve – the source of her headache sitting in the driver's seat. After scaling the McCall house, nearly being attacked by a baseball bat and falling head first into a hedge, her brother had been "subjected to the same stupidity" by Scott who had also asked for clarification that the hyperactive boy was indeed talking about a dead body. On any other night, the young girl would have been revelling in the fact that she was not the only one in the predicament but as the clock turned onto the thirty-fourth minute of hearing about what a "pair of dumbasses" they were, she was beginning to lose her patience. Unclipping her seatbelt, she hopped out into the cool night air.
"We're seriously doing this?" Scott whispered loudly.
"We ain't 'fraid of no ghosts." Lena smirked, taking the first few steps onto the reserve as a collective groan sounded from the boys behind her.
"We're not doing that again are we?"
"Am I the only one with fond memories of that integral part of our history?" As the smaller brunette turned to face them with her hands on her hips and an eyebrow raised, the boys answered in complete unison with a simple 'yes'. Frowning gently in disappointment, she continued deeper into the forest. "Huh! You think you know people."
The leaves crunched beneath her boots and the odd low-hanging branch tugged at her hair. It was quiet. Almost too quiet. Almost. Her cerulean blue eyes scanned the tree line, trying with all their might to find something amongst the darkness.
"Guys, I was trying to get a good night's sleep before practice tomorrow." Scott alerted them, once more breaking the silence that kept them anonymous.
Snorting in amusement, the younger Stilinski twin spoke up: "Right, 'cause sitting on the bench is such a gruelling effort."
Instinctively rolling her eyes at her brother's ever empathetic and supportive nature, Lena led the small group forwards with no notion of navigation. A sense of direction was not something that the sheriff's daughter had been blessed with; she could lose the jeep after parking it. Scratch that, she had lost the jeep after parking it.
"No, because I'm playing this year." Her tall, dark-haired friend continued, undeterred by Stiles' negativity. "In fact, I'm making first line."
Lena smiled, exclaiming: "Good for you, Scott!" before ultimately cringing and muttering: "That wasn't supposed to be as patronising as it sounded."
"Everyone should have a dream, even a pathetically unrealistic one." Stiles once more interjected on the subject, earning a smack on the arm from Lena who – through the darkness - caught the way that Scott's face fell.
"So, out of curiosity are we the bum guys or the boob guys?" She enquired, finally asking the question that had been on her lips since she had left the comfort of her bed. Confusion oozed from the boys' expressions, prompting her to sigh: "Which half of the body are we looking for, geniuses?"
"Huh!" Stiles began. Lena groaned at the all too familiar tone; she knew exactly what was going to follow. "I didn't even think about that."
Scott shared a look with the twin to his right before asking: "And, uh, what if whoever killed the body is still out here?"
"Also, something I didn't think about."
"It's comforting to know you've planned this out with your usual attention to detail." The McCall boy scoffed, following Lena up the grassy embankment. Silence ensued, only broken by the crunching of the wild underfoot. As the night grew darker, the air grew milder; a colder chill, thick and hanging low as it threatened to swallow them whole. Her heart jolted slightly as her boots failed her and she was sent towards the floor, only to be caught by a warm and gentle hand. His eyes were their usual soft and emotional brown, aiding to the puppy dog look he had going for him as he smiled softly at her. Returning it in gratitude, she straightened herself up as Stiles marched ahead. "Maybe the severe asthmatic should be the one holding the flashlight, huh?" Scott added, wheezing slightly with every breath as he clutched at his chest and the three slid down behind a log to watch as the investigating officers from the sheriff's department neared.
Her eyes flickered incessantly, collecting as much information as she could between each blink. There were dog units, and plenty of them. And at least four officers to each of them. Scott shook his inhaler and huffed deeply, trying his hardest to breathe. However, time was no friend as Stiles jumped from his position and took off, running towards the law enforcement convoy.
"What is he doing?!" Lena hissed, "Stiles! Wait!"
Standing abruptly, the girl held a hand out to her friend; pulling him up before dragging him behind her. Her pace slowed slightly as they reached the centre of the search. A flashlight soon illuminating the panicked face of her brother as he flailed around like a fish out of water. Officers descended on the boy with the buzzcut, threatening arrest until a familiar voice rang out forcing Lena to throw her back against a nearby tree.
"Hang on, hang on. This little delinquent belongs to me." The Sheriff called out. Lena could not see her father from her position, but she could have painted his expression. Green eyes strong and steady, staring so hard that you find yourself wondering if he was reading your every thought. Lips pulled into a perfectly straight line as his brow creased; tension between his eyebrows.
"Dad, how are you doing?" Her brother squeaked, prompting her to glance at Scott with a panic-stricken expression in her eyes.
"So, do you listen in to all of my phone calls?"
"No! Not the boring ones."
As her father asked: "Now, where's your usual partners in crime?" Lena's hand shot to her mouth to dampen her breathing. It wasn't as if the officers had supernatural hearing and would detect a couple of wisps of air over the environment, but she had seen people do it in the TV shows and movies that she watched and if it could concentrate her anxiety, she would happily waste the energy.
"Who, Scott? Sc - Scott's home. He said he wanted to get a good night's sleep for first day back at school tomorrow."
"And your sister? Where's she?"
"Lena?" Stiles asked, as if he had more than one sister. "Lena's at home! She was sick, so I left her with a hot cocoa and seasonsone to five of Supernatural." The teenage boy added. A plausible scenario. "It's just me. In the woods. Alone."
"Scott, you out there? Lena?" As the flashlight passed over them, Scott and Lena forced themselves further against their respective trees. Holding her breath, she looked to her best friend who appeared to be doing the same. Starting the new year of school whilst being grounded, was not on their to-do lists. Luckily, the Sheriff gave up. "Well, young man, I'm gonna walk you back to your car. And you and I are gonna have a conversation about something called invasion of privacy."
By the time the coast was clear, Lena felt like she had grown to be part of the tree. As the search party moved off after her father, the two remaining teenagers cursed under their breaths. How were they going to get home if Stiles had the jeep? Stepping out of their hiding spots, the duo looked at one another in exasperation. Pulling her jacket closer to her, Lena realised how cold it was. Her breath formed a gentle fog in front of her face as a loud ringing caused her to jump.
"Shut it off!" Scott whispered harshly, looking around for the police as she fumbled in her pocket before revealing that her father was trying to call her. "Lena, someone will hear it!" As he stared at her with rattled expression, the pressure flustered her. The phone soared through the treeline, landing an unknown distance from them. "What the hell?"
"I panicked!" She screeched, running a hand through her hair before tilting her head in appreciation. "Although that was a pretty good throw…" The cracking of twigs filled her ears from behind. Her pulse quickened and her hair whipped her face as she surveyed the ever-darkening wood, clutching onto her friend; Fear prominent in her expression. "What was that?"
With his arm encased in Lena's death-grip, Scott whispered: "Let's get out of here."
"You know, I'm starting to feel like we are "a pair of dumbasses"."
The second the words left her mouth, a stampede of stags suddenly appeared out of nowhere. The usually peaceful animals ran, frantic as they stumbled over one another. Throwing herself to the ground, Lena's arms covered her head as hooves grazed her; thwarting her curls as they were pulled from their elastic prison. Once the herd had passed, the dishevelled looking teenagers rose to their feet once more.
"I dropped my inhaler." The boy informed as they stared at each other, breathless. Lena watched as Scott bent down in search of his medicine; her eyes continuously flickering from her friend to the wilderness around them. A sudden yell of surprise escaped Scott's mouth as the light of his phone grazed the body of a woman. Jolting backwards from shock, he flew into Lena and sent both of them tumbling down the hill.
The fallen leaves tangled in her hair as she fell; sticks and stones pulling the strands from their roots. Her back throbbed in pain as Scott stood, extending a hand to her. She had never had many fears growing up but the longer they spent out in the reserve, the more fearful she felt. In all honesty, she had no idea how to get home - her mind offering nothing but forceful reminders that she was cold, hungry and tired. Grabbing Scott's hand, she allowed him to pull her up; a soft smile on her face. However, her smile soon turned to a deep frown as she noted the terrified expression that twisted his face through the darkness. His deep sienna eyes were wide and trained on something over her shoulder.
"Run."
Her frown deepened at the odd instruction: "What?" She whispered before slowly turning her head to follow his stare. In the darkness she could barely make out a large black mass. Craning her neck to get a closer look, she wished she hadn't. Survival instinct stepped in as she jumped backwards, and the massive creature pounced. A scream bubbled in her throat as Scott yelled out in pain – shrieking for her to run. As the sound of terror left her mouth, the animal looked up to her with deep red eyes forcing her to take off running.
Her lungs burned as they cried out for air. The whipping of branches and the rustling of leaves surrounded her as the beast shot past her in a seemingly nonsensical manner. The rush of movement left her dazed: it was herding her. As fatigue crept in, her motions grew clumsy and before she knew it, the lace of her boot had latched itself onto an overgrown root. Her head ricocheted off a near by rock. Blood dripped down her forehead and into her eye; burning it. Determined to survive, her hands pulled her backwards – stones shredding the soft, pale skin of her palms. Her heart hammered in her chest as her body trembled with adrenaline and fear. The big black mass stalked towards her agonisingly slow. Emerald eyes cried in desperation as her back hit a tree, thwarting her escape. The beast advanced. One step at a time. Blood continued to flow through her hairline. Raggedy breath caught in her throat, suffocating her as the beast continued forward. Slowly. Its predatory nature evident as it circled its prey. With every drop of sticky red liquid, her vision blurred; whether it was a lack of consciousness or the silent tears of helplessness, she did not know.
Scott ran through her mind, she shouldn't have left him.
Suddenly, a deep growl cracked like lightening through the night. Her head began to throb with immense pain causing dizziness and black spots in her vision. As the pain intensified, she allowed her eyes to droop as the silhouette of a man stood in front of her. Darkness soon followed leaving her with nothing but a memory of an ear-splitting howl and the retreating beast with deep crimson eyes.
The air hit her like a tonne of bricks. As if she were breathing for the first time. As if she had been drowning in the waves of darkness and had finally given into that last inhale of water. Her eyes flew open, blinking furiously. Her fingertips clutched the quilt around her – searching for a tether; an anchor to the world around her, to real life. Lobelia blue adjusted to the early morning sunshine as she relaxed. Familiar surroundings slowed panicked breaths. Her boots lay at the foot of her bed, glittered with specks of mud and fallen leaves. Throwing her sheets from her body and revealing last night's clothes, she bolted upright only to be halted by an intense throbbing on her head. A strangled groan escaped her as her fingertips gingerly ran across the deep cut. Five stitches.
Confusion continued to acquaint itself as she slowly swung her feet out of the comfort of her bed. Her bedroom was just as she had left it aside from a tiny orange bottle of painkillers that lay - unlabelled on her nightstand - accompanied by a glass of water. Her dark brows knitted together as her gaze was drawn to the Samsung that had been launched into the reserve. Had Scott found it? Had he brought her home? The unanswered questions continued to drown her as a breeze pulled at her hair, drawing her attention. The light floral curtains danced in the morning air. Be it an old childhood fear of monsters or the constant feeling of being watched, she had never left her window open whilst she slept; Scott knew that. Her frown deepened. The muscles in her brow twitched and her eyes scanned the room once more as she forced the window back towards the frame before glancing to the clock: 07.00. The plasters on the palms of her hands had gone unnoticed until she found herself in front of her bathroom mirror; the grazes relatively painless as she turned on the shower. Tiny trails of white cascaded down her face – amongst the previous day's makeup - where the stream of dying blood had been wiped. Choosing to ignore the spiral of uncertainties that toyed with her mind, she peeled off her clothes and stepped into the water – allowing it to burn away the fogged memories and the bloodstains.
The tiles were cold against her bare feet as she wrapped the white cotton towel around herself. Running a hand across the steamed-up mirror, she assessed herself. Feeling decidedly more human, she ventured back into her bedroom to find a rather anxious Stiles sitting on her bed. His eyes widened with relief as his shoulders visibly relaxed and he jumped up, pulling her into a tight embrace.
"Are you okay?" He rushed, pulling away and resting his hands on her shoulders. A frown creased his expression as he spotted the stitching on her hairline. "What happened?"
"Something attacked us. I fell, and hit my head…" She muttered, her brow crinkling as she searched for answers. "I lost Scott..."
Seeing her eyes widen in remembrance, the younger of the two quickly informed: "He's alright." She sighed, releasing the breath that she hadn't realised she'd been holding. "Says he was bitten by something! We need to get to school."
Lena nodded painstakingly slowly, her eyebrows knitting together as she whispered: "The black mass…"
"Come on, we have to go. I want to see this bite mark!"
As her brother stared at her impatiently, Lena cleared her throat: "Uh, Stiles?"
He hummed obliviously in response until she pointed to the towel that she was wearing, prompting his eyes to widen.
"Oh, right. Yeah. Sorry." He laughed, pointing over his shoulder to the door. "I'll get breakfast!"
Her head throbbed as she rested it against the passenger-side window of the powder blue tin-can. Taking a swig of soda, she popped a couple of the painkillers into her mouth and shoved the orange bottle into her bag. The radio was low and playing the usual chart music that seemed to be on an everlasting loop. As the jeep rumbled forwards toward the school, blue eyes stared absentmindedly out of the window. Flashes of bright red joined the darkness that every blink brought her. A strong scent of leather muddled with charred wood accompanied every breath. A growl deep within her ears with each flashing memory. Running through the depths of her mind, she searched for the answers to her questions only to come up with nothing. Nothing but leather and charred wood.
A sudden slap on left arm caused her to jump and face the assailant with a startled expression.
"Are you even listening to me?" Stiles asked staring at her as she mumbled in response. "I said we're here. Come on!" He exclaimed, throwing her bag at her as he switched off the engine.
Slamming the doors in unison, the siblings made their way towards the school where they were met by their best friend. Upon seeing the pair, a massive grin spread across the taller boy's tanned face:
"I'm glad you're okay." He sighed as he approached the girl. "I tried to find you, but I assumed you made it home and then I tried calling but then remembered that you threw your phone…" He rambled before noting the object in her hand. "But I guess you found it! You didn't see my inhaler, did you?"
Stiles stared at his sister incredulously, scrunching his face up as he reiterated: "You threw your phone?"
Ignoring him, Lena frowned: "Wait. You didn't take me home?" A concerned expression flitted across Scott's face as he slowly shook his head, prompting her to immediately backtrack. "I mean, I hit my head pretty hard…I probably just..."
Stiles, oblivious to the concerns of the pair in front of him, almost bounced on the spot as he finally brought the conversation to the topic that he had been itching to know about. The bite.
"So, let's see this." He rushed as Scott raised his shirt, allowing the Stilinksis to see the bloody bandage on his hip. Excitedly, Stiles reached to peel it off, only to be swatted away like a pesky fly.
"It was too dark to see very much, but I'm pretty sure it was a wolf." As the words trailed out of Scott's mouth, images of the large black creature and the soul-splitting blood red eyes flickered through Lena's mind like an old movie. Consequently, she shivered.
"A wolf bit you? No, not a chance."
"I heard a wolf howling."
The boy with the buzzcut scoffed, shaking his head dismissively as he said: "No, you didn't."
"What do you mean I didn't, how do you know what I heard?"
Sensing her friend's agitation, Lena turned to her brother with a stern expression: "Yeah, Stiles. How could you have heard anything after you ran off without us?" Her arms crossed against her chest as she raised an unimpressed eyebrow. Whilst the boy had been determined to disprove them, he had neglected to explain why he had chosen to run off alone, leaving them to the dark horrors that had awaited them on the reserve. Although, in all honesty, the older girl was glad that he had been safe at home.
Stiles scowled at her childishly, "California hasn't had wolves for like sixty years," before turning to Scott and affirming: "There are no wolves in California."
"If you don't believe him about the wolf, you are not going to believe us when we tell you that we found the body." Lena continued, a teasing tone lacing every word whilst the McCall boy nodded in agreement. Tilting her head, as if settling an internal argument, she added, "although I didn't technically see it because someone pushed me down a hill."
A sheepish smile spread across Scott's expression, but it was soon quashed by a shudder that accompanied the mental image as he exclaimed, "You're lucky. I'm gonna have nightmares for a month!"
While one Stilinski smiled sympathetically, the other bounced on the balls of their feet, fizzing with excitement: "That is freaking awesome!" He finally exploded, fists clenching in front of him like he was a kid on Christmas morning. Earning a number of questioning stares from passing peers, Stiles lowered his voice as much as his fervour would allow, "I mean, seriously, it's the best thing that ever happened in this town, since…" As he trailed off, looking for the end of his sentence, Lena and Scott followed his chocolate brown gaze; jumping as he loudly declared: "since the birth of Lydia Martin!" Lena's gaze wandered to the most popular girl in school. Her strawberry blonde hair radiated in the sunlight as she walked towards them; authority exuding from her. "Hey, Lydia!" The Stilinski boy waved, "You look…" However, as his presence was completely ignored by the redhead, he scratched the back of his buzzcut head and finished, "…like you're gonna ignore me."
As her twin brother trailed off, Lena's arm was caught by the object of his affections, leaving her minimal time to shout a rushed goodbye before being dragged into the school corridor.
"I honestly don't know why you insist on hanging around with losers." Lydia huffed, rolling her eyes as they approached their lockers."And dressing like a nun." As her mossy eyes glossed over the brunette's outfit of choice, her tiny kitten heels clipped the shiny floors; drawing the attention of every male in their vicinity as Lena retorted with a scowl:
"Those losers are my brother and my best friend."
"And here I was thinking I was your best friend?" Upon hearing his voice, a smile crept onto the girl's face as he put his arm around her. Grinning at each other, the pair tried their best to ignore the make out session in front of them as the most popular girl in the school was greeted by her, captain of the lacrosse team, boyfriend.
Lena rolled her eyes as she unlocked her locker and pulled out her textbook. Abandoning her jacket whilst grumbling: "If you wanted to taste his breakfast, why didn't you just stay over?" As the scowl on her face deepened, a hearty laugh escaped from the boy to her left. His laugh was - as always - infectious, earning a begrudged chuckle from her.
Jackson smirked at the only tolerable Stilinski as Lydia laughed, melodically: "You are grumpy with an extra side of grouchy, this morning." Lena grazed the stitches with her fingertips as if subconsciously explaining her foul mood. Meanwhile, the queen bee continued her monologue; her curls bouncing on her shoulder as she shook her head before a spark of recollection passed her expression. "Before I forget, clear Friday afternoon because we are going shopping!" As she smiled enthusiastically, Lena averted her eyes, suddenly a lot more interested in the loose blue thread on Danny's shirt. It wasn't that she didn't like shopping, she just hated waiting around as Lydia tried on every possible outfit combination in every single store. "And this time we aren't leaving until you have a smoking hot outfit for the party." Finally glancing back up, the brunette girl pulled a face, "No. I know that face. You're going to this party, you promised Jackson."
"The words "I promise" never came out my mouth."
"No…" Jackson agreed with a passive expression, however, it soon contorted into feigned remembrance, "but the words "I'll come to the party if you don't beat the crap out of my brother during lacrosse training" did."
"Touché." Lena grumbled, slamming her locker shut with a sigh. "I'll have to ask my dad."
"Just sneak out. Isn't the Sheriff's daughter an expert by now?" Danny suggested with a nonchalant shrug. "I'll pick you up and drive you home."
Tilting her head in silent agreement, she offered a rebuttal. "Sneaking out isn't the problem, it's getting back in. Remember last time?" As her best friend bit his lip to mask the laughter that bubbled in his chest, Jackson frowned and prompted an explanation. "I slipped on the roof, head-butted my windowsill, then panicked when my dad questioned my split lip, told him Stiles had punched me, and got him grounded for two weeks." The recollection of the reason she had been so easily manipulated into going in search of the body the previous night, proved too much for Danny as he finally burst. His laughter drowning out Jackson's as Lena fought the grin that threatened to diminish her bad mood. However, it appeared that nothing was set to go right for the elder Stilinski twin as she opened her bottle of soda. Cursing her brother for throwing her bag at her in the Jeep whilst thrusting the juice out in front of her, Lena truly felt like she needed to restart the day; growing only more thunderous as the boys' laughing increased.
"You are so not cool." Lydia chuckled with a smirk as her friend scowled and shook her now sugar-coated hands.
"Yeah but she's hot, so she gets away with it." Jackson added, shaking his head as they made their way down the corridor, away from the sticky destruction.
As the Sheriff's daughter wiped her hands on the tissues that Danny had thrown to her, she painted a smirk of her own: "Wow, did I just hear the Jackson Whittemore compliment someone other than himself?"
"Don't get used to it."
Chuckling, she playfully pushed the boy as she entered the classroom. Grinning at the sight of her twin, she slid into the seat in front of him. Glancing to her right, she met Scott's smile before turning her attention to their English teacher as he supplied each of the students with the semester's syllabus.
Flicking through Kafka's 'Metamorphosis', Lena scrunched up her nose in somewhat disgust. It was definitely not a novel that she would have read voluntarily. The entire premise being somewhat uninteresting and before last night, unbelievable - despite her love of all things supernatural related. Lightly rubbing her head with her fingertips, she tried with all her might to make some use of the reading time. Occasionally, scribbling a note or two on a post-it and sliding it onto the relevant page.
"Class." The principal's voice suddenly rang through the room drawing the attention from everyone in it. Lena's eyes wandered to the girl that stood beside him; dark hair that fell in loose curls around a petite face with eyes just as dark, twiddling her fingers nervously as she looked like a deer caught in headlights. "This is our new student, Allison Argent. Please do your best to make her feel welcome."
As soon as possible Allison slid into the nearest free seat, smiling warmly as she met the inquisitive stare of the Stilinski girl, however, the sherriff's daughter was not the only person who's attention she had held. Lena raised a thin eyebrow in curiosity as she watched Scott turn around in his seat and offer his pen to the new girl, who smiled and gratefully accepted. Her expression soon turned to a frown as the boy she had known almost all of her life, turned and met her stare with a sheepish grin. Rolling her eyes at the pink tint that brushed his cheeks, she held out her spare pen, fighting a smile as he took it and mouthed a grateful 'thank you'.
It had been all of two minutes but, Scott McCall was smitten.