Chapter 2

After what felt like only an hour, Kaia awoke to the blaring of her alarm clock. She groaned, and reached out a hand to hit the button that turned off the irritating sound. She laid in bed for a moment longer, before hurriedly sitting up when she realized that she was falling back asleep. She couldn't afford to run late on the first day of school.

She got out of bed, and grimaced at the sticky feeling her skin had. She hated going to bed after a run without showering, but last night she had been pretty much dead on her feet. Kaia wandered over to her closet and pulled out a shirt and some pants after several moments of consideration. Outfit decided on, she walked into her bathroom and started the shower.

The water served pretty well to wake her up, especially since she got in before the water had time to warm up completely. She blamed the lack of sleep for that one. After getting out and drying off, she pulled on a pair of black jeans that flared at the ankle and a dark blue tunic. She decided to let her hair dry naturally, and wrapped a towel around her shoulders to keep her shirt from getting wet. She liked the way her hair formed loose ringlets when she left it to its own devices, because it certainly made her job easier.

Looking in the mirror, she decided to do a thin line of eyeliner and some light mascara today. She didn't really consider her eyes her best feature – that was her hair, in her opinion – so she didn't usually feel like drawing a lot of attention to them. If she'd had her mother's gorgeous bluey-green color, then she would flaunt them all she could. As it was, she hadn't even gotten her dad's interesting stormy grey eyes either. Instead, she got stuck with a strange, off-brown color that didn't seem to belong to anyone in her family lineage.

Eye makeup done, Kaia checked her face for any breakouts that needed covering up or any splotchy redness to her skin. She found nothing. Well, at least one thing was cooperating this morning. She checked her hair and found it only slightly damp, so she removed the towel from around her neck and lightly ran a brush through the copper-colored strands. Once she was done, Kaia double checked her reflection, then nodded and went back into her room.

She pulled out a pair of black, strappy heels that gave her an extra two inches off the ground and put them on. Glancing down at her clothing one last time, she opened the door to her room and went downstairs. She could smell her dad before she could see him. Rather, she could smell the breakfast he was making.

Kaia entered the kitchen to see her dad at the stove making hashbrowns and overeasy eggs. Glancing at the toaster, she noticed that the lever was down, meaning sourdough toast was being made as well. At the click of her shoes, her dad glanced up and grinned.

"There she is! My little late-night runner is emerging from her nest at a reasonable hour for once!" She rolled her eyes but smiled, getting out two plates and some silverware for them to use. Opening the fridge, Kaia grabbed the bottle of orange juice and set it on the counter before grabbing two cups.

"Sorry again, Dad. I promise to keep a better eye on the time in the future. Luckily I ran into the Sheriff, and he had Stiles drive me back home so I got back earlier than expected. School is still going to be rough, but nothing I can't handle." Her dad dished out their breakfasts and moved the plates and cups to the counter on the kitchen's island.

"Why was the Sheriff out in the middle of the woods at night? And with Stiles, no less?" Kaia hesitated, not really wanting her dad to worry. If he thought that she might be in danger out in the woods, he'd make her find a new place to run. He was a pretty cool parent, but a parent nonetheless.

"Um, there might have been a body found in the woods yesterday, so he was out investigating. Stiles pretty much snuck out of the house to go snoop – the Sheriff didn't bring him along." Her dad's eyes grew worried. Kaia ate some food, hoping to come off as nonchalant. She knew it was rather ridiculous to worry about not being able to run in the woods when someone was found dead, but she couldn't help it. The woods was her place to be alone and relax. It was her place to think.

"A dead body? When did it happen?" her dad asked. Kaia scrutinized his expression. Apparently it was his turn to pretend to be nonchalant. She knew what he was really asking. Could that dead body have been her if she had been in the wrong place at the wrong time?

"I don't know, sometime yesterday afternoon or late morning from what it sounded like. I was cold and tired, and really just wanted to get home. The Sheriff didn't seem too worried about it being a repeating thing while he and his men were out there. Or if he was, he didn't show it." Kaia caught the look on her dad's face, and had to smother a wince. She hadn't helped her situation at all.

"His men were out there too? Not just him?" Her dad asked, his concern growing. There was a momentary pause in which Kaia's breathing stopped, then her dad continued speaking. "Kaia, I think you should stay out of the woods when running." Her jaw dropped.

"But Dad!"

"No buts." Her dad said, cutting off any additional things she had to say. "This isn't permanent, only temporary. I just want you to not be alone in the woods until the killer is caught, or the police declare there to be no more danger. I know what that place means to you, so I'm not going to cut you off entirely without good reason." Kaia paused, and caught on to the hint her dad was giving her to the loophole in his rule.

"You said I couldn't be alone in the woods. Could I still go for walks in them if I bring Stiles or Scott with me?" Her dad gave a small smile and nodded, causing her to grin in relief. "Thanks dad, I promise I'll be careful out there." He nodded and tucked into his food, though his eyes were still dark with concern.

They ate in companionable silence for several minutes, and Kaia's mind began to drift. As she played with her last bite of egg, she flicked her eyes up at her father. He was still eating his hashbrowns, and didn't notice her glance. Kaia bit her lip, then turned her eyes back to her plate before speaking.

"Hey, Dad?" She kept her voice intentionally light, and felt her father look up at her, but kept her eyes on the bright yellow of her egg yolk. "Is Mom coming home this weekend?" She glanced up just in time to see his expression fall, and his eyes turn apologetic. Her stomach sank.

"Kaia-" he began, before Kaia cut him off, standing up and stuffing the last of her egg in her mouth.

"No, no, it's fine. I know she's busy with work and stuff. I was just checking in case I wanted to make plans with anyone for the weekend. Wouldn't want things to overlap." She said hurriedly, putting her dishes in the dishwasher and moving the pans to the sink. Her dad was studying her, but apparently decided to let the matter go for the moment.

"Ah. Well in that case, you probably don't want to plan anything for Sunday." Kaia looked up in confusion, her previous awkwardness dissapating in her surprise.

"What's on Sunday?" she asked, pausing momentarily. Her father raised an eyebrow at her, and Kaia was briefly reminded of her envy. She'd tried to practice raising only one eyebrow before, and had ended up making so many strange faces that she'd given up.

"What, a father can't want to spend time with his daughter every now and then?" Kaia felt her cheeks turn slightly pink in embarassment. It had been a while since they had spent any time as a family. In fact, ever since summer began, she'd either been out in the woods running or hanging out with Stiles and Scott. She'd barely been in the house all summer.

"Sorry, Dad. I'll be sure to leave Sunday free just for you." Kaia's eyes slid to the clock, and widened in panic. "Sh-, er, shoot! Stiles will be here to pick me up in ten minutes!" She ran out of the room and up the stairs, darting into her room. She grabbed her bag and shoved several extra pens into the front pouch, just in case. She went over to her phone and caught sight of its blinking light. Pausing, she swiped the unlock pattern and saw that she had a text from Scott.

Hey, made it home. I have something to tell you. See you at school tomorrow. Kaia frowned. Well, that was cryptic. She felt a brief moment of worry that something was wrong, when a familiar honk from outside drew her attention. That was Stiles's Jeep. Shaking off her concern, she stuffed her phone in her bag and raced downstairs again, giving her dad a quick hug and kiss on the cheek before racing out the door.

"Hey." she said breathlessly as she slid into the passenger seat. As Stiles pulled out of the driveway, she noticed the bags under his eyes and the way he yawned every couple of minutes. "You look about as good as I feel." He grinned slightly.

"I'm actually pretty awake. My body is the one that's tired, which is unfortunate because I need it awake as well. Thus, the drink of the gods." He gestured at the huge mug of coffee in the cup holder that was already half empty. Kaia cast it a disapproving glance, before noticing the slight tension around her friend's eyes.

"Hey, what's wrong?" she asked. Stiles glanced at her in surprise before returning his eyes to the road so they didn't crash and die.

"What? Nothing's wrong. Why would you think anything's wrong?" Catching sight of her deadpan expression, Stiles sighed. "Alright, alright. You know me too well, it's kind of irritating how I can never hide anything from you. Scott texted me last night after he got home. Please don't freak out, but he said he got bit by something." He looked like he was already regretting telling her.

"What?! Why didn't he tell me? Did he go to the hospital to get it checked out?" she interregated. Stiles looked like he was biting into a lemon.

"I'm guessing that the reason he didn't tell you is because of what is happening right now." he said dryly. Kaia paused, and realized that she was freaking out, just like Stiles had told her not to do, and took several deep breaths to calm herself down.

"Sorry, I can't help it. Someone has to worry about him, because heaven knows the guy worries about anything but the things he needs to worry about. But that's beside the point. Explain." Her tone left no room for argument, and Stiles rolled his eyes at her demanding tone.

"I don't know a lot, only that it must not have been bad enough to make him need to get medical attention. Besides, his mom is a nurse. I'm sure if anything happened, he could just ask her for help. Not to mention, he probably knows quite a bit on how to treat wounds properly from her. Just calm down, it will be okay." Kaia frowned at him for a moment, before lifting her chin.

"Fine, but I don't have to like it. I'll also be keeping an eye on him, and if he begins to act strangely, I will take the keys to your Jeep and drive him to the ER myself." Stiles looked like he wanted to protest, but knew better than to. Finally, he sighed in defeat, and Kaia smirked victoriously.

"Sometimes I really don't like you."

"I know."

The next several minutes to school were filled with bickering over the radio station, because no Stiles, Taylor Swift does not count as part of the oldies category, no matter how long ago her first song came out. The rest of the ride was spent in an easy silence as they switched the radio back and forth after every couple of songs, having come to a compromise.

They arrived at the school, and Stiles managed to park in a spot right out front just before a guy driving a grey van did. The other guy honked, but Stiles waved cheerily at him, and the guy decided to just move on. Kaia grabbed her stuff, and hopped out, already scanning the area for Scott. She found him right as Stiles was locking up his car.

"Look, there's Scott." she said, pointing him out. "I don't know about you, but I want to know more about what happened to him after we left." Stiles nodded in agreement, and followed Kaia as she made her way through the crowds of teenagers, heading towards their friend.