Freaking Out

I spent the whole night going back and forth from Isaac's house to the station, bringing him his clothes and other necessities then soothing him afterwards. I didn't bother thinking about what I would tell my parents when they asked me what I was up to all night long, or why I didn't tell them why I didn't call. But eventually, I did have to leave. I asked if Derek could take me home, which he happily obliged, something about it wasn't safe for me to be out in the middle of the night while it was the full moon.

We didn't talk the whole way there, just when he bid me a goodbye. Walking into my house, I made sure to tread quietly, seeing that none of the lights were on in any of the rooms. I made my way to the kitchen, finding a note from my parents telling me they left for their anniversary early, back to Europe where my dad's family is from. Sighing, I threw all of my things on the ground, not really caring, just happy to be alone. Rummaging through the fridge and pantry, I dialed a number I knew all too well, Erica's.

She was my other best friend. When Isaac's dad began to beat him, he got to go out less and less, so I resorted to making other friends, which turned into just one new one. I knew she was epileptic, but I didn't care, her seizures were something I was unfortunately used to, but they didn't scare me like they did when I was 10.

"Hello?" She said when she picked up. That girl was always so formal.

"Hey, E. Sorry for calling so late, I just got home." I told her, knowing that she was worried when I didn't call her per usual. I always set aside time to call Erica to make sure she was okay and not in the hospital even though I saw her today at lunch.

"It's okay Shelly. I was just working on the Econ homework Coach gave us today. Tomorrow we're doing the wall in gym." She said fearfully. Any physical exercise in front of our peers brought out the worst of Erica's fears, understandably. The last time we had a major task in gym, the laughter of the other students made her have an anxiety attack which could have led to another seizure, but I got her out in time.

"Don't worry, E. I'll be there to help you, try not to think about it, then thought it may be impossible to not do."

"Will you really be there with me?" She asked, hope dripping from her words.

"Of course, why would I ever leave you?" I could tell she was smiling by how calm she sounded during the rest of our conversation. We talked for another two hours, just about life and how horrible high school is and her never ending crush on the Stilinski boy until I told her to get rest for tomorrow, knowing she needed as much sleep as possible.

But on my end, I couldn't sleep. I couldn't get the image of Isaac's fangs and pointy ears out of my mind. I couldn't help but think of those glowing yellow eyes that took over his beautiful blue ones I remember so clearly. I've looked into them so many times, the yellow ones would haunt me, I could just feel it. Something about tonight made me want to find out more about this world. I wanted to know more so I wouldn't be scared, anymore.

My mother told me that if I was scared of something, I should get to know it better, and then it wouldn't be as scary. Maybe her wisdom would apply to this situation. I didn't know where to start until I remembered all of the old dusty books we had in our attic. My grandmother told me once when I was a little girl that we were witches, and we had all of the power one could need to fight off evil. I never believed her, of course, but now that I've seen how real werewolves are, why couldn't witches be real?

Slowly, I made my way up the attic stairs, as I got closer to the top, the walls grew tighter until I was met with a door. Pushing it open, it was dark inside. And there was a feeling around this room that felt pure. As if my grandmother herself blessed it. But she was dead.

Walking around the room, I had no idea what I was looking for. There were a lot of boxes, filled with old pictures we didn't have room to hang. Some boxes held old bottles and clothes tat belonged to our ancestors and trinkets my great-grandparents brought over from Europe. Opening one box, I dug around, finding tiny bottles with labels on them until my hand hit something hard at the bottom.

Grabbing the whole box, I brought it down stairs with me, curiosity washing over me. I set the box in my room then going around the house making sure all of the doors and windows were locked. Dumping out the contents of the box, I picked up one of the largest bottles, looking at the black sandy content, which was labeled 'sorbier' or mountain ash in English. I didn't know what mountain ash was but because it was such a large amount, I put it on my bedside table, making a memo to ask Derek later.

In the middle of my bed, surrounded by bottles was an old leather bound book. It had one long string of leather, which was wrapped around the book three times. Picking it up, I turned it over in my hands, and peering at the spine of the book, which had a sentence burned into it. It appeared to be Latin or another ancient language I didn't understand.

Glancing at the clock, I finally realized it was already one in the morning and I had promised Isaac I'd go and see him the next morning before school. Trying to put my mind in a calm state, I slowly cleaned up my bedroom, placing all of my grandmother's bottles neatly on an empty shelf side by side in alphabetical order. As I cleaned, I began to hum something my grandmother used to sing to me to get me to fall asleep as a baby. I could feel my brain starting to make my body shut down, all of my limbs feeling heavier and heavier with each passing moment until I finally collapsed on my bed, seeing a figure standing at the end of it as I shut my eyes.

When I woke up, no one was there. I told myself that is was only my imagination playing tricks on me. Feeling a tad bit paranoid, I quickly threw on a black long sleeve blouse with lace in spaces where the sleeve was cut and a loose black cotton skirt, black leggings underneath it. Before I ran out of the house I put on some makeup and red lipstick, letting my curly hair loose, reminding myself that I should probably get a haircut soon. As I ran out the door, I slipped on black flats, practically running down the long road that leads to my home. I spotted Derek's Camaro at the end of the driveway, passenger side door already open.

We didn't speak a word to each other, my leg bouncing in anticipation as we got closer and closer to the station. I couldn't help but feel excited to see Isaac again. Once we pulled to a stop, I put my hand on the door handle, prepared to run out until Derek stopped me. "You're good for him, you know. But he's scared that he'll loose you."

Looking over at him, Derek took off his sunglasses, "What do you mean, loose me?"

"Because you're human, you could easily be killed by him or Scott or hell, whatever the thing we're trying to catch. Because we don't know what it is, it's more dangerous to us and especially you. Stay safe, Shelby." Nodding, I made my way down the stairs, smiling as I saw Isaac sitting in one of the trains reading. It was a sight to see knowing Isaac. He hated to read. The most puzzling aspect of seeing him was how my heart was filled with joy, my love for him pouring over. This is not how you love a best friend.

Running to him, I dropped my bag, not noticing my grandmother's book fell out. "Isaac!" I squealed. Once he saw me, he set the book down, standing up so he could grasp me into a bear hug. I never missed him as much as I did now. We spent an hour talking about nothing supernatural, just things we'd normally talk about. It was almost like we were normal again.

Looking at the watch around my wrist, it told me it was time to go. Looking up at him I sighed. "I have to go to school Is." I never realized how heart breaking his disappointed face was or how even when he smiled and said he understood, my heart fluttered. Was it stupid of me to tell myself he didn't hear it?

At school, every one was staring. They whispered to each other about how I was a killer's best friend. The worst part was when people began to whisper at me in class 'coffin fucker'. Of course, teachers didn't notice, and even if they did, they were too busy staring at me, too, and making people tell them if they ever see the fugitive running around. Meeting up with Erica before gym, we changed together. In the locker room, it was much calmer. The only person who looked at me was Allison, per usual.

It was tragic how Erica was treated. She was an incredibly sweet girl, caring and loyal, but her medication mad her break out, gain weight and have crippling anxiety. She never tried with her appearance, especially after people decided it would be funny to video record Erica when she had a seizure and put it online so she could relive it over and over and over again.

Today in gym we were faced with the wall. It was one of Erica's personal dislikes due to her fear of falling. Unfortunately, when I was paired with Greenberg, who has been trying to get me to date him for three months, Erica was paired with Stiles, who she had a crush on, but by her facial expression, she wasn't thinking of Stiles at all.

The class gathered to watch each pair go up and down the wall and when it came time for Erica to climb, I could feel her anxiety from the back of the room, fear for her washing over me, too. Halfway up the wall, she began to freak out, which Lydia Martin so helpfully pointed out when Coach thought she had vertigo.

"Coach," I said, "Erica has epilepsy, you know. Do you think it's safe for her to be up there?" I asked, my eyes glued on Erica the whole time, my heart breaking at hearing her whimpers. Coach was upset that we didn't tell him about this. He coaxed her down, Erica crying and everyone laughing. I opened my arms for her, leading her to the lockers. We stayed there until class was over, Erica clearly upset abut how people still laughed at her illness as I whispered kind words in her ear, reminding her how beautiful and strong she was.

When everyone filed in to change, Erica told me she was going to get some water and to not wait up for her. Not thinking anything of it, I complied, turning my back on everyone in the room, peeling off my gym clothes and dressing myself. I paid little to no attention to the other girls until I heard loud collective gasps. Running out of the room, I pushed though everyone, seeing Erica on her side, head in the lap of Scott, clutching his hands.

Once the ambulance came, it took five minutes to convince them to let me ride in with her and once they did, I held her hand the whole way there, knowing she'd be scared. I couldn't, however, be in the hospital room with her so instead I called Derek.

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- Maev