Chapter 3:
Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Wolf or have any affiliation with the show. I wish I did, that would be awesome. Sadly, I am just a fan. The characters Nora, Sal and Tanya are my creations.
It was now the second week of school for Nora. The rest of her weekend had passed without incident. After a long day of balancing chemical equations and trying to allocate more space in her head for significant historical dates, Nora was more than ready for the final bell to ring. Lydia, Allison and Nora headed out to the lacrosse field to watch the team practice.
Nora was curious to see how Scott would perform during practice after such an incredible tryout the previous week. The practice had barely begun when she noticed Jackson. He was visibly irritated and seeming to be targeting Scott. Nora scoffed. Jackson was probably trying to prove that he was the best player on the team. Scott took a hard hit from Jackson, causing him to fall to the ground with a groan.
Coach Finstock didn't seem to notice Jackson's behavior. Instead, Nora could see him berating Scott's performance. "McCall's gonna do it again! McCall's gonna do it again!" Coach shouted.
This time, it wasn't Scott on the ground. Scott ran full-force towards Jackson, knocking him off his feet. Jackson clutched his right shoulder and howled in pain. The whole thing was a little on the dramatic side, Nora thought. Coach and the rest of the team ran to Jackson's side.
While everyone was crowded around Jackson, Nora noticed Scott and Stiles hunched together running off towards the school. She furrowed her brows and told her two friends, "I'll be right back."
Nora was nearing the boys' locker room when she heard a commotion. It wasn't a sound she was familiar with. She was about to enter the locker room, when she caught herself.
"Stiles? What happened?" She heard Scott say.
"You tried to kill me. It's like I told you before – it's the anger! It's your pulse rising – it's a trigger." Stiles said and Nora felt her breath catch.
"But it's lacrosse! It's a pretty violent game if you hadn't noticed!" Scott responded, frustrated.
"Well it's gonna be a lot more violent if you end up killing someone on the field. You can't play Saturday. You're gonna have to get out of the game." Stiles told him.
"I'm first line!" Scott said.
"Not anymore." Stiles responded. Nora was busy processing their conversation and hadn't realized they were coming towards her. Stiles rounded the corner, colliding with her. He grabbed her by the shoulders reflexively. Wide eyed, she looked up at him as he took a step back letting go of her shoulders.
"Nora! Hi. Have you been standing here long?" He asked, obviously nervous.
"Um, no. Just came to see if Scott was okay. He hit Jackson pretty hard." Nora's response came quickly, quicker than she meant it to. Nora was not a good liar.
Scott emerged from the locker room behind Stiles, looking just as panicked as Stiles. "I'm good. We should get back to practice." He said and the two quickly walked in the direction of the lacrosse field.
After a moment, Nora decided to head home. She didn't want to face Scott or Stiles again. She couldn't even begin to understand the conversation she had overhead. Scott – a killer? It really didn't seem possible. She shook the thought away for another time.
….
The following day at school, Lydia and Allison were discussing a possible outing after the lacrosse game.
"It's settled then, you invite Scott." Lydia said and turned to Nora. "Nora, you're coming right?"
"Ha! And be a fifth wheel? Thanks, but I'd rather not." Nora responded.
"I'll tell Scott to invite Stiles! You can't be a fifth wheel if there are six wheels!" Allison said with a smile that Nora couldn't resist.
Nora finished grabbing her textbooks from her locker and shoved them into her bag. She was about to head to the parking lot when she noticed a familiar face, one that she didn't expect to see at school. Sal and Sheriff Stilinski were talking with the Principal.
Nora was only able to catch the tail end of the conversation. "We'd like to institute the curfew effective immediately." Sheriff Stilinski was saying. It was then that Sal seemed to notice her standing there. He pulled her away from the Sheriff and the Principal.
"Nora. This is official police business!" Sal said angrily.
"A curfew?" Nora asked.
"Yes, Nora. I suggested it to the Sheriff." Sal looked back at Sheriff Stilinski who had finished talking to the Principal. "I've got to go, Nora. See you at home." He said.
…
Nora had barely gotten up to her bedroom when her phone ranging, showing Lydia on the caller ID. "Separation anxiety much?" She said with a laugh as she answered the call.
"Please." Lydia scoffed. "I'm just bored. I'm at the hospital. Jackson is getting his shoulder checked out." She told her.
"Is he going to play on Saturday?" Nora asked.
"He better!" She answered.
Nora laughed. Leave it to Lydia to be worrying about the fate of the lacrosse game while her boyfriend was injured. It was all about status to her. If Jackson couldn't play in the game, the team might lose. Lydia did not date losers. "You know losing one game isn't that big of deal. Plus, we have Scott now. He is just as good as Jackson – maybe better if you ask me." She said. Memory of the locker room conversation made its way into the forefront of her consciousness.
"Nora, hold on. Gimme a second." Lydia said. "I didn't get any of what you just said. Is it worth repeating?" She said to someone else.
"Uh, no. Sorry." Nora heard a distant, but familiar voice say. "Tell Nora I said hi. I'm gonna sit…you don't care." Stiles finished, his voice fading away.
…
Nora awoke to the smell of breakfast cooking downstairs. She looked to the clock. Seeing the time, she threw back the covers and ran to her dresser to quickly change her clothes – she was already extremely late for school. She had just pulled on a pair of jeans, when she remembered – it was Saturday. Groaning, she headed downstairs towards the wonderful smell of bacon.
Sal stood at the stove, watching the bacon. Nora also saw scrambled eggs and hash browns cooking on the other burners.
"Is it my birthday or something?" Nora asked. Breakfast this elaborate was a rarity, reserved for special occasions.
"I thought we could have a special day together- just you and me. Tanya is on a field trip with her class today." Sal said.
Honestly, that plan sounded wonderful to Nora. Recently, she'd noticed more of a divide between herself and Sal. It wasn't just her outburst the week before. Nora supposed she hadn't really spent much time home in a while. It didn't help that Sal was away most of the time too.
Sal and Nora's plans were cut short when Sal's phone rang. Nora could tell it was a work related call by his demeanor when he answered the call. Sal straightened up and said, "Sal Montgomery."
Nora leaned closer, trying to hear the conversation, but she had no such luck.
"Yeah, I'll be right there." Sal said and hung up. Looking at Sal with somber eyes, he said "Sorry, Nora. They found the other half of the body. I need to go check it out."
"Can I come?" Nora asked. Sal considered for a moment.
"Sure thing, kiddo." And the two headed to crime scene. She was surprised to pull up to a decrepit house that she could tell had been in a terrible fire. The forest had long since taken over the house. Vines crawled up the blackened walls and around the pillars holding up the porch.
"Woah, what happened here?" She asked, gesturing to the charbroiled house before them.
"That is the Hale house. There was a fire ten years ago – killed most of the family. I'll be right back. Stay here." Sal said through the window of the car.
Nora got out and leaned against the car door, watching Sal go. She saw an officer escorting a man out of the house and into a squad car. He was probably mid-twenties, with dark hair and chiseled features made even rougher by his stubble. Nora found herself momentarily distracted by the man's good looks. She shook her head once, remembering that he murdered the girl in the woods.
She heard someone approaching from behind her. Stiles stealthily approached the police car and got in the front seat. He looked like he was having a heated discussion with the murder suspect.
Nora laughed as Sheriff Stilinski yanked open the front passenger side door and pulled his son out by his jacket.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" the Sheriff asked.
"I'm just trying to help!" Stiles shot back.
"Okay, well how about you help me understand exactly you came across this?" Sheriff Stilinski said.
"We were looking for Scott's inhaler."
"Which he dropped when?" Sheriff Stilinski inquired.
"The other night!" Stiles exclaimed.
"The other night when you were out looking for the first half of the body."
"Yes!" Stiles answered, rolling his eyes.
"The night you told me you were alone and Scott was at home?" the Sheriff asked.
"Yes! Ugh, no! Ah, crap!" Stiles exclaimed, realizing his mistake.
"So you lied to me?"
"That depends on how you define lying." Stiles said.
"Well I define it as not telling the truth. How do you define it?" Sheriff asked.
"Reclining your body in horizontal positon?" Stiles answered. Nora let out a loud laugh.
"Get the hell out of here!" The Sheriff said, looking exasperated.
"Absolutely!" Stiles said and quickly hurried away. Nora raised an eyebrow as he saw her.
She crossed her arms across her chest and shook her head at him. "Got caught in a lie there, Stilinski?" She said with a laugh.
Author's Note:
Thank you so much for the follows! Again, please comment or critique! I would REALLY appreciate the input!
