-Four
I couldn't sleep that night. I stayed much longer at Stiles' house, ironically without him, than I wanted to but coming home made me feel better. The fear that filled me at the sight of the black creature melted as his scent fills my lungs in thick waves. I grab a bag of blood, emptying into a mug to warm it up, and walk up to my room. It wasn't until I got to the top of the stairs that a heartbeat broke through my concentration. I swallow the gulp of blood that remained in my mouth and quietly open my bedroom door. Sure enough, Stiles was lying in my bed.
"Stiles?"I say softly, walking toward him. He jumps up, startled, and falls off the bed. I giggle and set my mug down.
"Hey, uh, I'm sorry. I'll leave if you want."He says, walking toward my door. I laugh and grip his hand, lacing my fingers through his like he had me. He turns toward me and smiles faintly. I kiss him gently and wrap my arms around his neck.
"How, your jeep is gone."I laugh. He groans and nods.
"Yea Scott and Derek left a few hours ago and I let Scott take her."He sighs.
"You can spend the night if you want. I can take you to school tomorrow."I say, pulling away.
"You're going tomorrow?"He says with a smile as if he were an excited child. I smile and nod, taking my shoes off.
"I have to give Coach hell some time right?"I smile, walking toward my closet and pulling out a long shirt and spandex shorts. He laughs and bites his lip gently as I walk toward the bathroom to get changed. I walk back, pulling my hair up into a loose bun. He wraps his arms around me and kisses my neck.
"What have I missed?"I ask, pulling him toward the bed, knowing he won't get my double meaning. He lies me down and lies behind me, wrapping one arm around my waist while the other rests bent behind his head.
"Nothing much, just projects and Coach complaining about you not being at school."He says with a sigh. "He blames me for why he doesn't have a perfect attendance record for his class."He adds softly. I turn to face him, curling into his chest, and shake my head.
"I didn't go because I didn't want to see the hatred in your eyes for me. I never wanted you to know what I am and I thought for sure after everything you'd hate me and never want to see me again."I correct him, tears blurring my vision. I grip his shirt and rest my head against his chest. "I cried in Derek's arms after I made you leave. The thought of loosing you was like a stake to the heart."I add softly, just above a whisper. He tilts my head up to look at him and kisses me gently, wiping my tears away.
"I remember every moment I spent with you in my dreams. Meeting you at school was the best thing that's ever happened to me. No matter what you are, I'll never hate you."He says sweetly, smoothing my hair. He kisses my forehead and pulls the blankets up over us.
"What about you? What have I missed with you?"I ask, trying to get him to explain the string and article covered room of his. He sighs and pulls away slightly, looking up at my ceiling.
"Dad called you about that, huh?"He asks absentmindedly.
"Not just that, Stiles. He knows you haven't been sleeping and you've been lacking in school. He's worried about you and so am I."I say, sitting up. He sits up and looks at me.
"You don't have to worry about me. I'm fine."He says dismissively. I shake my head and turn completely in front of him.
"That's literally my job and I know you're not fine. Something's wrong and it basso ethnic to do with that creature outside your house."I blurt out on accident. His heart races in my ears at the mention of the creature.
"There's a creature after my dad?"He asks, too worried to understand.
"No, I think it's after you and it has something to do with whatever's going on in your head."I say, touching his cheek. "Please, explain it to me."I say softly as if talking to a child. He sighs and pulls me close as he lies back. The rest of the night we spent talking about old cases that he thinks very well might be connected to new ones. He took it apon himself as the only normal human being in our group to be the brains of our operations. The problem was that it was opening him up to things I hadn't heard of in years and he was running himself ragged. I woke up the next morning to the smell of warmed up blood as Stiles climbs back into bed.
"You didn't finish your drink last night so I topped it off and warmed it up."He says sweetly, smiling and kissing my hair. I sit up and take a drink, humming in satisfaction.
"I thought you didn't like blood."I smirk at him as he lies his head in my lap. He chuckles and nods.
"I don't but it's easier to handle when it comes from a bag."He retorts. I run my fingers through his hair and slowly loose my smile, noticing the rather deep red circles around his eyes.
"You didn't sleep at all last night, did you?"I ask, sighing as he works to come up with a good excuse. I set the mug down and walk toward my closet.
"Stiles, you need rest. I'm calling your dad and then the school. You're not going today."I say, picking up my phone from my desk. He jumps up and covers my hands with his.
"No, don't please. He has enough to worry about and I have a test today. If I don't take it today I won't remember any of it."He says pleadingly. I knew he wasn't telling me something but I didn't have time to fight with him about it.
"Fine but as soon as you get home, you get some sleep."I order, grabbing my black skinny jeans, black heeled booties, a red lace shirt and my black cropped leather jacket. I get changed in the bathroom, listening to Stiles vent about how obnoxious Derek and the twins can be, and hurry to do my makeup and hair before leaving. I grab my keys and drive us to school.
"You look amazing today."Stiles smiles, kissing my cheek as we walk up to the school. I blush and thank him softly. I hurry from my locker, meeting Erica and Isaac at the door of my first class.
The day went by pretty fast, I had to fight with Coach a bit about why I was gone but I didn't mind it. At the end of the day, we all sat in the parking lot and talked. Erica drove her car over next to mine and Scott moved his motorcycle over near us. It was then that I actually met his race date Kira. She was a cute little Asian girl the obviously made Scott happy, not to mention was supernatural herself, though I could tell it still bothered him to see Allison with Isaac. Kira's aura was shaped like a fox made out of golden lightning. It was beautiful, but I couldn't ask her about it now.
"Wanna come back to the warehouse and rough house with Peter again?"Someone chuckles lowly in my ear. I turn and growl as Aidan and Ethan walk by. Stiles grabs my arm and pulls me close.
"Hey hey hey, it's okay. Just breathe. Calm down."He whispers, getting odd looks from Kira. I close my eyes, breathing Stiles' scent through my nose, and open them again once I'm calm. Scott explains to Kira what I am and that I help protect people. She happily accepts it and thanks me. I nod and say goodbye.
"But.."Stiles groans. I shake my head and wave him off toward the passenger door.
"No 'but's. You refused to sleep last night and you need your rest."I say sternly as everyone slowly starts to leave the lot. He gets in the car and let's me drive him home without any further struggle. I walk him to his door, planning on just leaving him to rest until his father asks me to stay talking about a murderer on the loose. After he leave for the station, I can hear Stiles curse and punch the wall from the other room.
"Hey, don't do that. What's wrong?"I say, taking the hand he held gingerly and massage it.
"I should be able to help him."He groans, pulling away and jogging up to his room. I let my eyes glow, beating him to his door.
"Talk to me. You don't have to try and figure this all out on your own."I say, pleadingly, worrying about his sanity. He brushes me off and walks into his room, flipping on the lights.
"You're a vampire, Lydia is a banshee and Allison is a hunter. Everyone else is a werewolf but me. I have to do this."He says angrily. His eyes darken as his face distorts slightly in pain and anger. I walk up to him but he turns away from me coldly. Had I done something? I follow his gaze toward the board in front of him and growl, taking out my phone.
"These are your father's cases, aren't they?"I ask, looking for the email the Sheriff sent me the night of the rave. He doesn't say anything, just looks at me as if I had no business budding in. I step closer to the board, ignoring his sudden change in mood, and growl inwardly for not noticing the article pinned on the board.
"Numbers were found on the victims right? Well your father sent me the night of the rave and Aidan had the number 5 burned behind his right ear after being attacked by that black creature."I say, showing him the email. He nods, eyes narrowing in wonder.
"So the murders were done by those creatures?"He asks.
"No,"I shake my head. "If they wanted us dead, we would've died in that warehouse. They're searching for something."I say, shifting to scan the drawing of the creature drawn by a witness to google images.
"What are they searching for?"He asks, staring at the picture as it loads to an email I send to our history teacher, who just happened to be Kira's father. Just before I can finish uploading it to google to see if I can find any stories on the creatures themselves, a loud roar irrupts. I wince and turn toward the window.
"It's two wolves. One is Derek and I can only guess the other to be Scott."I say, grabbing Stiles' hand and rushing him out to my car. He sits in the passenger seat trying to call everyone in our group but only Allison answered with a short message.
"Get to the bank."She says, hanging up quickly though the background was full of unnecessary noise. I race to the bank like she said and growl, pushing Stiles to the floor when a piece of concrete is thrown. It's then that I realize it was an alpha fight. Aidan and Ethan were fighting Scott and Isaac while another man I recognized as Ducalian was fighting Derek with Allison and Erica's help. The dark skinned woman, who I now know is Kali, stalks her way toward Stiles and I. I crouch into an animalistic stance in front of him, growling loudly.
"How cute. A vampire and a human. Too bad I'll have to send you back to your father in pieces, Princess."She growls. She knew me? I smirk and charge her. I managed to dodge one swipe of her claws but the other hand caught my side. I hiss in pain and kick her in the ribs, throwing her to the ground. I can hear Lydia run up to Stiles as Allison backs up to them behind me.
"Run!"I growl, biting down onto Kali's arm. She howls in pain and throws me into a wall hard.
"No!"Stiles yells, fighting Lydia and Allison's grip.
"Get out of here!"I growl weakly, sliding my keys toward them. Lydia takes them and tugs him toward the door just as Allison shoots Kali with an arrow. With her attention on her, I grip her hair and slam into the ground, creating a crater. I nod for Allison to leave and throw Kali over the edge of a short ledge. I turn, making sure they were gone, and breathe a sigh of relief for a moment at their absence until Derek howls a gurgled cry of pain. I turn quickly and see Kali standing above him holding onto a pipe she shoved into his chest and into the floor below him.
"Derek!"I cry out in pain, jumping down the long drop. I go to tackle her when Ducalian whistles.
"Don't move."He orders, holding Stiles to his chest and motioning toward Aidan holding Lydia and Ethan holding Allison. I look at Scott and he nods, knowing he'd get Allison, and turn to lock eyes with Lydia.
"Scream."I say sternly, balling my fists.
"Lydia scream!"I growl loudly. She screams as loudly as she can, her banshee powers coming in hand. Aidan and Ethan let them go with ease as if they planned it, but Ducalian throws Stiles to the side with a pained whimper as Kali runs out of the bank.
"No! Stiles!"I call out as he lies unconscious with blood on his forehead. Derek whimpers and grunts for me to take the pipe out. I call Isaac and Scott over, pulling it out quickly. I run toward Ducalian and swing the pipe into his head, gripping his shirt and throwing him to Kali's feet. I motion for Scott to help Derek over to me as I sit with Stiles' head on my lap. I bite both of my wrists and put them over each of their mouths. Derek gags and coughs against my skin as his fangs rub against the torn skin. I growl in pain as the werewolf venom slowly starts to infect me. I pull away from Stiles, afraid of infecting him too, and heal Derek enough to help him home. I groggily take Stiles home, after giving Scott instructions on how to help Derek, and pass out just before the stairs from the pain. Was Stiles okay? I had to check on Derek.
The next morning I woke up to Stiles pacing the room talking on a phone. Was that my cell?
"She's asleep. She passed out at the foot of the stairs last night. I think something's wrong."Stiles says softly, his eyes flickering over to me. He walks to me and hands me the phone, sitting behind me as I sit up.
"Hello?"I say softly.
"Kara, Erica's dead."Derek says coldly, short and sweet and too the point. My heart lurched in my chest painfully as if it was physically breaking.
"No. No no, tell me you're joking."I say, voice cracking in pain and sorrow. Derek fell silent and I knew he was fighting his own battle with sorrow.
"No! No please no!"I cry, tears streaming down my face. I couldn't believe this. No, she couldn't be dead. Stiles wraps his arms around me and takes me phone, hanging up. I turn and cry into his chest, sobbing painfully. He hums and smooths my hair. For what felt like hours I say crying in Stiles' arms. His father didn't make him go to school and said he'd call about our absence. I just couldn't look at her empty seat right now. I wanted to throw something and scream so bad. After a while, I was out of tears and merely sat in the window with my knees in my chest. Only one thought came to mind.
Stiles is obsessed with helping us and solve cases, I'm determined to kill Ducalian.
"Kara?"Stiles calls. I turn toward him slowly. He walks from his desk and toward me holding a few pieces of paper. On the pages were the results from the Google search and the email from our history teacher.
