CHAPTER EIGHT
TRUTH FROM THE SNAKE'S MOUTH
Jessie gasped and gaped at her big brother—Derek's newest beta, "What the hell?"
Baako raised his hands to put them on her shoulders but she flinched and backed away from him. He frowned, hurt that his baby sister was backing from him, "Jessie—look, I know it looks bad."
"BAD?" Jessie spat, making Baako and Isaac flinch while Eric and Derek watched in interest, "Bad? You've been lying to me!"
"I never lied to you," Baako denied, "I just didn't know how to tell you at first while I was still dealing with it."
"How long, huh?" Jessie asked, "If Derek's not the one who bit you and you weren't here when Peter was loose so he couldn't have done it. I haven't felt another werewolf in the area besides the omega. I can't believe I didn't feel something was wrong with you."
"Because nothing's wrong with me," Baako said gently, "I mean—I'm stronger, better, faster. I can protect you and Beth and Mom and Dad, better than I ever could."
"What's with people thinking this is a gift?" Jessie scowled, "Everyone tells me about the strength and power," her eyes flitted briefly to Isaac before landing on her brother again, "And everyone acknowledges the downsides but no one ever really talks about it and that this so-called 'gift' invites hunters and monsters into your life hell bent on killing you simply for being what you are."
She started to pace a little bit, "I mean—why does everyone think that having powers solves anything when all it's done is complicate things more and more?" She paused, leaning on the stair railing in frustration, "Everything is just shit."
Everyone wanted to say something that would make it all better. But Isaac beat everyone to the punch. He marched in front of her and shook his head, "It's okay."
She looked up at him bitterly, "Nothing is okay."
"Your brother can handle this," Isaac told her, "And so can you. I know you're scared of what your powers may mean for you because you don't know them. You're scared of what they'll give to you and also what danger they could bring to you. But do you know why we focus on the perks of being a werewolf?"
Jessie slowly shook her head, her full attention of her werewolf ex-boyfriend, "No—why?"
"Because if we magnify the perks, the problems don't seem so bad," He told her, "And the perks are a means to deal with the problems. All the good comes hand in hand with the bad. The point is to focus of preserving the good."
"Not everything is that simple, Isaac," Jessie whispered.
"Then make it simple," He stated simply, "You're strong, Jessie, and the smartest girl I know. If anyone can find a way through this, make it simple and come out on top, then it's you."
Jessie looked down at her fiddling hands, "Do you know what Krieg bestimmt nicht, wer Recht hat. nur wer übrig bleibt means?" Isaac shook his head. "It means 'war does not determine who is right. Only who is left'. In war and battle between werewolves and hunters it doesn't matter that we're innocent. All that matters is that we survive. But this isn't an action movie where good always defeats evil. Evil has no morals and will stop at nothing. That's our weakness. And we can lose everything because of it."
"Our morals don't make us weak," Isaac insisted, "When we have something worth fighting for—we'll never stop fighting until we win."
"I don't know if I can fight..." A tear tracked it's way down Jessie's right cheek.
He brushed the tear away from her skin and kissed her forehead, "I know for a fact that you can."
"If Jackson doesn't know what he's going," Allison said on a three-way conference call with Jessie in her room and Stiles and Scott waiting for the terms of the restraining order Jackson was pulling on them, "then he probably doesn't know that someone's controlling him."
"Or he doesn't remember," Scott suggested.
"What if it's the same kind of thing that happened with Lydia when she took off from the hospital?" Stiles pointed out.
"A fugue state?" Allison asked.
"He'd have to forget everything. The murder-" Scott began to list.
"Getting rid of the blood," Allison added.
"Yeah, he had help with one thing though—the video," Stiles said, "And someone else helped him forget that."
"It has to be his master—but that's so up close and personal," Jessie intervened, "It doesn't make sense. I mean, getting the kanima to kill people for them is distant and safe. Getting involved themselves is risky and dirty. It wouldn't make sense for the same person with the same mind to do both."
"Well where does that leave us?" Scott asked her.
"I don't know..." the teen girl sighed, pacing her bedroom, "Either someone else erased the video—not the master. Or this person would be capable of murder and just stumbled upon a way to get away with it—Jackson."
"Are you sure Jackson has no clue about any of this?" Allison asked all of them.
"He thinks he's still becoming a werewolf and that being with Lydia somehow delayed the whole thing," Stiles said.
"So do we try and convince him he's not?" Allison questioned.
"If it helps us find out who's controlling him, then yeah," Scott shrugged.
"Do you think he'll talk to us after what we did?" Allison asked, chewing her lip.
"He'll talk to me," Jessie determined.
"So why do we need their help?" Erica asked, following Derek out of the subway car.
"Because it's harder to kill than I thought and I still don't know who it is," Derek grumbled.
"And they do?" Isaac snorted. But he admitted to himself that Jessie probably figured it out.
"They might," Derek conceded, "Which is why we need to work together."
"You know," Isaac started, hands in his pockets, "the full moon's coming, Derek."
Derek bent down over a large trunk and started pulling out chains and collars, "I'm aware of that."
Erica held up a set of chains and some sort of headpiece with bolts stuck in it, "Oh my, these look comfortable."
"You said you were gonna teach us to change whenever we wanted," Isaac complained.
"There hasn't been time," Derek glowered, standing up.
"But if you have to lock us up during the full moon," Isaac began to realize, "that means—that means you're alone against the Argents."
"They haven't found us," Derek informed as he started to walk away.
"Yet!" Isaac pointed out, "So how about we forget the kanima?"
"We. Can't!" Derek yelled turning to face them, "There was something about the way Gerard looked at it. He wasn't afraid—at all. I don't know what he knows or what he's planning. But I'm sure about one thing. We have to find it first."
Allison and Jessie slowly walked into the library, cautious of the cameras. Allison led Jessie into the aisle next to the one Stiles and Scott were hiding in and pulled out her touch-pad that held the translated kanima facts that Jessie emailed to her.
"This is everything I could get through so far," Jessie whispered.
Scott thumbed through it, "Okay, does it say how to find out who's controlling him?"
"Not really," Jessie sighed, "Just that the master and kanima are connected."
"And the whole murderers thing is true," Allison informed, "Jessie translated a story about this South American priest who used the kanima to execute murderers in his village-"
"All right, see?" Stiles intervened, "So maybe it's not all that bad."
"Until the bond grew strong enough that it killed whoever he wanted it to," Jessie finished for Allison.
"All bad," Stiles' face dropped, "All very, very bad."
"The kanima's actually supposed to be a werewolf—like Jackson," Jessie explained, "But it can't be-"
Scott caught up and read out, "Until it resolves that in its past which manifested it."
"Okay," Stiles geared up for yet another sarcastic remark, "if that means that Jackson could use a few thousand hours of therapy, I could've told you that myself."
"What if—it has something to do with his parents? His real parents," Allison whispered.
"Yeah, does anybody actually know what happened to them?" Scott asked.
Allison gave Jessie a look. The girl under the gaze gave her an incredulous look back, "I can't say... Jackson confided in me, I can't just betray him."
"Even if it means we can solve this whole thing?" Allison pleaded.
Jessie sighed, "Maybe I can go check on him—maybe if I help him resolve his issues than he'll turn into a werewolf instead."
"Jessie—I don't like this," Scott said, feeling protective of his friend.
"Scott just focus on your make-up test, okay?" Jessie implored, "Don't worry about me."
"Jackson?" Jessie called, walking into the boys locker room. She heard the water running in the showers and stood outside of them.
"In here," she heard him call.
She sighed and walked around, expecting him to be dressed. But he was naked as the day he was born. She gasped and shrunk back behind the wall, "Oh my god."
"Is something wrong?" She could practically hear the smirk in his voice.
"Yeah—you're naked!" Jessie whined, "What the hell dude!?"
"You're the one that walked into the boys' locker room," Jackson's voice sounded right behind her.
"Jackson knock it off," Jessie snapped, turning around to face him, determined not to look down, "I came here to talk to you seriously."
"And what did you want to talk about?" Jackson asked. But he didn't seem right—he didn't seem like Jackson. He seemed different, off.
"You," Jessie said softly, "I think what happened to your parents is the reason why you became the kanima instead of a werewolf. And if you talk through it... then maybe we can fix you."
"You want to talk about me?" Jackson asked snidely, "'Cause it seems like you always want to talk about you – and Lahey. Your powers and your lack of identity and your pathetic little breakup with a boy who wasn't good enough to lick the gum from the bottom of your shoes." He leaned his hands on the tile wall behind her, around her shoulders to trap her in, "You choose a boy who can't possibly last forever so it isn't your fault when it ultimately ends. And you come out as the victim when the truth is that you abandoned him when he needed you."
"That's not true," Jessie whispered, her heart starting to hurt.
"Yes it is," Jackson hissed, leaning closer to her face, "He was struggling with his father's death, being arrested and not to mention the whole agonizing pain and loss of the control once a month at the full moon. He dealt with all that and only had Derek to tell him how to handle it—so of course he listened and did what he was told. And you damned him for that. You claimed he betrayed you and you broke it off with him. You were just looking for an excuse, weren't you?" Jackson accused her.
"No—no," Jessie began to choke up, "Losing Isaac was the last thing I wanted... but-"
"But what?" Jackson snapped at her maliciously, "But you didn't trust him anymore? He wasn't the same person anymore? He wasn't your Isaac? That's a joke! You were tired of your pity project that was going nowhere so you decided to run at the first sign of trouble! You claim he betrayed you when it was you who betrayed him!"
Jessie frantically shook her head, "No! No, I didn't—I loved Isaac!"
"If you loved him than you would be with him right now," Jackson growled, "You wouldn't be here with me..." He paused, grinning malevolently, "We both know what you really want. You never wanted weak and shy Isaac Lahey. No... you wanted a real man. Someone strong without the werewolf boost. Someone who knew what he wanted and went for it." He was a hair's breath away from her now. He felt her mouth start to form words and pressed his lips to hers in a bruising, violent kiss. Jessie whimpered painfully against him, trying to push him away from her. But he wouldn't budge. He ferociously bit at her lips with hunger, trying to force his tongue in.
Jessie mewled against him and found some of her supernatural strength to push him away. She leaned heavily against the wall, panting and sobbing. Jackson landed on his naked ass in front of her, before his eyes widened and he snapped out of whatever trance he had been in when he saw Jessie's bleeding lip.
"Jessie!" Jackson gasped, standing up to go to her. She forced herself not to flinch when Jackson's fingers touched her bottom lip, "What-" he looked down at noticed his state of undress and scrambled to cover himself. "Jessie—did I do this?"
"It's okay," Jessie whispered softly, trying to force her voice not to break, "I'm—I'm okay."
Suddenly Isaac barged in, grasping Jackson's throat and holding him against the wall, eyes glowing golden with fury and rage.
"Isaac!" Jessie called out, "I'm fine—I'm okay, I'm okay! Let him go!"
Isaac growled at the other boy, who was breathing harshly through his nose, "You try to force yourself on her! You think you're good enough for her!? You think you have the right to put your hands on her!?"
"No!" Jackson gasped out, losing air.
Jessie tried to pull on Isaac's elbow, "Let him go! He didn't mean it! Please!"
Scott suddenly appeared out of nowhere, yanking Isaac off of Jackson, "Isaac, control yourself!"
The two boys stumbled out of the locker room into the hall just as Matt was walking down. Jessie and Jackson followed them out as Allison and Stiles ran over to the still struggling werewolves. Erica appeared out of nowhere and held Isaac back while Jessie held Scott back. Suddenly they heard, "What's the hells' going on?"
The teens froze as Mr. Harris' voice sounded as he stalked over to the group, "What do you idiots think you're doing?"
Matt's voice sounded, "You dropped this," he handed Allison her touch-pad.
Harris sighed impatiently through his nose, "You and you-" pointing at Isaac and Scott, then thinking better of it, "Actually—all of you," he stated pointing to everyone, even Matt, "Detention. Three o'clock."
As all the teens sluggishly walked into the library for their detention, Jackson told Mr. Harris, "Oh, uh—we can't be in detention together. I have a restraining order against these tools." He pointed to Scott and Stiles.
"All these tools?" Mr. Harris asked in boredom.
"No," Stiles grumbled, "Just us tools."
"Fine," Mr. Harris snapped, "You two—over there." He pointed to the front table, leaving Jackson, Matt, Allison and Erica at one table and Jessie alone with Isaac at the other.
Jessie stiffly took a book out and began to leisurely read. But her mind or heart wasn't in it. She just kept going back to what Not-Jackson said. Did she abandon Isaac? Did she betray him? He only did what he did to protect her. And then all the power just went to his head. But maybe if she'd been there for him than he wouldn't have acted the way he did. Maybe if she stood by him and loved him than he would have been her Isaac again eventually...
"What's wrong, Jessie?" Isaac's quiet voice asked her.
Her eyes snapped up to his face, "Nothing—I'm fine."
"No, you're not," Isaac denied, "I know when you're lying—especially since your heart beat rose."
"How'd you find me?" Jessie changed the subject, "How'd you know?"
"I..." Isaac trailed off, hesitant, "I just sensed it."
Jessie shook her head to herself and pretended to read, "Well thank you—but I'm fine."
"Jessie..." Isaac whispered softly, "Whatever Jackson may have said—ignore it. It doesn't matter."
Jessie sniffed as tears built in her eyes as she relived every hurtful truth Jackson spat at her, "The thing is... he wasn't wrong. Some of the things he said—may have been true."
"What did he say?" Isaac asked her quietly.
Jessie hesitated and then shook her head at him.
"Please?" Isaac tried.
Jessie sighed, looking into his eyes, and seeing his need to console her. He always had a way of making her feel better. But she didn't think it was possible this time. She averted her eyes, "He said... that I—abandoned you when you needed me. That I betrayed you..."
"Hey..." Isaac hushed, grabbing her book out of her hands and holding her hands in his own, "You didn't abandon me. I hurt you—and I hate myself for it. But don't for one second think that this was your fault or that you abandoned me."
"You just wanted to protect me..." Jessie whispered to herself.
Just then, Jackson stood and grumbled, picking his backpack up and holding his head, stumbling out of the library with Mr. Harris asking him, "Are you all right? Hey, you don't look so good."
"I just need to get some water," Jackson evaded, exiting the room.
The chemistry teacher stood to follow him, first warning everyone to stay in their seats.
As soon as he was gone, Scott and Stiles immediately scrambled to where Isaac and Jessie were seated. "Okay," Stiles stated, "Now after Jackson's little freak out, can you tell us about his parents?"
Jessie sighed, seeing she may have no other choice, "Fine... but no one tells Jackson that I said anything. None of this is his fault and I don't want to lose his trust."
All the boys nodded, "Okay."
Jessie crossed her arms over her chest, "They died in a car accident the day before he was born."
"Before?" Stiles gaped at her.
Jessie frowned, "Yeah-"
Jackson walked back into the library at that moment, looking pale. Jessie's concerned eyes followed him before she looked back at the boys.
Mr. Harris gathered his things and began to stand so all the teens figured detention was over and started to gather their things as well. The teacher began to laugh maniacally, "Oh, no, I'm sorry. Uh, yes, I'm leaving. But none of you are. You may go when you're done with the re-shelving," He held his hands over a whole book-mobile full of tomes. Mr. Harris grinned, proud of himself, "Enjoy the rest of your evening."
After he left Allison's mother's voice sounded over the speaker, "Scott McCall to the principal's office."
The four of them shared a look as Scott shuffled off to the front office. Jessie sighed and stood to start re-shelving books. Isaac and Stiles followed her as Allison went to meet them while Jackson and Matt started work on the other side of the library. They quietly worked until Scott got back.
"Okay," Jessie breathed, shoving books on shelves while she spoke, "So Jackson's real parents were killed in a car accident while she was still pregnant. The doctors had to perform an emergency c-section to get him out safely."
"They had to pull him out of her dead body," Stiles shivered.
"So it is Jackson," Isaac confirmed.
The four teens watched him wide eyed, not realizing he was Derek's pack until now and cursing themselves for having this conversation in front of him. Isaac saw Jessie's worried face and put a hand on her shoulder, "Don't worry."
Jessie swallowed and nodded.
Allison was still a little wary like the others but she continued the conversation, "So was it really a car accident?"
"I pulled the report," Jessie admitted, "When he first told me, it sounded fishy and he's never had closure so I thought I could get it for him. I hacked the insurance agent assigned to the case and got the files I needed."
"You're a hacker now too?" Stiles asked sarcastically.
Jessie grinned briefly, "Danny taught me some stuff."
"And?" Allison asked the other girl.
"It was inconclusive," Jessie revealed.
"So they could have been murdered?" Scott asked for confirmation. Jessie nodded.
"That falls in line with the kanima myth," Stiles said, "You know? It seeks out and kills murderers."
"But for Jackson? Or the person controlling him?" Allison asked.
"Jackson didn't have any reason to kill my dad," Isaac told them.
"Or the hunter or the mechanic," Jessie pointed out, "They didn't know each other."
"Well we have to tell him," Scott said.
"Yeah, 'cause that went so well the last time one of you tried to talk to him," Isaac glowered sarcastically, his eyes flitting to Jessie and her cut lip.
"Still," Scott said, walking out of the aisle to talk to Jackson. He saw an open book on the floor and slowly walked over to see Matt laying limply on the floor with a precise cut on the back of his neck—signature Kanima.
Just then a blur of movement slammed into the ceiling above him, making the ceiling tile crack and crumble, debris falling around the teen wolf. Scott's eyes and fangs slipped out as he tried to find Jackson.
The blur kept slamming into the ceiling, chucks of concrete and foam falling onto the ground. A large piece of cement fell over the group of four left in the other aisle. Stiles pulled Allison back and Isaac wrapped his arms around Jessie to shield her all on instinct. The ex's shared a meaningful look that was cut short when the kanima kept blurring across the ceiling.
It swiftly paralyzed Erica before appearing in front of Scott, half-transformed between lizard and Jackson. Scott growled at it menacingly but it slammed it's hands into his chest and thrust him back against the book-mobile, crashing to the ground. Scott stood protectively in front of Allison and Stiles while Isaac stood in front of Jessie.
Jackson stood in front of the black board. His head tilted back and his mouth fell open dumbly, his arm shooting out to drag the chalk across the board without looking, as if all his movements were controlled by someone else.
The group of teens watched in horror as Jackson climbed out and smashed out a window, escaping. They read the white words on the black board in fear.
'STAY OUT OF MY WAY OR I'LL KILL ALL OF YOU'
"Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey!" Stiles grabbed everyone's attention to Erica's jerking body, "I think she's having a seizure."
Jessie ran to her with Isaac behind her as Stiles pulled Erica's body in his arms. Allison and Scott went to check on Matt, "He's alive."
"We need to get her to a hospital," Stiles told Jessie.
"Derek—only to Derek," Erica gasped through tremors that rocked through her body.
"Erica—you need a doctor-" Jessie implored.
"To Derek," She muttered, "To Derek."
"She's right," Isaac said, "Derek should be able to help her."
"Fine," Jessie sighed, facing Scott and Allison, "You guys get Matt to help and we'll help Erica."
"Okay," They agreed.
The teens barged into the subway tunnel, Isaac carrying Erica's seizing body into the subway and laying her down. Derek immediately noticed and demanded, "Hold her up."
"Is she dying?" Stiles asked as he held her body up on the floor. Derek gathered newspapers on the floor and frowned, "She might, I—which is why this is gonna hurt," he pulled her sleeve up and his fists snapped her arm. She howled in pain, arching up in Stiles' arms.
"You broke her arm!" Stiles' voice cracked out.
"It'll trigger the healing process," Derek said, his nails sinking into her skin, blood dripping onto the newspapers, "I still gotta get the venom out. This is where it's really gonna hurt." He ripped into her skin, the blood pouring now as Erica whimpered and screamed out.
Jessie flinched at the metallic smell of the blood and dug her face into Isaac's shoulder as the wolf watched his pack-mate howl in pain, the pain showing in his own expression.
Soon she quieted down, and it seemed like she would be okay. Jessie tugged on Derek's forearm and pulled him out of the train car, "You knew it was Jackson—the whole time."
Derek stared at her, not confirming it nor denying it.
"We have to work together," She said quietly, "But unlike you—I care about these guys. You just bite them for power but I care about Isaac, and Erica and Jackson. So if we're gonna stop him—we're gonna save him, not kill him."
"And?" Derek asked her, knowing that wasn't all to it.
"And it's our way or the highway," Jessie smirked.
There's a little emotional spiel to bring even more insecurity into Jessie's life. Do you guys think Isaac and she will get back together? Do you think Not-Jackson was right about the breakup? Let me know what you think about the little changes I bring into the Teen Wolf show with Jessie's involvement.
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