I was lying in the dirt. My breath was shallow. I let my head fall to the side. Tobias lay next to me, dead. The gun was lying in my limp hand at my side. I looked past him and at the Nemeton. It was time. I was done as the Kirin. And I was done in this life, in this world.
I felt hands on me. I was too weak to move. Something turned my head. It was Sam. What is he doing here? I was too numb to speak. I could barely make out a sound, let alone a word. He had blood on his clothes. But that didn't matter. He was too concerned with me.
I wanted to explain it to him. Tell him that I was done, that it was time for me to move on. But I couldn't. No matter how hard I tried. I couldn't speak.
I saw him through tainted eyes. My vision was now a dull green. The light behind my eyes, that spark that makes them glow, was gone. Lydia was right. I do die here. I should've known better than to doubt a Banshee.
My eyes stayed on Sam. He took my hand, but I couldn't feel it. Now my body was numb. His eyes glowed and the veins in his hands darkened. I knew what he was doing, but at the same time, I didn't. My eye lids became heavy. And I didn't fight them. I let them fall shut.
A warm feeling filed my body. I had this weird feeling like I had dozed off and was now waking, confused, not knowing how long I was a sleep. But all I saw was black behind my eye lids. And then that burning turned into a raging fire. I opened my eyes and roared, the sound of which was coming straight from my soul.
Once I stopped roaring, my eyes grow heavy again. I only saw glimpses of the world. And I wasn't quite sure what they meant. There was a man beside me. His eyes glowed a golden yellow. And then he fell over. I let my head roll, thinking he was stupid, as my eyes closed. But I wasn't sure why.
I sat up with a gasp, my head throbbed. I put a hand to it, like that would do any good. I looked around the room. Where am I? The door opened and a teenage boy walked in, with another just behind him. "Hey, you're awake," the first one said, clearly happy, and sat on the bed a foot from me.
I sat up and pulled my knees up to my chest, where I held them. "Am I?"
"Yeah," the first boy looked at the second and scoffed. The other boy shrugged. The first looked at me, suddenly concerned. "Why wouldn't you be?"
I paused. Was he for real? I shook my head. "I'm sorry, who are you?"
He laughed. "Ha, I see what you did there. Good one, Kit." On that last part, he reached out to playfully tap me, but that's not how it felt. I jumped back, slamming into the head board and sliding across the bed. "Whoa!" the boy flew to his feet and stood next to the other.
"It's okay," the second boy stepped forward.
"I didn't think she was serious," the first boy told him. The second boy walked closer to the bed, but I quickly got off of it and backed into the wall. There was something about him. He was different, more intimidating. He had power. The kind I was taught to fear.
He instantly stopped. "It's okay. I'm not going to hurt you."
"Where am I?" I asked.
"You're at my house."
"And where's that?"
The boys looked at each other. Then the first spoke, "Do you really not remember?"
"Answer the question." My pulse was rising and I could feel myself wanting to shift. I closed my eyes, trying not to change.
The second boy spoke. "Okay. You can calm down." He spoke softly. "My name is Scott. You're in Beacon Hills."
I looked at him. "Where the Hell is that?"
"California," the other replied with a raised eye brow. He looked in disbelief.
"Well, I don't belong here," I said. "I need to go home. My Pride will be worried about me."
"You're 'Pride'?"
"I meant family," I tried to correct myself, but it was too late.
"It's okay," Scott said. "See?" his eyes glowed red for a second. "I'm like you."
"No. You're not. You're worse."
"Kit, we're just trying to help."
"Stop calling me that; that is not my name. It's just a nickname my friends gave me and only they can use it!"
"Okay." He swallowed, uncomfortable. "What is your name?" Then he changed his mind. "What should we call you?"
"Ann," I said. "My name is Ann Keller." They were speechless, and gave each other weird looks.
"You should call Derek," the first boy said to Scott.
"Who's that?" I asked. They looked at me funny again.
"Yes, call him now, Scott. Now! Tell him to get his butt back here."
Scott pulled a cell phone out of his pocket and then left the room. I watched him leave. "Where is he going?"
"Oh, he just needs to call a friend."
"Who are you?"
"Stiles. Stiles Stilinski," he said proudly.
"That's your name?" I scoffed and he nodded. "Wow. Who hated you?"
He looked offended, about to say something and then didn't. Instead he stepped forward. I pushed further into the wall. "Okay. I'll stay here." He stopped.
"You're not like him, are you?"
"Who? Scott?" he asked and I nodded. "No, I'm human. But can I ask you something?"
I nodded. "Sure."
"Um, Ann," he started as Scott walked back in. "What do you remember last?"
I thought hard. "I was in the words…"
"Were you alone?"
"No. I was with my friend."
"You mean Tobias?"
I shook my head. "No, she was like me."
"A were…cat?" he asked and I nodded. He glanced at Scott and then looked back at me. "One more question: how old are you?"
I looked down at myself. "Well, clearly I've grown. But in that memory, I was ten."
"Ten! Like, years?!"
"Yes. How do you measure age?"
He rolled his eyes. "Derek can't get here fast enough."
"He can't bring back her memory," Scott told him.
"Well, he can do something!"
"He's not answering, Stiles."
"Okay," I said. "Well, I need to go."
"NO!" they both shouted.
"You have to stay," Scott said.
"I need to go home, to my Pride," I said.
"Yeah, what is that?" Stiles asked.
"Ugh, Humans," I sighed. "A Pride, it's like a pack."
"You had a pack when you were ten?" Scott asked me. "What happened to them?"
"Nothing happened to them. They are fine! And I'm leaving!" I moved two feet and Scott jumped in front of the door.
"I can't let you do that," he said.
"Move," I growled, my teeth growing to fill my mouth. "Or do I have to remind you why our kinds don't get along?"
TO BE CONTINUED…