HARSHER THAN THE BARK
A/N: So we have made it to 3B woo! Bear with me through this season because even when I watch it I kind of get confused at some parts but I'll try my best to make it make sense in this story.
Also, I was wondering if any of you guys like Supernatural because I'm a huge fan and I've been re-watching all of it lately and I kind of started tinkering around with a Supernatural fic, so if any of you would be interested in reading something like that then let me know in the comments because I'm debating posting the first chapter once I've finished writing it. And, on that note, I was thinking that I might post a couple more 'Pilots', so to speak, for other shows. I already have one for the Walking Dead but I don't know whether to post it or not and I have also had part of a Vampire Diaries one sitting around for ages...what do you guys think?
As always, thank you for your lovely comments. You're all so supportive and I love you for it!
Enjoy!
Scarlett paced around her room as she waited for Derek to answer the phone. It was unlikely. He hadn't answered the last fifty times she had tried calling him since he'd been away.
As expected, the call went straight to voicemail.
"Leave a message."
Scarlett rolled her eyes at his incredibly boring and lifeless voicemail. She heard the beep and decided to leave yet another message that he probably wouldn't even get.
"Derek would you please answer your phone. The full moon is in a week and I'm kind of freaking out about it and I could really use your help. Please, call me back."
Scarlett sighed as she hung up. She groaned and fell on her bed, face first, as Scott walked into her room.
"You know we have school in like half an hour, right?" He asked with a laugh.
"I know." Scarlett mumbled, not looking up.
Scott took a seat on her bed. "What's wrong?"
Scarlett looked up begrudgingly. "What's right?" She asked. "Derek still isn't answering any of my calls, the full moon's in a week and I'm totally terrified that I won't be able to stop myself from turning into a giant wolf and tearing someone's head off." She let her face drop back into her bed.
"Scarlett I already told you that I won't let you lose control. You can trust me." Scott reassured her.
"I know, Scotty. I just- I want all the help I can get. I mean, when you first turned, you kind of freaked out."
"But I didn't kill anyone." Scott reminded her.
"Yeah, I guess." Scarlett sighed.
"It's still a week away Scar, so don't dwell on it. Get up and get ready or you're gonna be late." Scott said, ruffling her hair and walking out of her room.
After showering, Scarlett walked out of the bathroom and literally jumped onto her bed to grab her phone when she heard it ringing. She didn't even look at that name, she just answered it, hoping that it was Derek calling to say he was coming back to town just for her.
"Hello?" Scarlett asked eagerly.
"I'm outside in ten." Lydia chirped, much to Scarlett's disappointment.
"Great." Scarlett mumbled, hanging up and getting ready with a frown.
Scarlett grabbed her bag and walked out of her room just in time to see Isaac get thrown against the wall opposite Scott's room. She shrugged and ignored it, walking down the stairs.
"Hey," Melissa called, walking up the stairs. "You two supernatural boys, don't test my totally un-supernatural level of patience." She gave Isaac the evil eye, motioning for him to put the picture that had fallen off the wall back up. She then turned and put her arm around Scarlett's shoulders as they made their way down the stairs together. "I'm so glad that I have one supernatural child that isn't destructive."
"Well, I guess we'll see about that." Scarlett sighed.
Melissa gave her a look. "You're still worried about the full moon?"
"Of course I am mom. There's a chance that I could turn into an animal on four legs and go on a killing spree around town."
"Look, honey, I don't know much about all of this werewolf stuff but I know a lot about you and I know that you could never hurt anyone. Wolf or not. You've always known right from wrong and even on the full moon, I am positive you will still be you." Melissa told her reassuringly, giving her a kiss on the cheek.
"I hope you're right." Scarlett heard Lydia beep outside and she walked out the front door to greet her friend.
"Oh no, you are not moping around today about the full moon." Lydia snapped as soon as Scarlett got in the car and she glanced at her face.
"How can I not?" Scarlett asked.
"Because I will make sure you don't. I'll keep you distracted." Lydia promised.
When the two arrived at school they waited at the doors for Allison to arrive. They weren't waiting long before Allison stumbled through the doors looking confused.
"Allison?" Lydia asked, trying to snap her out of whatever weird haze she was in.
"Are you okay?" Scarlett asked sincerely.
"Yeah, I'm fine." Allison nodded, obviously lying to her friends. She was definitely not fine.
"No, you're not. Spill." Scarlett demanded, pulling Allison into the side of the corridor.
Allison sighed. "Well, you remember how I told you that Deaton told us that dying temporarily would do something to us?" Lydia and Scarlett both nodded. Scarlett had been filled in on the lengths that her brother, Stiles and Allison had to go to in order to find their parents and in turn, she had filled them in on how she had nearly died and Derek bit her to save her life. "I think it's having effects now. Just there, I thought I was in a morgue and I saw Kate and I keep seeing her."
"Seeing your crazy, dead aunt? That's not creepy at all." Lydia said sarcastically.
"It's just hallucinations, Allison. She's dead." Scarlett assured her, putting a hand on Allison's shoulder.
"I know but it felt so real." Allison told them, still looking freaked.
"Well maybe something similar is happening to Scott and Stiles. We should find them." Scarlett said, leading the search.
When the girls saw the boys they walked straight for them and caught the tail end of their conversation.
"You're seeing things, aren't you?" Stiles asked knowingly.
Scott gave him a confused look. "How'd you know?"
"Because the same thing is happening to all three of you." Lydia clarified as they approached the boys. All five of them left the courtyard and headed inside when the bell rang. "Well, well, look who's no longer the crazy one." Lydia said happily as she walked through the doors.
"We're not crazy." Allison retorted.
"Hallucinating, sleep paralysis? Yeah, you guys are fine." Lydia said sarcastically, turning around to face her friends.
"Well we did die and come back to life. It's bound to have some side effects." Scott reminded them.
"We look out for each other, okay?" Stiles suggested. They all nodded before heading to class.
Scarlett stared at Allison, watching her hand shake as she held a paintbrush. "Are you sure you're okay?" Scarlett asked.
"Yeah, not the steadiest hand for a superb marksman." Lydia commented, glancing at Allison's shaking hand.
"It's been happening for the past few weeks." Allison sighed, letting her paintbrush drop in the red paint and watching it splatter on the canvas. "Since that night."
Lydia stood up and tore the piece of paper off of Allison's easel. "Start over."
Allison took a deep breath, picked up the paintbrush and began painting. Meanwhile, Scarlett looked back at her own painting. She rolled her eyes at it. She hadn't even been paying attention. She just instinctively painted gorgeous sea-green eyes. The same sea-green eyes that haunted every dream she had.
It was like Scott, Stiles and Allison weren't the only ones with problems. Every time that Scarlett fell asleep she had a dream about Derek. Sometimes it was more like memories replaying in her head. Memories of the happier times they had together and memories of the bad times. But overall, she kept dreaming that he was with her. Sleeping beside her, hugging her, kissing her, helping her come to terms with what she was. She knew that that was all couple stuff but she couldn't help herself. It had been fine to be without him at first. She actually felt better but that was gone now. Without seeing him at all, she realised how much she missed him and she was in desperate need of his help. He was always the one she talked to and even though she had Scott and Lydia to talk to it just wasn't the same. Even if he came back and they just spent time together as friends, that would be fine with Scarlett. She just craved the feelings that he gave her. Not to mention she was still hopelessly in love with him. Her heart quite literally ached every day without him and thinking about him only made it worse.
Scarlett got through the rest of the day by distracting herself with her work rather than thinking about the looming full moon. She was actually kind of disappointed when school finished. It meant that there was nothing to take her mind off of her worries.
"Next distraction," Lydia announced, grabbing Scarlett's hand and dragging her to her car along with Allison. "Target practice." Scarlett shrugged and got in the car. Lydia drove to Beacon Hills Preserve and Allison followed in her own car. When they got there, Allison unloaded her bow and arrow and paper targets. "Let's see if we can't get that steady hand back."
Lydia took the paper target and walked away from the two girls to pin it on a tree. "I've never seen her so enthusiastic to help." Scarlett said.
"Well, I guess when her friends need her, she pulls through." Allison replied, putting on a glove and getting her bow and arrow ready to shoot.
"That's true." Scarlett nodded.
"Do you really think this going to help?" Allison asked Lydia as she walked back towards them.
"I know that if you don't think it's going to help then it definitely won't." Lydia assured her, rubbing her hands together. "Let's get your head into it. Shoot a few and see what happens."
Allison nodded and Scarlett and Lydia stepped back to give her space. Scarlett eyed Allison's shaky hand. She already knew she wasn't going to hit anywhere near the target without precision and stealth. As expected, the arrow hit the ground next to the tree.
Allison wore a doubtful look as she picked up another arrow. Again, the arrow hit the ground next to the tree.
"Maybe hold the string a different way." Lydia suggested.
Scarlett nodded. "Yeah, try a Mongolian draw. It usually works for me."
Allison listened to Scarlett's advice and turned the bow on its side. She let the arrow fly and it hit nowhere near the tree.
Lydia sighed. "Okay, take a second and close your eyes." She put her hands on Allison's shoulders as Allison closed her eyes. "And imagine the arrow going to your target."
Allison's eyes snapped open and she gasped. "Did you see that?"
"See what?" Scarlett asked.
"Wait here." Allison said, picking up her bow and arrows and walking further into the woods.
This all seemed like a repeat of when Allison was first testing out her bow and arrow.
"Are you serious?" Lydia asked, though Allison was already too far away to hear her.
"It's okay Lyds." Scarlett assured her. "I have claws and fangs now."
Lydia made a face at Scarlett's frown. She knew her best friend still wasn't very accepting of the fact she was a werewolf and Lydia couldn't help but feel bad that she had been the one to give the 'go ahead' for Derek to turn her but as Lydia often reminded Scarlett, she would have died otherwise. "It's not that bad Scarlett."
"How?" Scarlett asked, incredulous.
"Well, for one, you're a total badass." Lydia reminded her.
Scarlett scowled. "Not enough."
Lydia peered past Scarlett. "What is she doing?"
Scarlett turned to look behind her, in the distance she could see Allison turning in circles as if she was looking for something. "Lydia!" Allison shouted out. "Scarlett!"
"We're still here!" Scarlett shouted back but Allison didn't seem to hear her. She and Lydia gave each other strange looks before they began walking towards Allison.
"Scarlett! Scarlett! Lydia!" Allison kept calling out their names but they were literally right next to her.
Scarlett's eyes widened as Allison aimed her bow and arrow straight at Lydia. She let the arrow fly before Scarlett had a chance to stop her but, thanks to her new superhuman reflexes, Scarlett caught the arrow in mid-air just before it could cause Lydia's face any damage.
Lydia stared wide-eyed at Allison, breathing heavily, as Allison snapped out of whatever trance she had been in. "Oh my God. Oh my God, Lydia, I am- I am so sorry."
"It's okay. I'm okay." Lydia assured her, still in shock. "I'll just go ahead and thank my lucky stars that Scarlett's a werewolf or else that could've ended very, very badly." Despite the fact that Lydia had almost died, she still had to make a point that being a werewolf wasn't all bad. Scarlett rolled her eyes and dropped the arrow.
"Right at her head?" Scott asked, walking into his room as Scarlett followed him and Isaac followed her.
"Almost right through it." Scarlett informed him.
"Well I bet your thankful for those quick reflexes now." Scott said with a smirk.
"Scott!" Scarlett snapped. "Lydia almost died. Can we please focus on that rather than everyone trying to convince me that being a werewolf isn't that bad?"
"You know," Isaac started. "If I recall, you can turn yourself into a wolf. What's not to like about that? Isn't it like, every kid's dream to be able to turn into an animal?"
Scarlett narrowed her eyes at Isaac. "There's a lot not to like about it and no, that is most certainly not every kid's dream. And it especially wasn't mine. I don't want it. So can I please continue with my story?" Scott gave her a nod. "Allison keeps saying the same thing. She keeps saying that she's seeing Kate. Look, whatever is happening to you guys, it's getting worse. So I suggest we work on finding a solution."
Stiles snapped back to the reality of Coach blowing the whistle in his face. Scarlett raised an eyebrow at Stiles. He had been totally off in his own world, writing something in his notebook over and over again.
"Stilinski!" Coach shouted.
"Yeah?" Stiles asked, looking confused as if he had no idea where he was or how he got there. It reminded Scarlett of what Allison had been like yesterday in the woods.
"I asked you a question." Coach reminded him.
"Sorry Coach, what was it?" Stiles asked.
Coach laughed humourlessly. "Well it was, 'Stilinski, are you paying attention?'"
"Oh." Stiles murmured. "Well I am now."
"Stilinski, stop reminding me why I drink." Coach warned him. "Does anyone else want to answer the question on the board?"
Stiles turned around to face Scott and Scarlett who were both giving him concerned looks. "I'm fine, I just fell asleep for a sec."
Scarlett and Scott shared a confused look before Scarlett spoke up. "Stiles, you weren't sleeping." Scott nodded towards Stiles' notebook. Stiles hadn't even noticed that the words 'wake up' were literally all over the page.
"Okay, so what happens to a person who has a near-death experience and comes out of it seeing things?" Scott asked as the group, which consisted of Scarlett, Scott, Isaac, Stiles, Allison and Lydia, as they all sat together at a table outside.
"And is unable to tell what's real or not." Stiles added in.
"And is being haunted by demonic vision of dead relatives." Allison also added in.
"They're all locked up because they're insane." Isaac concluded.
"Ha." Stiles said sarcastically, not impressed with Isaac's comment. "Can you at least try to be helpful? Please?"
Isaac narrowed his eyes at Stiles. "You know for half my childhood I was locked in a freezer so being helpful is kind of a new thing to me."
Stiles rolled his eyes, incredulous. "Really? Are we still milking that?"
"Yes we are still milking that-"
"Hi." Isaac was cut off by a girl that Scarlett had never seen before walking up to their table. Six pairs of eyes stared at her as if she were some sort of alien. No one ever came up to talk to them.
"I couldn't help but overhear your conversation and I think I might actually know what you're talking about." The girl continued to explain, looking nervous. Scarlett assessed her. The girl was very pretty. She was also oriental. Scarlett guessed Japanese. When no one said anything the girl continued. "There's a Tibetan word for it. It's called bardo. It literally means in-between state. The state between life and death."
"And what do they call you?" Lydia asked with her usual level of sass.
"Kira." Scott answered, making all head's snap to him. He gave her a small smile and Scarlett caught it in his eyes. He was totally into the new chick. "She's in our History class."
"So when you say bardo, are you talking Tibetan Buddhism or Indian?" Scarlett asked, surprising everyone. They all seemed to have forgotten, in recent times, that her smarts heavily rivalled Lydia's.
"Either I guess." Kira shrugged. "But all that stuff you guys were just saying? All that happens in bardo. There are different states in bardo. Some you can just see, some you can just hear and sometimes you can even be visited by peaceful and wrathful deities."
"Deities...what are those?" Isaac asked.
"Like demons." Kira clarified.
"Demons." Stiles nodded. "Why not?"
"Wait if there are different progressive states then what's the last one?" Allison questioned with a confused look.
"Death." Kira concluded. The group all gave each other weary looks. That didn't sound very promising.
"What're you still doing here?" Scarlett snapped at her father when she saw him standing at the bottom of the stairs.
"I already told you that I am in the middle of an investigation- "
"Yeah an investigation to get Stiles' dad fired!" Scott shouted as he burst through the door, gaining Scarlett and Rafael's attention.
"What?" Scarlett asked, incredulous. She glared at her father and shook her head.
"No one invited you so just get out!" Scott yelled. Rafael tried to reason with him but Scott kept going. "No, I can't believe you would do this to my best friend!"
Just then, Melissa walked into the house and it was like one, big fucked-up family reunion. "What is going on?" She asked.
"I'm just doing my job." Rafael protested.
"Well your job sucks!" Scott shouted.
"Can someone please tell me what the hell is going on?" Melissa repeated.
Scarlett walked down the stairs to stand next to her mother, folding her arms across her chest. "He's trying to get Stiles' dad fired."
"No, that's not true." Rafael countered.
"What are you doing?" Melissa asked accusingly.
Rafael sighed. "Conducting a case for impeachment."
"That sounds a lot like getting him fired." Melissa snapped.
"A lack of resolution and failure to close cases is what's going to get him fired. I'm just collecting information. And it's the job I was given by my superiors." Rafael said, eyeing both his children, trying to make a point that it wasn't as if he was doing this by choice.
"Your job sucks." Melissa said, backing Scott and Scarlett.
Scott's breathing became heavy and both Scarlett and Melissa noticed that his claws were coming out. "Scott, sweetheart, you need to calm down." Melissa said, taking Scott's hands and standing in front of him so that Rafael couldn't witness Scott's eyes change colour. "Come with me, honey, come with me right now."
Melissa guided Scott away from the foyer and left Scarlett to deal with her father. She gave him a glare. "I'd show you the door but we both know that you're no stranger to walking out of it." That stung Rafael but he left anyway, knowing where he wasn't wanted.
Scarlett walked away to find Melissa and Scott. Scott had calmed down and Melissa was talking to him. "Let me tell you something, both of you," She motioned for Scarlett to come closer. "This is something that no teenager ever believes, but you fall in love more than once. It will happen again and it will be just as amazing as the first time and maybe just as painful. But it will happen again, I promise. And until then, be your own anchor."
Funnily enough, it was actually her mother's wise words that finally convinced Scarlett that she might actually have some sort of chance at controlling herself on the full moon. Be your own anchor. Scarlett liked that. She felt like it was something she needed to hear. It was some solid, helpful information and the fact that it had come from her mother, who she had always looked to for advice, made it that much better.
Scarlett was just about to get undressed as Scott walked through her door, making her jump. "Geez, Scott! Have you ever heard of knocking?"
"I have a question for you." Scott said, sitting on her bed.
Scarlett rolled her eyes. "Shoot."
"Do you ever miss the days when me, you and Stiles were always out on adventures?"
"You mean like the time he convinced us to go find half a body in the woods? Yeah, those were the times." Scarlett said sarcastically.
"You wanna do it again?" He asked.
"Find half of a dead body?" Scarlett asked, incredulous. She really wasn't up for seeing something like that ever again.
"No this time a full one."
Scarlett contemplated it for a minute but who was she kidding? She would follow those two anywhere. "Let's do it."
"What're you two doing here?" Stiles asked as Scott and Scarlett waltzed into his room.
Scarlett twirled the flashlight in her hand. "It's our turn."
"For what?" Stiles asked.
"To drag you out to find a dead body in the middle of the night." Scott answered.
Stiles wasted no time in getting dressed and following the McCall twins.
"Okay so whose body are we looking for exactly?" Scarlett asked as she and the two boys wandered through the woods. In her excitement to get back to normal, which was completely fucked up considering her normal was finding dead bodies, she had forgotten to ask about details.
"Eight years ago, there was a car crash. A mother and two girls died. Two of them were found in the car with slashes and bite marks all over them and the other girl was nowhere to be found. They think that coyotes attacked the other two and dragged the girl, Malia, away." Scott explained.
"Well if she was taken by coyotes she was probably eaten, so what are we trying to find her body for?" Scarlett queried.
"Well, my dad thinks that it could've been a werewolf." Stiles told her.
"So…" Scarlett still wasn't getting the aim.
"So we find the body and prove that either a werewolf caused the accident or a human did, in which case we can find them and it means that the Sheriff can close the case." Scott informed her. Scarlett didn't really understand but if they were helping the Sheriff keep his job then she was in.
"You know, if my dad's right, it means there's another werewolf out there that we don't know about." Stiles announced after a few more minutes of silently walking. "And if it happens to be triplets that form into a three-headed hound of hell, I'm seriously not up for that."
"Yeah." Scott agreed, looking at the GPS on his phone.
"I still have no idea how you're doing that by the way." Scarlett told him, referring to the fact that his phone was tracking a car that had been wrecked for eight years.
They heard a coyote howl and Stiles jumped, pushing Scott which resulted in Scott dropping his phone in a puddle of muddy water. Scarlett rolled her eyes at Stiles. "What? I hate coyotes so much. They always sound like they're mauling some tiny, helpless, little animal."
Scott ignored Stiles and jumped down into the ditch where he had dropped his phone, followed by Scarlett and Stiles. Scott picked up his phone and dried it with his sleeve. "Still works."
"Let me see the flashlight." Stiles said, peering into the darkness. Scott handed Stiles the flashlight and he shone it in another direction. "I think we found it."
The trio made their way over to the overturned, wrecked and rusted car. "Why would they just leave it here? Isn't it evidence?" Scott asked.
"Probably just too much of a pain in the ass to tow it." Stiles told him. Stiles walked closer to the car and shone the flashlight on the side of the car. "Look at this." The flashlight illuminated five scratches on the car. Scott put his fingers to each of the lines, proving that it hadn't come from an animal.
"So, does this mean it was a werewolf?" Scarlett asked.
"Yeah and it means my dad was right." Stiles confirmed, kneeling on the ground and peering inside the car.
"What is that?" Scott asked.
Stiles pulled out a baby doll to show the twins. They all stared at it for a while until it decided to speak, making them all scream as Stiles dropped the doll.
"I think I might have just had a minor heart attack." Stiles informed them.
Scott froze and grabbed Scarlett's arm. "Please tell me you see that."
Scarlett's eyes widened. They were being watched by a pair of yellow eyes and whatever they belonged to was growling at them. The eyes disappeared and started running and, on instinct, Scarlett and Scott both took off after it, leaving Stiles by himself.
As Scarlett watched the coyote run from them, she gained speed and before she knew it she was on all fours, leaving Scott in the dust and bolting after the coyote at top speed.
"Scarlett, wait!" Scott shouted after her, but she didn't. She couldn't stop. She was captivated by the chase, of having the immense speed to run faster than most cars could drive. Scarlett was right behind the coyote, growling and snipping at its hind legs, allowing the animal side of her to take over.
The coyote jumped over a huge ravine and Scarlett didn't debate jumping over it as well. When she did, she came face to face with coyote. Both animals snarled at each other, baring their sharp teeth.
Scarlett willed her eyes to glow green, showing that she had all the power in the situation. The coyote backed up a bit and looked at Scarlett before it's eyes turned electric blue, much to Scarlett's surprise.
Scott landed right next to Scarlett and he took in the coyote's blue eyes. "Malia?"
The coyote took off again and this time, the McCall twins didn't go after her.