With the dread doctors gone, almost all of Evelyn's friends had returned to normal. Of course, she couldn't say all of them, because Malia had grown more and more outcast from the group. Since her breakup with Stiles, she didn't seem to feel comfortable interacting with any of them.
Evelyn felt like she was the only one to notice. Hayden and Liam were obsessively together, too much to notice much else around them. Scott and Kira were finally beginning a normal teenage relationship, and Scott was refocusing on his grades. Lydia was preoccupied with AP exams and learning more about her banshee lore. Of course, Stiles probably did notice Malia's avoidance of them all, but didn't feel like he could do much. He hadn't wanted the breakup, but Malia had justified it by saying she needed "space". Evelyn thought he was probably trying to honor that by leaving her alone.
But she knew it was unusual during first period when Malia's desk sat empty in physics class. Malia had been struggling badly to pass any of her classes. She would never miss school if she could help it. Evelyn couldn't listen to the lecture anyway, the teacher was exceedingly boring. So she found herself just staring at that desk, wondering where her friend was.
A familiar burning on her neck told her she wasn't the only one staring. She flinched uncomfortably, slinking down further into her seat. A brief glance to the side confirmed Theo Raeken's eyes on her. She swallowed, hard. In the few weeks since the Beast of Gevadaun's death, most things had settled down around town. Beacon Hills was slowly returning to normal. Except for Theo, who for whatever reason had stayed.
Evelyn had, at first, assumed he would leave. He had no pack, no doctors to boss him around anymore, and no friends to fool. He had nothing here. Yet here he sat. She glanced again towards him, finding his blue eyes staring unabashedly at her. They made momentary eye contact, his face blank, eyes slightly narrowed as if vaguely interested. Then she glanced away again, allowing her dark blonde hair to form a curtain between them.
She felt almost relieved as she felt her cell phone buzz in her lap, and picked it up. The text was from Stiles: Its on, tonight.
She could have groaned. Way back, in freshmen year, they had tried to have a Star Wars marathon night. Of course, it had been planned for the weekend Scott got bitten by Peter. So it had never happened. Since that fateful weekend, Stiles had continually tried to reschedule the event, feeling like it was the utmost importance to subject his friends to every film in the series.
She texted back: Ha. Cannot wait.
Evelyn wondered if Stiles would pick up on the sarcasm dripping from her words. She would officially be seventh wheeling, after all. Most people were used to being the third wheel from time to time. Evelyn had made it such an art form by this point that third wheeling was too mainstream. No, she would get to be the legendary seventh wheel. She could picture their weekend already: Luke and Leia on the television. Scott and Kira cuddling and being sickeningly cute together. Hayden and Liam barely keeping themselves from fornicating right there on the couch. And worst of all, Stiles and Lydia. And whatever awkward tension was going on there.
It's not that Evelyn was in love with Stiles. Nothing quite that pathetic. But there was something, not quite platonic, lingering there. Only she seemed to be the only one who felt it. Because while she had found him adorable throughout middle school, he had found Lydia to be beautiful. Not Evelyn.
And Evelyn hadn't ever minded, content to count him as a best friend instead. Then Malia had become a thing, and she had been happy for them both. She felt an instant friendship with the coyote wild child, after all. But when they had broken up, Evelyn had almost stupidly hoped that maybe something different might arise for her and Stiles. Maybe now, he'd be over his obsession with Lydia and consider her as an option.
That was probably the stupidest thing she had ever hoped for. Of course Stiles would go right back to worshipping Lydia's stilettos. And she should have known better, really. She was the regular girl, regular looking, regular acting, regular best friend. She had no special appeal. Lydia was gorgeous and intelligent and had an ice queen persona. And when she finally let them all in and let the façade fall, that just made her more appealing.
Malia, on the other hand, was wild and bold. She was fearless, naturally beautiful, fiercely loyal. Next to the two of them, Evelyn was exactly average, and exactly boring.
Her phone buzzed again with the reply from Stiles: This is happening. :D
She typed out a joking reply: Remind me to steal some of my Aunt's wine. I'll need to be drunk to handle that much star wars.
Her teacher was doing an example problem up on the board, and Evelyn watched the next several steps, making a minimum effort to follow. Then another text from Stiles popped up: Actually, that's taken care of.
She quickly sent her reply: You're getting alcohol?!
His reply came equally fast: We are seniors. We have to have at least one party.
Evelyn rolled her eyes to herself. Only Stiles would plan a party to revolve around drinking while watching old movies. The bell rang before she could send a quip back, so she gathered up her things and walked out. But not alone.
Theo appeared next to her. She flinched away from him when she realized he had actually approached her. "So Stilinksi's having a party, huh?" he asked, sounding unimpressed. She gave him an alarmed glance before realizing he must have been able to read her phone screen from across the room.
"It's not polite to spy on private conversations," she said, struggling to inject strength into her voice. It came out quieter than she would have liked, as she found the chimera to be intimidating.
"How else would I get an invite?" he asked humorlessly, keeping up with her even as she quickened her pace.
"You wouldn't. You're not invited," she ground out as angrily as she could muster, but her voice had a slight shake to it. She hoped she was the only one to notice. He matched her long strides effortlessly, wrapping his mouth into what seemed to be a sarcastic smile.
"I'm hurt. But at least I'm not the only one not invited," he quipped back. At her inquiring glance, he added, "Malia. Where is she, anyway?"
Evelyn was reminding of her worry for Malia and shrugged. Her mind immediately became suspicious of his asking after her friend, which set into motion a train of paranoia. "I don't know. Do you?" she asked, accusation clear in her voice.
His brow furrowed and he stopped. Evelyn found herself stopping as well, only halfway down the hall to the commons. Concern for her friend emboldened her. "Why are you asking about Malia, anyway? I seem to remember you shooting her. With a shotgun," she prodded, voice finally managing to come out stronger even as she lowered it to not be overheard.
"That was nothing personal," Theo justified. "I tried telling all of you, I did what I had to do..."
"You didn't answer my first question. Do you know where she is?" Evelyn pressed, noting how he hadn't responded.
His eyes narrowed slightly as he returned her accusing gaze. "Why would I ask you, if I knew where she was?"
She could've snorted, his response was so typical Theo. After his entire deception had come to light, Evelyn had noticed how he had never technically lied. He always worked around the truth, dancing over or around it. This avoidance of answering questions forwardly was so usual for him. The one minute warning bell rang, and Evelyn realized she was going to be marked tardy to her study hall if she didn't hurry. She attempted to dart around the chimera, giving up on getting a straight answer from him.
"Wait," he caught her arm, hanging on even after she reflexively twisted away.
"Let go," she pleaded, some of her anger fading at the strength of his grip.
"Would you believe me if I said I have a bad feeling about her?" he said quickly, his voice sounding like he was rushing to voice his query.
Evelyn tried to ignore the frightened pounding her heart had started up at being restrained by him. "I don't believe anything you say," she said, giving her arm another obvious jerk. He released it this time.
"Call it a werecoyote thing, but I just feel like something is off," Theo continued.
"And you're telling me, why? Why not the others?" She retorted, taking several steps back that he persistently matched forward.
Theo chuckled, rolling his eyes. "They won't listen to me."
"Neither will I," She hissed, feeling irritated by his very presence. His comments only made her worry about Malia grow stronger, which she didn't appreciate. She was sure the girl was fine.
"Fine," Theo shrugged, holding his hands out at his side as the final bell rang to start second period. Evelyn was now officially late, and would be getting detention for it. Stiles had already made her late twice earlier in the semester for various purposes. Third strike and she was out. Her conflicting emotions held her in place, and Theo held his ground as well. His eyes stared back into hers, challenging, until she couldn't help but drop her gaze.
"I'm sure she's fine," she finally muttered, more to herself than him.
"Sure," he agreed.
Still, she didn't move. "She's probably just sleeping in. She'll answer my texts when she wakes up," Evelyn reasoned. She had sent several as the morning was starting with no appearance by Malia. Theo didn't even bother replying, that same challenging, expectant look on his face. He was playing her, and she knew it.
Frustration finally won out and Evelyn found herself walking away, but not towards the commons. Instead, she found her feet carrying her to the nearest exit.
She was relieved that Theo didn't follow her as she pushed through the doors that led to the student parking lot. Since she was already going to get a detention for being late, might as well up the ante and just skip second period. If she hurried, she could get to Malia's and back before third period started. She'd just bang on the door until the werecoyote answered, make sure everything was fine, and then book it back to the high school.
When Evelyn got to Malia's house, her father's truck was gone. Malia's junky used car was still sitting there where it had been since he had bought it for her when she started her drivers training classes. Malia hardly ever used it, usually having her dad drop her off at school or bumming a ride from someone else. Malia was a lot of things, but good driver wasn't one of them.
Evelyn hurried up onto the porch, ringing the doorbell and impatiently banging on the door. After a few minutes passed, nobody had answered. Evelyn raised her hand to bang again, but paused when a chill shot down her spine.
"Malia..." she called out weakly. She had been meaning to yell the girl's name, but her voice died in her throat and came out cracked. She felt as if goosebumps had erupted across her body. Glancing down at her arms, she did indeed see some on the flesh there. Evelyn shook her head, embarrassed by her sudden fear. This was just Malia's house. It was quiet. But why wasn't Malia answering? Was she not home?
Her eyes darted sideways to the flowerpots lining the banister. She walked a few steps over to them, lifting the third one in line. Underneath was the spare key, which Malia had needed to use too often for all of their group of friends to not know its location.
Evelyn only allowed herself to hesitate for a few seconds before jamming the key into the lock and turning it. She pushed the door open, calling out again, "Malia?" Before she could step through the threshold, the smell hit her. It was... wrong. Evelyn's mind could only supply the word wrong, repeatedly, as her brain tried to understand what it was registering. Her nose crinkled in disgust, as the air wafted out of the house in thick waves.
She found herself stepping back, letting go of the door handle to retreat several paces. The smell was almost earthy, but wet and rotten. She hadn't ever smelled a decaying corpse but her mind suddenly was picturing one, trying to supply an image that could match such a foul, offensive odor. She wet her lips, her throat suddenly dry even as her eyes watered and her head began to ache.
Evelyn pulled out her phone, thinking of calling Scott or Stiles. But what would she say? Come quick, there's a bad smell at Malia's? That would sound stupid, especially when there could be a good explanation. She knew Malia's father hunted. Could that explain what she was smelling?
Evelyn forced herself forward, hesitantly stepping into the entryway. Her hand gripped her phone tighter. She wanted to call out again, call for Malia to come. However, she was beginning to suspect the werecoyote wasn't there. In fact, the quiet inside the house was oppressive. Something back in her brain, something unreasonable and panicky told her not to disturb the quiet by talking.
She stepped again, further into the heavy, moist air. Even her footsteps seemed silent on the hard wood floor. Panic rushed at her brain, sending chills shooting up and down her spine. Suddenly, her brain screamed at her to hurry. The rational part of her argued with the primitive urge to flee. She could hurry up and check for Malia, then she could get away from this place.
She forced herself to move again and found herself practically sprinting through the living room, to the stairs. The air felt so heavy and wet, her eyes now streaming down her face with tears from the offensive smell. She faltered at the steps, another stream of terror rushing through her brain even as the house sat empty and silent. Then, Evelyn forced herself to pound up the stairs. Her ears didn't register any sound from what felt to be heavy footfalls as she took the staircase as fast as she could. At the top she flung open the door to Malia's bedroom, which struck the wall with a muffled whisper of the noise it should've made.
Malia's bed was empty. Evelyn opened her mouth, to call out again. Again, she found she couldn't make a sound. Her brain was locking down her ability to speak, the air itself too thick to disturb. The smell was worse here, in Malia's room. Her forehead was banging painfully, the worst headache she'd ever felt. She faltered back, out into the hallway. The bathroom door sat open, the room empty. She forced herself to take quick steps down the hallway, checking Malia's father's room. It, too, was empty.
She needed to get out. Evelyn returned to the staircase, her vision swimming. She lurched, almost falling off the top step. Her hands shot out, grabbing onto the railing as she tried to steady herself. The hair on her scalp felt like it was standing straight up as the world spun, and she half fell, half dragged herself by the railing down the steps. She fell at the bottom, noticing how it made no sound even as she slammed into the flooring. The air on her arms, her hands, her face, was beginning to feel slimy. Breathing was hard, like dragging in something too heavy and foul for her lungs to process.
She lurched upright, fighting the waves of nausea and dizziness to struggle to the front door. She had left it open and she focused her eyesight on it, using her last burst of energy to propel herself out onto the porch. She didn't stop, stumbling down the steps and out into the grass before allowing herself to collapse.
Her breathing was coming out ragged, and she realized that now she could hear the shaking sobs. She was crying heavily, gasping noises escaping her throat. The air was mercifully thin here, and she struggled to pull it in around her body-wracking sobs of terror.
"Hey! Evie! Hey!"
Her vision was clearing, and her mind vaguely registered Theo sprinting to her. Behind him, his truck sat behind her car in the driveway.
"Woah, what the hell happened? Is it Malia?" he asked, kneeling quickly in front of her. His eyes left hers to stare at the house. "Is she in there? What's wrong? Is she okay?"
His stream of questions overwhelmed her brain as she suddenly felt exhausted, like the terror had pulled every last bit of energy from her cells. She shook her head. Theo's eyes returned to search hers, calculating and intrigued. "Evie," he repeated her name slowly, as if attempting to encourage a response from her.
She opened her mouth but words failed her, her breathing just now beginning to slow down from the hyperventilating she had apparently been doing.
Theo moved as if to stand and go towards the house. She grabbed for his arm, but only managed to reach his hand. "DON'T!" She shouted, yanking him back.
His eyes widened in shock. Still, he listened, kneeling back down in front of her. She quickly dropped his hand, feeling a throbbing in her ankle and knee of her right leg. It dimly registered at first, before growing persistent. She must've hurt herself falling on the stairs. Theo's eyes continued searching hers, waiting.
"Something is wrong in there," she said finally, her voice sounding raspy.
"Obviously. What is it? What's got you so worked up?" he asked, voice patient and concerned. He even moved as if to touch her arm before he saw her flinch and apparently thought better of it.
Evelyn hesitated. She didn't trust him. But she also didn't want him walking into that house without a warning. A house she felt like she had barely escaped from. Still, how to explain it?
She looked back at the house in question, front door still hanging agape. From here, she couldn't smell the awful odor anymore. Her headache had also faded as quickly as it had come on. How was that possible?
"I don't know how to explain..." she began. Theo raised a single eyebrow, waiting.
"It's... wrong in there. It feels all wrong. It stinks," she stammered, knowing she wasn't doing it justice. Both his eyebrows raised higher and she sighed, using a hand that was only shaking a little now to wipe under her eyes. The adrenaline lingering in her system made it hard to think. She didn't want to be this close to the house, her brain was quite fixated on getting away.
"What do you mean, it stinks? Like something dead?" Theo pressed finally, his gaze again flickering back at the house in question curiously.
"Worse. Its... wet. Heavy and wet and rotting. I couldn't breathe. I got so dizzy. It's like sounds are wrong in there. The air is wrong in there," Evelyn shook her head, wishing she could compose herself more. "I need to call Stiles. Scott. I need to call them," she realized. It was only then she realized the phone she had been gripping so tightly in her hand was gone. Horrified, she looked towards the house. She must've dropped it when she fell. Theo glanced down at her hands before realizing what she had.
"Did you leave your phone in there?" he asked, standing again.
"Don't!" she hissed, attempting to stand up too, feeling like she needed to physically stop him from entering the door. Her knee gave a painful twinge when she stood on it, and she quickly adjusted her weight to the other leg. Theo noticed the hiss of pain that left her mouth.
"Are you hurt?" he realized, and this time his hand did land on her arm as he focused concerned eyes on her. Evelyn didn't know what he was playing at. Theo had been very good at seeming concerned for everyone. Back before he had betrayed them all, and tried to kill Scott.
"Did you do this?" she asked suddenly, her voice coming out quiet but venomous.
Theo gave her an incredulous look. "I don't even know what this is. How could I have done this?" he sounded borderline offended.
"Why are you here? Why were you asking about her? It's like you wanted me to get worried and come here," Evelyn pressed, her brain suddenly paranoid. She jerked her arm from his grasp for the second time that day, almost losing her balance as she attempted to put a majority of her weight on her good leg.
"Don't be ridiculous. I told you, I had a bad feeling," Theo ground out, sounding annoyed. "Do you want me to get your phone or not?"
"Not," Evelyn bit back quickly. She didn't want to send anyone into that house for her phone, not even Theo.
Undeterred, he rolled his eyes. "I need to see what you're talking about. I'm going in either way," he said. "I'll keep an eye out for your phone."
"You can't be serious. After what I just told you," she argued.
Theo narrowed his eyes. "What did you tell me? That it's wrong feeling? I lived with dread doctors for half my life. I can deal with wrong feelings."
He said no more before turning and strolling confidently towards the house. Evelyn blanched at his back, mouth opening to call out to him in another attempt to stop him. But nothing came out. She couldn't bring herself to go back any closer to the door, even as she watched him disappear through it.
"Shit..." she whispered, mostly to herself.
A minute passed, then two. Evelyn patted her pocket, relieved to at least feel her car keys there. Worst case scenario, she could drive to get Scott. It wouldn't be ideal, but there was no way she could go in after Theo if he didn't come out. As more minutes passed, she realized maybe it wasn't bothering Theo. Maybe he didn't even notice it.
Just as that trail of thought was becoming concerning to Evelyn, just as she was considering maybe it had all been in her head, Theo staggered through the front door. He made it down the steps before dropping heavily onto the grass on all fours, breathing deeply.
"What...the hell...was that?" he panted in between breaths.
"You felt it too? Did you smell it?" Evelyn questioned quickly.
"How the fuck could I not?" Theo ground out, sitting back and rolling his head up to the sky.
"Do you have any idea what it is?" she pressed, confused. Now that the adrenaline was starting to clear her system, her mind was trying to solve the puzzle. Now that she knew it wasn't just a figment of her imagination, some trippy panic attack, or some bad dream.
"Here," Theo thrust her phone out to her. "Call them."
Evelyn attempted to unlock her phone. After a moment, she realized it wouldn't start. "I think the battery's dead..." she admitted in a low voice.
Theo's head snapped up from where it had been hanging, just above his arms that were balanced on his knees. "What?"
She shrugged. "It had almost a full battery, but it won't start..."
Theo groaned, rooting around in his own pocket before he came up with his. After a minute, he sighed. "Mine's dead too."
Evelyn looked back at the house. Theo had slammed the door shut as he came out apparently, as it was now closed. But the house seemed perfectly normal from here. Just a couple dozen feet away, the green door like a portal into some weird hell suddenly occupying Malia's home.
"What if she was in there? When... when that happened?" Evelyn voiced her concern suddenly.
Theo followed her gaze to the house, but said nothing. "She could be...she could be..." Evelyn tried to finish the sentence, but didn't know how to. She could be what? Dead? Wouldn't there still be a body? The house had been empty. It had felt empty, wrong and empty.
"There's nothing we can do alone. We need to go back to school, and get Scott and Stiles. We need to talk to Deaton. We need help," Theo said, in a tone that suggested that was the plan and they were sticking to it. Evelyn's mind twitched at the use of the term 'we'. At no point in the past, even when Theo was supposedly part of the group of friends, had she and him constituted a 'we'. Suspicion flared again in her gut, though she couldn't begin to suspect how he was involved. However, she knew Scott and Stiles would be just as suspicious. Might as well get them involved so they could help her figure it out.
Theo stood when she said nothing, offering a hand as if to pull her up. She stared at it a moment, and he sighed impatiently. "I'm trying to help so you don't hurt your leg anymore than it already is," he growled with annoyance.
She took his hand and let him pull her up, his arm going around her back. She stiffened up at being pulled close to his side, extremely uncomfortable. However, she noticed her heart didn't do the hammering it had earlier in the day. Somehow, Malia's house had managed to eclipse any fear she'd felt for the chimera. Nothing seemed as intimidating now as that horrendous stench wafting from within the innocuous green front door. Theo helped her limp towards their vehicles, making as if to get her to his truck.
"I'll drive my car back," she corrected him.
He made a low noise in his chest of disagreement. "How are you going to push the pedals with an injured leg?"
"I'll use my other leg. It's not far. I'm not leaving my car here," Evelyn insisted. Some weird instinct in her didn't want to leave anything of hers here, near the house. As if the wrongness might be contagious. She already wanted to scrub the slimy feeling of the air off her skin in a very long shower as soon as possible.
"Fine. If you crash, its not on me," Theo retorted in a snarky tone of voice, wrenching her car door open for her.