Hi everyone! Apologies on the delay getting this out, I had to do some extensive rewriting on it. It's a bit shorter this week, but I am already editing the next chapter and hope to get it out in a few days. Hope you enjoy!
Disclaimer: As usual, I own nothing from Vampire Diaries or Teen Wolf, nor any music that might be mentioned.
Annabelle rushed up to the plain brown door and banged on it quickly, dancing on the balls of her feet as she waited. She had been eating dinner with Isaac, laughing at his story about Erica continuously trying to flirt with Derek when she got the call. She answered and after Scott's concerned voice explained the situation she immediately grabbed her bag and jacket, running out the front door and shouting a goodbye over her shoulder to a confused Isaac.
Stiles opened the door and she immediately entered the house and pulled him closer, looking him over for any scratches or bruises.
"Cool it Annie, I'm fine, seriously," Stiles said while she fussed over him. She shot him an annoyed look before stepping back.
"What the hell happened?" Annabelle demanded.
He explained that he lost feeling in his whole body and had to watch the mechanic working on his car get crushed alive. He also explained the weird reptilian creature that came up to him. He seemed pretty shaky and Annabelle offered to make him some coffee. He agreed and a few minutes later, he graciously accepted a steaming cup from him.
"So have you ever seen anything like that," he asked distractedly, peering into the brown liquid in his mug.
"Not that I know of. I'll check the grimoires when I get home though," Annabelle said while taking a small sip of her coffee. Stiles did the same and hummed happily.
"I swear you make the best coffee in town," he said while taking another sip. Annabelle smiled at that. They sat in comfortable silence for a moment before Annabelle cleared her throat and stood to rinse her mug and set it in the sink.
"Um, I should probably go. Isaac is waiting for me back at my house," Annabelle said while walking back towards the couch and grabbing her messenger bag.
"Oh… Yeah okay," Stiles said glumly, staring back into his mug again. There was a beat of silence.
"I can stay if you-" Annabelle started.
"No dude go. You don't want to keep him waiting," Stiles interrupted, trying to keep the hint of bite out of his voice. He wasn't very successful.
Annabelle nodded and started walking away, but stopped and jogged up to Stiles and planted a quick kiss on his cheek.
"I'm glad you're okay," she whispered with a squeeze to his arm before running out the front door.
If she had turned around, she would've seen a stunned Stiles staring after her in surprise, heat flooding his cheeks.
Isaac turned around in Annabelle's room slowly, taking in the scattered pictures of her with her friends from Mystic Falls. He carefully took a small picture off of the mirror on her desk and turned to her.
"This one?" Annabelle turned and glanced briefly before turning back to her homework.
"Sophomore year, my friends Elena, Bonnie, and I joined the cheer team," she said with a smile.
"Well I'd love to see the uniform if you still have it," he said with a grin before turning back to the photos. Annabelle just shook her head fondly.
"This one is fancy," Isaac said, shaking another photo at her. Ananbelle glanced again and saw the picture of her smirking at someone off camera as she walked down the grand staircase of the Lockwood mansion at the Miss Mystic pageant and she stared at it for a long time.
"What's going on here?" Annabelle asked as she walked in on what looked like a tense conversation between Elena and Damon upstairs.
"Don't worry about it Annabelle," Elena said while looking away from Damon. Annabelle turned to Damon with a raised brow and he sighed before breaking.
"Stefan's off of his furry friend diet and it's becoming a problem."
Annabelle's eyes widened and she turned to Elena, who was avoiding her gaze.
"What's this?" and they all turned to see Stefan standing in the doorway.
"I was just filling in Elena on your extra-curricular activities," Damon said casually.
"What are you talking about?" Stefan said with a laugh.
"I know about the blood Stefan,'' Elena said with crossed arms.
"I'm uh- I'll be downstairs drinking," Damon said while gesturing for Annabelle to follow.
"Ditto," Annabelle said carefully before turning to take Damon's arm. Her heels clacking quickly on the wood floors and her black dress billowing widely behind her as they moved quickly for the door.
"What do we do?" Annabelle asked him quietly.
"Nothing for now, maybe Elena can talk some sense into him," Damon said.
They both looked at each other knowingly, acknowledging that she wouldn't.
"Annabelle?"
Annabelle shook herself out of her thoughts, looking up at Isaac in a daze. She grabbed the photo from him and held it carefully.
"This was the Miss Mystic Falls pageant. I came in second place. My waste reduction initiative for the community was a huge hit with the judges," she said while handing it back to him with a smug smile.
"Clearly not that big of a hit," he said with a grin, dodging the pillow she threw at him before hopping on the bed with her and pulling her to him. She leaned in close and laid her head on his chest, sighing contentedly.
Annabelle was on her way to chemistry on Friday when she spotted Scott and Stiles sitting on the steps chatting. She made her way up to them to see what their plan was for the lacrosse game after school.
"...We'll get through this. I know because I love you. I love you more than-"
"Is there something the two of you need to tell me?" Annabelle interrupted while plopping down next to Stiles with a smile. Both of their faces went bright red and they sputtered like idiots for a minute as Annabelle sat back and watched them with an amused expression. Finally, Stiles turned to Scott and shot him an irritated look.
"You and Allison seriously have to find a better way to communicate," Stiles said.
"Come one, you're the only one we can trust. Did she say she's coming to the game tonight?" Scott asked desperately.
"Rude," Annabelle chimed in before opening her notebook with a bored sigh.
"Yes, message complete. Now tell me about your boss," Stiles said while shooting Annabelle an apologetic look.
"He thinks that Allison's family has some kind of record of all the things they've hunted. Like a book," Scott explained.
"It's called a bestiary," Annabelle said coolly while flipping through her journal, not bothering to look up.
"A what?" Scott responded with.
"A bestiary," Stiles repeated, having known exactly what Annabelle was talking about.
"I think you guys mean bestiality," Scott said with a grin. Annabelle glanced up at him at that, giving him a 'what the hell' look while Stiles corrected him.
"Why am I the only person who doesn't seem to know any of this stuff?" Scott asked.
"Well, I've been studying since I was like 5, so…" Annabelle said with a shrug.
"And considering my best friend is a creature of the night, I kind of make it a priority," Stiles added.
"We need that book," Scott concluded.
The bell rang then and all three of them walked to chemistry and took their seats. Annabelle glanced at the empty seat next to her and wished Isaac were here.
Annabelle sat at the match alone that night, watching the team get annihilated.
"Oh come on! Is that thing even a teenager? I wanna see a birth certificate!" Coach yelled in frustration. Annabelle snorted at this, finding that she actually liked the manic coach.
She cringed as yet another player got crashed into and had to sit out. Annabelle's phone buzzed and she was happy for the distraction.
Miss you. How's the team doing without me?
Annabelle smiled at the message from Isaac and typed a quick response.
Pretty abysmally. They could really use you. So could I.
Annabelle looked back up just in time to see Allison casually hand Stiles the keys from Gerard's jacket and nodded in satisfaction. That part of the plan was done. Annabelle got up a couple of minutes later and followed Stiles towards the school. Just as she was about to step into the hall to the principal's office, her phone rang. She stopped and looked, wondering why Bonnie was calling out of the blue.
"Hey, what's up?"
"Annabelle? Elena' missing, she's been taken," Bonnie said in a panic.
"What?" Annabelle whisper-shouted before looking around and stepping into an empty classroom.
"Tell me everything Bonnie," Annabelle demanded. She listened as Bonnie explained what had been happening over the last couple of weeks, from Mason Lockwood stirring up problems, to Caroline's mom finding out about the vampires, to Katherine finally being locked in the tomb and Elena disappearing after the masquerade ball.
"Did you do a locator spell?" Annabelle asked immediately.
"Yes' but I don't recognize where she is. Damon and Stefan are on their way to her now, I just wanted to update you…"
"What else is there Bonnie?" Annabelle asked, knowing her friend well enough to hear the concern in her voice.
"Well...It's just… Every time I use magic lately, I get a nosebleed." Annabelle was silent for a moment before leaning against a desk and wondering if she should make a trip to Mystic Falls.
"Have you been using your magic a lot lately?"
"Yeah, all the time," Bonnie responded hesitantly.
"Your body is adjusting to that. As you get stronger it should go away, but you shouldn't overuse your magic like that Bon," Annabelle said with concern in her voice.
"I have to, my friends are in danger Ann."
"They're my friends too, Bon," Annabelle said quickly.
"Yeah but you aren't exactly here, are you?" Bonnie snipped back. Annabelle was silent for a moment, trying to ignore the hurt that flamed up in her chest.
"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that," Bonnie said with regret in her voice.
"No please, tell me how you really feel," Annabelle quipped back. There was silence on the other hand.
"You know what, on the other hand, don't. I'm tired of hearing all of the ways that I'm not good enough for you guys. Have Elena text me when she's safe again."
With that, Annabelle hung up and stalked from the room. When she reached the principal's office, she noticed the keys still in the lock but no Stiles. She looked around before feeling a buzz in her pocket.
Pool. Help.
Annabelle immediately took off in the direction of the pool, slowing down as she reached the double doors. She peeked inside and immediately noticed Stiles in the pool holding up Derek, Erica collapsed in the corner, and a snake-like creature stalking them from afar. Annabelle thought for a moment about what to do, knowing she was no match for the creature. Just as she was about to run in anyways, she felt a hand on her shoulder and turned to find Scott behind her.
"Oh thank god, I was about to willingly walk to my death here," Annabelle sighed with relief.
They nodded before bursting in together as Stiles and Derek slipped beneath the water's surface. They ran over to the diving boards and Scott reached beneath the surface, pulling them both out. The creature gave a great shriek and Annabelle turned to use her powers on it, but found that her mind-melting trick wasn't working on it.
"Scott! It's not working," Annabelle said and she closed her eyes as the creature neared towards her. Scott jumped in front of her and roared at the creature loudly. They collided in mid-air but the creature easily overpowered Scott and tossed him into a nearby mirror. Annabelle turned to Stiles and grabbed his arm to drag him across the tiled floor, hoping to get him out of there as quickly as possible.
Suddenly, the creature gave a great hiss and Annabelle turned just in time to see it leap onto the wall and crawl out a window. Annabelle turned and shot Scott an inquisitive look.
"What did you do?"
Everyone crowded around the hood of Scott's mom's car as he plugged in the USB from Allison's grandfather and the document pulled up.
"That's not english," Scott said.
"Is that even a language?" Stiles added.
"Looks like archaic latin," Annabelle said and they shot her incredulous looks. She just shrugged in response.
"Grimoires can be in a lot of different languages," she said as an explanation.
"How are we supposed to figure out what this thing is? Can you read it?" Scott asked Annabelle. She shook her head immediately.
"It's a kanima," Derek said from behind them, walking up with Erica by his side. Annabelle narrowed her eyes at Erica but said nothing.
"You knew the whole time?" Stiles asked in irritation.
"No, only when it was confused by its own reflection," Derek explained.
"It doesn't know what it is," Scott realized.
"Or who," Derek added.
"What else do you know?" Annabelle asked.
"Just stories and rumors."
"But it's like us?" Scott asked.
"A shape shifter, but not right. It's…" Derek stopped, looking for the right word.
"An abomination," Stiles finished.
"Derek, we need to work together on this. Maybe we even need to tell the Argents," Scott said quickly.
"You trust them?" Derek asked with raised eyebrows.
"No one trusts anyone. That's the problem. And while we're arguing about who's on what side, something stronger, faster, and scarier than any of us is killing people and we still don't know anything about it."
"I know one thing. When I find it...I'm going to kill it." Annabelle rolled her eyes at Derek's attempt at asserting male dominance.
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