Its an eerie night. Or at least that's what Aria McCall thought as she shook her head up at the moon. Beacon Hills had been eerie lately ever since her and her twin brother, Scott, moved back home six months ago. Scott and Aria seemed to have only one friend, Stiles Stilinksi. They had known Stiles from childhood and Scott maintained their friendship while they lived in Arizona. Once in awhile, Aria talked to Lydia Martin. Lydia was part of the Beacon Hills rich and pretty club. She was dating Jackson Whittemore, Aria's ex boyfriend.
Finishing her painting of a wolf howling at the clouded moon, she set her brush down. "Hopefully that makes Mr. Williams happy." her art teacher continuously pushed her to do better. Break her out of her shell, for all she ever drew was wolves. But she loved wolves, even as a kid. So it was natural for her to be drawn to them.
A howl in the distance drew her attention now. It made her skin crawl with excitement. Every day it grew closer to Halloween, every night their mother had to work another late shift at Beacon Hills Hospital. And Aria couldn't help but feel more alone.
It wasn't until she heard a thunk and a scream from Scott's room that she realized she wasn't alone. Grabbing a bat from the hallway closet, she whipped open her brother's door to see Stiles Stilinski on his floor. "For crying out loud!" she exclaimed, putting the bat down, "You scared the crap out of me."
"You and me, both." her brother commented. He stood leaning against the frame of his bed, without a shirt. He had been getting ready for his qualifying lacrosse game tomorrow.
"You didn't answer your phone!" Stiles exclaimed, as he stood up quickly and gestured to Aria's hand, "Why do you have a bat?"
"I thought you were a burglar." Aria said in a huff. Of course, she was embarrassed to admit that she was afraid.
"A burglar?" leaning back against the window sill, Stiles laughed. "Look, I know it's late but you've got to hear this. My dad left twenty minutes ago on a dispatch call. They're calling for every officer in Beacon Hills and the state."
"For what?" Scott asked, cocking an eyebrow at his best friend. This surely peaked his interest.
"They found a body." Stiles looks up at Aria, concern painted across his face. Along with curiosity. Rolling her eyes, Aria grabbed her black jacket that was around her waist. She wasn't sure if it was the breeze from the open window that made her chilly or what Stiles just said. Either way, there was an unsettling feeling in the air that gave her a chill.
"A dead body?" Scott asked. Aria chuckled for a moment. Her younger brother's natural naivety made her laugh sometimes.
"No, a living body... Yes, jackass! A dead body." Stiles chuckled along with Aria before running his fingers through his tousled dark brown hair.
Grabbing his navy t-shirt, Scott nervously answered, "You mean like murdered?" and threw it over his head. Pulling down the sides, he walked passed his sister and grabbed his matching black jacket out of the hallway closet. For a few seconds, he held his hand out to her, waiting for the bat so he could put it away. Looking up at him, Aria's green eyes held just as much worry and curiosity as his brown ones did. Yet, Scott gave her a small reassuring smile.
"Nobody knows yet. It was a girl. Probably in her twenties." Stiles continued as Aria looked up at him.
"You need a hobby other than, I catch balls and listen to my Dad's radio."
Scott cracked a laugh at his sister's comment as he made his way back into the room, "She's right, ya know? Besides, if they found the body, then what are they looking for?"
"That's the best part!" Stiles exclaimed, rubbing his hands together as he opened Scott's window wider, "They only found half. Come on, we're going!"
Rolling his eyes, Scott walked over to the window as Stiles made his way out, "You guys are serious going out to find this dead body?" Aria asked as she grabbed her brother's arm. "I want to go too."
"If you go, who's going to man the house? All the cops will be out there and the house is vulnerable." Scott argued as he shook his arm loose and made his way out the window.
"If the cops are all out in the woods, raking it with a fine toothed comb, don't you think it's safer for me to come along?" Aria argued as she looked out the window, Stiles reaching the ground first.
"I'm usually not the one to allow your sister take part in our shenanigans, but she's got a point, Scott."
Scott grabbed his sister's hand and placed it on the window sill, "Alright, fine. You were always better with a pocket knife anyway." Aria smiled at Scott as he made his way down. Grabbing his pocket knife off the dresser, she then followed suit and made her way into the back of Stiles' jeep. What's another midnight adventure anyway?
Aria stared out the back window of the jeep, staring up at the cloud covered moon, fiddling anxiously with her brother's pocket knife as they pulled up to the animal preserve. The rusted sign in front of them, barely gleamed in the headlights. And it did not make Aria any less nervous.
"We're seriously doing this?" Scott asked, his shakey voice indicating that Aria wasn't the only nervous one.
"You're the one who always bitches that nothing good ever happens in this town!" Stiles comments as he turns off the headlights and pulls the key from the ignition.
Opening their doors, Stiles pulls his seat forward and holds his hand out to Aria as she climbs out. "My lady." he jokes and bows to her before grabbing the flashlight in his door and shutting it. He then hands the other flashlight to Scott who has made his way around the back end of the jeep. "I was trying to get a good night's sleep before practice." Scott comments, turning on the flashlight.
"Right, because sitting on the bench asks for such a heavy effort." Smiling, Stiles makes his way to the fence and holds it open for Aria to climb through first, then Scott and finally himself.
"No, because I'm playing this year...in fact I'm playing first line." Scott says matter a factly as he steps through the knee high grass.
"Hey, that's the spirit! Everyone should have a dream. Even if it's an unrealistic one." Aria jokes as she walks behind Scott. In line it's Scott, Aria and Stiles who giggles at the roast of her brother.
"Thanks for the vote of confidence, sis." Scott mumbles then more audible, "Just out of curiosity, which part of the body are we looking for?"
A moment of silence passes before Stiles answers him, "Huh...I didn't think about that."
Smiling, Aria chimes up, "And er... What if the one who killed them is still out here?"
Gesturing to her pocket, Stiles smirks, "Well, it's a good thing you brought that knife cause I didn't think about that either."
"Fantastic." Scott mumbles, taking a moment to use his inhaler before making his way up the hill behind his sister and best friend. "It's comforting to know that you planned this up with your usual attention to detail."
Reaching the top of the hill, Scott stops to take another breath, "I know." Stiles remarks before pulling Scott and Aria to the ground. Beacon Hills police step out only a few feet away from them. "We'll be caught for sure unless we make a run for it." he remarks before he takes off running.
"Wait!" Aria hisses as she looks at her brother. She quickly helps him up and takes off after Stiles.
"Come on!" he whisper shouts back at them.
"Wait up, Stiles!" Scott calls barely able to keep up with them. Stiles books it ahead of them as Aria slows down for her brother, she can see Stiles get tackled by an officer not too far ahead. Quickly, she grabs Scott's arm and pulls him behind a large elm tree with her. Holding her finger to her lips, Scott acknowledges the silent code with a nod.
"Hang on! Hang on," Aria and Scott recognize the voice of Sheriff Stilinski, Stiles' father. "This little delinquent belongs to me."
Getting up and brushes himself off, Stiles looks at his father, "Dad, how're you doing?"
"So, you're listening to my radio calls again?"
"No!" Stiles smiles sheepishly, "Just not the boring ones."
"So where are your usual partners in crime?"
"Who? Scott and Aria? They're home. Scott wanted to get a good night's rest before tryouts tomorrow and Aria is working on her art project. There's just me...in the woods...alone..."
Taking his son's que, Sheriff Stilinski shines his flashlight into the woods, "Scott? Aria? You kids out there?"
Remaining quiet, Aria and Scott wait for his flashlight to recede. Stiles looks as his Dad as he grabs him by the back of the neck, "Well, young man, I'm gonna walk you back to your Jeep, and you and I are going to have a little discussion about something called privacy."
Aria waits a moment longer till all foot steps are gone and the darkness creeps back around the woods before she steps out from behind the elm. "Well that was close." leaning down, she grabs the other flashlight that Stiles had. Scott steps out and shines his down at her feet, "Come on, let's head back before Mom gets home."
Trudging back through the woods, the way they came, Aria rubs her shoulder, "Sure is creepy out here." she comments walking behind her brother.
Scott, taking the lead as always, listens to the strange sounds of the woods, "Still got that pocket knife on you?"
"Yeah?" Aria asks as she stops for a moment beside her brother while he takes a breath. "Why?"
Taking a deep breath from his inhaler, Scott looks up at her with worried brown eyes, "Just making sure."
"We should keep moving." Aria comments as she walks ahead of her brother. She was never one to take the initiative, but she wanted to get the hell out of these woods and back home. Crawl into bed and forget tonight ever happened. Suddenly, she stops. As Scott catches up to her he points his flashlight in her direction and sees a bunch of stags in front of them. "Which way is back?" she whispers to Scott who only shrugs in response. Stepping forward he hears a twig snap under his sneaker and the stags turn and run towards them.
Quickly, Aria turns behind another tree out of the way as Scott drops his inhaler from the panic and scurries to the side. "Scott!" Aria shouts over the running of the herd.
Unable to hear her, Scott drops to the ground and crawls passed the blazing for hooves towards where his inhaler fell. Reaching for it, the ground beneath him gives way and he falls into a hole.
"Scott?" Aria calls as she points her flashlight towards the thicket where they came from. "Scott!" she calls again, taking a step towards the heavy brush. Flashlight shaking in hand.
Groaning from the impact of the fall, Scott rolls over. He can barely hear his sister's voice. "I'm over here." he pushes himself up in the dirt and calls out again, "Aria! I'm over here." But his foot slips beneath him and he falls back down. This time he shines his flashlight to the side and comes face to face with a pair of bloody blue eyes.
The other half of the body...
Jumping back quickly, Scott loses his footing and falls backwards down the hill. Shaking his head he looks up to see a large shadow before him, "Aria?" he questions before it lunges at him. Scott cries out as he feels sharp teeth dig into his side. Grabbing his flashlight, Scott hits the animal over the head and runs back towards the thicket.
Aria stands waiting by the sign as she hears her brother crashing through the trees. "There you are!" she grabs him as he leans against her. "What the hell happened to you?" she asks as she looks at Scott's muddied shirt.
"I fell," he huffs, clutching his side, not wanting his sister to know he was attacked. "Come on, let's head home."