SUCCUMB
CHAPTER VI - ALLISON
Allison gently deposited the broken, vintage bronze casing to her father, who eyed the watch. Her Dad turned it over onto the back side and noticed the engraving before handing it off to the clockman who agreed to repair the watch. "To Mel. Love, Rafe." Her Dad said as the clockman, Monroe, nodded nervously as he was being carefully watched by her father.
It was actually weird for Allison to have her father arrange a meeting with a Weider Blutbad, a supernatural—or as they called themselves, Wesen, which was pronounced as 'VES-in'—German cousin to the werewolves who originated from the Mediterranean, even if it was to fix a watch. And looking at the man replacing the shattered glass on top, Allison was sure that it was weird for Monroe to have a hunter to ask for his services.
Flashing a beam at the hands of the watch, Monroe hummed happily. "You know, even though it's not my first time working for a supernatural hunter," he told them earlier of a story of how he befriended a Grimm, which was a hunter family notorious in Germany for killing all the violent Wesens. "A vintage Lusina, very nice. Probably made in the 30's, the engraving's neatly done, professional." Monroe said, expertly tweaking the gears of the watch. Allison watched as the back was removed to give a clearer view of the clockwork. "Just a beauty, I mean look at that! Valjoux movement and a triple calendar!"
A small piece of glass fragment was stuck in between one of the main gears, that and the slightly rusted metal parts. "So, how long would you think it would take before you can fix the watch?" her Dad asked, his tone intimidating but she knew well enough that her father was just being himself.
Monroe sighed when he spotted another fragment of glass, ignoring her father for a second. "Oh, this is tragic," Monroe turned around to face her and her father, pointing to the numerous small but significantly large shards that caused the gears to stop moving. "What happened here? Did someone fall off a cliff or something?" he asked but Allison kept silent, the guess not too far off from what had actually happened to the owner of the watch.
Her Dad beside her just shook his head and Monroe nodded, facing back to the side table of their apartment.
Taking a small pair of tweezers, Monroe started picking out all of the shards. "Something supernatural, I guess?" Allison, unknowingly, nodded at the guess and soon, Monroe pulled out a shard of glass that was stained lightly with dried, black liquid. Allison paled at the sight when Monroe held it up. She remembered how she left Scott alone in purgatory. "Lycanthrope. A werewolf, eh? Lupus humanus," Monroe brought the tweezers near to his nose and smelled the piece of shard.
Allison shrugged, suddenly feeling like she had spilled all of Scott's secrets. "So, how long would it take to get it fixed?" Allison asked, echoing her father's question.
Monroe shrugged, fishing out yet another shard. "Well, there are too many fragments to remove and I still have to clear the gears of all the rust, but I guess that it's safe to say that in about 3 to 5 days, you'll get the watch back in tip-top shape." Monroe said, placing the tweezers into a small container which held more tweezers of various sizes. Allison held her breath when Monroe placed the watch in a small velvet container, wondering if having she made the right decision.
Allison knew that Scott wouldn't be too welcoming of the idea of having her as his anchor again. In fact, Allison doubts that she'll be his anchor ever again, but she owes Scott that much, for everything that he's done to protect her and her family. Allison remembered that night with her Aunt Kate—the name brought a few questions. Allison noticed that her aunt stopped visiting her or haunting her and while she wasn't sure if that was a bad thing, she wondered why—Scott risked his life going against his alpha just to make sure that she was alright. Scott's moral compass would stray if only for her sake.
So, with that reminder to herself, Allison balled her fingers into a fist and watched as her father gave Monroe a down payment for the watch's repair. "That watch costs an awful lot for a thank you," her Dad joked but she didn't have any of it. Immediately, her father nodded and handed her car keys. "But I suppose it's the least I could do for the boy who saved me and my daughter's life," Allison nodded absentmindedly, her thoughts still with the watch.
Allison remembered the night they sacrificed themselves. She brought her father's silver bullet, the one he made when he just finished his hunter's training. Allison still remembered the cloudy silver metal, how it felt so cool against her warm skin before they submerged themselves in an ice bath that stopped their lives. Her phone vibrated against her bag, missing a call from Lydia when she saw an event planned: today was a half-day for school because of a faculty assessment from the Board of Education and she saw next to it was a sub-text that showed the upcoming events.
It was her appointment with Deaton at the animal clinic.
Allison remembered how Deaton told them about anchors, and how it could do so much for anyone. Allison realized with a sharp breath of air that if things go well with the watch as Scott's new anchor, there would be nothing that will stand him and Kira. It was no secret that when Isaac jokingly suggested that they bring along Kira, Scott denied it as fast and as determined as he could because he didn't want her getting hurt. There was no lying when she saw the worry and concern in Scott's eyes back then.
A part of Allison's stomach churned. While Scott's always been the person who tried to shield and protect everyone as much as he could, there was this edge to his voice that reminded her of how he would stop her from getting entangled into a fight. And she knew it was because he loved her, and that of all things, he wants to protect her. Now, Allison could see that Scott was doing the same for Kira with the same intensity in his eyes and the same edge and softness in his voice.
If this ends well for Scott, Allison thought to herself as she saw Monroe give her a sympathetic glance before disappearing into the elevator, he'll end up with Kira, no doubt.
Grabbing her backpack inside her room, Allison pressed her fist against her lips trying to prevent the whatever it was that itched at her throat after she sat on the edge of her bed. She remembered how she broke up with Scott that night they defeated her grandfather, when Jackson finally finished his transformation and became a werewolf. Allison remembered the hope in his eyes when he mentioned how he knew they were going to be together, how fate would bring them back.
Little did they know that their break-up would set things up for so many things that eventually went back in circles. Scott let her go and in the end, she almost got got involved with Isaac, someone so entirely like Scott. In the beginning, Allison had no idea how it was possible for her to open up and love someone again who wouldn't be Scott but she did and with that realization, she easily figured out that nothing is impossible, that there will be other girls for him.
Just like with her experience, Scott will fall in love again and it'll probably be like the first time, maybe even just as painful. And while her feelings did eventually come back to Scott, there's no saying that the same would go for him.
Allison remembered a conversation she shared with Scott, how he promised her that there will be no other girls beside her and she said the same thing. But if she could change, if she could open up and love someone else, albiet for a short period of time, then Allison asked who is to say that he wouldn't change. There's nothing impossible, and while getting back together isn't rued out of his options despite being so unlikely, it's also possible for him to end up with Kira.
Breathing in deep, she realized that a tear escaped her eyes. It wasn't too late to run after Monroe, to take the watch back but Allison stopped herself, remembering Isaac's words back then at lunch yesterday. "Now's not the time for you to act on jealousy, Allison," with the words echoing in her mind, Allison wiped her tears as she tried not to think of the whole thing altogether but ten she remembers that night when Deaton paired her with Isaac, the look on Scott's face.
"It's okay."
Allison wondered how the hell Scott managed with the pain and the defeat. She could remember how he couldn't mask the hurt at first, how his shoulders slumped in defeat when Deaton announced who would anchor them to humanity. A small sob escaped Allison's lips as he tried to calm herself down, convince herself that everything was going to be alright. "It's okay," she said to herself before gritting her teeth and making her way into her bathroom.
Walking over to the sink, Allison splashed water on her face to clear the streaks left by her tears, occasionally looking and shooting glances at the corner of her bathroom, expecting to see her Aunt Kate. She wanted to see something, get something that would somehow take her mind off the hurt she was feeling. But there was nothing there. It's like she's suddenly fine after what happened last night in the woods.
Staring at her reflection in the mirror, Allison realized what she had to do: she had to move on from her relationship with Scott.
Stepping out of her bathroom, Allison crossed the room and took out a book from her shelf. It was a medium-sized paperback novel by Jandy Nelson entitled The Sky Is Everywhere. Opening the book, she immediately landed on a particular page with a picture serving as a bookmark. It was the picture from the photo booth when she and Scott went ice-skating with Lydia and Stiles. She's kept it all along and realized that she shouldn't keep holding on, not when she's trying to move on.
With a shaky hand, Allison took the photograph out of the pages and placed the book back in the shelves. The photograph still in hand, a part of her wondered if she should give it to Scott, only to realize that it would have been a disastrous move. Scott did the same thing when they took a break, just after the incident with Peter in school when he had locked them inside one of the science labs to keep them safe from him.
Realizing that she should just throw it away, she found that she couldn't. So, going down to her knees, Allison extended her hand out and reached for something under her bed. Moments later, a small but dust-covered box was in her hand. Lifting the cover, she saw the things she used to enjoy with her Mom, the extremely blurry shots she took when she was in her photography phase, some of her old paintings and self portraits.
Inside the box were basically things she would always bring with her, things that would always describe her but ultimately left behind. A small part of Allison supposed that one of those things she'd leave behind is Scott. Forcing out a smile on her face, she realized that she has to do it so she placed the picture on top of cross stitching—it was something she and her Mom used to do and she never really did enjoy it so she doubts if she'd enjoy it now that all it probably does is remind her of her Mom—before closing the box with the lid.
Placing it under the bed's edge, Allison pushed the box until it had hit the wall. Breathing in deep, she grabbed her bag from the edge of her bed and realized that her Dad was watching her all along, standing in between the door frame with a proud look on his face. "Come on, let's go," Allison wordlessly nodded, heading straight for her father's arms. "I'm proud of you, Allison, I'm proud of us," he said, whispering into her ear as he helped her to the elevator.
When Allison and her father reached their parking space, the black SUV and the silver Prius in sight, her father pulled her into another wordless embrace and it felt nice for Allison, to have at least let her father know what she couldn't say to her Mom. She realized, when her mother had already died, that she tried her best to let her know the night before. That despite her faults, her Mom had good intentions and realized that they had that much in common.
Allison had Scott's best interests in her heart but she gone by it the wrong way. Maybe, she thought to herself while strapping on the seat belt, letting him go will redeem me.
The whole while, after the entire incident with the Nemeton, Allison realized that she's been trying to help Scott get better out of personal interest. And while she does love Scott to want him to get better, she wanted him in the end. Allison had an ulterior motive and while wanting him back isn't particularly bad, she's realized that it wasn't completely right either. She loves him, no past tense and no doubt, Scott will hold a special place in her heart and she will always be in love with that boy who gave her a pen during first period.
Corny as it is, Allison loves Scott enough to let him go. With a determined huff of hair, she drove away towards Beacon Hills High School with a goal in mind—help Scott, as a friend, find another anchor so that he could help himself.
Locking in on a parking spot, Allison grabbed her bag from the passenger seat, spotting a small 5x5 family picture she keeps on the dashboard before heading towards the main entrance of the HS complex, spotting Lydia at the other side of the student-filled hallway. Allison waved at her best friend, noticing that Lydia has on her face what seemed like a genuinely relieved smile. "You look significantly better last time I saw you," she commented with Stiles by her side.
A part of Allison wondered what Stiles was doing here with Lydia and not with Scott until she remembered the highlights and end that dampened everybody's mood during their little escapade in the preserve when Isaac had dragged a soaked to the bone and dazed Scott who promptly who asked a question that he should have known the answer to seeing that he was the one to have found Lydia's phone when they were going down a somewhat steep slope to check the car wreck that Evelyn Tate drove off a road.
Apparently, it was all a supernatural incident and now, Allison and her friends are trying to find the werecoyote who is supposedly Malia Tate, the adopted daughter of the woman who drove off the road, killing her and her biological daughter.
Allison still remembered that night. Isaac had Stiles drive him to Scott's place but had told them (her and Lydia) to stay put and wait for Ethan so that he could take the motorcycle home. It was only then, when Stiles sent a text of having sent his best friend home did the Sheriff and a few deputies appeared with Henry Tate and Agent McCall. The whole case was reopened but the Agent refused to disclose any information, having sent them home immediately after the whole clearing of the wreckage.
Shaking off the thoughts of last night's events, Allison raised a brow as to why they were hanging around near the exit. Her thoughts immediately came up with the idea of another group activity with a colorfully planned itinerary which would start off with skipping classes when she remembered why this particular school day was marked: today was a half-day so Allison immediately crossed the idea of skipping classes out of her options.
Allison checked her phone for the time and realized it was fairly early, that mot much people would be at the outdoor lunch court or anywhere they usually group at. "Why are we here?" Allison raised her brow when suddenly, as if on cue, her cellphone vibrated and rang its ringtone. Checking her phone, it was a text from Isaac, telling her to stay with Stiles and Lydia and that he's on his way to meet them there, earning curious looks from her friends who received the same text.
Putting her phone back inside her bag, Allison looked at the main entrance, expecting Isaac to burst through the doors with Scott by his side, chatting away and laughing loudly enough to make everyone's heads turn to their direction. But Isaac didn't walk through the main entrance; in fact, he appeared through the doors at the opposite end of the hallway, an unreadable expression marked his face in a way that Allison knew that something bad had happened.
A few moments later, Isaac reached them, giving Allison a long and steady glance. It was like he was studying her and he couldn't believe what he was seeing. "What happened?" Allison asked Isaac who looked at her and at Stiles, whose brows were furrowed deep in confusion. Lydia glanced around, something that made Allison aware of her surroundings and realize that something was wrong and someone was missing from their group. "Where's Scott?"
Isaac looked behind him, his muscles were visibly, yet lightly strained when he tilted his head to a side and closed his eyes shut as if concentrating on something. "He's with Kira, he's in class right now, actually," Allison's heart skipped a beat when she heard the two names in one sentence. The thing is, about her letting go with Scott, she agreed t stop pining for him but she never really did think to stop loving him because it seemed hard, even impossible to do it.
But Allison was willing to try and stop loving him that way if it meant helping him, so cleared her throat and controlled her heartbeat, breathing in deep so that she was in control of her emotions. "Isn't that a good thing?" both Lydia and Isaac gave her questioning glances while Stiles openly gaped at her, surprised by her sudden coolness with the situation. "Scott's with Kira, he's basically in control of his emotions. She is his new anchor, right?" Allison asked but Isaac's brows furrowed as if he was thinking of how to answer that.
Lydia gave her a look, opened her mouth to say something but shook her head instead, opting to stay silent. "I'm not sure on how Scott sees Kira," Isaac answered honestly, his expression showing much that Allison knew that he was trying to relive memories to prove a connection. "But all I know is that she keeps him calm enough. She keeps his emotions in check, keeps him from lashing out in public," Allison caught on to his tone, picking up on how Isaac stressed the word.
Apparently, so did Stiles, who pushed himself off the locker he had been leaning against. "Kira's only been keeping him in check, which may be a good thing or a very bad thing," Stiles muttered to himself and cupped his chin, deep in thought. "Her keeping his emotions in check would either mean, a, Scott's genuinely happy with her and being with her is obviously helping him recover from the shit-fest we've all been through," a teacher nearby heard Stiles and yelled through the noise of the hallway that he had detention for 2 weeks starting after the faculty assessment. "B, Kira's planning something entirely diabolical and she's evil, but I doubt that because she doesn't seem evil," Allison remembered that Stiles was also the person who thought Matt Daehler was (one of) the real bad guys.
Isaac nodded at his explanation, supporting it. "Yeah, Kira's pretty decent, but she's kinda off to me, you know? Smells a bit weird, if you ask me," Isaac shrugged before letting Stiles continue.
"And, c, just prolonging the inevitable, making it pent up into one big , giant ball of negative energy before he snaps and turns into Peter," Allison, though she wanted to believe in the first option Stiles gave, leaned towards the last one because the look on Isaac's face gave her this feeling that Kira keeping Scott in check wasn't particularly a good thing.
Lydia, being herself, steered the topic away from the incredibly grim picture Stiles painted for all of them. "So, why'd you tell us to meet here?" Isaac turned to her best friend. "You've got to have a reason other than telling us that Kira may or may not be good company to keep around Scott," her tone was evasive, as if she knew something but she was trying to pass it off as something normal or like it's not a big deal or something.
Again, Allison caught Isaac looking at her and Stiles. "Right, the moment I saw Stiles, I knew something was up," beside Lydia, Stiles gaped at Isaac.
"What's with me?" he asked, incredulous.
Isaac shook his head and held out his hands in front, almost annoyed. Allison only noticed it now that Isaac had eye bags and his hair was a mess, as if he didn't sleep all night. "You didn't let me finish," he almost growled at Stiles. "So, last night, Scott woke up and asked me to check on you," Isaac looked at me. "I thought that it was normal and it was. I listened to his heartbeat and nothing's changed, he wants all of you guys to be safe but what I did notice was that you're fine," Isaac emphasized, pointing at her and at Stiles.
Stiles had a skeptical look on his face. "So, you're angry at us because we're recovering?" Isaac groaned and Lydia gave Stiles a sharp look hat obviously translated to her telling Stiles to shut up.
Massaging his temple, Isaac groaned. "You," Isaac pointed at Allison. "You're not getting anymore demonic visions from your aunt, right?" Allison nodded, her brows furrowing at how Isaac could possibly know about what's been happening to her. "And you," Isaac looked at Stiles before grabbing some book from a passing kid. "You can read this, right?" the kid protested initially protested but when Isaac glared at her, she quietly agreed to him borrowing it.
Stiles sighed. "You're holding it upside down," he grumbled before Isaac fumbled with the book, getting frustrated and just giving it back to the kid, sending her off.
"You didn't scream yourself awake, didn't you? No nightmares? Just a plain old dream about all of your socks getting dyed red!" Stiles looked shocked, glancing around as if to check if they were surprised, too. Allison could see it in Stiles' expression that Isaac was right about the lack of sleep paralysis and his accurate guessing of what his dreams were about. Looking at Scott's best friend, Allison did notice that he was getting better—there was more color to his skin, smaller eye bags, and he looks a great deal better.
Stiles grumbled when he crossed his arms. "Again, what is the point of his constant negativity?" Isaac ignored the dry remark, looking intently at her and Stiles.
Then suddenly, it all made sense, what was happening to her and Stiles. "Lydia," Allison immediately turned to her best friend, startling Stiles a bit and earning a suspicious look from Isaac. "Back when we were in the preserve, when you had your foot on the pressure plate, you helped me get over the visions when you asked me what was my code." Lydia nodded and Allison remembered her new code, the one Scott told her when Deucalion was about to kill Jennifer.
"We protect those who cannot protect themselves," Lydia murmured before she turned to Stiles, whose eyebrows were furrowed in deep confusion. "How did you read?" Stiles cupped his chin and thought deeply before his mouth formed a small o shape and looked at Isaac.
Pointing at Isaac, Allison knew that Stiles had figured something out. "You told me to stay away from Scott. I was staying away from Scott, I didn't know why I hadn't thought of it earlier," he muttered to himself before his eyes were fixed on the ground, thinking deeply. Somehow, Allison had a gut feeling that told her she knew what he was talking about. "I was avoiding Scott because I had these nightmares where he would kill me and at first, I thought I was afraid of Scott because he was losing control but then I realized that I was scared of him for being him, for being Scott!" Stiles' hand trailed off somewhere to his head before showing a small scar.
Isaac looked at the small wound quizzically. "That's from last night," Isaac muttered, looking at her and Lydia. "Hardly even a day old." Stiles nodded, vouching for Isaac.
"See, just when I told Allison about the clear path, a rock fell on my head and I suddenly relived the dream. It's exactly like my nightmares, even up to the part when I was begging Scott for my life when I realized, why should I be scared of my best friend? I wasn't afraid of Scott, so when I told him that he's a true alpha, that he doesn't kill people, when I reminded him of—" Allison cut Stiles off, her smarts catching up to her as she realized his point.
Allison recounted the events of that night in the preserve when she realized she was shooting at her aunt, the vision of her dead aunt. She wasn't afraid of her Aunt Kate, and she didn't to hurt her because her code tells her to protect those who couldn't. Allison wasn't afraid of her aunt, she was afraid of becoming a monster like her. "Of his code, your dream changed. Scott didn't kill you and when you realized that you weren't really afraid of Scott, you could read." Stiles nodded, pointing at her approvingly.
Beside Allison, Lydia had a weird expression on her face that she couldn't really decipher what it meant to her. "Exactly. I wasn't afraid of Scott, I was afraid of death and dying and my dreams morphed it into it was like I was afraid of my best friend." Allison realized that it was all symbolism but she wanted to know what exactly jarred them back to being normal, or at least back to the way things were before they had served as surrogate sacrifices for their parents and died in an ice bath.
Then, Lydia looked at Isaac, confused. "Then why are you so worried? If Stiles and Allison are getting better, then isn't that a good thing?" Lydia asked but Isaac just groaned, defeated, his eyes turning to face a clock near them before leading all of them to an empty staircase.
Looking at them, Allison had this heavy gut feeling that made itself unbearable, it was like the feeling refused to fade away. "I'm worried about Scott," a thought rang in Allison's mind and immediately thought of Kira before she shook her head, chiding herself for thinking like that of a girl she's just met. "He's not getting any better and when I noticed Stiles, I knew something was up," walking up the staircase, Isaac paused for a moment, taking a good look at all of them. "What happened last night?"
Allison reminisced all of her memories from last night, trying to remember every detail there was to take note of when a student passed by her, the girl's red hair exploding in the air when a freshman ran into her. Red hair, strawberry blonde hair. "Lydia!" Allison turned to her best friend, who was obviously shocked by her sudden outburst. "Lydia helped us through that night, when the coyote was about to attack when they were trapped," Stiles nodded, probably remembered the events from last night.
"Yeah! You reminded Allison of her code, and that must have set it off one by one. That's why I reminded Scott of his code," Isaac's brows furrowed at this, unimpressed with their conclusion.
Isaac raised his collar, readjusting his scarf, before crossing his arms with a lackluster expression on his face that told Allison that their shared hypothesis wasn't the case there. "So, what? You're telling me that Scott needs a few hours with our resident psychiatrist, Dr. Martin? Scott needs a real solution here," at first, Allison was offended. Lydia was the reason why Allison snapped out of her trance and she wanted to tell Isaac off but when she heard the urgency in his voice, she realized that he's just as stressed as anybody and Scott wasn't just not getting any better, there was something more to it.
Stopping in her tracks, Allison looked at Isaac, this sudden concern washing over her that made her realize just how scared she was for Scott and a burning anger for Isaac because he hid things from her. "What's going on with Scott?" she asked pointedly and she knew that Isaac caught on to her words. The look on Stiles face slowly morphed from confusion to curiosity. "What's happening to Scott?" Isaac, at first, looked conflicted and reluctant to say anything but soon, he sighed and gave in.
Lydia and Stiles appeared by her side as they interrogated Isaac. "He's not getting better, in fact, I think he's getting worse. I told you that Scott woke up last night an asked me to keep an eye on you but what I didn't tell you was how he woke up." Isaac muttered under his breath. "I got him to his room when he froze, it was like he went into shock. I was about to scream for Melissa when he managed to tell me that something was wrong with all of you," Allison nodded, connecting the dots but was confused on one thing.
"That's why you agreed to leave him. You thought that something was wrong with us. But how come you didn't hear him lie?" Stiles asked.
"Because he genuinely believed that something was wrong with you. Kept muttering something like darkness or Jameson, and when I came back from finding out that 'danger' was all bull, he was inside the bathroom with his swivel chair and a bloody mug filled with packets of coffee." Allison racked her brain, trying to remember anything about a Jameson but came up with nothing. The thought of darkness came to her, however, when she remembered the shadow-y figure that came at Stiles back in purgatory, which broke Scott's watch and started all of the mess they were in.
So, with as much courage as she could muster, Allison tugged on the strap of her bag and looked straight at her best friend. "Lydia should always be with Scott and Kira," Isaac looked like he wanted to protest. He kept saying how it was a waste of time and effort but Allison had none of it. "Stiles and I, we're something kind of like a wild card for Scott so we have to gradually make our way back to him, we don't need another outburst like what happened at the forest," Allison remembered the fear resonating in Isaac's voice when he told them of what happened to Scott.
Stiles, nodding through the whole game plan, raised his hand. "What about Malia? The whole coyote with glowing blue eyes never really sit well with me and I'd like to close that case up pretty quickly and neatly—meaning I don't want any blood spilled, and by that, I mean my blood," Lydia looked at Stiles and he just looked baffled. "I don't have super healing or super screaming or bad-ass hunter training," Stiles listed off with his fingers while Isaac just snickered. "Yeah, try not to enjoy this so much," Isaac shrugged at that.
In the end, they agreed with the plan and Isaac left first, going to make sure that Scott was restrained both emotionally and physically while Stiles left the group for a training with the rest of the lacrosse team—Scott, in the meantime, was excused for missing practices because he was the one, after all, who had died for the longest period of time enough for town to find out and only for him to miraculously wake up after being proclaimed dead by doctors from Beacon Hills Memorial Hospital.
In the end, after Stiles pressed a short kiss on her best friend's cheek, Allison and Lydia were walking down the hall to their first class. "So, what was that about?" Lydia began, drawing out the first word. Turning to face her best friend, Allison initially had no idea what Lydia was talking about and the first thing that came to her mind was taking charge for a game plan for the days to come and how they would approach Scott and help him get better.
Allison just shot her friend a look. "What is that exactly?" Lydia sighed as they took a turn and entered a classroom, choosing seats in the edge seats of the last row.
Lydia shot her a knowing glance and pointed at the teacher in front of them. It was Mr. Yukimura, the new History teacher who is also Kira's father. "Last I recall, you're still quite in love with Scott," Allison opened her mouth to answer but found out that she couldn't. "Ah," Lydia hummed knowingly, lifting her perfectly plucked eyebrow at her. "You are still in love with Scott and you're not okay with Kira spending time with him," Allison narrowed her eyes at Lydia.
Taking her History book out of her bag, Allison cleared her throat before facing the front when Mr. Yukimura started discussing. "I am, in fact, okay with Kira spending time with Scott. We're both moving on and I respect that," Lydia, beside her scoffed. Allison ignored the indignant look her best friend gave her when she started taking down notes when, all of a sudden, Lydia took her ballpoint pen. "Give me back the pen, Lydia," Allison said, trying to be as calm as possible.
Lydia scoffed again, grabbing her own textbook to show the particular page they were studying. "We're studying about Auschwitz, Allison, and we both know that you can answer a hundred-item test and pass without studying for a second." Allison sighed before giving Lydia a sharp look, finally looking away from the printed text on her book that she, admittedly, knows like the back of her hand.
"Just give me the pen back, and I swear that I'll talk. Just give it back," Allison was getting annoyed when she said said the last few words through gritted teeth. Lydia just smiled cheekily before handing the red retractable ballpoint pen, holding it by the black rubber grip.
Allison quickly took back the pen and immediately put it away in her pencil case before hiding it in her bag for safe keeping from her pen-stealing best friend. "I don't get why you want the pen so badly, though, I mean you could get a pack at Target for a dollar—" Allison just kept quiet, she said nothing and refused to do anything that would come as a reply. Her silence, however, was easily noticed by her best friend who immediately stopped talking and realized what the pen is and how important it is to her. "That's the pen, isn't it? The one he gave to you the first day?"
For a moment, all Allison and Lydia could hear was Mr. Yukimura explaining the harsh conditions and reality inside the concentration camps by using a power-point presentation and clips of interviews from survivors to show pictures of the facility. To sum it all off, Mr. Yukimura was telling the class of how brutal, depraving, and sadistic life was inside the camp.
As much as Allison wanted to sulk around, mope, and focus on her problems as if the world revolved around her, she found certainty inside her that helped her brush it off with a tight smile and a curt nod. Slowly, she thought to herself, turning to face her best friend entirely, you'll move on from this slowly but surely. Allison gave her best friend a tight smile and a curt nod of the head. "Yeah. Gave it to me the moment I sat down," Allison remembered it clearly as if it was just yesterday.
Allison remembered telling the principal that she was fine with finding her class on her own but the man insisted (Her parents happened to be very generous when they gave a donation for a portion of the library.) on walking her to the classroom, even introducing her. She wanted to groan, but it was done so she just waved, smiling at the people who looked largely uninterested at the idea of a new classmate. She crossed the room to get to her seat and then he was there.
Allison stared blankly across her seat, looking at the back of the boy's head in front of her. Slowly, the bleach blonde hair grew darker and the neatly cropped 2x3 became longer and floppier. Soon, the boy turned around and it was Scott, with a small and somewhat goofy smile that came off as shy but a hopeful one at that. There was a click pen inside his hand and he offered it to her. "Thanks," Allison breathed out, unable to say anything else so she just smiled wider at the boy in front of her.
Allison wanted to say more.
Still deep in thought, Allison felt Lydia give her hand a gentle squeeze. She smiled at the gesture, feeling comfort at the fact that she had someone who stood by her side even though she's done so many things that even she wouldn't forgive. But then again, Lydia just gave her a small smile. "It's okay," Allison smiled, which Lydia mirrored, but it was cut off short by a soft vibrating sound that came from her best friend's hand bag.
"What's that?" Allison asked, turning to face Lydia completely. By her side, Lydia was typing something quickly on the screen of her phone when Allison's phone beeped, signalling a message. Taking her own phone, Allison quickly typed her password and her eyes narrowed at the text sent by Ethan. "Coyote's gone, can't find it anywhere." She read out loud. "Our scent's all over the place. Try not to be alone." Allison finished, looking at Lydia with a troubled expression.
There was this feeling that grew uncomfortable in Allison's stomach that told her she wasn't safe and felt like someone was watching her every move. The look on Lydia's face told her that she wasn't the only one who had the bad feeling. "You think Scott and Isaac got the message?" Lydia asked quietly, now not paying any attention to Mr. Yukimura's discussion at all. "How about Stiles?" she asked, and had the situation been a bit more lighter, Allison would have cracked a smile and teased her about it.
Grabbing some of her stuff on her desk, Allison discreetly packed them all inside her bag. "Knowing Ethan, it's a mass message and probably everyone knows but to be safe," Allison trailed off, looking closely at the door and looked expectantly at her watch. "We should keep an eye on everyone," Allison finally settled back into her seat and waited for the day to go by with every word from Mr. Yukimura seemed to draw out for ages to come.
But eventually, like all things, came to an end and Allison was the first one to bolt out of the doors despite being seated at the last row, earning her shocked looks from the others students. Mr. Yukimura, on the other hand, just chuckled. "Be careful, Miss Argent," the teacher said coolly, making Allison remember that she had a different class next and that she wouldn't be with Lydia for an entirety of 2 hours and 10 minutes, instead spending it with Coach Finstock.
Hanging out by the door, Allison waited for Lydia. "So, here's the plan," a detailed set of scenarios played out in Allison's head. "Since Melissa had Isaac's schedule changed, we wouldn't have to worry about is Stiles," Allison said, and as if on cue, the man in question tumbled out of a classroom, papers flying all over.
Lydia sighed dramatically. "What am I going to do with that spastic and hyperactive idiot?" Allison raised a brow at her best friend, failing to hide a smile.
"But isn't he your spastic and hyperactive idiot?" Allison said with a matter-of-fact voice that made Lydia hummed in consideration.
Finally nodding, Allison went on and walked Lydia to her next class in the hallway, taking their time before reaching Stiles. "Well, I suppose you're right," Lydia muttered just before Stiles went up to them, kissing his girlfriend on the cheek even though leaning down would cause some of his papers to slip out of his bag, grinning before looking around. After a few moments of not-so discreetly checking for teachers, Allison saw Stiles take out his phone and showed picture of numerous supernatural spirit-like creatures.
Lydia shook her head. "No, that's not it," Allison took a quick look at the screen of Stiles' phone. "I hardly think that an elemental is messing with us," Allison heard her best friend sigh. "I've read the Argent bestiary and I saw nothing that could link what happened to you two—and what's still happening to Scott—to an elemental," Stiles looked at Lydia and had this face that probably had him thinking of how he'd missed that point.
Nodding, Stiles showed a screen-capture of Chinese characters. "This is pronounced as e, eg, egg—hungry ghosts, that's what they are, and it says here that they feed off people's energy which could have been the reason why we were so sleep deprived the past few days," Lydia had this look that Allison knew well said no. It was kind of obvious for her though, because if it was a hungry ghost plaguing them, then she and Stiles would still be haunted. "What? Why?"
Grabbing Stiles' phone, Lydia pinched her fingers together so that she could zoom in on the picture. "Offering, Stiles, offering! You and Allison, due to some supernatural trauma, have been obviously too busy to go to a Chinese temple—or any temple, for that matter—to offer some food to satisfy your ancestors' needs!" Lydia breathed, finished her explaining, only to earn an enlightened look on Stiles' face.
Passing by a familiar face, Allison stopped walking. "Well, this is me," she pointed to a classroom door. Lydia waved but before she could leave, Allison walked up to her. "Hey, are you free later?" she asked Lydia, who had this reluctant expression on her face.
"I don't know, Allison. Stiles is actually going to try and sneak off to speak with Scott and I'm helping him escape Isaac," Allison nodded, smiling to avoid Lydia seeing her disappointment when Stiles shook his head.
Turning to face Lydia, Stiles kept nodding as if he was agreeing to what he was thinking of. "I think you should go," Allison wanted to protest, tell them that it was fine and that she was only going to visit her mother's grave, put some flowers and whatnot but Stiles gave this charming smile to Lydia who hesitantly agreed.
"Fine," Lydia breathed out before Stiles waved, kissing Lydia on the lips this time, smiling silly.
"Got to go charm up my boy Scotty for a date," Allison raised her brow at Stiles who then sighed. "Well, to be the third wheel, actually, because he's showing Kira around the picnic grounds at the preserve," at first, Allison had this thought of the coyote when she remembered that the picnic grounds happened to be at the opposite end of the preserve and was near the newly built, high-end residential area.
A part of Allison's heart ached weakly at the mention of a date but then realized that it was good. Scott taking Kira out on a date—touring or showing her around, no matter how Stiles called it, Allison knew that it was a date—was a good thing because that meant he was moving on, one step closer to becoming better.
Slowly, Allison repeated the word to herself, it'll all go slowly.
And it all did, including her day. It was like she spent an entire year inside Coach's classroom as he ranted about how corrupt the medical system was, how health care is utter trash, all the while having each and every single one of the students prepare for a quiz that's scheduled for the next month's end. "It will be intensely and overwhelmingly difficult," the Coach scoffed at that point, looking at Greenberg pointedly. "I'm not even sure I could pass it. So study, cupcakes!"
The rest of that day, no matter how painstakingly slow, was fairly uneventful and Allison managed to get Lydia and stop by the cemetery.
"So," Lydia drew out the word, raising a brow at her as they walked down the cobblestone path towards her mother's grave. "You're telling me that you've decided to move on because you're Mom inspired you to?" Lydia was skeptical of her claim, to say the least. "Are you sure you're not being haunted by the whole Nemeton thing, again? Because all we know is that deities can visit you, we never did consider having of demons with the ability to change form to look like another psychotic family member?"
Allison ignored her best friend and walked towards her mother's grave, cleaning out some dried wax from melted candles and clearing it of the overgrown grass and the leaves that stuck to the marble of her headstone. As Allison was cleaning her Mom's grave, her eyes inevitably drifted to her Aunt Kate's grave and noticed the red spray paint that spelled out the word "murderer" in bold and somewhat shaky letters that Allison knew would have been hard to clear out.
After the final fight that ended her Aunt Kate's life and temporarily disabled Peter, Derek revealed a recorded confession from Kate that she was the one who masterminded the arson that killed the most of the Hale family in a fire that was, for a long period of time, considered to be an accident.
Allison knew that somehow, her aunt deserved it, the public scrutiny because what she did was unspeakable. There were children there, human children and they died because her aunt couldn't accept the truth that werewolves can co-exist with humans peacefully. Allison wanted so badly to sympathize with the others, to understand their grief but she was also angry because under that mind set, that arrogance that brought her aunt her downfall was the same Aunt Kate who always sided with her against her Dad.
The same Aunt Kate who told her how to be girl and strong at the same time, the same Aunt Kate who she considered to be her sister for the longest of time. In the end, while Allison was glad that the world lost a psychotic murderer who showed not a single sign of remorse or regret or fear of the consequences, Allison lost her aunt who she considered to be her only friend and only ally—
"Oh, no," Allison muttered, figuring it all out. Hurriedly grabbing her phone, Allison dialed Scott and Stiles' phone number, alarming Lydia who was standing beside her, asking question at a record speed and yet she ignored her. "Pick up, pick up!" she chanted it like a mantra, that if she kept saying it, they'll miraculously pick up. But it eventually went to Scott's voicemail. After the long beep, Allison hurriedly spoke through the phone.
"Allison, what's happening to you? What happened?" Allison ignored her best friend as she stared at the sight before her.
For the first time, Allison felt like she saw like how an animal does, like how Scott and Isaac would see using their other eyes. The red spray paint was drawn out messily across the lot and even had a trail leading off into the woods near the cemetery. "The coyote, it's after us. We messed up the grave, our scents? It's like spray paint and how we trampled the place up? It's like we spelled out murderer!" breathing in deep, Allison began to run towards her car, Lydia hot on her trail after hearing what was happening.
Thanks and shout-out to KristyB26 and to nessieandbella for being awesome readers. Also, this story is dedicated to another awesome fanfiction author, TheFictionalMe, whose Teen Wolf fanfiction, Penance, is completely and totally amazing! Leaves you gripping the edge of your seat and wanting more, trust me, it takes your breath away like asthma.
Anyways, back to the story. This chapter is trying to about trying to solidify a purely platonic relationship between Scott and Allison because she thinks its necessary to help him heal and recover. The ringing factor that made Teen Wolf's Season 3B stand out to me, that was not Allison's death, was that they (Scott and Allison) tried to achieve a purely platonic friendship.
But I love Scallison so, of course, nothing is written in stone. Yet.
So, what do you think of this chapter? I hope that it builds up to something, that it serves as a great starting point for any real trouble that's going to challenge our pack. I hope you guys liked this one, which is the longest chapter yet for the series. Sorry if it's a bit messy here and there, I don't have a beta and I finished this so late at night.
So, yeah. Thanks a lot!