Chapter 24: Dancing with the Devil Part 1
The two girls watched silently as Kate stalked into the room, taking long slow steps before she collapsed atop of the comforter. She picked up the stuffed bear that lay against Allison's pillows and rocked it in her hands, as if she were making it dance from side to side. The silence in the room built as Melanie and Allison exchanged a look with one another, wondering how Kate was going to react. Or if she'd react at all. Allison fidgeted with a loose thread on the end of her shirt and Melanie tried to stay as still as possible; maybe, if she didn't move, Kate would somehow forget that she was there. The steady thunk thunk thunk of Kate's shoe against the back of her head was telling her that her plan wasn't exactly working.
"So," Kate sighed, putting the bear down, "you don't seem particularly upset by all this." It took Melanie a few seconds to realize that she was being spoken to but even so she didn't turn around. Not even when she felt Allison's gaze shift to her. Not even when Kate gave a particularly hard kick to the back of her head. "Or surprised, even. It's very peculiar."
"Oh, well, you know what they say about active imaginations! They make everything else seem tame in comparison," Melanie replied, thankful that she wasn't looking at Kate. Her words may have been calm but her eyes shifted from side to side as if she was watching a tennis match. There were only two ways to escape: throw herself out the window or run for the door. She needed her legs so the window was out and Kate would probably beat her to do the door and have her in a headlock before she could blink. She'd had to wait.
"Maybe," Kate drawled. Allison's bed creaked as Kate shifted her position. Melanie jerked away when she felt Kate's hot breath by her ear but Kate now had a tight hold on her head. "But I don't believe that. See, I think you're too smart for that."
"You mind saying that to a few people? I think it'd make their heads spin; I've been waiting fifteen years to witness that," she managed to crack despite her heart thumping against her ribs.
The steady ticking of a clock filled the silence that settled over the room. Allison stopped fidgeting but she didn't look over at them. Melanie clamped her lips together. Kate's hot breath brushed past her ear and made her hair stand up. Sour saliva collected in her mouth and she tried to swallow but the lump in her throat made it difficult. Every attempt to force her body to relax was a lost cause.
"How about, instead…you join us. Hmm?" Kate suggested. Melanie could feel her fingers uncurling from the strands of her hair and the bed shifted more until she saw Kate's shoes in her peripheral vision. "Allison here is showing promise with her skills. She'll be valuable." She approached Allison and draped her arm around her shoulder, pulling her niece to her side. "And I think you will too," she added in Melanie's direction.
Melanie felt hot under the collar due to Kate's hard gaze while her words settled like a weight on her shoulders. What was that supposed to mean? That she'd be a valuable hunter? Or was she trying to psyche her out, that she'd be a valuable prize to whomever caught her first? Who was she kidding, Kate had her in her clutches and she hardly had to do the work. She was hand-delivered, wrapped up in a little bow on a silver platter. She swallowed the lump in her throat as a voice screamed in her head, You're so stupid, Melanie. So stupid! You deserve whatever happens to you for trusting Allison!
"No, no, leave her out of this," Allison insisted, her eyes wide. "Please, she just—"
"Is that begging Allison?" Kate asked, silencing her niece right away. Allison licked her lower lip and hung her head; her cascading hair shielded her face. "We never beg. That just gives others power to use against you…and we don't want that. You want to be strong, right?" When Allison didn't say anything, Kate grabbed her by the chin and jerked her head up. "Right?" she pressed.
Allison barely nodded her head but it was a nod nonetheless. Which was worse, Melanie couldn't quite decide: Kate tugging on Allison's puppet strings or Allison being tangled up in them? How could she want to be a hunter? To chase around people that just wanted to live their lives in private? To kill those who did nothing to them, who were pulled into the world without a choice? To harm Scott? Her heart lurched. She couldn't have known about Scott yet or else she wouldn't go along with it…would she?
How much did they really know about Allison Argent?
"Now this one," Kate sighed, approaching Melanie once more, "we've extended an offer to her once before. She refused. But…she can still be useful." Now she took Melanie's chin in her hand, jerking her head upwards. "I think she knows much more than she's letting on. And we can't just let her go, with everything she knows. With what you told her."
"I'm sorry—" Allison started.
"Don't apologize, Alli," Kate interrupted, her words losing any trace of mirth it carried before. "Hey, you're just a kid. This is…a bit too much for some people. They need to go and seek help elsewhere, that's normal. It's weak, but it's normal." She crossed her arms over her chest and stared hard at Allison. "Because that's all you're ever going to be, a normal, silly, weak little girl." Allison's jaw clenched, sharpening her once soft features. Her lips pressed together in a line and two rosy splotches appeared on her cheeks. But Kate was oblivious to it, or she ignored it as her fingernails began to dig into Melanie's skin. "Since we're having a little sharing session, it's only fair that you tell Allison what you are."
Melanie didn't have time to process Kate's words before she was yanked to her feet in one pull due to Kate's scary strong grip. Allison's previously shamed gaze wasn't on the floor anymore; instead her brown eyes were trained on Melanie. Her lips were parted and her eyebrows were furrowed in evident confusion. Silence wrapped around the girls and Melanie wished that her heart that was ramming against her ribs would pop out of her chest and beat Kate into submission.
The seconds ticked by and Melanie licked her dry lips. Her fingers briefly curled into fists by her side but then relaxed a she lifted her head and stared defiantly at Kate. "Allison already knows what I am," she stated. She nearly smiled in satisfaction at the floored expression cracking through Kate's tough exterior but she kept her voice firm a she continued, "I'm a concerned friend." She pulled her hand out of Kate's grasp and took her stunned silenced a chance to put space between them. And before her brain could catch up with her mouth she blurted out, "And for good reason, it seems; she must be tired of you riding her dick into the dirt."
Warning sirens sounded off in her head and she briefly cringed at the words she uttered in the vicinity of a hunter of all people. If Kate could strike her down in that instant she wouldn't even fight it, she'd deserve it for being so brazen in that sort of company. Or stupid, her mind nagged like a harsh whisper behind her ear.
She looked over to Allison only for the two to lock eyes. Melanie was the first to turn away when an uncomfortable clench squeezed her stomach. Her body jolted, as if submerged in ice cold water at the realization that she was just standing there…trapped in a room…with hunters.
The fact kick started her and she rushed to grab her backpack and her phone and she couldn't help but find it odd that they weren't doing anything to stop her. They just watched her hastily trying to get her bearings, shoving her books back into her bag while simultaneously trying to put it on. Had anyone stood any closer to her they surely would've gotten smacked across the face. All the while she couldn't help but wonder why they weren't stopping her.
Don't worry, just run. Don't worry, just run. She had barely made it out the door and down the stairs when Kate caught up to her, grabbing her arm. Melanie's breath caught in her throat as she stared up at the older woman, who now held a smirk on her face. "Allison shouldn't be involved," Melanie muttered.
"She made that choice for herself, who'm I to stop a girl who wants to be in charge of her own life?" Kate replied, her voice low.
"You can do that without harming innocent people in the process," Melanie shot back.
"You can an Alpha werewolf innocent? And the two betas running around? He's making a pack and killing anyone that gets in his way. I hardly call that helping society. They need to be smoked out." Melanie didn't have time to digest her words because Kate stepped closer and said with an almost cat-like grin, "I know what you are. You're not a beta. No. You're a siren." Hearing the words sliding out of Kate's mouth made her skin crawl. Such a simple sentenced carried too much weight, cracking the words and turning them into knives that struck her. "I should have known when you were able to evade some of our attacks. But imitating me? That was a good one, I have to admit. I didn't see it coming. But now, you can help me."
"Forget it. I'd never help you harm anyway," Melanie hissed.
Kate tightened her grip on Melanie's arm, her smirk growing wider. "Oh, I think you will. Because if you don't, I'll make sure the only way your mother leaves the hospital is in a body bag."
Melanie's blood ran cold. Her breath stopped completely and she stared up at Kate in disbelief. She didn't even bother to challenge her; she knew Kate could stay true to her threats. One glance and anyone could see there was no shred of humanity in her. Or perhaps it died a long time ago.
"I don't need you to do much," Kate continued, now adopting a warm, conversational tone, "just lead us to the Beta. With your abilities that shouldn't be too hard. They'll come knocking at your door soon enough, after all, it's not every day a siren is in our midst." She lifted her hand to rest it on Melanie's cheek and then pinched it hard between her forefinger and thumb. "Think about it, but don't take too long. I don't like being kept waiting." Kate loosened her fingers only to extend them and slap her face.
Melanie was left standing on the stairs, clutching her bag and reeling beneath her stinging face as her brain tried to comprehend everything. She swallowed thickly and turned, as if on autopilot, and descended the stairs to get to her car. Once she was in her car she would be safe. Once she was back home she would be safe. She can talk to her dad, they could figure out a plan and everything would be okay.
Once in her truck she threw her backpack on the passenger seat and then reached forward to start her car. The movement of curtains above her made her stop and look up to see Allison looking back at her. They stared at each other for a few seconds before Allison turned away, the curtains swung back and settled into place a moment later. Melanie turned the key in the ignition and, a moment later, pulled out of the Argents driveway. Throughout the drive home she couldn't help but think that she was wrong; Allison didn't live a charmed life after all.
# # #
"I told you not to go over there!" Erica exclaimed, throwing her arms into the air. Melanie twisted her mouth to the side but didn't bother to interrupt Erica's tirade. Instead she focused on pouring fresh popcorn into a bowl as her friend continued, slipping into Spanish every now and then as she paced in the Crowe kitchen. Melanie picked up a particularly butter-covered piece and popped into her mouth, chewing happily as her eyes shifted from side to side, watching her friend. "—steer clear of them and how can you eat popcorn at a time like this?"
"Because my dad isn't home to tell me not to and I'm not in the mood to cook anything," Melanie replied with a simple shrug of her shoulders. This didn't sit well with Erica whose eyes narrowed as her posture relaxed to the point that one of her hips popped out; her folded arms soon followed which was a clear sign that Erica wasn't happy with her response. "Eri, look, everything's fine now. Alright?"
"No, Mel, it's not alright. Kate threatened you and your mother and you're just going around like nothing is wrong," Erica replied, "like nothing happened. You could have gotten hurt."
"Well, I didn't," Melanie said. She picked up the bowl, rounded the island in the middle of the kitchen, and then headed towards the living room where their school books and pillows and blankets were strewn on the floor. She dropped down and picked up the remote, pressing the power button. She made a face at the cartoon that filled the screen and began flipping the channels.
"You could have," Erica repeated, following her. "And what about Allison?"
"What about her?"
"She could have lured you there—"
"She didn't."
"—it was probably a trap—"
"It wasn't."
"—she's probably working with her aunt."
"She's not."
"You don't know that!" Erica nearly exploded, dropping on her knees next to Melanie. "You don't know any of that. How can you be so sure she's innocent in all of this?"
Melanie took her time to lower the volume on some cheesy rom-com that was playing on the tv and looked over at Erica. "Because you didn't see her, Eri," she stated. "You didn't see Allison. You didn't see the look in her eyes. She was desperate to have someone to talk to today, someone who could believe her about what she saw. And she chose me. She trusted me. She was sure that she'd be home alone and I knew I was taking a risk with Kate or someone else coming back. I don't think Kate expected to find me there and I don't think Allison planned it. I also don't think Allison knows what she's getting into and I don't think she did it willingly. Not so much, anyway" She licked her lower lip. "Kate isn't exactly sane and I doubt she's above manipulation and I doubt she's above using Allison to get what she wants."
"She wants to use you," Erica pointed out.
Melanie shook her head. "She wants the other beta and she wants to kill the Alpha. I just got in her way."
"But your dad said that people or other creatures will use or kill sirens."
"Kate doesn't know how much of my abilities I have. I can't control people. I don't know how to do anything except mimic someone but that was out of luck and a onetime thing. I've tried but…I can't do it now. She won't kill me because of the fact that I most likely will be able to hone it all one day but then she can't use me because I can't do too much. She doesn't know I know who the other beta is. I'm useless to her. For now. So…I'm safe, for now." Melanie nodded, as if she was trying to convince herself. She hoped she appeared calm to Erica otherwise because she knew her own words were tinged with hope more than certainty. Erica reached over and grasped Melanie's hand, lacing their fingers together. Melanie gave Erica's hand a squeeze and released a breath. "I just want to play in the game tomorrow and attend the formal I've busted my ass preparing to make it the best night for everyone."
Erica's cheeks briefly puffed up as she held her breath. Melanie didn't say anything, she only lifted her eyebrows to silently prompt her to say whatever it was that she wanted to say. A few seconds of the silence got her to crack like an egg. "It's just…you're a little too relaxed at the idea that you could be dead right now."
Melanie shrugged her shoulders. "Well, I'm not so…I'm happy about that. No need to dwell on it." She picked up the remote again only for Erica to snatch it out of her hand. She turned, a frustrated question sitting on her tongue, ready to leap off, but it died at the scrunched up expression on Erica's face.
"You keep acting like everything's fine and dandy but it's not!" Erica ranted. "You don't get it; it'd…suck if you were dead right now, okay? Something could have happened to you at Allison's and…and I'd be stuck here without you. And you don't even seem to care! You just keep…shielding me from everything. I don't need to be protected. Not from you, not from my mom! I can take it! I'm stronger than you both think I am, than you both will let me be. But I can't accept that you could wind up dead one day and you're fine with it. 'Cause I won't be."
"Hey…" Melanie cooed, rubbing the back of Erica's hand, "there will never be a chance that you have to live in a world that I'm not a part of. Okay?" She felt Erica squeeze her hand and the pressure made her heart leap into overdrive, ramming against her ribs. She swallowed thickly as she felt a flush crawling up her neck but she held Erica's gaze.
"You can't promise me that," Erica whispered.
Melanie shrugged again and smiled. "Think I just did." She playfully tapped the tip of Erica's nose and continued, "I'm still here. Be happy about that. I am, 'cause I can spend more time with you."
That seemed to placate Erica; Melanie could see her entire body relaxing until she slumped against the couch that they were sitting in front of. Erica slid her hand out of Melanie's grasp—which Melanie appreciated because hers were flooded with sweat in no time—and loosely wrapped her arms around her knees. "One of these days you're not going to be able to talk yourself out of trouble," she mumbled as she fought to keep a smile off her face.
"As long as you keep eating up my words, I will," Melanie teased, poking her in the side. Erica doubled over to her side but burst out laughing. "Things will be okay."
"How can you always stay so positive?" Erica asked.
"Hey, someone has to," Melanie pointed out. "Speaking of, the dance. You're going, right?" Erica opened her mouth but before she could say anything Melanie interrupted her, "You have to. I spent too much time getting everything settled for my best friend to not even go."
"No one's going to miss me if I don't go," Erica muttered.
"Um, hello? I will."
"You don't count." At the scandalous gasp Melanie uttered, Erica rolled her eyes. "I mean, no one else will care. Epileptic Erica won't mess anything up."
"I made sure there are no strobe lights, nothing to trigger your seizures. Doesn't your mom want you to go? You two can go dress shopping together."
"I already have a dress. My dad bought me one last time he was in town, as a sort of 'I'm sorry I'm such a dick and left you two alone' apology thing." Erica bit at her thumb nail and spit out the fleck of nail polish that came off.
"Then what's the problem?"
She heaved a sigh. "I know no one's going to ask me—and before you say anything, I know having a date isn't important but…when you're me…it'd just be cool. To have someone want to spend time with me like that, you know? Make my mom think I was less of a loser."
"You're not a loser," Melanie shot back. "You're a joy and the others are too lame to see it. It's their problem, not yours."
"Just like yours is Chemistry," Erica commented, using her chin to motion towards the books on the floor. "We should get started with your tutoring now if you want to get a better grade on the next test. It's going to take a while."
"Hey!" Melanie pouted and Erica laughed while reaching for the book. With Erica's attention strayed, Melanie lifted up the sleeve of her shirt and checked on the bruises and welts on her wrists. They didn't hurt anymore but they were still as angry looking as when Kate had her tied up. She managed to shake them back down before Erica could turn around and see them.
No need to tell her everything and upset her even more. She was alive, that's all that mattered.
# # #
Another sleepless night ended far too early for Melanie. She tossed and turned, jolting awake at every little sound that pierced through the quite house. Every creak of the settling house, every shuffle of her father's restless feet, every whistle of wind through the crack in her window was a hunter waiting to snatch her out of bed or the Alpha stalking her in the night. Her eyelids were weighed down due to the lack of sleep and dark circles beneath her eyes made her skin appear as if it were sagging. Nova even ran away from her when she tried to give him a good morning kiss.
She didn't know how she was going to get through the day. Before she only worried about the Alpha and hunters to a little degree but now…. Kate threatened her mother and she didn't even know what to do with that. Part of her was still angry with her mom and wanted nothing to do with her but the other part wanted to stand by her bedside and shield her. She mulled it over while brushing her teeth and nearly choked on the foamy residue on her tongue when she laughed in disbelief. Here she was actually thinking about whether or not she needed to go and see her mom, to protect her. What kind of daughter was she?
She wrinkled her nose, pushed her hair out of her face, and spat into the sink. If we win the game I'll go, she mentally reasoned while rinsing away excess toothpaste from her brush. Dad can protect her better than I can right now. I'll just leave him a message. I'll go right after the game if we win. She nodded at her reflection, her lips briefly forming a straight line and she tore herself away before she could somehow use her own siren voodoo on herself to change her mind.
Once back in her room she went straight for her lacrosse jersey that lay on the end of her bed. Her fingers brushed over the maroon microfiber and a rush of pride shot through her. She traced a finger over the large number sixteen on the back and felt her cheeks begin to ache from the wide smile on her face. Whenever she wore the jersey to a game she felt invincible, maybe if she wore it around school it'd stretch there. And maybe people would finally stop talking about her and the team. She earned her spot, why couldn't people just accept that? What was so wrong about playing on the team?
She blew out a breath, releasing the "bad air" as her mom would say, and changed out of her pajamas and pulled on a long-sleeved shirt, her jersey, and a pair of jeans. After wrestling her shoes away from Nova she put him up, grabbed a can of Red Bull and a Tupperware box from the fridge, and ran out the door.
"Did you have coffee?" Erica accused nearly as soon as she got into the passenger seat of Melanie's truck. Melanie paused her thumbs that had been tapping against the wheel and glanced at her. "You know you're not allowed."
"Funny, I thought I would be in college when I was accused of having a problem with caffeine," Melanie commented, "It's a rightful setting, I think."
"Mel."
"It's just Red Bull," she replied, backing out of the driveway, pausing to wave to Mrs. Reyes before they left. An unasked question sat in Erica's eyes as they drove down the street. "Couldn't sleep," she explained.
"Hunter stuff?"
Melanie's mouth twisted to the side for a brief moment before she shook her head. "No. Thinking about the game," she lied. "Just…want it all to go well."
"It will," Erica insisted. "We have a good team. Better now that you're on it. We have a good chance of advancing. There's nothing to worry about."
If only there really wasn't anything to worry about. It felt as if her life had turned into one big ball of worry. Worry about Scott, about Derek, about the Alpha, about her mom, now about Allison and the hunters and the big game. And people often wondered why teenagers were moody!
As soon as they got to school Melanie ducked her head and darted inside. She peered around every wall she came across, like an incompetent spy in the comedies she liked to devour when she was sick. Erica followed behind her, her eyes pointed to the ceiling as if she had rolled her eyes so hard her eyes got stuck.
"Okay, the coast is clear," Melanie spoke aloud and then spun the dial to her combination lock. "Just gotta get my books, hide out in the bathroom, and get to homeroom last so I don't have to talk to her."
"I didn't see her car in the parking lot. Maybe Allison's not here," Erica commented.
"Or! That's what she wants us to think! Or her aunt!" Melanie theorized, throwing some of her books into her locker to replace them with others for the first part of the day.
"I thought you trusted Allison," Erica reminded her.
Melanie silently mimicked Erica's statement to the back of her locker and heaved a sigh. Allison…was a gray area. They were on better standings than they were before, true, but…still. She had that psycho aunt of hers and she knew about werewolves. If it took this long for her to figure it out, her aunt couldn't have been the one to pull the trigger about it. Allison was a smart girl, it couldn't take long for her to put two and two together. But even so, she didn't do anything. She wasn't the one to lock up the werewolf, whichever one they had. She wasn't the one who was torturing them. Right? So there had to still be something in there that she could trust. That she wanted to trust. That she was trusting.
And there it was, standing in front of her.
"Are you okay?" Scott asked, his eyebrows heavy to reflect his concern. "You smell…funny."
"Thanks," Melanie said with a roll of her eyes. "That's what every girl wants to hear."
"You know what I mean."
"I do. And I'm fine." She closed her locker door. "It's just…" the words died on her tongue as she looked up at him, studying the peculiar expression on his face. Almost as if he had gotten slapped across the face. "Scott?" she pressed.
He blinked and turned his big, sad eyes to her. "Sorry. You…you kinda smell like Allison."
"You know what she smells like?" Erica cut in. Melanie could hear the incredulous tone in her voice. It was an odd statement but, then again, it was Scott McCall.
Melanie's lips twitched. If there was one thing in the world that punched her in the gut it was seeing Scott so…so heartbroken. So hopeless. And she was the cause of that. Well, partially. She knew things about Allison. Things that he should know, needed to know but…she couldn't hurt him. Not like that. It wasn't her place and…she didn't want to lose him. Heaving a sigh she put on a small smile and said, "I'm sure things will work out fine. You'll see. You'll…you'll be back together before you know it."
"Yeah, I hope. I…I really love her, y'know?"
Melanie nodded. "I have a feeling."
He nodded and then blinked. "I'm sorry, I interrupted you. What were you going to say?"
"Ah, nothing." She scratched at her hemline, shielding her face with her hand. "It's nothing. I'm good, just a bit nervous for the game today."
"Oh." Scott stood up straight and offered up a smile. "You're great. You'll do well, don't worry. I'll be rooting for you."
"Thanks." She tucked her hair behind her ear and cleared her throat.
"Look, I have to go find Stiles. Can we catch up at lunch?"
"Uhh…" Melanie dragged out, turning to Erica.
"It's fine," Erica said quickly. She readjusted her bag on her shoulder. "I'll just sit with Isaac." She added with a teasing smile, "We need some time to talk about you."
Melanie's mouth pulled at the corner and she rolled her eyes, punching Erica on the arm. "I'll see you then," she relayed to Scott.
"Great. See you later."
She gave a little wave and let out a groan once Scott was out of earshot. Erica gave her a knowing look that she ignored. "Still need to hide out in the bathroom?" Erica asked.
Melanie nodded. Her stomach was now giving her a better reason to hide. Erica looped her arm through Melanie's and leaned against her side as the two walked down the hall. The hair on the back of her neck stood up, as if she were being watched. Her breath stuck in her throat and she turned her head over her shoulder to check but no one was there besides the other students milling about. Even so, she walked a little faster.
She kept her head down throughout the day, attending classes as late as possible to be sure that there wasn't time for Allison to come talk to her. Instead she had to dodge intense gazes and stares from across the room and coming up with every excuse in the book to get out of class a few minutes early. By the time lunch came around she wouldn't have been surprised if the teachers all thought that she had some strange illness combination that needed her to be on the toilet almost as often as she "needed to see the nurse". Thankfully she knew Scott and Stiles would be the perfect shield before she could escape for the game, Allison didn't sit with them.
"Ready for the game?" she asked while plopping down in the chair. Her tray landed on the table with a little clatter.
"Bardell doesn't stand a chance," Stiles replied, stuffing some curly fries into his mouth.
"Have you seen their record? There's a reason they're the ones to beat. They're undefeated!"
"Yeah, but they don't have a werewolf on their team."
"You said it was cheating if I used my powers," Scott pointed out, lowering his voice.
"Yeah, well, it's only cheating if we get caught!" Stiles hissed back. "Come on, we could get another title. Do you know how proud my dad would be? If I was part of that team?"
Melanie tapped the back of her spoon against her bowl of pudding. "Is he coming?"
Stiles took a sip of water and nodded while replacing the cap. "Well, he's going to try. With everything going on, they've been on high alert."
"Your mom?" she asked, directing the question to Scott.
"If she can get off work early," he commented. "But it's fine if she's not there. She needs to work. She always comes to the games. I'm not worried about that." He looked over his shoulder, surveying the cafeteria and leaned forward. "You guys, we're running out of time. We have to find Derek."
"He could be long gone by now," Stiles pointed out. "Or dead. Which would solve a lot of our problems."
"Stiles, c'mon man."
"What? He could have done more to help and this is what happens to him. Good riddance."
Melanie pressed her lips together and forced herself to take a bite of her pudding. It was much too sweet, she almost gagged. Her fingers drummed against the table as she forced herself to swallow. Scott's and Stiles's argument sounded like buzzing in her ears beneath the hard thumping of her heart.
"…and if they have him they might find me next!"
"They haven't so far. They probably don't even have an idea where to look."
"Ugh, they might!" Melanie cried out, slapping her palms on the table. Her tray jumped as did Scott's and Stiles's and the two turned to look at her. "Look, I went to the Hale House to try and get some answers—I know I shouldn't have!" she added at the expression on Stiles's face. "But I just wanted to check and they found me."
"Who found you?"
"The hunters. They found me and attacked me and had me bound." She could almost still feel the ropes around her wrist, the pain in her back from being jerked around and pressed into the ground for who knows how long. "They thought I was a beta werewolf. They kept…poking me with this cattle prod thing. And…and said they had some sort of code." She sighed. "I didn't tell them anything but they're getting close."
"That's what's wrong with your wrists." Scott reached out and grasped her arm, lifting the sleeve to her shirt before she could protest or fight back. She grimaced at the markings still embedded in her skin. "How did you escape?"
"My dad said we can—sirens can—imitate people's voices so I tried that."
"Wait, but how?" Stiles asked, squinting.
Melanie shrugged. "I just…thought of Kate's voice. She's the ringleader. I thought of her speech patterns and then… I did it."
"So you tapped into your powers? Without my help?" Stiles asked, his eyebrows shooting up. "Dude, we have a system! A patent pending system!"
"By throwing lacrosse balls and getting people beaten up?" Melanie shook her head. "That's not a system!"
"It worked for him!" He jerked his thumb in Scott's direction.
"Doesn't mean it'll work for everyone!" Damn, she loved Stiles but sometimes she wanted to punch him in the face. Or the mouth and knock out some teeth and save them the trouble of understanding him.
"Mel! Why didn't you say anything before?" Scott asked, his eyes wide. "If they found you they might go for me next."
"I…wasn't thinking!" she cried out. "I do that a lot. Or…don't…do that apparently. I didn't think it was a big deal, I was just looking around."
"We told you not to go!"
"I know, I'm sorry!" She huffed a breath and rubbed at her now throbbing temple. God, how was she going to fix this? She couldn't tell him about what happened at Allison's house now. He probably wouldn't listen to her, let alone believe her. She still wasn't sure if she believed that Allison was involved in it all. Surely she couldn't be so foolish. Kate had to be lying.
"Okay, this…this is fixable," Stiles muttered, rubbing a hand across his mouth. "They don't know it's you, right? So you're still safe."
"Yeah? They already know about the scratch on the back of Jackson's neck," Scott pointed out. He blew out a breath and ran his hands through his hair. "It's only a matter of time until they figure it out."
"I'm sorry!" Melanie uttered again, her stomach twisting painfully. "Look we'll…we'll think of something. We can talk to Deaton. Or my dad."
"Is he coming to the game?"
"Ah…" Melanie slumped in her chair. She wondered the same thing. As much as she wanted him to be there she knew she shouldn't get her hopes up. Her mother came first and foremost in his eyes. She wasn't just his wife; she was the love of his life, his best friend. She wouldn't blame him for not showing up but… "I'm…I'm not sure," she admitted. "But after."
"We can't wait that long!"
"What are they going to do? Attack you on the field?" Stiles shot back. "It buys us some time to come up with something."
"Not enough," Scott muttered.
Melanie opened her mouth again—she had to say something, do something to make things better—but she was stopped by the clamoring sound of the bell ringing. It signaled the end of lunch period and the dismissal time for the lacrosse team to get a meeting in before their game. All at once the other students stood, collecting their trays and trash while finishing up conversations amongst the scraping of chairs.
Scott and Stiles jumped up, grabbing their backpacks and their trays to follow everyone out. Melanie took her time, thinking back to Kate's proposition. She had some time to get back to Kate about her answer but would it be enough? She had no other way to contact her so long as no one was home to answer the phone or the door. They could come up with a plan in that amount of time, couldn't they?
Melanie was the last one in the boys' locker room where they were gathered around a chalkboard that Coach had brought in. He demonstrated with Xs and Os how he wanted them to play the game but they didn't mean anything to her. They were mere squiggles on the board. She hardly listened to what Coach was saying as he rambled on, something about grabbing the other team by the balls and playing basketball with them. (She wondered if he thought any of his analogies ever made sense to anyone but him).
She fidgeted next to Isaac on the bench, tugging on the ends of her hair and bouncing her leg up and down drumming her fingers on her knee. There had to be something she could do, there just had to be. She may have brought herself into the mess but there had to be some way she could get them all out. There had to be some way to get Scott to not be mad at her. But what…?
"Okay, the following people are seeing field time. Everyone else will be riding the bench," Coach's voice filtered into her thoughts. She felt a hard nudge in her side and looked over to Isaac. He tilted his head towards Coach and she sat up straighter, giving him some of her attention. "Which is the most action I bet you're going to get all year." He let out a wheezing laugh at his joke, slapping his knee as they all stared at him blankly. He cleared his throat and looked at the paper in his hands, rattling off names. "…Whittemore…McCall…Mahelani…Rodriguez…Taylor…and…Crowe."
Melanie's head shot up. What? She barely felt Isaac patting her on the shoulder. This couldn't be right. First line? But…that spot wasn't hers! She glanced over at Stiles to see him scratching behind his ear. He glanced up, caught her eye, and nodded at her, a small smile forming on his lips. She shook her head. This wasn't right.
"Coach," she said, standing up. "I can't play first line."
Coach laughed again. "What, are you kidding?"
"No, but—"
"You've been harassing me for a spot on this team and now that you have it you don't want it?" He asked, his voice incredulous. "Shut up and be happy, Crowe. You're first line."
"But…I wasn't even supposed to play last time. That wasn't my spot. Stiles—"
"Biles," Stiles corrected her.
"—Biles had that spot."
"And last I checked Bilinski wasn't there for the last game," Coach pointed out, "and I put you in. Stop whining!" He shook his head and addressed the rest of the time. "Ten minutes and your asses are on the bus. I'm not against leaving anyone behind. Especially you, Greenberg."
Melanie sighed as the boys all shuffled to their locker. Isaac scoffed as he stood. "Don't be so happy," he muttered sarcastically.
"I didn't mean to be ungrateful," she said. "I just didn't want to take Stiles's place if I didn't earn it."
"By the way you played last game I think Coach thought you deserved it," Isaac pointed out. He gave her a knowing look and walked off to his locker. She took it as her cue to get her stuff from her own locker and was pleasantly surprised to see Erica waiting for her.
"You're skipping?" Melanie questioned while popping open the door and grabbing her lacrosse stick. "Your mom's going to go through the roof."
"Hall pass," Erica replied, holding up the little card. "I wanted to see you off. Wish you luck."
"Awww! Eri!" Melanie cooed, reaching out to give her friend the tightest hug she could give. That's just what she needed to calm her down, a big squeeze and words of encouragement. "Thanks," she mumbled once they pulled apart. "For everything. For…for being so cool with everything. I really need you in my corner."
"Hey, what are friends for?" Erica asked. She reached out and gently tugged on the end of Melanie's hair. "Now sit down so I can braid some of this out of the way. You can dominate when you can't see the field."
Grinning, Melanie did as she was told and sat on the bench as still as possible. She could feel Erica pulled on a few strands of her hair for the braid. Her long fingernails brushed against her scalp and a shiver ran down her spine. It reminded her of how her mom used to braid her hair. Her mouth twisted to the side. If we win the game I'll go see her. Promise , she reminded herself. But still, it wasn't the same without her actually being there.
"All done!" Erica announced, grasping Melanie's shoulders and gave them a squeeze. Melanie jumped up and ran over to the sinks to look in the mirror, admiring her braid.
"Thanks! I love it!"
Erica gave a modest shrug and waved her away. "Get going! I think I hear Coach yelling."
Melanie rushed back to her locker and grabbed the Tupperware that sat inside." efore I go, I have a question to ask you."
"Okay, but hurry up or you'll miss your bus."
With a grin, Melanie removed the lid of the Tupperware and pulled out a plate of cookies. One large cookie had a heart shape cut out of it and had the words "winter formal?" written on it. Three other cookies sat on the plate beneath it: a rhombus with "no!" written on it, a circle with "maybe" written on it, and a heart with "of course!" written on it. "So?" she asked Erica's stunned expression. "Wanna go with me? I mean I already know we're going together, that's a given, but now we get cookies out of it."
Erica blinked a few times and stuttered before gasping, "Wait. Me?"
"Yeah, you silly. You said you always wanted to be asked to a dance in a big way and a sky writer was out." She shrugged. "They're crazy expensive and this is better because it's edible."
"Mel," Erica said softly, placing a hand to her chest.
"Well if you don't want to go…" Melanie said with a fake pout.
"Mel! Yes! Of course I'll go with you, dummy," Erica replied, slapping her on the arm. Her cheeks were flushed red and a wide smile sat on her face. Gosh, how Melanie loved it when Erica gave an unrestrained smile. "Now go! Kick ass for me!"
Confidence surging through her, Melanie grabbed her stick and bag and kicked her locker door shut. She gave a short wave and rushed out of the school to join the others on the bus. She shoved her bag and stick in the overhead compartment and dropped down in the empty seat next to Isaac who turned to her, holding out one of his earbuds. She stuck it in her right ear and settled into her seat. Before she could do anything else, before she could even think about fixing her mistake, they had a game to win.
a/n - Thanks so much everyone for being patient with me between updates. I broke 100 reviews! Thank you, thank you, thank you! I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Things are really getting tense, huh? I know I promised a Danny/Mel scene and the lacrosse game in this chapter but the longer it went on I knew I had to split it into two parts. The next chapter will be part 2! Please read and review!
~C.M.
