This story is in correlation with my other two Teen Wolf stories, Scars and No One Else! The three intertwine with each other quite often but in different points of view, so I would recommend reading those as well so everything makes sense. I hope you enjoy!
After everyone had left Scott's house, the trio got into Stiles's jeep and chased after the kanima. They were currently speeding through the alleyways that was nearby a bridge. It was getting harder for them to keep up. The thing was so damn fast, Stiles had to have been driving 65 miles per hour and was still ten feet behind it. Meanwhile, Natalie was playing backseat driver and her boyfriend was not having it.
"Come on, Grandma!" she yelled, smacking the back of his seat, "Can't you go any faster?"
"How much faster do you really need me to go?" Stiles yelled back, "I'm already twenty-five over the speed limit! If our dad's saw us driving like this they would kill all of us!"
"For once, I would like to be the designated driver on speed chases!"
"Never," Scott immediately said, "Especially not after we tried to catch that one robber."
"But we did get him!"
Stiles scoffed. "Yeah, after you crashed into that mailbox. And the robber."
"Okay but did you die?"
"No, but that robber almost did."
Natalie just gave up and pouted about how she was doing the police a favor. Stiles did end up driving a little faster, this time the kanima finally in sight. But the couldn't get much closer because spikes were lined up on the ground and Stiles could not afford to get his car fixed for the second time in less than a week.
"What do we do now?" Stiles asked, turning towards Scott.
But said boy was already out of the car and jumping over the fence. Natalie waved her hand.
"Alright, cool!" she called out, although he already took off running, "We'll just wait here."
"No we're not," Stiles said as he put the car back in gear, "Hop up front. Looks like we're chasing wolves too." His girlfriend climbed over, pushing his face and almost kicking him in the head. "Hey, gently! Gently!"
He then started to drive around town, no sign of Scott anywhere. It fortunately did not take them too long to see a familiar pair of shoes running around a corner. The jeep screeched to a stop when Scott finally did and hid behind a brick wall. Natalie looked up to see a neon sign flashing above the door. A long line was formed out front with a large muscular man let those people in one by one.
"Ohh, looks like we've got ourselves a nightclub here," Natalie said excitedly, "Party on, Wayne?"
"Party on, Garth," Stiles nodded.
They both got out of the jeep and headed towards Scott. He was too busy watching the bouncer move the line into the building so when Stiles put his hand on his shoulder, the teen wolf was ready to swipe at his best friends.
Flailing his arms, Stiles exclaimed, "Sorry, I'm sorry." Scott sighed in relief then turned back to the nightclub entrance. "Did you see where he went?"
"I lost him," Scott told him.
"How could you lose him?" Natalie asked, "Just try to get his scent."
"I don't think he has one."
Another thing to make the trio's job harder. Go figure.
"Alright, any clue where he's going?" Stiles asked.
"To kill someone," Scott answered sarcastically.
"Ah. That explains the claws and the fangs and all that. Good. Makes perfect sense." Of course the king always had to come back harder. Scott and Natalie deadpanned at their friend's sass. "What? Guys, come on. I'm 147 pounds of pale skin and fragile bone, okay? Sarcasm is my only defense."
Scott raised an eyebrow at the redhead. "This is who you chose."
"Yes, and I would now like a refund," Natalie said as she rubbed her throbbing head.
"Hey!"
"Just help me find it," Scott begged his friends.
"Not 'it'," Stiles reminded him, "Jackson."
"Yeah, I know… I know."
"Alright but does he know that? Did anybody else see him back at your house?"
"I mean, I don't think so, but he already passed Derek's test."
Which just made the whole situation even more confusing. "How is that even possible?" Natalie asked.
"I don't know."
"Maybe it's an either/or thing," Stiles suggested, "I mean, Derek said that a snake can't be poisoned by its own venom right? When's the kanima not the kanima?"
Realization hit Scott and Natalie. "When it's Jackson."
Just as he looked up, Stiles patted Natalie's shoulder, making her look up as well. Both of their eyes widened and they backed away. Scott was still looking at the line outside the club as his best friends waved their hands to get his attention.
"Uh, Scotty?" Natalie said.
The teen wolf saw the two back up so he stood next to them to see what they were looking at. The tip of a large and scaly tail slithered through an open window. Crap.
"He's inside," Scott said.
"What's he gonna do in there?" Stiles asked.
Before he could answer, a strong smell hit Scott. "I know who he's after."
"What, how? How? Did you smell something?"
"Well, who is it?" Natalie asked.
"Armani," Scott answered.
Hearing that made Natalie whip her red head towards the line. Up front was the lovable Danny. "Oh come on! Why does it always have to be Danny? Can't the guy just get a break already?"
The trio went around the building to the back entrance. Stiles went to open the door but it wouldn't budge. Locked.
"Aw, come on." He stopped jiggling the handle and stepped away and Natalie watched as Scott went for it. "Alright, maybe there's like a, uh- like a window we could climb though, or some kind of-" Natalie stifled her laugh as Scott handed Stiles the now broken-off door handle and went inside the club. "Handle that we could rip off with supernatural strength. How did I not think of that?"
"Let's go, Skeletor." Natalie didn't let Stiles have a chance to retort back as she pushed him inside and closed the door behind her.
Inside, the club was popping. The music was so loud that it was not helping the ponding in Natalie's head at all, including the strobing lights. Bodies were grinding all up on each other, specifically male ones, they soon noticed. Even the go-go dancers and the aerial artists were all men. Huh. One of things definitely didn't belong. Natalie looked down at her long red velvet hair to her grey zip-up hoodie to her skinny jeans and then her black Converse.
"Well, I certainly feel outnumbered," she said as she looked at the boys around her.
"Dudes, everyone in here's a dude," Scott pointed out, "I think we're at a gay club."
Both of them turned to Stiles who was somehow now being surrounded and petted by a group of drag queens. And it did not seem like he was too happy about it. "Man, nothing gets past those keen werewolf senses, huh, Scott?"
As Scott spotted Danny at the bar, Natalie cackled at her boyfriend's expense and pulled out her phone. She started to take pictures of him being manhandled by the drag queens but he swiped her phone out of her hand real fast. Soon enough Natalie was being pulled into the love fest but unlike Stiles, she was having a blast.
"Oh my god, you are just too adorable!" one of them told Natalie, making her beam, "And your hair is looking so fierce, honey!"
"This is too awesome!" Natalie laughed, "Can we come here more often?"
"Hey, easy now," Stiles said as he grabbed his girlfriend's hand, "she's with me. And as much as we'd like to stay and continue… this, we've got business to attend to."
"Bye, ladies!" Natalie waved as Stiles dragged her away.
The couple finally rejoined with Scott and the three of them sat down at the bar. If they were going to be on a stakeout, they might as well get some drinks out of it.
"IDs?" the bartender asked them.
They nodded as they pulled out their driver's licenses out of their wallets and slammed them on the bar top. The bartender inspected the licenses which featured their goofy smiles and saw that they were all sixteen years old.
He chuckled. "How about two cokes?"
"Rum and coke?" Stiles grinned, "Sure." He bopped his head along to the beat of the music. The bartender wasn't buying any of the bullshit though. "Coke's fine, actually. I'm driving anyway."
A couple seconds after the bartender walked away, a new shirtless one brought the boys two cokes. He smirked at Scott. "That one's paid for."
The trio looked over at the cute guy the bartender was nodding towards. He smiled at Scott, raising his beer up at him. Stiles looked at his friend who was laughing from flattery. He grew even more annoyed when Natalie started laughing too. "Oh, shut up."
"I didn't say anything," Scott chuckled.
"Yeah, well, your face did."
This time the shirtless bartender came back with one more drink. "And for the lady." He set it in front of Natalie. "That's also paid for." He pointed to the other side of the bar where the drag queens waved.
"Thanks, ladies!" Natalie waved back before taking a sip. Scott and Stiles were staring at her with dropped jaws. "What?"
"Okay, him I get," Stiles exclaimed as he pointed at Scott, "but you?!"
"What can I say?" Natalie shrugged, "Gay people love me."
"I hate you both so much," Stiles grumbled. He grumpily sipped on his drink as he and the other two turned around so they can look into the dancing crowd. They spotted their friend. "Hey, I found Danny."
"I found Jackson," Scott said, staring up at the ceiling.
Jackson, who was now the kanima, was slithering along the ceiling upside down. He was eyeing the dancing people, stalking his prey. More specifically, he was eyeing Danny, who was dancing with a stranger.
"Get Danny," Scott ordered.
"What are you gonna do?" Stiles asked.
Scott flicked out his claws.
"Yeah, that works too," Natalie shrugged. Then the three dispersed.
While Scott went to try to catch Jackson, Stiles and Natalie began rummaging through the crowd. But at some point they had lost each other from being pushed so much by the dancers. Natalie was jostled back and forth among the random men as she tried to call for Danny with no success.
Smoke from a machine began to release from the ceiling, making Scott lose Jackson. The kanima had now landed on the dance floor and began nicking the back of people's necks. Two of those people included Danny and… Anabelle? If the she-wolf was here, Scott had a feeling that Derek wasn't too far behind.
"Jackson!" Scott tried to get the kanima's attention. He then saw Derek, who was shifted, emerge from the crowd and smoke. "No, don't!"
But Derek didn't listen. He slashed Jackson's throat, spewing out black blood. Everyone started to scream and run out of the club. Natalie was running too, frantically searching for her boyfriend.
"Stiles?" she called out. She was pushed out of the door. "Stiles, where are you?" Finally she found him near the parking lot, searching for her too. Relief washed over Natalie as she ran to him. "Stiles!"
"Oh, thank God." Stiles caught the redhead as she pounced and hugged him. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. Where's Scott?"
"Over there!"
Together they ran through the parking lot where Scott was kneeling next to Jackson, who was out of his kanima form. He was unconscious but still breathing and his throat was still slashed. Black blood covered his body and the concrete around them. Scott looked up at his best friends, panicked.
"What do we do with him now?"
Police cars and ambulances surrounded the club. Paramedics had gathered up all of the paralyzed victims (minus Anabelle, whom Scott assumed was carried out by Derek) and placed them on gurneys so they could be taken to the hospital.
Stiles and Natalie were waiting for Scott in the Jeep while he tried to get information out of Danny. The redhead was sitting in the backseat with Jackson slumped against the other side as Stiles started to get fidgety when more police cars began to show up.
"God, what the hell is taking him so long?" Stiles sighed as his thumbs drummed against his steering wheel, "I swear if our dads show up I'm gonna kick his werewolf ass."
"Hey, at least you're not stuck back here with Lizard Boy," Natalie retorted. Then Jackson's naked body fell on the redhead's lap and she freaked out. "Oh, no! Nope!" She tried to push him off of her but he was like dead weight. "Stiles, I could use a little assistance here!"
Scott hopped in the passenger seat Stiles could say anything. "Couldn't get anything out of Danny."
"Okay, can we just get the hell out of here now before any of my dad's other deputies sees us?" Stiles asked.
The teen wolf nodded and Stiles turned the car on. But just before he could start driving, the sheriff's car pulled up right in front of them. Oh, hell. Stiles and Natalie's dads were here.
"Well, isn't this just kick you in the crotch fantastic!" Natalie groaned.
"Oh my god," Stiles panicked, "Oh my god. Could this get any worse?" Right then Jackson groaned and the trio shot nasty looks at him. "That was rhetorical!"
"Get rid of them," Scott told him.
"Get rid of them? We're at a crime scene, he's the sheriff, and he and Natalie's dad are glued at the hip."
"Do something."
Stiles flailed his arms around angrily before getting out of the car.
"I'll go with him to make sure he doesn't say anything stupid like usual," Natalie said, "Now, piss off." She harshly pushed Jackson off of her so he fell onto the floor of the car and got out.
She followed Stiles so they meet with their dads, who were getting out of their car. They both didn't look too happy to see their kids there. Honestly, what else is new?
"Hey," the young couple greeted their dads in unison.
"What are you two doing here?" Noah asked.
"What do you mean?" Natalie asked, chuckling nervously, "It's date night!"
"It's a club!" Stiles added, "It's a club, we were clubbing, you know? At the club."
And here goes the stupidity. "Stiles, I think they get that it's a club," Natalie said through her teeth.
Their dads looked at the flashing sign. "Not exactly your guys' type of club," Noah pointed out.
"Uh…" Stiles clasped his hands together. "Well, Dad. There's a conversation that we-"
"You're not gay."
Stiles scoffed. "Wha- I could be."
"Not dressed like that."
"Really?" Natalie exclaimed, "Are we not gonna address the girl holding onto his hand here?" She raised their joined hands together to emphasize her point.
Kurt turned towards his daughter. "And let me guess- you have something to tell me, too?"
The redhead grimaced as she brought her fingers together. "I may have been questioning my sexuality just a bit recently-"
"Shut up."
"You got it, sir." Natalie rubbed the back of her head.
"This is the second crime scene that you have just happened to have shown up on," Noah scolded his son, "And at this point, I have been fed so many lies, I'm not sure I know the kid standing in front of me. Now what the hell is going on?"
"Dad, I-"
"The truth, Stiles."
Now this is where Natalie had to step up to save the day. "Alright, you want the truth? Here it is. Danny had just gone through a breakup with his boyfriend. So we decided to help and take him out so we could take his mind off of it. That's all."
Both of their dads were silent. Hopefully Natalie's lie was plausible enough for them to believe, but neither of the couple could get a good read on them. Then Kurt smiled at them.
"Well it seems like you kids are really good friends," he told them, "I'm proud of you both."
"Thanks, Dad," Natalie smiled back. She faked a yawn. "Now I don't know you guys, but I am tuckered out. I think we should turn in for the night, right, Stiles? Alright, see you later! Love you, Dad!"
She ran back to the Jeep and Stiles followed suit after he patted his dad on the arm. The trio then drove around town so they could buy some time to discuss what to do with Jackson.
"Uh, what about your house?" Stiles suggested.
"Not with my mom there," Scott told him, "We need to take him somewhere where we can hold him long enough to figure out what to do with him. Or long enough to convince him he's dangerous."
"I still say we should just kill him," Natalie shrugged.
"We're not killing him."
"Why not?!"
"Okay, okay," Stiles said before Natalie could actually kill Scott, "I got an idea."
"Does it involve not breaking the law?" Scott asked.
Even Natalie had to laugh at her best friend's pathetic hopefulness.
"By now, don't you think that's a given?" Stiles asked him.
Scott sighed. "I was just trying to be optimistic."
"Don't bother."
When Stiles drove over a small pothole, Jackson fell over on Natalie's lap for the second time that night. She let out an annoyed scream.
"I don't wanna be in this position anymore!"
The next thing they knew, they were in the parking lot of the police station. Natalie honestly should have figured this is where her crazy boyfriend's plan was going. She and Scott were carrying Jackson while Stiles fumbled with the keys to one of the prison transport vehicles.
"I guess I really can't be optimistic when Stiles comes up with an idea anymore," Scott said.
"Yeah, no shit," Natalie agreed, "I know your plans are always on the illegal side, but don't you think stealing from the police station is going a little too far?!"
"Relax, no one will even notice that it's gone," Stiles told them.
"Really?" Natalie deadpanned, "No one's gonna notice a missing big ass van?"
"Yeah, and what about the missing teenager?" Scott added, nodding his chin at Jackson, "You don't think his parents are going to look for him?"
Laughing, Stiles pulled Jackson's phone out of his pocket. "Already took care of it."
"Wow, maybe I was wrong," the teen wolf chuckled, "You can actually come up with a decent plan."
"Don't give him too much credit, Scotty," Natalie scoffed, "His head will grow twice in size."
"Ignoring that." Stiles finally unlocked the van and opened the back doors.
"Alright, on the count of three, let's gently set him down so we don't wake him," Scott told Natalie after they hopped in the back while still holding Jackson, "One-"
A loud bang made the two boys look the redhead's way. She had her hands over her mouth as she looked back and forth from them to Jackson who's upper body was slumped on the floor of the van. Scott looked at his friend.
"I said on three!" he whispered harshly.
"I thought it was gonna be one of those things when you say three but we really let him go on one," Natalie said.
"Well it wasn't!"
"Okay, I know that now!"
After the trio sat Jackson up, they handcuffed him to the floor of the vehicle. It still didn't look like he was going to be waking up any time soon so Stiles hopped in the drivers seat and they took off.
He drove them out into the middle of the woods. Now this was starting to get out of hand in Natalie's eyes. It was bad enough stealing a vehicle from her dad's work- but taking an unconscious teenage boy deep into the woods? This was just a lawsuit waiting to happen and Natalie was going to be so grounded she wouldn't be surprised if her parents already had a tombstone made for her.
She really needed to find new friends.
It was already morning by the time Stiles parked the van. The trio got out and huddled together by a tree.
"I take back what I said before," Scott said to Stiles, "This is a horrible plan."
"Like you could've come up with something better?" Stiles scoffed, "Besides, what's the worst that can happen?"
"Stiles! Natalie! McCall! I'm gonna kill you!"
Natalie have her boyfriend a knowing look as Jackson screamed at them from the inside of the vehicle. "You wanna ask that question again?"
When Scott left so he could go to school and portray everything was normal and see if he could get more information out of Danny at the hospital afterwards, Stiles and Natalie were on kanima-sitting duty. Stiles went to go grab lunch for them, which was also a terrible move on his part to leave a sixteen year old girl in the woods with an unpredictable kanima. And even then, who knows what else was out here? She was leaning against the back of the van and rolled her eyes when she heard Jackson struggling to break out of the handcuffs.
"Let me out of here, Daywalker!" he yelled at her.
"Keep calling me names, asshole," Natalie snapped, "That's really helping you win me over here."
"Natalie-"
"I don't have the key. And even if I did I still wouldn't let you out. Now shut up, you're only making my headache worse."
She heard Jackson hit the inside so she hit the van back with her fist. He started screaming again and if Stiles had not already arrived back, Natalie would broke through the window and knock him back unconscious.
"Finally!" she sighed in relief, "What took you so long?"
"Oh, sorry that I to walk all the way to the deli," Stiles said sarcastically, "My wings were feeling a little tired."
"Ha ha. Just unlock the door so we can finally get Jackson to be quiet."
Stiles unlocked the van and opened the doors to reveal a very pissed off Jackson. He was about ready to strangle the two. They climbed into the back with him. "Okay, I bought you some foo-"
"Let me out now!" Jackson yelled, trying to reach at the couple, making them jump back. Of course being handcuffed made the boy unsuccessful.
They sat across from him. "You know, I put those pants on you, alright, buddy?" Stiles said, "One leg at a time. Being all up close and personal with your junk wasn't the highlight of my day."
"Yeah, and now I'm scarred for life from seeing your ding-a-ling," Natalie shuddered at the memory.
"So don't think this is fun for us either," Stiles continued, "You know we're actually doing you a favor?"
"This is doing me a favor?" Jackson seethed.
"Yes!" Natalie exclaimed, "Dude, do you not understand that you're killing people?"
"To death," Stiles added, making Jackson raise an eyebrow in disbelief, "Yeah. And until we figure out how to stop you, you're gonna stay in here. I'm sorry. Now-" he pulled three sandwiches out of his backpack, "do you want the ham and cheese, the turkey club, or the BLT?"
Not even giving Jackson a chance to answer, Natalie plucked the BLT out of her boyfriend's hand. "I call dibs on this one!"
She unwrapped the sandwich and took a big bite, noticing the other two staring at her weirdly.
"What?" she said with her mouth full, "I haven't eaten since lunch yesterday and I'm starving. Get off my ass."
Jackson rolled his eyes. "You actually think my parents won't be looking for me?"
"Uh, well," Stiles stammered, "not if they don't think anything's wrong. Yeah."
"Can I at least have a sandwich now?"
One of the sandwiches hit Jackson in the head, making him close his eyes and let out of huff. He shot a death glare at Natalie who just took another bite of her sandwich. The three of them ate in the most awkward silence ever. Stiles and Natalie were just trying to ignore Jackson practically trying to burn holes in their heads. When he finished eating, he tossed his wrapper to the side.
"So," he said, "If I turn into a… 'kanima', then what exactly does this thing look like?"
"Uh, well," Natalie said, "You basically look like a giant snake… lizard thing. You have these very sharp teeth, your eyes are yellow and your skin is black, slimy, and scaly."
"Scales?" Jackson said in disbelief, "Like a fish."
"No, more like a reptile," Stiles specified, "Um, and, uh, your claws have this liquid that paralyzes people, and you have a tail."
"I have a tail?"
"Yeah, you have a tail."
Now Jackson seemed to be a little more intrigued. "Mm. Does it do anything?"
The couple looked at each other. "Not that we know of."
"Can I use it to strangle you?" Jackson asked angrily as he tried to grab at them again.
"I mean you probably could since it's long and thick but you mostly using it to hit- oh that wasn't a real question." Natalie shut her mouth.
"Yeah, you still don't believe us," Stiles shook his head, "Alright. The night of the semi-final game, what did you do right after?"
"I went home," the rich boy answered.
"Are you sure about that?"
"Yes, you idiot. What the hell else would I do?"
Natalie rested her elbows on her knees. "You attacked us and Derek at the school and then you trapped us in the pool as we held onto Derek's paralyzed ass. You've killed Isaac Lahey's dad-"
"You also killed a mechanic- right in front of me, by the way," Stiles said, "That was lovely. And one of Argent's hunters. Oh, and last night, you tried to kill Danny."
"Why would I wanna kill my best friend?" Jackson asked.
"Scott's going to the hospital to find that out right now," Natalie answered.
"Mm. Well, maybe, he should be trying to figure out is how he's going to pay for a lawyer when I prosecute your asses all the way to jail!"
Which is actually what Natalie was fearing the most and she gulped. Her parents might as well start writing her eulogy now because she was dead.
"Alright, well tell us this," Stiles said, "On the night of the full moon, what happened?"
Sighing in defeat, Jackson hung his head. "Nothing. Nothing happened."
The couple figured they weren't getting anywhere with this guy so they exited out of the van shortly afterwards. As soon as Stiles locked the doors back up, Natalie smacked his shoulder, making him yelp in shock.
"I told you this was gonna end in a lawsuit!" the redhead shrieked, "When our dads see us getting sued, we're gonna have our asses handed to us!"
"We're going to be fine!" Stiles assured her as he pulled out Jackson's phone, "I've got everything under control so you need to just chill out."
"What are you doing?"
"I'm letting his parents know that he's coming home late," Stiles said, beginning to type.
"Oh no, you're done."
Natalie tried reaching for the phone, but Stiles held his arm up so she couldn't reach it. Suddenly she tackled him to the ground, making him scream out again. Then they began to wrestle for the phone.
"Get off of me!"
"Give me the phone, Stiles!"
They continued tussling with each other until they both heard someone clear their throat, making them stop and scream. Allison was standing above them with a worried look on her face.
"They know," she told them.
"What?" Natalie asked. She pushed Stiles off of her and they both stood up. "What are you talking about?"
"They know about Jackson missing."
"No, they can't," Stiles shook his head and held up the phone, "I've been texting his parents since last night. They don't have a clue."
"My grandfather told me his parents went to the police," Allison said, "They know."
The phone might as well have been a bomb with the way Stiles was holding it between his fingers. He made funny noises as he struggled to decide what to do with it. He held it out to Natalie. "Here."
"I don't want it now!" Natalie held up her hands and backed away.
"Chuck that," Stiles said as he handed the phone to Allison. He opened the door to the van and turned on the radio.
"All available units proceed to Beacon Hills Preserve as instructed. Proceed with caution until Sheriff Stilinski's arrival. Proceed with caution."
"Shit, shit, shit!" Natalie shrieked, smacking the van repeatedly.
"Okay, stop hitting the van and just get in it," Stiles told both girls.
After the three got in the van, Stiles took the phone back from Allison and typed in a phone number.
"Where are we going?" Allison asked.
"Somewhere far from this," Stiles answered. He then threw the phone out of the window and drove off.
They met up with Scott deeper into the woods near the edge of a cliff. Just like everyone else, the teen wolf looked exhausted and ready for this to be over with. He explained to them that Danny was recovering a video for Jackson on his tablet which was still in the trunk of his car. But when Scott went back to the club to find it, the tablet was missing.
"So what was on the tablet?" Natalie asked.
Scott shrugged his shoulders. "Danny wouldn't tell me, he promised Jackson he'd keep it to himself. So even he doesn't know what's on it."
"He had to be a good friend," Natalie mumbled to herself, "Well we tried telling him about him turning into the kanima but he wouldn't believe us. He seems to be clueless about practically everything."
"If Jackson doesn't remember being the kanima, he's definitely not gonna remember stealing Danny's tablet."
"Why would he steal the thing if he doesn't even know what's on it?" Stiles asked.
"What if someone else took it?" Allison suggested.
"Then somebody else knows what he is."
"So someone may be protecting him?" Natalie wondered. Scott nodded his head.
"Most likely."
Things still weren't making any sense to Stiles. "Okay, hold on. So somebody watches Jackson make a video of himself turning into the kanima, and then just erases a part of it so he wouldn't know? I mean, who would do that?"
"Somebody who wanted to protect him?" Allison said.
Then Scott remembered as he turned to his best friends, "There's something else. You said the only thing you found online about the kanima is that it goes after murderers. What if that's actually true?"
"No, it can't be," Stiles shook his head, "Tried to kill all of us, remember? I don't know about you three, but I haven't murdered anyone lately." He looked at his girlfriend. "Nat?"
Said girl shook her head. "Nope, I don't seem to recall murdering people either."
"But I don't think that it was actually trying to kill us," Scott told them. He looked to the huntress. "Remember when we were at Isaac's for the first time, it just went right by us, didn't it?"
"You're right, it just ran off," Allison agreed.
He then turned back to Stiles. "And it didn't kill you in the mechanic's garage."
"Well, yeah," the short-haired boy said, "but it tried to kill me, Nat, and Derek at the pool."
"Did it?"
"It could have," Natalie said, "It seemed like it was waiting for us to come out of the water so it could."
"What if was trying to keep you in?"
Chills ran down Natalie's spine after hearing this. This whole thing was just getting way too weird and she was not having a good time. "Oh, god."
Stiles shivered as well. "Why do I feel so violated all of a sudden?"
"Because there's something else going on," Scott said, "We don't know what it is. We don't know anything about what's going on with Jackson, or why someone's protecting him."
"Know thy enemy."
Allison didn't notice she had said that out loud until the trio looked at her in confusion. She just shrugged.
"Just something my grandfather said."
"Alright, I got it," Stiles said, "Kill Jackson. Problem solved."
"Yes!" Natalie pumped her fist up. "Finally, someone's on board with me!"
"He risked his life for us," Scott reminded his best friends, "Against Peter, you guys remember that?"
"Yes, but what did we just find out?" Stiles said, "He got the bite from Derek. It's funny how he just got exactly what he wanted by supposedly risking his life for us. It's funny."
"Yeah, it doesn't mean he's not still worth saving."
A groan left Natalie's mouth. "But it's always something with him! He's been an asshole to everyone. How is someone like him worth saving, Scott?"
"He doesn't know what he's doing, Nat," the teen wolf told her.
"So?"
"So I didn't either." He looked at Allison. "You remember when I almost killed you and Jackson? I had someone to stop me. He has nobody."
"That's his own fault," Stiles scoffed.
"Doesn't matter. If we can save him, we should try."
At Lydia's house, the strawberry blonde was laying on her bed as she brushed her dog Prada's fur. Her lips were turned into a frown. It felt like she had absolutely no one to turn to. The hallucinations she kept having were only getting more bizarre and frightening. Maybe she really was becoming crazy. Nobody seemed to want to be around her anymore, not even her so-called 'friends', who she hadn't really spoken with since the night before with the fiasco at Scott's house.
A knock on her door didn't even make her look up from her dog's black and white coat. "Come in."
The door opened to reveal her much brighter red haired friend. "Hey, Lyds."
"I'm mad at you." Lydia got up from her bed and sat at her vanity.
"Oh come on," Natalie said as she closed the door behind her, "I said I was sorry for leaving you with my brother at the parking lot the other night."
"Well how about for last night? When everyone was acting really weird and not even giving me an explanation as to why."
"Trust me when I say it's really complicated to explain."
"Try me."
As much as Natalie wanted to let her friend know all of the details of what was happening, she was going to come off looking like the crazy one. God forbid she needed one more person to treat her like she needed a straight jacket. Plus Natalie needed to do anything she could to keep Lydia safe.
So she just let out a deep sigh. "I can't." Lydia looked like she was about to kick Natalie out of her room. "But honestly, Lydia, you really don't want to know. I honestly don't even want to be a part of it."
"Then can't you just tell me why everyone's avoiding me like the plague?" Lydia begged.
"We're not trying to avoid you," Natalie assured her, "We know you're dealing with a lot right now. But we all are. You just need to be a little more patient with us."
If she wasn't looking at Lydia's face as closely as she was, Natalie would've missed that tear her friend quickly wiped away from her face.
"I'm not crazy, Natalie."
Said girl wrapped her arms around Lydia's shoulders. "I know you're not, Lydia. I know exactly how you feel."
After waving goodbye to Lydia's mother, Natalie shoved her hands in her jacket pockets and walked out of the Martins' house. Stiles was leaning against a lamppost, waiting for his girlfriend. Natalie made sure he wasn't looking before she took out a couple of her pills and dry swallowed them. They didn't help her headache anymore, but she could only hope. She walked up to Stiles who smiled softly when he saw her.
"How did it go?"
"You know," Natalie shrugged, "she still didn't seem too happy with me but she didn't sick her dog on me either so I take that as a step in the right direction."
Stiles let out a chuckle but it went away when he took in the darker circles under the redhead's eyes. "Maybe I need to take you home, Nat. You look like you haven't slept in months."
"That's a bit of an understatement." She had to force out a laugh when the concern expressed on her boyfriend's face grew. "I'm kidding. I'm fine. It's just been a long couple of days, that's all. Speaking of which. We should really get back to Scott and Allison. Make sure they're not doing the nasty while keeping watch."
"Natalie." Stiles grabbed her hand before she could start walking. "If there's something going on, like, something wrong with you, you would tell me right?"
"Stiles-"
"Please," Stiles begged. She knew he was dead serious as she stared into his also also tired whiskey-colored eyes. "Promise me you would tell me if something's wrong."
Now she felt guilty for not telling him the truth. That she was suffering every day from lack of sleep because she feared that she would never wake up. That she was receiving headaches so unbearable maybe it would have been better off if she was dead. That she had become so reliant on her medication when it was most likely adding on to the problem. Maybe it was best if Stiles knew.
But Natalie had to lie. Not only for her sake, but mostly for everyone else. She was not about to become a burden again. So she lied and said, "I promise."
She grabbed Stiles's face and kissed him before he could ask anymore questions. It appeared that he didn't actually mind though. Not if it meant being able to hold his person in his arms as tight as possible. He was perfectly good with this.
Unfortunately that moment couldn't last forever but they continued to walk hand in hand as they made their way back to the preserve, which was of course even creepier at night.
However when they got back to the van, the couple couldn't tell what was creepier- the woods at night or the back of the van being wide open with no sign of Jackson.
"You've gotta be shitting me," Stiles groaned.
"Where the hell are they?" Natalie exclaimed.
Stiles pointed to the car Scott came in, windows foggy minus the random handprints. They marched over to peek in and yep- the other young couple weren't practically naked but close enough and fast asleep. Annoyed as hell, Stiles smacked his hand on the window and Scott and Allison woke right up.
"You guys might wanna come take a look at this," he told them.
He and Natalie waited for the other two to get dressed before showing them the busted open doors on the van. What was the next move now? Jackson could be anywhere, shifted as the kanima, and ready to kill again.
"I have to tell my father," Allison told her lover, who seemed to be very unsure of that idea of whether to get the hunters involved, "Scott. He's going to kill someone."
It was a risk they just couldn't take. Scott knew Allison was right. Sighing, he surrendered. "Okay, tell him. Tell him everything."
"Scott, I gotta tell mine too," Stiles said.
"We all do," Natalie agreed.
"This is all my fault," Scott said mostly to himself. Which was kinda true but Natalie wasn't about to make him feel bad about it.
"It's not," Allison said instead, "But we have to tell them. We're just a bunch of teenagers. We can't handle this."
"… You're right."
The huntress looked at Stiles and Natalie. "How are you gonna make your dads believe all of this?"
"I honestly don't know if we can," Natalie admitted in defeat.
But Scott had the answer as he showed with his now yellow eyes. "They'll believe me."
After dropping Allison off at home, Scott drove to the police station with his best friends behind him in the prison transport vehicle. The trio mentally prepared themselves for what could possibly go down after revealing to the sheriff and his right hand man the truth about this town. There was a very strong chance they won't believe them, but that had to take that chance if it meant preventing more people from dying.
They walked into the police department. "Could you buzz us in?" Stiles asked the deputy behind the front desk, "We have to go see our dads."
He buzzed them in and immediately every ounce of fear they had in their bodies quadrupled as soon as they saw Jackson now covered in an officer's jacket. Standing next to him was a random man neither of them had seen before but he looked like he meant business. Noah and Kurt stepped in front of the trio, looking angrier by the second.
"Scott, Stiles, Natalie," Kurt addressed the trio, "Perfect timing."
"Have you met Jackson's father, Mr. David Whittemore?" Noah introduced, "Esquire."
Fuck.
"That means lawyer," Jackson stated with that stupid smile.
"'That means lawyer'," Natalie mocked, earning her two elbows to her collar bone.
Here lies Natalie Angelina Henderson. Cause of death? Her father's glare.
I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! If you can, please leave a review, favorite, and follow! I would truly appreciate it. Thank you and I'll be sure to update soon!