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!
The trio stood around Noah's desk as they waited to hear what the verdict was on their punishment for 'kidnapping' Jackson. That was his choice of words, not theirs. Although it still made them look bad.
On the sheriff's desk was Scott's phone. Allison was on the other end and they had her on speaker.
"If Jackson doesn't know what he's doing, then he probably doesn't know that someone's controlling him," she told them.
"Or he doesn't remember," Scott said.
"Maybe the same thing's happening to him like it did to Lydia when she escaped the hospital," Natalie suggested.
"A fugue state?"
It did make sense. "He'd have to forget about everything," Scott said, "The murder-"
"Getting rid of the blood," Allison added.
"Yeah he had help with one thing though-" Stiles remembered, "the video. And someone else helped him forget that."
"Whoever's controlling him," Scott said.
"Are you sure Jackson has no clue about any of this?"
"He thinks he's still becoming a werewolf and that being with Lydia somehow delayed the whole thing."
This made Natalie laugh. "What an idiot. It's amazing how the bite didn't actually kill the dumbass."
"So do we try to convince him he's not?" Allison asked.
"If it helps us find out who's controlling him, then yeah," Scott said.
"Do you think he'll talk to us after what we did?"
"Yeah, it's us," Stiles said just a little too confidently, "He'll talk to us." He looked up at his best friend and his girlfriend, neither of the two saying anything. "Right?"
And just as Natalie predicted, things were not looking so good in their favor. They were now sitting in the interrogation room along with Stiles and Natalie's dads, Scott's mom, and Mr. Whittemore. Each order Noah listed off of what the trio were not allowed to do when it came to Jackson put a damper on everything.
"You will not go within 50 feet of Jackson Whittemore," Noah stated, "You will not speak to him. You will not approach him. You will not assault or harass him physically or psychologically."
Well, there goes their plan.
Stiles averted his eyes around the room as it got silent. He was honestly trying not to focus on his girlfriend glaring at him so hard that lasers could've shot out at any moment. Natalie's face was so red that it almost blended in with her hair.
"What about school?" Stiles asked, trying to ignore the girl.
"You can attend classes while attempting to maintain a 50 foot distance," Noah said.
"Bu- okay, what if we both have to use the bathroom at the same time and there's only two stalls available and they're only right next to each other- ah!" Stiles rubbed the sore spot Natalie had just punched and shrunk under his dad's glare. "I'll just hold it."
Natalie's listened in on Stiles's dad scolding him afterwards for being the absolute buffoon he was. Kurt was in his own office getting ready for the next meeting they had for a new crime that had taken place earlier so she was sitting on a bench in the hallway, waiting for her lecture. Even though she knew she would not be able to fall asleep either way, Natalie was so drained and achy and just wanted to go lay in her own bed. She was also dreading to hear the 'I'm disappointed' speech her father had for her, which was always the worst thing a child could hear from their parents.
As she picked at her chipping black nail polish, she noticed Isaac and Delilah sitting on their own bench farther down the hallway. Oh, great. What did Derek's pack of wolves do this time? However, Delilah was looking even more distressed than Natalie felt. The way Isaac held onto her was so tight he probably thought she was going to float away if he had let go. Something else definitely happened. And Natalie wanted to know what it was.
The redhead didn't have a chance to be nosy before Melissa pushed Scott into the hallway. "Move!" She stood in front of her son, angry like the mama bear she was. "It's not just this. Although, a restraining order is a new low that I didn't think you would reach quite this soon. It's everything on top of it. The completely bizarre behavior, the late nights coming home, having to beg Mr. Harris for you to make up that chemistry test you missed."
"I missed a chemistry test?" Scott asked dumbly.
Oh, god. Natalie couldn't even hold back the groan from her friend's stupidity. And it just seemed to irritate his mother even more.
"Really, Scott? Really? I have to ground you. I am grounding you. You are grounded."
"What about work?" Scott asked.
Melissa thought it over. "Fine. Other than work. And no TV."
"The TV's broken."
"Then no computer."
"I need the computer for school."
"Then no, uh-" Melissa looked behind her at Natalie and Stiles, who had recently joined his girlfriend. "No Stiles and Natalie."
Now that was just unacceptable! Stiles gawked at the rule. "What- no Stiles and Natalie?"
"No Stiles and Natalie!"
"Yes, Mama McCall," Natalie cowered as they backed away.
"And no more car privileges," Melissa continued. She held out her hand. "Give me your keys." She stomped her foot when Scott just stood there. "Give 'em to me!" Scott finally placed the keys in her hands and she tried to take off the car key but was having a hard time.
Scott saw this. "Mom, you want me to-"
"No," Melissa said sternly, continuing to struggle.
"Mom, come on, let me just-" She still kept struggling. "Mom. Mom!"
Scott placed his hands over his mother's, making her finally stop fussing with the keys. Melissa sighed in sadness and frustration as she looked up at her only child. It had to have been what all of their parents were feeling right now, and it made Natalie feel guilty for keeping all of these secrets. Not just the supernatural ones.
"What is going on with you?" Melissa asked her son, "Is this about Allison?"
Stiles and Natalie could see it in Scott's face that he was just about ready to spill everything, and they weren't too sure if that was the best idea.
"Do you really wanna know?" Scott asked.
"Yeah," Melissa nodded.
But Stiles and Natalie shook their heads as they stood behind her. They signaled their best friend to keep his mouth shut.
"Is this about your father?" his mom asked, "It is, isn't it?"
This time Stiles nodded his head enthusiastically but Natalie just grabbed him in a headlock as Scott's estranged dad was a sensitive topic.
Melissa sighed once more. "Okay, you know what… we'll talk about this at home. I'm gonna go get the car."
She then walked away, the trio watching her solemnly. "I'm the worst son ever," Scott said.
"Well, I'm not exactly winning any prizes either," Stiles said.
"Natalie."
All three of them turned around and saw Kurt standing outside his office. He gestured his daughter to come in so they could finally have their talk.
"And now it's time for me to hear how awful I am," Natalie sighed, "Yay…"
She followed her father into his office and she closed the door behind her. Kurt sat on his desk and crossed his arms. He already looked like he had the disappointment speech ready to go and Natalie was not looking forward to it.
"I know everything looks bad- horrible even. But I promise you that Jackson is delusional and is over exaggerating-"
"Are you doing drugs?"
Well that was something Natalie wasn't expecting to hear. "Uh, come again?"
"Are you doing drugs?" Kurt repeated, enunciating each word.
"Am I- no!" Natalie shook her head furiously, "I'm not doing drugs! I didn't everything was that bad."
Kurt hopped off his desk and stepped around it so he could open one of his drawers. He then proceeded to pull out half a dozen empty pill bottles and line them up.
Well, shit.
"You went through my room," Natalie accused.
"No," Kurt said, "Zach found them in your gym bag."
Son of a bitch. "I'm gonna kill that little weasel."
"Hey, he only showed me because he is worried about you," Kurt scolded, "We all are. You have been putting yourself in danger, and I'm not just talking about the crime scenes you just happen show up at. Do you know that taking this many pills at once can kill you?"
"I know…" Natalie sighed and rubbed her aching eyes, "But I don't have a drug addiction, I swear. I've just… I've been getting bad migraines but only taking one medication doesn't work so I've been trying all of them to see if any of them do."
"And how do you explain these stay awake and caffeine pills?"
"Oh, those are just to prevent me from falling asleep at school since I don't get much sleep at night." She became horrified when she realized how all of that sounded. "Oh, god, maybe I do have a drug addiction."
"This isn't a joke, Natalie."
"I'm sorry… I'm not trying to be funny, I swear."
Just like Melissa's face did earlier, Kurt's became sad as well. "Do we need to take you to the doctor?"
Because he thought she could be sick again. Like, really sick. Even though doctors have said that the cancer coming back was highly unlikely, Natalie knew her parents always had the fear that it could. And she would be lying if she said she didn't sometimes get scared too. But she also knew that this wasn't the case.
"No," she assured her father, "You don't. I promise it's nothing to worry about. It's just from normal high school stress."
"This doesn't necessarily seem normal."
"Have you ever really known me to be normal though?"
Rubbing his chin, Kurt mumbled, "That's a pretty good point."
"Look, I'm sorry, Dad," Natalie said genuinely, "I promise I'll cut back on all of this. And that I won't let Stiles and Scott plan any more crazy schemes. Can you just please not tell Mom?"
"Fine," the deputy said after thinking it over, "but from now on I will be keeping your medication and modifying your intake so I know you're only taking what you're supposed to."
The redhead nodded. "I think that's fair."
"Good. So that means hand me over everything you have on you right now."
Once she realized he actually meant right now, Natalie started taking out tons of loose pills out of her jacket, pants, bra, and even her bandana. With each pill she pulled out Kurt's eyebrows rose higher and higher to the point where they could've disappeared into his hairline. And just when he thought she was done, Natalie had found one last one in her red velvet hair and plopped it in his hand.
"Maybe I should be entering you into rehab," Kurt joked, although Natalie detected a hint of concern. He tossed the pills in his drawer and shut it. "Have Stiles take you home. His dad and I just have to do one last interview before we head out."
"Is that why Delilah Lambert and Isaac Lahey are here?" Natalie asked, "What happened?"
"You really think I'm gonna tell you after you just got in trouble with the law?" When Natalie nodded her head, Kurt rolled his eyes. "Delilah's stepfather was killed. They're witnesses."
Crap, the kanima got to him too! "How did he die?"
"Her mother shot him."
"Oh, thank god!" Natalie laughed in relief. She stopped when she saw the funny look her dad was giving her. "I mean, oh, no…"
Like it has been for over a month now, Natalie got only two hours of sleep that night. It wasn't even like a decent two hours. They were filled with tossing and turning and stupid kanimas and stupid sour wolves. Even in her dreams Natalie was always running from something. This was why she would rather just be awake 24/7 then doze of for even two minutes.
This morning's headache wasn't as bad as it usually was, but it was still bothersome. Just as Natalie went to reach for her painkillers, she remembered the agreement she had with her dad the night before, groaned, and flipped back over the edge of her bed. That was when the alarm went off, which irritated her even more. She swiped the clock off her nightstand to get it to shut up.
It looked like she had to liven herself up another way. A more normal way.
Natalie pushed herself up and rubbed her eyes as she headed to her bathroom. She switched on the eyes and jumped when she saw herself in the mirror.
"Yeesh!"
She knew that she hadn't looked in the mirror for the past couple days, but nobody could have told her that she looked like she belonged in a cemetery? The circles under her brown eyes were getting so dark that she was practically part panda. Her usually paler skin seemed to look as white a ghost. And her signature luscious red velvet locks were currently looking lifeless and tangled.
Just when she thought she couldn't possible look any worse, she proved herself wrong when she undressed to shower. Now, Natalie had always been on the smaller side, but because of her being an athlete, she always was more toned than skinny. When she rubbed her hands over her stomach, she could feel her ribs wanting to poke out. She turned her back toward the mirror and noticed the ridges of her spine looking a little more prominent. Natalie then flexed her arm and patted her bicep. The muscle definition was still there, but they were definitely starting to fade. Damn. She didn't think she was skipping out on the gym that much. Maybe she needed to start lifting heavier. And even eat bigger meals.
Reaching into her shower, the redhead turned on the water to its coldest setting. She hopped up and down to mentally prepare herself.
"You got this, Henderson," she said to herself, "You fight werewolves and kanimas every day. Cold water's not gonna get ya down."
Then she stepped into the shower.
"Holy Santa Claus shit!"
Almost an hour later, Natalie set down her hair curler. She brushed the curls out so they had more volume and looked livelier. Finally she was ready for the day and she even had an hour to spare before she had to be at school. Maybe no sleep didn't have to be such a bad thing after all. Although she was going to need some sort of pick-me-up if she wasn't allowed to have all of her pills anymore. Her dad never said anything about not having coffee, but she just won't tell him where she was going before school.
She slipped on her charm bracelet and smiled down at the new charm she added that was a picture of her and Stiles smiling like the goofballs they were at winter formal. After the finishing touch was added, Natalie took one final look in the mirror. She threw on one of her boyfriend's flannels he had left over a black tank top and paired them with ripped skinny jeans and her favorite worn out Doc Marten boots. Then she decided to slide a black hoodie over her curls, completing the look.
It was like staring back at the old Natalie. And for once in quite a while, she was looking more alive than she felt.
Allison entered the school library and her eyes wandered around her nervously. There were cameras installed everywhere in the school, thanks to Gerard, so she always had to be careful to not be seen interacting with her secret boyfriend and his best friends. It was tiring but the huntress was willing to do anything possible to be with Scott.
She kept looking to see if the coast was clear when she entered an aisle. Reaching into her book bag, she pulled out a tablet and slid it across the bookshelf for Scott to take it. Stiles and Natalie peered over his shoulder to read the kanima page of the bestiary.
"It's everything Lydia can translate," Allison said, referring to the parts highlighted in yellow, "And trust me, she was very confused."
"Yeah, what'd you tell her?" Scott asked.
"That we were part of an online gaming community that battles mythical creatures." Allison and Scott laughed at the ridiculousness.
"I am part of an online gaming community that battles mythical creatures," Stiles said defensively.
The forbidden couple stopped laughing. "Oh. Great."
"Noob," Natalie fake-coughed. Stiles smacked her arm with the book he was holding. "Hey!"
"Okay, does it say how to find out who's controlling him?" Scott asked.
"Not really," Allison answered, "But Stiles was right about the murderers."
Said boy pumped his fist. "Yes!"
"That's what I'm talking about, baby!" Natalie exclaimed, high-fiving her boyfriend. The librarian shushed her. "Sorry!"
"It calls the kanima a weapon of vengeance," the huntress continued, "There's a story in there about a South American priest who uses the kanima to execute murderers in his village-"
"Oh, so Jackson might actually be doing something… good?" Natalie asked.
"Alright, see?" Stiles said, "So maybe it's not all that bad."
"Until the bond grew strong enough that it killed whoever he wanted it to," Allison finished.
Or maybe it was.
"All bad, all very, very bad," Stiles panicked.
"Here's the thing though. The kanima's actually supposed to be a werewolf. But it can't be-"
"'Until it resolves that in its past which manifested it'," the teen wolf read off from the bestiary.
"Okay, if that means that Jackson could use a few thousand hours of therapy, I could've told you that myself," Stiles quipped. Natalie let out a laugh.
"What if… it has to do with his parents?" Allison wondered out loud, "His real parents."
Now things were getting mysterious. It was like the four of them were Mystery Inc., minus Scooby. Well, maybe if you wanna count Scott for that part.
"Yeah, does anybody actually know what happened to them?" Scott asked his best friends.
"I think Lydia might," Natalie said, "She's not mad at me anymore so I can ask her."
"What if she doesn't know anything?"
"Well, he doesn't have a restraining order against me," Allison said, "so I'll talk to him myself."
"Okay, what do I do?" Scott asked.
His girlfriend looked at him sternly. "You have a make-up exam, remember?"
Scott looked to his best friends, who both agreed that he really needed to focus on school just this once so he doesn't fall behind. Or worse, upset his mother even more. But Scott was conflicted and worried for everyone's safety, especially Allison's.
She noticed him stuck inside his head and she reached for his hand. "Promise me."
"If he does anything, you run the other way," Scott ordered.
"I can take care of myself," Allison reassured him.
"Allison, if you get hurt while I'm busy with some stupid test, someone's going to need to take care of me. If he does anything-"
"Like?"
"Anything- weird-"
"Bizzare," Natalie added.
Stiles poked his head through the bookshelf. "Anything evil!" Allison pushed his face back. "Ah- ow!"
"There she is! Go, go, go!"
Lydia walked through the halls, strutting like she was a supermodel, as Stiles and Natalie ran to catch up with her. Holy crap, she was so fast! And even in heels! The couple slid as they turned the corner The Breakfast Club style. But of course Stiles wasn't as smooth and he fell flat on his ass. Natalie didn't even bother to help him up and kept running towards her friend.
Finally she was able to catch up to the strawberry blonde at her locker with Stiles in tow. Natalie leaned against the locker next to her as her boyfriend crashed behind her. The redhead smiled toothily.
"Hey, girl, hey," she said enthusiastically.
"What do you want, Natalie?" Lydia asked, raising her eyebrow.
"What makes you think I want something?"
"You only say 'hey, girl, hey' whenever you want something," Lydia pointed out.
Natalie scoffed. "No I don't! Name one time I've done that."
"Hmm, let's see- when you wanted to rent a mechanical bull at my birthday party last year, when you wanted to use my dog for your film presentation in history-"
"Oh, and don't forget when she wanted you to steal your car from your parents so you two could go see that boy band," Stiles added.
"Oh yeah, that's right-"
"I said only one!" Natalie snapped. Lydia crossed her arms and gave her friend a knowing look. "Alright, fine. We were wondering if you could tell us about Jackson's real parents?"
"What about them?" Lydia asked.
"Just if you know what happened to them," Stiles said, "Jackson never really talks about them so we figured you would."
"I do." Lydia shut her locker. "But I'm not going to tell you."
She then walked away. The couple looked at each other and Natalie just pushed Stiles so they could follow her. Fortunately it didn't take them long this time to reach her.
"Why not?" Natalie asked.
"I'm not supposed to tell anyone," Lydia told them.
"Come on," Stiles begged, "anyone who ever says 'I'm not supposed to tell anyone' is always dying to tell someone, so tell us!"
"Why do you want to know?"
Stammering, Stiles glanced at his girlfriend, who just shook her head. "We can't tell you that."
"Then I'm not telling you."
"But you are telling us that you could tell us something if you wanted to tell us?"
Natalie facepalmed. "Dude, why are you like this?"
Even the brainiac Lydia was just as confused. "Was that a question?"
"It felt like a question," Stiles said, seeming to have stumped himself.
"Well, tell me if this feels like an answer- no."
As Lydia walked forward, Natalie pushed her idiot boyfriend. "This is why you let me do all the talking!"
The two pushed each other back and forth for a few seconds until they saw Lydia at the other side of the hallway. They immediately started running again and even going as far as to chasing her up the stairs.
"Lydia!" Stiles called out, "Lydia, come on!"
"For the love of god, Lyds, wait!" Natalie yelled as well. But the girl was too damn fast.
Suddenly they were both pushed against the wall, yelping as they hit the hard surface. Not to their surprise, it was one of Derek's little minions holding them up against the wall.
"Hey, Erica," Stiles greeted nervously.
"God, you are so strong!" Natalie exclaimed as she rubbed her shoulder.
"Why are you two asking Lydia about Jackson's real parents?" Erica asked.
"Why are you bringing out the claws on camera?" Stiles shot back.
Erica looked up behind her and saw one of the many cameras that was put up pointed at her. She drew her hands away from Stiles and Natalie's chests. Now Stiles was feeling a little cocky.
"That's right," he jeered, "You wanna play Catwoman? I'll be your Batman."
Jaw dropping, Natalie followed after Stiles. "Seriously? You give her Catwoman and I get fucking Harley Quinn?!"
"I don't know why you don't like her," Stiles said, "Harley Quinn's hot!"
"Harley Quinn sucks!"
"She carries around a baseball bat and she has red in her hair! You're her to a T!"
"Now you're just insulting me-"
"If you wanna know about Jackson's real parents, they're about half a mile from here."
This made the couple stop their bickering and walking and spun around to face the blonde beta.
"In Beacon Hills cemetery."
Uh… well that had definitely put a twist on things.
Just like Lydia, Erica turned on her heels and let the spastic couple run after her. She got them where she wanted them- hook, line, and sinker. Natalie, however, wasn't enjoying this so much. The redhead had been chasing around way too many girls than she was comfortable with. What a weird turn of events.
"You know how they died," Natalie said when they were finally caught up.
"Maybe," Erica told her, "If you tell me why you're so interested." Neither of the two were even able to answer when all of the pieces started to fit together in Erica's pretty little blonde head. "It's him, isn't it?"
"What? Who? Him who?" Stiles asked, trying to play it off like they knew nothing.
"The test didn't work but it's still him. It's Jackson."
Now they were royally fucked. Freaking out, Natalie started jumping up and down and whining. Stiles grabbed her hand and pulled her along.
"You can't tell Derek or Anabelle, ok?" Stiles told Erica, "There's a lot more to this that you don't know about."
"Yeah, and what?" Natalie added, "You guys think because you're now America's next top models that you can ruin people's lives?
"Why not?" Erica snapped, turning to the two humans, "That's all anybody ever used to do to me. I used to have the worst crush in the world on you. Yeah, you, Stiles." Well none of those two saw that coming. Erica then addressed Natalie. "And I used to be so jealous of you because he always acted like a lovesick puppy over you. Everyone seems to love you."
"Wow, that actually explains a lot," Natalie mumbled to herself. She was actually starting to feel bad for the girl.
But before she could dive deeper into feeling sorry, Stiles patted her arm. She followed the direction his eyes went and her own eyes grew larger when she saw a huge puddle of water pooling out from the boys locker room.
"And not once did anyone notice me." Erica realized that the couple weren't ever paying attention to her anymore. "Exactly how you guys aren't noticing me right now."
Right as she saw the water, the door to the locker room slammed open and Scott fell backwards. A shirtless and angry Jackson stomped out and grabbed the teen wolf by the jacket. Stiles and Natalie dropped their stuff so they could grab their friend to restrain him from pummeling Jackson. Erica went for the jock.
"Scott, Scott!" Stiles exclaimed as he and Natalie held him back.
"You guys, knock it off!"
And just when they all thought things couldn't get any worse, Mr. Harris was now storming over to the fight.
"What the hell's going on?" He demanded. But Scott and Jackson still tried going at each other. "Hey! Enough! Enough." Everyone then started to settle down. "What do you idiots think you're doing? Jackson! Calm down!" He looked at Scott. "Mr. McCall, you wanna explain yourself?" Scott was just breathing heavily, still climbing down from his high. "Stilinski! Henderson!"
"You dropped this," Matt said as he held out Allison's tablet. How is he always around?
Mr. Harris snatched away the tablet before anyone could claim it. He pointed to Scott and Jackson. "You and you- actually, all of you- detention. Three o'clock."
Yeah, this day officially sucked.
Three o'clock finally came around. Mr. Harris waited in the middle of the library as Scott, Stiles, Natalie, Allison, Matt, Jackson, and Erica walked in in a single file line. The trio along with Erica took up one table and the rest sat at the one across from them.
"Oh, uh, we can't be in detention together," Jackson told the chemistry teacher, "I have a restraining order against these tools."
"All of these tools?" Mr. Harris asked.
"No, just us tools," Stiles answered, pointing to himself, Scott, and Natalie.
"Fine. You three, over there."
The trio picked up their backpacks and switched over to the next table. Scott sat across from his friends. He was still huffing and puffing over his fight with Jackson and Natalie was impressed that he was actually controlling himself.
But he was definitely pissed. "I'm gonna kill him."
"No, you're not," Stiles told him calmly, "You're going to find out who's controlling him and then you're gonna help save him."
Scott shook his head. "No. You guys were right, let's kill him."
"Fuck yes!" Natalie patted her best friend's arm excitedly. "My boy Scotty's finally on board!"
"Oh, no," Stiles grimaced. His best friend and his girlfriend were nuts.
Natalie wasn't sure how much time had passed but she was about to lose her damn mind from boredom. She had already broken her rule and didn't eat lunch so now she was starving. If Mr. Harris wasn't in the room she wouldn't have hesitated to ask Matt for some of his chips. The boy wasn't even paying attention to her anymore. It actually seemed like his infatuation was now towards the huntress.
Poor Allison but lucky for Natalie.
The redhead then tried balancing a pencil on her nose but stupid Stiles kept flicking it off and she was way too tired to slap him. Not having her pills meant she was about to fall asleep at any second. Maybe it was for the best and so she let her eyelids get heavier and heavier…
"Hey."
And now Natalie was awake and ready to kill her boyfriend.
"What if it's Matt?" Stiles said, "I mean, this whole thing comes back to the video, right?"
"Danny said that Matt was the one that found the two hours of footage missing," Scott pointed out.
"Exactly! He's trying to throw suspicion off himself."
"So he makes Jackson kill Isaac's dad, one of Argent's hunters, and the mechanic working on your jeep?"
"Yes!"
"Why?"
"Because… he's evil."
The trio looked over at Matt, who was still eating his chips and chilling. Oh yeah, that was definitely the face of a kanima-controlling psychopath.
"You just don't like him," Scott said.
"The guy bugs me," Stiles told them, "I don't know what it is. Just look at his face." And when they did, Matt was now offering some of his chips to Jackson. Stiles patted Natalie's arm. "Come on, Nat, back me up here."
"Eh…"
Stiles gawked at his girlfriend. "What do you mean, eh?"
"I mean, I know that he's pretty odd… and creepy… and probably borderline stalker-ish… but you really think that guy's capable of being an evil mastermind?"
"You're supposed to be on my side!" Stiles said in bewilderment.
"Oh, trust me, I'm not defending him. Especially since he likes to take pictures of the girls locker room."
"What?" Scott and Stiles exclaimed.
"Yeah. Apparently it was some huge scandal at the beginning of the school year."
"But we've never heard anything about it," Scott said.
Remembering the conversation she had with Megan, Natalie glared at the two boys. "Yeah. I know."
"Well, any other theories?" the teen wolf asked his best friends.
Jackson then quickly stood up and picked up his backpack. He was rubbing his head as if it was in pain. Natalie knew the sensation all too well. "I have to go to the bathroom."
"Are you alright?" Mr. Harris asked him, "Hey, you don't look so good."
"I just need some water," Jackson said as he scurried out of the library."
Mr. Harris went to go follow after him but then turned back to the rest of the group. "No one leaves their seats."
As soon as he left, the trio left their seats and moved over to the table Erica, who was doodling in her notebook, was sitting. Scott and Stiles sat across from her while Natalie took the seat next to her.
"Stiles and Natalie said you know how Jackson's parents died," Scott said to the blonde.
"Maybe," she responded.
"Talk."
Sighing, Erica closed her notebook and set it down. "It was a car accident. My dad was the insurance investigator, and every time he sees Jackson drive by in his Porsche, he makes some comment about the huge settlement he'll be getting when he's eighteen."
"So not only is Jackson rich now, but he's getting even richer at eighteen?" Stiles asked in disbelief.
"Yep."
Natalie slumped in her chair. "That's just fucked up."
"You know what? I could try to find the insurance report on my dad's inbox. He keeps everything." Erica opened her laptop and began to type.
"Scott McCall, please report to the principal's office."
Scott looked at his friends, who just shrugged their shoulders, and then left. As Erica continued searching through her father's email, Stiles and Natalie watched over her shoulders. She was in the middle of typing when she started sniffing the air. Then she smelled Natalie's red velvet hair, confusing the hell out of her.
"What shampoo do you use?" Erica asked.
"Uhh… strawberries and cream?" Natalie answered, although it was more like a question.
"Hm." Erica nodded in approval. "Smells nice."
That was actually a pleasant response that the redhead wasn't expecting. "Thanks." Stiles gave his girlfriend a weird look and she just shrugged.
"Oh, here, I found it," the beta said. The three of them read over the report.
"Whoa, look at the dates," Stiles pointed out.
Erica began to read out loud. "'Passengers arrived at the hospital DOA. The estimated time of death- 9:26 p.m., June 14th, 1995.'"
"But Jackson's birthday's June 15th," Natalie remembered.
Just another strange piece to their puzzle.
The chemistry teacher then packed up his briefcase and made his way to the door. When he realized the students were starting to gather their stuff up as well, he laughed jerkily.
"Oh, no, I'm sorry," he chuckled, "Uh, yes, I'm leaving. But none of you are. You may go when you're done with the re-shelving." He patted the books on each side of him. "Enjoy the rest of your evening."
"What a dick," Natalie pouted, dropping her backpack back on the table.
After Scott had come back after talking with Allison's mom, he shook off the disturbing memory of her intensely sharpening pencils and joined his friends in re-shelving the books. The four of them discussed what was found on the insurance report of Jackson's parents death.
Which Natalie found to be actually pretty sad. Especially when they talked about how Jackson was born the day he was.
"It means he was born after his mom died, by c-section," Stiles explained, "They had to pull him out of her dead body."
"Geez," Natalie sighed. Then something hit her, "Wait, am I actually sympathizing with Jackson Whittemore?" She shuddered. "What is happening to me?"
"So was it an accident or not?" Allison asked.
"The report just said it was inconclusive," Natalie answered.
"Then his parents could have been murdered?" Scott asked.
Stiles nodded. "If they were, then it falls in line with the kanima myth. You know? It seeks out and kills murderers."
"But for Jackson? Or for the person controlling him?" Allison wondered.
"Now we're asking the real questions," Natalie said as she rubbed her hands together.
"We have to talk to him," Scott said, "We have to tell him."
But Allison tried to refuse. "He's not gonna l-"
Not even listening anymore, Scott left the aisle. He noticed an open book lying flat on the ground and he got a bad feeling. When he looked into the next aisle, he saw Matt lying facedown with books surrounding him. On the back of his neck was a cut.
Meaning that Jackson was now the kanima.
The beast broke into the ceiling lights above Scott, sparks and books crashing around him. He began to shift. "Erica!"
She had shifted as well, but the kanima was crashing into every single light and bookshelf and it was getting hard for her to keep track of it. Then she felt a scratch on the back of her own neck and she collapsed.
Stiles shielded Natalie and Allison from the books falling around them as Scott fought a half-shifted Jackson. But then the jock suddenly became zombie-like which gave Scott the chance to get away and hide behind the bookshelf with his friends. Staring at the four of them, Jackson picked up a piece of chalk and slowly wrote on the chalkboard next to him.
STAY OUT OF MY WAY OR I'LL KILL ALL OF YOU
Then he jumped out of the window.
Once he was gone, the four of them stepped out of the aisle they were hiding in. Natalie looked in the aisle next to them and gasped when she saw Erica convulsing on the ground.
"Whoa, hey!" the redhead exclaimed as she ran to Erica. She grabbed her as the beta continued to shake. "You guys, help me! I think she's having a seizure!"
Her best friends ran to them as Allison went to go check on Matt, still out cold.
"He's alive," she said after checking his pulse.
"Hey, we need to get her to a hospital," Stiles said.
"Derek and Anabelle," Erica refused, still shaking in Natalie's arms, "Only to Derek and Anabelle."
Scott looked at Allison through the bookshelf. "When we get her to the hospital-"
"To Derek and Anabelle," Erica insisted, "To Derek and Anabelle."
"Go," Allison ordered.
It still didn't feel right to Scott. He ran over to Allison's side.
"Hey, Scott!" Stiles called after him.
The seizure did not seem to be slowing down. Erica was grabbing onto the redhead's arms. It had to have hurt. "Natalie-"
"You're gonna be okay, Erica," Natalie assured the beta, "We'll get you to Derek and Anabelle, I promise."
"Sorry… I'm sorry-"
"Don't be. Everything will be okay." Stiles placed his hand on his girlfriend's shoulder and she relaxed under his touch.
After Scott spoke with Allison, he scooped up Erica in his arms and he followed Stiles and Natalie out of the library and out of the school.
They climbed into Stiles's jeep and he must have broke every traffic law possible to get to the abandoned subway station downtown Derek used to train his pack. Once the jeep screeched to a halt, Scott grabbed Erica from Natalie in the backseat and they ran inside.
"Derek!" Scott called out, "Anabelle!"
Both of the older werewolves were at the bottom of the stairs. Anabelle's eyes grew wide when she saw the shaking beta in Scott's arms. "What happened?"
"The kanima attacked her," Scott told them as he placed Erica in Derek's arms, "She broke out into a seizure."
Derek took her into the subway car and laid her down on the ground. "Anabelle, hold her up."
"Is she dying?" Stiles asked.
"She might, I…" Derek held up Erica's arm. "Which is why this is gonna hurt." He then snapped her arm into two, making her scream in pain.
"What the fuck?!" Natalie shrieked, "You had to break her arm?!"
"It'll trigger the healing process," Derek told her, "I still gotta get the venom out. This is where it's really gonna hurt."
He squeezed her arm tightly and the way Erica yelled made it sound like she was being skinned alive. It was horrifying. Black blood began to ooze out, making Natalie slightly gag at the sight. This was definitely not for the faint of heart.
It did seem to do the trick, however, because it wasn't long before Erica stopped screaming and relaxed into Annabelle's arms. The pure wolf brushed her hair out of her face as she spoke to her softly, telling her that she had her.
"Stiles," Erica breathed out, hitting the boy's arm softly, "You make a good Batman." This made him smile back at her. "And Natalie?"
She had to brace herself for whatever jab Erica had for her.
"You're not Harley Quinn… you're Wonder Woman."
Well now Natalie was getting emotional. She reached toward's Erica and held her hand. Stiles held onto her and she rested her forehead against his.
Maybe the two humans could be worth something in this strange world.
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!