Summer vacation was exactly what the doctor ordered. Everything was so normal, it was hot, I went to pool parties aplenty, I dated around, fooled around, it was an awesome summer. Sure I missed Allison in France, but we Face Timed a lot and I had Lydia for company and conversation on a day to day basis. She finally came out and told me everything that had happened to her during the whole Jackson-kanima incident, including how she'd been seeing visions of Peter after he'd died, and I told her about how I had somehow awakened my siren powers which my family apparently had a long history of doing.

Apparently our powers only came into fruition after the girl had turned sixteen, so ever since my last birthday I guess I'd been slowly turning into a fish without even realising it. Still, at least I looked pretty when I was covered in scales. After such a blissful summer, occasionally catching up with Scott, Stiles and yes, even Isaac occasionally, I returned to school with a fresh zeal to carry on with my life as if nothing had ever changed. "Freshmen. Tons and tons of fresh men." Lydia sighed dreamily as the halls began to fill with unfamiliar faces of the freshmen, newly arrived from middle school.

"You mean fresh boys. Lydia, they're fourteen." Allison reminded her promptly, but neither Lydia nor I cared much. They had such cute, innocent faces. Part of me just wanted to, I don't know, corrupt them or something. God, I really am a terrible person.

"Eh, some are more mature than others."

"You know, it's okay to be single. Focus on yourself for a little while, work on becoming a better person." Allison said to us both as she sorted out her books in her locker, trying to give Lydia a pep talk whilst actually trying to reassure herself that breaking up with Scott was the right decision for the both of them.

"Allison, I love you. So if you need to do that thing where we talk about me and pretend like we're not actually talking about you, it's totally fine." Lydia informed her, making Allison smile as I continued to survey the fresh supply of sexually frustrated boys and wondering if any of them would take my fancy, but I thought it unlikely. I preferred older, mature men personally. "But I don't want a boyfriend. I want a distraction." As if right on cue, two new students walked into school, drawing the attention of every girl and guy.

"Brothers?" Waiting as the crowds parted, I saw two identical looking boys with thick burly shoulders and bodies, leather clad and carrying motorcycle helmets in opposing hands. Now that was some serious man candy.

"Twins." Lydia pursed her lips as the both of us tilted our heads to stare openly at the boys.

"Hey Lydia, are you calling dibs? Because if you're not then I am totally in there."

"Hm. We'll see." Grinning to myself Allison closed her locker as the boys passed, allowing Lydia and I to check out the view from the back and were just as pleased with what we saw. I have a feeling that this year was going to be an exciting one. Hello juniors. Our first class was English so we headed over in order to get seats, however it seems we were one of the last ones to enter. Lydia sat down by the window alongside Stiles and the only other two seats available were in front of Scott or behind him. I looked at Allison with quiet sympathy, turning around so that my back was facing Scott and blocking his view of her.

"Which seat do you want? You pick, whichever works best for you." Smiling gratefully, Allison insisted that it was okay and sat down in front of Scott, sharing an awkward exchange as I took the seat behind him. Just as I took my seat, my phone buzzed to signal I'd gotten a text so I quickly pulled it out to take a look only to find a single message with a long quote. Glancing over to the guy next to me, it seemed everybody had got the same text.

"The offing was barred by a black bank of clouds and the tranquil waterway leading to the uttermost ends of the earth flowed sombre under an overcast sky, seemed to lead into the heart of an immense darkness." A woman spoke as she entered the classroom. She was pretty and young, but also new. Since when did we get a new English teacher? "This is the last line to the first book we are going to read. It is also the last text you will receive in this class. Phones off, everyone." Liking her confidence, I turned off my phone in order to pay full attention to the class, intending to not let my grades drop this year around. I had barely scraped by last year, so now I was determined to make a difference.

Class had barely started when our old principal entered, murmuring to our new teacher Ms Blake before Scott was called out, informing him that his mom needed him at the hospital urgently. I looked up at that, watching as Scott quickly gathered his belongings in order to move. I hope Melissa's okay, it must be important if she was willing to call Scott out of school for something. Ducking my head and reading with my new tinted glasses so that the words didn't jump around on the page.

I was quite happy that the blue tint suited me and I'd specifically bought stylish looking glasses so that I could wave them off as a fashion statement to the general public. Now that I found it so much easier to read, I berated myself for not dealing with this sooner. Throwing myself into my note taking, I distantly heard Stiles talking to Lydia about her dog biting her ankle and the deer which had smashed up Lydia's car the other night. That had been one freaky accident and I could hardly believe it had run straight into them. I'd gone and fetched them myself in my car as Lydia's had to be towed, bringing them home after cancelling their double date.

When a loud thud suddenly sounded, I looked up and turned towards the window, seeing a scarlet splatter and black feathers smeared on the window. The hell? Ms Blake put down the chalk she had been using to write on the board and approached the window as some of the rest of us stood up, looking outside to see at terrifying black mass of birds flying like a storm cloud directly towards us. They slammed against the windows, breaking their own necks and creating hairline cracks until all at once, they started smashing their way through.

Kids were screaming, the crows were cawing and slashing with their talons as everybody started to drop down and cower on the floor. Ms Blake was screaming for us to get down and as a bird flew at me, I screeched before hitting the floor as fast as I could and crawling over towards Allison who was covering her head. "Ali!" I grabbed hold of her hand and swiped at a bird that was clawing at her hair, trying to shoo it away before I picked up one of the books that had fallen off the floor, going for the largest and heaviest before swinging it with all my might.

I hit the bird and it fell to the ground, allowing me to grab hold of Allison as she also wrapped her arms around me, both of us bowing our heads into one another to protect our faces as I placed the book over us in a desperate attempt to stay safe. My heart was pounding at this freak act of nature, the birds literally tearing away at flesh until they either committed suicide or flew away by themselves, leaving their fallen flock behind.

There were dead birds and feathers everywhere, blood splattering the windows as shards of glass crunched underfoot. My breaths came in flustered gasps, shaking as I slowly lifted my head, looking to make sure they were gone as the others began to emerge also. "Lydia? Lydia! Stiles!" I saw them only a few feet away from us, Stiles having used his entire body to cover Lydia's head to protect her. He helped her to her feet and kept his arm wrapped around her to support her as Allison and I also got up, the four of us banding together as Ms Blake began to ask if everyone was alright, checking those who were injured and quickly hurrying to call for help. "What just happened? Why would birds commit suicide like that?" I demanded to know, eyeballing Stiles who floundered.

"Why are you looking at me? It's not my fault those birds lost their minds!"

"You're the expert around here concerning anything weird, supernatural, freaky and unprecedented. If I've learned anything it's that you're always right in the middle of it so you've got to know something!" I argued back, the two of us speaking in high pitched whispers at one another, Stiles even matching my own due to the intensity of his panic.

"Hey, it's not easy being an expert on these things, it takes time and investigation!"

"Then investigate faster!"

"Why are you yelling at me?!"

"Because you're easy to yell at!" The girls quickly broke up our argument before our voices could go from whisper yells to actual shouting, reminding us that there were still other people around. EMTs quickly arrived and started checking the people who had been hurt whilst the sheriff arrived to take statements and view the scene. Allison called her dad who arrived faster than anyone else, entering the classroom and immediately going to his daughter with fatherly concern. Noticing that her wrist was slightly scratched, he inspected it closely before rubbing the skin tenderly.

"Next time you're feeling you wanna stay home, you stay home."

"I'm okay." Allison assured him before he could go all overprotective father on her. "But, dad, the deer and now this? It can't be a coincidence." As I fussed over my hair and straightened out my clothes, plucking feathers from every crease and dropping them to the floor, I couldn't help but overhear their conversation.

"Mr Argent, you wouldn't have any insight into this, would you?" Surprised that the sheriff would ask him, Mr Argent frowned slightly at Sheriff Stilinski. "Yeah. All this bizarre animal behaviour, it's...you must have seen something like this before, right?"

"I'm not sure why I would or why you would think I would."

"I'm sorry. I-I could've sworn I overheard my son talking about how you were an experienced hunter." Clarifying what he meant, Mr Argent relaxed before informing the sheriff that he no longer hunted. Allison had told me of the conditions her father had instilled for coming back to Beacon Hills to stay, and the main one was that neither of them were involved with hunting anymore. Hunting werewolves, that is. Honestly I was quite glad, now I didn't have to worry about becoming a fish dinner anymore.

The school informed us that due to the bird attack, our class were allowed to go home for the rest of the day, but I decided to stay. First I went to my locker in order to put my English books back before going to find Allison and Lydia who were being escorted outside by Mr Argent. "Cordy, can I give you a ride home too or are you staying at school?" He asked me kindly, making me smile naturally at him.

"Thanks Mr Argent but I'm not going home. I can't afford to skip classes and let my grades drop again. I'm still on probation, if I fail even one test this semester, I'll have to repeat the year." Nodding his head in understanding, Mr Argent gave my shoulder an encouraging squeeze.

"You'll do great. Just take care of yourself okay? If anything happens again, feel free to call." Promising that I would, I said goodbye to Lydia and Allison before waving them off, watching as Mr Argent's car pulled out then drove off, leaving me alone at school. Huh. Oddly, it feels quite lonely now. Stiles had already bunked to go find Scott and tell him what happened, which meant I actually didn't have anyone to talk to. Not even Isaac was here for me to torture, which was a pain. Heading back inside I just carried on with classes, and at lunch time I parked my ass right next to Danny who was reading whilst he ate.

"Danny." I smiled at him brightly and his lips quirked upwards.

"Cordy, good summer?"

"Wonderful, but all the better now for seeing you, handsome." Starting to pick at my food, I leaned against my palm as I watched Danny read, wondering if he was okay. Since Jackson had left for London, Danny hadn't shown up much around the usual social spots or parties. Even now he had been more or less alone, so I wondered if Jackson's dying and coming back to life to the shock of his doctors had affected him more than he was letting on. "Hey, you okay?"

"Yeah I guess. It's just difficult to get back into the swing of things after four months off." Danny said, closing his book and putting it aside in order to focus on eating and talking to me. "Also, it's been hard adjusting to Jackson not being here. I know he was a pain but he was still my best friend. One minute he's dead, then he's alive the next then he's gone off to London."

"I know, what an inconsiderate asshole." I agreed, abandoning my food in order to comb my fingers through Danny's hair, admiring how well groomed a man he was. Something caught my attention in my peripheral vision so I turned my head minutely, looking across the cafeteria to see the twins from before sitting at a table. One of them was perched on the table, talking to a bunch of girls who had worked up the courage to interact with them, however the other who was faced towards us had his eyes all over Danny. "But you know, I think things are going to be looking up for you this year."

"What makes you say that?" I grinned.

"You seen those new twins in town yet?" Danny blushed slightly and nodded his head, glancing over to where they were sat before ducking his head and taking a bite out of his food. "I think one of them is for you."

"No way."

"Way." I tittered my tongue, continuing to stroke the back of Danny's head absently. "One of them has been checking you out rather shamelessly. Seriously Danny, you should jump on that wagon before I decide to hitch a ride. I mean, you'll always be my favourite, but a girl has to take what she can get sometimes." I teased him, unable to hide my grin as Danny blushed again and shyly stole a glance. "If you like I can make him jealous? Help get things going?"

"No, I think it was just a coincidence. He's not looking over here."

"Danny, my beautiful, sexy, sweet, adorable Danny. That man has been checking you out since the moment he sat down. Now, we have to think of a game plan here because I will not be satisfied until you have that guy completely wrapped around your finger." I informed him, patting him on the back before sidling a little closer so that our thighs touched. "Just a little bit jealous? I can control myself, I promise. I'll only make him slightly envious to warm the waters."

"You really don't have to…"

"But it'll be fun." I promised him, placing one hand on his leg to give it a squeeze before leaning my head in close to his neck, touching my lips to the main artery where I could feel his pulse thrumming steadily. I peppered little kisses up his neck and along his jaw, even going so far as to nibble on his ear as Danny struggled to keep from laughing at the ticklish sensation. Opening my eyes a tad, I looked towards the twins and saw the one checking out Danny totally staring at us. I smirked at him, knowing full well that he knew what I was doing as I wrapped my hand around Danny's cheek to turn his face towards me.

I hid his face against my jaw just above my neck, holding him at an angle so it looked like we were kissing to anyone else in the room. "Um…Cordy? Isn't this going a little too far?" Danny whispered to me, keeping his hands politely either balancing himself on the bench or resting against my waist as I rubbed slow circles with my cheek to make it believable.

"Danny, if there's one thing I know how to do better than anyone else, it's how to get a man. Straight or otherwise. Trust me, you should see the look on his face right now." It was positively flabbergasted, staring open mouthed at us as Danny then pulled back, now flushing quite obviously as I giggled. "And with that, he'll initiate contact the moment I leave. Guaranteed." I promised him, gathering my stuff and my barely eaten vegetarian meal. "Have fun handsome. You're welcome." Stepping off the bench I then pecked Danny's cheek with a kiss before sauntering off, stopping at the cafeteria doors to turn and take a look.

Sure enough, the twin who had a preference for the male gender was already leaning on the table towards Danny, smiling flirtatiously and I couldn't help but punch the air with a silent celebration of victory. Good god I am amazing. Sometimes I surprise even myself. I finished my food elsewhere then headed out to the grass in order to sit under the sun for a while, stretching out on my stomach and kicking off my shoes in order to relax. Being close to the grass, I could hear when the footsteps of someone approaching me, disturbing the grass and ground.

Twisting onto my back I shielded my eyes with my hand as the guy stood directly in the sunlight, making me squint before I saw it was the other twin, the straight one. "Can I help you?" I asked richly, purring as I lowered my hand to rest my arm on the ground, sitting half upright until the guy decided to lay down on the grass with me, laying on his side as he smirked at me rather attractively.

"I saw what you did back there. It was kinda hot."

"What me? I have no idea what you're talking about. I am a lady." Flirting back with him harmlessly, I turned back onto my stomach in order to continue flipping through my magazine lazily.

"What made you do it?"

"Because every guy has their wingman, and I happen to be Danny's very dedicated wing-woman." I responded tartly, casting a glance off at the twin who was yet to take his eyes off me. "They still talking when you left?"

"Oh yeah."

"Excellent." Proud of my achievement, I was already planning Danny's wedding in my head. They would make an admittedly very cute couple. It's such a shame, guess I'll have to finally admit that Danny will just never be mine. "And what are you doing out here exactly?" I finally asked, noticing that the guy still hadn't made a move to leave and had continued to check out my ass which looked very appealing in these shorts.

"I was just wondering if what you offered Danny was on the table for others. Looked like he was having a lot of fun despite not swinging your way." Hm, cheeky, forward and a bad boy, there was just no end to his appeal. However, as much as I wanted to have him for myself, I knew that Lydia had already set her eyes on this one and since Lydia was far more important to me than some meaningless fling, I decided to pass.

"Unfortunately, I have someone else in mind for you." I told him bluntly, pushing my magazine away and laced my fingers to rest my chin on the perch, looking at him with a calculating smirk. "Someone who needs a good distraction, and I think you are just the guy for the job since you're obviously not looking for anything serious. In fact, I think the two of you would be perfect for each other." I said to him before clicking my tongue thoughtfully. "Besides, who so rudely asks for a booty call before even finding out the lady's name? So ungentlemanly." Revealing perfectly white teeth in a broad grin, the twin asked me my name. "Cordy Powell."

"Aiden. My brother's name is Ethan. We just moved here."

"I know. In fact, I had just made it my mission to find out everything I could about Beacon Hills newcomers when I happened across Danny in the cafeteria. I like to know things about people, and since you two are new, I planned on making you both my next project." Speaking honestly and without shame, I angled my head to see Aiden at a slight angle, wondering if there was any possibility that he had a less attractive angle. Turns out, he doesn't. "How come you moved here?"

"Family reasons."

"Secret?"

"Top secret."

"Hm…girlfriend?"

"None."

"Rule breaker?"

"Only if I can't bend them."

"Interesting…" Strangely, I found myself actually enjoying this, talking to Aiden. He was a smooth talker and easy to get along with, as blunt and to the point as I was. Lydia better appreciate I was saving him for her. "So tell me Aiden, how are you liking Beacon Hills so far?"

"It's a place like any other, though it's already promising to be a lot more fun than others. Will we have any classes together? Maybe you can tell me what I should expect and give me a tour of the place." My eyebrow quirked, smiling at his flirty tone before nodding my head. I pulled myself a little closer as he found his schedule and showed it to me, letting me scan his classes and quickly figuring out which ones we shared.

"Looks like we're in chemistry together. Watch out for Mr Harris, he likes to make a student's life a misery and dishes out detentions more than any other teacher." I began, picking up a pen and underlining chemistry. "Hm…history too, and math…looks like we're in almost all the same classes. Lucky you."

"Lucky me." He agreed, reaching out his hand to touch my neck before I'd even noticed the motion. When his fingers came into contact with my skin, I was suddenly bombarded with an onslaught of feelings and impressions from within his heart, causing me to gasp for air as my mind became filled with everything he had ever felt. My head started to hurt as I sensed the underlying motive of Aiden's arrival in Beacon Hills as well as a long time of suffering and mistreatment which had warped him into a machine of anger and hate. He and his brother shared the same bond, and as I started to see flickers of images filled with screams and blood, I quickly pushed myself upright in order to break the contact, recovering from the sudden effect of my abilities and sorted through everything I had felt as Aiden lifted back his hands. "I'm sorry, was that too far?"

"No, no it's fine." I quickly backtracked, sinking slowly down to the ground as I rubbed my head. "You're fine, I just suddenly felt this pain in my chest." It wasn't a lie so I left it at that, looking carefully at Aiden as he frowned at me. There was still a lot of that lingering hate and rage inside him, but deep down underneath it all, I didn't feel like recoiled from him because I had seen that there was a good side to him. A normal side. "Sorry, I promise I'm not some kind of freak."

"Don't worry, I didn't think that at all." Back to being cheeky and flirty, I relaxed again as I sat down on the ground.

"So, what kind of stuff do you want to know?" And so the rest of lunch passed with the two of us talking and getting to know each other. I'd already invited Aiden to several upcoming parties I knew would be well worth attending, extending the invite to his brother and told him to assure him that Danny would also be going. "It'll be fun. Oh by the way, it's advisable to sit towards the back of the class for this one." I said to him as we entered history together. "This teacher spits." Whispering with a wink, Aiden smiled appreciatively as we went to the back and took our seats, Ethen saving one for his brother who walked in not long after.

He stopped when he saw me, blinking blankly as I was inspecting my nails, only to turn a knowing smirk up at him. "Ethan, glad to finally meet you. How was lunch?" Breaking out into a grin, he sat down and just like that, I made two new friends.