The drive back to the motel didn't take long for the four as they finally arrive.
Justin stayed silent throughout the drive back, leaning his head beside the car window, staring blankly at the empty town while Chris and Alec had a conversation on how they've been doing for the past time before Scott called for his help.
As Chris park his SUV, the three get off the car and see that Scott had arrived ahead of them as his motorcycle is already parked beside his mobile clinic. They look up the second floor to see Scott talking with the police and the motel manager, Alec can hear their voices with his super hearing, definitely their fight with Justin had done at least some collateral damage, but it wasn't really easy restraining a recently bitten werewolf going frenzy during a full moon. Fortunately, Scott handled the damage control well, the cop giving Scott a pass while Scott pays back the motel manager for the damage and the door as well as deciding that they'll check out immediately as Scott feels that they ended up causing too much commotion in the motel tonight, which is convincing enough for the manager to give Scott a pass.
The three stayed put and hide from the cop and manager as they head back down from the second floor and head to the check in/check out counter. With the coast clear, they head up to Scott's room and enter to see Scott already quickly finishing up in packing their stuff.
"What's going on...?" Justin asks with a weak voice.
"We're leaving, had to take all the heat for what happened." Scott grabs his bags as he calls Alec to grab his things while Chris proceeds to pick up the chains that Justin tore off.
"I-I'm so sorry. I-I caused too much trouble. I didn't mean to-"
"Justin, no need for apologies right now." Scott raises his hand as a gesture to stop, cutting Justin off, "You were under the influence of the full moon. You don't know how to control your abilities yet, so that's fine."
Justin weakly nods, "O-Ok. But...can I help you guys out in carrying those things?"
"Already taken care of. Just go get your bag, Justin." Scott gestures Justin to get his gym bag as he, Alec, and Chris exit the room with their things. Justin quickly gets his gym bag and goes back out to follow them to the mobile clinic where Alec and Chris already packed all the bags inside while Scott hangs his motorcycle at the back of his van. As Chris turns back, he sees Justin with his gym bag slinged over his shoulder.
"Justin, right?"
"Y-Yeah."
"I'm Chris. Forgot to introduce myself." Chris holds out his hand with a smile.
Justin hesistantly takes it and they shake hands.
"A-Are you...also a werewolf?"
"No, I'm not." he shakes his head, "I'm human if you were wondering. And I'm a hunter."
"A...werewolf hunter?"
"You can say that."
Justin's inside twist in dread, "O-Oh."
"Don't worry, I don't hunt anymore actually. I'm a gun dealer now, run my own gun shop. Although when something comes up, I come in."
"Like, Scott?"
Chris nods, telling Justin yes.
"Cool. That's awesome."
"Mhmm. Anyway, take care of yourself, Justin. Don't worry, you're in safe hands now. Ok?"
Justin nods as Chris pats him on shoulder and turns to Scott, about to go into the driver seat.
"Hey, Scott."
"Hi, Mr. Argent."
Chris laughs, feeling ridiculous that Scott still calls him that until now, "You know, you don't have to call me that, Scott."
"I know. Just..." Scott deeply sighs, "this still feels weird. You in the family now."
"I know. To be honest, I also find it weird, especially when you're now considered my stepson."
"Yeah. It is weird."
"If you're still not comfortable, Chris works. I know I can't replace your dad, especially when you still love and care for him."
"Alright. Thanks, Chris."
"Any time, Scott."
Chris deeply breaths and proceeds to his SUV, "So...is that all you need, Scott?"
"Yeah, we got it handled already. Thank you."
Chris nods, "Do the others know about Justin?"
"No. Not yet. Will tell them soon."
"Alright, good. Anyway, you sure nothing else?"
Scott laughs, slightly blushing, "Yeah. We're good."
"Ok, just need to be sure."
"I know."
Chris steps inside his SUV and start the engine as he turns to Scott, "Good to see you again, Scott. Take care alright?"
"Yeah, we will. It's also good seeing you, Chris. Say hi to mom for me please."
"Will let her know." Chris smiles as he drives off and head back home.
Scott turns to call Justin and Alec to jump in already. The two boys proceed to the van, but when Alec is about to jump into the front seat.
"Alec, you stay at the back. Let Justin sit in the front." Alec raises an eyebrow, feeling confused. Scott never ask him that before, "What?" Scott sighs, "You sit at the back, Justin sits at the front. Ok?"
Alec sighs, "Ok." He turns to Justin, who's about to hop inside. "Justin, you sit in front. I'll stay in the back." Justin turns with a confused look, "What? I'm...I'm ok. You guys don't have to-"
"Scott is calling you to. And before you say it, he insists. So just go get your ass at the front."
Justin takes a moment, feeling hesitant, but Scott calls them out, "Guys! Let's go!" Justin looks at Alec, a look of annoyance in his face and he gestures Justin to just go ahead and sit in front with Scott. He sighs in surrender and proceeds to head to the front seat and close the door while Alec hops inside and slides the door shut.
The van rumbles as they begin to drive off and leave the motel parking lot. Justin turns away and looks out through the window to stare blankly once again, looking past the dimly lit street lights, empty streets, and dark buildings. Feeling that the silence is weird at the moment, Scott turns the radio on, The Sea of Cortez's The Shore playing in everyone's ears. As he goes up the ramp and into the highway to head over to another part of Oakland, already have found the nearest motel they can check in right now after checking through his phone, not too far in the least.
While he continues to drive down the almost empty highway, barely any cars right now since it's already late night, he glances at Justin, who is still just staring out the window, a blank expression all over his face. He looks like shit, Scott thought when he looks all over his appearance, the worn out clothes, still stained with blood, and his messy hair. He wonders how long has the guy been out here on his own, no home, food, or anything but his clothes, his bag and whatever stuff he has inside. He even wonders where he comes from when he looks at the gym bag and it's not just any gym bag, but a school gym bag.
Curiosity is killer, but Scott wouldn't want to bombard Justin with questions of his life, not when Justin looks like he wouldn't want to open up about it. But he didn't want this to just leave each other silent, not even the music is enough to ease him. So he decides to take it slow, after all, Justin is a part of his pack now. Scott deeply breaths and tries to initiate a conversation.
"So...you doing ok?" Scott isn't really confident that this is a good way to start this out, but it's the best he can think of. "I'm fine..." Justin sighs, still looking out through the window, but Scott can see Justin's reflection looking back at him, a tired look on his face.
"Ok." Scott swallows, wondering how he can do this chat. But before Scott can say anything, Justin breaks the silence, "Did—Did I hurt—anyone...?" he can sense his tone sounding remorse and shame. It saddens Scott, but he remains stoic, "No. No you didn't Justin." Justin turns to look at Scott while he glances back at him, "I—I don't know. I—I remember seeing this girl's face. Her—Her terrified face." Scott listens to Justin, he knows what Justin is saying, "I—I don't remember much else other than her and seeing my—face..." Justin pauses for a moment, he can't get the image off from his mind, seeing himself turned into this thing. "Is she alright?" Justin ask, worrying if he killed her. "No. Chris checked on her and took her to the hospital shortly after before he went to the park for us."
"Ok... That's—That's good then." Justin sighs in relief, "I—I didn't want to hurt her."
"I know." Scott nods in reassurement.
"So...I'm a werewolf now." Justin scoffs, "I'm a werewolf..."
Scott senses Justin's resentment of what he's become, he still isn't really 100% on board of this no doubt.
"Yeah. You're—a werewolf now. Which well...it's...awesome?" Justin turns with a raised eyebrow, "Awesome?" his face goes bitter and turns back to the window "Yeah. Turning into a wolf and killing innocent people is awesome fuck." Justin huffs. Scott feels embarrassed and awkward at how he describes being a werewolf, worse is that even he himself isn't so fond of finding out he's a werewolf when Stiles and Derek told him years ago when he was bitten. "Ok—yeah, actually—being a werewolf is...complicating." Scott shrugs his shoulders, trying to play it cool with Justin. Justin doesn't respond, but Scott continues "I know that—this is not what you wanted. If your injuries weren't very fatal and the hospital was nearby, we would've brought you there to be treated instead."
Justin looks back at Scott with scornful narrowed eyes, "Why didn't you then?" Scott gives a bewildered look as if he said "What the fuck?" from his face "Justin, you were fatally shot in the chest near your heart and you got beaten up badly. You really think it's not fatal?" Justin laughs humorlessly "I've had worse."
He had worse.
Hearing this coming from Justin, Scott can tell whatever Justin went through is completely messed up and it's depressing to see that he doesn't really care if he gets badly hurt. Nevertheless, Scott doesn't let it affect him "Look, I don't know what you went through—" Justin looks back at Scott again, "but whatever happens, you're going to need help. And what I did was the only way I saved you. And before you say it, no one leaves the person to die all alone in agony. Otherwise, it's—it's fucked up. Ok, it's very fucked up."
Justin sighs deeply, Scott has a point, only a someone who's purely an asshole and bad would do something like that. Although, he feels guilty once more as while she didn't die, he left Jessica to get raped by Bryce. He hates himself for what happened, especially all because he felt conflicted that he's his best friend, the only person he felt he could rely on and ask for help, but he was raping his ex. It didn't help that seeing what Bryce was about to do brought up childhood trauma of his own when one of his mom's boyfriends sexually violated him. He left her to be raped by his own supposed "best friend", not even calling for help in the least. If someone is the real bad asshole, it would be Justin.
How the fuck do I even deserve to be saved...?
Justin didn't say anything else, but Scott continues talking "Anyway, this has already passed, so don't dwell on it, Justin. I saved your life cause I want to and now you're...with us now."
"With you?" Justin raises and eyebrow, puzzled.
"You're...a part of the pack now. My pack."
"I didn't ask if I can join." Justin scoffs.
"I know. And to be honest—I know and understand how you're feeling right now."
"When I was around your age, 16 to be exact, I was bitten in the middle of the night because me and my best friend were looking for a dead body." Scott snickers at himself, remembering how dumb he and Stiles were, especially when he wasn't really interested in finding the dead body, but Stiles insisted cause why not. Justin gives a "what the fuck?" look at Scott, "Why were you guys looking for a dead body?" Scott chuckles at himself again, "Cause we were dumb teenagers." he shrugs.
Justin slightly does a small laugh, "Makes sense."
At least it amuses Justin, which makes Scott feel grateful this is turning out ok. "So yeah, we went to look for a dead body and we got separated. I got lost and then found the dead body, which is cut in half. And after that, I encountered an Alpha and he bit me."
"After that night, I started to feel things. Very awesome things. I used to have asthma before I was bitten, but now, I don't anymore. Then I have great reflexes, I excelled in sports flawlessly, hell I made first line in my first tryout. I—I never felt better in my entire life."
"What was your sport?" Justin asks curiously.
"Lacrosse. How about you? You do sports?"
Justin shrugs, "I used to play basketball, was great on the team."
"I see." said Scott.
"But anyway, back to what I was trying to say, I felt—powerful. Like I could take on the world. However, when Stiles found out why and told me, at first I thought it was some kind of joke. I didn't believe him, I thought he was trying to ruin all the great shit I had and didn't understand why he was doing this. And then—I had my first full moon..."
"I lost control of myself. I was—not myself. And then, I almost got caught by Chris and the hunters. But, Derek saved me. When I realize that what Stiles had was true, I was upset, in despair, like my whole life turned upside down. I wanted to live my life happily, I never wanted to be bitten by some mythical supernatural being and turn into something I thought was—monstrous, inhuman, turning into someone—not myself." Scott looks at Justin, who's staring back at him, listening intently.
"I was like you that time. I didn't ask for this." he gestures at everything, "I didn't ask for—all of this. To be a werewolf. I never wanted nor like it. It felt—like a curse back then."
"How do you feel about it now?" Justin asks when Scott smiles fondly at him, "A part of me still sees it as a curse, but I see it now as a gift, as what Derek told me before. At first, I didn't want it and I didn't understand it. But as time went on, I began to learn and control my abilities and use those abilities to do things no one is capable enough to do something, do something good. I embraced it and use it now to help and protect those in need and who can't protect themselves."
Justin smiles back at Scott, a very genuine smile, "That's—That's awesome. That's—fucking awesome." Scott's smile grew wider, "I know right. Sure, being a werewolf can be troubling, with how you have to control werewolf instincts and make sure not to kill innocent people, but once you get a hang of it, learn to control your abilities, being a werewolf ain't too bad." Scott places a hand on Justin's shoulder in reassurance, "So let us help you, Justin. You're in safe hands now, here in the pack. You got this. Once you learn how to control your abilities, it'll be a piece of cake." Justin takes a moment, contemplating Scott's words.
"You said that I'm just like you before, is it—only from that moment?"
"Well, yeah."
There is a pause before Justin replies, "Ok."
"You'll be fine, Justin. I assure you."
"Yeah. I know." Justin looks back at Scott one last time, "Thanks." before he turns back to just staring out of the window.
"No prob." Scott hopes this eases up Justin now at least, he can't be too sure, but he knows for sure that the tension has lighten up now and slightly make Justin feel better.
As for Justin himself, while it is inspiring and reassuring to hear Scott that he can get through this, he isn't too sure if he'll still say the same if he knows who Justin truly is and what he had done.
I was like you that time. Yeah, only how Justin feels about being turned into a werewolf, but it's clear that it's only where they feel each others' shoes. From the looks of Scott, Justin can see that he is nowhere like Justin, hasn't seem to do something as bad as letting someone close get rape, worse if it turned out to be another close one who did it, who also wouldn't really look to have been a drug addict (obviously) nor had a neglectful and abusive family. Justin, while feeling like some weight on his shoulders have been lifted, still feels like an outcast, someone who just doesn't belong with anyone. And it'll definitely take a lot more than being a werewolf and part of a pack to be really convincing, especially since he was a part of a group of jocks who just sexualizes and perverts girls they see and mess around with them. A group that he feels resentful of now, especially with Bryce, and glad to not be a part of them anymore.
Yeah, Justin is grateful for Scott's selfless consideration and hospitality, but he isn't so sure if he'll still be thoughtful of him when he knows who Justin Foley truly is. He couldn't be like Scott, he can never be. So how sure is he of himself if he can get through this, being a werewolf and making sure not to kill anyone at all. And how is being a werewolf going to be any better.
At this moment, Justin feels like he could use a hit right now, feeling that all of this is beginning to overwhelm him.
For now, Justin can only sit back and wait until they arrive the new motel to stay for some time as he continues to stare out through the window, the looks of his eyes looking blank and dead.
They finally arrive at the new motel, the place looking slightly more cozy than the previous motel they came from.
Scott already check in and got themselves a room to stay. Justin, Scott, and Alec proceed to bring their bags to their room that's on the second floor. When they enter the room, it looks more cozy than the previous motel's room. The room has two beds, a desk with a chair at the end next to what appears to be the door to the bathroom, a small table with two chairs at the other end, and another table, with a small TV on the left and a microwave and small fridge at the right below the table.
Scott and Alec bring out their sleepwear. However, Scott also brings out another pair of sleepwear as well as some old clothes, a small grey shirt and blue jeans, from Alec's bag for Justin.
"Here, you look like you don't have any other clothes right now. So for now, just have these. I'll buy you some clothes later."
"Later?"
"Well, I'd say tomorrow, but tomorrow became later cause of earlier tonight."
"Oh. Um—sorry."
"Jesus man, cut yourself some slack." Scott laughs, "It's ok. There's nothing to be sorry for."
Justin only nods as he takes the clothes from Scott and places the shirt and jeans at the desk while he brings his sleepwear as well as his gym bag with him inside the bathroom before closing and locking the door.
He takes off his worn out sweater, shirt, and pants and leaves them at the corner as he steps into the bathtub and begins to shower himself in warm water. He deeply breaths, feeling the tension inside of him release from him, letting the shower and steam engulf him. It had been a long time since he last showered. He must've smelled like a filthy dead dog by this point. He rinses and scrubs himself with the shampoo and soap the motel provides in their bathrooms, feeling himself like he's cleansed, though only from the outside. Deep inside, he still feels dirty. He stands inside the shower for some time, letting the memory of the events that transpired earlier play out in his head. Looking down at the drain blankly, he ponders what will happen next. He still isn't certain what will happen and it makes him feel all the more uneasy. Which makes him feel all the more that he wants to have another hit.
Justin sighs as he turns the shower off and grabs the towel hanging over the shower curtains and wipes himself first before he steps out of the bathtub and heads over to the sink, where he uses the motel's toothbrush and toothpaste and brushes his teeth. He spits the foam out of his mouth and rinses his mouth with water before spitting it out and washing his face with water. He looks up to the mirror and wipes off the condensation that had covered the mirror cause of the steam. When he wipes it off, he sees a full reflection of himself.
Justin looks slightly healthier than before he was bitten, although still skinny since he hasn't eaten a lot due to his time in the streets. Seeing himself after being bitten, he feels like that he is in someone else's body. He doesn't look like the homeless kid he was before he was bitten. However, what really catches his attention is that something is missing in his body.
His tattoos.
His tattoos that were in both his arms and his chest are gone.
He stares at himself, feeling like he is really someone else. His body, not being his. It felt...undeserving, seeing himself. He knows deep down, he's still the same person. He slowly brings his right hand to his chest where his tattoo had been. He wouldn't care for the wire tattoos in his arms, they're just tattoos.
But his chest tattoo...
It means to him...
It's...special to him...
The chest tattoo is a Latin phrase "Vires et Honestas", Justin isn't knowledgable of Latin, but he knows what it means...
Strength and honour...
His eyes begin to well up and his nose flare, a sob escapes from his mouth. He begins to silently crying, clenching his hand on his chest where the tattoo had been. He remembers how the last time he got his tattoo thanks to Bryce, he picked this particular one because he saw meaning behind it and not merely something to make himself look badass like the wire tattoos in his arms. It holds a special meaning to him...
And then later on, he had tainted and betrayed it...
Justin was the opposite of strength and honour...
He was weak...
He was not strong enough to stand up against Bryce and stop him...
Stop him from sending the picture of Hannah to the entire school, humiliating her...
Stop him from raping Jessica...
He was weak...
And he hid like a coward, not standing up for Hannah enough and merely just left her be to suffer what would be her downfall that eventually led her to suicide, he realized that just constantly texting her "I'm sorry" and then just going to her at Monet's one time just to apologize mean nothing to her, he did nothing and stayed silent afterwards, just acting like nothing happened and ended up encouraging the messed up comments and rumors of Hannah.
It was the same with Jessica and Bryce...
For Bryce, he was scared of a thought that if Bryce decides to kick him out cause he tried to stop him, he's got nowhere else to go. Bryce was all he got.
And for Jessica, he lied to her, hoping to spare her the pain and trauma as she was drunk at the time and could not remember what happened. However, he was scared that Jessica will be upset of him, which she did when he finally admitted that Bryce raped her. And now, she hates him.
He was scared...
And he doesn't know what to do...
He could've easily called for help, but his fear of Bryce got to him...
He could've just admitted to Jessica what happened, but his fear of the consequences got to him...
It didn't help that what Bryce did brought back traumatic memories of his childhood when one of his mom's boyfriends sexually violated him
Everything in his life was already a mess...
Now...everything in his life fell apart...
All because of Justin...
Justin was the opposite of strength and honour...
He was weak...a coward...and a liar...
And he still is today...
He silently sobs, shutting his eyes in shame and remorse. He thought to himself how does he even deserve to have this tattoo. He betrayed it just like how he betrayed everyone he loves and care.
He let everyone down...
Because of him...
He doesn't know how he lost his tattoos, but he wouldn't care anymore. He doesn't care of the other tattoos as they don't really have much meaning. But his chest tattoo was. And it would be karma for him as he feels that he never deserves to have that tattoo after what he had done. He had brought shame to it, to its meaning.
And without the tattoo that was in his chest...
Now, he feels nothing...
That he's a nobody...
And being a werewolf isn't enough to make him feel like he's someone.
In the end, Justin knows he's still the same weak and lying coward that he is.
No longer being able to bear all the sadness, shame, and guilt within him, he quickly grabs his gym bag as he sits on the toilet and brings out a small syringe of heroin. Not taking any chances, he brings up his foot and injects himself with heroin in between his toes. He welcomes the high feeling of heroin when he hears a knock on the door.
"Hey dude, you're done?" it is Alec, waiting for his turn.
"Y-Yeah, just changing." Justin quickly hides his shit in the bag and zips close before he quickly puts on the white shirt and boxers. As he opens the bathroom door, he sees Alec already in front waiting. "You ok?" Alec sees that Justin's eyes are red "Y-Yeah. I'm—I'm ok. Just—had a moment for myself alone." Justin hopes that Alec buys it and not push more into his concern. Alec's look says that he isn't entirely convinced and buying Justin's lie, but he let's him pass. "Ok then. Hope you enjoyed your sweet time, now it's my turn." Justin nods and let's Alec pass him as Alec closes the door behind.
Justin sees Scott, already in his shirt and boxers, sitting on the desk, on his laptop. He notices that Scott is checking his email. "What is that?" Justin asks as Scott turns around to see Justin already looking freshly clean, "Oh, I'm just checking my emails for appointments. Right now, seems I have at least five appointments for today."
"What kind of appointments are they?"
"Check ups, treatments. I'm a veterinarian."
"A vet? Like you treat pets like dogs and cats?"
"Yep. It's my work."
"Alright..." Justin turns to see a cover and a bed with a pillow above that's below one of the beds. "Oh, Alec is sleeping there. You're sleeping in the bed." Scott gestures to the bed that's on top of the cover that's on the floor. "For me? Are you sure?" Justin slightly feels bad, but the heroin inside him had already level him up. "Dude. It's fine. Don't be ashamed, ok. You really could use a good rest right now."
Justin sighs, "Alright..."
He proceeds to the bed and hops in. He brings up the blanket and brings it over him as he lies down and looks up to the ceiling. He turns to look at Scott, who is noticing the look on his face, "You alright?"
"Yeah...I—I'm fine. Just had a moment earlier..."
Scott gives him a look before he decides to turn back and close his laptop and proceed to hop inside his bed, "Alright. Just checking in." Alec exits the bathroom, having already taken a shower and already in his sleepwear as he goes to lie on the cover on the floor and cover himself in the blanket.
Alec yawns as he, Justin, and Scott say each other good night before Scott turns off the lamp between his and Justin's beds.
Justin stares up at the dark ceiling. His nose flares and his eyes begin to well up again, but the heroin inside him prevents him from going down further into the depths of depression.
Exhaling deeply, he closes eyes and lets himself sleep into the darkness, welcoming it in open arms.
Justin didn't have any nightmares this time, nothing but pure darkness in his vision. His eyes slowly flutter open, seeing the white ceiling shine by the sun rays shooting through the window. He turns his head to see Alec on his laptop by the small table that's next to the window. He groans and exhales deeply as he slowly gets up and stretches himself before he looks around the room, looking for Scott. He's no where to be seen.
Alec turns around to see Justin already woken up, "Afternoon, dude." Justin turns to look at Alec, "Afternoon? How—long did I sleep?"
"Slept like a sleeping beauty, and it's already 1pm. But you needed the rest."
"Shit." he sighs and jumps off the bed to see a burger and fried chicken that's inside the microwave. "That's your brunch, go ahead and eat. You really need to eat right now since you look skinny as fuck." Justin goes to the microwave and takes his brunch before heading to sit in the small table with Alec, his attention on his laptop. "Where's—Where's Scott?" Justin asks Alec since he noticed he's missing while he takes a bite on the burger, "Scott is out right now, working." Alec sighs. "Usually, I go with Scott as an assistant. It's my part-time, want to help Scott out." Justin eyes at him with a confused look, "Why aren't you with him right now?"
"Scott told me to stay and keep an eye on you while he's away. So basically, I'm your babysitter right now."
"Oh." said Justin.
With nothing else to say, he continues to eat his brunch, taking in as much meat as it has before all that's left is a paper wrap of the burger and a bone of the chicken he ate. He throws the paper plate, wrap, and bone into the trash bin by the door and goes to the bathroom to brush his teeth before taking a quick shower and changing into the clothes Scott gave him earlier after.
When Justin comes out of the bathroom, he still sees Alec being busy on his laptop. Right now, Justin isn't sure what he can do right now. Literally, he's got nothing else to do at the moment. Usually, he'd be wondering aimlessly on the streets, whether for no reason, beg for spare change, look for horny guys that will pay if he let's them do whatever they want with him, or buy food or drugs. This feels all weird for Justin right now. To do nothing. It's something he isn't really too fond of right now as it could bore him for the whole day.
"Alec? Think we can go out for a stroll around town?" Justin decides to ask Alec if they can go out and find some way to kill time. "Not now. Maybe later, dude. I'm busy right now."
"Busy? Busy with what?"
Alec sighs and looks at Justin, who walks to him and sit in the small table in fromt of him, "College. I'm—looking for a college I'd apply." he turns back to the laptop. "Are you a senior?" Justin asks. "You can say that." Alec replies back to Justin. "What school are you from?"
"I'm home school. Scott teaches me and helps me in my education."
"Why are you home school?"
Alec stops for moment, sighing as he turns to Justin, "Five years ago, I was bitten by some Alpha one night. Didn't know who it was, but I don't care. But then, one night, it was a full moon. I was having dinner with my family when we were suddenly attacked by Monroe and the hunters. Lots of gunshots rained down on us. And I was the only one who survived and got out."
"Who's Monroe?"
"She was a guidance counselor back in Beacon Hills High School. When she was a victim of one of the supernatural threats that happened in Beacon Hills, she blamed everyone who was involved in the events and decided to become a hunter and kill every last one of supernatural creatures in not just Beacon Hills, but the whole world."
"Shit. That's—That's really fucked up."
"Well that is an understatement. But she's dead now and no other hunters have followed in what Monroe has done since then so everything's ok now..."
"Monroe and the hunters have killed my entire family and I went on a run for days, trying to run away from them. I had no one else to help me. My friends were—" Alec shuts his eyes, feeling a pain striking his heart "killed when I tried to seek for help, but the hunters kept finding us and they'd end up shooting them by mistake instead of me."
"With no one else I know to find help, I was all alone. Spending day and night hiding and running from Monroe... Until one night, when they finally caught with me... It was when Scott and Chris found me and saved me..."
"Damn... That was lucky..." Justin begins to feel sad for Alec, another kid whose life ended up turning upside down cause of some fucked up circumstance.
Alec scoffs humorlessly, "No shit I was lucky if I were to be honest. I'm grateful they save my life since then."
"After they saved me, I was brought in by Scott as a part of his pack. I stayed with them ever since, spending the rest of my time fighting with them against Monroe and the hunters for years until she was finally taken down."
"So who's—in the pack? Your—I mean—our pack? Seems it's not just you and Scott."
"The others in Scott's pack are Stiles, he's a human in the pack, but he's a really clever and smart guy you can count on, Lydia, who is a banshee, Derek, who is another werewolf and was Scott's "mentor" back in Scott's early days as a werewolf, Malia, she's a werecoyote, Liam, Scott's first Beta, Mason, also human also smart like Stiles, and Corey, who is a chimera with chameleon-like abilities."
"Chameleon-like?"
"Basically he can camouflage, blend into the environment. You can say he turns invisible."
"Oh. That's cool then. Wish I could do that."
"Well too bad, you're a werewolf. There's no such werewolf who can turn invisible."
The two boys share a small laugh together, pretty much a first for Justin having a pleasant conversation with one of the pack members.
"So—where are they now?"
Alec looks down for moment before looking back at Justin, making a small exhale in melancholy, "After stopping Monroe and the hunters, Scott, Stiles, and Lydia already graduated from college, and Liam, Mason, and Corey got into college. Since then, the pack had split to their separate ways, Stiles and Lydia are in Washington D.C. now, Malia is in Paris, Liam is still in Beacon Hills, Mason and Corey are in Los Angeles, and Derek—I have no idea, probably out there somewhere doing God knows what and is in God knows where."
"Why are you still with Scott then?"
Alec raises an eyebrow as he finds the reason obvious but sighs and just gives it a pass, "I...got no where else to go... I got no one else to live with... Everyone in my life before Scott is gone, I pretty much disappeared and went off-grid the moment Monroe came. So...I stayed with Scott... I would've gone with anyone when they split, but I thought that someone needs to stay with Scott, our Alpha, since Scott would become an Omega if not at least one person in the pack stays with him."
"Omega? What's that?"
Alec sits up straight and focuses on Justin as this'll be one of the things Justin will need to know about how things are like in the supernatural world, mostly on how things go with werewolves.
"Ok, so as a werewolf, there are like three types of werewolves, from strongest to weakest: Alpha, Beta, and Omega. An Alpha is the leader of a pack and the strongest, most powerful, and so far, the most lethal variety of a werewolf, you can tell what type of werewolf the person is from basically their eyes. For an Alpha, their werewolf eyes are red. Scott, for example, is an Alpha."
"Then there's a Beta," Alec gestures at himself and Justin, "which is us. Beta werewolves are like the middle ground of the werewolf types in terms of strength. How strong a Beta is depends. But always, you will know if the werewolf is a Beta when their eyes are yellow." as Alec mentions the Beta's eye color, he blinks to flash his werewolf eyes, shining a briliant and gold yellow, at Justin before he blinks once more to turn to his normal eye color.
"How do you that? Flashing your eyes?"
"You'll learn from Scott."
"Alright."
"And lastly, an Omega. An Omega werewolf is the "lone wolf" of werewolves. They have the same abilities as the Alpha and Beta, but an Omega is a werewolf without a pack. Werewolves are strong when they're part of a pack, so if a werewolf ends up being alone entirely, the werewolf is left to be very vulnerable. Hence, Omega is the weakest of the werewolf types as they're not part of a pack, it's pretty much what draws the line between an Alpha and Beta, and an Omega."
Alec leans closer towards Justin, his eyes boring into Justin's, Justin feels a moment of uneasiness as to what Alec is going to say, "And trust me, dude. You do not—want to become an Omega."
"Is—that why you guys won't let me leave?"
"Well—kind of. A werewolf can become an Omega by choice, be forced out of the pack by the Alpha, or by circumstance. It was more of—we had to make sure no gets killed by you cause you don't know how to control yourself."
Justin's insides twist in dread, "So—you mean that—that Scott can kick me out of the pack."
"If you end up doing something extremely bullshit and fuck things up, yeah. He can."
"Fuck..." Justin looks and furrows his eyebrows, placing his hand over his eyes.
Alec leans more into Justin, now in a very uncomfortable close distance between their eyes, as if Alec is warning and threatening Justin "So if I were you, Justin, I wouldn't want to do some bad shit to piss off Scott. He may be a really good-hearted person, but you don't want to upset him to the point he'll won't forgive you. To be honest, you're lucky Scott found you. He's the kind of dude who'll help those in need and in trouble, help those who can't help themselves."
"Yeah... I...I can see that..." Justin sighs.
"So dude, don't fuck with Scott McCall. I'll won't mind beating the shit out of you if you do anything that will fuck with us, especially if Scott isn't around to see us since he doesn't really want any trouble. So you better stay out of trouble, Justin. Clear?"
Justin gulps in uneasiness and shakes his head fervently in agrement, "Y-Yeah... N-Noted."
"Good." Alec leans away from Justin and turns to go back to his laptop to continue searching for whatever college he's interested in applying. Justin feels very unsettled by Alec's threat, he doesn't really want to give any of them any reason to hate him and has no intention to give them trouble.
Hell, I am trouble. Justin scoffs at himself, thinking that he is no better than some fucked up troublemaker and still despises himself. Justin begins to think about taking another hit of heroin once again as he can feel himself starting to sink deep into his depression, but then decides to brush it off when he thought back of his conversation with Alec. They just talked about making sure Justin will not do something to cause trouble and fuck things up and he's about to do that right away. He decides to try to take a few deep breaths, which manages to ease him a up bit. Not enough to bring him up, but at least not deep enough to decide to just give in a shoot himself up with heroin to level himself.
Feeling bored, Justin decides to go sit on the bed and watch the TV. He grabs the TV remote on the small table beside his bed and switched the TV on. When the TV blares on and Justin is met with a news channel displaying on screen.
By some fucked up coincidence, the news channel is in a middle of a discussion regarding the death of the late Hannah Baker from the town of Liberty in Evergreen County, California. When a picture of Hannah is shown on screen, Justin begins to feel his insides go heavy and cold, a feeling like a snake is coiling around him, suffocating him. The shame and guilt suffocating him.
The memory of his first date with Hannah and Hannah letting Justin stay in her place for the night flashes into his head. Seeing himself take a picture of Hannah before kissing her, Hannah comforting Justin after having to deal with one of his mom's fucked up boyfriends, Justin and Hannah kissing each other goodbye before he leaves for school while Hannah will follow.
They were all supposed to be fond and happy memories for both Justin and Hannah...
And then when Bryce kept pestering Justin, Justin ruined everything the moment he showed to Bryce the picture of Hannah and spread it all over the school.
The look of embarrassment and betrayal in Hannah's face haunts him in his memory, and no amount of apologies was enough to help Hannah...
For Justin had inadvertently started the downfall of Hannah Baker's life...
You were the beginning of the end... Hannah's voice echoes into Justin's head
Justin's nose flares in anguish, Shut up.
He can feel his eyes turn into water, the memories of Hannah eating their way into his guilt when Alec's voice snap him out of his mind.
"Ugh... Please don't tell me you're seriously watching this depressing shit." Alec rolls his eyes seeing what's on the news.
"W-What do you mean?" Justin composes himself, blinking away the tears coming out of his eyes.
"This has been going on for like three months now. Sorry that I'll come off as an insensitive asshole, but this shit's already old. Like what's so special about this Hannah Baker girl? She's not the only person to have killed herself cause something fucked her up. More out there have the same shit that she has. So what's even up with her?"
Justin turns to Alec with a scornful glare, "What's up with her? She isn't just some girl. She's—She's a girl who was full of life, good-hearted. She's only a high school student and she off'd herself because the kids at Liberty were treating her like a bitch and a slut."
Alec gets taken aback by Justin's sudden pissed off look, but doesn't let it faze him, "And what makes you say that?" Alec's face furrow in curiosity of Justin's thoughts about Hannah. Justin doesn't feel comfortable telling him of the fact that he knows Hannah and they study in the same school. Worse, he wouldn't want to tell him he was one of the reasons why Hannah is gone. But Justin didn't take a moment and quickly replies back as he turns back to the news, still discussing about Hannah's suicide while the picture of her beautiful face continues to stare down into Justin's shameful and guilt-ridden eyes, albeit not noticable to Alec. "I can tell just...by look of her face..." and well, Justin isn't really wrong. Even just from looks of her face, one can wonder how could someone as beautiful and kind-hearted as Hannah, just from her bright smiling face, be treated so badly and then quits life. Why someone like Hannah would do such a thing.
And to Justin, it's more messed up when someone leaves behind a box of tapes as some glamorize suicide note, accounting to the people responsible for making the person did what the person did in the first place like Hannah.
Although knowing Hannah, she wouldn't do it for the sake of revenge on them. Justin knows if Hannah sees how people think she did, she'd be upset as she never intends to hurt people for revenge. Likely, she made the tapes as a way to say it herself at the people who influenced her to push her decision when she felt like she couldn't face-to-face.
Low-key, Justin feels like he isn't completely wrong about thinking Hannah is "just some crazy drama queen who just killed herself for attention." Not that Justin thinks she is, that is though now. Not anymore. He still didn't like how he kept lying to himself like that, denying that what Hannah had said on the tapes were almost 100% true, particularly on his two tapes, which were both true.
Although in the end, he can never know what was up with Hannah as he did not know her well enough...
While Justin continues to deathly stare at Hannah's face on screen, Alec's call once again snaps him back into reality.
"You wanna go for a stroll, dude?"
"Oh—Um—sure. But—aren't you still looking for a college to apply?" Justin gives Alec a questioning look. "Meh. Couldn't find any particular college that catches my interest." Alec shrugs with an eye roll out of the feeling of "whatever", "I'll just look in another time. I'm starting to feel bored right now."
"Yeah, well, no shit. I'm also getting bored."
"So do you still want to go out for a stroll?" Alec raises an eyebrow.
"Yeah. I still do."
"Ok." Alec goes to pick from his bag two hoodies, one red, the other blue. "Here, wear this jacket. It's actually pretty chilling out there right now." He tosses the blue jacket to Justin, who manages to catch it with ease, likely from his enhanced reflexes. "Wow." Justin gapes in amazement of his reflexes. "Nice catch, dude. The werewolf reflexes kicking in." Alec smirks at Justin as he puts on his red hoodie and proceeds to the door. "Now come on, let's go." Alec opens the door as Justin follows him outside while he quickly puts on the blue hoodie that Alec gave him.
Compared to the past few days, the weather in Oakland right now is fair so far. Not a hint of rain that will come soon for now. Despite the fair weather though, the weather is pretty chilly right now as what Alec had said earlier to Justin. So it was a good call from Alec to suggest wearing the hoodies to keep themselves warm.
The two dudes randomly chat about how Oakland is while they stroll around the town. Despite the chilly weather, the sunlight shining down the fair sky bathes the men in warmth. Justin could feel the sun's warmth kissing into his face like he could just lean into it. It's something he usually savours whenever it's a clear or fair day back when he's in the streets.
As they turn another corner, they see a clothes shop on the left side. An idea springs up in Alec's head.
"Hey Justin, since Scott's too busy at work, let's go ahead and buy you some clothes." Alex gestures at the shop.
"You mean right now?"
"Of course, dude. You can't keep wearing my clothes." Alec laughs while shaking his head, finding it ridiculous that Justin has keep wearing his old clothes.
"Alright, then." Justin shrugs as the two head over to the shop where they start buying some clothes for Justin.
Justin got some short sleeve flannel shirts, the same ones he used to wear back in Evergreen, some plain white, grey, and black shirts, some jeans, boxers, socks, and a black leather jacket. Justin isn't really sure how they can afford them, but Alec buys the clothes anyway. Although he feels grateful, he feels bad nevertheless as he feels that they're being too generous to Justin and they didn't really have to buy him new clothes, especially when he's ok with his worn out clothes. They probably just need some cleaning.
"Hey—uh—thanks—for the clothes I mean."said Justin while Alec is already purchasing on the counter.
"Damn dude, this sure is a lot of clothes you decided to pick."
"U-Um—I can just—"
"Hahaha dude I'm just fucking with you." Alec laughs while he lightly punches Justin by shoulder, reassuring him it's fine and he was just joking.
"You really need this much clothes."
Justin nods, but then he suddenly starts to feel his stomach urch, a sudden feeling of nausea hitting him. Likely from the heroin.
Trying to hide the nausea feeling, Justin pats Alec, "H-Hey uh—I'm gonna head to the restroom. I'll be right back."
"Ok. I'll just be waiting outside."
Justin quickly heads over to the restroom, trying to keep himself from throwing up until he reaches to the toilet and let's himself throw up. Retching and feeling himself shiver, Justin tries to spit out whatever remaining vomit is in his mouth into the toilet. When he has nothing in his mouth, he looks down to see the usual disgusting yellow vomit that's circling in the toilet water. However, when Justin looks closer, he notices a tiny bit of black liquid mixed with the vomit. However, he brushes the concern off, thinking it's probably something from the vomit, and flushes the toilet. He goes to the sink and swishes his mouth with water before spitting out whatever remains of his vomit into the drain. He quickly splashes his face with the sink's water coming out of the faucet. He looks into the mirror in front of him and tries to relax himself, still feeling the shivers for a bit before it finally stops. Feeling relieved, albeit now the feeling that he somehow hit rock bottom hard as the aftereffects of heroin kick in, he deeply breaths for a moment and leaves the restroom.
As Justin exists the store, he sees Alec talking on his phone with paper bags in his hands. Alec turns to see Justin as he tells whoever is calling bye and hangs up. "Well, you sure took your sweet time." Alec comments. "Shut up. Had to take a shit." Justin eye rolls in annoyance, which earns a snicker from Alec, "Dude, you really need to learn how to chill." This only annoys Justin more however. "Well sorry, I've been on the streets for months." Justin snaps at Alec, glaring at Alec.
"Alright, sorry. My bad. Ok?" Alec sighs as Justin takes the paper bags holding his clothes from Justin.
"Come on, Scott called me just now. He just came back from work and is looking for us. Brought us dinner on the way back."
"Alright." The two proceed to head back to the motel while sun continues to set, the sky turning bluish and orange, evening that will turn to night soon.
Justin and Alec arrive back in the their motel room just in time to see Scott already setting the small table. He sees on the small table three Chinese noodles take out.
"Hey, guys. How's the stroll around the town?" Scott greets them with a smile, shrugging out his jacket and throwing it at his bed.
"It was good. Um—Alec uh—bought for me clothes just now."
"Oh, that's good then. Looks like you can just throw away those worn out clothes you wore."
"Um no. Don't. I uh—still need them. Just need to clean em, it's all"
"Oh—ok then. Anyway, come on guys. Time to eat." Scott, Justin, and Alec sit together at the table and they begin eating their Chinese noodles that Scott had take out earlier.
Scott and Alec discuss together how Alec can apply for college while Justin sits silently, eating while looking down at his food. He begins to zone out for some time as he isn't really involve in whatever Scott and Alec are talking about. However, Scott snaps him out.
"Hey, Justin."
Justin shoots his head up quickly to look at Scott, "Yeah?"
"So, how are you doing?"
"Um... Fine. I'm—fine." Justin shrugs.
"You're feeling ok?"
"Yeah. Yeah, I am."
"Ok."
Scott takes a moment to think while they continue eating. Tomorrow is apparently his free day, so he doesn't really have anything to do for tomorrow. Which means that Scott can take the time to help Justin learn and maybe hang out together since Justin looks like he had been alone for a long while.
"Justin."
"Hm?"
"Since I'm free tomorrow, let's hang out together."
Justin gets taken aback by Scott's offer, almost choking on his food, "Y-You sure? W-What are we gonna do?"
"Just hang out. Get to know you. If you really need more reason, help you learn how to use your powers."
"Oh." Right, I forgot about that. "Ok."
"And what am I gonna do Scott?" Alec asks with a raised eyebrow.
"You gonna continue looking for a college to join."
"Seriously? So you're just gonna leave me alone here in this room?"
Scott sigh, "You have to look, Alec. You really need to get yourself started with your life."
Now it's Alec's turn to sigh, who sighs in defeat, "Fine..."
Justin starts to feel guilty once again. Scott doesn't have to do this for his sake. He can just stay with Alec inside. Moreso, he can still learn how to use his werewolf powers with Scott inside, "Scott, you don't have to—" Scott stops him "It's ok, Justin. You're ok. It's fine. I want to go out and hang out with you, get some fresh air together, help you learn to use your powers. Alec just needs to prioritize figuring out how to start his life."
Justin nods at Scott as Justin finishes his dinner. He throws away the small cup and heads to the bathroom to brush his teeth, he looks up at the mirror, staring at his gym bag. He can feel the heroin calling out to him, calling him to go for another shot, although the feeling of wanting to take a hit doesn't peak his mind right now. But he still feels depressed as hell cause of the last shot he took last night, so for now at least, Justin decides not to shoot himself with heroin just for the sake of Scott and Alec and he turns back to continue brushing his teeth before swishing his mouth in water and spits them out.
He changes into his white shirt and boxer who recently bought today and leaves the bathroom and let's Alec use the bathroom next to brush his teeth as well. He plops on to his bed and lies down on his back in the bed. He feels like crashing in for the night, likely from the depressing feeling he had earlier thanks to the heroin. As he turns to his right, he sees Scott busy with his laptop. He couldn't really see, but Justin can tell Scott is messaging someone on the laptop. He stares deeply at Scott, who's not noticing Justin staring at him.
He starts to take in on how lucky he was to meet Scott. Just from the vibe of him, Justin can see how caring and good-hearted Scott is, especially to him. He feels grateful, but he also feels guilty as he has yet to know Justin. He's still not ready to really talk about himself to both Scott and Alec, not even wanting to tell him tomorrow when they hang out. He doesn't really want to bother Scott and cause trouble, but Scott keeps insisting and Justin knows it'll be rude and an ass move to just keep declining him. It'll take time for Justin to open up with them nevertheless.
But whether he likes it or not, he's now part of the pack and he feels that he should be grateful Scott decides to take him in.
With nothing in his mind, Justin turns back, stares up at the ceiling and let's himself call it a night and sleep to rest well enough to learn from Scott.
Looks like I'll be stuck with them for a while. Is Justin's last thought before he sleeps in for tomorrow.
Reviews and constructive criticism are appreciated.