With our standing orders from Derek, me and Erica decided to play it smart. We'd pick one target – from a choice of Scott and Stiles – and go after that one together. I would like to say we discussed it, but there really wasn't much of a discussion before we ended up picking Stiles…or rather, Erica picked Stiles, and then begged me to go along with it. I never could say no to her easily.
But we knew he'd tense up the second both of us came at him – I mean what boy wouldn't. So we decided that Erica would approach him first with a plea for help, trying to win his trust while claiming she wanted to be more like Scott and leave Derek's Pack. Complete B.S. but the whole point was to find out what Scott and Stiles knew about the Kanima. While that was going on I'd hang back and listen, only coming in if we tried something a little more…painful.
However, the next day Stiles wasn't in. Scott and Allison were but not Stiles. So the plan was put on hold, which we were both fine with. The Kanima attack had shaken us and what with everything else still going on at the same time, we all needed a break to breath. And a full day of rest was much appreciated.
The next day though, Stiles was back, which meant we had to get back to our work for Derek. Not that Erica seemed too upset about it. We tailed him when we could for most of the morning, following him to his classes, the library, even the bathroom. The last one made me shudder from some of the smells coming from that room. It was during that point, of covering my noise to protect myself from those fowl smells, that I realised something. Erica wasn't going to approach Stiles like she was supposed to. I should have realised sooner what with her hammering heart, but there was me being naive and thinking Stiles wouldn't get to her.
It posed a problem, or at least it did until I was talking to Erica and Stiles came into view, at Lydia's heels as she walked through the hallway. At once I heard Erica growl, and she was about to step over to the couple when I pushed her gently back towards the lockers, trying to blend into the crowd as I listened.
"So do you know anything about Jackson's parents?" Stiles was asking.
"I'm not supposed to tell anyone," Lydia replied.
"Come on, anyone who ever says, 'I'm not supposed to tell anyone,' is always dying to tell someone, so tell me," Stiles begged.
"Why do you wanna know?" Lydia asked curiously without halting.
"I can't tell you that," Stiles replied, to which I rolled my eyes. Dumb ass.
"Then I'm not telling you," Lydia countered.
"But you are telling me that you could tell me something if you wanted to tell me?" Stiles asked, to which me, Erica (who was apparently listening as well) and Lydia all frowned.
"Was that a question?" Lydia asked on behalf of all of us.
"It felt like a question," Stiles answered, as if his latest ramble had even confused him.
"Well, tell me if this feels like an answer." She paused for dramatic effects before then answering, "No," and walking off. With a groan Stiles continued after her, passing me and Erica without even noticing.
Once he had, I released Erica from where I'd pushed her against the locker, but while she was teething in rage, I was now grinning. "Well, that changes things," I pointed out, looking to my sister who frowned back at me.
"Why?" she practically growled, sending a spiteful glare after Lydia.
"Because Stiles was just asking about Jackson's parents," I pointed out, giving her a knowing look that she still didn't quite understand.
"Why? They're dead," Erica pointed out.
"Exactly," I said with a devious grin. "But Stiles doesn't know that, and that information is probably worth something to him. And besides, don't you want to know why he's asking about Jackson's parents?" Having spelt it out for her, Erica started to grin, realising what I was saying. It was time to switch up our tactics. We had something Stiles wanted, so there was no need to go sniffing around him for information, or to play the Erica sympathy card. We could save that for later. For now, it was time for the direct approach, the option I far preferred.
We took off after Stiles, cutting him off while he was still pursuing Lydia, who was now adamantly trying to get away from him. "Lydia! Lydia, come on! Lydia, wai–!" Stile called until me and Erica pounced on him. Erica got to him first, giving him a good shove towards the wall before we both closed in on him. I grabbed his left shoulder, holding him in place while Erica threw out her clawed hand, placing it firmly against Stiles' chest.
We both grinned at our captured prey.
"OW! Ah, ah–hey, Erica," Stiles greeted, before then noticing me as well. It was progress I guessed, for Erica anyway. "Dylan," he added shortly after.
"Stiles," I greeted with a few bats of my eyelids. "Why are you asking about Jackson's real parents?" I asked in the sweet mockery that he was now used to.
"Why are you two brining out the claws on camera?" Stiles retorted, gesturing to the camera behind us. It hadn't spotted us yet, but it was turning back around so we quickly backed off as Erica hid her claws. "That's right," Stiles said with sudden confidence – or more accurately safety. "You wanna play Catwoman? I'll be your Batman," he said directly to Erica who was fighting the urge to smile. As for me I cocked an eyebrow at him, folding my arms as I patiently waited for him to acknowledge me. As it turned out, it took a few seconds longer than expected, as Erica held her crush's eyes.
Like Erica, I fought the urge to smile.
"If you're wondering about Jackson's real parents, I'll give you a clue on where to start looking," I offered, to which his eyes widened in anticipation. "They're about half a mile from here." His eyes grew wider. "In Beacon Hills cemetery." He deflated, but not as much as I'd thought he would. For him it was still an answer and while he was momentarily shocked, he'd have more questions in a sec.
I'd thrown out the bait, now it was time to see if he'd take it. I turned, and Erica turned with me, as we both walked up the stairs to the next hallway. We'd just reached the top when we heard Stiles racing to catch up with us. I looked to Erica, not turning enough for Stiles to see, and grinned. It really was just so, so easy sometimes.
"Do you know how they died?" was Stiles first question, a no brainer really, as he fell into step behind us.
"Maybe," I answered teasingly without looking back as I walked alongside Erica. "If you tell us why you're so interested, I might even tell you," I added, smirking at the information I was about to get. Stiles was a curious guy, he wouldn't be able to help himself from offering up his info in exchange for ours. Even if it was rubbish, he just had to know.
As it turned out though, we didn't need to wait for him to answer. Because Erica stopped, and I stopped with her. Turning to look at her along with Stiles. She was frowning, and I could tell she was thinking, putting all the pieces together until she looked at me. Then she looked at Stiles, then back to me.
"It's him," Erica answered, to which I frowned. But then I looked to Stiles who was in shock, panic written all over his face. So what Erica said had obviously meant something.
"What?" I asked, needing a little more.
"The test didn't work, but it's still him. He's the Kanima. It's Jackson," Erica explained to me, as Stiles continued to get paler and paler from my side. And he had every right to, because now we knew who the Kanima truly was. We knew who we had to kill in order to rid ourselves of this monster, the monster that had attacked me and Erica in the street not two nights ago. We knew when it would be weak, and that thought made me smile.
"Thanks, Stiles," I said in mock sympathy before chuckling as I strode off with Erica at my heels. Again though, it wasn't long before Stiles came running after us, by which point I had my phone out, Derek's number almost at the ready.
"You can't tell Derek, okay?" Stiles quickly begged as we approached the boy's locker room. "There's a lot more to this that you two don't know about. And just because you two got the Alpha bite makeover doesn't give you a license to go around destroying people," Stiles argued before Erica swung around to meet him. And since she'd stopped, so had I, momentarily taking my eyes of my phone to watch her. To make sure she was okay.
Stiles had no idea how thin the ice he was standing on truly was.
"Why not?" Erica snapped at him. "That's all anybody ever used to do to me. To my sister," Erica growled, throwing an arm back towards me. I should have gone back to calling Derek then, but when Erica continued, the sister in me couldn't leave her side just in case she needed me. Because that was when she admitted to her crush, that she had a crush.
"I used to have the worst crush in the world on you." Again, shock passed over Stiles. "Yeah, you, Stiles. And you never once even noticed me."
I could have killed Stiles right then, and I was pretty sure my eyes were glowing. Here was my beloved sister, finally pouring out her heart, telling her crush how she felt…and he was looking at the floor next to me. More focused on that than what Erica was saying.
"Exactly how you're not noticing me right now," Erica pointed out, a sadness to her voice that I could never prevent.
But then Erica followed Stiles gaze, curious as to what was more interesting than her heart, only to frown when she saw it. I was confused too, even when I saw it. Again I should have gone back to making my phone call to Derek about the Kanima. But there was a large puddle of water coming from the boy's locker room, and if the puddle had reached the door then there had to have been a pretty huge leak some where.
And then the door flew open and Scott came flying out, crashing to floor, followed by Jackson who leapt on top of him, looking to strangle the Werewolf. He didn't get the chance though, as me, Erica and Stiles quickly intervened. I shoved Jackson off of Scott, then stepped over him with Erica, each of us grabbing one of Jackson's arms before securing him against the wall.
Scott was back on his feet now, still trying to get at Jackson for whatever reason, but Stiles was holding him back, calling out his name. My attention though was quickly taken back to Jackson as he fought us, no longer as weak as he once had been. Before, when we'd brought him to Derek, it had only taken one of us at half strength to hold him. Now it was taking both me and Erica, at full strength to hold Jack at bay. This was the Kanima, its strength seeping into Jackson, or at least that's what I thought.
I wanted to kill him now, here and quickly, before he could shift or kill anyone else. But the hallway was already filling up, and I wasn't going to be able to kill him without being notice. I would do it though, if he began to shift. Then if he tried to kill us, I'd take him down with me. For now though, I had to settle for holding him in place along with Erica, as Mr. Harris came charging down the hallway towards us.
"What the hell's going on? Hey! Enough!" Mr. Harris was between the fighters now, glaring at Scott who had calmed down enough to stop himself from lunging at Jackson. Jackson had calmed down a little too, but was still tense, ready to fight, and breathing heavily. For safety, me and Erica kept our arms around his, ready to restrain him if need be. Though apparently Mr. Harris saw how tense he was too, as he told Jackson to, "Calm down!" It didn't really help calm anyone down but it did give me a chance to survey the area.
Allison had emerged from the boy's locker room, probably having witnessed most of the fight. Possibly even being the cause of it. I certainly wouldn't have put it past her. She was stood next to Scott now, Stile standing on the same side of Harris as me, Jackson and Erica, while some other guy stood just behind Harris with a tablet in his hands. Playing away with it as Harris glared at us. I had no idea who that guy was, but I'd seen him around the lacrosse team. I didn't think he'd ever spoke to me pre-Werewolf bite, and I'd certainly never talked to him since. He wasn't my type. Too…everyday. Normal.
"Mr. McCall, you want explain yourself?" Mr. Harris said accusingly, to which I smirked a little. It then only grew when he started having a go at Stiles, never coming close to blaming Jackson, Allison, or even me and Erica. He was dick to everyone, but there were still those that Harris really had it in for. I almost felt sorry for the poor bastards, almost.
"You dropped this," the guy behind Harris spoke up, holding out the tablet towards Allison and Scott. I frowned, confused by this. If it wasn't his tablet, then what the hell had he been doing with it before? In any case Harris quickly snatched it from him.
"You, and you," Mr. Harris quickly declared, pointing to Jackson and Scott with the tablet, before hesitating. "Actually. All of you," he then decided, pointing to each and everyone of us with the tablet. Even the guy who had literally nothing to do with it, or even anything supernatural. "Detention. Three o'clock," he declared, to which we all groaned internally. No one said anything aloud though, or risk pissing off Harris even more so than he already was. Besides, in all honesty, we should be lucky he didn't give us detention for a week. He must have been in a good mood after all.