What up, wolflets. Thanks for the reviews last chapter, hope you like the next one, etc.
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Although Kate doesn't argue when Lydia refuses to hand over Malia, she also doesn't accept this as a suitable answer. The formerly dead hunter drives Lydia home and then just… leaves. She doesn't try to plead her case, she doesn't make any threats or promises or even cryptic remarks. Outwardly it's like she accepts Lydia's refusal, but there's something strange about it, something uncomfortably confident about her, like the reason she's not fighting Lydia's decision is because she knows she's going to win in the end.
The whole encounter leaves Lydia unsettled, even after she manages to ascertain that Isaac is okay. He calls her not long after she gets home; he can't remember anything, just that someone had hit him, and then he'd woken up in the cemetery and she'd been gone. Once they'd established that they were both okay, they called it a night.
And Lydia makes a decision: she's not going to tell anyone what happened tonight. It's a well-known fact that she and Malia have never been the best of friends, nor does she have any desire for them to be so; and since the pack doesn't believe that Kate's actually come back, it would reflect very badly on Lydia if she were suddenly to announce that Malia was the next target for the sacrifices. She could always warn them anyway, and just claim that her banshee powers had alerted her to the fact, but she doubts they'd believe her anyway.
And the thing is, at one point, she'd really, really believed that Malia was the killer. It's not that she dislikes her, exactly; she just doesn't trust her. She doesn't know her well enough to trust her, and she doesn't understand how the rest of the pack could accept her so quickly. She's still adjusting to being human, and it had been foolishly optimistic to assume she'd just settle in to their pack right away.
Or had it? If Kate was telling the truth – and it seems highly likely she was – then Malia isn't the one killing people. In fact, she's in line to be the next victim. Maybe Lydia had misjudged her; maybe she should get to know her better. But there's something about Malia, something uninviting, and Lydia can't bring herself to really talk to her. But she needs to do something, so the next school day after the night with Kate, she makes up her mind to talk to Stiles, to just drop some hints that he should watch out for Malia.
He's by his locker when she arrives, and his eyes sweep over her before he returns his gaze to the pile of textbooks he's sorting through. But his eyes snap back to her when he realizes she's coming toward him.
Lydia comes to a stop at the locker next to his, wondering just when she became so nervous about the idea of talking to Stiles. She can remember a time when he wasn't even on her radar, when he'd be a stuttering mess whenever he tried to talk to her, when he'd poured everything into saving her even when she didn't know what was going on. And now here she is, terrified to talk to him because in the time it took her to look at him, he was already looking at someone else.
"Hi," she says, not her most eloquent greeting but it's all she can manage. They haven't really spoken in a while, and she hasn't felt close to him since… well, since the night Allison and Aiden died. She'd clung to him that night like he was the only other person in the world, and for a moment it had felt like he was. She'd expected things to change after that, but she'd been so consumed by grief that she missed her chance. Because suddenly Stiles was with Malia and, for the first time in a long time, Lydia was completely alone.
"Hey," Stiles says, meeting her eyes and then quickly looking away.
For a second Lydia waits for him to continue the conversation, but then she remembers that she was the one who started it. She needs to tell him to be careful, but she can't tell him why – the pack doesn't believe her about Kate, and there's no way she can prove it. Kate had made sure of that. "I, uh, I just wanted to see how you were?" she says, her voice tilting up at the end because she's realizing just how distant Stiles is, just how far away from each other they are. And just how nervous talking to him makes her feel.
He blinks, like he's surprised by the question. "I'm fine." There's a short pause, and then he seems to remember his manners and asks, "How are you?"
"I'm okay," she says automatically, even though that's far from how she feels. She can't remember the last time she honestly did feel okay.
"Good." He scratches the back of his neck, still waiting for her to continue the conversation, but Lydia finds herself forgetting how to speak. There must be a tactful, subtle way to tell him what she needs to tell him; she's sure there is – she just can't think of it.
"Listen -" she starts, but she cuts herself off when she sees that Stiles is looking at something beyond her shoulder. She turns, following his gaze, and sees Malia and Kira walking down the hall toward them. "There's something I need to tell you," she says quickly, turning back to him. "I think you need to -"
"Can this wait?" he interrupts, and he does look apologetic but it doesn't stop the flicker of annoyance in Lydia's heart. "I just – I need to check on Malia."
Lydia bites back a snort of derision. "Sure," she says, hoping that her tone is sharp enough to make it clear that she would really rather that he didn't. If Stiles picks up on it, he doesn't say anything; he just dips his head in acknowledgement, skirts around her, and darts down the hall toward the girls. "I'll just wait here then," Lydia mutters, "talking to myself like a -"
This time she breaks off because someone approaches her. Kira's friendly smile fades when she sees Lydia's stony expression, but she doesn't let it deter her for long. "Morning," Kira says, just a little too brightly. "How are you?"
Rather than answering, Lydia looks down at the takeaway cup in Kira's hands. "Since when do you drink coffee?"
Kira's hand tightens around the cup, and Lydia can see that it's shaking slightly. "I don't normally, but I'm running on like three hours of sleep and I have a History test today and -"
"Woah," Lydia says, amused, as they start to walk down the hall toward their first class. "I think there's a reason you tend to stay away from caffeine."
Kira finishes the last of her coffee and tosses the empty cup over her shoulder. It sails through the air and lands easily in the nearest trashcan – which is at least ten feet behind her. "Sorry," she says as they keep walking, "I guess I'm a little jumpy, which is why I don't normally drink coffee, but -"
Lydia raises her eyebrows and Kira stops rambling, looking slightly embarrassed. As they reach their first class, Lydia reminds herself how grateful she is to have friends like Kira; they've grown a lot closer since Allison's death, and Lydia doesn't know what she'd do without her. And even though the rest of the pack seems to be preoccupied with their own problems, Kira usually makes an effort to check up on her. As they take their seats Lydia almost blurts out her secret, almost tells her what happened after the others left the cemetery. But she stops herself as she sees the rest of the pack file into the room.
Stiles and Malia come in first, taking their usual seats up the back. Ethan and Isaac follow quickly, and finally Scott comes in. He normally sits next to Kira, but today he just glances over at her, nods slightly, and then sits with the rest of the pack. While Lydia watches with growing curiosity, the pack draws closer and they all start talking to each other, too quietly for Lydia to hear. They all look serious, which makes her heart jump; if the pack is worried, it usually means something awful is happening.
"Do you know what they're talking about?" Lydia asks Kira, inclining her head toward the group at the back.
Kira looks over at them and then back to Lydia. "They're probably just talking about what happened last night."
Lydia had still been looking at the pack, but now she glances sharply at Kira, all her attention on the kitsune. Her stomach is sinking; this isn't the first time the pack has done something without her, but usually Scott or Stiles at least fill her in. "Why? What happened last night?"
"You didn't hear?" Kira asks, and she seems genuinely confused.
"Hear what?" Lydia's sure she's missing something now, but she doesn't want to let on just how much it bothers her. She's still part of the pack, right? So why should it matter if she's a little out of the loop?
"Last night Malia coyoted out and ran off into the woods," Kira explains, tapping her fingernails against the edge of the desk. "We all had to go and look for her."
"We?" Lydia echoes, shooting a look up the back of the room. None of them are looking at her. "Who's we?"
"You know, the pack," Kira says.
Lydia narrows her eyes, just slightly, but it's enough to make Kira realize her mistake.
"Not the whole pack, of course," she backtracks quickly, "since you weren't there and all. But, uh, most of us."
It's not Kira's fault, and Lydia tries to be understanding. But it's hard when she feels so hurt. She may not be a werewolf, but neither are half of the people in the pack. Why should she be the one getting left out? "So Malia was out there in the woods? By herself?"
"Not for long," Kira assures her, and Lydia can follow her train of thought – the kitsune still thinks that Malia's the one killing people. It had been Lydia's theory, but eventually she'd talked Malia into believing it too. And without explaining everything, she can't convince her that it's not Malia. "She didn't… I mean, we made sure she didn't hurt anyone."
"Good," Lydia says absently, her mind spinning. Why hadn't anyone called her? Why hadn't anyone at least told her? She makes up her mind to talk to Scott about it – he is the alpha, after all – but all thoughts of that quickly get pushed to the side as a whisper snakes its way into her brain.
Lydia. Come to me.
She looks around the classroom in alarm, but nobody else seems to have heard it. Great. Another perk of being a banshee. But this one feels different, and the voice sounds familiar. It goes against every instinct, but she knows she needs to follow the voice. She slides from her seat and hurries out the door, ignoring Kira's startled cry, and makes her way down the hall. There's an empty classroom up ahead, and she knows without being told that that's where she needs to go.
As soon as the door closes behind her, she realizes the room isn't empty. Kate is leaning against the far window, her arms folded and a wolf-like grin on her face.
"So you can hear me," she says, seeming pleased. "That's an interesting little side effect of technically dying – apparently I can communicate with banshees."
Lydia tries not to remember why this is – because she herself is so close to the world of death, so connected to those who are about to die or have already passed on. She's a banshee, which means she walks between the worlds, between life and death. Which is exactly as awful as it sounds.
"What do you want?" she asks, more weary than scared, because something tells her that Kate isn't going to hurt her – not yet, anyway.
"I told you what I want," Kate says, not moving from her place near the window. "Malia. She's the perfect sacrifice. But she's never alone – she's always with some of your other little pack mates."
"So you want me to separate her from the pack?" Lydia guesses.
Kate taps her nose knowingly.
"Well that should be easy, given what great friends Malia and I have become," Lydia says stiffly.
"Your IQ is probably higher than the rest of the pack combined," Kate says, with just a hint of laughter. "I'm sure you can figure out a way to get her on her own."
"And if I don't?" Anger is enough to make Lydia's voice strong, and she's pleased with how fierce she sounds – even if she knows there's no way Kate will believe it.
"Let's just say I came back for Allison, but it's not just teenage girls I'm willing to kill."
Lydia's heart drops to the floor. "Wh-what?"
Kate sighs. "Do I have to spell it out for you?"
A thousand emotions battle for dominance, but the one that sticks is fear. It's uncomfortably familiar, and it causes Lydia to become very, very still. She doesn't need Kate to spell it out, but the hunter does anyway. And then, before Lydia can respond, Kate just smiles, says, "Think about it and get back to me," and flounces from the room.
Lydia stays where she is long after Kate has gone, her mind going over the possibilities, and she feels worse with every passing second. Because, for the first time, part of her is actually considering Kate's plan.
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Don't forget to review! I'd love to hear what you guys think is going to happen next.