Chapter Nine: Don't Drink the Punch
AN: So, what did everyone think of the little bomb Deaton dropped on Jameson? I thought of having him know her family besides John while I was writing the third book and by then it was too late. Anyway, would love to hear your thoughts on the matter.
~Carry On~
Jameson's Perspective:
I drove Stiles to the Jeep, and then we headed back to Beacon Hills to meet Derek at the animal clinic. The open wounds on my side kept me from speeding and Stiles ended up beating me there despite having left later. He helped me out of the car without making a big deal of it and walked me to the door. Stiles banged on it, and a few moments Deaton popped his head out and motioned for us to follow him in.
"Is he going to be alright?" Stiles asked as guided me into the exam room.
"He'll be fine," Deaton answered," He just needs to rest until the wolfsbane is completely gone from his system."
"What happened?" I asked Derek as Stiles propped me up against the counter.
"It was Victoria, she was trying to kill him."
"WHAT!" Stiles and I hissed simultaneously."
"She was some vapor device to fill the whole room with poisonous smoke. "
That's it! That is absolutely the last straw. With a deep breath I pushed myself off the counter I was leaning and headed to the door, they can't just keep getting away with breaking their code. Somebody has to hold them responsible, why not a Winchester. Someone grabbed the crook of my elbow, stopping me. I turn back to Stiles looking at me with a raised eyebrow.
"Well somebody has got to do something! They can't keep getting away with this, just because their Argents." I tell him.
"You can't kill them, James."
"They're monsters. And that's what I've been trained to do, to kill monsters."
"James." Stiles sighed. He looked behind him for support. Deaton busied himself with work, but Derek made eye contact with me. In that moment, we completely understood each other. We were both lost and hurting in a way only few could imagine. Scott nearly dying at Argent's hand hit to close to home for the both of us as the family had caused the death of people we cared about.
"You can't kill Victoria," Derek said with a sigh, "She's already dying. In the struggle to get Scott out of the room, I ended up biting her."
"You bit her?" I exclaimed.
"I didn't plan to, but it was the only way to stop her."
"So either way she dies." I said feeling somewhat satisfied.
"Why?" Stiles asked.
"The Argents force the bitten hunters to commit suicide if the bite doesn't kill them. You can't be a hunter and abomination. Gerard must be practically giddy."
"Why?" Stiles asked.
"Cause now Chris will bring him Derek's head."
~Carry On~
Stiles' Perspective:
Deaton let James and I stay so someone could help Scott get home. I moved around some chairs in the lobby to make a bed for myself, while Jameson stayed in the exam room. I was halfway to dreamland when I heard Derek speak.
"You're still bleeding."
I perked up but didn't open my eyes.
"It's just a scratch." Jameson downplayed her giant gashes.
"You were injured?" Deaton asked.
"It's nothing."
"Jackson got her."
"Oh yeah, that's what happened." Jameson "remembered" sarcastically. I let out a soft snort.
"Bravado will do you no good here, Miss Winchester." Deaton chastised, "Now, I might be an animal doctor, but I know a thing or two about stitches."
"Fine."
"Now, have a seat." I heard Deaton order her, "Derek, if you would be so kind."
I heard scuffling of feet and then foot steps coming closer. I peered through my lashes to see Derek coming into the lobby. He looked right at me with his usually annoyed expression and seem to be waiting for something. I opened my eyes and his look darkened before grabbing a magazine and sitting as far away from me as he could. I rolled my eyes and then closed them again, settling into the seat to get more comfortable. Minutes passed, and I was starting to drift when another conversation caught my interest.
"What did you mean when you said I looked like my grandmother?"
My eyes shot open and Derek and I both whipped our heads to the opening of the exam room.
"Exactly what I said. You have her face shape and her dark eyes. And she had the same look of suspicion coming into my clinic as you did."
There was silence and Deaton sighed.
"I met her many years ago on hunt."
"Many years ago, is the only time you could have met Nana." Jameson said, her tone colored with a dark humor.
"Yes, I suppose that's true." Deaton replied in a similar tone, "How old were you when it happened?"
There was another pause.
"Three."
"Can you turn to your side more? I need a better angle for the second row."
I waited to hear if they were going to talk more, but it was silent in the back room aside from a hiss from Jameson now and then. I wondered what happened to Jameson's grandmother? By the sounds of it, she had passed away, but their tone had suggested something bad happened. I knew that I would never get Jameson to talk about it, she just about had a stroke when Dad asked about her mom.
I slumped back in my chair and tried to get some sleep for the third time. With better luck this time.
~Carry On~
Jameson's Perspective:
Soon after the vet stitched me up, he sent Stiles and I on our way. He said he would ensure that Scott got home alright. Stiles was both cranky and reluctant and I ended up dragging him out against his will. I waited until he drove away before tailing him back to the house.
Luck was on our side and the Sheriff was still out when we arrived. Most likely he called in to help deal with the aftermath of another Kanima attack. On our way to the vet's office Stiles had received a text that someone had died at the rave tonight. We all knew Jackson would go for it once he was freed but it didn't really felt like we failed until we heard it out loud. I hate Kanimas.
But with the Sheriff out, I didn't have to explain why I was walking like I had a gash in my side. In the mood I was in I probably would have told him the truth. I was dancing up on a werewolf and a Kanima because it was part of the distraction plan for said Kanima but said Kanima was smarter than I gave him credit for because he caught on to our plan and clawed my side. Insert slack-jawed confused look, followed by Jameson saying goodnight and going to bed. In the morning I'll have a more clever answer but tonight I got nothing.
We headed inside and went straight to our rooms, neither of us up for another conversation about how much tonight sucked. Maybe tomorrow after we've licked our wounds. I seem to be saying that a lot…tomorrow. I'll call Dean tomorrow, I'll start that English paper tomorrow, I'll be…okay tomorrow. Tomorrow is just an excuse not to deal with out issues today. It gets people off your back and you have time to figure out another excuse or lie or whatever. Maybe it's time to man up.
I slowly remove my clothes so not to aggravate my wounds. Once I got my clothes out of the way, I looked at the gauze covering my scratches. They were still fresh looking and not marred by blood like the ones I had Stiles put on earlier.
I walked over to my duffle and pull out my bed shirt and dug my way in it. I pulled out my brush and brushing my hair, when my phone caught my eye. Something on my tomorrow list. I flipped open the old phone and greeted by a picture of me and the one person I have spent weeks avoiding. But now after talking about my Nana and the dredging up of old memories… My finger hovers over the number 2, ready to press it turn on the speed dial.
"Tomorrow." I tell myself before closing the phone. I attached the charger and, on an impulse, threw a shirt over it. I turned from the phone and readied myself for bed.
~Carry On~
The week following the Rave was Spring Break. However it wasn't much of a break as I spent most of my time with Scott watching our favorite deadly neighborhood Kanima. Jackson was strangely normal, and not normal by his standards, I mean he was keeping his head down and had holed himself up with his home since Saturday. There was no scaling-out or nothing. Overall, it was an extremely boring stakeout.
On Tuesday night, I was asked , no told, that on Wednesday I was to take a break from surveillance as I was needed to go birthday present shopping for the future Mrs. Stiles Stilinski. He apparently needed a girl's opinion. I could have told him that Derek was more of a girl than I was, as my idea of a cool gift is a sawed off shot-gun modified to fire rock salt bullets. But the prospect of frustrating Stiles as he panicked across the mall was too good of an opportunity to pass up. So I agreed to go. I told him I would meet up with him after his afternoon lacrosse practice, which gave me plenty of time to do a warm up act on Maureen at the diner.
I texted Isaac if he wanted to do brunch. He said yes and I told him I would swing by the station around 10:30 and for him not to keep me waiting. Which he did, it was only five minutes bu-t I was starving and cranky from sleeping odd hours, cramped in my car. I had been spoiled by the bed I had at the Stilinski house and I wasn't too sure how I would go back to my backseat once the job was done. I decided to descend the stairs into the den of wolves and walked in upon what seemed to be a meeting of Team Alpha Douche.
"It's a triskele." I heard Boyd say, "Spirals mean different things, past, present, future."
"Mother, Father, Child, "I added announcing my presence to the four werewolves, "Beginning, Middle, End, etc. Sorry to barge in, but Isaac was taking too long."
"Impressive, Winchester." Derek commended, "Do you know what it means to me?"
"The three levels of douchery?" I asked smartly. Derek rolled his eyes and turned to Boyd expectantly.
"Alpha, Beta, Omega?" Boyd asked.
"That's right," Derek said. Sensing a lesson I walked closer to the group, choosing a spot next to Isaac, who wrapped an arm around my shoulder and pulled me closer, "It's a spiral. Reminds us that we can all rise to one or fall to another. Betas can become Alphas, but Alphas can also fall to Betas or even Omegas."
"Like Scott?" Isaac asked. I looked up at him with a questioning look, there seemed to be something more to his question than simple clarification.
"Scott's with us."
"Really?" Isaac asked looking around, "Then where is he now?"
"He's watching Jackson. He's been pretty quiet since the Rave, but it could be just the calm before the storm. Which is why we've been keeping an eye on him, day and night." I answered.
"Good," Derek said to me before turning to his Beta, "Scott's not gonna have it easy tonight either. None of us will. There's a price you pay for this kind of power. You get the ability to heal. But tonight you're gonna want to kill anything you can find, including her."
Derek said the last part while nodding in my direction. Isaac looked down at me like he was waiting for me to run.
"Like even wolfed out you could take me, Lahey." I told him, to which he quirked an eyebrow at me in amusement.
"Well I guess it's a good thing I had my period last week, then." Erica said. I snickered at the boys' expression, only Derek seemed un-phased by her mention of her period.
"Well this one's for you," Derek said holding up a medieval looking torture device. It was a metal hoop that had about screws drilled through. Kind of looked like a lobotomy instrument. Erica's once bad-ass expression fell at the sight of it. I would not want to be in her shoes for anything and that wasn't just because they were death heels either.
"Well on that note, I'm starving." I announced, "You ready, Lahey?"
"In a second let me just grab my jacket." He said, releasing me from his side. The other two left as well, leaving me with Derek.
"Be careful with him out there." Derek warned as he packed up his box of fun things.
"He'll be fine, it's just brunch, and then I'll bring him straight back here to you." I told Derek.
"Just try to make sure he doesn't get…riled up." He said his voice full of implications.
"Trust me when I say there will be no riling up on my end, unlike my brothers I have standards of propriety." I say in mock offense. The corner of him mouth twitches.
"I'm sure you do," he replied.
"Hey, Jameson!" Isaac called out, and I turned to see him standing at the foot of the stairs, "You coming?"
"Be there in a sec, "I said before turning back to Derek, I bent at my waist in a mock bow. "By your leave, your Alpha Doucheness."
"Go on, get out of here." Derek said dismissively. I smiled and straightened up and met Isaac at the bottom of the stairs. He grabbed my hand and pulled me along up the stairs.
~Carry On~
Derek's Perspective:
As I watched Jameson and Isaac, I couldn't help feel like history was repeating itself again, more so than it was with Scott. A broken boy who falls for a girl who's just as broken but seems to have all the answers. And just like last time, the girl doesn't feel the same way. I doubt Isaac notices it, as obsessed with her as he is. He only notices the smiles and her willingness to be near him. He doesn't see how her whole body tenses every time he touches her or how her fingers itch like she's fighting her instinct to grab her weapons. He doesn't see the hard look in her eye that says she's been hurt to many times to truly love something. He doesn't know he's already lost. And I doubt Jameson knows what she's doing either, as absorbed as she is in her own pain. She's seeking the comfort that only a friend can give, not noticing he wants to do a lot more than comfort her.
Maybe letting him out wasn't a good idea. If he makes a move and she rejects him, I'm not sure how he'll react with the full moon happening tonight. Or if he's wise enough to keep silent, another guy might not be. As flirty as I have seen her be, she'll probably play along, and Isaac might tear him apart. I knew Jameson would be able to handle him, she could even take him down if she had to. And ultimately, Isaac and Jameson were the least of my worries. There's Jackson, the Argents, Boyd and Erica's first full moon. And the first one is always the hardest.
As for Jackson we are nowhere closer to finding out who the Master is or what their plan might be than we were a week ago. I though our attempt at the Rave would give us more answers but all it did was leave us with more questions. What did he mean that he was murdered? Jameson thought maybe somehow a vengeful ghost was able to connect with Jackson or even possess him. She had argued that his constant state of angry opens him up to possession. Yet I've never heard of a ghost being able to do something like that but then again I don't know much about Kanimas. And even if it is a ghost we still need to find out who the Master is so we can salt and burn the remains or the totem keeping the spirit here. I felt like we were back at square one.
I sighed before pulling the chains out of the trunk and heading to one of the train cars to set them up. We were all in for a long night.
~Carry on~
Stiles' Perspective:
I wasn't thrilled with idea of James going out with Isaac again, especially on the full moon. I mean I don't like the guy on a regular day, and after the last full moon I didn't see his chances of him getting into my good graces improving on the second. When I said that to Jameson, she laughed and reminded me that last month I didn't like her and now she was living with me. I told her it was not the same thing, she wasn't a werewolf. She rolled her eyes and said "See you later, Boss," before closing the door behind her.
To take my mind off about a hormonal werewolf all over my friend, I decided to take another look at the 2005 yearbook. Something about it was bothering me, like I had missed something so obvious. I flipped through the book for like the hundredth time going over it page by page.
"Hey, what you are doing?" Dad asked me, mid page flip.
"Homework." I answered. Hoping he'll let it go and not ask too many questions. From the corner of my eye I see him nod and walk off.
"It's Spring Break." Dad said coming back his voice laced with suspicion. "What do you think you're doing?"
"Just satisfying my own curiosity." I answered as he came into the room.
Dad sighs and closed the yearbook.
"We brought Harris in this morning for questioning." He told me, before despondently amending, "They brought him in."
"AND?"
"And they're working on a warrant to arrest him for the murders."
"For all of them?"
"Enough of them."
"With what proof?"
"You remember the couple at the trailer?"
I nodded.
"The tire tracks nearby match Harris' car."
"That's not enough." I exclaim. I open the yearbook again and start flipping to the page I had left off on. Dad closes the book again.
"The same car was also seen outside the hospital where the pregnant wife was killed. It's got some bumper sticker on it, a quote from Einstein."
"Wait, what quote?" I asked, wondering if it was the one he said in class the day Derek had Lydia tested.
"Something about imagination and knowledge."
"'Imagination is more important than knowledge.' Yeah. I saw the same car parked outside the rave."
"That means you're a witness. You're going to have to give a statement."
"But what about the concert promoter, Kara. She wasn't in Harris' class, right?" I asked, "I mean what does Mr. Lahey have to do with Mr. Harris?"
"It doesn't matter." My dad said, "The tire tracks put Harris at the site of three murders. That's damning evidence."
"No," I insisted, "It's not enough."
"I thought you hated this guy."
"I don't hate him, all right? He hates me. And, you know, if he killed them all, then yeah lock the psycho up." I tell my dad, "But there's something missing. There's gotta be something missing. "
"Hey," dad calls to get my attention and when I don't turn to him he tries again, "Hey! You don't have to solve this for me."
"No, but I have to do something." I say, I then look up at my dad whose face has become very serious.
"What?"
"Look at the swim team."
I looked down at the picture and saw the names of all the victims including…
"Dad, the coach." I called his attention to a picture at the bottom of the page, "It's Isaac's dad."
"I'm going to call the station." Dad said taking the book with him and heading out the door, he stops once he gets to the opening, "Oh, and tell Jameson I want to talk to her when you guys get back from the party."
"Why?"
"Something about her story isn't adding up, I just need her to clarify some things."
"Like?"
"Like if she was ever in a foster home." Dad said before leaving the room.
"Shit." I mumble under my breath. Let's hope Jameson has got a good story ready.
~Carry On~
"So how strongly does your father feel about lying?" Jameson asked as we looked around the Macy's.
"Strongly enough that you could lose his trust forever." I told her, knowing that I was almost to that point as well.
"Huh."
"What?"
"Well it's just that I was always encouraged to lie. You know when in doubt, lie, lie, lie." Jameson said with a dark smile as she went through a rack of shirts.
"What are you going to tell him?" I asked.
"A better lie, I suppose. "
"You could tell him the truth." I offered.
"Oh, yeah. Yeas, Mr. Sheriff, sir, my name's Jameson Winchester and I hunt supernatural creatures for a living along with my two brothers. They pissed me off so I ran away and am now chasing after a Kanima, who happens to be Jackson Whittemore, with help of your son and his werewolf best friend." She said sarcastically.
"Okay, I now see why the family motto is Lie, Lie, Lie."
"Actually, it's Saving People, Hunting Things but Lie, Lie, Lie works to."
I go back to looking for something Lydia would like when a thought occurred to me. What if he doesn't believe her? What would she do? Would she have to leave? Would dad put her in the system?
"So what are you going to do if my Dad doesn't believe you?"
Jameson sighed.
"Find someplace else to live, I suppose. I'm not leaving until the job's done."
I nodded. I was glad that she would be sticking around. She was the only one who knew how to deal with a Kanima, and as of now the only one I trusted to back up Scott in a fight besides me. Besides she wasn't that bad, you know when she wasn't worrying me with something she said or hanging out with a teenage werewolf. Okay Scott's one too but…it's not the same thing.
"How about this?" I asked Jameson pulling a dress of the rack that looked similar to something I had seen Lydia wear the other day. Jameson gave me and the dress an odd look.
"It's an interesting shirt, that's for sure." She replied. I looked back at the dress than her.
"It's a dress."
"Then where's the rest of it?" She asked. I huffed and put the dress back on the rack. I was beginning to wonder if bringing her was such a good idea. She had knocked most of my suggestions and then offered even crazier ones of her own like a house phone shaped like lips. Who would want something like that?
"Well fine what do you think I should get her?" I asked. However I cut her off when she opens her mouth, "Besides the lip phone."
Jameson smiles almost proudly.
"Well what does she like?"
I open my mouth to answer, but I realized I didn't know.
"Favorite movie?"
I frowned at that one.
"Favorite book or author?" Jameson narrowed the question down again. I had nothing to say, "Okay let's start off with something small, how about her favorite color."
I actually knew this one.
"Light palish blue."
"Light palish blue." She repeated, "Okay, let's start with that, let's find things that are light palish blue."
"Okay." I said, "I knew you wouldn't let me down."
"Yes you did. I heard you mumbling earlier," she said with a grin, "Yeah sure Stiles, bring Jameson, she's loads of help."
"Ju-J-J-Just shut up and go look for blue things."
Jameson snapped to attention and saluted me, before doing an about face and marching off to complete her mission. I roll my eyes at her before heading off in the other direction. In the end I walked out of the mall with various items in the color blue, some jewelry I thought Lydia might like and a big screen TV. Jameson took one look at the TV and just walked away and I didn't see her for the rest of the afternoon. Well, considering how my plan was to take these item home and decide there what I was going to give her, I guess I can mark the TV off the list. Apparently it's a bit too much. Hopefully whatever I decide it will win me big points with Lydia. Tonight was going to be my night.
~Carry On~
"Happy Birthday!" I greeted Lydia as she opened the door. I lightly shook the gift I had gotten her. I had ended up choosing the decorative blue bird cage that Jameson had picked out. It had a false bottom where she could hide things in. I thought it was appropriate for Lydia, since she always hides how smart she is.
"Yeah." She said.
"Coming in." I told her. I tried to get through the door way but it wouldn't go through. "Oh, whoa. Can't."
I continued to try to shove the gift through the door.
"Okay." I said when I saw it still wasn't working, "You know, you don't…can you just grab that side, maybe?"
Lydia rolled her eyes and turned around and began to walk away.
"Don't forget to try the punch." She called out. I continue you to push the box, and at one point I slammed against it like I would a stuck door. By the third slam, the box finally budged and flew through. And the next thing I knew I was on the floor.
"Ow!" I exclaimed. When I opened my eyes again two pairs of feet came into view, and I looked up to see Scott and Jameson wearing identical expressions.
"Don't say anything." I say through gritted teeth.
"I think that in moments like these, laughter is more appropriate than words." Jameson said with a smirk.
"Yeah, ha ha, ha, laugh it up." I said sarcastically as I got up.
"Well if you insist," Jameson replied before bursting out laughing. Scott even let go and laughed along with her.
"I just don't know why you didn't turn the present." Jameson said once she calmed down.
"I-I-I—Just shut up James."
"She's kinda got a point man," Scott said sheepishly scratching the back of his neck.
"You can shut up too." I said picking up the present and heading to where I had seen few others stacked. A moment later I heard them fall in step behind me.
"Why is Stiles so mean, we didn't do anything?" I heard Jameson stage whisper to Scott.
"Maybe it's his time of the month." Scott offered. Jameson snorted.
"You know you two are really hilarious," I turned my head to yell at them, "Why don't you two comedians go bother somebody else."
I turned my face forward and continued on my way.
"Definitely his time of the month." Jameson said. Scott began to chuckle. I turned back to glare at him and he tried to cover it up with a cough. I rolled my eyes and dropped my present off next to Lydia's gift table.
"If you two are done, let's get to business." I said to my two friends who were trying to look innocent now, "Have you guys seen Jackson anywhere?"
"No." The pair said simultaneously.
"Did you see Allison outside?" Scott asked. Jameson rolled her eyes.
"No," I answered choosing not to address Jameson's attitude, "but we should probably tell her what we found."
"I'm still kind of not sure what we found," Scott said as we started to move towards the back of the house.
"I figured out it has something to do with water. You know, the fact that all the victims were on the swim team, the way the Kanima reacted around the pool. I think Jameson was right the fear of the water was coming from the master."
"It's a gift." Jameson said flipping her hair. I rolled my eyes.
"So whoever is controlling the Kanima really hates the swim team?" Scott asked.
"Hated the swim team. Specifically, the 2005 swim team. So it could be another teacher. Maybe, like a student back then. I mean, who are we missing? What haven't we thought of?"
"Maybe they drowned." Jameson said thoughtfully.
"What?" I asked.
"Well the Master fears water, right? That has to come from somewhere."
"Yeah but why the swim team?"
"Maybe he was on the swim team at some point and you're a teenager you know what it's like when a bunch of us get together."
"Maybe he drowned by accident like at a party or something," Scott started the ball.
"And they all ran off scared." Jameson continued.
"And the Master blames them because they left them to die." I finish.
Jameson nods.
"Well it's better than my theory." I say.
"Which was?" Jameson asked.
"He's killing them off because our swimming team sucks."
Both Jameson and Scott give me an annoyed look.
"Maybe we should poke aroun—"Jameson started off but Scott cut her off when he saw Allison.
"Hey," he greeted his girlfriend. She smiles at him.
"Uh, Jackson's not here."
"Yeah, no one's here." I said noticing the practically empty patio.
"Maybe it's just early." Scott said optimistically.
"Or maybe nobody's coming because Lydia's turned into the town whack job."
"Nice, Stiles, that's really going to win her over." Jameson said sarcastically. I made a "well" gesture with my hands. She scoffs and turns her head away from me.
"Well, we have to do something because we've completely ignored her for the past two week." Allison said.
"She's completely ignored Stiles for the past ten years." Scott said. Jameson snorted loudly, not even trying to hide her amusement.
"I prefer to think of it as me not having been on her radar yet." I said in my own defense.
"We don't owe her a party." Scott told his girlfriend.
"Wow, McCall that's the rudest thing I have heard you say." Jameson said sounding impresses, "I think I like you a little bit better now."
Allison shot her a loathing look, to which Jameson only smiled. She's practically begging for a fight.
"What about the chance to get back to normal?"
"Normal? What's normal?" Jameson asked.
"She wouldn't be the town whack job if it wasn't for us." Allison argued. Scott and I sighed.
"I guess I could use my co-captain status to get the lacrosse team here." Scott offered.
"Yeah, I also know some people who can get this thing going, like really going."
"Who?" Allison asked.
"I met them the other night. Let's just say they know how to party," I told her, "Shut-up, Jameson."
I had seen her face from the corner of my eye she as practically giddy when she put two and two together.
"I wasn't going to say anything." She said trying to sound innocent.
"Sure you weren't," I said, pulling my phone out to make a call. She just grins.
"Just let them know the same rules as last time, when they bring you back home I want to see no tattoos, piercings, or unnatural hair colors."
"Just shut-up," I say shoving her face away. I could feel her grin under my hand. She lives for this.
"How long do his man periods usually last, Scott?" Jameson asked.
"They're supposed to stop?" Scott answers. Jameson completely loses it and actually has to walk away and Scott's grinning like he won the lottery. Some best friends they've turned out to be. Wait, best? Jameson?
I watched them for a second as I waited for the person on the other end to pick up. They seemed closer than they were a week ago. They were a good tag team, I mean Jameson even got Scott to joke around a bit more than he normally would. And then I thought about the three of us, and how we gelled together so quickly. It kind of felt like Jameson had always been with us, even though we know practically nothing about her. I looked over the Allison who was standing around like some outsider. She seemed surprised about the way Scott was acting and she didn't seem to know how to jump into our routine. But in a way I guess she's always been the outsider. My thoughts were cut off by the sound of someone greeting me on the other end.
"Hey, it's Stiles. Yeah from The Jungle. I was just wondering if you'd be down for a party." I asked.
~Carry On~
Jameson's Perspective:
Within a half hour the part was in full swing. Stiles and Scott really delivered. But I doubt that they'll ever hear a thank-you for their efforts. Not even Allison said anything. But then again she didn't seem to be saying much of anything lately, if all Scott's longing looks at his phone the past few days were any indication. And there were a lot of them.
"Are you going to apologize to Allison or what?" Stiles asked Scott, after about an awkward twenty minutes of the pair pining over each other. It really was sickening looking at them. She'll look at him, and the he'll look at her and she'll turn away, and then he'll stare at her until she looks at him and so on and son. God, it made me sick.
"Why should I apologize?" Scott asked.
"Because you're the guy. It's what we do."
"It's true." I said taking a sip of the punch Lydia had made.
"But I didn't do anything wrong." Scott said confused.
"Then you must have really screwed up." I told him.
"What?" Scott asked.
"See, any time a guy thinks he hasn't done anything wrong, it means he's definitely done something wrong." Stiles explained.
"Yeah, you got to work on picking up on the non-verbal, because with girls it's what they're not saying that's going to get you."
"I'm not apologizing." Scott insisted.
"Is that the full moon talking, buddy?" Stiles asked.
"Probably. Why do you care, anyway?" Scott asked him.
"Because, Scott, something's gotta go right here." Scott said, "I mean, we're getting our asses royally kicked, if you haven't noticed. People are dying. I got my dad fired. You're gonna be held back in school. I'm in love with a nut job. And James' is one lie away from being homeless or worse. And if on top of all that I have to watch you lose Allison to a stalker like Matt, I'm going to stab myself in the face."
Scott huffs in irritation and looks out across the pool, when all the sudden he tenses and stands up.
"Don't stab yourself in the face." Scott said.
"Why?"
"Because Jackson's here." He replied. I whipped my head in the direction he was looking in and sure enough there was Jackson. He was walking into the backyard, his movements seems natural unlike the stiff robotic movements of when he was possessed. Maybe he was actually Jackson. We watched as Lydia came up to him and brought him a glass of punch, before returning to her hosting duties. He takes a sip and looks over at us and gives us a dark look. Okay maybe he's still sore about the alleged kidnapping; it doesn't have to mean he's possessed at the moment. He turned his head to the side and the light it his eye just right, revealing his snake-like eye.
"Awesome." I commented.
"Keep an eye on him." Scott told us. Stiles and I nodded, before heading in different directions. We've now gone from a birthday party to a hunting party.
~Carry On~
I wandered around the edges of the party keeping an eye on Jackson as I moved about the crowd. My knife was pinned to my side, hidden in the folds of the Sam's flannel shirt. I was coming up on Jackson when I was waylaid by Lydia.
"Hi, Jameson is it?"
"Yea." I said suspiciously.
"Cute boots." She complimented me. I looked down at my knee-high boots that I've had for at least two years. They were used when I got them so I don't even know how old they are. They had a worn look to them and weren't exactly her style. I really hope I'm not walking into a scene from Mean Girls.
"Thank-you."
"So I saw that you came with Scott." She stated. There it is.
"Yeah, he needed a ride, his mom needed the car."
"So you don't have any…let's say designs on him?"
"Can he be designed on?" I asked.
"Well let's hope for your sake he can't be, because Allison is my best friend I don't want to see her get hurt."
"You can tell Allison that she can sleep easy, I won't be staying for long anyway."
"Good," she said, "Have some punch."
Lydia handed me a glass of punch. I take it with a tense smile. She looks at me expectantly, and I took a sip.
"Good, isn't it?"
"Yeah, you have a gift." I mockingly complimented her. She gave me a false smile before sauntering off to continue to pass out her drinks. Once she was out of sight I threw back the rest of the drink, I was too old for this.
I shook off my encounter with Lydia and walked towards Jackson, when I saw someone go into the house. I completely abandoned my mission and followed after them. They led me out to the front yard, where I finally got a good look at the ghost I had been chasing. No, it can't be.
"Dad." I called out. He turned around to face me.
"Well look at you kid, your all grown up." He said.
"You can't be here." I said in disbelief, "You're dead."
"Come on Jamie, you know us Winchesters are hard to kill."
"You can't be here." I repeated.
"Can't a man come see his baby girl?" he said throwing his arms open wide. I noticed that he had a familiar whiskey bottle in his right hand, and my hand went immediately to a spot above my eyebrow, the scar stung like it had been freshly cut.
"Don't call me that!" I grit out, removing my hand from my head.
"Ah that's why your Dean's girl." He said before looking around, "Does he know what you said to me that day?"
I didn't answer.
"That you hated me, that if I died that day you wouldn't shed a tear."
I still kept quiet I couldn't tell Dean that he would hate me forever.
"Oh, but you couldn't tell Dean, not your precious big brother, who would love you then?" John taunted, "The irony of it kid is in trying to be so much like him, you forgot one thing?"
"What's that?"
"He's just like me."
I knew what he was implying, and I didn't like it.
"I'm nothing like you."
"Really? So you weren't just drinking on the job? Your fingers don't itch for you knife every time you come near one of you werewolf friends? I know mine do." He taunted, ending his speech with the infamous Winchester smirk.
"Shut up!" I yelled at him as I lunged at him. But instead of landing on him, I felt the roughness of grass. I got up quickly knowing I had to keep moving or John would get a hit in, but when I got up he was gone.
"Come out and face me you coward." I yelled into the night, "Come on you and me. John!"
~Carry On~
Scott's Perspective:
"You guys seen Lydia?" I asked some of the partygoers, "You know where Lydia is? Have you seen Lydia? Lydia? Oh, where's Lydia?"
I kept looking around for Lydia but I couldn't find her. I needed to know what she put in that punch. I figured if I couldn't find her, I knew someone who always knew where she was. I ended up finding Stiles by the hot tub, staring aimlessly into the distance. I tried to get his attention but he wasn't able to focus.
"I'll be right back." I said to him. I went back into the house, and headed for the kitchen. I remember seeing water bottles in there. That will hopefully start sobering him up. I walked out back and brought it to him. I opened the bottle and held it out to him.
"Stiles, look at me." I said shaking him with my other hand, "Drink the water. Stiles drink it! Something's happening, and I need you to sober up right now. Come on, Stiles."
"What do you think you're doing?" a girl asked, sticking her head between the two brick pillars against one pool of the hot tub, "You want to sober him up fast. That's not the way to do it."
"You can do better?" I asked her.
"I can do best, boy." She replied. She grabbed Stiles' arm and put a hand on his head and dunked him in the hot tub.
"Oh my god!" I exclaimed. Stiles started floundering and the girl pulled him back up.
"Whoo!" she exclaimed. Stiles was sputtering out water, "How do you feel?"
"Like I might have to revisit my policy on hitting a girl." Stiles threatened.
"He's sober." She said with an accomplished sniff.
"Thanks." I tell her. She nods and leaves.
"What was in that punch?" Stile asked.
"I don't know, have you seen Lydia?" I asked him.
"I haven't seen much of anything. Have you seen Jameson?"
"No, I was too busy looking for Lydia."
"Okay, I'll look for Lydia you look for Jameson. We'll meet back here."
"Okay," I reply, and I get out from my crouch and go look for Jameson. I turned around in a circle for a bit until I caught her scent. I followed the scent to the front yard. She had her knife out and she was standing like she was bracing herself for a fight.
"Jameson," I called out to her, and like with Stiles it was like she couldn't even hear me, "Jameson!"
I walk closer and touch her shoulder. That seemed to get her attention she reached up to take my hand, and rests it there for a moment. Then suddenly I'm on the ground with a Jameson on top of me and a knife at my throat. Her eyes were ablaze with anger, before they began to come back into focus.
"Scott," she says in surprise, before scrambling off me to stand up, "You shouldn't be here. He'll kill you."
"Who?"
"My father." She said turning away from me looking for him. I've never seen her so agitated; it was almost like she was afraid.
"Jameson," I said grabbing her shoulders and turning her back around, "It's not real, whatever you're seeing it's not real."
"But…"
"Somebody drugged the punch."
"What?"
"It's not real, trust me, we're okay." I told her looking her in her eyes, rubbing up and down her arms. She seemed to believe and nodded, "Come on, let's find Stiles, okay?"
Jameson nodded.
"Okay," I said taking her hand and leading her inside. She seemed so broken I really didn't know what to do. I kept her close as we headed to the patio area. Stiles spotted us and made his way through the crowd.
"Good you found her. I can't find Lydia anywhere. And, dude, anyone who drank that crap, they're freaking out. "Stiles said. He pointed towards some people across the pool. Who were starting to jump into the pool and others were screaming nearby.
"I can see that." I reply.
"Hey, are you okay?" Stiles asks Jameson who's still gripping my hand.
"Yeah, fine. Just had a little too much to drink, I'm not that steady on my feet."
"Well that's great." Stiles exclaimed, "We kind of need you battle ready, James. I thought you said Winchester's drank alcohol like a horse drinks water."
"Hey, lay off man." I tell him, putting myself in between them, "She'll be fine."
Stiles throws his arms up in exasperation. I felt Jameson squeeze my hands in thanks.
"Well what the hell do we do?" Stiles asked.
"I don't know, "I responded, "but we gotta…"
"I can't swim!" we heard someone exclaim and we all turned towards the commotion. Two guys were pulling Matt to the pool even though he was telling them over and over again that he couldn't swim. They throw him anyway. It was like watching a car accident in progress. My mind couldn't catch up with my body, I wanted to go help him but I couldn't move. Instead he got help from someone nobody expected … Jackson. He pulled him out of the water and up on the pool deck. Jackson looked menacingly at the crowd as he helped Matt up.
"What are you looking at?" Matt screamed at the partyers. Everyone looked away, and Matt walked through the crowd right between me and Stiles stopping to give me a dark look before pushing past me. The three of us watched him in shock. A siren sounded nearby, breaking out gaze from Matt.
"The cops are here. Party's over!" Somebody yelled. Everyone started fleeing the party, moving out in a massive surge.
"We're better get out of here before your Dad hears about this." Jameson said to Stiles. He nodded and ran towards the back, "Come on, Scott my car's down the street."
We run out front, and narrowly avoided the cops. We race down the street towards Jameson's car when I caught a scent. I turned towards it stopping Jameson in her tracks. Across the street was a shaking Matt, but I couldn't tell if it was from anger or from the cold.
"SON OF A BITCH!" Jameson exclaimed when she looked down at Matt's feet. The Kanima was curled around Matt's legs hissing menacingly. A bunch of people then ran in front of us cutting off from seeing Matt and once they cleared away Matt was gone, "Shit he just pulled a Batman!"
I gave her a look as if to say, "Really?"
"Sorry," she apologized.
"We've got to find Stiles."
"Let's go!" She said taking off in the direction in which Stiles had run off in. She pulled out her phone and called him.
"Hey, Stiles? Yeah, um I think I owe you ten bucks."
~Carry On~
Thins are beginning to shake-up. Only 3 more chapters left in Wayward Winchester and then I will start posting the revised summer stories. So be on the look out for them. Please review and let me know what you think about the story.