Chapter 38: Erudites

Marie was dozing in the passenger seat of the rental car, her headphones silent, and her book fallen between her legs. They'd just switched drivers an hour back and were almost to Elise's cousin's house. Donna was only too happy to host them and show them the sights. Eventually though, they would need to get moving as they were expected in Portland soon to accept their new jobs as travel journalists. However they could afford a couple day's rest in Beacon Hills first.

It was getting dark and she'd pulled off I-5 to fill up the gas tank and grab a can of Arizona iced tea before making the final last few miles to Donna's house just north of Beacon Hills. Only problem was, she wasn't quite sure how to get back on the interstate. The exit had been a couple miles back, and had been one of those exits where you could get off, but couldn't get back on. The entrance was on the other side of Beacon Hills apparently. So Elise had followed the signs and tried to navigate back to the interstate, but somehow she'd gotten turned around and was now driving down a dark lane surrounded by trees.

The headlights caught leaves flying across the road, and the full moon gave the surrounding forest an eerie quality. She was just about to wake up Marie have her search for directions on her smartphone when something large and hairy came barreling out onto the road. Elise screamed and swerved, but there was still a thump as she caught part of the animal. The car came to a halt on the side of the road as Marie jolted awake, staring wide-eyed around them. "What?! What's happened?!" she shouted.

"I just hit something," Elise replied, still breathing heavily from the adrenaline rush.

Marie turned to look out the back window and let out a small gasp. "Shit. It's lying in the middle of the road." She turned back around and opened the passenger side door.

"What are you doing?" Elise asked looking up at her friend.

"Going to check it out," Marie leaned back down to talk through the open door. "It looks weird."

"Marie!" Elise called out, but the younger girl had already left. "Shit!" she let her head drop to the steering wheel where her hands were still clenched before letting out a sigh and getting out of the car as well. "Might as well check for damage," she muttered.

Elise was just breathing a sigh of relief at the damage to the car being all surface damage that was covered under the insurance when Marie called her over. "What is it?" Elise asked making her way over the damp tarmac. She arrived to see the still form of a teenage boy. "What?" Elise backed up a step, her hand slowly coming up to cover her mouth. "Is he dead?"

Marie shook her head. She was crouched next to the pale boy, her hand was at his wrist feeling for a pulse. "He's still got a heartbeat," she said quietly. "You didn't kill him."

"What do you mean? I hit him pretty hard!" Elise stated finally dropping her hands and moving closer.

" Did you want to kill him?" Marie stood up, giving Elise a frown. Elise rolled her eyes and stepped forward to see for herself. "He looks familiar," Marie murmured, eyes traveling over his pale features and short brown hair.

Elise moved to stand next to her friend. "Well we can't just leave him here," she said. "We should call 911."

"He'll be fine. You don't have to do that," a male voice echoed through the dark trees behind them. Both girls whipped around, and Marie's hand strayed to her belt where she kept a small knife for emergencies. However the form emerging from the trees was walking slowly towards them with his hands held up by his head. "I won't hurt you," he said. "I just want to help Liam out," he said.

"Scott?" Marie relaxed a fraction as she took in the young man before them. He wore jeans, a long sleeve henley t-shirt, sneakers, was average height, had warm sun kissed skin, and black hair cut into a fetching side-swept style.

Scott stopped for a moment in his advance towards them. "Do I know you?" he asked.

Marie shook her head. "I… I just know about you. Um… I've heard about your pack through the supernatural grapevine."

Scott smirked as he crouched down next to Liam who was now groaning and coming back around. "Supernatural grapevine?"

"Uh… yeah. We're kinda experts in different forms of supernatural stuff," Elise answered. "We've seen a lot."

Scott gave them a look like he would've loved to pick their brains a bit more, but his attention was drawn back to Liam when the boy tried to get up. "Whoa," he pushed Liam back down. "You just got hit by a car. Hold still for a bit. We're gonna get you to Deaton so he can fix you up."

Liam grunted, but lay back down. "You wanna help me out and get him back into town?" Scott looked up at the two girls. "You did hit him after all."

"Oh, uh, yeah…" Elise blushed a bit. "Sorry about that by the way."

Scott waved her off as he and Marie maneuvered to get Liam into the back of the BMW. It took some work, but eventually they were pulling up to an old brick building and the back door was already open and waiting for them. Dr. Deaton was a veterinarian by day and a Druid by night. Marie and Elise already knew this though, which was another mystery to Scott. Dr. Deaton didn't question the girl's knowledge, and took it all in stride as he worked on setting a few broken ribs for Liam. When Scott tried to ask what Deaton knew about Marie and Elise, the doctor just shook his head and muttered something about Erudites.

"Is he going to be alright?" Elise asked Dr. Deaton after he'd finished wrapping Liam's ribs and setting a broken arm.

"He'll be fine," the Druid replied while Liam swore a blue streak at how tight the wrapping was around his chest.

Elise grimaced and muttered an apology to him. However Liam only glared over at her. He opened his mouth to say something, but Scott nudged him and shook his head while frowning.

Marie began talking to Scott as Elise leaned against the counter while Deaton washed up. "What did you mean when you said Erudites to Scott?" she asked.

Deaton shut off the water and looked over at her with a small smile. "Hand me that towel," he requested and Elise gave him the hand towel sitting next to her. "Erudite is an adjective referring to intelligence."

"Yeah, I knew that," Elise replied.

"That is the base of the word. However over time, it has become a name for people such as yourselves."

"There's others like us? And what do you mean like us?" Elise's brow furrowed in confusion.

Deaton set the towel down and noticed that he had the attention of Scott, Liam, and Marie as well by now. "An Erudite is an individual who has knowledge of the supernatural world mostly through experience. They don't necessarily have any supernatural powers, but they do seem to run into supernatural creatures quite often. Much more so than normal people. Though I'm not sure you could call that a power."

"More like a curse," Marie snorted.

Deaton smiled and nodded. "In some ways. Though I imagine you've seen quite a bit. Gathered much knowledge too."

"I did date a vampire once... for a while," Marie stated, smiling at Deaton. "And she did share some information. I've even started my own Book of Creatures… Book of Shadows… Bestiary… whatever you want to call it."

"Most Erudites do," Deaton replied.

"I had help though starting it. A friend has family that lives in San Francisco, three sisters," Marie gave Deaton a small smile, like she was sharing a secret. "They helped fill in the blanks that I had when starting."

"Ah yes, The Charmed Ones. I've met them briefly."

"Charmed Ones?" Scott finally spoke up. "Something I should know about?"

Deaton turned to the alpha werewolf. "Nothing you need to worry about. They're friendly as are these young women. Erudites are neutral for the most part. They usually don't get caught up in battles and power plays between good and evil even if they do have a personal preference."

Scott nodded and helped Liam to stand. The younger boy groaned slightly as he slid off the examination table. "I think you'd best get him home," Deaton said leading the way towards the door.

Scott pulled Liam's arm over his shoulder and helped him outside where a blue jeep had just pulled up and another boy with dark brown hair and pale skin was jumping out. "Shit, Scott," he murmured before rushing over to help with Liam. "You guys okay? Who are they?" he asked as he looked back over his shoulder at Marie and Elise.

"Erudites," Scott said simply. "I'll explain later, Stiles," he stated at the confused look he received. Scott turned back and held out a hand to shake. "Thanks for your help," he said.

Elise and Marie both shook his hand in turn. "Least we could do for hitting a member of your pack," Marie said happily, eyeing Stiles in the background.

"Come on, we need to get going," Elise smiled. "Oh! Could you tell us how to get back onto the interstate?"

Stiles popped up again at this and told them how to get back without too much trouble. "And if you see any other dark shadows in the woods, just drive faster. That's my motto," he stated as he got back in the Jeep.

Elise chuckled a bit. "Oh yeah! Hang on!" Marie said suddenly as she dug through her purse. She pulled out an old receipt and a pen before jotting down her email and cell number. "Here, just in case you need us," she said handing it to Scott. "We'll be in the area for another couple of days."

"Why would we need them?" Stiles asked.

Scott only smiled though. "Thanks!"

The women nodded and waved as the Jeep reversed before pulling out on the road. They could still hear Stiles begging for explanations as they drove off.

# # #

Two days later, as the women were packing to leave town, Marie got a text on her cell phone. Scott was asking if they could come to breakfast at a small diner on the outskirts of town. He'd included the address and time in the text. Elise and Marie accepted more out of curiosity. They waved goodbye to cousin Donna before taking off and making their way to the small diner that had a sign out front boasting the best pancakes in the tri-state area.

Scott, Stiles, and a redheaded teen (who Marie excited pointed out was Lydia) sat at a large table. As the two women approached, Scott stood up and introduced everyone. "Nice to meet you," Elise nodded towards them as she and Marie took their seats. A waitress who looked way too happy for that early in the morning took their drink orders. Once she had returned with their coffees, waters, and one orange juice Stiles opened the conversation. "So, Erudites huh? Why has noone told me about this? Seriously? Deaton ever think to mention it to me? I mean by his definition, I'm one too!"

"Old people don't like to share information. Kind of a trope, but it's true," Marie shrugged.

"Uh yeah," Scott murmured, but then turned his attention to Stiles. "That and I'm pretty sure they've probably seen more than you, Stiles." He gave Stiles a look that clearly said, be nice.

Lydia spoke up then, her eyes bright and intelligent. "Scott mentioned that you have a Beastiary. If you don't mind, I'd like to see it."

"Sure!" Marie dug in her bag and pulled out a purple Nook. She tapped the screen a few times before handing it over to Lydia.

"You have it in digital format?" she asked as she accepted the e-reader.

"Of course! It's the only way to do things," Marie waved her hand nonchalantly. "I have the original in a Word document and then I turn it into a PDF before uploading it to my Nook for easy access."

"That's brilliant," Lydia commented as she flipped through the pages.

"Let me see," Stiles leaned closer to read over Lydia's shoulder. "Annual Chicken Races?" he raised an eyebrow and looked at the women expectantly.

Elise chuckled and Marie rolled her eyes while letting out an exasperated sigh. "That's down in the Underground in the Goblin Kingdom. It's basically a parallel world to ours run by Jareth the Goblin King."

"Yeah, he's a real pain in the ass. Watch out for him," Marie pitched in as well.

"I made a copy of the original Word doc and put it on this if you're interested," she said holding up a small lime green USB drive with googly eyes indicating which side was the top.

Lydia handed off the Nook to Stiles so he could keep going through it before eagerly accepting the USB drive. "Thank you!" she grinned at the googly eyes.

Marie shrugged. "It's no problem."

"Knowledge is your best weapon," Elise pitched in before sipping at her coffee.

The too happy waitress came back over then with their food orders. All five of them eagerly dug in, happy with the morning's exchanges. The rest of breakfast was spent comparing what supernatural creatures they'd come across, and agreeing that the pancakes were indeed the best in the tri-state area. Marie and Elise made sure they had each of the teens' numbers in their phones and vice versa before getting ready to leave. "Feel free to contact us if you need info!" Elise called out as she and Marie got into the blue convertible.

"You'll probably regret saying that, but thanks!" Stiles called back.

The women only smiled though as everyone drove their separate ways. "Well? Time to get to Portland, Oregon and our adult jobs I say," Elise commented as Marie navigated out onto Interstate 5.

"Ugh," Marie groaned. "I don't want to adult. I just want the money that goes with it."

Elise chuckled. "Don't we all?"