Don't you know the path you're on is paved
With all the hearts you've been leaving broken and bleeding
And can't you see the life you're living only ends
With lying and cheating, hurt and deceiving
Rules of Attraction – Joe Brooks
"Look, at the time of the killings, I was in Paris. News didn't really circulate very quickly back in the day, so by the time I found out about it, it was too late for me to try and track him – or her – down. Besides, at the time I thought he was brilliant, why would I have wanted to take him down?"
Stiles grinned from where he was shaking the plastic lock to his locker. "Did you just use 'back in the day' un-ironically?"
"You'd say it too if you were over two hundred years old," I responded defensively, crossing my arms over my costume, making my breasts stand out even more than usual. I'd changed out of my Alice in Wonderland costume, deciding to spend the day dressed as a military officer with boots, shorts and a camouflage button-up, a set of dog tags hanging from around my neck.
Stiles certainly seemed to appreciate the change of costume, if the way he'd kissed me when he'd first seen me was anything to go by.
"Point taken; you're old and powerful," he murmured with a teasing eye roll, a dig I was sure I'd heard from him before. "We get it. You still let Jack the Ripper get away, though."
I tutted, rolling my eyes right back as I tipped my head back against the lockers, peering out over the students filling the corridors before class. "I'm not having this argument with you for a third time."
He opened his mouth to retort, only to cut himself off when he accidentally knocked something out of his locker. I acted on instinct as my hand snapped out and I plucked it from the air, holding the keys up for him to take, my attention still on the passing kids.
He murmured an absent thanks and took the keys from me, before pausing when something caught his eye. "Hello," he muttered thoughtfully, and I glanced over at him with a raised eyebrow. "Where did you come from?" he asked, staring down at a particular key on his keyring. I didn't recognise it, but that wasn't saying much – I wasn't such a clingy girlfriend that I memorised each of his keys, I had some restraint.
"Incoming," I murmured as I spotted Scott pushing through the doors. Stiles' attention moved from the mysterious key to his best friend. He waved over at the wolf, but the alpha only had eyes for Kira, who was standing at the opposite end of the hall, staring back at him forlornly.
After a beat she turned and fled, ducking over to her locker in a clear move that told him not to follow her. He tried anyway, but my hand shot out and I grasped him by the collar, yanking him back to our side, stopping him from following her like a pathetic puppy.
"Scott, no. Stop," Stiles muttered to his friend, pressing a palm to his chest as he continued to struggle.
"I need to talk to her," the alpha argued, frowning at the pair of us.
"No you don't," Stiles replied quietly, the voice of reason. "You need to remember that someone left a coded message telling Barrow to kill her."
"Which is why I need to talk to her," he countered, miserably staring across the hall at the girl who was dead set on ignoring us.
"Scott, no way," Stiles had clearly put his foot down, waving his hands in the air to emphasise his point. "Until we figure out if she's just another psychotic monster that's gonna start murdering everybody, I vote against any and all interaction."
For a moment Scott floundered for a rebuttal. "What if she's like me?" he finally settled on saying.
"She survived a lethal dose of electricity which she then absorbed into her hands like something out of a comic book," I told him, my tone making my incredulity clear.
"She's not like you, Scott," Stiles added, gesturing in her direction. I glanced her way to see her head ducked down as she scurried down the hall, away from us, no doubt. The wolf looked put out, but also like he knew we had a point. He sighed, ducking his head and shuffling away sadly. "Where do you think this key came from?" my boyfriend asked curiously, attention back on the mysterious key in his hand.
"A locksmith, probably," I replied lightly, and he sent me an unimpressed look that rivalled my own. I smiled back innocently.
Classes passed by quickly. I was with Stiles for most of them – I'd changed my schedule at the beginning of term to make sure ours matched, so sue me – but we didn't talk much. People commented on my Halloween costume, and I conveyed to Stiles how perplexed I was that hardly anyone else was wearing one. He'd laughed like I'd said something funny then moved forward in the lunch line.
"Hey, cute costume," an familiar face said, and I looked up to see the boy from our year, Danny, grinning at me widely. "Just wanted to know if you guys were coming to my black light party tonight?" he asked, and my eyebrows scrunched confusedly.
"What party?"
"For Halloween," he explained. "You really didn't know about it?"
I hesitated. "I'm not really...'in the loop', as it were," I murmured in response, and he chuckled heartily.
He told me to come anyway, rattling off an address and telling me to pass the word around about the change in venue. He was gone before I could tell him that I'd rather spend it at home, giving out candy to kids dressed as vampires and lowering the temptation to snack on a sweaty, half-naked freshman.
"Did you know about the party tonight?" I asked Stiles as we wandered outside to eat our lunch.
"Danny's black light party?" he looked at me curiously, and I nodded.
"Yeah, it's gonna be great, all of his parties are-"
"Stiles! Jules!" Scott's familiar voice hissed from the tree on the front lawn during our free period, interrupting whatever Stiles had been saying.
We looked up, raising an eyebrow at the frantic wolf who rushed across the grass towards us.
"I need your help," the wolf said once he reached us.
I eyed him carefully, leaning back against the bark of the tree and waiting impatiently for him to continue.
"There's something on Kira's phone that nobody can see," he told us in a rush. My eyebrows hit my hairline, curiosity filling me. "I need you to get the keycards from your dad and help Kira and I to break into the station to get it back."
Stiles seemed stunned into silence by the strange request. "What's on the phone?" I asked slyly, eyeing the werewolf closely.
"It's not important," Scott finally answered, looking back at me with those puppy-dog eyes I was so familiar with.
I smirked widely, amusement bubbling up my chest. "It's a sex tape, isn't it?" I said with a devious grin. "Way to go, Scotty!"
"It's not-!" he cut himself off, glancing over his shoulder to make sure nobody could hear. "It's not a sex tape," he hissed at me, and I could see a red flush crawling up his neck and over his cheeks. "We're not even – I mean we haven't...we aren't-"
My smirk widened as Stiles snickered quietly from beside me. "What you do in the privacy of your own home is your business," I assured him playfully, and Scott exhaled loudly before giving up on me and turning to an amused Stiles.
"I'm telling you, it isn't a sex tape!" he murmured, looking very close to losing his cool. He took a deep, steadying breath. "It's just some...personal pictures that she took...of herself...naked..." I raised both my eyebrow at him in surprise when I heard his heart stutter in a familiar way that I knew could only mean he was lying about something. Though I admitted there was a possibility it could have also been arousal, but I tried not to think about that option. "Can you get them?" he asked to get back on topic, studiously ignoring me.
Stiles snorted like he'd said something funny. "Of course I can get them," he replied confidently. "But are the pictures on that phone really worth the chance of getting caught by your dad?"
Scott nodded assuredly. "Trust me," he told us. "They definitely are."
Stiles was silent for a moment and I recognised the look on his face as contemplative. He was figuring out the best plan of action – as he so often did. "Okay," he eventually said with a nod. "We'll get the cards after school, meet us around the back of the station at seven."
Scott thanked us with a smile and a clap on the shoulder, glancing around to make sure nobody overheard our dastardly plan.
Getting the keycards was so incredibly simple that a monkey could have done it. Not wanting his dad to find out they were gone, Stiles pulled one of his many tricks out of his sleeve and used some kind of device to copy them. I didn't understand any of the science behind it, or how the technology worked at all, but I was proud that Stiles could.
We arrived at the police station before the clearly-soon-to-be couple, parking the Jeep around the back of the building and turning on to a jazz station, the sounds of a saxophone filling the car.
"I wouldn't have taken Kira for someone who took raunchy pictures," Stiles said conversationally, tipping his seat back as we waited for the pair to arrive.
"Don't judge a book by it's cover," I murmured in response, a sly smile on my lips. I felt irritatingly loyal to Scott, and for that reason I didn't mention the way the wolf's heart stuttered as he'd lied to us about what was on the phone. As long as it didn't put anyone else in danger, I couldn't have cared less what was on the device.
Let them have their secrets, Lord knew it was healthy.
"Are you okay?" I asked him quietly after a long minute, and he looked over at me in surprise.
"Yeah," he answered instantly. "Why wouldn't I be?" My eyes narrowed, and he gulped silently at the look. "I mean, thing could be better, but you know how it is..."
I decided not to answer, he had a point. I let out a silent sigh, sinking further down into the seat and closing my eyes, hoping the time would pass quickly.
Finally the familiar sound of our friend's motorbike echoed through the alley, and a moment later Scott and Kira appeared from around the corner, the girl's arms wrapped securely around his waist. I smirked to myself as I listened to the sound of their hearts racing at the proximity.
"Okay, this one will get you into all the perimeter doors," Stiles said in lieu of a greeting, leaning out the window and offering the pair a set of keycards. "This one is the evidence room, and this one's for my father's office."
"...you didn't steal these, did you?" Scott asked in something like disapproval.
"Nah, I cloned them...using an RFID emulator."
Scott paused. "Is that worse than stealing?" he questioned with a frown, and Kira stared through the window at us with wide eyes. Her gaze met mine and her heart rate skyrocketed, I could smell the fear on her as she took me in. I tilted my head at her innocently, and she sucked in a breath, turning back to the conversation at hand, trying to ignore my presence. I supposed I'd scared her more than I'd intended to the other night, though I couldn't find it within myself to feel guilty over it.
"...it's smarter," my boyfriend replied, and I smirked through the darkness at the wolf.
"Scott, can I ask you something?" Kira said suddenly, gesturing for Scott to follow her over to where she assumed we wouldn't be able to hear. Stiles bristled in indignation, and I shuffled over the seat, leaning into him to soothe his pique. "You didn't tell them anything, did you? About the pictures?" she asked warily.
"Oh, uh-no. I just told them that you have some pictures of you on your phone that you didn't want anyone to see," Scott replied.
"What're they saying?" Stiles asked me in an inquisitive whisper, and I reached out to press my finger to his lips, effectively shushing him.
"What kind of pictures?" Kira pressed.
"...naked pictures," the wolf responded stiltedly.
The girl stood frozen for a long moment, and I wondered if she was going to yell at him. "Oh, good idea," she responded suddenly with a calm, impressed smile.
"Cool," Scott nodded, clearly flooded with relief. They trotted back over to the Jeep, and I grinned toothily at then when they reappeared at the window.
"Okay," Stiles said condescendingly, making me smirk at his tone. "So nearly everybody's out dealing with the blackout, but there's always somebody at the front desk; dispatch, usually a night-shifter, so you guys are going to use the service entrance door by the dumpster," he told them, gesturing in the direction of the entry. "Nobody uses it. Now I'm going to text you if anybody comes out, but if you get caught, Scott, we can't help you. My dad's under investigation for impeachment – because of your dad – so if anything happens we will run and leave you both for dead."
"I got it," Scott assured us with a nod. "Thanks – seriously, you guys," he continued, staring through the dark at us in gratitude.
"I'd ask my dad, y'know, but-"
"It's okay, I get it."
"Okay, just...hurry up."
The two scurried off, heading for the door with only a single look cast over their shoulder. "How long do you wanna bet until the two of them get together?" I asked Stiles lightly once they'd disappeared inside the building.
"I'm giving it at least a month," he replied, shifting back in his seat to face me. "You don't really want to go to the party tonight, do you?" he asked me unexpectedly.
I looked over at him and grimaced, finding myself unable to lie. "I was hoping to spend it at home with you, giving kids candy and watching shitty B-grade horror flicks, y'know?"
His heart leaped, and I smiled through the dark at him. "We could still do that, if you'd rather," he offered, but I could tell he wanted to go to the party.
"No," I shook my head. "It's been a while since we've done anything other than stay in, it'll be nice to get out and see our friends."
He agreed, glancing down distractedly at the keys in his grip, once again eyeing the mysterious key hooked onto the ring. "I still don't know where this came from," he muttered, more to himself than to me.
"You'll figure it out," I assured him gently. "Besides, I doubt it's anything bad." He was silent for a while longer. "You know, this would be so much easier if you hadn't given the whole station enough vervain to last a decade," I frowned over at him, half-playful and half-serious.
"My Dad asked for it, what was I supposed to do?" he responded slightly defensively.
"What did he think about all the packages of vervain you were receiving before he knew about us?"
"I told him I liked to have it in my tea."
"Stiles, you don't drink tea."
"That's probably why he didn't seem to believe me."
He was going to add more, but headlights suddenly shone in our faces, the sharp change in light making us both wince. "Oh hell," Stiles murmured as a familiar face got out of the car. Agent McCall didn't seem to notice or recognise the Jeep, walking straight past us like we weren't even there. Stiles pulled out his phone, frantically texting Scott. "Dammit, Scott," he cursed when his friend didn't respond. "Oh, I'm so going to regret this," he muttered a split second before diving out of the car.
"Stiles!" I hissed as quietly as I could, but my boyfriend paid me no attention. With a heavy huff I slid from the Jeep, appearing at his side, prepared to protect him from Agent McCall's charming personality.
He began to splutter nonsense at the Agent, who stared back at him cooly. I remained a silent support by his side, crossing my arms over my chest and tilting my head carefully at the man. He glanced at me but kept most of his focus on Stiles. Meanwhile, my attention was on the sounds coming from the evidence room behind me, keeping close tabs on what was happening with the pair hiding within.
"You know this attitude that you have towards my dad," Stiles said suddenly when the man tried to get through the wall we'd built. My focus snapped from Scott and Kira to the people before me, and I narrowed my eyes at the man whose heart doubled it's speed in his chest. "You can dress it up to all the professional disapproval that you want but I know the real reason you don't like him,"
"Is that so?" McCall asked, smirking condescendingly.
"Yeah, because he knows something that you don't want him to know," Stiles barrelled on. I felt surprise bubble within me, but I couldn't show it in front of the Agent, so I merely tilted my head up a fraction more and grit my teeth against my own confusion. "And guess what?" he continued softly. "I know it too."
"Go home, Stiles, and take your girlfriend with you," the man ordered us, saying the word girlfriend with heavy disdain. "There's a curfew."
I wasn't really listening, Scott and Kira were out of danger by then, already on their way out of the station. Stiles stalked from the room, and I followed him, slipping out the closing back door and out into the cool night air.
"What was that all about?" I asked him cautiously as we approached the Jeep.
"It's nothing," he waved off my question like it was ridiculous.
I frowned, shuffling closer, the gravel crunching under my heavy-duty combat boots. "It didn't sound like nothing," I probed, leaning against the door to the car and watching him carefully.
"Well it was nothing, Jules," he snapped uncharacteristically. "Just let it go."
The force of the bark was enough to have me stepping back. I raised my eyebrows in surprise at his sharp tone, waiting for remorse to show on his face, though none appeared. "What aren't you telling me?" I asked suspiciously, and his heart leapt.
"What a good question," he said, sounding more bitter than I'd anticipated. "I could ask you the exact same thing."
I sighed, the sound irritated and defensive. "I thought we were over this," I murmured with a heavy frown.
"Yeah, well it goes both ways, doesn't it?"
He had a point, but somehow I doubted that whatever he was keeping from me had to do with uncontrollable bloodlust and a growing pile of dead bodies.
Before I could say anything else, footsteps hitting the road met my ears, and I turned around to face Kira and Scott as they approached.
"We did it, all the pics deleted!" Scott said proudly, grin wide on his face as they came to a stop in front of us.
"That was awesome!" Kira enthused, sounding absolutely exhilarated as she beamed at us brightly. I raised my eyebrows at her curiously. "I mean, completely terrifying." she corrected, forcing herself to calm down. "But...kind of awesome. I've never done anything like that before, have you?"
We all fell silent, Stiles and I glancing at Scott but definitely not each other. "Yeah, once or twice," Stiles answered her with a suppressed smirk.
"It's never involved sexy pictures before," I added with a lazy and completely forced grin. "But there's a first time for everything."
Kira's heart still raced when her eyes met mine, and that coupled with the tension hanging between Stiles and I made the whole thing incredibly awkward. "Well, I guess I should take you home," Scott spoke up to ease the uncomfortable silence. With a final thank you, they wandered over to Scott's bike.
"Come on," Stiles said darkly, gesturing to the Jeep.
"I'll just meet you there," I told him cooly, and his face dropped in disbelief.
"Don't be ridiculous," he countered with a stern frown.
"I could do with the fresh air." It wasn't a completely lie, and I felt no guilt over saying it. It seemed like I'd been feeling less and less guilt over the last few days – I wasn't sure it was such a good sign.
"Jules, come on," he said, voice imploring.
"I'll see you there," I insisted before I disappeared from the alley, passing Scott and Kira on the bike and heading out into the streets.
I was angry, though more at myself than anyone else. I'd started this whole thing by keeping such a secret from Stiles. I stopped running halfway to Derek's loft, slowing to a furious walk. I was stewing, and I knew I shouldn't have been. It almost felt whiney, but I couldn't stop myself. I blamed my frozen development, but that was a debate for another day.
I kicked at a discarded can, watching disinterestedly as it smacked into the wall before bouncing off back onto the road.
I could hear the sounds of the party that was in full swing by the time I turned onto Derek's street. Cars were parked all along the street, and I spotted the Jeep and Scott's bike parked on the side of the road, meaning they were already here.
I sighed, knowing the first thing I had to do was find Stiles and apologise, then spend the night with him, having a good time. That was my priority.
The music was loud when I stepped inside Derek's loft, and the room was simply glowing with bright colours. I inhaled the smells of the room – sweat, paint, alcohol and arousal. Once upon a time, I would be in my element, now I just felt out of place. With my switch flicked on, all I could think about was the repercussions of letting go and truly enjoying myself.
Nonetheless, I stepped into the room, and Stiles was upon me before I'd even slid the door shut behind me.
"I've been looking everywhere for you!" he yelled over the music, and I frowned confusedly. "Look, I'm sorry for everything. Let's just enjoy our Halloween, okay?" he suggested. "It is your favourite holiday, after all."
I melted in the way that Stiles could only ever achieve. He seemed determined to enjoy the night, and I couldn't find it in me to stop him.
Though I was still irritated and absolutely nothing had been resolved, I still pushing myself up to my toes to press our lips together roughly.
I pulled back, smiling at him through the black lights, hoping he couldn't tell that the expression was forced. I wasn't angry, and I wasn't disappointed – except maybe in myself. I just felt...flat. "Come on," he prompted me once he'd recovered from the kiss. "Let's get covered in paint!" He sounded lighthearted and bright, but I could tell he was trying to cover his own negative emotions from the last few days.
Thankfully we didn't have to be on good terms to be effected by one another. Stiles grasped my shirt, quickly unhooking all the buttons and revealing my white tank top that was hastily cut to just below the bottom curve of my breasts.
I just stared at him as he flicked paint at me, appreciating the way his tongue stuck out as he concentrated. Once he was happy with the amount of paint on me, he stepped forwards, running his fingers through the mess, smearing it further on my skin. He was gentle and tender as his fingers slid over the swell of my breasts; I got the feeling it was less about getting the paint right than it was about touching me.
I loved roughness, but there was something about the tenderness that took my breath away. I just wished the roughness wasn't so damn tempting.
I couldn't handle the delicate way his fingers slid over my skin, it made bitterness curl in my stomach like a bad batch of blood. "I'll be back!" I shouted to Stiles over the music, moving closer to his ear so he could hear me. He pulled back, looking disappointed and lost by my subtle rejection.
I couldn't handle the sad look on his face, and with a heart heavier than usual, I walked away, hating the way my eyes stung.
I found a quiet corner to hide in, hoping I didn't look as brooding as I felt. I stared out at all of the people writhing against each other like bitches in heat. Part of me – a part that had long since begun to fade – wished to be able to be with them. With my tolerance to blood so low, however, I couldn't risk getting in the middle of the throngs, especially not with so much of their tempting skin exposed.
"Juliet?!" I looked to my left, eyeing a painted Allison and Isaac, their hands linked together almost absent-mindedly. Isaac murmured that he was going to get them beers, then disappeared into the thick, sweaty crowd.
"Allison," I greeted her flatly, nodding my head in her direction. "Long time, no see."
"I thought I just saw you..." she trailed off confusedly, gesturing over her shoulder. Her eyes went super wide and her jaw dropped for a moment before she seemed to recover. "But Stiles was...that wasn't you?!"
"Am I supposed to know what any of that means?" I asked sourly, my brows furrowing in her direction. Her heart stuttered and a severely guilty look appeared on her stunning, luminescent features. "Stiles was what, Allison?" I prompted her when she said nothing, and I could sense the fear as she began to panic, not sure how to handle the conversation.
She seemed to argue with herself for a moment before apparently one side won and she sighed, pointing in the direction of the door. "He's over there," she told me, and, worried that something was wrong, I ducked through the crowd until I came to a stop at the big sliding door.
It took me a moment to find my boyfriend, but once I did I wished I hadn't.
He was jogging towards me, keys jingling in his hand and a concerned look on the face that I loved so very much. "Jules! I was just looking for you! Something's wrong-" he cut himself off, realising the look on my face wasn't a friendly one.
Tears stung in my eyes and I grit my teeth tightly, hoping the pressure would make them go away.
"Jules, what's wrong?" he asked worriedly, stepping closer and raising a hand towards me. I flinched back, and instantly he froze, shocked that I'd reacted so strongly. "Jules?" he asked again, heart speeding up in fear. I pressed my lips together in a firm line, lifting my hand and brushing my thumb across his lips.
"You look like you've been having fun," I commented, my voice sounding flat and sad.
He seemed to realise at the same moment what I had deducted. There was paint smeared around his mouth in a way that was only possible from kissing. And it hadn't been me.
"Oh, my God," he murmured in shock, frantically wiping at his lips, getting rid of the evidence, though it did little good now. "Jules, listen-"
"I get it Stiles," I spat, the sadness fading into something more like indignation or scorn.
"No, you don't understand, nothing happened-" he cut himself off, glancing down at something in his hands. I spied the fucking keys in his fingers, rolling my eyes in irritation. "Look, I really have to go," he said suddenly, talking loudly to be heard over the music, even though I would have heard him if he'd whispered.
"You have to go," I repeated, dumbfounded. "You're not going to explain?"
"I don't-I don't have time, Juliet," he stammered, and my eyes burned with betrayal. "Look, this is really important," he was already walking past me, desperate to reach the door. "I'll come by later and we'll talk. I love you!" he called the last sentence out as he disappeared around the corner, heading straight for the stairs.
I toyed with the idea of following him, but decided I didn't even want to look at him.
The knowledge of what had just happened was like icicles stabbing in my gut. My hands shook and my chest felt heavy.
I wanted to kill something. It'd been a long time since I'd felt that so intensely. I wanted to watch the life drain from some little insect of a person as I devoured them whole. I was hungry.
Deciding I wasn't going to ruin the party with a murder, I put my hunger issues on the back burner, deciding to instead drown my sorrows with alcohol.
Three beers in and I still felt next to nothing. I was able to find some kid who had smuggled in a bottle of vodka. "You're going to give this to me," I ordered the teen covered in blue paint.
"I'm giving this to you," he repeated as he was caught in my gaze, and I all but ripped the bottle from his loose grip, stalking away with my prize and slipping into the centre of the crowd. The music seemed louder and the colours brighter as I chugged the vodka, stopping every few moments to breathe, telling myself I didn't want to lose control because I was shit faced.
A strong, hard and warm body saddled up behind me, the muscles brushing my back. I didn't even stop to think, letting the music take me to another place altogether as my body moved of it's own accord. The music wasn't really my style now, but it was pre-Beacon Hills me very much, and I could've use a little of that girl's strength right about then.
Everything got kind of blurry, and after a good fifteen minutes of grinding with the hot stranger, I decided I was being pathetic, and forced my way out of the crowd, heading over to the doors. I slid it open and hopped out into the entryway, moving over to the stairs and staring down into the dark abyss below me as I intermittently sipped at my vodka.
I took some deep breaths, ignoring the gaping hole in my gut as I focused on putting everything aside and having a kickass Halloween in spite of everything.
I was about to turn around and go back to the party when the hair on the back of my neck stood on end. I was being watched. Slowly, I glanced over my shoulder, unable to hold in a gasp when I saw three men standing behind me, dressed in all black robes with creepy looking masks fixed onto their faces.
I could tell they weren't from the party, in fact I had a feeling they weren't even human.
"Can I help you?" I asked anyway, delicately putting the glass bottle at my feet and discretely cracking my knuckles in preparation for a fight. I hoped they would attack, I was dying to lay my fist into some faces, and everyone would be a lot happier with me if it didn't end up being innocent bystanders.
An odd, disturbing kind of clicking sound seemed to come from the place where their mouths should have been as they slowly wandered closer to me, not even seeming to really take steps, they more so glided along the shadows.
"You're making a mistake, boys," I said, rolling my neck, ignoring how the world tipped sideways for a long moment before holding up my fists, ready for a fight.
The clicking sound reappeared, this time from behind me. With a gasp I spun around, a furious glare on my face. Then the shadows pounced, they all seemed to converge on me at once. Everything went dark and cold, hands like ice grabbed me from every angle, and I grunted as the world tipped over again, my head spinning – though I wasn't sure that was entirely the alcohol's fault.
With my body distracted, my mind flew to Stiles, and I felt a sickening curl of pain that had nothing to do with the evil mask-wearers, then a burn behind my ear, and then I was alone, staring up at the ceiling, unable to move as my body went numb.
I wasn't sure how long it had been, but some time later a familiar face appeared in my vision. "Jules?" Derek asked, frowning down at me in that severe way he always seemed to go with. I realised I was shaking, my hands trembling as he reached down and lifted me to my feet. "Oh, you're alive," he said with a flat expression, almost sounding disappointed. "Well, partially."
I wanted to yell at him that this wasn't an appropriate time for vampire humour, but I couldn't get my mouth to cooperate.
"Why is there a party happening in my loft?" he asked, tone deadly, but frowned when it became clear I couldn't answer.
"H-Halloween," I tried to say, but it came out shaky and muted.
"Jesus, it happened to you too?" he asked curtly, but I was too freezing to answer his question, or ask what the fuck it meant. "Well, you probably deserved it."
"Ass-asshole," I stuttered, still shaking. I hadn't been this cold in 200 years; vampires didn't feel the change in temperatures, so why was I so cold that I was shivering? How did humans deal with this for half a year every year? I'd stake myself if I had to be this cold all the time.
"Well, I see your wit is intact," he murmured in response, frowning at me heavily. "Come on," he said, grasping my arm to help me walk in a move of uncharacteristic kindness. "I have a party to put an end to."
He dragged me back through the crowd, but everything was a whirl of bright, glowing colours and the smell of sweat and beer. The world felt like it was tipping over at Derek shoved me into a corner then effectively put an end to the party – as promised.
"Get out!" the words were yelled with such power that it made my spinning head ache. I winced, leaning back against the wall and watching as people began to rush from Derek's loft, too afraid of the scary looking wolf to question why.
As people began to leave and more of the space was revealed, it became obvious that there were several people here who most certainly did not belong. From the corner of my eye I saw Scott appear from the stairs with Kira in tow. Once all the painted strangers were gone, everything was silent for one, long, tense beat before all of the masked figures turned towards one of the twins.
"Guys," the twin said cautiously, shifting back a few steps. "They're all looking at me." All the figures took a threatening step forwards. "Why are they all looking at me?" the twin demanded frantically, heart racing in fear as he tried to assess the danger. "Guys?!" he prompted when they all took another step towards him.
It was something like instinct that made me turn my head to the right to catch Scott's eye, then to the left to catch Derek's. In an instant a decision was made between us, and when the figures took yet another step forwards, we attacked as one.
I went for the one closest to me, but quickly realised what a mistake that was. I was still incredibly weak from their attack on me only mere minutes ago, and when I swung at the cloaked figure to my right, it ducked my swing with ease, spinning away from me with all the grace of a ballerina.
I abandoned that one, spotting another one standing with it's back to me. With a silent hiss I pounced, throwing myself onto it's back and hooking my hands around it's masked head before ruthlessly twisting. The neck snapped, and I let go, slinking back down to my feet and turning around to attack the next one, only for there to be an odd noise, kind of like the crackling of a fire, and two arms wrapped around my middle.
I was weightless for a long moment as I seemed to float, then my body smacked into the thick wall of the loft, my head cracking against the bricks, and I felt blood drip down my temple.
I groaned as everything spun again, like I was on some kind of shitty ten dollar carnival ride, and I pressed my forehead to the floor, waiting for the dizziness to stop.
"Somebody do something," Allison cried from where she stood, but I barely had the strength to lift my head, let alone take on these fucking ghost-samurais. I winced as a bright light burned from behind my closed lids, and I squinted, trying to see what was happening, just in time to see the sun peeking through the windows, and the figures disintegrated into dust.
Someone crouched by my head, and I looked up expecting Scott or Allison, and was floored when the kind face of Kira appeared in my view. She held out a hand to help me up, and after only a moment of brief hesitation I took it, allowing her to help tug me to my feet.
If she noticed my colder-than-average skin, she didn't mention it.
"What the hell were those things?" Scott asked the room at large, and everyone was silent, nobody knowing what to say.
Then out of nowhere, heads began to turn in my direction, wolves and humans alike staring at me expectantly. "I'm old, not all-knowing," I snapped, one hand braced on the bricks to keep myself upright, the other one pressed against my slowly healing head wound.
They looked put out by my lack of insight, but then suddenly Isaac spoke aloud, looking over at Allison with narrowed eyes. "Your dad's twenty-four hours are up."
A/N: I hope you guys like this one, though I have a feeling some of you are gonna hate me. And, though it probably won't help to know this – things are going to get much worse before they get better.
I've decided to definitely go ahead with my Doctor Who story, and it's in the works as we speak, but don't expect it up for a few months at the least.
In other news, I think I'm going to take down 'Take A Sad Song'. I'm probably never going to update it again – I rushed into it and lost motivation too quickly – so it doesn't seem fair to keep it up.
Let me know your thoughts on all of these matters, and I'll be back soon with a chapter some of you are going to love and some of you are going to absolutely hate...I love you!
