I was in and out of consciousness. Voices, male and female, echoed in my head. They weren't mine. They were people saying my name, people talking. But I couldn't make any of it out. I tried to force myself awake, fearing I'd see more…things. I don't even know what to call them.

I don't remember any of the things I'm seeing. But I was there, at both of these things. A different version of me was there and she knew what she was doing. She knew who she was. But I'm not her. How am I supposed to figure anything out if I can't even trust my own mind?

I opened my eyes, blinking hard as I looked around the room. I was in my room at my house. But something was different. It felt…off. I pulled the covers off of me and swung my legs off the bed. I stood and the room changed, like I'd just stepped into a whole new scene. Oh, no. It's happening again.

I spun around the room, looking over every inch. I was in a different bedroom at a different house. I stopped when I'd fully turned around, my eyes on the bed. Different sheets covered the bed. But I was sleeping underneath them. The other me.

She woke up, lifting her face out of the pillow. I looked down at my pillow, seeing stuffing pouring out of the end. I pulled my hands out from under my pillow and held them up in front of me. My claws were out. My face screwed up in confusion as I pushed my body off my mattress and sat.

I felt my own fingers tingle and looked down at them. My claws had come out, and I couldn't make them go back in. The other me pulled the covers back and revealed a shredded sheet, with clothes looking just as bad, but they had dirt on them. That's when I noticed that the bedroom window was shattered and glass covered the floor. Trailing from the window to the bed was a large set of animal tracks. I recognized them instantly; so did the other me.

A throat cleared and I nearly jumped out of my skin. I looked in the direction of the sound, finding the boy I recognized as Aaron sitting in the corner of the room. Why is he here? Clearly, this is my room. So why is he in it? "Some party," he said.

"There wasn't a party," the other me replied.

"No duh."

And then I sighed. "Ugh. The bathroom."

"I shut the valve off." Aaron stood. "I'm afraid you'll need a pail, though."

"Thanks."

"What happened?" He pointed at the floor. "Those are not wolf tracks."

"I know. They're tiger."

"Really? I had no idea." He sighed, sounding more sympathetic. "Does Dad know?" Dad? What dad?

"This just happened. I barely know." The other me stood and walked to a dresser. "I don't know what's wrong with me. But I'm starting to think it has more to do with Peter than Kate." Peter? I quickly tried to think. He's…not a good guy. I remember that part. Um…Oh! Sam's father. That Peter.

"Why?" Aaron asked.

"Because…I think Lydia's scream caused me to shift." Uh…what, now?

"So you heard it, too. Wait. You think she caused you to shift?"

"Yes. Now, what about the scream? Who else heard it?"

"Anyone with ears," he scoffed. "Supernatural ones, especially." Wait. Lydia's the Banshee. How could a Banshee make me shift? But, I'm the Kirin right now, right?

"How do you know about it?"

He held up a cell phone. "Scott and Stiles have been trying to call you all night. And when they couldn't get you, they called me."

"That's when you found this," the other me gestured to the room.

"Yep."

"Did you tell them?"

"What? Did I say, 'My cousin can't come to the phone right now because she's a tiger running around town and I have no idea where. Can I take a message?' No. Crazy. No one knows about this."

Okay. What is going on? I thought they said Aaron was my brother? And here he just said he was my cousin. And Scott and Stiles don't know I'm a tiger? I thought hard, my brain literally hurting. Then I remembered Scott telling me how I kept it from them, that I was the Kirin.

"Good. It needs to stay that way. Ben can know because I'm done lying to him. But no one else. Got it?"

He nodded. "Of course." I tuned out the next few things they were saying. I was trying to make sense of it all, but nothing was working. "What now? Find Lydia? Lie to your friends about this?"

"I already found Lydia. And Yes, no one can know. How many times do I need to say this?" the other me asked.

"What do you mean you found her?"

"When I was the tiger, I found her. I…had to, I needed to. Another reason why I think I'm connected to her somehow. And the only thing that connects us is Peter." How does Peter connect us?

"Are you sure it's not the Nemeton trying to bring you back?" he sat on the bed.

"No, I'm not. That's where I went first. Then I had the drive to find her."

"So it told you to find her?"

"Maybe. I don't know." I looked at him. "Now, are you going to leave so I can change, or do you want to stay?"

"Kit!"

I blinked and the room was gone. Staring at me were the frantic faces of Stiles and Lydia. I looked around. I was in the woods. I felt tree bark against my back, Stiles' hand on my shoulder helping me remain in the sitting position. I was out of breath, my throat burned. I couldn't figure out which reality I was in.

"Kit," Stiles said again. I looked at him with near wild eyes. "Are you okay? What just happened?" I closed my eyes and sighed, trying to calm down. I remembered about my claws and quickly brought my hand up to check. My claws had since retracted, but blood streamed down my arms from the palms of my hands.

"You did that," Lydia said.

I stared at my hands. "I know." But I don't remember doing it.

"Scott did the same thing," Stiles said. I looked at him. "He was starting to turn at school and he couldn't control. So he made himself bleed."

"Pain makes you human," I said.

Stiles nodded grimly. "That's what he said, too." He glanced around before looking back at me. "Something tells me this wasn't the first time this' happened."

"No. I've been…seeing things."

"What kind of things?"

I shook my head, still trying to make sense of all of it. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

He shared a glance with Lydia before saying, "I highly doubt that."

(EMMA'S POV)

After what happened in the woods, Kit went home. But not before she told Stiles and Lydia everything. Or at least, I hope she told them everything. Now I know why she was acting so weird after she came back from her trip with Chris, which she also told Stiles and Lydia about.

I tried to talk to her about it, but she just locked me out of the house. Scott called Allison, who then talked to Chris, and then the three of them got the story straightened out about what happened at the cemetery. When Chris didn't have a clue why this was happing to her, Scott suggested we all go talk to Deaton, his boss at the vet clinic.

I was hesitant until I was told he was Talia Hale's Emissary, back in the day. So I decided to at least hear him out. We tried to get Kit to come, but again, she wouldn't open the door. Didn't say a word. But every one of us who was supernatural could hear her heart beating on the other side of the door.

So we went to speak to Deaton without her. After introducing me, Scott and Company began over loading Deaton with everything that's happened concerning Kit. I stayed out of it. My goal was to just see how it played out and what the end result was. I know I came to this town on a mission, but Kit's my friend.

Everyone had finally said their peace on the matter, leaving Deaton to think. But he was taking too long. I sighed. "Do you know what's going on with her or not?" I asked.

"Sometimes-" he paused, thinking. "Sometimes it's not the people who change; it's the mask that falls off."

"Okay…?" Stiles said. "What does that mean?"

"It means, essentially, each one of us has many different sides; but each one makes us who we are. Some we share with others, but most of them we keep locked away and, sometimes, forget that they are even there. Each one of these sides is a mask; a personality, a memory. With every new thing that happens to us in life, we respond to it by making a new mask. This new mask will either replace or add to the ones we already are wearing."

"Okay, but, again, what does that mean?"

He smiled. "By living for 193 years, Kit collected a lot of masks, some of which, I'm sure, she forgot she had, but they all added to her, making her who she was. When the Nemeton took her powers and memories from her, it left behind those masks; but the memories that made them what they were, were gone. The Nemeton placed a new mask over those old ones, making them obsolete. What's happening to her, what you're seeing, is her rediscovering those old masks."

"So she's remembering," Scott said.

"Not quite. Without the memories to back them, all those masks she collected are just ghosts, completely foreign to her. She may have 'flashbacks' and be able to recall certain events, but the thoughts and things she felt while those events were taking place…she won't remember."

"Okay," Isaac said. "Let me get this straight…she's remembering, but she's not."

"Correct."

"That doesn't even make sense," Stiles scoffed. "How is that possible?"

"Let me explain it this way," Deaton said. "When you're watching a movie, you're able to see the actors, their expressions, hear their voices. But no matter how hard you try, you'll never actually be able to feel the characters' emotions, what the characters you see on the screen are feeling; you'll only ever be able to imagine what emotions they felt after a certain event, but you can never feel them yourself." You could almost feel the disappointment that set into the room.

He continued, "A sense of déjà vu can be common among those who have lost memories. Some can picture a scene in their mind based off of the things they've been told, the descriptions from others, but never actually be able to remember it themselves. Though, I'm not surprised that Scott's roar affected Kit the way that it did. Whether you knew it or not, the two of you shared a connection. I don't think it's a coincidence that your roar caused her to remember the night you became her Beta."

"But that's not even the part she remembered," Scott said.

"It doesn't have to be," he countered. "I think she remembers a lot more than she's saying."

"Why wouldn't she tell us when she's remembered something?" Allison asked.

"For the same reason why Stiles' father wouldn't believe in the supernatural," Deaton replied.

I sighed. "It's not the existence of something that scares us, but the fear of an existence greater than ourselves."

Deaton looked at me and nodded. "Very well put, Emma. When people have suffered such extreme memory loss, if they ever remember any of what they've lost, they're in complete denial. They don't think that would be something they'd ever do; therefore, they won't allow themselves to believe that it happened, even when there is very strong evidence that it actually did."

He glanced around at us. "Though, I would caution Derek, should he ever decide to come back."

"Why?" Scott asked.

"Because all Kit remembers of him is that one argument they had outside the school. Now, everything he says and does, she will judge based on that argument."

I walked up to Kit's house, a sky full of stars above me. I had nowhere else to go. I banged on the door. "Kit." I was tired and you could hear it in my voice. To my surprise, the door opened. She let it swing open as she walked away, not even looking at me.

I stepped in the house cautiously. I wasn't sure what to expect from her. She walked over to the kitchen island, grabbing a back pack and swinging it over her shoulder. "Where are you going?"

"I need some time," she said.

"Time? How long?"

She shrugged. "A couple days."

Days? I don't have that long. "What about Charlie?"

"I was hoping you'd look after him."

"Oh, so, that means you're coming back," I crossed my arms.

"Don't do that."

"What?"

"You know what."

"Kit, you're going through a lot, right now. And I don't think you should be alone."

"Then what would you have me do? Stay here, where I'm plagued by memories of a past life and haunted by a girl I don't remember being?" she asked. And I knew she was right. But I still haven't told her about the Pride, how they need her. But even as I thought it, I knew it was pointless to say something. The Pride needs the Kirin, not Beckett-Ann Lawson.

"Go." And that was all I had to say. She instantly turned and walked out the door. Two days went by with no word from her. The day after she left, I tried calling her. And that's when I found her phone in the trash. Later that day, Stiles and Scott had come looking for her after school.

They were trying to be nice and see if she was okay. Then I had to be the bearer of bad news. They wanted to go after her, but I convinced them not to. Kit's not physically lost, just emotionally. She needs a new anchor. On the eve of the second day, there was a knock on the front door. I got up from the couch, leaving Charlie glued to the program on TV.

I opened the front door, and thankfully it wasn't Scott and/or Stiles. Instead it was a young man about my age, tall, dark hair. "Can I help you?" I asked.

"Sorry," he said. "I was looking for a girl named Beckett Williams. I've been gone for a while and she lived here when I left."

I thought hard. Beckett Williams. That's the name Kit went by. And, he said he's been gone for a while? Tall, dark, and handsome? I knew right then who he was. I don't think so, Mister. "Sorry, no one by that name lives here," I lied, making sure to keep my heart just as steady as when I first answered the door. Charlie ran up to me, grabbing my hand and pulling me back, wanting me to go with him.

He smiled. "Thanks anyway." I watched him walk down the drive to his silver car. I shut the door, knowing I did the right thing, and went back with Charlie. Then, a couple hours later, there was another knock on the door. This time I had Charlie in bed and asleep.

I sighed when I opened the door, seeing Stiles and Lydia. "She's not back yet."

"That's okay," Stiles said. "We're here for you."

"Me?"

"We need your help," Lydia said.

"With what?" I scoffed.

Stiles explained. "There's an escaped convict running around town and he's after werewolves, specifically kids with glowing eyes. He was at the school today but no one found him. I have an idea and we need you to come with us."

"Where's Scott?"

"He's having dinner with Kira and her parents."

"Who?"

"It doesn't matter," Lydia said. "You helped us with Malia and you helped Scott with being an Alpha, will you help us with this?"

Stiles cut in again. "Especially with Kit who-knows-where, we don't want this guy running around town planning his next victim."

"Fine." I grabbed my coat and followed them out the door.

"What about Charlie?" Lydia asked.

"He's sleeping," I said, locking the door. "I have a baby monitor app on my phone. He'll be fine. Just don't tell Kit I did this." Stiles, Lydia, and I took his Jeep to the school. Stiles led us to the chemistry room. The whole way to the school, they told me about this man, Barrow, who had escaped.

I followed them, not sure what I was doing here. Once in the chemistry room, Stiles headed for the chemical storage room. "What exactly are we looking for?" Lydia asked. Stiles opened the door and walked on in. "That was supposed to be locked."

"Yeah, I know," Stiles said. "Notice anything else?"

"It smells like chemicals." She paused. "They wouldn't have been able to catch a scent."

"And blood," I said. They both looked at me. "It smells like blood in here."

"What, where?" Stiles asked.

I stepped forward in the dark room, letting my eyes glow purple. I pointed to a spot on the ground. "There."

Stiles turned around and shone the light from his phone on the spot. Blood and staples were on the ground. "He was here, performing very minor surgery on himself." He looked at Lydia. "You were right."

"Then why don't I feel good about this?" she asked.

"Probably because he was here to kill somebody."

"But who?"

"That's what we gotta figure out."

I looked at Lydia. "You're a Banshee."

She sighed. "Not a very good one."

"I thought Kit-"

"Yeah, well…she didn't get the chance." She sighed. "Kit told me that after everything was done with the Alphas, she'd teach me how to control it. And then she forgot."

"Quite literally," Stiles said as he stood. He walked past us and out into the main class room. "We could spread out, start looking for anything." Lydia and I followed him. We split up and began looking. Then I heard, "Lydia, what are those?" I looked at them. Lydia was walking to the chalk board.

"Atomic numbers," she said. I walked up behind her and Stiles. Three pairs of numbers were written on the board.

"Is it a formula?"

"Not really. 19's potassium. 53's iodine. 88's radium. The first two make potassium iodide…" she picked up a piece of chalk and wrote the scientific notation for each element.

"Potassium's K?" Stiles asked.

"From kalium, the scientific neo-Latin name," she replied. Then she put an 'I' next to 53.

"What's radium?"

"R-A."

Talk about a message in a bottle. The letters spelled out Kira. Stiles said as much. I turned to them. "Didn't you guys say something about a Kira?"

"Yeah," Stiles said. "She's with Scott."

"Then I think we need to be, too."

We quickly hurried out of the school and piled back into Stiles' Jeep. He drove like a maniac. I thought about asking to see his license at one point. But when he pulled over and got out, I assumed we had reached Kira's house. Yet another supernatural girl these guys feel the need to protect.

I got out of the Jeep, seeing Stiles and Lydia run over to Scott. He was lying on the ground next to his bike. I got over there just as Scott sat up. "Barrow took Kira!"

"We know," Stiles said. "He was after her the whole time." Stiles helped him to his feet. He looked at me. "Why are you here?"

I shrugged. "They asked me to come…?"

"We should call Allison," Lydia said. Scott called her, but he ended up talking to Isaac. Not that it changed the fact that they hadn't found anything in a bestiary they have. They never mentioned this before. Stiles said it belonged to Gerard Argent. He was the head dude of the Argents. If Kit can't help me, maybe that can.

Scott ended the call and walked back over to us. "We have to think of something. He's going to kill her."

"I knew he was there," Lydia said. "How did I know that?"

"Because you heard the flies, right?" Stiles said.

Scott looked at her. "What do you hear, now?"

"Nothing," she replied. "I feel like I can do this. But I don't know what to do-"

"Lydia," I stopped her. All eyes were on me, but I was looking at her. "You're a Banshee." She looked at me like 'yes, we've already established that.' So I said kind of forcefully, "So scream like one."

She turned so she was facing away from us (smart move), and then she screamed. And, there was no mistake that that was a Banshee's scream. After she stopped, the air fell silent. We couldn't hear anything, but she could. You could tell it had worked. After a minute, she looked up at the street light above us.

"It's not flies," she said, looking at us. Stiles and Scott jumped, like something was going to hit them. "It's electricity."

"Wait a second," Stiles said. "Barrow was an electrical engineer. He worked at a power substation."

Scott looked at him. "What substation?" And, of course, Stiles knew. He always knows. Scott hoped on his bike, we got in the Jeep and we were off, again. We both pulled up at the same time. But Stiles wouldn't move fast enough so I could get out, so Scott went in without me.

He finally climbed out, talking to Lydia. "Wait here, alright? Just wait for the cops to come."

"Me?" she asked. "Wait, why?"

"I only got one bat." He held up a silver metal bat.

I grumbled. "Stiles!" I slammed the car door shut and jogged past him. He quickly followed. We made our way into the building. I wasn't really sure where to go, so I followed Scott's scent. We walked a little ways, around a couple corners. We were almost there. But I stopped.

"What's wrong?" Stiles asked. I could hear the electricity snap and pop. There was live electricity in that room. I started backing up. I didn't think coming would mean that kind of physical chances. I can't get electrocuted. I can't risk it, not that many volts. I started backing up. "Emma?"

"I…" I wasn't sure what to say. So I turned around and left.

(KIT'S POV)

I traipsed through the woods. I'm not sure where I am in relation with Beacon Hills. I lost track a while ago. I followed a bend that opened up into a wide, flat plain in between the trees. And I stopped. There it was. The thing I have been looking for for the last two days. The Nemeton.

Branches cracked and I jumped. "Whoa! It's okay!" I knew that voice. How did I know that voice? A few feet ahead of me, a boy stepped out from the trees.

I sighed. "What are you doing here, Aaron?"

(AUTHOR'S NOTE: the flashback scene is from Chapter 1: The Tigress and The Banshee; of Guardian: Trust The Instinct (Bk 2)