VI
KILLER
Stiles was outside waiting, his head down, Simon glance up, her hand gripping his so thigh, she was cutting his blood flow, people ran, doctors, nurses, he almost could hear Stiles in the waiting room, but he was brave, he crumbled in silence to not make her feel worse, but it was too much to handle, the wires, the smell in the air, he wanted to stay with her, he was a doctor after all.
"Simon" She moaned muffling her voice as hard as the pain let her, she didn´t want to scare their boy.
His head spun all over, her grasp went loose and then the bed began stirring, that was all, he had to keep his head high but he couldn´t, near him someone cried, a man, a doctor, he was a doctor he cured people, he saved lives, then why he couldn´t? Why he didn´t? How could life be so cruel with his son? With him? He had to save her life, it was his job, he had to do it, if he would have saved her Stiles wouldn't be suffering so much, he should had been her hero, his son´s hero, but he wasn´t…Stiles was everything he had now, everything.
….
It is disturbing to hear Stiles father cry in the other room, as fast as they said that he was fine and brought him to his room, his father locket in the empty one next to Stiles´ , he has been mourning since them, a parent shouldn´t cry, they are supposed be strong, and know the answers for this kind of situations, but he won´t even let Scott´s mother come in, he´s so broken right now, Allison can swear she actually heard his heart breaking just seconds ago, it was the saddest sound in the world, a lump climbed to her throat, Lydia´s arms are still around her, her head leaning on Allison´s shoulder, in the other side of the room Jackson look at them with concern, next to him is Scott´s mom, furious shouting at her phone, no one knows where Scott is, Allison herself is a little concerned but angry with him, his best friend tried to commit suicide and he vanishes, no one has actually seen him since the party. Allison looks at her left her dad is looking straight at her from the other side of the hallway; he looks hurt and sad, somewhat disappointed as if he knew what she was doing before, but that is impossible.
In other hand, Stiles, its true she has been thinking about everyone´s reaction since… it happened, but she hadn´t been strong enough to let herself think about it because it is so hard and painful and alarmingly real, Stiles is… is not like most of the guys, he´s like her brother, her best friend, of course all her feelings for him have something to do with the alien connection between them and the spark that prickles her palm´s skin every time they touch each other, maybe that´s the reason she feels so guilty right now though it is stupid, there wasn´t any way she would know Stiles would try to do something as senseless as kill himself but she felt it in the game, he was so hurt, so sad… She feels suffocated, somehow trapped in the waiting room between Lydia´s shaking arms, she hasn´t even cried since Lydia called her, she is just stunned, she can´t actually believe it, and this guilt feeling in her chest just makes everything worse, she just want to go home, but she needs to see Stiles wake up, she needs to know her friend will be fine and his dad too, specially his dad.
A couple of hours later they let Stiles´ dad come in Stiles´ room, he was followed by the dark skinned man, Dr. D, or something like it, the familiar guy from the game and the party and from some another place Allison can´t place in her mind, he was who found Stiles, and called emergency, if it wasn´t for him Stiles would have drowned in the lake. By three in the morning everyone is calm enough to go back home, except Scott´s mom of course who keeps looking for him, Allison is pretty preoccupied by now, she starting to freak out, he doesn´t pick up his phone but there is nothing she can do, her dad wants to go home and Lydia finally fell asleep on her shoulder, maybe is better to get back home.
….
There is another body, that's the first thing Allison hears when she turns on the TV in the morning, she couldn´t sleep well, between Scott and Stiles she woke up at least ten times gasping with the scary feeling in her chest that one of them was dead, and now someone is actually dead, her heart gives a lurch and she turns up the volume to listen to the news, her lip wobbling, her phone rings and she picks it up instantly while the reporter shows pictures of the woods.
"Are you watching the news?" Lydia´s voice says as she presses her phone against her ear.
"Yeah" Allison replies with dismay in her voice.
"I was shocked" Her friend mutters.
"Is it…." Allison starts but she is not brave enough to finish the sentence.
"It was this guy, the captain of the bees" Lydia says and Allison close her eyes trying to recall the game and put a face in the other team´s captain, and then she gaps…it was… it was… the guy from the mall, the one whose butt she kicked, this isn´t happening, this can´t be truth, her heart races, and the air comes out of her lungs in a short gasp.
"Oh my god" She breaths out, she hated him, she wanted something bad to happen to him to teach him a lesson, and something definitely happen, the guy is dead, he is actually dead not like in movies or in the rest of the world where faceless people die every day, this time it is someone she knew, someone she hated, and now the pang of guilt hits her harder in the chest.
"What happened?" Allison asks, Scott, where´s Scott? Does he knows?
"An animal attacked him" Lydia says.
"An animal? Which?" She repeats lost, it is just like the party in the woods, an animal that sentence sends a shiver through her body, while she recalls the bright red eyes that now come to her mind like a distant vision from another life.
"Allison?" A groggy voice calls her from the door, and she jumps on her bed, her heart skipping a beat.
"Dad" She says startled, "Call you later" Says to Lydia hanging the call and taking a look at him, he looks… so… disheveled, nothing like her dad, is stunning watching him in such state, he haves one hand in his head in another in his stomach, his eyes are bloodshot, has he been puking?
"Are you alright dad?" She asks concerned.
"I feel terrible, thank god is Saturday so I don´t have to work" Which work do you mean? She thinks with despise.
"Hangover uh?" She tries to sound cool, like the old Allison the one who messed with her dad.
He just grunts and glares at her.
"Do you want me to go to the drugstore?" She suggest and then an idea flashes her mind, she hopes he´s so immerse in his pain well enough to not notice.
"It would be nice" He says struggling a grin.
"Go back bed dad, I´ll make you some soup and get you something from the drugstore" She says and gets out of bed.
It takes just ten minutes for her to get a quick shower, brush her teeth and put on the first thing she finds in her closet, she pretty tired and distracted to think about what to wear that day, her mind goes from her dad´s secret apartment, to the empty iron box, to Stiles, then Scott and now the dead guy, it is overwhelming and once more she´s forgetting to breath….breath…. she tells herself.
Comes down and cooks an instant soup in the microwave serves it in a bowl with some bread slices and takes it upstairs, as she expects her dad is laying on his bed face down, his head is probably spinning in all directions, good she thinks, she hops over his coat in the floor and puts the soup in the nightstand.
"Stinks in here" She complains taking the coat from the floor.
"Sorry" He mutters flatly.
"I better get this is the washer right away"
She comes downstairs before he says anything else and shoves her hands in the pockets of the coat, she sighs with relief when she finds the keys, takes the coat inside the washer machine and gets out of the house.
She´s so happy Scott´s mom got her dad drunk or else she wouldn´t be able of snatch the keychain again but luckily she did and this time she won´t lose her time, when she gets in the car the first thing she thinks is to drive to Scott´s she needs to know he´s fine, but she can´t be out of home too long or her dad might suspect, so she has to make a decision, when she turns on the engine her phone rings and she picks it up, it is a text… from Scott. Thank god.
"Where are you?" Says his text.
"I should be the one making the questions" Allison replies, the heat climbing her head, she´s so mad at him right now.
"Sorry, I fell fast asleep right after got home from the game" He replies and Allison gaps.
"Are you sure?" She writes.
"What do you mean?"
"Never mind, Stiles is in the hospital he needs you, we´ll talk later" She finishes the conversation and takes the car out of their garage.
The store isn´t far, so she decides first to get the keys to make the copy and then get something for her dad´s hangover, though she should probably let him suffer a little longer, she is mad at him after all for all the lies and secrets, she´s not even sure what in her life is real and what not anymore, is like a psycho´s movies right now, at least the things a settling down a little, she has her own key, Scott is fine Stiles will wake up any minute, she can do this, she can.
….
He bolts on his bed hauling air in his lungs as much as he can get, he´s breathless, the last thing her remembers is the lack of air, being dragged out of him, swinging his arms all around trying to break free from the cold and sharp hands of the freezing lake. Calm down, you´re not drowning, not anymore he tells to himself, keeps breathing heavily while he looks around, a white quilt, he´s wearing a gown, serum is being administered intravenously to him, there is no need to think much to know he´s in the hospital, but how he ended up here?
"Stiles" Scott´s mom says from the door. "You´re awake...Simon!"
"Hey…I´m…" Stiles starts, the memories begging coming to the back of his mind and then his heart jumps on his chest.
"Derek is dead!" He cries, taking away the serum from his veins to get out of bed.
"Stiles what are you doing?" Says Scott´s mom.
"Stiles" Scott gest in the room.
"Grab him" The mother order, and his best friend stares at him stunned, Stiles sighs with relief Scott is fine, Scott is alive, of course he´s fine Derek is dead after all.
"Scott you´re ok" Stiles says with relief.
"Simon" Scott´s mom calls again.
His dad comes in the room followed by a group of people, many nurses among them and Dr. D. his bald head shining with the bulb above, when his eyes and Dr. D´s meet Stiles recalls his stomach plunging down and the emptiness below, falling in the endless darkness until the lake´s shallow struck his back.
"Son" His dad starts.
"Dad! He tried to kill me" Stiles says pointing at Dr. D. how he could do that? He was his friend, he knows him since he was a kid, he loved his mother, he used to go to his house almost every day when he was young, his heart races, pale faces stare at him puzzled, and he gasps, Dr. D has his hands bent high to his chest as if he was afraid Stiles might attack him anytime.
"Son what…" His dad´s eyes, they are red, and swollen, has he… has he been crying?
"Scott get out" His friend´s mother says and Scott stare at him gaping.
"What´s going on?" Stiles says in a snivel, why everyone is looking at him that way?
"Why you did it? I thought we were cool Stiles" Scott accuses while a nurse tries to get him out.
"What are you talking about?"
"Son…"
"Dad you have to listen Dr. D….. He… And Derek… Derek is death I saw him die" He´s breathless again, the world spinning all around, the faces, the lights, there is a buzz in his ears he feels like he´s going to throw up anytime.
"You can´t be here right now" The nurse says shoving Scott outside.
"You can´t do this, he´s my friend"
"Scott!"
"Maybe we should leave Stiles to talk to his dad for now" Scott´s mom suggest, Stiles looks straight at her, she seems as tired as his dad, Dr. D standing still his eyes scrutinizing Stiles.
"I think I should talk alone with him first Simon, you need to rest, why don´t you come back in a couple of hours?" Dr. D suggest without detach his eyes from Stiles.
"No dad don't leave me with him!" Stiles pleads
"Stiles relax is Deaton you know him since you were a kid" Scott mom´s says.
"I won´t leave" His dad adds, Stiles isn´t sure why but there is something in his eyes, sadness, fear, anger…
"I must insist, you haven´t sleep at all Simon" Dr. D says his eyes still on Stiles.
"No… don´t leave me alone with him he tried to kill me, he shoved me from a cliff" Stiles gasps. "Dad, you have to believe me"
"Stiles calm down, you´re just a little confused" Scott mom says. "You need to relax"
"No…you´re not listening he shoved me… I almost died… it was so cold"
"Stiles enough!" His dad grunts. "I´m so disappointed with you" and without another he just stands and leaves the room.
"Dad! Dad!" Stiles cries. Scott´s mom approaches him and surround him with her arms
"It's okay honey, he´s just a little scared, we were all pretty scared last night" She says and stiles notices the quick and brief spams, while she holds him, as if she were afraid he might fall apart into pieces like a broken porcelain figure. "Its fine, everything is fine" Adds hoarsely.
"You can´t leave me here, Derek is dead and Dr. D. tried to kill me" Stiles mumbles at her hear while they hug and her body shakes.
"It was just a bad dream honey, just a dream" She assures.
"I´m sorry Stiles but the truth is that you tried to kill yourself" Dr. D says with pity reaching to sit next him.
…
She´s parking the car when the text reaches her phone, Stiles is awake, he is awake, tho she knew he would wake up eventually, relief wash her, she can breathe more easily now, so after leaving the pills for his dad she gets back into the car and drives to the hospital. In the waiting room finds Scott and Lydia.
"Hi" Her friend says with a smile giving her a hug.
When her eyes met Scott´s she feels a pang of sadness in her belly, he looks concerned, and exhausted and terrified, has he already heard about the bee´s captain?
"Are you ok?" She asks staring at him, his puppy eyes are bigger today and their amber is a shade darker than usual, he nods and reaches her, pressing his forehead against hers, his heat reassures her she breaths out everything is going to be fine.
"He is fine" She tells him in a mutter while she strokes his cheek, there is a subtle stubble growing, his breathing is steady but deep as if he were afraid he might suddenly run out of air.
"I know, I´m just, I can´t explain it but there is this pain…" His voice trails off as a grimace flashes his face, a crystal like shine in his eyes. "I feel this… guilt in my chest"
"It isn´t your fault" Allison assures.
"It is no one´s fault" Lydia adds with a sad smile. "This things just happen"
"I feel like I could have done something" Allison admits, she knows very well how Scott feels, she can´t explain it well with words, but she feels fully responsible and she is so afraid to face Stiles´ dad, or anyone else, she just want to go bed and wake up the day before and don´t leave Stiles alone.
"You don´t get it, it is killing me, I feel like I did something horrible" Scott says with a pasty high pitched voice, swallowing hard.
"It is ok, he is fine Scott, he is fine" She repeats again and again resting her head in his chest.
….
When Melissa leaves the room Stiles is tempted to push Dr. D aside and run away, but a nurse comes in and the anxiety takes over him, his breathing comes out of control once more, he´s scared, he just can´t believe he´s in the same room with the guy who tried to kill him just hours ago, and that no one seems to care.
"Lie down" Dr. D. says with his usual voice. Stiles hesitates throws a quick glance at the door, there are shadows outside, if he screams…
He lies down, the intense light searing his pupils.
Dr. D approaches handing an even brighter flashlight and point straight to his eyes, the light struck blinds him, a headache pounding his head in seconds, his cold thumb on his eyelid, when he releases his eye, Stiles close them and tiny purple lights gleam before him, for a second he feels dazed enough to fall asleep once more but then the void comes back to his mind, the red eyes, the brown furred body.
"Why?" Stiles asks tired, he´s giving up.
"What?" Dr. D. says frowning.
"Why did you try to kill me? I though… I…"
"I didn´t try to kill you Stiles, why would I do that? You´re just a little confused"
"Don´t lie to me Dr. D. You shoved, after I escaped from the wolf and that thing in the forest, you were there, and you did nothing to help me! You just tried to kill me"
He looked at his left where the nurse checked the serum, she avoided looking at him, as if he was crazy.
"As I said you´re a little confused, I saw you getting in the woods and I followed you, called you many times but you didn't answer, then you just jumped… it was… disturbing"
"You´re lying!" Stiles screams.
"You´re lying!" Repeats and the door bursts open, Allison comes in followed by Scott Lydia, a wave of relief takes over him.
"Stiles what happened? Are you ok?" Allison says alarmed, her eyes almost popping out of her sockets.
"He tried to kill me, call the police" Stiles says pointing at Dr. D.
"I gonna have to ask you to leave us alone" Dr. D says looking at his friends.
"No, don´t leave alone with him" He begs, and then he see it a certain look in his friends eyes, they don´t believe it him.
"You don´t believe me" He accuses, how can they do this to him? They´re supposed to be his friends.
"Stiles you…"
"You don´t believe" He says again with disappointment.
"I went into the woods because of you, because Derek was going to kill you, and now he´s dead and still you don´t believe me, go then, go and look for Derek´s body if it isn´t there then locked me down and throw the key"
His friends are startled staring at him, after he finishes they exchange frightened looks, as if they were afraid to tell him something.
"What?" He yells angrily.
"Um… Stiles…" Scott starts, his nose reddening and his eyes turn watery as if the words he was about to say were knives cutting him from inside out.
"Derek and Isaac came a couple of hours ago, they heard what happened and wanted to know how you were doing"
And again in matter of hours his stomach plunged down, luckily this time, he wasn´t actually falling.
….
It was a rush of voices and words, tears and lights, once he was the awkward boy, later the poor kid who lost his mom, and now he is the guy who couldn´t handle it anymore and tried to kill himself, everything lost its sense, after Scott, Allison and Lydia left they took him with Dr. Fintshood, the psychiatrist, it was embarrassing to enter in that room, and humiliating to listen to the middle age woman´s talk while his dad was sitting in the couch, Stiles didn´t need to read minds to know what he was thinking, he was thinking Stiles was losing his mind, and he couldn´t blame him, she said he could trust her, he could tell her everything so he did, it was a stupid idea, once he got the part in his story where he woke up in his bed without a single bruise after being beaten by Erica and Vernon he knew he was screwed, no one would ever believe in him, it sounded crazy even to him, yet the doctor asked him to continue with the story.
When he was done, he found out she had a story for him too, at some point in the conversation his pills showed up, his dad seemed so embarrassed and disappointed, Dr. Fintshood told him about how dangerous the pills were as if he didn´t knew it already, then everything fall apart, when he explained why he needed them, he fell like he was thrusting a spear right in his dad´s chest, all his attempts to look normal, to pretend he was fine to make his dad feel better were in vain his dad seemed older and sadder than ever and everything was Stiles faults, but Dr. Fintshood not just talked to them, she also talked with Scott –the pills came out in that conversation for sure-. One afternoon before it was his turn to talk alone with the doctor, he pressed his ear against the door and heard his dad telling the woman that Scott´s mom saved him days past from being hit by a car. Other day Isaac came, and Stiles managed to hear him say he had seen Stiles once or twice in school but they hadn't talked ever at all. It was like a conspiracy as if the life and everyone were trying to making him believe he was crazy and he was starting to believe that maybe he was.
After days of study the doctor came with a conclusion, Stiles wasn´t crazy –thank god- he was just a boy who have come through a lot of pain, being back in school with his old life wasn´t the best choice, the memories mixed with pills "played" tricks to his mind, and started to believe he was in this world where wounds magically healed, when he heard her voice he was already done with everything and everyone, too exhausted to even protest, he forgot how to sleep, and how was to feel safe, he was now always afraid and confused he knew there was an explanation for everything but it didn´t worth it, he just wanted to get out of there before he lost his mind and killed himself for real.
Dr. Fintshood suggested him take a couple of weeks away from school, settled down himself, take control over his life, but he didn´t listened and convinced his dad to let him go school the next Monday, it was a huge mistake as fast as he put a feet inside the school all the eyes were on him and the whispering started there were so many people muttering that he actually could hear high and loud what everyone was saying he is the guy who tried to kill himself. Two minutes, that was all he could stand before running out, by the time he got home he was crying and shaking like a baby, and he could hear his dad´s heart breaking while he hugged him, his dad was even more scared than him to get out, Stiles could read it in his eyes, he was so afraid to leave the house for half an hour and found Stiles in the bathroom in a pool of blood. Scott showed up the first week, every morning before school, and every night after practice but Stiles never spoke to him, it was his fault that everyone found out about the Prozac, it was his fault Stiles got in the woods in the first place, to save his ungrateful ass, eventually Scott stopped coming and Stiles kept sinking down in his loneliness.
Lydia and Allison came to see him at least twice in the week, they brought him homework and taught him healthy recipes for his dad, Stiles was a little upset with Allison for not tell Dr. Fintshood about the thing they feel when they are together, but he can´t blame her she would had ended being be the town´s crazy girl, they are never alone and Stiles doesn´t dare to speak about it in front of Lydia, actually is like if Allison is trying to forget about it, maybe he should too, but he can´t help being stubborn, every time he recalls that everyone thinks he´s crazy and treats him like a mental patient harder he wants to prove them wrong. Once they came with the news that the police found the killer animal, apparently it was a dog that lived in the wood, when they told him Stiles recalled the white… wolf? That saved him and felt sorry for it, it was stupid to think it was the responsible for the deaths, Stiles knew the actually killer but no one believed in him, but he can´t actually believe the police can say a dog is able of such mess, maybe they were just desperate to blame something before the whole town started to freak out, whatever the police killed he just hoped it wasn´t the wolf.
By the second week in home, the fear and sadness start to fade, being replaced by anger, the nightmares are constant but usually he´s too tired to even care anymore, he´s sick of being afraid so instead of crying like a baby, he lay in his bed every day living that night in his mind over and over until it becomes boring, he knows he´s not crazy and he needs an explanation, he´s just in the middle of a puzzle, the only thing he need to do is put the pieces together, and he knows exactly how to do it. It´s three in the morning, he´s dad is finally starting to sleep too, and the meaningless holes in his story start to come to his mind, he sees blood, and bright eyes from all colors, muzzles, and brown furred bodies walking upright, growls and a ghostly yellow moon, he comes out of bed in the darkness and takes his laptop, it is stupid to think that internet might actually have the answers to his question, but maybe it actually do, it just matter a of knowing where to look, though he has already an idea about what he´s looking for, but it is so stupid he doesn´t even dare to really consider it.
…..
It seems like ages since Stiles… Everyone is school is already starting to forget about it, but that doesn´t mean the whispering in the hallways is over, people keep talking about Carlson the bee´s captain no one buy´s the police story about the dog, and some students are actually working in an animal´s lover group. In other hand people thought the Lacrosse´s season would be suspended because of Carlson´s dead but surprisingly they decided to keep on it, the bees got a new captain and the wolves got their second game in mid-November but things didn´t go as good as in their first game, Scott was distracted the whole game, Allison knows it has something to do with Stiles and the Bees, they lost the game and everyone blamed Scott good as if he wasn´t feeling miserable enough already, he feels so guilty, because of Carlson, and Stiles and now the game. The rest of team think they should get a new captain while, but they haven´t talk much with Jackson to know his side of the story, Lydia is still hurt because of what he did in the after game´s party, and now he shows up in everywhere with this girl so Allison can´t help being angry with him, with all the recent events the Sadie Hawkins dance was moved in schedule to December, which kept Lydia and rest of the cheerleaders busy, which was a good thing Allison thought her friend seemed pretty busy and have almost forgot about Jackson.
In other hand Allison is losing her mind, she´s not sure about how many times- she lost the count on 50- but in her free times she keeps coming to her dad´s secret apartment to find out some clue about the weapon and the purpose of the property but there is nothing, nothing changes with every visit, the same peeled walls, the windows are still sealed, there is still no bed, the bathroom as never been used, the wood floor keeps squeaking in the entrance, in the back of the room, in the left wall and the opposite, the TV hadn´t been moved from the floor as the coffee table, the only odd thing she noticed since she got there the first time is the dresser, in is in the apartment´s only room, opposite the place where the bed should be, the first time Allison spotted it she thought she would a fine a body, actually she isn´t sure if there is a body inside or not, because she hasn´t been able to open it since then, there is no handle or key hole, she thought about to make a hole in it to look inside and discovered it wasn´t actual wood, it surface is metallic but painted to resemble polished wood, she tried but there still isn´t a way to open it, she knows whatever her dad is hiding is behind that door she just need a way to break in but how?
"Allison are you listening to me?" Lydia says with irritation. Allison flickers, she has been immerse in her thoughts the whole hour, haven´t even touched her smashed potatoes.
"Sorry I was just…" He tries to excuse, feel Scott´s hand squeezing her reassuringly.
"Anyway I was telling you that I´m not sure about using paper snowflakes or glittered polystyrene balls" Her friend says doubtful.
"What for?" Allison scowls.
"Hello! Sadie Hawkins dance" Lydia says cheerful.
Allison feels Scott´s grip tighter and she snorts, poor Scott he must be tired of listening to Lydia´s chat the whole morning, but Allison can´t help it, her mind just drifts away, anytime she tries to focus, she always ends up in the same place, thinking about how to open the dresser´s door, thinking about why to leave a TV in the floor when there is coffee table in there, or why the strange iron box is still there, it didn´t make any sense to her, there is something she is not seeing, but what?
"Gosh" Lydia complains.
"I´m sorry" Allison says flatly.
"Please don´t tell me Dr. Deaton shoved from a cliff too or I´m going to freak out" Lydia grimaces.
"Don´t say that" Allison chastises "I isn´t a joke"
"O come on, We can´t be mourning for ever Stiles isn´t dead" Lydia says rolling her eyes.
And Allison recalls the look in the boy´s eyes in the hospital looking a Dr. D and telling everyone he tried to kill him and then she gasps, she knows where she saw him.
"Lydia" She says with a stern look "Where is the yearbook?"
"What´s going on?" Says Scott confused, he probably doesn´t want to admitted but Allison is sure he´s angry with Lydia for acting so heartless sometimes.
"Nothing I just need to check up something in the yearbook" Allison says faking a gin.
"Yearbook?" Lydia says frowning.
"Yeah, the one you showed me when I got here, remember?"
Lydia looks up biting her lower lip as if she were trying to recall, and then something flash in her eyes and her scowl disappears.
"Stiles kept it, didn´t he?"
"Oh… right" Allison says thoughtful and before she notices, she´s running out of the cafeteria, her feet drawing her straight to the library, there must be another copy of the year book, all schools have their archive, she burst the door open, it is a big room not much crowded just five or six students inside, rummaging across the walls and shelves filled with books, even the librarian isn´t there, she´s probably in her break so Allison has to ask some kids sitting in a large table reading about where she can find the yearbooks, when they tell her they are at the bottom of the room next to American History she jumps to it, Lydia and Scott may be looking for her right now but she doesn´t care, her memory is so vivid of that day, the day she saw the year book, and there is something disturbing about it, she finds the yearbooks they are arranged by year, she closes her eyes and try to recall which name was printed in leather cover, 198… 19878, she finds it almost at the bottom and then stops. Takes a deep breath, her hands are shaking and her heart pounds her rips with ever beat. She opens the book and fly through the pages looking for the chemistry club, and she finds it just below the archery team where her parents still smiled at her but what she was inserted in was the picture below them where a dark skinned boy hold a book, a book, with some weird runes, the same carvings in the iron box, it is the same book she found inside her mom stuffs in the attic, and now she realizes that somehow everything is connected.
….
Have been long days and long nights, it is stupid, it isn´t like typing red eyed monster on Google and wait for it to show a video of Derek and him running in the forest and someone below explaining the scene as if it was a director´s cut, he needs a new idea, his dad is starting to leave the house for longer periods now, he´s starting to trust in him again, he thinks Stiles is finally doing better, while it is quite the opposite maybe everyone is right and he´s crazy, when he looked for fast healing found just pictures of wolverine and some youtube videos about it, so maybe he´s crazy after all. When he´s so tired of looking for a solution he rummages around her mom recipes, thanksgiving is a couple of days away, yeah it is stupid to think about a reason for feeling grateful with all shit his dad and him had come through lately but his mom would kill them if they don´t celebrate thanksgiving, her turkey god! He´s mouthwatering with just think about it, yesterday he felt strong enough to leave the house and went to the grocery store to get one, it was hard at the beginning everyone staring at him, that´s one of the downsides of living in a small town, yet he managed to ignore them, later in the night while they were having dinner –in silence of course- Scott´s mom showed up, Stiles was happy to see her, she´s the only one who still looked at him as she always had thought she was so broken in the hospital, Stiles can´t be grateful enough with her, she has been so good with him, especially with his dad, she invited them to spend thanksgiving together, and Stiles couldn´t help but think about the past holidays, his grandparents, his parents, Scott and his mom, the food the music, his dad and Scott watching the super bowl almost like a perfect family of course they all had their problems but that day everyone forgot about it, it was about be together.
Now everything is different, his grandparents are out, Scott and him aren´t talking, his dad can´t even look at him in the eyes and his mom… So when Scott mom showed up for a second he felt like those days, being a kid, being annoying charming and before he could recall that it meant Scott would be there they accept it, but Stiles offered himself to bring the turkey, so it means hard work for him, he does his bed cooking but he knows he needs to make a perfectly roasted turkey to settle the things down a little and thank Scott mom for being so good to them.
After finding the recipe in her mom things and making sure he has all he need he comes back bed he´s a little tired, his dad is already asleep, tomorrow he will look in internet for extra recipes just to compare them with his mom´s, he sighs with resentment if only internet were more useful for finding what he really wanted to find, then an idea flashes his mind, maybe the actual internet may not giving him what he´s looking for, but something else… he had heard about it once or twice, it isn´t pretty popular but he read somewhere it was filled with so many weird and hardcore information, so maybe… just maybe the deep web was the answer, he gets out of bed and takes his laptop once more, types the deep web´s search tool address, once it pops before his eyes, he types the words of his search opens the first web that shows up and gaps in bewilderment.
….
That day Allison doesn´t go back to the apartment after school, she doesn´t even go to Stiles to check him up, actually she has being the whole afternoon thinking about the book and the runes on it, what are they? What they mean? Why his dad has an iron box with the same swirls and spiked squares? It doesn´t make any sense, her life is upside down and every time she thinks she´s about to find out what the hell is going on things just become weirder. After dinner she gets in her room to pretend she´s watching TV while she awaiting for her dad´s loud snoring and get to the attic, it takes hours and she´s feeling already dizzy, it took her a couple of days to be able to sleep after all the things that happened, she just needs to hold on a little longer, every half hour she gets out of the room, sneaks in the hallway to check up if he´s already asleep, by 2am she´s about to give up, she gets out of her room for her last patrolling round when she finally notices his room´s lights are out, stealthy she approaches his door and presses her air against the door and there it is, his usual snoring. She slides her feet to the corner where the perch awaits for her and pulls down the foldable ladder, she´s already in hype, can feel the blood stream in her veins and feel a buzzing in her ears, whatever is inside that book is somehow related with her parents, and the secret life they had and that her dad is still having.
She climbs up, and something flashes her mind, doubt, something inside her doesn´t think it is a good idea after all, this is her last chance to get back and forget the whole thing, but she can do it she needs to know but at the same time fear takes over her heartbeat, what if her dad isn´t her dad, or he´s a terrorist, or a serial killer? Her life will fall apart, and she won´t be the same ever again. She sighs and waves away those thoughts whatever it is she can´t just leave now, or she will never trust her dad again, she will live with fear and anger, she can´t. Shakes her hand to turn up her phone´s flashlight and aims to the box, it awaits for her in the middle of a sea of frightening shadows casted by her mom´s old belongings, she saunters around before stopping by the box, she thrusts her hand in and dig inside her mom things until she feel a velvet like texture in a square shape, points at it with the flashlight the swirls and spikes in the cover gleam silver shine as if they were made of some metal, there is no name in the book though she suspects it the symbol must be its name in whatever language is written she just hopes there is some English inside the book or a least pictures that can give her clue of what´s going on, with anticipation she holds her breath and opens the book.
….
The issues with the oven are already settled and Stiles can sit in the coach to keep his research, ain't like he hasn´t found something in the last days actually he found more than what he wanted, the first day his blood went cold, by now he´s doing his best to calm down and contain his urges to puke, and cry and run, the things he had read, and saw in the screen, some were funny, others scary, stories all over the world in all languages and cultures, still there were a couple of questions puzzling him but he is determinate to get the answers today, his father comes out of his room dressing a dress shirt and a pair of new jeans, boots and what´s that smell?
"What are you doing?" Stiles says with a chuckle and his dad grins, it feels likes years since the last time they talked and he´s happy to see him smile again, that the magic of the holidays it doesn´t matter how screwed things may look, there is always room to leave everything behind and smile.
"I just thought it would be nice to wear something different" He says blushing, and Stiles can get it, he´s so used to see his dad wearing his lab coat above the green scrubs that is odd look at him now, he seems so common and fine.
"You look good dad" He says with a short smile.
Someone knocks the door and Stiles closes his laptop putting it aside.
"Is the turkey ready?" His dad asks cheerful.
"Not yet!" Stiles yells at him before he does something to screwed it up and they end up eating pizza in the mall.
He opens the door and scowls when he sees Scott standing in there.
"Hi" His friend mutters.
"Hi" Stiles replies sharply.
"I just came by to tell you that everything is almost ready at home, and mom is waiting for you guys to show up"
As Stiles Scott is just wearing a T-Shirt and his pajamas pants, they used to spend the thanksgiving´s eve watching cartoon when they were younger, then playing videogames years later, and then spent the day still in pajamas until his mom or Scott´s encourages them to get a bath and change clothes.
"Um… ok" Says Stiles closing the door at the time he listen his dad cursing in the kitchen.
Scott grabs him by the arm.
"Wait" Says deflating, his eyes on the floor.
"What do you want Scott?" Stiles says annoying, rolling his eyes.
"Look, I´m sorry about what happened ok? I just freaked out, I was…."
"Just forget about it ok? I´m busy right now" Stiles dryly.
"But Stiles I…"
"You were Scott ok? See you later" Stiles grunts and shuts the door at the time another curse comes from the kitchen.
At eight they are sitting in the dining room, in silence, Scott´s mom takes out her apron and after finishing putting the table and takes sit next to her son, the tablecloth is green with white and red flowers, those makes Stiles remind of Christmas, he smiles, they hold their hands Stiles takes Scott´s reluctantly and stares at plates while Scott´s mom says the words, in the middle of the table is the turkey he made he just hopes it is good, he knows it can´t possibly be good enough as his mom´s but he wishes it worth his hard work and his dad´s burned hand, please let the stuffing be good he thinks and chuckles, next the turkey is the cornbread it crust gold and thick it looks spongy and delicious as everything Scott´s mom cooks, opposite in the table is the mashed potatoes the gravy and the steamy apple pie, Stiles stomach growls with just the sight of it, luckily Scott´s mom is almost done with her words, he didn´t hear a word he´s starving and a little disturbed which is good because he doesn´t have a good reason to feel grateful today beside the fact that his dad is alive.
"Amen" They say in unison and let go their hands that quickly fly to the table to get slices of bread, mashed potatoes and turkey he takes a turkey leg and covers it with the gravy a takes a huge bite.
"I thought Simon was coming" Stiles´ dad says.
"Me too" Mellissa agrees.
"But apparently Allison and him have their own traditions" She explains and takes a spoonful of mashed potatoes with green beans.
Stiles notices how Scott eyes bright after hearing Allison´s name, and he can´t help but grin, his friend is really falling, if he wasn´t mad at him he would had made a joke about it. To his surprise his stuffing has this spicy and sweet hint as sparkles in the tongue that made his mom´s turkey the best, yet his isn´t a bit compared to his mom´s but he´s happy for making such achieving. After dinner his dad helps Scott´s mom with the dishes while Scott look for the super bowl in the TV, some things never change, well some actually do, he´s already thinking about the flower, that purplish one he saw in his laptop screen, he knows he saw some but he isn´t sure where exactly, the thought of it has been keeping his mind busy the last hour, he knows it wasn´t in the forest –thank god- it was outside a house, but he can´t picture the image of it in his mind, and it isn´t until Scott looks at his phone with longing during the halftime that he realizes where he saw them.
….
Thai food, ok not the better idea for thanksgiving dinner, but it is their tradition after tall, according to her dad, they used to have a beautiful dinner every year in their house, but it changed when her mom died, in part because his dad wasn´t the better cooker and because the first two years he was too hurt to even try, anyway they kept moving out so it wasn´t a big deal they were used to eat everywhere, it wasn´t till Allison was nine that she started to cook, because she wanted it looked phone in the shows, screw that, her dad started loving her meals –not the firsts of course- and she has to cook every day, of course they take turns to cook, but just let's say her dad needs a little more practice, and gloves, so it became their tradition, look for restaurants in the GPS close their eyes and put a finger in the screen, and that would be their dinner.
Of course her dad wasn´t expecting today´s sleeping pills in his coke, but Allison had to take her chance she saw it she took it, she´s sick of it, the book was a joke, it is stupid it doesn´t make sense it can´t be truth, and she just need some prove, needs to burst into the apartment and end with it once and for all, so after dinner they come straight to home, she feels guilty for doing this to him, but she´s exhausted and she wants answers, other answers despite the fact to believe that her dad is part of some psycho sect.
She almost have to help him get in bed, it's like when he got drunk he stumbles, maybe three smashed pills were too much but she has to be sure he will sleep like a log the whole night without coming out of bed even to get some water, she needs to find the truth, the real truth tonight and she will do it even if it means knock down the closet´s door. She puts the quilt over he dad and comes downstairs, look back one last time, there up in that room is the person she trusted most in the world, who gave her everything, a roof, food, clothes, silly jokes… tears climb to her eyes, it hurts her doing this to him but she can´t live this way anymore, She gets in the car, turns on the engine and drives away from her house.
….
Finally the game is over, one thing is listen Scott´s excited cheers during a touchdown and not thrusts a sweaty sock in his mouth, but one quite opposite is not doing it when Stiles is mad at him, after the game Scott´s mom offers Stiles dad chocolate mug, he takes it cheerful and they sit to chat a little about their works, before giving Scott a chance to stop him Stiles says goodnight and heads home, there he waits sitting in his bed in the darkness, he feels like in a horror movie, which is hilarious considering that he actually lives in a Halloween marathon week or something like it, after an hour or so he listen the front door opening and closing, and then footsteps in the stairs, when his dad closes his door, Stiles open his and gets down, it´s late night so he hopes Allison and her dad are asleep by now, Stiles turns off the porch´s light just in case someone might see him and call his dad, he looks both ways through the window and sneaks into his jeep, turns on the engine but stops short when he sees a dark figure getting out from Scott´s house and disappearing into the night, this have to be a joke, why he can´t sneak out of his house to be with his girlfriend like normal teenagers? A shiver runs down his spine… He´s freaking out he knows it, but there is not turning back, he´s not even sure why he is doing this anyway, probably to show up everybody he isn´t crazy, especially himself, he puts the car in reverse and drives toward Allison´s.
This might sound silly, but he feels like a robber sneaking in the darkness outside Allison´s place, luckily the night is calm, there aren´t cars around and most the lights are out in the house, aren´t they at home? Maybe they´re just sleeping, he gets down the car and approaches the gravel walkway, with any step he feels like someone will show up, so he hurries in the porch he finds what he´s looking for the long rectangle flower pots, all full of the long purple flowers with large petals, Allison´s dad is crazy, if he knew how dangerous this plants were he weren´t growing them, he snatches three of them and carefully puts them in his hoodie´s pocket.
….
When she opens the door the familiar squeaking of the of the worn wood floor greets her, the building is specially silent tonight, so it feels like a thunder when she closes the door, she´s afraid someone might come out of their house to check her up. Is cold inside, but she doesn´t care, she´s done with it, turns on the light and walks around, the creaking sound putting her to her nerves, first she goes to the bathroom, knocking the walls tiles looking for a hollow one without success, then she goes to the living room, trying every musty wall, it´s surface looking for a button to press on or something like it, then she goes to the box, still empty nothing in there, maybe it opens with like a garage, maybe there her dad is carrying the button with him so no one would find out what´s going on in there ever unless he wants too, that discourages her, she sits in the couch, and chews her lip, this is harder than she thought, she´s losing her hope, but she can´t get out without answers, so she stands up again, and wanders around, there is something she´s not seeing so she scrutinizes even harder, touching every surface, but nothing happens, fuck she thinks, kicking the couch to drain some of her rage, she´s in a death end, and doesn´t know what else to believe, apart of course of what the book said but she doesn´t want to think about it, is too stupid even to consider it.
She keeps pacing in circles over the room, think Allison think, if you were your dad where you would put the button the squealing wood isn´t helping, with every footstep one grinds and takes her another bit of her limited patience, if she could only shut it down, she could concentrate the place is a mess is falling apart literally there are four creaking spots one in front of the door, another before the box in the opposite wall and two in the side walls, it is annoying, and stubborn and…. Allison stops short, she has being walking in circles for hours literally and…. She runs to the box and pulls it back just a few inches until it she hears the bothering shrill, then moves the TV and the coffee table to the next spot, do the same with couch, maybe if she moves the table to the door… no… she walks to the front door and steps in the last one and that´s when she hears it, a click and he heart skips a beat, she did it, she actually did, she runs to the dresser and there is, the door slightly open, thought is dark inside, she turns on her phone´s flashlight and peeks inside, at first she thinks it is empty but then she sees the darkness spreading long below her, the small space inside doesn´t end there because it isn´t an closet it is… a ladder.
Allison hesitates reaching a hand to the first handle and then a foot, she can feel her heart beat in her throat, she´s both excited and terrified at the same time, happy for her achievement she starts descending, it doesn´t take her much to reach the bottom, when he does she lights up the room, she´s in a low tunnel but she can´t see the end, she starts walking toward the darkness, her steps echoing all around her, giving this awkward sensation that she is not alone. At the end of the tunnel is large room, she know is big because the flashlight doesn´t reach its end even the walls seem far, there are dim reflections of the light when she looks sideways, at her left she finds a switch, she turns it on and everything lights up, she lets out a cry but is fast enough to muffle it with her hand, the knives, bows, crossbows and the guns are back, but they are not alone, they are arranged with hooks in the right wall, while in the other one at the far end of room is a computer, and displays, dozens of them scattered all around covering every inch of the room, showing streets and buildings, houses, and stores, even some show parts of the forest, her dad… has been spying the whole city.
….
He leaves the jeep behind and walks inside, is part of his test, so when he steps inside the wood and the turns around the town is already vanished behind, again as if the wood had a mind itself and tried to make him get lost, he takes a few steps forward inside the darkness, the twigs and fallen leaves crunch beneath his feet as usual and, after teen minutes of wandering around his eyes find the distant lights of the cabin and he can feel eyes around, he´s breathing is starting to come out of control as his heartbeat but manages to keep steady at least the first one, he can feel his presence lurking in the shadows staring at him.
"What are you doing here?" Says a harsh voice.
Stiles looks at his side, a dark shape walks toward him, pale face and ice-blue eyes glinting with the moonlight, and the image of his sweaty torso being stabbed flashes his mind, the blood streaming the moan of pain, yet here he is walking straight at him his jaw set, his fist clenched.
"I came to play a game" Stiles says bitterly.
"Look who is here" Isaac voice sweeps the air from behind.
"I´m not talking to you" Stiles grunts. "We don´t know each other, remember?" Adds sharply.
"I did it becau…"
"Because you wanted me to look like a loser I know" Stiles cuts him out.
"What do you want?" Derek asks with hatred.
"I told you I came to play a game" Stiles continues managing to chuckle sarcastically though he´s so scared his legs are shaking.
"A game?" Derek snorts and gets closer.
Derek is in front of him, Isaac behind, it means Erica and Vernon must be at his sides, he´s surrounded, there is not scape for sure, this is it.
"Yeah a game, I came to say this to you Derek, what a big ears you have!"
Derek´s face changes from anger to bewilderment.
"My ears?" He says irate, looks confused and Stiles swears he just heard a chuckle behind him.
All the things he saw in his laptop the last days come his mind, if there weren´t videos actual amateurs video he wouldn´t believe it, he knew it from the beginning but he didn´t want to believe it was truth, it seemed so stupid.
"No you don´t say that Derek, you know say All the better to hear you, and then I say what big eyes you have" Stiles continue with his condescending voice tone.
"Is this some kind of joke?" Derek lets out his nostrils expanding in and out.
"What large hands you have, what a terrible big mouth you have Derek"
"Enough" Derek bursts and launches himself toward him.
"Wait!" Stiles says and Derek stops short confused.
"Don´t tell me what do to" He reproaches stunned.
"Red riding hood" Stiles explains.
"What?" Derek frowns.
"The red riding hood, I was quoting it" Stiles says offended, really? He doesn´t know the story.
"What the hell is wrong with you?" Derek says with rage his eyes staring straight at his eyes, something in them make Stiles look away, this wasn´t a good idea after all, his heartbeat is officially out of control anytime it will rip down his ribcage, they can probably hear it, especially Derek who´s just inches from him.
"I saw you die" He says sharply, keeping his eyes high, he won´t let Derek know he´s death.
"Yeah? I heard you were in a mental institution, sadly we both didn´t get what we wanted" Replies the ghostly skinned guy, the hard puffs of breath coming out of his nostrils like a savage wind.
"I know what you are and what you´re doing" Stiles says in low voice, though he didn´t mean to.
"I don´t care what you think" Derek cuts him short. "I´m sick of you"
"I won´t tell anyone if you stop killing people" Stiles threats him.
"I´m not…" Derek says frustrated.
"See? I told you" Isaac points out from Stiles back.
"You can´t threat me boy, if you really knew what I am you wouldn´t have come" Derek snorts.
"I know what you are, you are a werewolf" Stiles accuses, he finally said it, it sounded so stupid in his mind and know he said it, his life is like a freaking eighties movie, he almost laughs of himself, this kind of things doesn´t happen, there can´t be things like werewolves in the world or anything else, it is so unreal and stupid, but they are.
The deep web taught him one thing or two, first that there were odd creatures living among us and that there were even odder people who loved them, the second thing he learned is that the deep web should change its name to bizarre net, there was this girl recording her boyfriend shape-shifting process it seemed hurtful and dangerous she didn´t care, she just approached the creature and kissed it –with tongue- when it was done, it was disturbing and disgusting, later he read about a letter a woman wrote in a forum asking for help, she´s looking for his son who left after she discovered he was a werewolf and told him she wasn´t to accept that kind of behavior in her house, of course he was just in clawed-moon forum god knows what kind of other thing he might find if he would had dig deeper, but those one were just the tip of the iceberg, there were more disturbing videos like a couple of werewolves that recorded themselves biting an eight or so year old girl it was… is better to not think about it.
"A were…" Derek starts bursting in laughs but Stiles knows he´s lying and he has a way to prove it.
"Ok you´re not a werewolf, you´re just a douchebag" Stiles snorts. "I´m sorry, my bad"
"Don´t play the smart-ass with me" Derek threats.
"Or what? Are you going to bit me? Or kill me like you did those guys?" Stiles says with a stern look.
"I´m sick of…" Derek starts but Stiles is faster.
He takes the flowers out of his pockets and held them in front of him, and delights himself watching how Derek´s face change from boiling red to cold blue.
"You know I was wrong, you´re not a werewolf, an actual werewolf would have smell the aconitum in my pocket, no you´re right you´re not a werewolf… You´re a terrible werewolf" He chuckles and Derek growls, his eyes shine and Stiles can see how his nails enlarge painfully, he was right, he can´t believe he was right, he is a werewolf, a freaking monster!.
"Oh you´re not a werewolf you´re an X-men, you´re wolverine!" He says pretending being excited.
"You´re gonna regret…" Derek says but then stops cranes his neck to his back quickly, Stiles is pretty sure he hurt himself in his act but there is something in his eyes, and the way his nose move as if… he caught a scent.
"Those bastards… I told them to not leave him alone" He mumbles with rage.
"What´s…." Stiles starts and then see it, the pair of glowing red eyes in the darkness at least four hundred feet behind Derek, how can they shine this hard?
"Get out of here now!" Derek orders.
"But… Get out!" Derek screams. Stiles feels Isaac passing by him.
He starts stepping back, but is too late it is already on them, it one simple blow of its massive brown furred arms Isaac and Derek fly back and fall over him. The monster lets out a shrill a launches itself toward them again Derek and Isaac stand up quickly and grab it by the arms, it falls on its back, stirring, throwing its arms and legs in all directions trying to break free, how strong Derek and Isaac can be? To pin it to the ground that easily?
"You!" Derek says and Stiles looks at him his forehead is already damp, Stiles can see the veins in his arms and neck pounding, he won´t last much. "Close your eyes, and picture the Cabin, run and don´t open them until you feel the lights, get Erica and Vernon they probably fainted and are covered with blood, wake them up"
Stiles steps back, this is going as he planned it, this isn´t good, not good at all, what the hell Derek just said? His mouth went dry, and his lungs are burning begging for air, he forgot to breathe again, breath…breath…he tells himself.
"Go!" Derek screams and Stiles falls on his butt.
He has to get out of here, how stupid he were, he needs help needs to get the police, they will think he´s crazy, but… if he takes a picture… he takes his phone.
"What the hell are you doing?" Isaac cries.
Stiles aims the monster´s face with his phone press the camera button and see how it let go from Derek and Isaac restraint launching over Stiles, Stiles phone falls from his hand the thing is over him, it arching a full clawed hand and before Stiles can think about it his fingers are already digging in his pocket taking the aconitum out, and then is inside the hot and wet mouth of the creature thrusting the flower inside it´s throat, it happens so fast it doesn´t let him time react, the creature reaches its hands to its chest, it is gagging, hauling for air, it shakes its head spinning in all directions until Stiles hears a throaty sound and a mass of saliva and what looks like the soaked flower hit the ground next to him, then the monster falls on its back, convulsing, it´s body shrinking, long spasm run all over its limps the fur backing up into its olive skin as its muzzle, the shining eyes changing from red to orange and then to amber before they close and Stiles falls to his knees staring at Scott lying unconscious at his feet.