III
ALIENUS
Everything is happening so fast. One second she is talking with doctor Fintshood about her…Uncle? It is impossible, her mom didn't have brothers or sisters and now the woman is telling her is time to meet him. Allison doesn't know what to do. What if he is really her uncle? What if he is one people who set her house on fire? Allison doesn't know what to do and her throbbing chest doesn't help her to think in what to do.
She has no choice, she is underage which means that they are going to force her meet him, he is waiting outside already so… at least she doesn't think that if he is a werewolf he will dare to attack her in the foster house. Dr. Fintshood is telling her now about the first visit and how he is just going to take her to have an ice cream to meet each other but it might be a lie so she needs to be ready to defend herself in case he tries to kidnap her…but what if…what if he really is her uncle? She think straight her mind is spinning.
"Allison" Dr. Fintshood says and Allison snaps back to reality.
The psychiatrist stares at her as if Allison might be ill so Allison hurries to change her expression, whoever is this man she must find the truth or else she will have to stay in the foster house at least another year and then what? It's been months since her dad disappeared. She can't hope to just find her all out of the blue in the street, if he is…alive… he should looked for her already. Allison must face the facts and accept that probably she is not going to see her dad ever again. She is by herself now and if the people that killed or kidnaped her dad is now looking for her she will be ready for them, she isn't a little girl anymore. Last December she defeated a dangerous werewolf with her binding and she can do it again with Stiles or without him.
"I'm fine" She lies with a shy smirk.
"Are you ready? We can tell you uncle to come another day"
"No, it's fine really I just… for a second thought that it was my dad and…"
Dr. Fintshood blinks and looks at her with empathy and some pity. Mostly pity actually.
"Allison the police is doing their best to…"
"I know" Allison cuts her off with another grin.
"Maybe this will be just temporally, now that the bodies are identified and none of them was your father is just matter of time before they find out what happened to him and you too will reunite"
Allison nods. She so happy of having Dr. Fintshood and Lydia in her life she isn't sure where she would be right now if it wasn't for them.
"Now" The woman says and stands. "If you would be so kind of opening the door for us"
Allison holds her breath and an idea flashes her mind. "Wait… I would like to say goodbye to Martha" She says thinking about the kind who makes the meals for the foster house.
"Allison" Dr. Fintshood starts smiling at her in a motherly way. "You're just going to meet him, there is a still some paperwork that needs to be done in case just accept. You're almost an adult if you feel like the best for you is staying I'll make sure your decision is respected"
"I know" Allison affirms. "But… just in case" She bats her lashes and smiles again.
"Alright" The woman gives up. "I've some instructions for him so we will be waiting for you outside"
Allison nods and comes out. Now in the empty hallway she breaths out with relief to find it empty, she just hopes Martha is occupied in something else so she can sneak in the kitchen unnoticed. She comes through the hallway and turn left in the end, luckily Martha must be doing the shopping now because the little kitchen is empty as she hoped. Allison comes to the first drawer and without thinking she grabs the two largest knives she sees and hurries to hide them between her belt and her blouse before anyone comes in and finds her.
When she is ready she takes a deep breath and walks out of the kitchen feeling how her heart beat stirs with every step she takes, she has a bad feeling she almost can see a pelted half-human half-wolf being waiting for her outside, but…now she must think what will be her next step. In case he is truly a werewolf she is going to kill him but then what? She can't just come back to the foster house, when they find him dead they will turn to her, she could go to jail her best option is hide and change her name, but that means to leave Beacon Hills and all hope of finding her father.
In other hand if he truly is her Uncle she will gonna have to go with him and that means to leave Beacon Hills. She is not quite sure if she wants to leave. A part of her wants to flee and forget she ever stepped in this town but that won't be possible. Another part of her wants to stay and fight. Kill the monsters that tore apart her family because in the end she got nothing. She has no other reason to live. She doesn't know anything, she has no dreams or hopes she doesn't know who she wants to be and if she goes without fulfilling her revenge she will live the rest of her life regretting it.
Allison comes back to the hallway and turns right. At the end of the corridor is the door that will take her to her future whatever it is. She waddles toward it with hesitation, she takes the doorknob and hears the creaking sound of the wood. When she comes out she finds Dr. Fintshood talking with a lanky man next to a car, they both seem to be having a lot of fun for the look in the woman's face. When they notice her presence the man cranes his neck toward her and Allison swallows with some difficulty. He is white man with a fresh shaven face, gray eyes and hooked nose. Allison isn't sure why but he looks somehow familiar. Does this mean he is her uncle? Or all contrary she is recognizing one of the werewolves from last December? Her heart quivers and he quickly approaches with a big grin on his face.
"Hello Allison"
Allison takes a minute to reply she is dazed and a little exhausted after all the things that have happened today. "Hi" She simply says.
"I know you don't recognize me, last time I saw you, you were just a baby girl"
Can I really trust this man? Allison chews her bottom lip and looks at Dr. Fintshood who nods at her.
"I was thinking we could have some Ice cream to know each other, what do you say? Do you like ice cream?"
Maybe…maybe if he is a werewolf she can unmask him right away. When he beckons her to follow him to the car an idea flashes her mind. Werewolves' heat. If she takes him by surprise… She doesn't think twice. Instead of following him Allison sinks her face in his chest and holds him in a tight embrace, and he feels warm… but not hot… not like Scott used to when he held her in his arms.
She lets go embarrassed and a little relived she did it in front of Dr. Fintshood and then she gasps with disappointment when she recalls something she read once in the Binding book. Bipedalist can even hide their extreme heat, so even when she took him by surprise he still might be a werewolf. Her heartbeat rises again and she grits her teeth following him to his car. She climbs him reluctantly and waves at Dr. Fintshood who makes her sings to adjust her seatbelt. Right just what she needs right now. Being trapped in a car with a possible werewolf. She does as she is bid and then she feels the pressure of the knives under her clothes and she calms down a little, if he is a werewolf he must have been feeling how anxious she was just seconds ago.
"Are you ready?" He says with another clean smile.
Allison nods hesitantly and he turns on the engine.
He starts driving away from the foster house. Allison can't stop looking at him in the eye waiting for them to glow or something he notices her glance and tilts his head toward her.
"How are you feeling?" Asks looking back at the road.
"I'm a little scared actually" She admits a little embarrassed.
"You don't need to I promise everything is going to be alright" He says with a reassuring voice and then is when she notices it. They just passed by the ice cream shop and the car didn't stop.
….
"Mr.…Mr. Argent?" Scotts mutters doubtful. In front of him right on his bed is sitting a man with some familiar features and some many others that don't match with the face he recalls from that afternoon when his world crumbled.
The stranger's familiar face wrinkles in a scornful expression. "So… you can see my face?" Mr. Argent's voice and at least it hadn't change as the rest of his body did. "Or is it my scent?"
Scott looks around feeling his heartbeat in the tip of his fingers, he is not sure what is going on. Is this Allison's father for real? He just told her an hour ago that he wouldn't come back and now… is this man really him? What happened to his face? Scott can't tell… he seems to look like Christopher Argent and at the same time he looks like a different person, even his scent isn't exactly the one Scott once knew.
"What do you mean by I can see your face?" Scott stutters fearing the answer.
The might or might not be Christopher Argent stands and Scott hesitantly steps back. Is it some kind of trick? Has the Fenrir anything to do with this? What if it is a trap?
"How can I put it to you?" The man says thoughtful scratching his chin. "I am and the same time I am not Chris Argent"
Scotts recoils a little farther until his back hits the wall and he suddenly feels trapped.
"A friend of mine I think you know him, Deaton, helped me change who I am for a short period of time"
"He helped you? Derek told me he didn't help anyone!"
"He had no choice, this had to happen this way! But I must admit that neither of us knew what was going to happen next, sometimes the voices in the wind doesn't whisper accurately in his ear"
What is he talking about?
"We have no time, it is a pretty hard binding and it last just a couple of minutes, tell me what you see in me"
Scott hesitates, what is Mr. Argent talking about? "I think… I don't understand" He says as politely as his fear lets him. This is Allison's father, he knows it, he can't tell how but he just… knows.
"I can't place it but… your mouth is the same as your ears…but the rest of your features…" Scott tries to explain with frustration, is something he can't understand.
"It's okay Scott I get it" Mr. Argent says rising his hand to make him signs to stop. "What do you see is a half-Alienus"
"Alienus?" Scott repeats in a soft mutter.
The man nods. "It is a powerful binding that allows you to be someone else for a short period of time. It is tricky and especially useful to identify your enemies, as you might know humans and binders doesn't have those especial noses of your kind"
Your kind. It almost sounds as an accusation.
"You see… it can only hide your from your enemies, while the people that can be trusted see you as you are"
"Are….are you saying that I…" Scott starts but his voice trails off as soon as Mr. Argent rises his hand again.
"I used it because I needed to know if I can trust you… and even though you can't truly see me it looks like you find some resembles on my face…"
"Mr. Argent… I think I'm not…"
"Longshot!" Scott's mom's voice breaks from the hallway.
"Hey Mellissa" The man's face smirks and now Scott can see more familiar features on it, it is like the pieces of a puzzle starting to fit on his mind.
Scott turns and finds himself facing his mom who is coming in and even when she seems happy to meet her friend her hand comes quickly to her belt were she takes her gun and rises aiming to the man's head.
"Come one Melissa put it down… you're not going to hurt me" The man replies sternly.
"What? What happened to you?" Scott mom's demands as her eyes quickly become fiery and some pieces of that afternoon in the lake start clouding Scott's mind. Both of them… shooting…at him. His mom… shooting at him.
"I came through a series of queasy events" The man simply says as if Scott's mom isn't aiming at him with a gun.
"You tried to kill my son!" She roars and her voice creaks in the last words.
Scott feels a stab in the chest, after all those months of silence and… and an anxious scent in the air… he just… he just thought his mom didn't love him anymore but now… now he has to fight his tears back.
"It was a misunderstanding, I must admit that I still have my doubts with Scott but now that you showed up I feel more comfortable with what I'm about to ask you"
"Ask me?" She snaps irate.
"Actually I was talking to Scott" He explains courteously. "As you probably know Scott things are complicating in the town"
Scott nods.
"What?" His mom asks. "What do you mean? Does this has anything to do with the man who died in the hospital? Was he like Scott? Is the same going to happen to Scott?"
Now Scott not only feels his mom's rage but fear for his life, and the relief washes him for the first time in months he doesn't feel lonely.
"What do you mean?" Chris Argent now seems lost.
"The man!" She tries to make him understand. "The one who exploded, they think he was muting…. Into some creature with…fangs…and claws"
She says those words and Scott knows she doesn't dare to look at him.
"I don't know what you are talking about" Chris Argent admits. "But I promises I'll find out as soon as our business here are done"
"What are you longshot?" She asks with a shaky voice. "What is going on here?"
Now she starts lowering her gun.
"I'm the same as you, a concerned parent" He affirms and then shifts his eyes back on Scott. "As I was telling you, we are in a tricky situation, you can see me but no fully which means that you still hadn't figure out your mind about me"
"You tried to murder Derek" Scott shots back a little uncomfortable with his response.
"I should have done that I long ago" Chris Argent snaps a little irate.
"You tried to murder me, that's what you guys do right?"
"If you talking about Binders I seems like Derek didn't fill you with all the details, how convenient"
"What are you talking about?" Scott's mom asks lost.
"Maybe you don't know this but I can't bind anymore, I lost that ability many years ago when I was just a boy like you. That is why I need Deaton's help to cast the simplest binding"
"Deaton?" Scott's mom asks confused but they both ignore her.
"What does that has to do with me?" Scott demands.
"Everything Scott, I've been running for my life and trying to find help but unfortunately I hadn't been lucky. Now, I must ask you a question"
Scott nods hesitantly.
"Do you love Allison?" As soon as those words leaves Chris Argent's lips Scott's heart leaps. He… Allison and him had a short…but beautiful relationship…but it was… it was just a teen's thing right? He well… he knows that Allison has this odd scent like Stiles but…what if she didn't have it? Would he still find it hard to stay away from her? He… he…
"I came all this way here because of what your friend said. Stiles in the lake, even when you were Fourer somehow you were in control and even though you couldn't control your shifting you fought to keep her safe with your mother in that cave" He explains.
Scott feels a lump in his throat, why? Why? Asking this now? He feels so lost and scared and it would be funny if Allison's father wouldn't be that badass werewolf killer but… even if he kills him right now… even if Allison doesn't want to do anything with him anymore and even thought their relationship wasn't long…he…
He nods.
"That's what I thought" Chris Argent smirks. "I must ask you something, I need you to take Allison and runaway"
"What?" Scott's mom scoffs. "What are you talking about? Are you seriously telling my son to runway with your daughter? Do you have any idea of how bizarre that is?"
"If you really are with Derek you must know what is coming to the town right now" The man says sternly looking straight into Scott's eyes.
"They are here already" Scott nods.
"Who?" His mom asks.
"Dangerous people Mellissa, if you love your son just must go with him and Allison and never come back"
"Mom…"
"What is going Scott?"
"There is a massive pack of werewolves hiding in the surrounding towns, some of them are already here, and they're planning to start a war… and…"
He can see it, his mom isn't getting anything of what he's saying.
"I must…"
"We need to alert the station!" His mom hurries to say with her lip wobbling.
"What are they going to do? Shoot bullets at them? Do you remember what happened when you tried to do that to your son?" Mr. Argent scoffs and Scott suddenly feels the urgency to shut him up.
"Don't talk to me like that!" His mom roars.
"It's okay I didn't came to start a fight, I'm sorry" The man bends his head and rises his hands in an apology.
"Why don't you take Allison and go away? I must stay, I promised… Derek…"
"What? What are you two going to do against two eight hundred werewolves?" The man says bitterly.
"Eight hundred?" Scott's mom repeats with terror.
"A thousand actually" Scott corrects them feeling just worse with his own words.
"Do you really wanna stay and die for Derek?"
"What about you?" Scott shots back. "Are you going to stay and die? Do you have any idea of how much Allison has suffered because of you?"
Chris Argent nods. "My past is chasing me I can't run forever, but the people that are looking for me doesn't know about Allison, everybody thinks she died years after her mom, she will be safer with you than me, you're strong after all"
Scott recoils, the idea of running away with Allison would have seemed a dream come true but in another life…in another world were we would be normal and she wouldn't hate him for being who he is.
"Mr. Argent…"
"Please Scott"
"What did she say about it?"
"I hadn't see her yet…but I'm going to try to convince her, there is no place for you in this war, you are just a victim, another pawn in game"
"Who? What is going on?" His mom asks.
Scott nods with his heartbeat stabilizing now. "I promise I'll do everything in my power to keep her safe"
"Thank…" Chris Argent starts.
"But… it will depend of her decision whether if she choices to stay or go, I won't manipulate her to anything something she doesn't want"
Chris Argent nods.
"I'll go to see her now, I suppose it is dangerous for you to go out, with the werewolves and the police looking for you" Scott points out and then stares at his mom pleading for her silence.
"That won't be necessary" Chris Argent replies softly and then sits in his bed.
And then Scott feels it…that scent.
….
So many things crossed her mind. She imagined herself hanged on a tree, stabbed in the chest. The worst scenarios for her included her head chopped off or worse being turned into a werewolf. But none of them happened at least for now… She is terrified and even thought she is tempted to tug her knives and kill him whoever he is something inside her tells her it isn't alright, as he drives the way he is taking is making her anxious, the route he is taking its making sense in her mind but… but…why?
When he stops the car she knows she has been right the whole time, this man isn't her uncle he is someone somehow related with all the shit that is happening in the town.
"Let's go" He says with a grin.
Allison takes a deep breath and cocks her head to the side to face Scott's home. What are they doing there? Is this some kind of trick? Is Derek waiting inside to murder her? Or is Scott going to insist her to leave the town again? She has no time for any of it, but whatever is waiting for her she can't runaway she is really mad right now because of the lie and she is already armed with a pair of knives. Whoever is messing with her will pay the price and if it is Derek he better be ready.
Allison climbs down of the car and slowly follows her face uncle Brian to the front door. "Who really are you?" She demands dryly.
He blinks twice. "I'm your uncle sweetie" He says with a wounded low voice.
"Then why…?" She starts asking.
"I don't that much… I just know that I'm your uncle and that I needed to get you out of there at least for a couple of hours" He explains and then she notices… he is…confused…maybe as confused as her…but… he really thinks he is her uncle…how?
"Allison" A voice calls from the now opened door and her world falls apart.
An intense headache sizes her, her minds becomes cloudy and she can swear she smelling blood inside her nose, her legs turn into jelly and her heart skips a beat. Allison cranes her neck to her right where her dad is standing next to Scott and now… she just falls under the unbearable weight of her grief, fear, doubts and pain. She can't stand it anymore she is too hurt…too used to live terrified and breathless…she just…
"Allison!" Her dad's voice is now concerned.
Is this for real? Is all her mind can manage to think as she feels a par of extremely hot hands taking her gently before her temple hits the ground, they are strong and calloused and surprisingly familiar. She wants to scream and kick and cry let me go! But her lungs lack the air and her tongue the words so she just gives up and lets Scott carry her body inside to let her lay over a comfortable couch.
She is tempted to let it go and fall asleep but something inside her is squirming and yelling her to wake up, to stand up. Her dad is there…Her dad is there! She must open her eyes, she must see him before she wakes up in her room in the foster house lonely and soaked in sweat and tears, but this doesn't feel like a dream…this is so vivid she can even feel the spark prickling her hand announcing that Stiles is just a door away or her, this must be real. This has to be real.
"Are you alright?" Asks her dad's soft and scrappy voice as a gentle and warm palm comes to her forehead.
Allison opens her eyes slowly and fixes them in her father's green ones. "You are really here" She mutters unable to hear her own voice.
He nods.
Tears climb to her eyes. He is here. This is not a dream. Everything…everything will be…okay. She jerks up holding her head as a lump climbs to her throat and she chokes her tears and her nauseas.
"Where have you been?" She says louder this time, sweeping the room with her eyes. Scott and her dad are standing before her at Scott's right is the boy's mom and her fake uncle Brian.
"I've been trying to find your uncle Jeremy" Her dad explains hoarsely.
"That's it?!" She suddenly roars and before she notices her dad is laying on his back on the floor and she is in top of him rising her hand to slap him. "You abandoned me!" She cries.
"Allison!" Scott says startled grabbing her by the back of her collar bone.
"Let me go!" She yells but the boy doesn't listen to her and hauls her up as if she is just a little girl and takes her back to her seat in the coach.
Her dad sits on the floor and gasps as he stares at her with…what? Disappointment? Sadness? Pity? What the hell is wrong with him?
"How could you leave me?" She demands holding back her tears, she knows what she told her dad the last time she saw him and how much she regretted those words this past months but just… looking at him like this, telling her that he has been alright all this time… it just makes her want to hurt him… she knows he is her dad…but…she is really mad at him right now.
"I'm really sorry Allison but I had no choice" He says it and it looks like he really means his words but Allison can't just buy it, she can't just accept it that easily.
"Before I say anything else please come here" Her dad asks gently taking her hand. At first Allison reaction is to let go from his touch she can't even stand it but something inside her forces her to follow him. He leads her to the middle of Scott's living room where uncle Brian is standing with blank face and almost motionless, is he breathing?
"Raise your hand and stroke his cheek then whisper in his ear wake up Marty three times" He mumbles in her ear.
Allison cranes her neck to her dad confused what is he talking about? "What the….?"
"Just do it please" He hurries her.
Allison rises her hand and does as her dad bid her. When she finishes whispering the phrase in the man's ear one last time his eyes come back to life and he stares at all of them for a second.
"Excuse me" The man says with an odd accent. "I must have come here by mistake, I'm sorry is I have upset you"
Everyone nods even Scott's mom who seems prettified with terror in her place staring at Allison hands as if they were poisonous.
"What happened?" She asks as her fake Uncle Brian comes out of the house as confused as them and gets in his car and drives away.
"It was for safety, Deaton put that on his mind just in case he is captured and interrogated he won't remember meeting us ever" Her dad explains.
"Who was he?" Allison demands feeling sick. Lies and more lies it seems like it is all her dad has to offer for her.
"He was a homeless man, I found him to bring you here and got him a home and a job as a payment for his services, remember to always pay your debts the balance needs to be even" He says and now Allison needs to take a seat again, it was just a plan from her dad to get her out of the foster house.
"I wish I could have taken you with me Allison but it would have been dangerous, I had to fight for my life countless times in my way to find your uncle Jeremy"
"Dad what's going on?" Allison demands scared.
"I think we all here want to know that" Scott's mom interrupts with a shaky voice but Allison doesn't dare to look at the woman she wants to go home with her dad but their home doesn't exist anymore and by the look on her dad eyes she knows that this isn't the beginning of their happy ending.
"I couldn't find your uncle Jeremy, he vanished" He says with disappointment.
"Just tell me what's going on, you can't just go and expect me to understand…I've been dying inside all this time without you" She is exhausted, her voice trails off in the end she just wants to lay on her bed whenever it is now and drift away.
"Is too dangerous Allison, I'm really sorry" Her dad replies with a pleading look. "All I can say is that there is bad people looking for me and they will find you eventually"
"So what? Are you just going to wait for them and fight?" She says shocked.
"I don't know what I'm going to do, my priority now is to see leave the town safely"
Her heart gives a lurch. "What? No! I can't leave the town, not without you! You just came back! You can't expect me to let you go again! I won't go and there is nothing you can do to make me change my mind!"
"You won't go alone Allison, Scott has agreed to…"
Scott? Scott? She repeats in her mind with disgust.
"Are you mad? I won't go anywhere with him! He is a monster!" She says harshly and even though she meant it that way suddenly she feels bad for saying those words.
"Allison…"
"I won't go dad! I have to live without you all this time, you have no right to tell me what to do! You hear me?"
He bends his head setting his jaw in frustration. "I'm really sorry, I did what I thought was the best for you"
"You thought wrong" She replies dryly.
"Maybe, but at least you are alive and that's all that matters" He lets out with a brief grin. "If you're not going then you must stay here, Scott will protect you"
"I don't need protection dad! And less from him! He lied to me about who he was! He is werewolf he is the enemy! He is with Derek!"
"I won't discuss this Allison, I can't let you in that foster house if you wanna stay in the town you're staying here" Her dad grunts and for the first time this afternoon he is acting more like the dad she remembered and the one she craved for.
"What?" Scott's mom suddenly says realizing what Allison's father is saying.
"Mom, let's get out of here" Scott says taking his mom from her arm and leading her out of the room.
"Dad I can't stay here, where are you going? I'll go with you, I'm not a child anymore I can defend myself!" She assures.
"You can't go with me Allison, I'll be hiding if something comes wrong and they find us they won't hesitate to rip your throat just to destroy me, you are all I got, I'm going to survive for you because I love you, please try to understand and trust in me" He begs and tears climb to Allison's eyes.
"I'm sorry dad" She says breathless tasting the salty and wet tears on her lips and tongue. "I'm sorry for all the things I said that night"
"You don't need to worry about that, I deserved every word"
"No you didn't" She assures.
"Is getting dark" Her dad says and fear climbs inside her. "I brought you something" He comes to the back of the couch and snatches a backpack, he opens it and draws out a black box.
"I know how good you are with the bow, I thought you would like to have your own one. There are guns and knives inside too"
Allison takes the box eagerly.
"This are no toys Allison, I mean it. I don't want you to go out there hunting werewolves or anything else that might show up. Do you understand?"
Anything else? A chill runs down her spine to the think of it.
"These are tools, to protect people not to murder, just use them in case your life is in danger alright?"
Allison breaths out and nods.
"I must go now…but…"
"Dad please don't!"
"I'm sorry Allison but the longer I stay I'll put you in more danger"
Allison takes the box with trembling hands and puts it aside.
"Takes this" He says when she turns, he is handling her a piece of paper with some words wrote on them.
"What is this?" She asks.
"A binding" He says proudly. "I was doubtful if you would be able to cast off Marty's real self and you did it without any issues, your will is strong! Just like your mother's" He smiles.
"Use this to get rid of the foster house, read the binding over the phone to every person who was in charge in there and later you will tell them how happy you are of living with your uncle Brian and grateful for all their work. You will tell them that you are so happy that they found him and took to live with him right away, that should be enough for them to do all the paperwork and they won't bother anymore"
Allison smirks, that easy? The solution to all her was that easy? Just to bind? Her will… it is weird for her to talk with her dad about binding as a common thing, was it the same for Scott's mom? Can she accept the fact that her son is different?
"Dad? Why don't you cast it yourself?" She asks curious, he could have done it from the beginning.
"One day I'll tell why I can't bind, but that is a long story and we ran out of time" He says sadly.
"When I will see you again?" She says asking herself in her mind if she is going to see her dad ever again.
"I don't know" He admits with hoarse voice. "Come here"
He takes her in his arms and presser tight against her chest. "I love you so much" He says. "Mellissa is a good friend of mine, she will take care of you"
"I'm so sorry dad, I'm so sorry for everything I said about…"
He hushed her "Forget it"
A sweet breeze came from the window at her back stifling the hair in the back of her neck and Allison felt a chill.
"I can't… daddy… she will die… and it's my fault"
Allison's dad let her go and stares at him with eyes opened wide. "What did you say?" He asks openmouthed.
Allison blinks "I said that I'm really sorry for…"
"Um… I'm sorry…I'm really tired…" He says not convinced of his words. "I love you…I love you" He mutters in her ear.
Allison takes a deep breath and when she opens her eyes her dad is gone.
….
That…cries…those yells of a kid… it was upsetting and scaring. Stiles can't stop thinking about them. For a second he thought that the fighting had started already and the he would found the town under attack by a pack of savage and angry werewolves. It is over now, well, at least for now but he knows it is just matter of time before everything becomes a living hell.
He is so tired, he can't tell why but after going to the graveyard to visit his mom part of his strength faded pretty quickly he almost feels like…like when he distorted Deaton's binding in the woods, he is breathless and tired his eyes are closing by themselves and all he wants is have some rest.
He opens the front door and without changing his clothes he goes straight to the kitchen. His dad will be pretty occupied that nigh and when he comes home the least Stiles can do is have dinner done for him. While he cuts the carrots and the potatoes he can stop thinking how many meals they got left. Because of their routines they barely share the table now it is like when they knew his mom only got a couple of months of life left suddenly every second counts and you want to treasure it, sink yourself on denial and think that you will be happy for ever…but forever always turns to be a short period of time.
When the dinner is done he doesn't eat. Even though he is starving he feels like if he sits in the table he will just drift away and if his dad finds asleep in the table he will get worry and that is the less he would want now. Let his dad knows that something is troubling him.
He takes his dad plate on the microwave and gets upstairs. He takes a flash shower and gets into his pajamas. His laptop is on his bed, he takes it off and slides under the cover, rest his head on his pillow and his eyes close almost automatically, the last thing he thinks of while his thoughts become numb and confusing is that he is feeling the spark burning inside his chest.
"I didn't….I didn't…"
"Not Yet!"
….
Right when she thought things couldn't get weirder her best friend shows up in her home after months missing and presumed death. Talking about wars between mythical creatures right in her home town. Asking her to shelter his daughter in her home and treating her son as an equal even when he tried to murder him in front of her face.
It has been a long day and yet Melissa doesn't feel like sleeping. After Longshot left she cleaned up Scott's room for Allison. Her son will be sleeping with her as long as Allison is staying with them, she knows that the teens have been a couple just months ago and she doesn't know if her son can have babies but she won't risk that that girl might get pregnant with a… her son is not a monster…she knows he isn't but… he is just a boy and he can't have a family right now.
Gosh she has a lot to think about. She thought that she was crazy but she saw Allison talking with some people over the phone and even though she still seemed pretty reluctant to stay in there she asked her and Scott to accompany her to the foster house at the other side of the town. It was a weird thing, she fell like she was abusing of her privileges as an officer by taking the girl away from the foster home. When they got there they were received by a party of nice people that were happy to see Allison depart, they kept saying how happy they were that her uncle came to help her and how amazing was that he got a place right in that town to take care of her.
Melissa can't stop thinking about it, the eyes of the people in the foster house. They seemed empty almost as if they were puppets. She knows it has something to do with longshot and his daughter. What the hell are they? How can a simple girl do such things? Mellissa is afraid she is losing her mind after shooting her son and now she is locked in a mental institution imagining conspiracies and wars.
She tosses on her bed. Scott is lying next to her with his eyes closed but she knows he isn't asleep either. Her eyes turn watery with the thought of those nights after he came to this world. How…how beautiful, fragile and defenseless he was. Her little thing, the most important human being in the world. Now her son isn't fragile or defenseless and he definitely isn't a human being. Still…she…feels like he needs her protection. If she could only rise her hand and stroke his cheek and tell him how much she loves him. But…will he believe it? After what she did to him? After she shoot repeatedly at his head, of course he was a best right then but still was her son still was a scared little boy watching his mom aiming him with a gun and yet he didn't do anything to defend himself. Will this awful thoughts ever stop haunting her? She isn't sure she will able to forget herself for what she did, and for her silence. She knows her son must have felt lonely and scared and sad all this months and she didn't do anything she didn't but what? What she could have done? Go to therapy? Are there support groups for parents of werewolves?
Finally the tiredness takes over her. She drifting away, she doesn't know what time is it but she knows that Scott is still awake. What is he thinking? Is he thinking about the girl in his room? Or is he thinking about how weird is being this close to his mother and yet this long. Being separated by an unbreakable invisible wall. Magic…War…Werewolves…Secrets…Conspiracies… She still can't believe in all this, it is so surreal. A war is about to explode in the town according to Longshot and she can't do anything about it…this is the place she swore to protect but to just the idea of telling the sheriff about a war of Magic and Monsters makes her realize how crazy she would sound. They will destitute her and lock her down for good.
What I'm going to do? She thinks. She can't…let them hurt her son…this guy Derek…is the same Derek of the cabin in the forest? They can't leave…she can't go away and leave everyone to die…neither she can stay and try to convince everybody of what is about to happen…the only thing she can do…is stay and fight.
….
Allison is grateful with Melissa McCall for letting her stay in her home, but she doesn't feel comfortable in here. After all the things she said to Scott that same afternoon before finding out that her dad was alive and save…She just…feels like crap. Nothing has changed Scott is still Derek's puppet just like Stiles but… Allison kind of regrets the way she treated him. Yeah she knows he is a werewolf but he was her boyfriend, he treated her kindly and never tried to hurt her, and now she is staying in his room. It is odd to think that her dad decided to ask a werewolf to protect his daughter. Werewolves and Binders are enemies after all. Why her dad didn't call the STCU? Where is her uncle Jeremy?
She gets out of Scott's bed and grabs her jacket from the chair before the computer. She tugs the piece of paper out of her pocket and stares at the phone numbers… she lets out a sigh and then stares back at the bed. She should get some rest…no…they will come after her she knows it. Her dad wants to protect her but that doesn't mean he will be able to do it. Scott told her after all, there is something about her scent…. She shakes her head and comes to the bed, snatches the binding book from bellow the pillow.
Allison stares at the carved runes on the cover of the book and traces the lines with the tip of her fingers. She can't believe how easy was to play with the minds of everybody in the foster house. How simple is to trick a system…the possibilities… are endless… she could to anything. It is scaring and thrilling. Gosh! If she only had the book when she was just a little girl now…now she would be a badass Binder and she wouldn't have to be afraid of anything. That's what she needs. She needs to learn. She have shown her dad that she can cast easily he even became amazed by how simple it seemed for her and indeed it was… she just followed his instructions and everything happened it is like reconnecting with something inside her it is almost like nostalgia and happiness mixed in a single emotion. She knows the answers are inside her she is a natural. She learns fast maybe her dad can't train her but… she can train herself.
She opens the book and starts digging in its pages looking for something she recalls watching long time ago when she was naïve and stupid and still didn't know that werewolves and other creatures were real. Cycles that's the part. It has all the bindings that make Allison think of witchcraft and Salem. She starts reading some titles until one calls her attention. Ignire. She reads in her mind. It is…set something on fire. Cast fire out of nowhere, well, not nowhere. It needs a flammable material, oxygen and heat. She doesn't continue reading….she needs to think as a binder… She knows she can do this…she just need to concentrate. She is sure a well skilled binder can cast fire out of anything.
She needs….a flammable material. She grabs a sheet of paper from Scott's desk and comes back to the bed. Heat….heat…how is she going to find heat without of using a lighter or something like it? Damn, it is frustrating, she is tempted to look at the book but it would be cheating. She takes a deep breath and lets out the air slowly and then it is when she realizes she has the source of oxygen…her breathing and willpower and if her breathing…will be life of the fire then…there is only one thing that makes her guts scorch and feel like they are ablaze…. Anger.
Allison closes her eyes, and starts thinking…Derek…his mom dead…her dad leaving her, Scott lying and Stiles too, Lydia getting bitten because of her…it all just…makes her grit her teeth and makes her want to scream and destroy everything that surrounds her. She is ready. She takes the sheet of paper in her hand, takes a deep breath and snaps her fingers…the dark room suddenly is illuminated by an intense light. Allison gaps and then pants staring at her fingers…they…are…on fire…on real orange and yellow flames that are eating her nails. She lets out a soft cry and starts shaking her hand desperately and the flames start to shrink, their light along with it until she is again alone in the darkness holding her throbbing hand with the other, tears climb to her eyes. She is still panting and…and…smiling…she did it… she was right! Though something went wrong, maybe she focused too much on her fingers, maybe it was her breathing but she did it! She is not helpless her hand knew what do to just like when she learned to shoot arrows.
Even though her fingers keep throbbing and they are red and almost bloody she tries again, this time the fire sets up lower and less intense and there is when she realizes that her anger is related to it as she thought, she sets it out quickly washing her tears away. She was happy for her successful first attempt and yet her fingers burnt…but this time it wasn't as hard as the first. She reached something inside her she can feel it…she is strong…she is not the stupid girl her dad and Scott think, she can fight, she can save her dad…she needs to find him, if she only had her phone…it doesn't matter. Without hesitation Allison grabs the black box her dad gave and opens it, she gaps when she notices that it is really deep even when it is squared it has a long bottom. She digs her hand inside and she feels like a magician drawing a hare out of a hat. She feels her fingers brushing a string and she pulls up.
The bow is large, made of hard black wood with a strong string, inside there is also a quiver and a pair of guns. Her dad is so silly, he really thought his daughter was a defenseless little girl, but no… she is a binder. A soldier and she won't wait arms crossed while her dad is ripped apart by those monsters.
Allison puts the guns inside her pockets opens the window and stares down… it is a long way to the brushy ground, but she isn't afraid, she can land without suffering any wounds or breaking any bone she learned how to do it with the video she saw the other day. She wedges her head from the hole in the window and jumps. She will land safely she knows it. And she does indeed.
She takes sneaky steps hiding in the shadow of Stiles' home as she heads of the lawn. She needs to find her dad and show him what she is capable of…she is sure he will be pretty impressed and will let her stay with him to fight together against whatever is after him. She looks up at the windows of Stiles' home and she wonders if he knows how to cast fire too, she wonders what kind of skills he has learned and have hid from her all this time…if he…wasn't a liar and a traitor Allison would have been with him training and learning new and exciting ways to control the world that surround them.
"What are you doing?" Says a voice when she is coming out of the McCall's terrain.
Allison's heart leap and she holds her breath, she turns and finds Scott standing next to her with a wrinkling brow. Her heartbeat steadies a bit thought it shouldn't her dad might trust in Scott but she isn't as naïve as him, she knows Scott sooner or later will sell her to Derek.
"I could ask you the same" She replies without looking in the eye and as if he isn't there she continues heading out of there, maybe her dad didn't tell her where he is but she has an idea.
"I would tell you that I'm following you, what's your excuse" The boy replies happily as if they were just hiking throw a meadow.
"I'm finding my dad, I won't stay arms crossed while his life is in danger" She explains even though she doesn't owe him any explanations.
"Alright" He says thoughtfully. "You're looking for your dad in the middle of the night, when the town is packed with an army of extremely dangerous werewolves, how smart of you"
"Don't act like nothing has happened between us" She says bitterly. "I don't trust you"
"Ouch" He chuckles.
"You're enjoining it don't you? Watching me how I'm treated like a girl from everybody, even you! I'm not stupid little kid"
"No one is treating you like nothing Allison, don't you get it? Everybody is scared! You should too" He says sternly.
They pass the entrance of the neighborhood and now they waddle in the long and dark streets that lead to the other side of the town.
"I should be scared? Are you out of your mind? I've been fucking terrified since I put a foot in this friggin town! Don't tell about being scared because you don't know what it is, to being afraid of your own family, your friends, your home, your boyfriend and even of yourself"
Scott stops to a halt and Allison keeps walking without looking at him.
"Allison lets go home please" He pleads.
"Home?" She lets out a snarky scoff. "I have no home, it was destroyed remember? By werewolves"
"Allison… you know what I mean, I can't leave you here in the alone in the middle of the night"
Allison's heart skips a beat and she bits her bottom lip, who the hell he think he is to say those things? How can he still believe that he has the right to care about her? How can he think that she will believe in any of his words? Shit why she feels so…empty and hurt right now?
"Just go away Scott" She says with anger for being so stupid to almost feel tears climbing in her eyes, hadn't she cried enough for the rest of her life?
"I promised your dad I'll protect you no matter what" He says steadily and almost…believable. No…he is lying.
"I don't care what my dad said, you don't owe me anything, you're just Derek's servant and he killed my mom…and I'll …"
"I will protect you no matter what, not because your dad asked me. I'm doing it because of me, because I'm selfish and if something happens to you…I won't a have a reason to live"
Allison lets out a soft whisper as she lets control of her breathing and her stomach plunges down. No…he…is lying…he is lying….she can't believe in his words….she shakes her head.
"I'll find my dad and we'll kill those bastards that are chasing him and then…we'll go after Derek, so please Scott stay away from me. Because…because if you are in the middle when the time comes…I'll kill you too" She cranes her neck with fiery anger burning through her, she feels like she could set him on fire right here right now… but…
"Allison…" He starts with sadness but his voice trails off when a high pitched cry cuts the night and both of them jerk their heads as their left… it came from just a couple of streets away.
"What the…" She is saying when Scott grabs her by the arm. "Allison get back to the house" He orders.
"No!" She replies defiantly.
"Are you crazy? Do you wanna die?" He growls with frustration. "Get back home now!" He lets her go and starts running toward the source of the scream.
"I told you I have no home weredump!" She jokes as she starts following him.
….
Allison is in danger! That's the first thing that comes to Stiles mind as he jolts on his bed…he can…explain it…but something….something in his chest. She spark! It is killing him right now! He closes his eyes and he sees blood and some trees and…Scott? He is not sure but his mind…gosh! It is going to kill him! He holds it in his hands but he can't do anything about it… the tears are flowing down and his chest it feels like….it is about to explode. And suddenly everything fades.
Stiles sits on his bed breathless, staring at the darkness what time is it? Was it a dream? No…it was so real…. He still can feel his chest pulling him up…almost as if it is telling him the way… he can't explain it but he needs to find Allison now… something is not right.
Stiles comes out of his bed dizzy and falls on his fours. He pants and assisted by the bed he stands up. He comes out of the room and almost falls down the stairs. He opens the front door of his house. Damn my jeep! He recalls with anger. He has no car, he'll…he'll have to run.
He follows the pulsation in his chest down the streets, he just hopes the bond between Allison and him is working properly and not taking him to a trap or anything. Damn he should have bring a knife or anything it is a stupid thing to go out in the middle of the night with the town infested with blood thirsty monsters.
He runs as fast as his short legs lets him, he is breathless and still tired after whatever happened to him in the graveyard. With every step the rate of the pulsations of the spark in his chest increase getting harder and harder until…he is close enough to the woods line… of course whatever shit happens in the town always has something to do with the friggin woods.
He turns left in the last corner and then he gaps.
"What happened to you?" He hears Allison's voice between sobs staring a woman lying in the middle of the street bathed in blood her left arm missing.
"He…he…help" The lady says with her eyes flying and her body starting to stir.
"Allison you need to get out of here" Scott says and Stiles finds his best friend staring into the darkness. If he were in his wolf form the hair in his pelt would be bristling right now…he is watching something…but what?
"What happened here?" Stiles says joining the girl and starting to take off his shirt to improvise a tourniquet.
"I…don't know….I don't….know" Allison says with shaky voice. Her eyes are wide open with tears coming out of them as rivers. Stiles doesn't need to concentrate in their bond to know what she feels… she thinks the woman is going to die.
"We need to get her out of here"
"Call…call…an ambulance" Allison whimpers.
Stiles shoves his hands in his pockets…damn he didn't bring his phone.
"Help…Help!" Stiles yells in the empty street and then they both feel it.
He knows they both did it, because at the same time Allison and him rise their heads toward the dark corner ahead of them and a jolt of electricity and chill make them shudder, an enormous shape comes out of the darkness and a deafening snarl makes them kneel on the floor and cover their ears.
"Run!" A familiar voice yells at them.
Stiles cranes his neck and spots Derek approaching them at high speed and lumbering over the creature. With a simple swing of an arm it throws Derek away sending him flying backward and knocking the back of his head against the pavement.
"Derek!" Stiles yells with terror but another snarl makes him turn his head back to the front and then the lights baths the creature and they see it for the first time.
It is ten feet tall maybe a little more. It has a black furred body, it is standing on its hind legs but it isn't a werewolf its head flat and round. The ears are like bats' wings. It has a snout flat and cylindrical like a pig's, its claws are shorter than a werewolves but they look sharper as their fanged mouth. The only thing it has in common with a werewolf is the glowing eyes but where the firsts' are round this things' are slanted its pupils shrink before Stiles' eye as the light hits them as a cat's eyes.
Stiles and Allison stay right there staring at it when it suddenly starts craning its neck out of control following its enormous snout as if it was catching and scent and then its evil eyes fix on them. Stiles freezes and his hands starts shaking. He wants to scream to yell Allison to runaway but…he paralyzed in fear he can't move or speak he is terrified he wants to cry, it is like living a real nightmare.
"Look out!" He hears Scott's voice at his back and suddenly Stiles and Allison are flying to their left being hauled by two large shapes.
"Are you alright monkey?" Isaac's voice says chivalrously as the light blue-eyed werewolf grins at him.
"We got right at time" Jackson says breathless staring at the thing as amazed as Allison and Stiles were just seconds ago.
"What the hell is that?" Isaac gaps looking at it the way Stiles probably looked at them when he found out they were werewolves.
"I was hoping you would tell me" Stiles replies feeling its eyes drilling him.
The thing is standing there motionless almost as if it is thinking its next move, it tries to crane its neck to other direction but its nose keeps drawing it toward them.
"We need to finish it before it kills someone" Jackson mutters.
"Too late" Allison replies bitterly staring at the lifeless body of the woman with one arm sprawled in the middle of the street.
The monster lets out another snarl and its body whirls too quickly to its shape it looks right into Stiles eyes and it lumbers. Jackson and Isaac run to meet it but with simple swims of its arms the wolves are pushed aside as dummy dolls.
"Isaac! Jackson!" Allison and Stiles cried at unison as they step back. Stiles is feeling his heartbeat on his ears, his hands are trembling so hard he can't find Allison's. They need to do something.
The beast is getting closer and closer, it doesn't matter how far they are of it. It will be over them within seconds. Stiles closes his eyes and waits for the strike of it claws.
"Scott!" He hear Allison crying. Stiles opens his eyes and see the tip of bloody razor like claws coming out from the back of his best friend body while he steps in the middle of the monster and them.
"Scott!" He calls him too.
"Get the hell out of here!" Derek growls and Stiles feels a pull from the back of the collar of his shirt. Derek his carrying him and Allison at high speed and putting them out of the sight of the beast.
"Scott!" Allison yells hysterically and then the beast throws the body away.
"We'll stop it, but you need to get out of here, understood?" Derek says as he puts Allison and Stiles aside. Stiles looks up and his blazing and cold eyes and he sees the doubt leaping through them.
"You don't give orders" Allison roars as she quickly stands up and stars running toward Scott.
"Jackson! Isaac!" Derek growls.
Stiles stands, the beast is craning is neck toward Allison now, he can see the saliva flowing down with anticipation. Then it quickly turns toward Stiles and then back to Allison almost as if couldn't chose one.
Jackson and Isaac come from its back and grab his arms and it starts revolving in all directions as trying to take them off. Derek charges toward it.
"Stiles take Allison and runaway!" He orders but once more but Allison can't do it he can't just leave this way.
Derek punches the beast in the stomach and nothing happens it is…almost as if it is made of the starkest rock on earth, it doesn't moan or anything it didn't feel anything at all.
Stiles jerks up, this is not okay…no…no…no "Allison he yells as he runs toward the girl and Scott who is unconscious"
The best sends flying Isaac and Jackson again and kicks Derek in the chest making him fall on his back feet away from him.
"Allison" Stiles repeats but she isn't paying attention she is stunned grabbing Scott's body and sobbing in silence "He is not dead…he'll heal I promise" He tries to calm her.
"Stiles run!" Derek says in a moan.
Stiles cranes his neck again the beast is at the other side of the street with its angry eyes fixed on them again, it is them…it is all it has wanted from the begging, their scent… they need to go…but he can't leave, Derek and the rest are hurt Scott is unconscious if they live the others will die…he needs to do something but what? He is just a stupid boy who doesn't know how to bind or use a gun, he doesn't have claws he….they…will die.
The beast lumbers over them Allison and him stared at it with terror as it rises a large and bold arm and swims it toward them.
The blood is everywhere.