Please be kind and leave a review.
For the first time in her life, Kat skipped school. She pretended to have overslept that morning to avoid her dad and then quickly left, not wanting to risk her mom waking up and finding her still at home. Kat needed somewhere to hide out and the only place she could think of was her brother's auto shop. Anywhere else, she ran the risk of getting caught but there she could just hang out in the garage.
Brian was rightfully suspicious when his younger sister showed up out of the blue. There was a six year age difference between them, so they'd never been particularly close. It wasn't like her to just show up, but when he saw the bruising and swelling on her face, he let her in.
"What happened to you?" he asked.
"I was dating this guy…" Kat shrugged. "He kind of turned out to be a dick."
"Do Mom and Dad know?"
"I haven't told them yet. I'm going to. I just kind of need to hide out for a while to sort things out first."
"Alright," Brian said. He awkwardly pointed toward the vending machines. "There's that if you need anything, but I don't have any cash. Otherwise there's water and coffee."
Kat poured herself a cup of coffee. She didn't particularly want it, but she knew that Brian must be completely freaked out. They hadn't seen each other since Christmas. They never talked and now she was here asking to spend the day with him.
Once she had her coffee, Kat followed Brian to the back of the garage. He got to work on a Jeep and she perched herself on top of a few stacked tires. For a while there was just the sound of the radio and Brian working. Kat had brought along a few textbooks, but she really didn't feel like studying.
"You can change the radio if you want," Brian said.
"No, Nirvana is fine with me," Kat replied.
Brian smiled to himself. "Hey, you're alright…for a dorky little sister."
Kat let out a laugh and reached for her backpack, just to have something to do. A few hours passed and only one customer came in. Kat started to wonder how well Brian's shop was actually doing. He'd claimed everything was fine at Christmas, but it didn't seem like very many people came in. Kat didn't say anything about it though.
The truth was, Kat didn't really know how to talk to Brian. All through her childhood, Brian had acted like she was a major annoyance and then when she was twelve he moved out and only showed up for the obligatory holidays. She figured she should try to make conversation though or else it was going to be a long day.
The radio station stopped the music and the pre-recorded morning news played. Kat's heart dropped when the announcer reminded everyone to be on the look-out for Isaac Lahey, escaped murder suspect.
"Did you hear about Mr. Lahey?" Kat asked.
"Yeah, it sucks," Brian said. That seemed to be all he wanted to say on the matter.
Kat prodded a bit more, "They're saying his son did it."
Brian shrugged, but didn't say anything.
Kat knew that the conversation wasn't going to go anywhere, so she went back to reading from her economics textbook. She didn't know why it still hurt so much that Brian never seemed to want to talk. He was just too much like their mother.
She sat in mostly silence for the rest of the day. Brian only talked to her to ask if she wanted to have pizza delivered. Once the sun started to go down, Kat figured it was time to go home and tell her father everything that had happened.
"I guess I'm heading out now," she said.
"OK," Brian replied.
Kat lingered, waiting for him to add something, but he just continued working. "Love you," she said tentatively.
"Yeah, you too," he said.
:::::::::::::
Isaac was slightly out of breath, but he knew there was no time to rest. He clenched his fists and ran at full speed. He jumped to the top of a pile of crates, doing a flip as he jumped down. As soon as he landed, he continued running. Suddenly, Derek's arm reached out and he was thrown back a few feet. He landed with a crunch that he was pretty sure was his rib breaking.
"Again," Derek ordered.
Isaac pressed against his side as he walked back to his starting point. The bone definitely felt broken, but it seemed like it would heal just fine. He repeated the process again; feeling like he'd done better this time but Derek still easily threw him down. His head bounced against the concrete floor and he was pretty sure he was now the proud owner of a concussion.
"Again," Derek shouted.
Isaac was slow getting up and he was in agony as he walked back to the starting point for what felt like the hundredth time. His run over the obstacles was perfectly executed, but Derek still managed to throw him. This time, Erica leapt from the rafters and pulled Derek into a kiss meant to distract him. Of course, it failed and Erica landed in a heap on the floor.
Derek angrily faced his new pack, lecturing them about hunters and monsters. Isaac knew it was all true and important, but he was in too much pain to really care. "I've got about a hundred bones that need to heal," he muttered. He knew it was a mistake as soon as he said it.
Derek approached him, holding out a hand in what seemed like a kind gesture. Isaac couldn't tell though, because Derek's face was still hard and angry. He wanted to trust Derek though, so he lifted his arm toward Derek.
The broken bone didn't really hurt as much as the fact that after everything, after surviving with his father for all those years, Isaac still felt powerless.
:::::::::::::
Kat took the long way home. Driving always seemed to calm her nerves. She drove a light blue Mustang that wasn't new enough to be cool and not old enough to be vintage, but it was hers and she loved it. Rehearsing what she was going to say, she took the last right turn down Elmwood. She forgot everything when she saw the blue and red flashing lights in the distance.
Her heart was racing as she grew closer. It really looked like the lights were in front of her house. They were definitely in front of her house. Kat wondered if this was the day she'd always feared, ever since the time when she was thirteen and she really understood that her mother had problems she couldn't help.
She parked sloppily by the curb and jumped out of her car, bracing herself for bad news as she approached the group of people standing in the yard. She wrapped her arms around herself, suddenly cold as the two deputies turned to look at her with sad expressions.
Her father put his arm around her. "Kat…its Brian. There's been an accident."
::::::::::::::
A few hours later the only thing that was still wounded was Isaac's pride. Boyd and Erica still wouldn't look at him, not since Derek had broken his arm as an example to them all. Things had been tense ever since and now that Derek had told them all to gather once again, they were all on edge.
"There's been another attack," Derek said, pausing to look at them before continuing. "The thing that killed Isaac's father killed some mechanic. This time someone actually saw it."
The trio stayed silent, except Isaac who couldn't stop the involuntary shudder when he recalled being paralyzed in the alley, listening to his father's murder.
"Who was it?" Boyd finally asked.
"Stiles," Derek answered. "Apparently he was getting his Jeep repaired and saw everything. We'll need to know exactly what he saw so we can know what we're dealing with."
"There's a lacrosse game tonight," Erica offered, her eagerness to be helpful obvious.
Derek nodded. "Boyd and Erica, you'll come with me. Isaac, stay here. You can't risk being seen."
Isaac felt utterly useless as the rest of the pack left. He really did want to help. Whatever this monster was, it had taken his father from him. Deep down, Isaac knew that he'd lost his father a long time ago in a way, but he'd always believed that somehow the dad he remembered would come back.
Isaac started to feel lonely and restless. He pulled on his leather jacket and turned up the collar as he walked outside the subway station. Every new instinct he had screamed at him for disobeying his Alpha, resulting in the biggest headache he'd ever had. It hurt, but even that was better than being alone with his thoughts for much longer.
He'd really wanted to give Kat her space. He knew that she'd had a long and trying day and as much as he wanted to know how telling people what her boyfriend had done had gone, he figured it would be best to wait a day or two to give her time to sort things out. It was selfish, but he really wanted to see her.
:::::::::::::
Kat wondered if she should be crying. Of course she had shed some tears when she heard the initial news, but right now she just felt numb. It was like she couldn't cry. She was in sweatpants and an old, worn-out hoodie, but she still felt cold. She'd felt cold ever since she'd heard what happened.
There had been some sort of mechanical malfunction, the details were fuzzy. The result was that her brother was dead. They told her that he hadn't suffered, but she didn't believe that. She knew that was just something people said. It was supposed to make her feel better. It didn't though.
Maybe if she had just stayed a bit longer, she would have been there when things went wrong. Maybe Brian would still be alive. That wasn't really fair though. The sheriff's son had been there and according to him it had happened so fast that there was nothing anyone could have done.
The thing that hurt the most was that Kat really didn't have any good memories with Brian. Now was the time she was supposed to look back on their happy times and mourn her loss, but also feel some sort of comfort in remembering. There was no comfort though. There were no happy memories.
:::::::::::::
The closer Isaac got to her house, the more things felt off. Isaac hoped that nothing had happened to Kat. He scaled the tree near her window and looked through. She was curled up on her bed and she looked so broken. Isaac quickly moved closer and tapped on her window. He got the urge to just break through the glass to get to her faster, but he waited impatiently as she opened the window.
Her eyes were sad, muddy brown and it was obvious she'd been crying. Her hair was in a messy bun, little pieces falling in her face. Isaac reached forward to smooth them back. "What happened?" he asked.
"My brother died," she whispered. "There was an accident at his garage."
Isaac's mouth went dry and he was being so obvious that he was sure it was only because she was so upset that Kat didn't get suspicious. "Do you want me to stay?" he asked.
"Please. My parents had to go to make arrangements. They should be back soon but I…I'm just really glad you're here."
Isaac put his arm around him and led her to the edge of her bed. They sat down together and he pulled her closer against his chest. He stroked her hair as she started to calm down.
"You probably think I'm a mess," Kat said with a humorless laugh. "I promise I'm not always falling apart."
"I don't think that," Isaac said. "I think you're just having a hard time right now."
Kat held on to Isaac a little tighter. "I'm just so happy you're here," she said.
"I am too."
They didn't talk for hours. They just sat together in silence. He smoothed her hair back when it fell into her eyes. He could have stayed like that all night. At some point they reclined on the bed, still just pressed close together. Her legs tangled with his and his arms were around her. He felt warm and her smell was all over him, that light citrus smell and something a little floral that was distinctly Kat. Isaac wished he could stay there, but the sound of a car door closing brought him to reality. He glanced down to see that Kat was asleep in his arms and that made leaving even harder.
::::::::::::::
When the pack met together again, Erica looked at Isaac like she knew he had a secret. Luckily, she didn't have enough time to question him.
"Kanima," Derek said, catching their attention. "It's a reptilian creature with razor sharp claws. It releases a paralytic toxin so do not let it get close to you."
"How do we kill it then?" Boyd asked.
"We probably won't be able to, not unless we can catch it in its human form," Derek said. "The Kanima should have been a werewolf, so thankfully that brings our possible suspects down to two, Jackson Whittemore and Lydia Martin. Now figuring out which one is the tricky part, but I have a theory." Derek carefully held up a piece of glass coated on one end by a thick layer of clear goo.
"Erica, you'll need to bring Jackson to me. We'll test him first."
:::::::::::::
Isaac helped Erica drag a protesting Jackson closer to Derek. They collectively held their breath as they waited for the results of their experiment and discovered that the toxin worked on Jackson.
The others lost interest right away, but Isaac lingered behind.
"I need you to do me a favor," Isaac said.
Jackson's lips curled in a snarl, but Isaac cut him off by letting his claws extend.
"You're going to tell the police that you were mistaken," Isaac instructed. "You're going to tell them I wasn't home the night my father died. We never argued. Got it?"
::::::::::::::: TRIGGER WARNING FOR THIS SECTION
Kat walked down the hall feeling like a mess. She knew she didn't have to go to school, but she had a few midterms that she absolutely couldn't miss. The truth was it was nice to be in a structured environment. Things at home were ripping at the seams. Her mother was in a haze of self-medication through alcohol and pills. Her father was like a statue, there physically but not emotionally. It was better to just be at school. It was better than being at home.
Mike didn't make an appearance until lunch. He grabbed Kat a bit too roughly. People saw and watched with concern, but no one said anything. Mike pulled her into the gym, which was empty due to some bogus new rule that students weren't allowed in there during lunch.
"You're ignoring me," Mike accused.
"We broke up," Kat spat back.
"No. No, I did not say it's over. I didn't agree to that." Mike leered over her threateningly.
As stupid and reckless as it was, she wasn't afraid of him anymore. "We're done here." She turned and started to walk away.
He grabbed her roughly by the wrist and pulled her back. "You're mine."
"Let me go," she demanded calmly, though inside she was screaming.
Mike gripped her wrist tighter. Kat fought against his grip, but he was much stronger than her and he easily wrestled her to the ground. His hand pulled at the waistband of her pants. Kat kicked wildly, managing to collide with his shins several times. The button came undone and Kat finally had the presence of mind to scream at the top of her lungs.
Mike's hand quickly covered her mouth. Kat tried to bite him and continued kicking and punching. Suddenly, Mike was pulled away. Kat sat up and saw that her rescuer wore a leather jacket. His boot was pressed on Mike's windpipe.
"She said no," Isaac said, his voice shaking with rage in a way that Kat never would have expected. He looked nearly murderous. Mike's face was beet red and he was grabbing at Isaac's ankle, trying to get him to move but Isaac just pressed down harder.
The gym door on the other end crashed open and two boys raced in. The sheriff's son and his friend stopped for a moment and then rushed to stop Isaac from accidentally killing Mike. The rest of the student body as well as teachers had started to arrive on the scene.
Isaac turned to Kat, taking off his leather jacket. He wrapped it around her shoulders wordlessly and waited with her while the school staff tried to organize the chaos.
"Are you alright?" Isaac asked, whispering the question.
"He's gonna pay," Kat said.
::::::::::::
Isaac wanted to stay with Kat throughout the whole process, but he was told to go back to class and it didn't seem likely that there was going to be a way around that. He came into chemistry class just shy of late. He could feel Scott and Stiles staring at the back of his head, but he didn't pay attention to them.
He was back on task. All that mattered was finding out who the Kanima was. Isaac knew all too well how much it hurt to lose an older brother. Even though she'd never know, Isaac was going to find the thing that killed her brother and make sure that it was stopped. He had to, for her, for his father, for himself. The Kanima wasn't going to hurt anyone else.
:::::::::::::
Isaac hated hurting his classmates. He didn't particularly want to hurt Scott, Stiles, Allison, or Jackson. It was Lydia he was after. She'd failed the test therefore Derek insisted that she was the Kanima. She was the one who had killed Isaac's father and Kat's brother. They had to stop her.
Isaac tried, but Scott was fast and strong and once again he found himself being overtaken and thrown out. He wondered momentarily if maybe he should be having Scott teach him how to fight. After all, his training session with Derek hadn't really helped. The fight had ended up just the same and the Kanima got away.
Derek and Scott argued briefly but it all screeched to a halt when Lydia appeared from inside the house after everyone had clearly seen the Kanima flee the scene. All Isaac could think about was the fact that they'd almost assassinated someone who was innocent. Well, at least innocent of murder.
The sound of sirens in the distance sent them all running. As they fled, Isaac wondered more and more if Derek was someone he could trust.