Avery

"I'm not crazy." I smile and look up into his face; he just stares down at me with an unreadable expression, his green eyes cause me to forget to breathe for a moment. Suddenly I snap out of it and pull my hand back, my heartbeat thumping uncontrollably.

I take a couple steps back and cross my arms over my chest as a cool breeze brushes over us. I suddenly notice that my hair is still in the high pony tail I put it in this morning and my clothes are the same, too. I just wish I'd worn longer pants today instead of my running shorts.

"Right," I say in a dry voice, I swallow and force myself to speak, "you're real…." I repeat again as my brain kicks in, "But who are you?" His eyes bare into me and I almost take another step back.

"Derek Hale." Is all he says; his stance is confident, like he's completely comfortable. I, on the other hand, am internally freaking out.

I narrow my eyes at him and a nervous smile pulls at my lips, "Am I supposed to know you from somewhere? Sorry, my memory's been a little blank lately."

"No, we've never met, at least not when you've been conscious." My eyes grow wide.

"So you were at the hospital." The sentence sounds more like an accusation than a statement. I nod my head, as if to assure myself, "And it was your voice I heard telling me to wake up." He gives a nod and I can't help but notice his tall frame. He was tall in my dream, but it didn't do him justice.

Being a 5'7'' tall girl, it's nice to have to look up for once. All the highschool guys are usually either my height or shorter.

And his smell, I don't know whether it's cologne or… or something else but it's earthy and spiced and…. I'm thankful when another breeze pulls the scent away from me.

I shake my head again, focusing isn't going well and that stare of his isn't helping. "Why did I listen to you? When you told me to wake up, it- it felt like…. Well when everyone else was telling me the same thing, I wanted to, I just couldn't. But when you said it, it was like I had to." My voice is full of uncertainty, and any second I'm expecting him to call me insane and walk away. "Why?"

Derek looks to the side and lets out a deep breath, "Let's start with something different; what are you doing out here?" his eyes stare deeply into mine, probing me for an answer.

I look down at the track below us, breaking eye contact, hoping for a chance to think, "I….don't remember. One minute I was alone in my house, I closed my eyes, and now I'm here."

I look up, wondering if that's the answer he was looking for. He just nods silently for a moment, "And that's normal to you?" his eyebrows arch up in a sarcastic kind of way.

It suddenly dawns on me that I'm alone with a guy I've never met in the middle of the night with no phone, no car, and no way of escape. "Not exactly." I admit. Why does it feel like I can talk to him, though? Even though this whole situation is odd…

"The doctors said I might have some issues for a while with memory and things like that." I say in little more than a whisper as a feeling of worry slowly replaces the intrigue.

"Any other issues?" I open my mouth to answer no when flashes of my reflection in the mirror resurface. The fangs nipping at my lower lip, the gold, hate-filled eyes staring back at me.

"No," I try to sound calm, "nothing else."

Derek

I can't stop my eyes from roaming over her form; she's definitely an athlete.

My eyes drift lower and lower and I have to practically drag them back to her face. Her pink lips distract me for a moment before I can refocus.

I stare eyes, which turns out to be another mistake, because as soon as I do, flashes of the dreams resurface. It's so different having those eyes actually seeing me for once.

Her voice breaks my thoughts, probably for the better. "No, nothing else."

Her heartbeat speeds up, I look back to her and try to look past the two blue orbs that stare back at me, "Why bother lying?" Her deep blue eyes frantically search my face, probably wondering how I knew; she bites at her bottom lip nervously.

Her eyes suddenly glaze over and she stares at me blankly. Her heartbeat jumps again and her eyebrows angle in an almost pleading way, "It was just a hallucination." She says in a trancelike voice, as if saying it will make it so. "It wasn't real." A shell of a smile forms on her lips, and a breath of humorless laughter escapes her mouth.

"Just like I'm not real?" Her eyes snap back to mine with a lost look in her eyes. She opens her mouth to respond, when a howl shatters the quiet of the night.

Isaac.

I turn to face the woods, looking for any sign of her near the edge of the brush. A familiar roar echoes through the trees.

Erica.

"DEREK!" I look to see Boyd sprinting towards us with wide eyes. I run to meet him halfway across the field.

"I heard it!" I call out to him.

"Boyd?" Avery asks in confusion, "What're you…?" Boyd and I slow as we reach the center of the field.

"Take her home, and I'll deal with it." Another, unfamiliar roar rips out from the forest. Boyd and I stare at each other for a moment; I give him a small nod as his jaw clenches.

"What do you want me to tell her?" he asks in a whisper.

Erica sends out another roar, "Nothing, don't tell her anything. Get her home, Boyd. Once she's there you head straight for the station, I might need your help."

Avery

Derek is gone, a mere blur under the field lights. As his frame leaves my sight, something in me drops. Boyd jogs in a hurried pace toward me, "Boyd what's happening? What was that?" Boyd gently grabs at my arm.

"We need to go. Now." His dark eyes are pleading, but I need an answer.

I tear his hand from my arm, "Where's he going?" I look back to the shadows of the forest where Derek disappeared. A roar ripples through the air it's so loud I can feel the vibration as it echoes. "Boyd, what's happening!?" I practically scream this time. He grabs my shoulders and looks deeply into my eyes, forcing my attention away from the forest and back to him.

"We have to go." This time a low growl rips through the night and something deep inside me screams to follow after Derek, even as my body trembles to go with Boyd.

I try to take a step towards the woods, but Boyd's hands hold me in place. "Just come with me and you'll know everything, I promise, Avery, but not here." He shakes his head to emphasize his words, "Not now."

I nod slowly, "Okay." He lets go of my shoulders hesitantly, making sure I don't make another move for the forest.

"Okay?" he asks as he holds out his hand.

I take his hand, "Yeah." He grasps my hand tightly and pulls me along toward the gates to the parking lot.

The sounds ripping out from the woods steadily grow closer as we walk, and Boyd pulls me along faster, practically jogging into the parking lot. In another few moments we break out into a sprint. I look down to my brace as we run; there's no pain, I'm running and I don't feel a thing.

Boyd notices me staring at my leg and comes to a stop before letting my hand fall back to my side. "Is your leg hurting?" He asks in a concerned voice. I just stare down at my brace and shake my head.

"No," I say after a moment, in absolute confusion, "I can't feel it at all." I look up and realize it's the perfect time to ask, "What happened back there?" I ask as I look back to the school in the distance; I was sure we weren't running that long… How did we get so far away?

Boyd clenches his jaw and sighs as he turns and walks down the sidewalk ahead of me. It just now hits me that he's wearing a black leather jacket just like Derek's. I walk fast to catch up, "What were those sounds? Is he going to be alright? Were there wild animals or something-"

"Derek can take care of himself, don't worry." I look back at the bright stadium lights as Boyd practically speed walks in front of me.

"How can I not worry?! Why won't you tell me anything?" I notice we're walking on the sidewalk leading down my street, meaning I don't have much time to get answers unless he starts talking now.

When the hell did we get this close to my house? Am I losing track of time again?

"I can't." Is all he says, my house steadily creeps closer.

"Just tell me what those sounds were! Why would he-" Boyd comes to a dead stop in front of my driveway and I almost crash into his back from following him so closely.

He turns and looks at me with a conflicted stare, "I can't tell you that, you have to wait."

I practically glare back at him, "You said you'd tell me-"

"No, I said 'come with me and you'll know everything'; I never said I'd be the one to tell you." My hand clenches into a fist at my side.

I stare back at him, giving him one last chance to answer me. When he makes no move to speak, I do; "Great." I say sarcastically as I brush by him toward my porch. I climb the steps quickly and when I reach the top Boyd's voice calls me.

"Avery," he says to get my attention. I don't turn around; instead I just turn my head to the side to show I'm listening. "Derek will explain when he's ready. Until then, don't mention what happened tonight to anyone." I wait for a silent moment before reaching for the door knob, "Goodnight, Ave." Boyd says with a slightly disappointed voice.

I turn around to say goodnight in an effort to ask him one last question about Derek, but he's already gone.. I sigh and turn back around to the door before pulling it open and stepping inside.

A familiar and friendly voice comes from the living room and as I step inside I immediately lock eyes with Tori. She's sitting on one of the leather chairs, talking to my mom, who's obviously irritated. Tori stops talking and runs across the room to me, wrapping me in a hug and crushing her face into my chest.

Tori's face is squished up against my boobs but I doubt she cares about that right now. I can feel tears through my shirt and Tori sucks in air through a stuffy nose.

"I t-thought you were gonna…" she doesn't finish the sentence; instead she pulls back and gives me a small smile as she tries to calm herself. She takes a few deep breaths and wipes the tears away.

"How long have you been here?" I ask as my mom steps closer with her arms folded over her chest.

"A couple hours, I was just waiting for you to get in." Tori says with a sniffle.

"Where were you Avery?" my mom interrupts with an angry tone. Tori and my mom both stare at me, waiting for an answer. I sigh and try to think of something to say.

Boyd

I jog down the steps leading into the old abandoned train station, and from the sound of it, things aren't going too well. Erica's hisses echo through the halls as I come to the bottom of the stairs. As I walk in I notice Isaac propped up against one of the steel pillars, blood covering his clothes and deep cuts across his stomach.

Derek is rolling up the sleeves of his shirt and leaning down in front of Isaac. Erica is standing propped up against the train car with the pant leg of her jeans ripped off, she hisses in pain as she holds a towel tightly against a bloody cut on her leg. Erica slowly slides down the train car when she sees me. "Boyd?" she says tiredly as a small smile pulls at her lips. Her head turns to the side and I make a move toward her.

"Boyd, come help me." Derek demands. I look back to Erica, "She'll be fine Boyd, it's not deep, Isaac took the worst of it and I need another set of hands." I pull myself away from Erica and come to kneel next to Derek. "Here, keep this tight on the wound," he hands me an old towel and I press it against the deep bloody scratch on Isaac's stomach.

"What happened?" I ask as Derek stands up and walks off to get something.

"Isaac and Erica were running back here through the woods, Isaac ran out ahead of Erica - I've told you all to run together dozens of times, I'm not saying this shit for my own benefit, by the way, I'm saying it to keep you three alive. The alpha caught him off-guard, he's lucky Erica was there to save his ass, otherwise he'd be shreds of meat."

Isaac moans in pain lightly, "Did you catch up to him?" I ask as he strides back with a clump of bandages. He leans down next to me and begins working on Isaac's wound.

"Erica freaked him out for a minute; I guess he thought Isaac was alone. When I showed up he was already a mile away, and I had these two to deal with." Derek tears Isaac's shirt off with his claws and leans back, "I think he's gonna need stitches, he's just not gonna heal fast enough this way. Not with a wound made by an alpha. Go get my car from the alley; we'll have to run him by the vet's." He pulls out his car keys from his jean pocket and hands them to me.

I jump up and jog toward the stairs before turning back, "Derek," he looks up at me, "what happens now?" Derek looks back down to Isaac for a minute.

"We get these two fixed up." Derek presses down on Isaac's stomach with the towel.

"And then?"

"Then we kill the fucker." He says with an alarmingly calm voice. He looks back at me and I nod before turning away and climbing the staircase.

The Next Day…

Sheriff Stilinski

I pretend to sift through the papers on my desk as I see Jackson's figure linger uneasily in the doorframe of my office. After a moment he clears his throat and steps forward. "You wanted to see me?"

I look up from the files and reach for my glasses, "Jackson, yes," I say as I pull them from my face, "come on in, have a seat." Jackson tucks his hands into his grey sweatshirt as he sits down in one of the chairs in front of me. "It's a bit hot out for a sweatshirt, isn't it?" I ask, watching as his hands nervously fidget under the cloth.

Jackson just shrugs and brushes the comment off.

I lean back in my chair, "I had a few questions about this list you gave me," I pull the thin, blue-lined paper from under the folder and hold it up before sliding it toward him, "are you sure that you have everyone who was at your party on that list?"

Jake Reily.

Apart from Stiles and Scott, Jake was the only other lacrosse player whose name wasn't on that list.

Jackson's jaw tightens and his eyes close for a brief moment, "That's everyone I can remember being there." He says as he reaches over and pushes the paper back to me.

"Really?" I ask in a doubt-filled tone as I lift the paper back up as if I'm reading it over again. "What about Jake Reily?" I peek around the page as I say his name and Jackson freezes. I toss the paper back on the desk and lean forward, "Well, look at that," I say as Jackson shifts in his seat, "you look like you just remembered something."

"I don't remember him being there, I was kinda busy." I lean back again as I take a deep breath. "Why don't you ask him if he was there? I can't keep track of every single person." I've already called the Reily family, all three of them in fact, and no answer from any of them. I finally ended up calling Mr. Reily's office, when his secretary told me I won't be able to reach him for a couple weeks.

"Because, Jackson, Jake and his parents are off on some vacation in Mexico for another two weeks and 'cannot be reached'." I say in the same tone Mr. Reily's secretary had used as I stand up and walk around my desk, "But just so you know, if I find out you're lying to me, there'll be hell to pay." I say as I walk out of my office and down the hall toward the evidence lockers.

Three Days Later….

Avery

"Just come with me and you'll know everything, I promise Avery, but not here. Not now."

I sigh and close my summer reading book, Oedipus Rex, knowing that I won't be able to focus anyway. I'll just end up ghosting through the pages with no real attention paid to what the words are saying.

I look up at my bent knees from my position lying down on the large brown leather couch. My brace clings to my leg, and a shudder runs through me at the sight of it. I toss Oedipus onto the coffee table and run my fingers over the thick black material around my knee.

The other night, when I was running with Boyd, my leg didn't hurt at all. The scar was a faint line when I took the brace off that night. But the morning after, the ache started slowly seeping back in, and the thin line once again became a puffy red scar.

A tight fitting white tank top clings to my torso as well as a rather uncomfortable bra, along with a pair of red Beacon Hills lacrosse shorts that are a little too short for my liking. The small silver chain of my anklet hangs as a familiar weight and the small cross on the chain brushes against my foot lazily.

I stare up at the rotating ceiling fan as voices play over and over in my head. The blades spin continuously, but I just stare at the center as the blades turn.

Tall, black hair, green eyes, facial hair, leather jacket, striking, confident.

"And….gone." I remind myself in a mumble. I suddenly realize my legs have tensed just thinking about him.

I relax my legs and push my thoughts away from Derek Hale, only to find my thoughts wander back to Boyd. He seemed somehow different than when I last talked to him… but what changed?

He seemed… taller? No, that's not it… more muscular? Maybe he's been working out…. No, that's not it either. More confident…?

Boyd's always been kind of soft spoken, especially for being such a big guy, but yeah, he seemed more sure of himself, or maybe that was just situational. Even though I don't really know what the 'situation' was.

Or maybe it was just the leather jacket… then again, only some people look good in leather. Derek looked good in it; his shoulders looked big and broad, but I wonder what he looks like without the jacket. I'd bet he's got nice arms, and maybe a six pack….

I slap my palms over my eyes and force myself to calm down. He seemed at least five years older than me - if not more - so there's no point in stupid fantasizing. Men like that are definitely not interested in highschool girls.

"Derek will explain when he's ready."

A roar echoes through my head and I launch up into a sitting position, searching the room for the origin of the noise. After a few silent moments I slide my legs over the side of the couch and stand up. "Damn it." I mumble as I pull at the tight confines of my bra.

I make my way upstairs to my room to change into a sports bra. As I climb the stairs I hear the sound of my phone ringing in my room. Grabbing my phone from my nightstand, I hit answer and bring it to my ear.

"Dad?" My dad doesn't call much, mostly because of the 16 hour time difference between California and Japan.

"Hey, honey!" he says in a tired, but cheery voice. "Listen, I can't talk long, I have to be at work in about an hour," I glance at the clock, 2:08 P.M., which would make it about 6:08 A.M. there, "I just wanted to make sure you're enjoying your birthday gift!"

I sit down on my bed, "Oh, you mean the new lacrosse shaft you got me?" I look over to the shaft with the Maryland flag design all down the pole, and a deep sinking feeling fills me as I'm reminded that the Maryland coach called me just a few days ago saying my scholarship is in jeopardy of being revoked from all this, "Yeah, it's really cool and light, I'll have to-"

"Wait, your mother didn't give you my other gift?" I rub my forehead for a moment.

"Umm, no? What other gift? She just gave me the shaft."

My dad says something under his breath, "Alright, well, drive on over to the old house and get your real present, you can't miss it." Before my dad and mom divorced, we all lived in a big mansion-like house on the outskirts of Beacon. When my parents split, my mom moved us to our small house, closer to town. My dad lived in the other house for a couple years or so before leaving for Japan, and he just kept the house, always promising he'd come visit and I could spend a summer with him there. It never really happened, though.

"Well, what is it I'm looking for? Where is it in the house?"

"Like I said, you can't miss it. Gotta go; I'll call you later!" I roll my eyes, knowing he probably won't.

"Yeah, okay, talk to you later." I hit 'end' and toss my phone back on my bed before standing up and grabbing a pair of white mid-calf socks from my drawer. I slip them on, careful not to get my anklet caught up in the right one.

Lewis came by hours ago and picked my mom up to go out to the movies or something, so I can just take my mom's car. I pause when I hear a car pull into the driveway, and hear a car door slam a few minutes later

"Derek will explain when he's ready."

I peek out the window to see a blue jeep in the driveway. My heart drops and I let out the breath I didn't know I was holding.

A minute later my doorbell rings and I grab my phone, wallet, and my mom's spare car keys before heading downstairs. At the door mat I grab my red pair of running shoes and slip them on quickly before opening the door.

"Hey, Stiles." I say with a smile as I step outside and turn to lock the door behind me.

"Hey Avery, umm, are you going somewhere?" I quickly lock the door and turn back to him.

"Yeah, I was just heading out to my dad's house to pick something up." Stiles's shoulders drop a little bit. "Did you wanna talk about something?"

Stiles shrugs a bit, "No, I just- came to see how you were doing." The sinking feeling returns in my gut, the same one that's always there when I think about the accident. Which is almost constantly.

I force a smile on my face, "I'm doing fine, I'll be even better when I get this damn brace off." I point to it and force a short breath of a laugh. Stiles smiles and does the same. The smile doesn't touch his eyes though, they look dark and sad.

"Can I give you a ride?" I almost say no, but he looks like he could use some company, and really, I guess I could, too.

"Sure," I say with a smile, which Stiles mirrors. He turns and walks towards the jeep. I've never talked to Stiles much, and yet he came to visit me in hospital, and now he's checking up on me at home. But he's definitely never been to my house before.

As I open up the Jeep door, that thought sticks with me. I brush it off for the moment and buckle my seatbelt in the old, beat up interior. Stiles gets in and starts the car nervously, "So, where's your dad's house?" he asks as he puts it in reverse and backs out of the driveway.

"Just off of Evern Road, it's kinda hard to miss." Stiles drives along and pulls off my street as a questioning look crosses his face.

"Evern Road? That's pretty far out of Beacon, it's near the lake isn't it?" He glances over and I just nod with a polite smile.

After a few minutes of silence I decide it's the best time to ask, "So, how did you know where I live anyway?" A faint blush crosses his cheeks.

"Oh, well my dad is the Sheriff, and he's always leaving files around the house." I nod and turn away as the sinking feeling comes back. Stiles fidgets with the steering wheel, obviously uncomfortable about something. I turn away for a moment to look out the window, hoping the feeling in my stomach will subside.

"You're probably wondering why I keep showing up, right?" I look back to find his brown eyes giving me quick glances as he drives.

I'd be lying if I said no, "A little."

Stiles now just stares at the road ahead, I follow his gaze to one of Beacon's many roads. In front of us a green light turns to yellow, "When I was a kid, I used to get rides to lacrosse practice from my mom every Thursday. She'd drop me off at four, be back to pick me up at six, like clockwork. She hated people who were late, 'cuz she was always on time. Always." The light turns from yellow to red and we come to a slow stop behind the line.

In the far off distance, charcoal grey clouds hover in the sky, threatening yet another afternoon storm. Stiles just stares at the red light in front of us as he continues, "This one day, my mom dropped me off at four, just like always, I went to practice and before I knew it, it was six and practice was over. Well, I walked around the parking lot for twenty minutes, looking for my mom's car; I ended up sitting with Scott in his mom's car while we waited for her."

Stiles's voice grows darker and more distant as he speaks, "They kept telling me she was 'just running late, it happens, she'll be here any minute.' I just sat there staring at the back of the driver's seat, I knew something was wrong. That wasn't like my mom, I knew it. About an hour later, a cop car pulls into the parking lot, lights flashing; no siren, just the lights. One of my dad's friends came, picked me up, and took me to the hospital."

The light turns green and Stiles hesitates for a few moments before he goes, "They didn't tell me anything and I didn't ask. I knew something had happened to her around the third time I'd looped around the parking lot looking for that old red truck she drove. What I didn't know was how hard it was gonna be those next few weeks. My dad was a mess, and I wasn't any better. We couldn't talk to each other; neither of us could talk about how it would be without her, and there wasn't much hope…. We just sat there in her hospital room quietly, and she eventually just slipped away."

I turn my head toward Stiles after a few moments, "What happened to her?"

Stiles pulls off onto the back road to get to Evern Road, "Car crash." He says simply, I squeeze my phone in my hand just for something to hold on to. "She was on her way to pick me up when some guy ran the light and slammed into the driver's side of her car. She slipped into a coma at the hospital and after that she was just… gone."

The sinking feeling turns into more of a black hole in my gut, "Sometimes I wonder if it would have been easier if she had just….. But watching her lay there- but she wasn't really there, and when I tried talking to her, she just wasn't there, she couldn't hear me anymore."

I stare at the old, bumpy road as the woods pass by us on either side, "I could hear everyone." I say in a thoughtless whisper.

"What?" Stiles asks suddenly.

I turn toward him again, "I could hear everyone. I listened to pretty much everyone I've ever known as they told me goodbye." Stiles looks at me with a meaningful expression and small tears in his eyes, "I'm sure she could hear you Stiles." With a stuffy inhale he turns his gaze back to the road.

"I hope so." He says in a whisper I'm sure he didn't want me to hear.

The back roads make the ride pretty bumpy as the jeep drives along. Stiles tries to change the subject after a long silence, "So has the Maryland coach said anything about the accident?"

I take a deep breath, "Yeah, she called and said my scholarship might be withdrawn, depending." My fingers fidget with my phone as I think about it.

"Depending on what?"

"On what I did, on what your dad finds, on a lot of things." I look down at my phone as I turn it over anxiously in my hands, "It's not looking good."

Once again, silence hangs in the air. Neither one of us has anything to say to that thought.

"Is this the place?" Stiles asks after a while, I look up to see the long driveway leading up to my dad's house.

"Yeah, this is it." Stiles turns into the driveway and whistles as we get closer to the house.

"Damn, your dad lives here alone? Seems like a hell of a lot of space for just him." He says as he puts the jeep in park and stares at the place.

"He lives in Japan, I don't know why he never sold this place, he never visits anyway." I stare up at the massive brick house, which seems much bigger than I remember. The front yard is perfectly manicured, the grass is short and cut nicely, and the bushes and flowers in the plant bed by the porch are clean and healthy. It looks like it's regularly attended to.

"What's a house like this doing in the middle of the woods?" I don't answer him, I just stare at the place I used to call home and think of how empty it looks. "Sooo, do you wanna go in or….?"

"I don't actually have a key." I suddenly realize.

"Well, there's an electronic keypad on the garage, do you know the combo?"

I shake my head, "No, I don't have that either." I unbuckle my seatbelt and step out of the car. Stiles does the same and follows me as I walk toward the front door.

"Well, we could break in but…" As we get closer I notice an envelope tucked into the loop handle of the door. I grab the envelope and notice it has my name printed on the front. The paper is bumpy and ridged, like it's been rained on several times.

I open the envelope and find a small note with numbers on it.

89427

Stiles looks over my shoulder at the numbers, "Maybe that's to the garage." I nod my head and walk back to the two door garage on the side of the house. From here we can see the lake in the distance. Thick woods keep the lake separate from the backyard; I remember thinking how beautiful the whole view looked from my old bedroom.

As I type in the password, Stiles walks toward the backyard, "Dang your dad has an indoor pool too?!" I type in the last number and turn back to him.

"Wait, what?" I ask as he walks back to me.

"There's an indoor pool, you don't remember it being there?" he asks as the garage door finishes rising up. We both stare into the garage in awe.

"What the fuck?" I ask under my breath.