A/N; Thanks for all the reviews and follows guys. It really adds to my motivation to keep going. I really appreciate it. Now, enjoy another chapter of Puzzle!

CHAPTER THREE:

from an inch to a mile

Stiles wasn't sure what scared him more.

The horrific scream that he heard leave Teddy's lips, or the fact that when he entered the bathroom he was not met with the soft, innocent brown eyes that he had been staring into moments ago. No. Instead, his eyes caught the gaze of a demonic pair of eyes that caused him to stumble back in fear with how terrifying they looked.

Teddy obviously didn't realize he had come in at first, too busy screaming at herself in the mirror in complete horror. So Stiles thought that he should at least try to get a closer look. What if she was in pain or something? Whatever the case was, he wanted to try and help her. But as he dared to take another step forward, Teddy's head snapped in his direction at the sound of his footstep. He didn't even have the chance to get any closer because before knew it her arm whacked him right in his chest.

Now, looking at Teddy, she had such a tiny body that Stiles assumed she couldn't weigh more than 115 lbs. So basically a whack in the chest from her should feel like nothing to him. So the law of physics needs to explain to him how he ended up flying meters away from her, just nearly missing hitting her bedroom door. Luckily her floor was carpeted, or else it would have been much more harsh landing.

His head spinning from the impact, Stiles slowly pushed himself up. However, before hopping back on his feet, he held out his hands in front of him, counting to make sure that all ten of his fingers were still there. He seriously hoped there wasn't because if so, that would mean this was all a dream. And he that hadn't been thrown across the room by itty bitty Teddy. And that he was still napping on his bed waiting for his alarm to remind him about their research session.

And the one time he hoped he was dreaming, he was actually awake.

"Shit." He muttered to himself before rising up.

Once he was fully recovered, Stiles realized that Teddy's screams ceased to the point that all he could hear from the bathroom were inaudible whimpers that made even him feel a little shaken up even though he wasn't even sure why she was crying. It sounded like she was a puppy going through pain. Now that the bathroom door was open, he was able to see that she had curled into a ball on the ground, clutching at her face with her hands.

Stiles took a deep breath before making his way towards her. He should've run, he definitely should've run, but he couldn't abandon her like that, not when she had just made the decision in confiding even just the tiniest information about herself despite her social issues. Not when they had just started becoming cordial with each other again. Plus, he wasn't that heartless.

She was still writhing on the floor by the time he made it to the doorway. He decided to stay there for a few moments, making sure that she wouldn't smack him away again. He wasn't sure if he could handle another hit to the chest. But she stayed in the same position on the floor and finally Stiles decided she wouldn't be getting onto her feet anytime soon.

"Teddy," He said before kneeling down to her level. He cautiously placed his hands on her own, which was still covering her eyes. "Hey, Teddy come on. It's okay. Let me help you."

"I can't make it stop!" She sobbed, her voice muffled by her hands. "I can't make it stop!"

Stiles could tell that her cries weren't meant for him specifically, more so that she was just crying out in agony. Her voice vibrated within his chest and he could feel that whatever was happening to her, whether she knew exactly what it was or not, she didn't want it. He bit his lips as he thought of something he could do to help her, because obviously just talking wasn't going to help. Finally, an idea appeared in his mind. Not a good one necessarily, but an idea none the less.

"Okay, okay, listen. I know someone that could help you. But you have to come with me okay? He's not too far from here."

Teddy didn't reply, she just continued to sob into her hands. Obviously, she didn't trust him and honestly, he didn't really blame her. He wasn't even sure if the person he was thinking of could help. But he was willing to bet.

"Come on Teddy, you'll be fine, okay?" He cooed softly. "Just please, trust me."

It took a while. Teddy stayed curled in her fetus position for quite a while. But soon, her cries had died down into quiet sniffles. Her hands slowly began to drop from her face, revealing the demonic like eyes that had caused her to become so distraught in the first place. Stiles almost jumped back at how terrifying they looked, but he knew if he did that she would do more than just whack him in the chest.

"What do you mean, 'you know someone'?" She questioned under her breath as she sat up.

Stiles licked his dry lips and released a sigh. "Trust me, I've dealt with stuff like this before...kinda."

—

This really wasn't how Stiles expected his night to turn out. He thought that studying with Teddy would help him get a sense of normalcy from all the crazy things that had been happening to him recently, and for a solid forty-five minutes, it was actually working. He forgot that he was going crazy. He forgot that he could barely tell the difference between reality and dreams. But he should've known that nothing in his life would go the way he wanted it to, hence why he was currently driving towards Deaton's with Teddy in the passenger seat. Her were eyes hidden by the hood she had pulled over her head, and she had been silent since the moment they entered the jeep.

He continued to glance between her and the road, millions of questions bustling in his head. For someone who's eyes had just changed into a pair that belonged to Legion from Ghost Rider, Teddy was seemed to be ashamed than terrified if anything. Like as if her eyes making such a drastic change meant she had failed at something. Kinda like...she actually knew exactly what was happening to her.

But Stiles dared not voice his suspicions, at least, not until she was in a better state of mind. His chest still ached.

"I know I should be a lot more concerned that you claim to know someone who could help me when you don't even know what's happening, but for some reason, I'm freakishly calm. I think I'm in a state of shock." Teddy said, her head leaning against the window, finally breaking the heavy silence.

As Stiles rounded a corner, he used his free hand to scratch the side of his cheek. "Yea, well, I may not know exactly what's happening, and I doubt you'd willingly tell me, but like I said I have dealt with this kinda stuff before."

"What kinda stuff?"

"You tell me yours, I'll tell you mine."

From the corner of his eyes, Stiles could see Teddy shuffling around as if she had found his response funny.

"Touche." She replied in an amused tone.

A few more minutes of awkward silence persisted until Stiles finally pulled into the parking lot of the Beacon Hills Veterinarian. As he shifted the car into the park, Teddy (eyes still hidden) leaned forward to make sure that she was reading the sign correctly.

"I'm sorry," she said as she reluctantly undid her seatbelt, "Did you just bring me to a vet?"

Stiles rolled his eyes. He figured he would get this reaction. "Yes I know it's weird but trust me this dude has knowledge beyond his years. Or maybe not too far beyond. Honestly, you never know with him."

With that, the two of them exited the vehicle and walked towards the entrance. The door was left ajar as if the Veterinarian/Druid had been expecting them to come. And honestly, Stiles didn't think that was such a far fetched assumption.

"Yo Deaton," He called out as they stepped into the practice. "You back there?"

A few moments passed, and Stiles feared for a little that their confidant was not present. However, finally, the dark skinned man appeared from around the back, a clipboard in his hand as if he had actually been doing something that related to caring for animals. It was kind of amusing to Stiles.

"Stiles," Deaton began before his eye caught sight of Teddy. Confusion flashed across his face. "Is there anything I can help you all with?"

"Uh, yea, kinda," Stiles spoke before nudging Teddy with his elbow. "Show him, Teddy."

Teddy's shoulders tensed at this, and Stiles hoped she would be able to trust Deaton enough to at least show him her eyes. She bit her lips together, slowly uncrossing her arms and bringing her hands to her hood. Inch by inch, she let it slip from her curls before finally raising her chin to show Deaton her terrifying gaze.

At this, Deaton's mouth immediately parted in shock. He quickly glanced behind the two teens to make sure that there was no one watching. Once he confirmed they were alone, he returned his attention to them.

"Come with me to the back." He ordered. "Quickly."

The urgency in his voice made Teddy and Stiles waste no time in following behind him. Once they arrived in the operating room, Deaton immediately locked the door behind them. If nothing else convinced Stiles that Deaton knew exactly what was happening with Teddy, the way he was being so secretive about it sure did.

"Alright, Teddy was it? My name is Alan Deaton. You have to tell me exactly how this happened before I help you okay?" Deaton explained in a very doctor like manner.

"How it happened…?" Teddy repeated as she glanced between him and Stiles. The two males noticed her unconsciously take a couple steps back as if she was beginning to feel trapped.

"Y-Yes," Deaton said as he raised a brow. He didn't see what was so uncomfortable about the question. Unless..."Do you have any idea what's happening to you?"

"Um, I-I…" Teddy began as she glanced downwards to the floor. "Well…"

Stiles wasn't sure if this was her social anxiety talking, or that she truly didn't want to tell them something. Or maybe it was both. In any case, she needed to be able to open up to them if she wanted help getting back to normal.

"Hey," Stiles called out softly as he cautiously stepped towards her. "Hey Teddy, come on it's okay. He's only trying to help you. He won't do anything to you I promise."

At this, Teddy raised her eyes to look at the two men before her. Stiles could see the war racing through her mind as she nervously tucked a curl behind her ear. She seemed to always do this action when she was uncomfortable with what she was about to took a deep breath before leaning against one of the metal counters, mentally preparing herself.

"M-My…" She gulped loudly, her eyes looking anywhere but in their direction. "My dad...was an Erinyes."

"Your dad?" Deaton repeated as he stepped closer to her.

She nodded her head solemnly. "Yea, him and his entire family. I…I thought for some dumb reason that I would be able to suppress the gene and not become one...but stupid me, of course, I was wrong."

"Wait, wait, wait," Stiles called out with the wave of his hands. "Before this gets any deeper than it already has, will someone please tell me what an Erinyes is?"

The fact that only Deaton and Teddy were in on the conversation was pissing him off. He hated not knowing things.

Deaton glanced at Teddy, who was still avoiding looking at them and returned to Stiles's impatient gaze. "An Erinyes is sort of like, a lesser god of vengeance and death. They're like most supernatural creatures in the sense that they have enhanced abilities, but they also have...other abilities."

Stiles narrowed his eyes in Deaton's direction, suspicion evident on his face. "Okay. What other abilities are we talking about here?"

"Well," Deaton was hesitant, once again glancing in Teddy's direction to make sure she was okay with him expounding upon the subject. But once seeing that she still had her attention lowered to the ground, he continued, "They're also known to be mind manipulators. But those are usually more common in Erinyes that have mastered their powers."

"They're monsters." Teddy finished, finally mustering up the courage to look their way. "They should never exist. They're disgusting."

The way that she spat out the words like poison caused shivers to run down Stiles's spine. They were filled with such raw hatred. It was no wonder that she screamed the way she did when she saw her eyes transform. She knew exactly what was beginning to happen to her. She just didn't want it to. He never thought there would be another person who rejected any kind of power other than him, as he was offered the bite countless of times, and he never gave in once.

Stiles could tell that Deaton was thinking similar thoughts as his eyes shot Teddy a look of sympathy.

"Can you tell me when the symptoms started to happen?" He questioned. "I'm honestly surprised you've been able to hold off this long."

Teddy snorted as she crossed her arms. "Yea, well, not long enough. It started happening a few weeks ago, a little after those weird sacrifice murders had died out. But this was the first time my eyes changed."

"A few weeks ago?" Stiles mumbled under his breath. It couldn't be…"But that would mean—"

Deaton was already way ahead of him. "Stiles, I believe that when you, Scott and Allison performed the sacrifices and restarted the Nemeton which is basically the supernatural beacon of this town, that you all may have jump started a lot the attraction of a lot of supernatural creatures. And that means you most likely forced the Erinyes gene in Teddy to awaken."

Stiles felt his stomach drop. When Deaton put it all into perspective, it made sense. But then that would mean he was part of the reason that Teddy was becoming something she hated. Meaning, it was partially his fault that this was happening to her.

Teddy, obviously, wasn't thinking that far. She was still puzzled on what the hell was a Nemeton and the sacrifices that Deaton was talking about. But considering that he knew every detail about what she was, she couldn't exactly declare him as crazy just yet. So instead, she decided to take his words into account.

"Wait a second," She stated as she leaned off of the counter. "Is that why every time I get around Stiles it feels like my abilities are surfacing? Because he's been acting weird too."

At this, Deaton immediately turned in Stiles's direction, and Teddy followed suite. It was now his turn to be interrogated. Great. He sheepishly scratched the back of his head. He had been planning on letting Deaton know about the issues he had been having on his own time, but since Teddy managed to put it out in the open there was no point in delaying it any further.

"Alright, so I may have had a few panic attacks here and there where I'm dreaming without actually knowing I'm dreaming. But Scott can't transform! And Allison keeps seeing her dead aunt everywhere! So it's not just me acting weird," He directed that towards Teddy.

"And what's been happening in these dreams?" Deaton asked, ignoring his jab at Teddy.

"Well," He began as he sighed deeply. "Everything I read turns into a different language, people start making odd gestures at me, ya know just your average everyday dream things."

"Wait, is that why you were freaking out about your phone that day?" Teddy questioned to which Stiles confirmed with a nod.

"What kind of gestures were they making?" Deaton pressed on.

"Um, well I could only remember bits and pieces of it," Stiles explained.

"It's okay, give it a shot."

"Okay, well there was this." One gesture. "Then this." Another gesture. "And then this in between." Another gesture.

Deaton was quiet for a moment, carefully processing the information that Stiles had given him. Teddy frowned. She knew that it was sign language, but she didn't exactly know what it meant.

Finally, Deaton had an answer, or question rather. "When is a door not a door?"

Stiles immediately gave off a look of disbelief. That's what his dreams were asking him? A question? And a very stupid one at that. "When is a door not a door? So my subconscious is terrorizing me just because it wants to ask me a riddle?"

Teddy thought about the riddle herself. She had no idea what they were talking about, but she made a note that Stiles would tell her now that he knew about her secret. So she decided that she should at least participate in the conversation. But when was a door not a door?

And suddenly, the answer came to her.

"When it's a jar."

Deaton and Stiles both looked in her direction in shock. She simply shrugged in response.

"That's actually correct," Deaton stated before giving his attention back to Stiles. "I think that when the three of you went under the water and went from unconsciousness to a sort of super-consciousness, you managed to open a door in your minds. It's ajar."

"The door in our minds are open," Stiles repeated before pursing his lips. Just perfect. "Well, okay then, how do we close it?"

"That's sort of difficult to answer...I would say that your best bet now is trying to get Teddy here to hack into your mind and do it herself, but as I said, her powers are only just awakening." Deaton explained with a sigh.

"How about you quit talking like I'm not here." Teddy interrupted as she stepped between them, not liking the idea of using her abilities for anything. "And speaking of these horrible powers of mine, how am I gonna get these eyes under control before I go home?"

Deaton couldn't help but chuckle at Teddy's straightforwardness. "Well for you, that's an easy fix. Just a few doses of wolfsbane and your powers should be suppressed...for now."

"Woah, woah, wait. Isn't that, I don't know, poisonous to werewolves?" Stiles questioned, worry over taking his features.

"Werewolves?" Teddy muttered.

"Yes, but for Erinyes, it is only enough to cancel out her abilities. Other than that it's harmless." Deaton explained as he gathered the wolfsbane into a needle. "But I'm afraid that I can't reverse this permanently, Teddy. You are an Erinyes whether you like it or not. I hope you understand that."

At this, Stiles watched as Teddy's gaze once again returned to the ground. For some reason, he had a feeling that she knew that there was nothing she could do the moment she saw herself in the mirror. But when it came from Deaton's lips, it completely crushed the little bit of hope that she had.

It only reminded Stiles once again that it was his fault.

And that guilt did not go away. Even as Teddy's eyes went back to normal and they said their farewells to Deaton before heading back to the jeep, it didn't go away. Even as they began their short trip back to her house, it didn't go away. Even as Stiles began to fill in Teddy as much as he could about what was what behind the facade of Beacon Hills, it didn't go away. He played a part in her transformation, whether he liked it or not.

"So," She finally said after Stiles had finished telling her the truth about the rest of the supernatural world. "Scott's a werewolf."

"Yup."

"Lydia Martin's a screaming thingy."

"Banshee."

"Banshee, right. And Allison is a hunter."

"Uh-huh."

"And Derek Hale, the famous lacrosse player that used to go to our high school, is also a werewolf. Born, not bitten."

"That is correct."

"Holy shit." Teddy finally breathed as she slumped into the passenger's seat. "And you're telling me that you hang around all of them without any abilities whatsoever?"

"Alright, I have a bat, Jesus." He defended with a pout.

Teddy laughed. "Right, of course you do."

But as soon as she said this, she went freakishly quiet. Stiles couldn't help but steal another glance in her direction to see that she was just staring at the road ahead, a blank expression on her face. He knew she wouldn't say it out loud, but she was dreading the days to come. He wasn't sure what made her hate her species so much, or what her dad had to do with it seeing as he never met the guy before, but he didn't want to push her any further.

However, once again he did feel a little responsibility for her. So he had to try and do something to make her feel the least bit better.

He bit his lip nervously before mustering enough courage.

"You know, you should try getting to know them. You shouldn't have to feel alone in this. You aren't the only one who has...abilities."

There was no response for a little while, and Stiles began to believe that she just wasn't going to reply to his offer at all. But then, he heard her release a sigh.

"That's just it Stiles. I didn't want to be special. Honestly, I was fine being to myself and only having Lily around. But now with all this…" She trailed off, hitting her head back against the seat's cushion in frustration. It wasn't as if Stiles's idea was awful but….

"I don't know Stiles." She finally said. "I haven't talked to you in years and here I am letting you in on something I've never wanted to become a reality. Things are just happening way too fast."

Yea, I know, Stiles agreed mentally. He understood her perfectly. With all of this happening to her in only a span of a few weeks, he wasn't surprised she wouldn't jump at the idea of being surrounded by people who have dealt with situations such as hers for almost a year now. In fact, if it wasn't for him and his friends, she wouldn't have had to deal with it at all.

"I'm sorry." The words finally left his lips, what he had been meaning to say the moment Deaton told him the consequences of their sacrifice and how it affected her.

She shuffled a bit, finding a sudden interest in her chipped black painted fingernails.

"Yea...I am too."

A/N; Hey guys! So what do you all think about Teddy now? Do you find it pretty interesting that she's an Erinyes? And poor Stiles feels like he's responsible :( Remember to comment +fav+follow