A/N: Thank you for favoriting and/or following my story! I'm still not the owner of Teen Wolf, nor will I ever be, but please keep commenting to let me know what you think.

Chapter Four

Candice still had trouble falling asleep after she had gone back to bed. Besides images of the Jane Doe in the woods, different scenarios involving Reed's disappearance filled her thoughts. Eventually, she decided she'd had enough of lying awake, staring at the ceiling, and snuck into her parents' bedroom across the hall from hers.

Tiptoeing passed their sleeping forms, Candice gently pushed their bathroom door open and went inside. Because she didn't want to risk waking them up, she didn't switch the lights. Instead she used the flashlight on her phone to be able to see anything in the dark as she rummaged through the medicine cabinet. After she'd found what she was looking for she snuck back inside her room and closed the door.

She sat down on the edge of her bed in her pajamas and popped one of her mother's prescription sleeping pills in her mouth and washed it down with the glass of water she had on her bedside table. Then she got under the covers and closed her eyes and didn't have to wait long until the sleeping pill kicked in.

Candice woke up the following morning to the sound of her alarm clock going off. She got out of bed and made herself ready for school, dressing in a pair of tight blue jeans and a white long sleeved t-shirt Luke had left behind at some point. Then she went downstairs and into the kitchen and put the glass she'd had in her room during the night in the dishwasher.

Her father was sitting at the breakfast table with one leg crossed over the other, reading the newspaper. "Morning, hon," he greeted her, glancing up at her.

Candice mustered up a half-smile his way before looking at Malcolm, sitting in the chair across from their father, devouring a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

"Almost finished?" she asked him, her lips spreading into a wide smile when he nodded and stuffed the rest of his sandwich into his mouth. "Well, let's go then," she laughed.

"Bye, Dad," Malcolm said as he got up and tilted his head back as he drank up what little orange juice was left in his glass. He put his plate and glass in the sink and told Candice he'd be ready in a minute.

Renée entered the kitchen in her robe as Malcolm ran upstairs to fetch his school bag.

"You're leaving for school?" she asked Candice.

"Yeah, I'm just waiting on Mal," she replied, gripping the edge of the kitchen counter behind her when her father hurriedly closed his paper and grabbed the leather briefcase next to him.

"I'm off," he said and quickly made his way passed them, carefully avoiding locking eyes with either of them.

Candice looked at her mother dead in the eye, feeling her skin prickle with the anger pumping through her, her mother's obvious feigned smile only adding fuel to the flame.

"Have you eaten anything?" her mother asked her then. Candice sighed, both aggravated that her mother was insisting on lying to herself and to be asked that same question almost every morning. She grabbed a banana from the fruit bowl next to her hand and spitefully waved it in front of her mom before she walked around her, leaving her alone in the kitchen.

Malcolm was coming back downstairs just as she reached the front door.

"Bye, Mom!" he shouted over his shoulder as he followed Candice outside.

"Have a good day!" Candice heard their mom wish them right before the door closed behind them.

She dropped Malcolm off first and afterwards drove to her high school and pulled her red Mini Cooper into a parking space. As she stepped out of the car she could tell something was off, but she didn't figure out what it was until she was walking down the school hallway towards her locker. People were trying to be discrete about it but their staring still didn't manage to go unnoticed.

When Candice reached her locker, Lydia and the new girl were standing there waiting on her. She wondered if they knew why she seemed to be the center of attention. "Why are there people staring at me?" she asked them quietly as she put in her locker combination.

Lydia pressed her lips together and studied her polished nails and it was Allison who answered. "Everyone's already heard about how your cousin had gone missing."

Candice knew she probably shouldn't be too surprised the news of Reed's disappearance had travelled that fast.

"I'm sorry about that," Allison said to her kindly. "I hope they'll find her."

"Me too," Candice muttered under her breath, taking out a textbook from her locker before closing it.

She did her best to ignore the stares and whispers as she sat in classes and walked through the halls. The staring annoyed her, but it also pushed her into doing what she had meant to do the day before.

When it finally hit time for lunch, Candice walked through the cafeteria doors and headed straight towards the table Scott McCall and Stiles Stilinski was sitting at and pulled out a chair. They looked at her as if she had grown a second head when she sat down and placed her elbows on the table.

"What are you-" Stiles began to ask but Candice spoke over him.

"I need you to tell me exactly what happened on Sunday night."

Scott scratched his chin. "Are you sure you want to know?"

Candice gave him a blank look. "Just tell me."

"Okay, well… we were out in the woods, looking for the other half of the body," he disclosed. "There were deputies searching the area and Stiles was caught by his dad, while me and Reed hid behind some trees. We started walking towards the road so that we would easier be able to find our way back into town."

"Then what happened?"

"A wolf came out of nowhere and started chasing us."

"It wasn't a wolf," Stiles chimed in with a roll of his eyes. "How many times do I have to tell you? There are no wolves in the state of California."

"Well, something was chasing us," Scott argued, "and I heard a wolf howling."

"Whatever, what happened next?" Candice urged them impatiently.

"We got separated and the animal caught me. Bit me."

"And what about Reed?"

Scott shrugged, which infuriated Candice even more. "Why are you shrugging as if you don't know?" she demanded. "What happened to her?"

"After the thing tackled me to the ground and took a chunk of my flesh, I was able to get away from under it and started running again but when I looked behind me, it was gone. I don't know what happened to Reed but at the time I guess I just figured she had gotten away and would find her way back on her own. After I found out she'd never made it home that night…"

Don't say it.

"It's possible that whatever was chasing them got to her too," Stiles finished the sentence for his best friend.

"You left her," Candice exhaled, her shoulders slumping.

"What would you have had me do?" Scott asked her helplessly. "I was hurt and the thing was still out there!"

"All the more reason!" she yelled at him, slamming her hand on the table, rattling the boys' food trays. The chatter of the packed cafeteria died down for a minute and she felt a lot of eyes on them.

"I'm sorry, Candice," Scott said quietly, looking ashamed of himself.

"Yeah, well, that doesn't change anything, does it?" She pushed her chair away from the table and stood up. Then she turned and walked out.

Candice knew she might've been too hard on Scott, but she didn't wallow in it. Her cousin was still missing after all and Scott was partly to blame for it.

The rest of the week went by and people eventually stopped staring, and by Friday all anyone was talking about was Jackson's party. Sheriff Stilinski had told the Atkinsons' that the sheriff department was putting all of their resources into finding Reed and they'd promised to keep them updated on any progress they made in the search. Yet it wasn't until that Friday afternoon they received a phone call from the sheriff.

Candice was just taking a seat on the bleachers to show Luke her support at his lacrosse practice when her phone beeped, announcing a text. She read it was from Malcolm and opened it, its content turning everything around her into white noise.

Their mom had just picked him up after school and was on the speakerphone with the sheriff when he got into the car. Apparently, forensic evidence form the body they'd found suggested a wolf was somehow involved in her death, which confirmed what Scott had told Candice on Tuesday about a wolf being in the woods that night. Scott must've told Sheriff Stilinski the same thing he'd told her because Malcolm had also included in his text that the sheriff wanted them to prepare themselves for the worst.

"Candice?" she distantly heard her name being called. "Candice, did you hear anything of what I just said?"

She shook her head to clear it and looked at Lydia, who at some point had taken the seat next to her. "Sorry," she apologized to her and put her phone away.

"Are you feeling okay?"

"I'm fine," Candice lied and turned her attention to the field. Her eyes locked with Luke's and he blew her a kiss, but before he could see her catch it, he turned his head away to pay attention to what Coach Finstock was yelling at them.

Candice hadn't been able to keep her mind off Reed since she'd first learned of her disappearance on Monday, and now after the sheriff himself had practically pronounced Reed dead when there wasn't a body to confirm it, she definitely wasn't in the mood to attend Jackson's party.

"I'm going," she told her mom for a second time, checking her reflection in the gold mirror in the foyer. She had changed into a pair of black jeans and a mustard top, and gone with black flats instead of her usual sneakers.

"Fine," her mom said. "But promise me you'll call if anything happens or you need Dad to come and get you, okay?"

"I'll be fine," Candice replied, trying her best to sound convincing. The truth was she was going to the party for the same reason she went to school the day after they'd found the body, to distract herself.

Her mom put her hands on her hips, about to call her daughter on her lie when they heard a car pull up outside the house. Candice pushed the heavy curtain aside and peered out the window, recognizing her boyfriend's BMW his parents got him for Christmas the year he turned sixteen.

"Mom, I promise, but I'm fine. Really," she said in an attempt to reassure her. "Love you," she added, giving her mom a quick hug before she threw open the front door.

When they arrived at the party relatively early the house was already crawling with people. Luke threw an arm around Candice as they made their way through the house that they'd ben to so many times before. They walked through the sliding doors at the back of the house to the backyard where most people had gathered.

The party was in full swing all around them as Candice sat between Luke's legs on the newly cut grass, as he and the few people that had formed a circle, passed around a joint. With her back leaning back against his chest and her arms resting on his jean-clad thighs, she lazily let her eyes roam over her drunk classmates. She didn't care to partake in any conversations or even listen to whatever Luke and their friends were meaninglessly discussing in their drunken and stoned stupor.

Lydia and Jackson were making out in a corner, and she saw Brandy clumsily removing all her clothes except for her underwear, almost falling over her own shoes, and jump into the pool while her friends hooted and eventually did the same. Right across from her, Greenberg was blowing smoke rings and trying to teach Robbie, the guy sitting on his right, how do it. Then Candice spotted Scott dancing closely with Allison and she wondered when that had happened. She wasn't too surprised though that she had missed the two of them had hit it off since she had been a lot in her own head lately.

If she hadn't already been observing them, Candice wouldn't have noticed when Scott suddenly bent over and clutched his head as if he was in pain. Allison looked freaked out because she didn't know what was wrong with him and remained confused when he turned around and quickly made his way through the throng of people to get away. Candice watched Allison rush after him and got curious herself and began to get up.

"Where're you going?" Luke asked her, hooking an arm loosely around her ankle to prevent her from leaving.

"I'll be right back," she told him and was able to shake her leg free.

She hurried after them and was coming around the corner of the house just in time to see Scott jump into a car and speed off down the street.

Candice started approaching Allison but faltered in her steps when an undeniably attractive guy, seemingly a few years older than them, came out of the shadows. He had dark hair, a handsome face with a strong jawline, and a lean muscular physique and wore a white t-shirt underneath a black leather jacket.

"Allison," he said, coming up behind the brunette. Candice frowned, confused about how Allison knew this guy, especially when she still was so new to town, but quickly realized she didn't actually know him when he went on to introduce himself to her. "My name is Derek, and I'm a friend of Scott's. I can give you a ride home."

Allison continued to stare down the street where Scott's car could no longer be seen driving away for another long moment before finally turning her attention to this Derek-guy. Candice heard the other girl thank him and watched as he led Allison to a black Camaro. It got her thinking and she threw a glance over her shoulder at the party and bit her lip. When she looked back at Allison she was getting into the front passenger seat of the guy's car. Now was the time to decide. Stay or go?

She took a step towards them. "Actually," she called out, making him stop and look at her. "Would you mind terribly if you drove me home too?"

He didn't say anything, his eyes examining her face as if he was trying to get a read on her. She realized she must look stupid, all dolled up to party with her friends but instead she stood there, asking a stranger to take her away from there.

"I really need to get out of here," she said to him in an almost pleading tone.

"Fine," he said. "Get in."