"maybe i should just create a whole new identity." aneksi mumbled as she and isaac walked towards his house.

"you can't do that." he laughed and looked at her. "people know you."

"two people, stiles and scott. and my parents." she corrected him, folding her arms together.

"the librarian. and that stupid jackson whittemore kid." he muttered the last part, causing her to frown a bit.

"you never mentioned that you knew him, or at least knew of him." she remarked and kicked on a rock.

"he goes to our school, so you'll probably meet him again." he smiled sarcastically and slowed his pace down when they neared his house.

"pretty." she smiled and scanned his house. "after you."

isaac gave her a quick look before opening the door and slowly stepping inside. aneksi followed him and tucked some hair behind her ear, glancing around the place.

"dad?" he called after a moment and stepped farther in.

"yes?" his dad approached them, stopping to eye the stranger by the door. "who's this?"

"mr. lahey." aneksi smiled and took a step forward. "hi, my name's aneksi. i just wanted to meet you since i've become a friend to isaac."

"aneksi... are you david's daughter?" mr. lahey asked with slightly narrowed eyes.

"yes." she nodded and cast a glance at isaac. "you're a coach, right? how come you're familiar with my dad? pardon me if i come of rude."

"don't worry, and yes i am. i met your father once during one of the school's lacrosse games. please, come in." he answered, making way for her.

"thanks." she laughed and placed herself beside isaac instead, fiddling with her fingernails.

"would you like to stay for dinner? it's nice to see isaac actually associate with people." mr. lahey asked with a comment that in a way disturbed her.

aneksi briefly looked up at isaac, who only stared down at the floor, and frowned. she didn't like his way of expressing at all, but she couldn't say anything the first time they spoke either.

"i would, thank you." she accepted his offer nonetheless and pursed her lips.

isaac put a calming hand against her back and followed his dad to the dining room. mr. lahey gathered a third plate and some cutlery for the guest, and then put the food on the table. isaac and his dad sat to the opposite of each other, and aneksi by the edge between them. when all three had put food on their plates, mr. lahey was the one to speak up first.

"i heard that you were gone for quite some time. what happened?" he asked the brunette and drank from his glass.

"i don't really have an answer to that." she mumbled and swallowed the food. "i had the unfortune to wake up with amnesia one day, after these months of disappearance, so..."

isaac gave her a look and sighed quietly. she just shrugged, not in the mood to make up another story as to why she was gone. besides, if mr. lahey was friends with her dad, then surely he'd find out anyway.

"you don't say? that must be horrible, i'm sorry." he said quietly and gave her a look of sympathy.

"i guess i'm accepting it now. there's nothing i can do about it."

the conversation topic died out from there, and they spent a minute or so in silence. she wanted to ease up the odd tension, but couldn't think of anything to talk about. they finished their meals rather quickly, but sat still by the table.

"isaac, i need to discuss your grades with you." mr. lahey said coldly and looked at his son.

"dad..." isaac mumbled and clenched his jaw out of nervousness.

"tell me. what are they?"

"so far it's an a in french, and a b minus in economics." he sighed, avoiding eye contact.

"okay. what about chemistry?" mr. lahey asked, folding his arms together. aneksi hated being in that situation at that moment; not because of herself, but because she could sense how isaac wished she wasn't there.

"i'm not sure. midterms are in a few days, so it could go up." isaac answered doubtfully.

"well, what's it at now?" his dad asked, a bit annoyed by now.

"the grade?"

"yeah."

"i'm not sure." aneksi looked at isaac now, swallowing a lump in her throat.

"but you just said it could go up." he pressed, tapping with his fingers against the table.

"i just– uh, i meant generally."

"you wouldn't be lying to me, would you isaac?"

"no." isaac shook his head and looked up.

"then tell me your grade." his dad demanded impatiently, as if he had forgotten completely that there was another person by the table.

"i just told you, i don't know."

"you wanna take this little conversation downstairs?" isaac shot his eyes at him and shook his head, a weak sign of fear in his eyes. "no? then tell me the grade, son."

"dad, this semester's only half over."

"isaac?"

"there's plenty of time–"

"isaac." mr. lahey said with a stern and steady voice, causing his son to sigh in defeat.

"it's a d."

"all right. it's a d. i'm not angry. you know i'm gonna have to find a way to punish you though. you know, i have my responsibility as a parent. so we'll start with something simple, like, uh– tell you what, you do the dishes and you clean up the kitchen, okay?"

the way his tone changed with every word bothered her deeply. she felt bad for even being there, and she felt bad for isaac who had to take this.

"yeah." isaac mumbled with the weakest nod, standing up from his seat.

"good. because i's really like to see this place spotless. know what i'm saying? you know? i mean this entire kitchen." his dad started, seizing his glass slowly. "yeah! yeah, absolutely..." startling them both, he threw the glass on the wall, just an inch beside isaac's face. "... spotless. well, that was your fault."

"what the hell are you doing?!" aneksi yelled, quickly standing up and rushing over to isaac, who now had a small line of blood on his cheek.

"you could have blinded me." isaac stated with big eyes, touching the wound.

"shut up! it's just a scratch anyway."

"it's just a scratch? are you kidding right now?!" aneksi scoffed and examined isaac's face.

to her surprise, isaac grabbed her wrist and ran away from there, outside. he only needed to give her a simple look, and she nodded in response before they both placed themselves on his bike. aneksi held onto his wrist as she looked behind her shoulder, where his dad stood and yelled after them. isaac bicycled the fastest he could, nearing an alley. a drop of rain hit her cheek and soon it was full on raining. the two got off the bike at the same time, and isaac left it on the ground before hiding in a corner, leaving aneksi very confused. she watched as he slowly fell down to the ground and then followed, putting a hand on top of his.

"this is why i didn't want you to meet him." he whispered as he looked at her.

"what did he mean when he said downstairs? you looked horrified." she asked carefully, soothingly stroking the top of his hand with her thumb.

"he didn't use to be like this."

"isaac. is he abusing you?"

"yeah." he mumbled, looking down at the ground. sighing, she caressed his wounded cheek and shook her head weakly.

"why haven't you told anyone?"

"he's my dad, neks."

"that doesn't justify his behaviour. he could've hurt you so badly today, you know that right?" she frowned and scanned his face once again.

"i know it doesn't. please, promise me that you won't tell anyone. especially not your dad, not yet."

aneksi gazed at him with parted lips and disbelief all over her face. she wasn't sure that she could do that, considering how extremely wrong and horrible it was. but, he asked her in trust and she wouldn't tell anyone.

"i promise." she nodded after a moment and was about to stand up when she heard something.

first, a car — assuming it was his dad's. then it stopped, and she could hear a car door slam shut. mr. lahey must've noticed the bike because he started to call for his son, causing isaac to freeze in his position.

"isaac!" mr. lahey yelled.

"there's someone else here." aneksi stated quietly, a realizing expression on her face. "not your dad, but someone else. it sounds so weird..."

"i can't hear anything." isaac frowned and took a hold of her wrist. "are you sure? the rain is so loud."

"i'm certain. we're not alone here."

in that moment, they heard running footsteps and then again the car door. aneksi took a quick peek around the corner, widening her eyes when the door came smashing against the ground. this brought isaac to his feet, but she quickly and with strength grasped his arm and pulled him back down beside her. mr. lahey screamed once or twice, and aneksi heard that awful and strange hissing-like sound, followed by a disturbing chewing.

"dad? dad?!" isaac exclaimed with sad eyes, trying to get free from her grip.

aneksi pressed her hand against his mouth and held onto his collar, begging him with her eyes to keep quiet. she shushed him as lowly as she could and glanced behind her shoulder, swallowing as the night became silent again.

"isaac, please stay right here." she pleaded as she slowly removed her hand from his mouth.

"what the hell are you talking about? my dad–"

"just stay here. i'll go and see what happened, but you're not well right now." she murmured and looked at him with a severe face.

"y– yeah." he agreed after a while, visibly shaken by the whole thing.

aneksi nodded before letting go off him completely, allowing him to pull his legs up against his chest and hug them with his arms. she exhaled deeply and slowly approached the car, raising her hands to her mouth.

"no..." she mumbled and eyed mr. lahey's dead and brutal body. "oh my god."

aneksi felt sick to her stomach as she checked if he had any pulse, just in case. he didn't. she didn't even realize that she was crying until her cheeks became very wet, making her wipe them quickly. she didn't feel that sorry for the man after remembering he was an abuser, but the fact that a person just died saddened her.

"aneksi?" isaac spoke up with a shaky voice, standing up from his previous position.

"i'm so sorry." she sniffed before turning around to face him. "i couldn't see what happened, or who was here, but–"

"what are you saying?" he asked impatiently, taking a step closer.

"your dad is dead. someone murdered him while we were– right there." she answered blunty; he would find out anyway. "isaac, i'm so sorry."

"he can't be... he's not dead." isaac exclaimed with closed eyes, causing a jolt to go through her body due to the surprise. "what? how? i–"

aneksi pursed her lips briefly before wrapping her arms around his neck and embracing him in a hug. isaac hugged her back, but his hands were shaking against her back and he shut his eyes not to look.

"i don't know what to say, or do. i just can't believe this happen during such a short amount of time." she mumbled and swallowed a thick lump in her throat. "isaac–"

"i need to go home." he cut her off, ceasing the hug. "i just– i can't be here."

"we need to call the police." she stated with a weak frown.

"call your dad, and then you can come to my place. i just need to sit and process this because i can't believe it right now." he whispered and seemed very weary.

"okay." she nodded in understanding and licked her lips. "i'll come over as soon as possible."

and with that, isaac turned around and left her there. aneksi sighed before calling her dad, briefly informing him about what happened.

david arrived only five minutes later with a few other police officers, including sheriff stilinski and his son. she rolled her eyes when she noticed stiles and then bit on her thumbnail until her dad hugged her.

"i'm so glad you're alright." he sighed in relief and examined her face.

"i'm fine, dad. just a bit shaken." she mumbled and hugged her own elbows.

"aneksi?" stiles called before jogging over to her. "hey, are you alright?"

"yeah." she answered, glancing at her dad who stepped away. "what are you doing here?"

"i always come with my dad when i can. what happened? i heard isaac's dad–"

"he's dead." she said, looking to the side where the broken car stood. "i don't know what happened, i just heard it. he was murdered."

"where's isaac?" he asked, looking around them.

"he went home, but he didn't see anything either. stiles, the whole situation was so weird, and especially what i heard."

"well, what did you hear?" he questioned carefully, fiddling with his hands. she opened her mouth to answer, but closed it again. she still didn't quite trust him, even if she could sense that they were good friends.

"aneksi?" sheriff stilinski approached them, looking concerned. "you're officially a witness, and i need to ask you what happened."

"of course." she nodded, folding her arms together. "but i can't really help you because i didn't see anything. i was in the corner when it happened and too scared to even try and get a glimpse of the... person."

"where's isaac?" stilinski asked.

"home. he went home after it happened because he couldn't be here."

"what happened before this? why were you two even here?"

"he had a an argument with his dad, and we left the house. mr. lahey drove after us and ended up here."

"okay, thank you. i'm glad you're safe. and about isaac, can you possibly go to his house and make sure he's alright? maybe ten cops showing up there wouldn't be the best way to go with this."

"yes." she answered, looking over at her own dad.

"stiles, please go with her."

"what?" the two teens said simultaneously.

"do you think i'd send you off alone this late?" stilinski almost laughed, raising his eyebrows. "your dad would murder me."

"fine." she muttered in defeat and started walking with stiles beside her. she stopped by the car and looked at him. "what i heard wasn't a gun, or a knife, or anything else like that. i heard a strange sound, like a monster growling, and then something that sounded like an animal feeding. i can't tell the police this because it doesn't make any sense. and just look at him. he looks horrifying, open."

stiles stared at her, as if he was trying to figure someting out while listening to her. aneksi rubbed her face with her hands and then hugged her elbows again.

"come on, let's go see isaac." he said after a while, a hand against her back, and led her out of there. the two moved towards isaac's house together and she kicked on a rock during the walk, trying to melt the night's event completely.

"he just lost his dad, and now he's got no parents at all."

"he'll be fine. he's got you, doesn't he? and erica."

aneksi opened the unlocked door when they made it there, frowning as the kitchen light was still on but no other light.

"isaac?" she called, searching through the house. "are you here?"

stiles leaned his body against the wall and focused his eyes on the shattered glass all over the kitchen table. of course he assumed the worst now, not believing the little argument story.

"he doesn't seem to be home." he commented, not at all being any helpful.

"he's not here." she stated, running down the stairs. "he said he'd go home, but he's not here. god, i'm so stupid! why the hell would he get back here? where the whole thing started?"

"hold up." he said, grabbing her shoulders. "what started? aneksi, is there something you're leaving out of the story?"

"isaac's missing and you're–"

"aneksi."

"i promised not to tell, okay." she sighed, gulping. "i promised him. can you just leave it for now and help me find him, please?"

stiles seemed to think about it for a moment, contemplating his decision. after a few dreadful seconds, he gave in and nodded, making her exhale in relief.

"he works in a graveyard, doesn't he?" stiles asked as he already started leaving the house.

"i think so, yeah." she mumbled and followed him.

"then let's start there."

hi! so here's an update, i hope you guys like it! the season plot is finally starting and i'm so excited for yall to read about aneksi! anyway, i sort of wanted to apologize for not using capitals. it's just, all my stories before this one were written with only small letters because i thought it looked nicer and i wrote them on my phone (wattpad). unfortunately i've already written this story, so you'll have to bear with the small letters :/ love you guys!