"you beat me until i was unconscious, and then you threw me outside." isaac complained as he sat in the driver's seat, while aneksi sat beside him.
"i had my reasons." she mumbled and made a face. he stopped the car by the side rode and twisted in his seat so he could look at her.
"what exactly?" he asked, raising his eyebrows. slightly puckering with her lips, she glimpsed out the window and then gazed at him with a sigh.
"you were being an ass." she stated bluntly, making him frown. "you were so willing to kill lydia just because the venom didn't affect her. maybe she is immune, like scott suggested."
"is that why you're so mad at me?" he asked, resting his arm against the top of her seat.
"no, that's not all. i don't like where all of this is going, isaac. you're my friend, and the one i feel closest to. ever since you turned, you've changed. both you and erica, and i don't just mean by appearance. i didn't ask to be drawn into a world of supernatural, but i'm here now and i need my friend. you're mean, cocky and a slave to derek. i get that this pack thing is important, but you're still a person." she ranted, looking angrier for each second.
"the pack is important, and i know that–"
"no, you don't know, that's the thing. you're so grateful to derek for giving you this... power and control, but you fail to see what it's doing to you. you'd jump off a cliff if he demanded you to do that. and i mean, come on. what erica said to allison before about taking scott just to mess with her? you can't possibly think that's okay, especially not when she's your girlfriend."
"i know what it's doing to me, neks, and i am grateful to derek. yes, erica stepped over the line but we're not really at our best right now. we never really were, but we're trying. no, i'm not okay with it." he answered, softly looking at her.
aneksi licked her bottom lip inside her mouth and glanced down at her legs. she shook her head, apparently not getting her point across to him.
"you're one of the bad guys right now. and i don't want to be with the bad guys." she said quietly, tucking some hair behind her ear. his face changed completely as he looked down and opened his mouth a bit.
"what are you trying to say, that we can't be friends?" he asked, looking up at her.
"i'm just saying that as long as you're acting like a douche, i don't want to hang out with you. especially not when your pack is near. and i won't come and help just because you're asking me. if you need my help, explain the problem to me and what you want me to do."
"so what, you're with scott now?" he asked stupidly, causing her to roll her eyes and give him a look.
"for god's sake isaac, no! i'm not on anyone's side. i'll help when i feel like i'm doing the right thing. i'll help save jackson, not kill him. there must be a way and i will help scott — or you — to find out how. but i'm not a part of a pack, and i won't jump to the conclusion that killing is the only answer." she said severely, gazing at him.
"yeah, i know. you're good, that's why. i just don't want you to get hurt and i'm sorry i'm being such a jerk." he smiled, growing a very small one on her lips too.
aneksi's phone buzzed in her pocket, so she picked it up and read her message from stiles. barely blowing some air in her cheeks, she put it away again and rested her hand against the door handle.
"i have to go, they need me to babysit apparently. i'll see you in school, if we ever have a normal day." she sent him a sarcastic smile and glanced to the side.
"babysit jackson?" isaac asked and raised his eyebrows. she just nodded before pecking his cheek and stepping out of the car.
aneksi hurried over to the forest that stiles had asked her to come to. she saw his figure a while ahead, so she moved over there and smiled at scott and stiles.
"hey, got your message obviously. where's jackson, how did you find him and how did you manage to capture him?" she asked, just then noticing the van behind them. "oh my god, what did you guys do?"
"look, we thought he would kill danny so we followed him to a club. derek was there too and slashed his throat, and that's how we could capture him. he's unconscious now, but–" scott began explaining, but a sound cut him off.
"stiles! mccall! i'm gonna' kill you!" jackson yelled from inside the van.
stiles and scott both looked away innocently, hands down their pockets. aneksi flickered with her eyes between the two boys and snorted quietly, folding her arms together. stiles shot his eyes to her and frowned confused.
"you two are so dead." she laughed and suppressed a grin.
"wow, loving the positivity here, really." stiles deadpanned and gestured with both arms towards the van. "can you please make him some company? you're probably the only person he can stand right now."
"you want me to go inside with him? a killing kanima?" she scoffed, her fingers against her chest.
"he's chained up, don't worry." scott mumbled.
"kinky." she scrunched up her nose briefly at the same time as she said it before nearing the van. she doubtfully opened the back door and peeked her head inside, laying her eyes on the half naked boy sitting down. "hey, you."
"aneksi? what are you doing here?" jackson asked surprised whilst she closed the door and placed herself opposite to him.
"well, i'm your friend, aren't i?" she smiled wryly and leaned forward, arms against her lap.
"what are you?" he blurted out, frowning at her. "clearly you're not human anymore."
"i'm a hybrid, actually. both werewolf and vampire. i'm probably more than just that too, but i haven't... discovered any other side yet, so." she shrugged, feeling awfully comfortable with him.
"and i couldn't even become a werewolf." he laughed humorlessly and looked to the side for a second.
"jackson, you're something else. something did happen to you that night. you're just not a werewolf." she said quietly, almost a sad expression on her face.
"alright, i bought you some food." stiles suddenly joined them with a bag in his hand.
"let me out." jackson muttered angrily, changing his mood completely in the matter of a second.
"you know, i put those pants on you, alright buddy? one leg at a time. being all up-close and personal with your junk wasn't exactly a highlight of my day. so don't think this is fun for me either." stiles retorted, sending him a look of annoyance. "you know we're actually doing you a favor?"
"this," jackson started, pulling in his chains a bit. "is doing me a favor?"
"yes." stiles answered as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "you're killing people. to death. and until we can figure out how to stop you, you're gonna' stay in here. now, do you want the ham and cheese, or the turkey club?"
"stiles." aneksi sighed, shaking her head hopelessly.
"you actually think my parents won't be looking for me?" jackson raised his eyebrows as he glanced at the female.
"uh, well not if they don't think anything's wrong." stiles retorted happily, showing him the display of jackson's phone. with that, he exited the van again, leaving the two alone.
"it's true what he said. you are killing people. you killed isaac's dad." she mumbled calmly, twitching the corner of her mouth sideways.
"can we talk about something else? they obviously put you in here with me to occupy me." jackson asked, a smile forming by his lips.
"yeah, of course." she laughed quietly and rested her hands under her thighs. "the time i asked for make up, i totally lied to you. the day before, i woke up with amnesia. i don't remember anything, except for weak fragments of the day at the beach. so please, talk on and i'll listen."
"you lost your memory? all of it?" he asked quietly, leaning forward.
"yeah. now talk."
"as you wish. when we were younger, we had a phase where we had waterballoon fights across the street. not on a backyard or so, but over the street. man, that was fun. also, i used to be your driver for quite a while." he started, smiling over the memories. "believe it or not, but you sneaked out for a while to meet a friend. i drove you most of the time."
"what do you mean by friend...?" she asked carefully, biting on her thumbnail.
"oh, i mean a friend." he smirked at her, making her close her eyes in embarrassment almost.
"wow, okay. great."
"then he moved and i could save some gas." he chuckled, and she kicked his leg weakly in a playful way.
"you were willing to do it, so don't complain." she defended herself, even though she had no memory of it. thinking about it now, she grimaced and awkwardly looked around.
"yeah, you're right." he nodded in defeat and eyed her quickly. "can you show me? you claws, i mean, and your eyes."
"i don't know. i'm not very good at that yet." she bit her lip and automatically began fiddling with her fingernails. "i've only practiced once. well, then there's the exception when i fought you." she blurted out, pursing her lips when she saw his shocked yet interested expression.
"what are you talking about? when did you fight me?"
"stiles!" she yelled quickly and stiles joined them within a second.
"what is it?" he asked, worried, and looked between the two.
"time to explain what's up with jackson." she mumbled as he sat down beside her. stiles looked at jackson with puckered lips before starting to talk, telling him everything.
"scales? like a fish?" jackson asked after a while.
"no, more like a reptile." stiles nodded his head to the side as he sat leaned back with crossed arms. "and your claws have this liquid that paralyzes people, and you have a tail."
"i have a tail?" stiles hummed as he nodded. "does it do anything?"
"not that i know of."
"it hurts, that's for sure." aneksi muttered while holding a hand against her stomach.
"can i use it to strangle you?" jackson exclaimed, shaking his hands in front of stiles.
"you still don't believe us." stiles pursed his lips together, and jackson expressed a frustrated face. "alright, the night of the semi-final game, what did you do right after?"
"i went home." jackson stated tiredly.
"are you sure about that?"
"yes, you idiot. what the hell else would i do?!"
"you attacked me and derek at the school, and you trapped us in the pool. you hurt aneksi badly while fighting her for just being by the pool. you also killed a mechanic right in front of me, by the way. that was lovely. and one of argent's hunters." stiles smiled amused as he spoke, stretching his fingers against his chest to motion towards himself. "oh, and last night, you tried to kill danny."
"why would i want to kill my best friend?" jackson asked in disbelief.
"well, that's what scott's trying to figure out right now."
"maybe, he should be trying to figure out is how he's going to pay for a lawyer when i prosecute your asses all the way to jail!" jackson retorted angrily, making her wince a bit.
"tell me this. on the night of the first full moon, what happened?" stiles asked something jackson was probably tired of hearing. hell, even aneksi was sick of that question.
"he doesn't know, stiles. but i saw the video once danny restored the files." she mumbled while harshly nudging stiles's side with her elbow.
"nothing." jackson answered, blankly peering up at them. "nothing happened."
stiles leaned back and rubbed his face with a sigh. aneksi decided to sit down beside jackson instead, soothingly putting her hand above his cold one.
"look, i don't know your history with stiles and scott, or how you are towards people. but you have to believe this, because it's real. you don't know it yourself, and while you're the kanima, you're not aware. regardless of your history with these idiots–"
"i'm right here." stiles interrupted, raising his arms beside his body.
"–we just want to help you. you can't proceed killing people like this." she finished, ignoring the dark haired boy.
"you were there when i passed derek's stupid test." jackson murmured to her, looking at her.
"i know, and i vividly remember what he said about a snake not being able to be poisoned by its own venom. but jackson... you weren't a kanima when he tested you. you were a human, just as easy to be paralyzed as derek was in the school pool."
"wait, how do you know that?" stiles asked with a frown, since he and scott had discussed that before they captured jackson.
"i figured it out quickly after leaving them the same day. then i saw jackson's video, and well..." she shrugged, rubbing jackson's hand with her thumb.
"you really are smart, aren't you?" stiles smiled impressed and gazed at her.
"well, you two figured it out too." she smiled and then pressed her lips together. stiles playfully winked at her before stepping out of the van.
aneksi pushed some hair behind her ear and intensed her listening when she could hear footsteps from someone else. soon she could hear allison's voice in a distance, slightly panicked.
"they know." she said. "they know jackson's missing."
"no, they can't." stiles objected as he pulled something up from his pocket, which she assumed was the phone. "i've been texting his parents since last night. they don't have a clue."
"my grandfather told me his parents went to the police. they know."
"shit." aneksi muttered and buried her face in her hands. "we're going to jail, your dad is so putting us in jail."
"not you. stiles and scott were the ones who kidnapped me." jackson cocked his head to the side, making her frown.
"okay, first of all, you heard that? second of all, i'm part of this." she said, looking at him.
"yes, but you didn't take me against my will. and you've only been nice to me." he shrugged, twisting his hands a little.
aneksi sat silent for a while, studying his face. she felt herself growing more tired, but after a few minutes, she straightened her back and listened again.
"if jackson doesn't remember being the kanima, he's definitely not gonna remember stealing danny's tablet." scott said from a distance.
"why would he steal the thing if he doesn't even know what's on it?" stiles asked.
"maybe someone else took it."
the three discussed the whole thing, suggesting that someone else knows what he is, and that — according to the bestiary — the kanima seeks a friend. so someone might be protecting him. they also brought up that the creature only goes for murderers, and that that might be true. however, the kanima had tried to kill them.
"alright, i got it. kill jackson. problem solved." stiles stated, causing aneksi to roll her eyes back. that made them continue talking about jackson, and how he had risked his life for them before.
"it doesn't mean he's not still worth saving." scott objected.
"it's always something with him though." stiles mumbled.
she averted her eyes to jackson, who visibly seemed to hear them too. he swallowed, not removing his eyes from the empty seat opposite to them.
"he doesn't know what he's doing."
"so what?"
"so, i didn't either. you remember when i almost killed you and jackson? i had someone to stop me. he has nobody."
aneksi opened her mouth and looked at the boy with sad eyes. she hated their words at the moment, even though they might be perfectly true.
"that's his own fault." stiles said, uttering the words that made a tear roll down jackson's cheek.
"don't listen to them." she whispered, a hand against his cheek so she could turn his face to hers. "that's not true."
"but it is, you just don't remember it." he shook his head whilst she wiped away his tear for him.
"you've got me, okay? and lydia, and danny. that's not nobody." she retorted and gazed at him with severe eyes.
"lydia probably hates me now. apparently i tried to kill danny. best friend award goes to me."
"just stop." she sighed, nudging his body. "do you still wanna see my claws?"
jackson cracked a little smile and nodded. aneksi returned it before closing her eyes, clenching one hand between them and focusing on all that anger. opening her eyes, she exposed her claws and watched him wince backwards.
"holy shit." he mumbled, squinting with his eyes at her. "they're black. completely black."
"i know." she laughed and blinked her eyes back to normal. "it's kind of freaky to think about it."
"well, i'm scared of you." he stated, raising his hands as high as he could with the chains.
"are you kidding? you beat my ass by the pool. or well, not utterly because i got some nice punches on you, but still."
jackson laughed with his head hanging low and peered up at her. aneksi sent him a soft smile before moving over to the seat opposite of him, pulling her fingers through her hair.
"didn't expect anything less. you sure know how to throw a good punch."
"is it okay if i sleep for a while? i'm a bit tired." she asked, stretching her legs out.
"yeah, of course." he shrugged a little.
aneksi hesitated a brief moment before lying down on her side, slowly falling into a deep sleep — despite the cold, uncomfortable metal seat. unaware that she had slept for hours, stiles barked in and yelled her name.
"where the hell did he go?!" stiles asked loudly, causing her to carefully sit up and tiredly look around.
"shit." she sighed once seeing that jackson wasn't there anymore. "i'm sorry, i was just so tired."
the four teenagers gathered outside the van, fidgeting. aneksi bit on her thumbnail and felt slightly guilty, but she alone wasn't supposed to watch over him.
"i have to tell my father, scott." allison started. "he's going to kill someone. we're just a bunch of teenagers, we can't handle this."
"okay." scott exhaled, looking at the three of them. "tell him. tell him everything."
"scott, i gotta tell mine too." stiles said quietly. aneksi was planning on telling hers nonetheless, but she kept quiet.
she excused herself without explaining and left them, making her way over to derek's lair. when arriving, she dragged isaac out of there and a few meters away to talk.
"how did the babysitting go?" isaac asked quietly, raising his eyebrows.
"can i trust you? i know it's a lot to ask, but i need to feel like i can tell you stuff without worrying that you'll run straight to derek and tell him. or erica, or boyd." she almost had a pleading look on her face, which made him sigh a bit and then nodded steadily.
"i promise. you were right before, we are friends and i want you to trust me." he said genuinely, sliding his hands down his pockets.
"the babysitting went well until i fell asleep. he broke out and left while i did." she mumbled and folded her arms together.
"what? i thought you guys had it under control."
"we did, at first. don't tell derek, he'll kill him without hesitation. the thing is, jackson still goes to school. we just have to search on so we can find a way to save him."
"man, i miss those few days when we could hang out without worrying about this." isaac sighed and looked away, as if remembering those days.
"yeah, me too." she smiled and looked at him. "let's take a walk, get our minds off of all this." she suggested, motioning behind her shoulder with her thumb.
isaac agreed without giving it a second thought. the two wandered towards the forest, talking about funny moments in history that she couldn't remember. that lead to discussions, but it was a nice change.
a long while passed before she pulled up her phone due to it vibrating against her back pocket. her walking stopped when she read the message allison had sent her. it read;
➸ morrell translated it wrong to us. the kanima doesn't seek a friend, it seeks a master. someone's controlling it.
yoo guys! hope you like this chapter, thank you for reading and check out my tumblr for more aneksi! (killianruby) ^^