#8
Elie and Stiles were watching the Sherlock DVD Elie had borrowed from Hannah, when the Sheriff got home from the parents-teacher conference. Hearing his footsteps, Elie paused the DVD player to ask him how the conference went but she stopped when she noticed him limping.
"Dad? What happened?! Are you okay?"
The Sheriff sighed and explained the ruckus caused by a mountain lion that had strayed into the school parking lot, and how he had been hit by a car. The twins rushed to fuss over him and Stiles lifted up his father's jacket and shirt to check the wound. The Sheriff's back was bruised and swollen. When Stiles poked at his father's back, the Sheriff winced and slapped his son's hands away.
"Did you go to the hospital?" Elie asked.
"No, I'm fine. It was just a bump"
"You were hit by a CAR, Dad!"
"I'll go in the morning, if the pain gets worse," said the Sheriff as he pulled down his shirt and gently pushed the twins away to sit down on the couch. Wincing as he did so, he sank into the seat, leaned back and closed his eyes. The twins looked at each other, and then down at their dad, who looked tired and worn out. Ever since the police had found the dead girl in the woods, the Sheriff had been working overtime and the strings of murder cases that seemed to go nowhere was stressing him out.
"Well, do you want anything?" Elie asked.
The Sheriff opened his eyes and asked for a glass of whiskey. Elie had been trying to get him to eat healthy and drink less, but looking at how stressed he was, she fetched him a glass without saying anything. When Elie handed the Sheriff his drink, he winced in pain as he sat up and took the glass.
"Thanks, princess"
"Are you sure you don't have to go to the hospital?"
"I got it checked by the EMTs so it's okay. My spine is fine…it's just some muscle pain. Don't worry, I'm fine."
Elie wasn't convinced but didn't press on as the Sheriff looked too exhausted. She glanced at Stiles who was unusually quiet. She had expected him to pester for more details of the incident, but all he asked the Sheriff was whether he was SURE that it was a mountain lion.
"Well, yeah, it was shot dead right in front of me."
After that, Stiles clammed up with a stern look on his face and the Sheriff also zoned off (probably thinking about the on-going murder cases) so Elie sat down next to her father and grabbed a remote to play the DVD. Elie stared blankly at TV screen as she thought about what Stiles had said earlier. I can't fight the alpha like Scott, but I can try and figure out who the alpha is and stop him. She also couldn't get the image of the alpha, with its glaring red eyes and the fangs, out of her mind. Elie thanked God it was a mountain lion and not the alpha that had caused the commotion tonight. She hugged her father's arm tight and rested her head on his shoulder.
Beacon Hills was a quiet place with low crime rate. Elie had never really worried about her father doing his job. But now that she knew what was lurking in the dark, she began to fear the dangers her father could face out there. He was a great cop, but werewolves? She thought Stiles was being harsh on Scott by expecting him to protect everyone else from the alpha but she realised that her brother was right.
"Stay away from Allison, stay away from Allison…stay awa–"
"Ow! Watch where you're – Scott?!" Elie stopped mid-sentence when she realised who had bumped into her.
"Sorry, sorry…" Scott apologised as he quickly picked up the books Elie had dropped.
"It's okay…so, how's avoiding Allison going?"
"Um, it's harder than I thought…"
For the past few days, Elie had been caught in the middle as Stiles refused to talk to Scott ever since the parent-teacher conference. Elie knew her brother wasn't angry at Scott, just upset because he wasn't taking this alpha situation seriously. The Sheriff getting hurt added to his frustration. At home, Stiles had been unusually quiet, and he was holed up in his room, his head buried in the documents and the old newspapers.
"Um, is Stiles still mad?"
"He's not mad…he's just sulking."
Scott sighed. And all because I spent one glorious day with Allison. He was in trouble with his mum, Allison's parents, the teachers, and Stiles, but the memory of Allison's touch and kiss made it all worth it. Well, almost, thought Scott.
"Just give him time, and he'll come around," said Elie and patted Scott on the shoulder to comfort him before heading off to her class.
"So I guess you boys are talking again," said Elie as she sat down next to Stiles on the bleachers. He had texted her to come out to the field during their free period. Her brother was rummaging through his lacrosse gear bag.
"Now, put this on" said Stiles as he handed something to Scott.
"Isn't this one of those heart rate monitors for track team?"
"I borrowed it."
"You stole it."
"Temporarily misappropriated it. Coach uses it to monitor his heart rate with his phone while he jogs"
"Isn't that Coach's phone?"
"THAT I stole."
Stiles hypothesised that Scott's transformation had something to do with his heart rate, so he had "borrowed" the heart monitor and "stolen" Finstock's phone to monitor Scott's heart rate to train Scott so he can control his heart rate and maybe his transformation.
"Like the incredible Hulk!" said Scott. Elie rolled her eyes.
"Yeah, kinda like the incredible Hulk"
"I'm like the incredible Hulk!"
"Would you shut up and put the strap on?"
When Scott had put on the heart monitor, Stiles told him to stand in the middle of the field and put his arms behind his back. Stiles taped Scott's arms together with an adhesive tape, handed Finstock's phone to Elie and told her to stand back. He walked few meters away from Scott and asked,
"Right? Ready?"
"No."
"Remember, don't get angry…Elie, turn on the monitor"
"Ready" Elie said as she opened the app. As soon as she said it, Stiles began pelting Scott with the lacrosse balls.
Thud!
"Ughhhhnnnn…."
"114, 115" Elie counted as Scott's heart rate slowly climbed up.
Stiles continued to throw the balls and he seemed to be enjoying himself, unlike Scott who was wincing in pain.
Thud!
"Oww…okay that one….kinda hurt!"
"Quiet! Remember, you're supposed to be thinking about your heart rate. About staying calm."
"Stay calm….staying calm….staying totally calm, no ball is flying at my fa-" Scott chanted as he lightly jumped up and down.
Thud!
Thud!
Thud!
"Awww! Son of a bitch!" Scott cried out when the ball hit him near his crotch.
"You know what, I think my aim's actually improving!"
"I wonder why" Scott grumbled.
"129…..130…" Elie announced as the monitor continued to beep. She wondered at what point Scott would begin to change and whether Stiles had a plan for when Scott actually lost control and turned wolf.
"Ah bab bab! Don't get angry!" warned Stiles as he continued to pelt Scott.
"Um…Stiles? Stiles!" Elie shouted and showed the monitor to Stiles which was peaking 160. Stiles immediately stopped and Scott was crouched down on the field moaning.
"Scott?"
He seemed to be in pain, but Elie just guessed that he was trying to stop his transformation. Scott ripped the tape and began to claw at the ground.
"Scott, calm down! You've got to bring down your heart rate!" shouted Elie but wondered how the hell you did that. Lie down and take a deep breath? Not knowing what to do, she knelt down next to him and gently rubbed his back to calm him down. To their relief, Scott's heart rate gradually began to go down.
"Scott, you began to change…" said Stiles.
"The anger…it's more than that. It's like angrier I got, stronger I felt."
"So, it is anger than. Derek's right." Of course he's right, he's a frigging werewolf! Elie thought to herself but didn't say anything.
"I can't be around Allison"
"Just because she makes you happy?"
"No, because she makes me weak."
Elie's mind wondered away as she sat in her Chemistry class. She was thinking about what Scott had said earlier. Does love or emotions make werewolves weak? Is that why Derek is alone? Hang on, she thought I don't know for sure that he's single. He just happens to be alone whenever I see him. Not that I've seen him around that much. She remembered the way he smiled at her in the diner. She felt giddy but it had been one of those polite smiles, so she was pretty sure he had no feelings towards her. And the other day at the Animal Clinic, he didn't say anything to her. No 'hello' or anything. Well, he did encourage Stiles to tell Elie the truth about the werewolves. But that was it. Why the hell did he give me his number then? Elie's brows furrowed as she sat there blankly staring at her Chemistry text book. Does HE turn into a creature with glaring eyes and fangs like the alpha? From what she's been told, Scott can't but Derek was born a werewolf so maybe he can go wolf all the way.
"Miss Stilinski, I see that you share your brother's enthusiasm in highlighting but as I told your brother, this is Chemistry not colouring book."
Elie was yanked back to reality by Harris, and realised that she had been highlighting half the page while her brain was on auto-pilot. She put away her highlighter and glanced at the clock. It was only half passed two. Elie sighed and tried to concentrate on Harris' voice and the chemical equations on the black board.
When the bell finally rang, Jessie turned around to ask Elie if she wanted to check out the new gelato place with her. Elie agreed and quickly sent a text message to her brother to let him know that she won't be going home with him.
Elie followed Jessie to her car, which was a white 2004 Honda Pilot. As they headed for the mall where the gelato shop had opened in, they drove passed the Animal Clinic and Elie remembered how Derek had nearly died and miraculously recovered from a bullet wound the other night. She remembered walking right up to him and helping him tie a rubber band around his arm. I can't believe I did that, she thought. If she wasn't freaking out, she'd felt too giddy to go near him, but at the time she was more concerned about him dying than feeling embarrassed or nervous.
"Hey, Elie"
"Hmm…?"
"We're here" Jessie seemed puzzled by Elie, who seemed to zone off more frequently than usual. They walked over to the gelato shop which was furnished in white and gold, and sat down on one of the round white table with their gelato. The shop interior was elegant but they agreed that the gelato was average. Jessie scooped up some of Elie's pistachio flavoured gelato and she offered her Chocolate Chip gelato to Elie. As they ate their gelato, they talked about random things but Jessie kept falling silent, and Elie realised that her friend was trying to give her an opportunity to open up. So Elie took a deep breath and asked what had been on her mind for a while.
"Um….have you, you know like….ever had a crush on someone?"
"Um, not lately. Why? Do you?"
"Um…I might. I'm not sure. I think so…I mean…."
Jessie raised an eyebrow but she didn't say anything so Elie explained how she had met a guy, leaving out the werewolf and the nearly dying part. When she told Jessie about the phone number, she asked, "Did you call him?"
"No! What would I say? I mean…he's like twenty something."
"What? How do you know that?"
"Um…because the guy that I've been talking about is Derek Hale."
"Wait, that name rings a bell…"
"His family died in a fire six years ago."
"Ah…okay, keep going"
"Why do you think he gave me his number?"
"How should I know? May be he wants to get to know you?"
"Why? I don't think I'm his type!"
"How you do you know that?"
"I'm sixteen. I don't think a normal twenty something year olds go for sixteen year olds."
"You never know," Jessie grinned and asked her to continue, "Tell me more about him."
"Um…all I know is his name and approximate age…I really don't know much about him" In fact, I know nothing about him at all. Except that he is a werewolf. But then again, I might be one of the few people who knows what he really is.
"What does he look like?"
"Tall, dark hair, green eyes, oh…and he has a tribal looking tattoo on his back…"
"Hang on, how can you possibly know about the tattoo?"
"Um…he took his shirt off," Jessie nearly spit out her gelato when Elie told her. Elie quickly explained that he had to take it off because he had spilt something on it.
"I don't know what to do. What do I do?"
"Call him"
"I don't want to sound stupid."
"Then don't call"
"You're not helping Jessie!"
"I'm home!" Elie yelled as she walked through the front door. She was in the kitchen grabbing something to drink when Stiles ran up to her and started babbling on about Scott and something about an anchor.
"What? Slow down…what anchor?"
"Allison, she's Scott's anchor! She doesn't make him weak! She gives him control," said Stiles and continued to explain what happened in the Economics class. Elie wondered if Derek had an anchor too, and couldn't help but feel a little pang of jealously and sadness at the thought of him having someone. God, I've got to stop this…thought Elie as she gulped down the orange juice.
"Wait, where are you going?" Elie yelled out as Stiles ran down the stairs after getting a call from someone.
"I have to go down to the Animal Clinic,"
"What? Why?" Elie followed him down the stairs.
"Um…to pick up Scott and take him to school" Stiles reluctantly answered as he darted around the house looking for something.
"Why?"
"…..He's going to call the alpha."
"WHAT?! Why would he do that?"
"To prove that his boss isn't the alpha…Derek suspects him or something"
"But why school?"
"Um…he's going to use the PA system. Where's the flash light?"
"It's in the cupboard, middle shelf…hang on I'll get my jacket." Elie was about to turn around to go up to her room when Stiles grabbed her arm and said,
"You're not coming."
"Oh, Yes I am!" Elie started to get angry. They are NOT going to leave her out of this.
"No you're not. Not with that knee. Elie, the alpha is like the most badass of the werewolves and we're going to be luring him in. Wolves are predators. Its instinct is to go for the babies or injured prey which means that if the alpha does turn up, you're going to be its primary target." Stiles calmly explained.
"Well, if I'm not there, then you'll be the target."
"Yeah, I know, but if you're there too it means that there are two targets. And I can run. You can't. If the alpha does turn up, Derek can fight the alpha and Scott can protect me. But if you're there, Scott will have to protect the two of us. And because you can't run properly with that knee, you'll put all of us at risk."
Her brother's explanation seemed reasonable so Elie didn't know what to say.
"It's because of my knee? It's not because I'm a girl."
"Of course."
"When my knee heals completely I get to go after werewolves with you guys."
"Um…yes." Stiles answered yes for now. He hated the idea of putting his sister in danger but right now, he wanted to convince her to stay home.
"Okay. And Stiles?" Elie reluctantly agreed to stay home but she laid out one condition. "You call me every fifteen minutes to let me know what's going on."
"Uh…okay, Princess whatever you say," said Stiles as he grabbed his things and ran out the door.
Elie paced around the living room and glanced at the clock. They should be at school by now, she thought and looked at her phone. She figured her brother had conveniently forgotten about calling her every fifteen minutes so she called him instead.
"Hello? I told you to call Stiles!"
"Sorry, um…nothing's happening right now anyway. Scott's just about to do his howl," said Stiles as he put her on speaker phone so Elie could hear Scott's howl. She was waiting for a howl when she heard something yowling instead. It sounded like a cat.
"Um….was that Scott?" Elie asked when the yowling ended.
"Yup…."
"Was that okay? I mean it was a howl right?" Scott asked.
"Technically…"
"What did it sound like to you?"
"Like a cat being choked to death, Scott."
"What do I do? How am I supposed to do this?"
"Hey, hey, listen to me. You're calling the alpha. Alright? Be a man. Be a werewolf, not a teen-wolf. Be a werewolf."
Listening to the boys over the phone, Elie wondered what the hell he meant by all that but it seemed to work, as the second howl sent shivers down Elie's spine. Was that really Scott?!
"Look, Elie, we'll let you know if something happens, okay?" Stiles said as he and Scott excitedly talked about how awesome his howl was, and hung up.
Stiles agreed to call if anything happened but Elie wasn't convinced. She sighed. She wondered which was worse. Not knowing what's going on, or knowing what's going on but not being able to do anything. She hated waiting. She paced around the room feeling nervous. The boys seemed to have forgotten that they were calling out the alpha. She knew Derek would be there but would he be able to protect the boys from the alpha? How do you fight it anyway? Silver and wolfsbane? She wondered if there was a grain of truth in all the folklore and mythologies.
After pacing around the room for few minutes, not knowing what to do, she called her brother again. When he didn't answer, she began to freak out. She ran into her father's study and rummaged through the drawers looking for a silver letter opener. It was the only piece of silver in the house that she could use as a weapon. She also grabbed her father's spare car key and ran out the door. She knew she was being stupid because she knew she was just a piece of meat walking on two legs to the alpha, but she refused to sit there and fret while the boys faced him.
A/N Thank you for reading and your reviews! I really appreciate every one of them!