I'm (barely) awake and alive! Again, thank you to everyone that has added this story to their favorites, followed, or reviewed! (I am totally prepared to beg for more reviews. I want to know what you guys think of this so far.) I had planned on getting this chapter out days ago but my spring break started the other day so I decided to wait until I had plenty of time without as many distractions. This chapter was originally supposed to include original material and Episode 4 but it started to get lengthy enough that I decided to leave more original material and the episode for the next chapter. I hope this makes up for having to wait so long.
1. If you guys want, you can follow me on Tumblr. I'm still "missunderstoodxoxo" on there. I'm also still posting Marlee's outfits and such on my Polyvore account. My username is "earthdiva".
2. This chapter was inspired by "This Is Roman Gospel" (a mashup of Panic! At the Disco's "This Is Gospel" and Halsey's "Roman Holiday", you should really look it up on YouTube), "Sort Of" by Silversun Pickups, and "Black" by Kari Kimmel.
Disclaimer: The only things that I own are Marlee Decker, Virginia Decker, Collin Decker, the car known as Ron Burgundy, and Edgar. (I also own the minor characters mentioned, Sarah and Brady.) Everything else belongs to their respectful owners.
To say Virginia liked Lydia would be an understatement. She absolutely adored the redhead that her daughter had brought home.
After Lydia had approved of Marlee's wardrobe, for the most part, the two of them had gone downstairs to watch Sixteen Candles. Just as Sam agreed to loan Farmer Ted her panties, Virginia walked through the front door.
"Hey, honey, what do you want for dinner? I was thinking maybe some fettuccine alfredo but if you want something else…"
The matriarch trailed off as she took in the view in front of her. Marlee looked at ease on the couch with Lydia curled up on the opposite end. The two teenage girls hugged pillows to their chests, in awe of the iconic eighties' movie. No matter how many times Marlee watched a John Hughes film, each time left her as enchanted as the first.
"Who's this?" Virginia smiled, filled with joy that her daughter was positively interacting with someone.
"Mom, this is Lydia Martin. Lydia, this is my mother, Virginia Decker."
Lydia stood up and smoothed the skirt of her dress before stepping forward to shake the stylish woman's hand.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Decker."
"Oh, I like you. Very polite." Virginia's smile turned into a grin. "Please, call me Virginia. Marlee, have you asked Lydia if she would like to stay for dinner?"
"Already did, Mom. I told her you wouldn't let her leave the house alive if she didn't."
The older woman's jaw dropped in a look of mock offense and placed a hand over her heart.
"Moi? I would never… you better not be telling people that. Imagine the gossip."
Marlee made a grand gesture with her hands.
"I can see it now. 'Local lawyer commits murder.' That would actually be an interesting plot for a movie. A lawyer gets rid of a few people, frames someone else for the murders, and ends up being the defendants' attorney."
Lydia probably should have been at least a little bit uneasy at the slightly morbid mother-daughter banter but she found herself to be highly amused instead. She wished her own mother was like that with her, being home regularly to have dinner and make jokes.
"So, is fettuccine alfredo okay with the two of you? I'll make some breadsticks too. Then maybe we could have some of that ice cream that Marlee's been stashing at the back of the freezer."
"Who told you about that?!"
Chuckling, Virginia gestured for Marlee to sit back down on the couch and situated herself between the two girls.
"I saw this when it was in theatres, you know?"
"Back when television was in black and white and the dinosaurs roamed."
The woman rolled her eyes and nudged her daughter.
"Ha ha. Now play the movie, Joker."
The three women sat and watched the rest of the movie. After everyone got their happy teenage endings, Virginia got up to go start making dinner. Marlee and Lydia spent that time flipping through channels until they came across The Vampire Diaries.
"You good with this?"
Lydia nodded, satisfied with the fact that she was having a relaxing, normal day. It was nice to have the only supernatural dealings for the day being on the other side of a television screen. The two of them found themselves swooning over the Salvatore brothers soon enough. Even Marlee was taken with the two vampires, attracted to Stefan's sensitive side and Damon's bad boy behavior. It wasn't long until shrieking filled the living room and pillows were being half-heartedly thrown at the TV as Damon killed yet another citizen of Mystic Falls.
"Stupid hot douche. He's such an ass yet you can't help but love him." Marlee grumbled.
"I know. You really like Stefan because he's the kind of guy that every girl dreams about; Damon, however, has that dangerous charm and sexy appeal." Lydia added.
"If I was ever going to be romantically involved with someone, I'd rather have the kind of guy who is sweet and caring."
"Lydia," Virginia called from the kitchen, "do you know Scott McCall?"
"Mom," Marlee yelled back before the other girl could answer, "don't start! We agreed not to gossip about boys!"
"I'm not gossiping with you. I'm asking Lydia a simple question."
"Yes, I know Scott. I'm friends with him actually. Why?"
"Is he a good-looking kid?"
Marlee buried her face in her hands and muttered, "Oh my God."
Lydia sent her embarrassed companion an inquiring look before answering, "Yeah, he's pretty nice to look at."
"Excellent." Virginia sounded incredibly pleased about this response.
The strawberry-blonde raised her eyebrows at her mortified friend.
"What was that all about?"
Marlee sighed before lifting her head up.
"Remember when I said that I had mentioned a few of you to my mom? Well, Scott was the only guy that I brought up, therefore, she believes that we're meant to be or something along those lines."
As soon as she heard the idea, Lydia was onboard with it. She couldn't help but think that it would be a good match. Scott was someone that could appreciate Marlee for who she really was, the fun and sassy girl sitting in front of her; on the flip side, Marlee would be the kind of person who would adore just about everything that made Scott who he was. The girl had even said it herself: 'If I was ever going to be romantically involved with someone, I'd rather have the kind of guy who is sweet and caring.'
"Why is that so bad?" She asked, doing her best to make it sound like an innocent question.
Marlee scoffed.
"Other than the fact that there's nothing going on between Scott and me? I'm not much of a people person. People- people are just really fucking stupid. I'm actually surprised you and I are getting along so well."
"That's because I'm irresistible." Lydia said as she tossed her hair over her shoulder, dramatically.
Marlee laughed at her new friend's antics before Virginia called them into the kitchen for dinner.
The next morning, Marlee was awoken by the sun rising. She hadn't shut her curtains all the way the night before, so light slowly started to fill her room. She sat up to look at all of the beautiful colors in the sky, wishing she had a canvas and some paint. She wasn't incredibly talented at art but she had enjoyed painting on canvas in one of the art classes she had taken the previous school year. Marlee lounged around for a little bit longer, eventually climbing out of her nest of blankets to get ready for school. Thankfully, it was Friday; she just had to make it through the day and then she would have the entire weekend ahead of her. The first thing Marlee was going to do was check out the veterinary clinic she had seen on Monday, shortly before "the incident". She figured if she was going to find a job, it might as well be one where she got to work with animals.
After having a lovely breakfast with her mother who chattered on about Lydia, Marlee drove to school, beyond ready to get this over with. Her mood was improved a bit at the sight of their substitute teacher, a man that clearly didn't want to be there and let the students goof off. That moment of excitement was quickly extinguished when the bell rang and Lydia had yet to make an appearance. Actually, the others were absent as well. It couldn't be a coincidence that Allison, Lydia, Scott, AND Stiles were missing on the same day. Glancing up to make sure the substitute wasn't paying attention- not that Marlee thought he would care anyway- she quickly typed out a text to send to Lydia.
'Hey, where are you?'
'I was up late, studying. Slept through my alarm. Staying home today.'
Marlee frowned at that. If Lydia was telling the truth, then where were her three companions?
'Do you know where Allison/Scott/Stiles are? They're not here either.'
'Not sure. Haven't talked to them this morning.'
'Okay. Just checking.'
School seemed to drag on and on that day, nothing even remotely interesting occurred. Lunch was spent in the library once again. By the time the final bell released the students for the week, Marlee was almost certain that her brain had gone numb with boredom. Sluggishly making her way to old faithful Ron Burgundy, the radio's volume had to be cranked in order to clear the cobwebs from her cranium. Feeling more energized, she let a smile grace her lips as she drove towards the clinic. After parking outside of the building, Marlee gave herself a quick pep talk before she bailed out of the car.
"Okay, you can do this! You just have to go in there, totally determined and confident. Be courteous, don't lose your cool, show that you're good with animals and… and people… ah, fuck it!"
A bell went off as Marlee stepped into the clinic and walked towards the front desk. Someone strolled out of the examination room, looking at a folder in their hands.
Opening a filing cabinet behind the desk, the person with their back facing her called out, "Be with you in a minute!"
That voice was too damn familiar for it be anyone else.
"Seriously? It's like you're everywhere!"
At Marlee's outburst, Scott McCall turned towards her and a smile lit up his face as his tired eyes landed on her.
"Hey, Marlee."
"So… you work here, right? You're not, like, following me or anything, are you?"
"Technically, you would be following me since I was here first." he teased.
"Just answer the question, McCall."
"Yeah, I've been working here since freshman year."
"Something tells me that you are not the vet that I'm looking for."
"No," a friendly man emerged from the examination room, "that would be me."
Marlee straightened up and smiled, extending her hand towards the man as he walked out from behind the door separating the desk area and the waiting room.
"I'm Marlee Decker."
"I'm Dr. Alan Deaton. It's a pleasure to meet you. Scott has told me a bit about you."
Marlee's eyebrows raised as said boy looked down in embarrassment.
"Oh, has he now?"
Deaton chuckled at the awkward moment between the two teens.
"All good things, I assure you."
"Whew, well, thank God for that. I wouldn't want you to have a bad impression of me already."
"What can I do for you, Marlee?"
Marlee took a deep breath before responding, "I just recently moved to town and I was wondering if there was any job openings here at the clinic."
The man remained good-natured as he replied, "I'm sorry but Scott's the only help I need at the moment."
"Oh." Her face fell at that.
"It's not that I don't think you would be a good employee. I'm sure you would be a diligent worker. It's just that we're at a bit of a disadvantage right now."
"Oh, really?" Marlee was a bit curious at Deaton's explanation.
"We lost some our clientele recently, so we might not need extra help for a while. The felines had quite a scare the other day and they panicked. It didn't end well…"
Marlee's heart sank a little as she caught the unspoken conclusion. She felt bad for not only the cats but their owners as well.
"We had one survivor but with his disfigurements, his owners weren't willing to take him back. We're not sure what we're going to do with him. He's been a bit irate since the whole thing and won't let either of us touch him."
"Could… could I give it a try? I've been told I'm pretty good with animals."
While Scott looked like he was about to object, Deaton gave her a smile and gestured for her to follow him. Marlee took no notice as the two watched her cross over the mountain ash barrier with ease. Following the veterinarian, Scott trailing behind them, they made their way into the room where the cats had formerly been kept. It felt a bit eerie with so many empty cages, each and every one having been hosed down and disinfected. In a far cage, a crotchety-looking gray cat glared out at the approaching trio. Healing scratches, that were more than likely to leave scars, littered his body here and there. The ones that were most noticeable at the moment were the ones on his face. The largest started where his ear connected to his head, curved down underneath his eye, went across the bridge of his nose, and ended near his mouth.
"Does he have a name?" Marlee inquired, never taking her eyes off of the creature in front of them.
"Edgar," Scott answered, hovering behind her, "that's what his owners called him."
"It seems fitting." The girl nodded.
Deaton opened the cage door and looked back at the two teenagers.
"Watch this," he instructed Marlee before reaching his hand into the cage, slowly. The cat growled and when the man's hand got closer, Edgar hissed and attempted to swat at it. Deaton jerked back before any damage could be done and shut the door calmly.
"As you can see, he's less than happy with us right now."
"Alright, let me see what I can do. If I may?"
The good doctor moved back to stand by a rather anxious Scott and the blonde crouched down in front of the cage.
"Hi, Edgar." Her voice was soft as she made eye contact with the furry fiend.
If looks could kill, Marlee would be six feet under. This cat looked like he was forever pissed at the world around him. Maybe he had the right to be, after all he had been through lately.
She slowly opened the cage door, keeping her focus on Edgar and talked to him some more.
"You're a bit of a grump, aren't you? It's okay, so am I. I totally get where you're coming from. Everything's pretty gross, huh?"
She moved forward little by little, before stopping farther out. With the way he was laying, Edgar wouldn't be able to swipe at her hand without getting up. A moment later, the cat slowly rose to his feet and moved towards Marlee. Everyone in the room held their breath as Edgar reached her hand and started to sniff at her fingers. Scott began to approach his classmate but was brought to a halt by Deaton's outstretched arm barring him. After what felt to be several minutes, when it was really only a few seconds in reality, the feline started to nudge the girl's fingers. She cracked a grin at the progress and let him continue to nudge her for a bit longer before moving carefully to pet his head. Edgar allowed this and upon assessing where his injuries were, Marlee began to scratch behind one of his ears. The two men were astonished when the sound of purring eventually filled the quiet room.
"How did you do that?" Scott asked, baffled by the sight before him.
Marlee shrugged, continuing to scratch behind Edgar's ear.
"I dunno. Animals have always just kind of liked me. The same thing goes for little kids; my cousins adore me, for whatever reason. They say babies and animals are the best judges of character but in this case, I gotta call 'bullshit' on that."
Marlee smiled at her self-deprecating humor, unaware of the silent conversation going on behind her. Scott had turned to his mentor with raised eyebrows, giving him a questioning look. Deaton shook his head in response. He was almost certain that Marlee wasn't a supernatural being. She seemed to be a regular human, one who just so happened to have a knack with pets.
"I'm almost tempted to hire you. He hasn't shown any improvements in attitude until now. I hate to think about what he's going to be like after you leave. If he keeps being so temperamental, we might not be able to find him a home anytime in the near future.
Moving back to shut the cage door, leaving Edgar to let out a loud 'meow' in protest, Marlee straightened up. She turned towards them and pulled her phone out of her front pocket.
"Give me a minute and I'll have all of this handled."
A brief scan through her contacts produced the number that was needed and Marlee raised the phone to her ear as it rang.
"Yes, hello, my darling."
"Mooooommmmmmmyyyyyy."
The pair standing a couple of feet away could hear her mother's words clearly.
"What did you do this time?"
"Why do you automatically assume that I did something?"
"Fine, what do you want then?"
"What makes you think that I want anything?"
"Marlee…"
"Okay, okay. I was wondering how opposed you would be to getting a cat."
"A cat? Where did you even find a cat?"
"I stopped by the vet's office to see if they were hiring and I managed to tame a wild beast."
Scott smiled at her choice of words.
"I don't know, honey. A cat might not be such a good idea."
"Mom, I'm going to be real honest with you. This cat has been through a lot, he's going to have some scars, and he'll need owners willing to love him despite his flaws. Who would be a better fit for him than us?"
"He? Marlee, is this cat fixed? I don't want him spraying everywhere."
After a quick glance at Dr. Deaton, who gave her a thumbs up, the teenager continued.
"The vet says that Edgar is fixed."
"Edgar?"
"Mom, if you saw this cat, you would see that the name's a perfect fit. Here, I'll send you a picture."
Marlee opened the cage door and leaned down, sticking out her tongue as she took a selfie. After waiting for Virginia to receive it, a sigh was heard on the other end of the phone.
"He's very nice, honey."
"So, that means…?"
"You have to go out and buy supplies for him. You do that and you can bring the cat home."
After excitedly telling her mom that she would get right on it, Marlee hung up and grinned. It turned into a frown as she realized that in order to take Edgar home, she'd have to get the carrier and drop the rest of the stuff off at her house first.
"I'll be back for him in an hour or two. I need to go out, buy his things, and bring all of it to my house before I can take Edgar home with me."
"Scott can go with and help you." Deaton volunteered.
"He can?"
"I can?"
"I don't have anything else for him to do today." Scott's boss looked over at the confused young man. "You do this and you'll earn your full pay."
Scott shrugged at Marlee.
"It's up to you."
She hesitated. Do I really want to spend more time with Scott than necessary?
"Let's get moving, McCall. Knees to chest."
One slightly awkward car ride later, the Oldsmobile pulled into a Walmart parking lot. The teens on a mission got out of the car and started to march towards the store.
"We should just grab anything we think we might need as we go." Marlee suggested.
Scott nodded once. "Sounds like a plan."
Upon entering though, they stood there for a moment.
"Do you know where we're supposed to go?" She looked ahead.
"No clue." His eyes took in their surroundings.
"Whelp, guess we're going on an adventure."
Wandering around the store, they checked each aisle they came across. Scott watched curiously as Marlee darted down an aisle and picked a box out.
"Maybe we should get these for Stiles!"
She was waving a box of XXL condoms in the air, jokingly. He chuckled and shook his head.
The next few minutes were filled with silence. The last time the two had been alone together, one had been hit by a car while saving the other. There hadn't been a lot of time to talk then. Now, they had all the time in the world and neither of them had a clue what to say.
As the pair passed a shelf that held a flock of brightly colored, little rubber duckies, Marlee casually snatched up a hot pink one and chucked it at Scott's back. The young man turned around to look at the flightless bird on the ground and shifted his gaze to an all-too innocent-looking Marlee. He smirked as he reached over and grabbed an electric blue bird and pitched it in her direction. The blonde girl squeaked and quickly raised an arm to deflect that shit. She grabbed a lime green duck and launched it at his face, only to have him swiftly catch it in his hand. Soon, the two of them were engaged in an all-out war, fluorescent bath toys flying through the air. Laughter racked both of their bodies as they carried on with this for several minutes. Eventually, the entire shelf was empty and the aisle was full of fallen waterfowl. Scott and Marlee grinned at each other until a shout shattered the moment.
"Hey!"
A pimply teenage boy in a Walmart uniform was stomping towards them. Careful to avoid the rubber ducks, Marlee managed to reach Scott and grasped his hand.
"Move, move, move!"
The two took off across the store, weaving through aisles and other shoppers. Once they were sure they had lost the irritated employee, Marlee let out a giggle, removing her hand from Scott's to cover her mouth. Who knew their trip to Walmart would be so eventful? Scott felt a strange sense of disappointment at the loss of contact. Shaking it off, he smiled down at her in amusement.
"I feel sorta bad," he chuckled, "we left kind of a mess back there."
"Live a little, McCall. We didn't hurt anyone, I'm sure we didn't damage the ducks, and those things were already dirty enough in the first place. The floor's not going to make a difference."
The good mood stuck with them throughout the rest of their shopping. Marlee picked out a simple carrier for Edgar, thinking the grumpy cat might not be too amused with a pink cage. Scott went to the front to fetch a cart and they loaded it up with the essentials; a litter box, a bag of litter, a bag of cat food, two bowls for water and food, and an assortment of cat toys.
"He deserves a bit of spoiling, the poor thing." Marlee reasoned.
Scott had insisted on pushing the cart while she scanned the shelves and placed everything in. He enjoyed seeing her like this, face devoid of its usual moody look and her eyes bright and lively.
"Your mom's pretty cool to let you bring home a pet like that. My mom and I would probably need at least an hour of negotiation for it to be even a possibility."
"She not like animals?"
"No, she likes animals. Our lives are kind of hectic though, so she might not be too keen on the idea of leaving a pet home alone."
Marlee nodded at that.
"Understandable. Who knows what kind of mischief it would get into on its own?"
"Yeah. So, you and your mom live by yourselves?"
Just like that, Marlee's guarded expression returned to her face and the light in her eyes dimmed a bit.
"Yep, it's only the two of us. Not that it's any of your business or anything."
Scott held up his hands in surrender.
"Hey, I'm sorry. I wasn't trying to be nosy. I just want to get to know you better."
She hummed at that, grabbing a cat hair brush and tossing it in the cart.
"You and your mom live on your own?"
"My parents divorced when I was younger and my dad left town a while ago."
Marlee frowned a bit at his statement.
"I'm sorry to hear that."
A bittersweet smile crossed Scott's features.
"It's okay. I'm used to it by now. My mom's the greatest. She always tries to give me the best that she can provide and she's always there."
The blonde's demeanor lightened up a bit at that, "She sounds awesome."
Scott was going to take Lydia's approach, he wasn't going to push Marlee into telling her more about her family situation. He was willing to wait for now until Marlee was ready to tell him. After making sure they had everything that Edgar might need at the moment, the duo made their way to a checkout line. A girl with mahogany hair and blonde highlights was their cashier- 'Sarah' was printed on her name tag- and as she scanned the purchases, she eyed her customers.
"You two wouldn't happen to be the ones who made a mess over in Aisle 19, would you?"
Marlee simply smirked in response and Sarah laughed.
"Nice."
She held out her fist and the two girls fist-pounded.
"Thanks to you, Brady's probably going to cleaning up that aisle for at least another twenty minutes. This sweet, sweet time away from his pickup lines has been the most peaceful I've had in a long time."
"You're welcome."
After paying for everything, Scott and Marlee put all of it in Ron Burgundy, just barely making it fit.
"Alright, let's get this shiz to la casa de Decker."
Twenty minutes later, the house came into view and the car pulled into the driveway.
"Nice place." Scott commented.
"Thanks."
Once again, the chivalrous guy that he was, Scott offered to carry the bulk of the supplies. Marlee wanted to argue with him but he had already started to walk towards the house.
"Who goes there?" A shout called from the living room when they stepped through the front door.
"Tis I, Marlee the Menace! Try not to embarrass me. There's someone else here."
Her mother peered out into the foyer from the living room and a smile crept across her face.
Oh God, Marlee thought, why did I ever think it was a good idea to bring him here?
"And who is this handsome young man?"
"Scott, Mom. Mom, Scott. There, you've met. Okay, gotta go, bye!"
Before either teen could escape, Virginia properly introduced herself.
"I'm Virginia Decker, Marlee's mother."
"Scott McCall." He beamed at the woman standing in front of him.
Lydia was right, he's easy on the eyes. Virginia thought to herself, He seems very nice too.
All Virginia could ever want for her daughter was for her to be happy and healthy. She wanted Marlee to be able to enjoy her life and the company of other people. The boy standing in their foyer could quite possibly be a part of all of that.
"Hi," the smiling blonde shook his hand, "I've heard a lot about you."
"Mom," Marlee hissed, ignoring the way that Scott's eyes appeared to light up at her mother's words, "be cool."
"Alright, alright," Virginia laughed at her teenager's minor distress, "so, what are you guys up to?"
"We just stopped by so I could drop off my backpack upstairs and the supplies for Edgar."
"Alright, you go drop your backpack off upstairs and leave me alone with Scott, who you apparently don't want to know that you have mentioned him once, twice… twenty times."
A flustered Marlee turned to look at the guy standing next to her and bit out in a frustrated tone, "She's lying. She lives to embarrass me. She thinks she's funny."
"Marlee," Scott chuckled, "it's fine. I didn't think you mentioned me twenty times… fifteen, at most."
Letting out a groan, she stormed up the stairs, leaving the two chuckleheads behind her.
Managing to get out of the house without any further embarrassment, Marlee found herself parking in front of Beacon Hills' vet clinic for the second time that day. Scott led her into the building and back towards the room where Edgar was being kept. Deaton simply nodded at them as they walked past.
"You sure you can do this?" Scott seemed concerned as the infamous cat came into view.
"Do you mean taking him out of the cage and putting him in the carrier? Or do you mean bringing him home with me?"
"Both. All of it."
"Scott," Marlee smiled at him, "I'm absolutely sure of this. I want to give him a home."
As she moved to open the cage, Scott couldn't put a name to what he was feeling right then. He pushed the thought to the back of his mind; he'd come back to it later.
"Hey," Marlee repeated the same process from before, crouching and putting her hand far enough that he'd have to get up, "you wanna go home with me? I got some cat toys that are just waiting for a little man like you."
Once Edgar had gotten close enough for her to scratch behind his ear, Marlee gently picked him up. He let out a short growl in objection but didn't put up much of a fight otherwise.
After making sure that the cat carrier was secure, Scott walked Marlee out to her car. He opened the passenger door so she could place Edgar, who had already started to sing the song of his people, in the shotgun seat.
"Greeaaat. I get to listen to that all the way home."
"It could be worse."
"How?"
"You could be stuck in a car with Stiles after he's had a triple bean burrito."
Marlee's face scrunched up in disgust at that scenario.
"Oh, you poor boy. I wouldn't wish that upon my worst enemy."
"Glad to know that isn't me."
"No, no. At the moment, my worst enemy is our English teacher."
An emotion flickered in Scott's eyes at that. She didn't know that he was remembering what had occurred less than twenty-four hours ago.
"Why is she your worst enemy?"
"There's something awfully weird about her. She's all sickly sweet and phony. I don't know. Maybe it's just me."
Scott nodded, accepting Marlee's answer.
"Well, let me know when I move up on the list."
"You'll be the first to find out."
As Marlee got into her car and drove away while Scott went back into the clinic, neither had noticed the two sets of eyes watching them.
The Decker women became attached to Edgar in an instant. The night before, when they had first let him out of his carrier, the overwhelmed feline had made a mad dash to hide under the couch.
"This'll be interesting." Virginia chuckled, hiding a smile behind her hand.
Marlee shushed her mother before ripping open a package of cat toys. She silently threw one about a foot in front of the couch. Less than five seconds later, a gray blob was rolling around on the floor, vigorously attacking his new toy. The rest of the evening had gone on that way, making gradual progress. They had set up one of their more spacious spare rooms with everything that Edgar would need. There was a desk that had looked a little worse for wear in the basement too. The mother and daughter dynamic duo had worked together to bring it up both sets of stairs and into the room. Their new housemate would be spending time in there when both of the Deckers were out of the house or sleeping; at least until they knew if he was litter box-trained and not going to rip up the furniture. By the time they finally put him in his room and placed him on a pile of old blankets in the corner, he was tuckered out and full of affection.
Halfway through Saturday, Marlee was watching Edgar chase after the red dot from her laser pointer when one of her earbuds crapped out.
"Are you shitting me?" She groaned.
A number of the songs on her iPod had parts where it could only be heard in one headphone. It got annoying after a while, not being able to hear the entirety of a song. Virginia was out to lunch with some coworkers and probably wouldn't be back for another hour or two. (From what she could tell, these particular individuals liked to gab.) Marlee let out an overdramatic sigh as she heaved herself off of a chair in the kitchen and scooped Edgar up off the floor. Multiple sounds of protest could be heard from the cat as she carried him upstairs and brought him into his room. She shut the door behind the two of them so he wouldn't make a prison break.
"I know, I know, I hate me too. I'll try and be quick, okay? Until I get back…" she placed him on the desk situated by the window, "you can watch all of the birds and pretty lady cats. You got it made, man."
As she tried to leave, Edgar jumped off of the desk in defiance and followed her, a scowl on his face.
"Oh, you're a rebel without cause, a real tough guy."
Reaching down, the amused blonde wound up a toy mouse and let it go, watching as it took off with a ball of energy close behind.
Slipping out of the room while Edgy Edgar was distracted, Marlee bounded down the stairs after grabbing her purse and keys from her room. She shot a quick text to Virginia that said she was going out for a little bit and yes, the cat was stashed away. Marlee hopped in her car after locking up the house and headed to the drugstore.
Walking out of the drugstore, she shoved her newly purchased earbuds and a bag of gummy worms into her purse. Marlee decided that she could afford to take the scenic route home since her trip hadn't taken that long anyway. One of the only appeals to moving had been the Beacon Hills Preserve- until she had learned about all of the animal attacks (and murderer mishaps) that had taken place recently. That had 'HORROR MOVIE' written all over it.
Maybe it's vampires, Marlee mused with a smirk. After all, that was the explanation for the weird shit that happened in Mystic Falls on The Vampire Diaries. 'Vampires? Psssssssh, no, of course not. The reason all of these people had their throats ripped out and drained of blood was because of a mountain lion…' It hit her all at once. When Marlee had been researching Beacon Hills, she had read an article about how a mountain lion had terrorized the town until someone had finally shot it. Animal attacks, mountain lions, and a group of teenagers being shady as hell? Something freaky was going on in Beacon Hills.
It didn't help that she was already lost in her thoughts when a deer ran out of the trees and into the road. Marlee slammed the brakes, jolting a bit from the abrupt stop. Her stupid airbags didn't go off. In fact, Ron Burgundy decided right then to break down completely.
"Fuck," she hissed as she smacked the steering wheel.
At least I didn't hit that damn deer.
She was sitting there in her car, going over her options, when it happened. A low growl invaded the silence around her, audible through the glass and metal of her vehicle. Turning to look out the passenger window, Marlee shrieked. Just past the first row of trees, something hulking stood watching her. If she didn't know any better, she would have said it was a man by the way it held itself on two legs and appeared to be wearing clothes. However, the hair covering a good portion of its behemoth body eliminated that theory. That wasn't the only thing that made her certain that whatever it was, it wasn't human. Deadly, bright red eyes peered at her from the shadows.
I'm dreaming. I have to be dreaming. This can't possibly be real.
Marlee closed her eyes for a minute and when she opened them, the abomination was gone. She sighed in relief, momentarily at ease. The sound of a rock hitting the hood of her car made her look farther ahead. Standing between two trees right next to the road, it was there, still looking at her. With her heart racing, she wondered somewhere in the back of her mind, if this is how the cats at the vet's office had felt. She felt panicky, like she could start clawing at herself as they had done. In the blink of an eye, it was gone again. She could hear a racket in the woods though. The creature had moved, swiftly, without a sound before. It wanted her to know that it was there.
Marlee let out a shaky breath as she grabbed her cell and scrolled through her contacts, glancing outside of her car every few seconds. She couldn't think of anyone else to call besides Lydia.
As the phone rang, Marlee saw something dart past the trees next to her.
"Hello?"
"Lydia." Marlee's voice was trembling with fear as she spoke.
"Marlee? What's wrong?"
"Lydia, I know this is going to sound crazy but something is outside of my car. Something big. I- I don't know what it is. I think it might be some sort of animal. I don't know! It looks like it might be a person but I saw a lot of hair and its eyes- Lydia, I'm scared."
The blonde girl was borderline hysterical now as she watched the trees beside her, searching for the creature.
"Where are you?"
In the background, Marlee could hear murmurs of other voices.
"I'm in the middle of a road near the preserve. This deer ran out in front of me and I stomped on my brakes to avoid hitting it and my car just died and this thing keeps moving through the trees near me!"
She punctuated her statement with a scream as a tree landed on the hood of her car.
What the fuck is happening? Holy shit! This isn't normal! Marlee thought.
"What happened?!"
"A fucking tree just fell on the hood of my car! Lydia, I'm in the middle of the goddamn road and this fucking tree is on my car!"
There was a moment of silence as the murmurs on the other end conversed.
"Marlee," Lydia's voice came through the phone once again, "I need you to stay in the car. Scott, Stiles, and Isaac are coming to get you. Stiles called his dad and he'll be out there shortly too. Whatever you do, do not leave your car until the guys get there. Okay?"
"Okay," Marlee replied, staring at the woods next to her, "okay."
She didn't even have to wait ten minutes before Scott pulled up behind her on his bike; followed by Stiles and a blonde guy, that she could only assume was Isaac, in Stiles' Jeep. As Scott made his way over, Marlee hesitantly opened her car door.
"Hey," Scott held out his hand to help her get out, "are you okay?"
"Does that look okay?" Marlee jabbed a finger in the direction of the tree.
Stiles let out a low whistle as he walked over to inspect her car.
"Yeah, that's not good."
"Thank you, Captain Obvious!" Marlee snapped.
"Hey! We were nice enough to come out here and get you. Plus, my dad should be arriving any minute with some people to get the tree out of the road and a tow truck to take your car to the mechanic's."
"I know, I know. I'm sorry," Marlee sighed and ran a hand through her hair, "I'm just really freaked out right now. I already thought I was going crazy because I saw that- that thing out there. Now this happened. It definitely hasn't been my lucky day."
Scott carefully placed his hand on her shoulder, unsure whether it was a good idea or not.
"It's alright. You're not going crazy and you're allowed to be freaked out."
Marlee's eyes shifted over to the preserve next to them.
"How do you explain what I saw then?"
The three boys were quiet for a moment before Stiles broke the silence.
"Look, Isaac and I will stay here and wait for my dad. Scott can take you back to his place. We were just hanging out with Lydia and Allison. We'll talk about this later, right?"
Stiles glanced over at Scott, questioning whether or not he had said the right thing. Scott gave his friend a nod, knowing that they were going to have to explain to Marlee what was going on. Obviously the Alpha pack had been keeping tabs on them and had noticed the girl hanging around their group the past couple of days. Someone was not only trying to scare Marlee, they were also trying to rile up the pack.
"Come on," Scott wrapped his hand around Marlee's wrist in a loose grip and gently started to lead her away from her car. She followed him without a word until they were near Scott's dirt bike.
"I really like this." She nodded her head towards it.
"Yeah?" Scott gazed down at Marlee with a slight smile, prepared to take her mind off of what had just happened.
"I've seen it in the parking lot at school once or twice but I didn't realize it was yours. It's nice without being overly flashy."
"Well, it's not as fancy as the twins' motorcycles or anything but I bought it all on my own."
"Again, your bike isn't overly flashy, like those dolts' are. Seriously, I know they're twins and everything but do they really need to have the same motorcycle?"
Both of them were smiling as Scott handed her his helmet.
"Put this on."
"What about you?"
"My spare one is at home and you need it more than I do."
"Oh, what- because I'm a girl?" Marlee half-heartedly socked him in the arm.
"Easy," Scott chuckled, "that's not the reason. I promise that I'll…"
"'Explain later', I got it." She cut in as she put on the helmet like he had instructed.
Scott got on first and looked over at her.
"When you sit down, you're going to have to wrap your arms around me so you don't fall off."
Marlee reached up to lift the helmet's visor for a second, revealing an impish grin.
"I almost think that you planned all of this just so I would hold you."
"Yep, that's just the kind of guy I am." Scott prayed his blushing cheeks weren't noticeable to her.
Marlee hopped on the dirt bike and wrapped her arms around his waist, ignoring the fluttering in her gut.
You're just still freaked out by whatever the hell that thing was. Those are not butterflies in your stomach. Keep your shit together, Decker.