### Chapter Twelve: The Unseen Forces
The night was fraught with tension as my father drove Allison and me away from the chaos that had erupted in the school parking lot. I sat in silence, grappling with the need to conceal my awareness of Scott's secret, the weight of my family's legacy pressing down on me.
Back at home, the air was thick with conflict. I eavesdropped as my dad and Aunt Kate argued fiercely, my mom interjecting with a sharpness I had never witnessed before. As she packed our belongings, a sense of foreboding filled me, a gnawing suspicion that something was amiss, particularly with Stiles.
The drive with Kate was suffocating, her manipulation of Allison evident. Stopping at the hospital to blame Lydia's attach on Scott, I attempted to intervene, to protect Allison from Kate's influence, but my efforts were swiftly rebuffed. Frustrated yet determined, I resolved to wait for the right moment to reveal the truth to Allison.
As we left the hospital, I zoned out as an unexpected drowsiness overtook me, plunging me into a dreamlike state where reality and the ethereal intertwined. In this vision, I was a spectral observer, witnessing Stiles and his dad arguing in the hospital over The Hale House Fire case, I heard the sheriff shout, "A Pendant, Stiles, it's a necklace" before answering his phone and walking away. In that moment, I walked up to a frustrated and confused looking Stiles and whispered in his ear: "Alison's necklace."
My vision blurred and suddenly I was in another part of the hospital, my father had Stiles pushed up against a wall. Stiles said defiantly, "what if some did break the code?" "Like who?" said my father. Again, I walked up to Stiles, whispering in his ear: "Kate."
I abruptly woke up in the car, to Allison's query "what about my necklace?" "Nothing" I replied, "weird dream." "You said my name, too." quizzed Kate, I shrugged at her dismissively, before turning away from her probing gaze that only added to my unease, but I deflected, unwilling to reveal the insights gleaned from my surreal experience.
The car's abrupt stop heralded our arrival at the Hale house, the stage set for a confrontation I had hoped to avoid. It didn't take long for the scenario to escalate, as Kate raised her weapon against Scott, my heart raced, the imminent threat to my friends unbearable.
The sudden arrival of my father, followed by the alpha's fearsome entrance, threw us all into disarray. The ensuing chaos, a maelstrom of fear and fury, unfolded in slow motion before me, fear locking me into place, something else billowing inside me. Allison's peril inside the house, Kate's imminent danger, and the alpha's menacing presence converged into a singular moment of crisis.
The wolves momentarily incapacitated, I hadn't moved, then I heard it, the ripping of flesh, Kate's flesh. I felt no pity for her. Scott and Derek reacted then, bounding inside the house. Allison reappeared at my unconscious father's side; thank God they were safe.
That wouldn't be for long, the fight amongst the Alpha and two betas had spilled back outside. My vision transfixed on the conflict, somewhere in my periphery I was aware of the Porsche headlights that shone on us, I felt him, Stiles, he was here. This caused something, a swelling of fear, a burn of anger in the pit of my stomach at the thought he could be hurt.
Distracted by my anger, events had progressed without my realisation, the Alpha had caught the beaker containing a dangerous cocktail, ready to throw it at my sister, who had her bow in hand almost ready to strike.
She wasn't going to make it in time, the Alpha was going to burn her alive. Something snapped, the anger within me erupted, in a bid to save her I found myself wielding an unexplainable power, my right arm outstretched, commanding the alpha to "halt." The brief obedience I elicited, so brief it was unnoticeable to the human eye, was enough for Allison's arrow to find its mark, a revelation of something within me I had never known.
The aftermath was a blur, darkness claiming me as I succumbed to unconsciousness.
My keen hearing was the first sense to return. Two heartbeats downstairs, my mom and dad, bickering. Another two, Allison and Scott, in her room, maybe? No, outside on the roof. And one more, slightly faster than the average heartbeat, it was close, very close, immediately close.
I shot up in bed, head spinning a little, only to see Stiles, casually perusing my video game collection, turned to me with a smirk that dissolved any resolve I had. His presence, so close and unexpected and in my bedroom, I swear I'd had this dream before. His mention of my Star Wars collection, a simple comment, yet it held the weight of a thousand unspoken words.
"You had me worried for a moment," he said, a statement that held more truth than he could possibly know. "I did?" "You did."
"Sorry about that." I sighed, relaxing back into the bed, not quite fully recovered it appeared.
"I don't know what you did, but you did something." He complimented, at least it sounded like a compliment.
"You noticed that? I didn't think anyone would, let's be honest, I pointed at a wolf and told him to stop, I'm not exactly Gandalf."
"You're better than Gandalf," he beamed "Master Yoda, you are."
Legit the nicest compliment anyone has ever given me, I thought to myself.
"And yes…" Stiles paused, meeting my eyes "I noticed, I notice a lot of the things you do."
I froze, my heart threatening to implode in my chest. In that moment, the complexities of the night before, the revelations of power, the fear for my family and friends, all faded into the background. Stiles's presence, the ease of our interaction, offered a glimpse of normalcy in the tumultuous world we inhabited.
My mom coughed from my bedroom doorway, breaking our eyes connection, unsubtly making her presence known; that it was time for Stiles to leave.
"Get better soon, bro" he beamed with his one-sided smile, pointing a thumbs up in my direction, "need my lab partner back, I do."
This was a journey through the unseen forces that shape our destinies - the power of family, the bonds of friendship, and the awakening of something new within me. As I navigated the aftermath of the night's events, the presence of Stiles, an unexpected comfort in the chaos, marked the beginning of a new chapter, one where the unseen forces of the heart and the mysteries of our existence intertwined in ways I had yet to fully understand.