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"Come on, Scott. You know as well as I do that there's something there. People don't just die," Stiles attempted to reason the next day at school.

Scott shifted uncomfortably in his seat at the lunch table, eyes roving over the surrounding students to be sure nobody was listening in on their conversation. Not that it would do much to preserve their reputation. He was pretty sure the whole school was by now profoundly disturbed by all the strange occurrences that surrounded himself and his friends – his pack.

"Stiles, I thought you told your dad you were leaving this one to the police," Scott responded once he was sure they were speaking privately. "Besides, he said he'd come to us if he thought we could help."

"When have you ever known me to leave something to the police when I am perfectly capable of solving it myself?" Stiles offered a smirk. "And you're always right there with me. You're the Watson to my Sherlock; the Ernie to my Bert; the Robin to my Batman."

Scott's brow furrowed in contemplation as he considered that. "I thought we said I was Batman and you were Robin."

His friend let out a groan that drew a few eyes their way, though as soon as they saw who it had come from, most onlooking students opted to ignore it. Definitely a good move on their part.

"Can't I be Batman some of the time?" Stiles whined.

"Okay, nobody's Batman. Stiles, I really don't have time to keep traipsing through the woods with you on wild goose chases." He was already sure he was going to fail his upcoming test. After their little excursion the previous afternoon, Scott's mom had decided it was a fine time to have a nice long conversation about where his priorities should be, and how he should be focusing on his studies rather than running off to interfere with police business. Of course, she understood his duty to act when there was a supernatural threat, but only when it was really a threat and not just some freak accident in the woods.

Anyway, the conversation had taken so long that he barely had any time left to study once it was concluded. He was going to have to stay up pretty late tonight if he wanted to have any chance at passing that test tomorrow.

"I don't think this is a wild goose chase," Stiles' voice interrupted. Scott sometimes wished he could put his friend on pause once in a while to give himself the chance to catch up. How Stiles could proceed to run at a hundred miles a minute every hour of the day was one of the great mysteries of life Scott would likely never solve.

"I can feel it," the teen continued. "It's hard to explain. I just don't think everything is quite right here."

Scott opened his mouth to reply, but to his relief, another voice interrupted before he could.

"Hey, guys." Allison smiled as she sat down across from the two friends. Scott felt his heart flutter, and he couldn't help grinning back. She may not have been his girlfriend anymore, but somehow that didn't put an end to the feelings he got whenever she was around.

His smile, however, did fade as a certain Isaac Lahey sat down beside her. It didn't escape Scott's notice how much time the two of them had been spending together lately. Sure, he had become pretty good friends with Isaac – the teen was even living with them currently since he'd been kicked out of Derek's loft. But for some reason seeing him with her just rubbed him the wrong way. Maybe it was because Allison was his first love, and that wasn't exactly a connection that could be easily broken.

"You guys talking about that animal attack in the woods?" Isaac asked, his eyes flicking between the two boys sitting across from him.

Scott was about to ask how Isaac knew, but stopped himself as he recalled the obvious fact that – Duh! Isaac's a werewolf. Of course, he could hear us talking!

"Yeah," Stiles responded before Scott got the chance to jump in. "There's definitely something up. I don't know if it's a werewolf or a kanima or what it is, but no way could it have been a wild animal."

Scott found an exhausted sigh slipping out past his lips. "Stiles, we looked over those pictures you took yesterday. There wasn't anything in them to suggest something supernatural did it."

"There wasn't anything in them to suggest that something supernatural didn't do it," Scott's friend countered, sending wink to the newest arrivals to their table.

"Stiles, we've been over this." Over, and over, and over again they'd been over it. Scott was really starting to get sick of the whole situation altogether.

"Ah." Isaac nodded, a small understanding smirk on his face. "So, guys have hit a bit of a road block. Can't agree on what to do, can you?"

"That's pretty much the deal," Scott said, casting a slightly annoyed glance in Stiles' direction. "Sheriff Stilinski said he'd contact us if anything came up that we should know about."

"So?" came Allison's sweet voice, sending goosebumps down Scott's spine. "What's the problem then? You guys can just wait for the Sheriff to call. If it really is supernatural, he'll let you know."

"It is supernatural," Stiles argued. "I know it is. I can't explain how I know. I just know. So, are you guys going to help me investigate this thing, or what?"

Scott chewed his lip as he studied his two friends across the table. They glanced first at each other, then both pairs of eyes fell directly on Scott. He could see in their expressions that they were on his side. Why go through the work of interfering with the police and sacrificing precious studying time if they could just wait for a call from the Sheriff? It seemed obvious to all of them what they should do – well, all of them except for Stiles.

Scott's best friend apparently also interpreted Allison and Isaac's expressions. Stiles huffed out a laugh totally devoid of humor, then got up from the table, collecting his things. "Guess I'll just have to solve this myself then. Thanks a lot for the support."

Scott's brown eyes softened as a frown plastered itself on his face. Was his friend really that bothered by their refusal to go along with his gut feeling? Sure, Stiles' intuition often seemed pretty reliable, but to sacrifice their spare time based solely on that was just a little over the top.

"Stiles, wait." Scott really hoped he wasn't leaving because of them. "Where are you going?"

"To my next class." Stiles didn't even look up as he replied. He simply snatched up his bookbag and slung it over his shoulder before turning to leave. "Well, to the bathroom first, then to my next class."

With that, Stiles Stilinski left the room as well as his three friends sitting at the lunch table.

SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

Stiles' thoughts were running laps around his mind as he walked, the only sound in those long and currently empty hallways being the patter of his own shoes as they met tiled floor with every step he took.

Why couldn't they just listen? Sure, his ideas were based primarily on a gut instinct, but if anything had proved reliable in his life, it was his intuition and… well, normally Scott. Though, right about then Scott was looking anything but reliable.

Don't say that, Stiles, he inwardly scolded himself. In everything you've been through, Scott was always there. He's your best friend!

That may have been true, but why wasn't he there now?

Can you really blame him for not wanting to listen to a tingling sensation in your gut?

Of course, he wouldn't expect just anyone to trust his gut, but this was Scott. Scott always trusted him.

And he still does trust you. He's just… a little busy right now.

Yeah, well that busyness might just-

Stiles frowned, torn away from his inner argument as he caught a flicker of movement out of the corner of his eye. His gaze flicked towards it just in time to spy the shape of a girl with flowing dark hair before she disappeared around the corner and into the next hallway. His frown deepened. Odd. Well, seeing another student in the hall wasn't so odd, but there was something… not quite right about her. He'd only gotten a look at the back of her head, but something about her just sent shivers down his spine.

Every fiber in his logical mind told him to turn the other way and forget all about it, but, of course, when did Stiles ever listen to his logical mind? That tingling sensation in his gut was like a needle that pumped curiosity directly into his veins. He really couldn't help but follow her. There was clearly something very wrong here, and what kind of Sherlock would he be if he didn't take it upon himself to investigate?

Stiles picked up his feet and jogged down to the end of the hall, following the path the girl had taken. With the whole spooky, haunted vibe in the air, he half-expected her to have disappeared by the time he got there, but nope. There just a few short yards away from him was that same girl with the same dark hair. She wore a light pink sundress with little white daisies lining the hem and sleeves. Under any other circumstances, he may have been interested in talking to her or asking her out. She certainly seemed like a pretty girl, but well, there was just something not so attractive about the way she was standing creepily in the middle of the hallway. Her back was faced toward him, and she didn't seem to be staring at anything in particular – which was even more messed up.

Warning sirens were blaring in his mind, and everything in him screamed at him to run, but his feet remained glued to the floor. Against every instinct he had, he opened his mouth to address the girl.

"Are you lost?"

She didn't respond. She didn't even move or do anything to indicate she'd heard him. Stiles may have considered the idea that she could've been a mannequin if he hadn't seen her walking around just a few short moments ago. But why wasn't she doing anything now?

A shudder ran through his body, and just when he was sure things couldn't get any creepier, the girl slowly turned to face him. A tightness gripped Stiles' heart as her delicate features came into focus. Soft pink lips were turned up in a sort of half-smile on her face, and her dark hair cascaded like chocolate waterfalls over her shoulders. To anybody else she would've looked perfectly normal – like she was just another average high school girl out for a stroll in the hall. But to Stiles, she was anything but normal. As he stared into those horrifyingly familiar hazel eyes, an icy feeling of dread washed over him, soaking him to his core till his hands trembled with fright.

All he could see in that moment were those eyes staring lifelessly through him and those lips so pale and dead. Dead. She was dead. She couldn't be there in front of him! Stiles had seen her himself just the day before! Well, he'd seen what was left of her, at least. There wasn't much there, which meant-

His eyes pinched themselves shut without his permission. No, she's not here. It's all a trick. You're just imagining things – dreaming them up. Wake up, Stiles!

Stiles' eyes snapped open a moment later. No. At least in horror movies the ghost would disappear. Why was she still there! Those lips; her eyes – it wasn't right!

She stood right there in front of him, but regardless of how alive she looked, Stiles still couldn't see anything but death – dead eyes, bloody skin, and red. There was so much red. Stiles was hardly aware now of the wave of nausea that overtook him. All he could see was red as it slowly took over every fiber of his remaining senses until he could barely register anything going on around him anymore.

It didn't register with him when the school bell rang, signaling students to head to their next classes. It didn't register with him when the girl turned suddenly away and disappeared down the hall. And it certainly didn't register with him when his body crashed to the floor and darkness overtook him.

Oooh? What could possibly be going on here?! Don't forget to review or leave your thoughts/ideas in the comments! I'm always thrilled to hear from readers!