#he also comes to recognize how unfair it is for Stiles to be holding his past misdeeds over his head

[voidstilesplease]

command me to be well

(a Beacon Hills Academy for the Supernaturals ficlet)

~•~

Supernatural creatures are known and accepted in society, and they have their branch and section in everything - the government, religion, court justice, health, food production, etc. They coexist with humans. There are still supremacist groups on both ends of the spectrum, but as a whole, supernaturals and humans share the world in equal.

In Beacon Hills Academy for the Supernaturals, mages (magic wielders) and shapeshifters (werewolves, werefoxes, were-coyotes, etc.) study and learn about themselves, strengths, and weaknesses, and adaptation in the human world. 

Stiles takes both mage and shapeshifter classes. His mother had been a fire werefox, and his grandmother a mage. The magic ability stays dormant in between generations, so Stiles received the spark that skipped his mother. Stiles's dad is the Sheriff of Beacon Hills, Homo Sapiens division. (It's not what it's called, but Stiles uses the term to annoy his father.) 

Every werefox can shift to their animal forms since birth. Their blood has no infectious components like werewolves, to turn an existing creature into one. So their kind only reproduces through procreation, but the power comes only between the ages of eighteen to twenty and never predictable. There are thirteen classifications of werefoxes: Heaven, Wind, Spirit, Fire, Earth, River, Ocean, Mountain, Forest, Thunder, Time, Sound, and Dark. And they all have to study every single one element through simulations and a weird practice called internalization. It's like the Buddhists' enlightenment when they have to "seek within themselves the core of their being" or whatever crap like that.

His mage classes are much worse. As a werefox, his reading skills are for shit, even with his human blood. His kind takes time to make sense of written symbols -it's called dyslexia in the human tongue- and so it proves to be a problem in his magic lessons.

"Stiles!" Kira, also a werefox and his non-biological sister, appears at his side after class. "Come over this afternoon and have dinner at home. Dad is making sushi."

The mention of sushi makes his mouth water, but he curls his lips downward. "I can't. I'm on my way to solitary study."

She winces sympathetically, "Yikes."

The solitary study is another word for detention in the Supernatural school. The students are put into confinement to reflect and read. It could be for an hour up to five -their offense and the amount of hate the teacher has for them decides the length of the stay. It doesn't sound bad when you hear of it the first time, but the stillness of being alone in a white room, being forced to think, drives everyone crazy. Stiles is probably the one person in the school who has seen those walls the most.

"What happened?" She asks, hoisting her backpack, forehead creasing intently.

Stiles shrugs, "In my mage class, we were practicing an incantation. I mispronounced a word because the symbols were flying all over the page," they stop walking when they reach the hallway that will separate them; Kira to the exit, and Stiles to his punishment. "All the light bulbs in the room broke simultaneously, and the shards went everywhere, mostly lodged in my classmates' and teacher's faces."

"Ouch,"

Stiles hums, curling his lips. "My incantation teacher hates me, just as much as I hate him. Every mistake I make is an excuse for him to send me to solitary. He also thinks I'm doing it on purpose. He gave me five hours today, and I'm expecting another tomorrow for the potion I fucked up earlier in another of his class."

"But that's unfair," Kira says, indignant for Stiles. "We're dyslexic. Every teacher should consider the limitations of each of us."

Stiles purses his lips but doesn't say anything. He doesn't mention to Kira that when the symbols rearrange in his mind, it's not always a gibberish mess. Sometimes, they're also perfectly readable -and quite harmful, depending on the caster's intention. He doesn't mention that more than half the time, he purposely utters curses and adds the wrong ingredients to concoctions. Stiles only does it for fun, though, to ruffle his teachers and enemies. He's a school jester; everyone knows that. He doesn't mean to cause pain to anyone -not all the time.

He's not vicious or vengeful. He swears he's not.

He's only a playful fox, curious with the less explored potentials of his power -even its violent capacity.

~•~

But it gets worse. It becomes an inclination more than a mere curiosity, especially when Stiles meets him.

In his fourth year in the Supernatural school, the management opened a program for the underaged supernaturals in the custody center. They're the young, homeless lawbreakers abandoned to the care of social workers after countless encounters with the law enforcement and their family's depletion of funds to cover the fines for damages they have caused.

The program grants them one term of attendance in the school instead of being instructed by tutors at the center, and a second one if the first term yields positive reports.

There are eight of them, and all are shapeshifters. There are three werewolves, a kanima, a wendigo, a chameleon, an electric eel (Stiles doesn't want to know how this kind came to be), and a were-coyote. All of them have criminal records, of course, but one has a count for murder - and his sister, no less. And Stiles knew him before his lock-up. They had not been friends because of Stiles's mistrust of canine shapeshifters, but he recognizes him right at first sight in years.

But while werefoxes prefer to stay away from the dogs, the latter doesn't have such urge to keep scarce, especially one among the outlaws: Theo Raeken.

He's taken one look at Stiles and decided to torment him. Witnessing Stiles do illegal magic did not help the case. Instead, it invited Theo more. Theo stalks him (as much as he can inside school grounds), stares at him, vies for his attention, pushes all the wrong but right buttons. Stiles feels repulsed by the way his blood thrums in Theo's presence. He's disgusted with himself for getting excited by his challenge. Stiles reminds himself daily that it's Theo -the one who murders their blood, and will probably have no qualms on staining their hands with someone else's. But Theo keeps provoking him, daring him to let go of caution. 

One day, Stiles does.

He unleashes himself and leaves Theo bloody, beaten-up, broken, and exhilarated, and himself satisfied for the first time. Theo stops prodding him after that. He starts tempting him: We can run. None of them listens. Their truth is the only truth. And Stiles thinks he's right.

He's almost eighteen. His fox's element should be manifesting -and it looks like it is.

~•~

"What happens if I turn out to be the wrong kind?" Stiles asks Kira one night, in the middle of video game night at her house.

Kira is focused on the screen, but she echoes Stiles. "The wrong kind?"

"A dark fox,"

That pulls Kira's attention away from the screen quicker than they can run. Her eyes are wide with alarm when she presses pause and turns to Stiles. She opens her mouth but speaks nothing for a long time. It seems she's too shocked for words. Finally, she shakes her head. "You're not."

Stiles sighs, putting down his controller. "There's one out of thirteen possibilities that I am. It's little, but it's there nonetheless."

Kira scoots closer, holding Stiles's arm, her clutch tight. "Yes, but," she stammers, "there hasn't been one in a long time."

"Of course, there isn't," Stiles agrees, looking at Kira. "They're exterminated as soon as they present to snuff out any chance of gaining power and growing a second tail."

"But you're not one," Kira says forcefully, eyes suspiciously moist.

Stiles replies softly, "I enjoy causing mayhem."

She shakes her head hard, "We all like trouble, Stiles. That's sort of what we are,"

Stiles can't look at her eyes when he admits his truth, so he turns away. "I inflict pain," Kira freezes in her touch. "and like it. The sight of blood makes me sick but with pleasure. I-" he pauses, wipes the sweat that gathered in his nose. He swallows. "I want to get into someone's head and twist their mind. I have done it, and I want to do it again."

Kira draws uneven breaths beside him. Her scent has turned sweet with fear -and though it makes his stomach twist, Stiles inhales it, savors it.

Kira's voice quivers, "If you learn to suppress it-"

"If it can be suppressed and controlled, there would've been no vulpine law authorizing the killing of a nogitsune."

Kira bows her head in defeat, sniffing.

"My magic," his whispering voice is loud in her room, reverberating in its four walls. He's been coming here since he was a child. Who knows when and if he can have the chance again. "It knows what I might be. It flows in my veins with my blood, rushing when I'm doing what I shouldn't be."

They're silent for a long moment; Stiles refuses to meet Kira's eyes, and Kira strives to calm her racing heart. She doesn't recoil from her touch, even when she was afraid. Now that the fear has subsided, she moves to kneel in front of him and takes his face between her small hands, prompting him to face her. When he raises his head, Kira's eyes are glowing, fiery around the black. Stiles flashes his in response.

"If you are," Kira says, tone final and sure. "I'm with you. You're my brother, and I love you."

Stiles knows she will stand by her words, but he doesn't wish her to. Kira has a whole life ahead of her that she can't spend hiding a nogitsune or running with one.

Because Stiles will run, damn if he won't. He's not going down, and he won't let them catch him. 

He leans his head against her hand, kissing the soft palm of it. He rubs his nose on the residual unease still clinging underneath her skin. "I love you, too."

And then he will come back invincible.

~•~

[platonicteenwolf]

Wolf Moon (S1E1) Part II

Teen Wolf x Reader Series Rewrite

A/N: Let me know if any of the links are wacky or if I mess up on any of the pronouns cause posting three versions is sometimes a bit confusing so I can fix it if needed. Also lmk if there’s a misspelling or grammar issue too :)

They/Them Pronouns Version

He/Him Pronouns Version

Next Part / Masterlist

Warnings: dead body, swearing

Lacrosse stick strapped to his backpack, Scott pedals into the parking lot of Beacon Hills High School among the swarm of students. Skateboarders jump steps, potheads take barely concealed tokes, girls and guys hold hands, guys and guys hold hands, (yes it’s California.)

As Scott pulls his bike to one of the racks to lock it up, a pristine BMW with a license plate that reads: JCKSN37, blazes into the lot and stops in the space next to the racks. Scott, still kneeling, gets bumped in the back when the driver’s side door opens.

Jackson Whittemore, exceptionally good-looking and usually oblivious to anyone not within his social or financial circle, steps out to notice that Scott hit his car by being near it.

“Dude. Watch the paint job.”

He’s completely unaware of hitting Scott as he grabs his own lacrosse equipment.

“Yo Jackson!”

Hearing his favorite word, Jackson looks up and heads over to meet his friends. All good looking jocks with big smiles and expensive cars, pretty girls coming up to say hello.

—————

A school bell rings outside a brick building swarming with students.

“Alright let’s see this thing,” Stiles says, a little too eagerly. Now standing in front of the school, Scott takes off his backpack and pulls his shirt up a few inches to show Stiles and I the bandage on his lower back.

“Oh damn that looks bad!” I reach out to touch it and Scott flinches back. “Oops, sorry”

“It was too dark to see much but I’m pretty sure it was a wolf.”

Scoffing, Stiles countered “A wolf bit you? No, not a chance.”

“I heard a wolf howling.”

”No, you didn’t.”

“What do you mean ‘No, I didn’t?’ How do you know what I heard?”

Jumping in, I explained, “California doesn’t have wolves. Not for the last sixty years. The animals were almost hunted to extinction in the 1920s California Gold Rush.” Both boys looked at me in surprise. “What,” I questioned, “I like history.”

Seemingly accepting that answer Scott continued on. “Well, if you don’t believe me about the wolf, then you’re definitely not going to believe me when I tell you I saw the body.”

“Holy shit!” This was amazing!

“You what? Are you kidding me!?” He almost looked like a kid who just found the hidden candy cabinet.

“I wish. I’m going to have nightmares about it for a month.”

There was still one thing I’ve been wondering about though, “Which half of the body was it?”

“Oh- it was the top half. I saw her dead eyes staring back at me. It was scary.” Scott shuddered, thinking about her lifeless body laying in the forrest.

“Well I think that’s freaking awesome,” Stiles concluded. “This is seriously the best thing that’s happened to this town since...”

Stiles suddenly got very distracted by something behind Scott. I turned around to see what it is and you’ll never guess.

“...since the birth of Lydia Martin who’s walking toward us right now.”

A drop-dead gorgeous junior named Lydia Martin was walking towards the school doors like it was a fashion show runway in Milan. Stiles has had the biggest crush on Lydia ever since we were kids.

“Hey Lydia, how are you? You look--” She walks right past him not even giving him a second glance. “...like you’re going to ignore me.”

Scott chuckled at his failed attempt in flirting with the girl as I pat him on his shoulder.

“You’ll get her next time champ.” Stiles shot me an unappreciative glare as I held my hands up in defense and he started grumbling about how unfair everything was.

“You guys are the cause of this, you know. Dragging me down to your nerd depths. I’m a nerd by association. I’ve been Scarlet-nerded by you.”

As we reach the steps of the school I get ready to part with the dynamic duo to get to my class. “Alright boys, I’ve got first with Harris so I’ll see y’all later.” Mentions of good luck were lost behind me as I entered the thick crowd ready to start the day.

—————

First period English. Scott takes the desk next to Stiles as the teacher, Mr. Curtis starts writing instructions on the chalkboard.

“As you all know by now, there was indeed a body found in the woods last night. I’m sure your eager little minds are coming up with various macabre scenarios as to what happened but I’ve been told that the police have a suspect in custody.”

Scott looks to Stiles who shrugs, news to him as well.

“Which means you can give your undivided attention to the syllabus on your desk outlining the semester. Read it now. And by read I don’t mean skim.”

As the students begin reading a cell phone starts ringing out of nowhere. Scott glances up and looks around. The other students quietly read the syllabus, seemingly not hearing the noise. Gazing about, he can’t seem to find the source until his eyes fall on the windows of the classroom...

Outside - across the quad, Scott sees a girl sitting on a bench who he will come to know as Allison Argent. Sixteen and radiating with an innocent beauty. When she puts the cell phone to her ear, it becomes obvious that, despite the closed windows and the distance, this is the ringing Scott is somehow able to hear.

More astonishingly, Scott can hear both Allison and her caller.

“Mom, three calls on my first day is a little overdoing it,” Allison teased.

“Just making sure you’re there okay and you’ve got everything you need.” But Allison digs through her bag, becoming alarmed.

“Everything except a pen. Oh my God, I didn’t actually forget a pen.”

“Don’t panic. I’m sure you can borrow one from another student.”

“Okay, okay, I gotta’ go. Love ya.”

Unable to take his eyes off the extraordinary girl, Scott watches the school’s principal join her on the steps.

“Sorry to keep you waiting.” The Principal guides her across the quad, their conversation becoming clearer to Scott with every step.

“So you were saying San Francisco isn’t where you grew up?”

“No, but we stayed for more than a year which is unusual in my family.”

Even when Allison and the Principal disappear from view, Scott hears the clatter of the building door opening, the clicking of their heels on the tile floor of the hall.

“Well, hopefully, Beacon Hills is your last stop for a while.” The door to the classroom opened, causing the rest of the class to look up.

The principle turns to address the room. “Class, this is our new student, Allison Argent. Please do your best to make her feel welcome.”

Scott barely breathes as Allison heads for the one empty desk left in the room. Right behind him. She puts her notebook down, then glances up to see Scott turned toward her. Holding out a pen. With a relieved but curious smile, she takes it from him.

“Thanks.”

Scott gives her a nod, turning around with a proud expression. Looking up at the front of the room, Mr. Curtis stands up to start the lesson.

“We’ll begin with Kafka’s metamorphosis on page 133...”

—————

The school bell rings throughout the halls indicating its time to move to your next class. As I walked out of my classroom I spotted Stiles coming out of his. Jogging towards him to catch up, I shout his name to grab his attention. Whipping his head around he greets me with the classic, dopey, Stilinski smile. “Hey bub, what’s up?” I ask.

Rolling his eyes at the nickname, he grumbles all about how boring his English class was. “...oh! And there’s a new girl at school today!”

Interesting, I thought. Spotting Scott in the distance we both quicken our pace to meet with him at his locker.

—————

As he grabs his lock to open the door, Scott hears Allison just down the corridor. Looking towards where she stands they connect eyes. She starts to smile, recognizing the cute guy who gave her the pen. But then Lydia Martin swoops in front of her.

“That jacket is absolutely killer. Where did you get it?”

“My Mom was a buyer for a boutique back in San Francisco,” Allison explains.

Suddenly Jackson, Lydia’s boyfriend, walks up to the pair and puts his arm around Lydia and she greets him with a kiss.

Turning back towards his locker, Scott spotted Y/N and Stiles walking up to him.

—————

Looking at the Alpha Male and his arm candy across the hall, I turn towards the boys with a confused look on my face.

“Can someone tell me how the new girl is here all of five minutes and she’s already hanging with Lydia’s clique?”

“Because she’s hot. Beautiful people herd together,” Stiles answers. He’s got a point. He steps up to open his own locker next to Scott’s.

“Is that why Lydia isn’t herding with you?”

“Lydia’s a long term project, okay? And trust me, I’ve got all the patience in the world for a high yield investment like her.”

You’ve got to give him credit. He’s committed.

—————

Head cocked slightly, Scott tunes into the conversation from the other end of the corridor, voices coming into focus.

“So,” Lydia exclaims, “this weekend there’s a party.”

“A party?”

Jackson leaned on the lockers next to him, arm now wrapped around Lydias torso. “Yeah, Friday night. You should come.”

“I can’t. It’s Family Night this Friday. But thanks for asking.”

“You sure? Everyone’s going after the scrimmage”

“You mean like football?”

“Football is a joke at Beacon. The sport here is Lacrosse. We won the state championship the last three years--“

Cutting in Lydia praises, “Because of a certain team captain.”

“We have practice in a few minutes,” Jackson explains. “You don’t have to be anywhere, do you?”

“Well, no, I was just going--“

Lydia claps her hands in excitement, “Perfect! You’re coming.”

—————

A whistle blowing echoes across the field. The Lacrosse Team’s Coach gathers the team on the field, Stiles and Scott lagging behind.

“But if you play I’ll have no one to talk to on the bench! You really gonna’ do that to your best friend?”

“Hey! No fair.” I look toward Stiles pouting when he gives me an obnoxious look.

“You don’t count.” I shoved him sticking my tongue out and watched as Stiles accidentally collided with Scott.

“Oops sorry Scott,” I apologize.

With an amused smile after watching our banter Scott continued his argument. “I can’t sit out again. My whole life is sitting on the sidelines. This season, I make first line.” He heads for the field, pausing to see Lydia climbing the bleachers. And stepping right behind her... Allison.

I look towards the boy and follow his gaze behind me where I see the girls sitting. “Hey,” I nudged Stiles who was busy putting all his gear down around him in a destructive manner. “I think Scott’s got a crush on the new girl.”

“What? What makes you say that?”

“Look!” I point towards where Scott stands, still starring dreamily at Allison, but he’s suddenly interrupted when a lacrosse stick hits him in the chest.

“McCall! You’re in the goal.”

Scott turns to Coach Bobby Finstock, a man with little comprehension of the difficulties of teenage life. He tosses Scott the bundle of goalie equipment.

“But I’ve never played goal.”

“I know. Scoring some shots will give the boys a confidence boost. It’s a first day back thing. Get them energized, fired up!”

“What about me?”

“Try not to take any in the face.”

This is not gonna end well, I think to myself.

—————

Stepping into the net, Scott glances to the bleachers where Allison watches with Lydia, eyes focusing on them.

“Who is that,” Allison questions.

Him? I’m not sure who he is. Why?”

“He’s in my English class.”

Scott looks up, shocked to hear Allison asking about him. But with his hearing momentarily turned up, he flinches at the whistle blow, sound ringing through his skull.

One of the bigger players charges forward as the Assistant Coach passes the ball to him. Catching it, he whips his stick forward, hurling the ball toward the goal.

Still reeling from the whistle, Scott looks up too late to see the ball soaring toward him. It bounces right off his helmet and into the net. The team laughs wickedly. Even Coach snickers.

Cheeks burning under his mask, Scott readies himself for the next player. When the whistle blows again, he’s ready. The Assistant Coach passes the ball to the next player who catches it and fires it right at the goal.

Scott moves startlingly fast, almost an instantaneous reaction. Then he notices the player staring at him with a mixture of disappointment and surprise. Scott has the ball.

“Yeah!” Stiles shouts from the sideline, impressed with his friends newfound luck. “See I told you he was practicing,” I brag to Stiles.

When the next player takes the shot, Scott catches the ball again. And then again. And again. Nothing can get past him.

In the bleachers, Allison and Lydia sit forward.

“He seems like he’s pretty good,” Allison continues to stare at Scott practicing on the field

“Very good.” Intrigued, Lydia keeps her gaze locked on Scott who now stands with a far more confident posture. Until he sees that Jackson is next in line. Glaring at Scott, he practically strangles the lacrosse stick with his gloves.

“Oh God...” Scott croaks with fear.

The Assistant Coach tosses the ball up. Jackson launches forward, catching the ball and spinning around to fire it at the goal. But Scott moves with supernatural precision. The ball lands right in the pocket of the goalie stick.

Stiles and I let out hollers of excitement, jumping up from the bench. In the bleachers, Lydia stands and cheers as well causing Jackson to throw a look at her. She returns his glare with a sly smile, a warning to step up his game.

Grinning, Scott gives the goalie stick a whirl, spinning it with a flick of his wrist and sending the ball soaring right into the pocket of the stunned Assistant Coach’s stick.

—————

In the woods, Scott retraces his steps from last night with Stiles and I following behind him.

“I don’t know what it was. It was like, I had all the time in the world to catch the ball.”

Walking towards a bank we came to a river we had to cross. I hope Scott knows where he’s going. After seeing nowhere to cross we trudged through the river soaking our feet in the water. If my shoes smell after this I’m gonna kill him.

Reaching the other side, Scott continued with his worries. “And that’s not the only weird thing. I mean I can hear stuff I shouldn’t be able to hear. And I can smell things.”

“Smell things? Like what,” Stiles questions.

“Like the mint mojito gum in your pocket.”

“I don’t have any...” Stiles pulls out a lint-covered piece of wrapped gum.

Looking up at Scott in shock, he just shrugged, continuing his walk into the woods. Double checking, I ask him, “so all this started with the bite?”

“What if it’s an infection? What if my body is flooding with adrenaline before I go into shock or something?”

“I’ve actually heard of this,” Stiles starts, “It’s a specific kind of infection.”

“Are you serious?”

“Yeah. Yeah. I think it’s called... Lycanthropy.”

“Oh my god.” I roll my eyes at his accusation. He can’t be serious.

“No I’m serious! This is important!”

“What’s that? Is it bad? It sounds bad.”

“It is. But only once a month.”

“Once a month?”

“On the night of a full moon. Awroooo”

Scott looks at him. And then it clicks. Giving him a push, we continued walking.

“Stiles you’re such a dumbass sometimes,” I chide.

“Hey, he’s the one who heard a wolf howling.”

“There could be something seriously wrong with me!” Scott looks back at Stiles with a look of fear.

“I know! You’re a werewolf! Grrr!” He slashes his hands through the air in a claw motion and I take this opportunity to stick my leg out in front of him and watch as he trips.

As Stiles falls to the forrest floor Scott and I laugh at his stupidity. “Okay, obviously, I’m kidding. But if you see me in shop class melting down all the silver I can find it’s because Friday’s a full moon.”

We seemed to reach the destination because Scott started to look around the area.

“I swear this was it. I saw the body, the deer came running, I dropped my inhaler...”

“Maybe the killer moved the body.”

“If he did, I hope he left my inhaler. Those things are like eighty bucks.”

As the boys thought of different theories I looked towards the woods and saw someone walking towards us. Is that.. Derek Hale?

“Hello,” I greet, waving to the man.

Stiles looks up at me and then to the man and taps Scott on the arm, pulling him to his feet. Derek Hale. Nineteen and unquestionably handsome, he has a rougher look than the cleanly shaven Beacon Hills boys.

“What are you doing here?”

Both Scott and Stiles are too stunned to speak at first “This is private property.”

“Sorry, we didn’t know,” Stiles assures.

Derek stares at Scott, barely noticing Stiles or I.

Scott opens his mouth to speak to the man but then closes it, at a loss for words.

I take this as an opportunity explain. “We were just looking for something but we’ll leave. Sorry to bother you.”

As we’re turning to go, Derek tosses an object to Scott. His inhaler. When he looks up, Derek is already walking away.

Now finding his voice, Scott mutters, “Aight, come on. I’ve gotta get to work.”

“Dude, that was Derek Hale, “Stiles exclaims. “You remember, right? He’s only a few years older than us.”

“Remember what?”

“His family. They all burned to death in a fire like ten years ago.”

We used to have a class together in school. “I remember the cops pulling him out of class to tell him,” I tell the boys. “I wonder what he’s doing back.”

Scott eyes the inhaler in his hand, closing his fist over it. “Come on,” he says again.

—————

Tag List: @linkpk88

[all-alone-he-turns-to-stone]

We don’t believe what’s on TV - Chapter 24

<<Chapter 19 / Chapter 20 / Chapter 21 / Chapter 22 / Chapter 23 / Chapter 25  / Chapter 26 / Chapter 27 / Chapter 28 / Chapter 29

Resume: I had an ordinary life, or that’s what I wanted to believe. I lost myself in the TV series that I listened to forget the normal boring life. What I didn’t know, however, was that my life would change completely overnight.

Finding myself in 2013 at Beacon Hills County.

This will be a Stiles x Reader but only further in the story

In this chapter: Sleepless night and past memories.

Word count: 3680

A/N: I’m not late this week! I’m proud of me haha! So here’s new chapter!! I hope y’all gonna enjoy it! Thanks to @maddie110201 for helping me out and giving me the usual love and support I need! 

Please tell meh what you thought of this chapter!!!

The heat was uncomfortable, painful and the explosion was blinding. All I could hear was the fire, possessed, which didn’t seem to want to be extinguished. Was I dead? Why wasn’t my skin burnt? Why didn’t I feel the burn?

My name echoed not far away, repeated, shouted like an echo. As if the people calling me were horribly worried. As if my life was in danger. Yes, my life was in danger, I just had an explosion right in front of my face but it didn’t hurt.

The adrenalin pulsed hard in my veins, making my head turn. I could have run a marathon without any problems so much it was powerful. There are two options to answer fear, one of two things can happen. Flight or fight. And regardless of whether the source of intense stress is only an oral presentation or an explosion, the body reacted in the same way. With different doses, however. This is why my body was traveled by the hormone and by reflex I had put myself in a ball, my hands placed protectively in front of my face. I saw with too much clarity the fire expand and embrace me. But I still didn’t feel pain, eyes closed in fear of death. I was afraid to open my eyes, afraid to see death waiting in front of me. Did she have the face of my nightmares’ monster? What was going to happen to me? Would I go back to my world?

The voices calling my name were getting stronger and closer, but I still didn’t dare move. My body began to tremble. Was it death coming to take its share?

“Y / N! Y / N! ”

Or it was another nightmare. Yes, I had to be dreaming. Nothing was true, nothing was, ever.

“Y / N …” A voice said softly and I felt a weight leave me, as if someone was on me from the beginning. I recognized the voice and slowly opened my eyes, my body still tense. And what I saw left me speechless.

Scott, Lydia, Allison and Stiles were doing well. The latter was the one closest to me, his hesitant hand resting on my shoulder to make sure I had nothing. I must have looked like a scared little cat with wide eyes.

A relief came over me when I realized they were okay. No one was dead.

Neither was I.

My confused gaze was lost on the horizon. I was no longer at the place where I was, near the puddle of gas. I was a little farther, intact. My hand went to rest on my chest, against my heart to make sure it was still beating. Fast, but it was. I raised my head to look at my right and finally understood.

“Now I don’t owe you anything…” Ethan mumbled as he stood up, his back fuming. “A life against a life huh? That’s it,” he continued before walking towards the motel without any other glance at me, leaving me confused and above all, impotent. He had saved me, protected me. But the relief of being alive eroded to leave room for the sudden stress.

No … it wasn’t the deal. I wasn’t the person he needed to spare!

“Ethan! It’s not …” I began in a small shrill voice in the attempt to hold him back and explain. But surely hurt, Ethan didn’t want to listen to me. If he had shielded himself in front of me, he surely had serious burns that covered his entire back. So I watched him leave without doing anything to turn to Stiles who didn’t stop looking at me for a second. His look was so sad but at the same time relieved, tears threatening to roll on his cheeks at any moment.

“What …” I started straightening up a little, but I had just enough time to take a breath that Scott was taking me in his arms. He had knelt beside me and I could still smell gasoline on him.

“I was so scared … when I saw you were not with us …” Scott whispered against my neck, not loosening up his grip. “I really thought you were dead.”

I gave him back his embrace faintly as I glanced at Stiles. He passed his hand through his hair, sighing in relief loudly while dropping to the ground beside me. A little further I could see Lydia and Allison, eyes full of water, relieved that I was fine. Finally Scott drew back to put his hands on my cheeks. “You’re okay? You have nothing?” He asked me, his brown eyes scrutinizing every patch of my skin.

“She’s fine,” Stiles muttered. “Thanks to Ethan, she’s fine. ”

“He protected me …” I mumbled weakly while swallowing. “With his body…”

“Saving would be more accurate,” Stiles concluded before his little smile dropped, letting room for regret on his face. “I … I didn’t see it coming, the time I was pushing Scott, the fire was … and you were … ” He began and I could see he was having a hard time finding his words.

“I’m fine, Stiles,” I said softly, putting my hand on his to comfort him. “I’m fine …” I repeated, more for myself than the others.

Ethan had saved me. He had protected me, with his body, like a shield against the flames. He had been wounded to save me, had been burned. Why? Because he had a debt? For the deal I had wanted to pass? But that wasn’t the way it was supposed to be. My goal … my goal behind my fatal and painful confession in the bus was to have him on my side at the crucial moment.

To save Boyd.

But now it was too late. Ethan was persuaded he had paid his debt. Nothing would stop him from killing Boyd.

It was all over.

Stiles briefly explained what had happened as we were walking. Lydia and he had found Boyd immersed in the bath with the safe plated against his torso, drowning. Obviously Stiles had panicked, impossible to lift the heavy weight. But when he backed up and burned against the thermostat, he remembered something Scott had told him one day.

That pain made them human.

Lydia had specified that in the water it was a bit hard to wake him up with pain, but intelligent as he was, Stiles had pointed at Boyd’s legs that weren’t immerged.

So after a small cut on the leg, Boyd had been awakened. And later Isaac too.

That’s how my feelings for Stiles became stronger. He was smart and quick-witted and he immediately left searching for Scott after saving Boyd and Isaac. He had added one and two and understood the place where I was had to be the place where Scott was as well. That, like Lydia, I seemed to attract death.

And that’s how he found me. And Stiles had respected his promise.

“I’ll come back for you. ”

It was decided to sleep on the bus. Out of question to return to the cursed motel. And we were not the only ones, because Boyd and Isaac also joined us a little later. For my part, I didn’t have the mood to talk to anyone, especially not Boyd. The guilt made me look down when he passed by me to sit down a little more in the back of the bus in order to recover a few hours of sleep. For my part, I was seated alone on a bench a little forward, my forehead against the window, my gaze lost. My eyes couldn’t close, I couldn’t fall asleep. Images of the explosion and of all that happened tonight didn’t want to leave my mind, especially memories of Boyd and his inevitable death. I wanted to cry and shout, it was so unfair. It was a good plan. Everything had been planned. But nothing seemed to want to work for me. As if no matter what I did, the course of the story would always and inevitably come back exactly as it’s supposed to be.

“You can’t change anything, stop trying.”

And the voice that kept talking to me. I wasn’t dreaming, I was not asleep and it was still sounding painfully in my skull, each word reviving the pain in my chest and in my head, preventing me from thinking rationally or sleeping, fear only gripping me to me even more. I was losing my mind.

And no matter what was going on in my head, what made me sick and what gave me nightmares, it got stronger.

“The weaker you are, the stronger I am. ”

I didn’t know if it was torturing me like that for revenge. I didn’t even know what the voice was doing in my head, why it was stopping me from speaking. Why? While obviously everything ends up returning to the right order? What good is it to try to change things, what is the point of keeping me from speaking? Nothing was ever going to change anyway.

Why did I arrive in this world, why did I want to play the heroes, why couldn’t I close my eyes without having horrible images impregnated behind my eyelids?

I sighed painfully as I placed my hand against my heart. The pain was still hanging, deaf and deep. But it wasn’t just caused by whatever made me sick. The sadness of having failed was worse; it made me sink slowly into the sea of ​​guilt. I couldn’t change anything. I wouldn’t be able to save Boyd. Neither Aidan.

I wasn’t going to save Allison.

I had no reason to go on, what good was it to try changing the future if it was only to suffer? What good was it to try if it was only to fail again and again?

What was left for me? I missed my family so much, I missed my world. Here I had nothing. Nothing but characters in a series that hardly knew me. They were not supposed to exist. I wasn’t supposed to exist.

My life was meaningless.

“Hey …” A soft voice whispered near me as I felt the bench move slightly under the weight of a person sitting next to me. I didn’t want to talk or look at him. I couldn’t cross Stiles’ sad eyes, worried for me. He shouldn’t be worried about me. He should never have stopped hating me in the first place, when he didn’t trust me. It would have been much less painful and I wouldn’t have this heavy and empty feeling every time he was near me or when any kind action in my regard was carried. I loved him. And it was even more painful to admit it. Because I could never be with him.  

Seeing as I didn’t answer, Stiles continued. I felt him hesitate for a moment, probably licking his lips nervously.

“Are you okay?” He tried awkwardly, putting his hand on my arm and at the place where his fingers came in contact with my skin, a shiver ran through me.

"No …” I simply answered, still not moving despite the irrepressible urge to snuggle in his comforting arms to cry.

While I thought he was going to add something, like the Stiles he was, unable to stand the silence for more than two minutes, he said nothing. As if he shared my pain, without knowing how or where it came from. And this silence I appreciated it very much. I didn’t want to talk. But at the same time I didn’t want to be alone, so his presence was more than appreciated.

Stiles didn’t move after that. He remained stoical and the bench motionless. He didn’t go sit elsewhere and didn’t try to invade my personal space by taking me in his arms by force. Although it wouldn’t have been the case. I still had my head resting against the window so I couldn’t see him, but I could feel him.

Then, lost in the contemplation of the darkness, my thoughts wandered. Something happened, just after we saved Derek and brought him home. Something I didn’t want to think about at the time, too concerned about my mission on the bus and the motel.

Stiles almost kissed me.

My hands were covered with blood, the smell was unbearable. I had only one desire, to get rid of all that blood and go to bed, unable to stand any longer. I was covered, even my clothes were damaged. I was having a nervous breakdown, the adrenaline that left my body brought its effects with it, leaving room for nausea and anxiety. As soon as Stiles took me home, I rushed into the bathroom. I only noticed he followed me when I came out again, my hands washed and clean from blood and changed, having only the desire to go and lie in a ball in my bed to sob. It was too much for me. I wasn’t going to be able to continue for long.

I jumped up and saw him still there, waiting for me against the wall near the bathroom, arms crossed and head bent down. He stared at the ground and bit his lower lip frantically.

“You didn’t leave?” I asked, frozen in front of him. My voice startled him and he looked up at me, his eyes wide open. His arms uncrossed and fell in their place near his hips.

“I …” Stiles began advancing toward me, his expression undecipherable. By reflex I backed up and my back met the wall. “I didn’t want to leave you alone …” He added, stopped walking, his face so close to mine I could feel his hot breath against my face. I started to get hot, so hot and my head turned. I wasn’t ready for such a denouement; I wasn’t ready to have the face of the boy of my dreams only a few inches from mine, so obviously I was caught off guard. And with emotional fatigue, I couldn’t think rationally. Stiles was too close, I could already savor his lips against mine, taste them, finally. I just wanted to kiss him there and now.  

“What you did … it was courageous, stupid but courageous …” Stiles whispered in a somewhat hoarse voice, the one that made me melt. This voice.

But I couldn’t. The envy was there, it wasn’t the best opportunity, but the situation seemed to be adequate. But I could not, Stiles had to end up with Lydia. And I couldn’t break Stydia. At that time, I couldn’t. But my head no longer thought, too absorbed by his sweet face so close to mine. His lips magnetized towards mine, so close but at the same time so far. And at the moment I was going to let myself be carried away, not having the strength to resist him for a second more, my gesture was interrupted by a dull thud not far away near the front door. A groan of pain caught our attention, causing him to move back just enough and turn the head so I could get rid of his grip and walk down the stairs to see what the noise meant, even though I already had a good idea. It was on my way to the source of the noise that I saw Scott, bear by Isaac, enter the house, both severely wounded by the battle against the alpha pack.

I cast a last glance at Stiles, who, behind me, seemed stunned.

To see his best friend so hurt or regret for trying to kiss me? Or the disappointment of not having succeeded?

We didn’t talk about that moment. Neither he nor I have yet approached the almost kiss, either as an accident we had to forget or a desire we both had. Time was lacking; the opportunity never presented itself and never afterwards had he tried anything. So the anxiety of not knowing whether he shared my feelings or not was only even more present. Deep in my heart I really hoped Stiles Stilinski loved me, even if it would thwart all the laws of space-time. To love someone who doesn’t exist and who comes from the future? Seriously. But the idea pleased me, made me blush and butterflies starting to beat in my belly. It seemed impossible, unreal, but the simple thought succeeded in making my heart light and the pain seemed to disappear for a moment.

But I also hoped he didn’t feel like that. Because repairing Stydia and Scalia would be horribly complicated then.

“Stiles …” I whispered, my heart pounding as I was about to ask. Ask him the meaning of the almost kiss. After all, it seemed like an ideal time to talk about it.

“ Yes?” He answered and I felt him straighten up on the bench, surely anxious about what I was going to ask him. But as the words went through my lips, they remained stuck in my throat. Nothing came out. I wasn’t able to ask him and I blamed myself for it.

I should have suspected the inevitable result; I was good for nothing anyway.

"Hold me …” I mumbled as I felt tears burning my eyes and a sob prisoner in my chest. “Please …”

“Okay …” Stiles answered and the last thing I remember before I fell asleep were his arms running around my shoulder, my forehead coming out of the window to meet his chest, my hands clutching the fabric of his red hoodie that my silent tears dipped.

I heard a sentence as well. Half asleep, I couldn’t know if it was a dream or reality.

“I was so afraid of losing you. ”

The next day, it wasn’t the blinding light entering the bus that woke me up, but the screaming and uncomfortable voice of coach echoing in my poor ears, making me grimace with pain.

“I don’t want to know. I really don’t want to know, but in case you missed the announcement, the meet’s canceled, so we’re heading home. Pack it in. Pack it in! ”

Still foggy in sleep, it took me a few minutes to figure out where I was. I straightened up quickly, realizing the position I had slept in, my face against Stiles’ chest. Strangely I didn’t remember my dream. It was as if Stiles’ presence succeeded in chasing the nightmares. Or at least when I wasn’t too weak.

Moreover, the latter also began to wake up gesticulating in all directions.

“What, what, who’s dead,” Stiles mumbled in a sleepy voice before looking at me and immediately he seemed to relax. “How are you this morning?” He asked me, stretching his neck which cracked painfully.

"Well …” I answered, a small smile on the corner of my lips. But our tender and cliché moment was interrupted by Ethan who sat in front of us. I swallowed, knowing more or less what he was about to tell us.

“I don’t know what happened yesterday, but you saved my life, Y / N. I saved your life in return, so I owe you nothing. But pass this message to Scott, or he will hear it himself: Derek may be alive, but he killed one of ours. That means one of two things can happen. Either he joins our pack and kills his own. Or Kali goes after him, and we kill him. That’s the way it works.”

“You know, your little code of ethics there is sort of barbaric, just F.Y.I.” Stiles answered, rolling his eyes, but Ethan had already left.

Anger filled me then. I didn’t know where the force came from, but I could have hit someone. I saved him and that’s how he thanked me? With threats? No. Not gonna happen. I stood up, walking past Stiles to stand upright in the row between the benches, both hands pressing each on it.

"Hey Ethan!” I called him as he sat down, which attracted everyone’s attention on the bus. But I didn’t care. That’s what I was getting for helping? For wanting to be nice? "I shouldn’t have saved you. And you know what? Next time I won’t even try,” I threatened him under the confused look of Scott who, sitting at the back was ready to rise at any moment to intervene.

“McCall! Return to your seat and stop shouting, you disturb the bus!” The enervating voice of coach rang behind me. It was really not the time to talk to me like that anger was already overflowing.

So I turned towards him, fuming and caught his whistle abruptly, leaving him paralyzed with surprise and fear.

"Next time you decide not to listen to me, that you force me to suffer even when I tell you clearly you have to stop the bus, you will pay dear, but not like you think. Believe me, when you will most need me … I’ll let you suffer too,” I threatened him and he was speechless as I broke his whistle with one hand before leaning toward the nearest window to balance what remained outside. Then, without saying anything, I went back to sit next to Stiles, showing him the remaining violet powder in my hand.

“Wolfsbane,” I mumbled, wiping my hand over my jeans, slowly feeling the anger leaving me. Scott must have been right, when I was near Stiles, everything seemed to be better. I was no longer afraid, I had no more trouble and all the negative emotions seemed to disappear momentarily. When I looked up at him, it was to see a smile in the corner of his lips.

“You… that’s why they had hallucinations so easily… the darrach made them weak, each time coach was… they were… wow. Y/N, that’s… smart. That was awesome. Scary, but awesome.”

I smiled in my turn, not knowing the repercussions my words would have in the future, nor did the murderous look Ethan throw me from the back of the bus.

In the next chapter: Hypnosis was a really bad idea.

Tags: @kwien-cee @saoirsewhittle @standalls @anonimereader06 @shantayok @thiscuriouslymiss @dashofsunshineblog @negative-love @sarasmismyonlydefence @sharenaloveyoux @hoedorshegort @tomlinsonlovers @brianaisasongbird @xcastawayherosx @reganf @quit-it-stilinski @captainsherlockwinchester110283 @bunnyboo10154 @pass-me-jeez-it @maddie110201 @lovelustmendes @imaginationgotmegood @5sospoplikerock @mmeyers915 @caitsymichelle13 @capandbuck @tegan-eva @zoejane28 @mysticalbanshee @artgurl559-blog @roscoes-backseat @teenwolfimagines1841 @jimmyisfab @chivesoup @stilesxxl @slightly-depressed-idiot @parislight @yougottalovefandoms @eleventhdoctorsangel @ajlly @hattyohatt @xqueenariax @meliv99 @tarared @sometimeshopedisappear @susybird @marianakebe11 @drivebywaystobetherewithyou

Next Chapter ->

[mca-attack21]

If I Stay part I

Warnings: Car accident, death, hospital. A/N: This is loosely based off of the book/movie by the same title. It is Isaac x Reader and is angsty (as is practically everything else I write). To find more of my writing check out my masterlist: Here. That is where you can also find part II and III.

Life in Beacon Hills was quiet for once, dare you say even normal? The supernatural chaos had died down, and you finally had a chance to focus on being a high school student. Your boyfriend was in Europe and thrilled that for once he didn’t have to constantly worry about your safety. 

Speaking of Isaac, you were facetiming him as you were packing your bags. In less than 24 hours, you would be seeing him in person in Europe and you could not be more excited. What made things even better was the fact that your entire family was going. They would be doing the tourist destinations, and you would be spending every second with Isaac, it was going to be amazing!

By the time 6 am rolled around, everyone was packed in the car talking about all the things they were going to do once they got there. You plugged your headphones in and listened to music looking out the window. You were by far the happiest you had been in a while, and it was only going to get better. You looked down at your phone to see texts from Isaac about how excited he was to see you in less than 12 hours. 

Isn’t amazing how life is one thing and then in an instant it becomes something else- this was supposed to be a fun family vacation - and just like that...everything was about to change.

You didn’t even see the truck. You didn’t hear the screeching of the breaks. You didn’t feel the collision. You merely closed your eyes and when you opened them you were outside laying on the ground.

The first thing you recognized was the high-pitch sirens. Then you started to sit up watching all of the people darting around frantically. You caught a glimpse of the EMTs zipping up a black bag. It was your mom. You suddenly felt sick, and searched for your dad or your brother. But you didn’t see either of them anywhere. Maybe that was a good thing. Maybe that meant they were already in an ambulance on the way to a hospital.

You stood up and went to the nearest EMT, who completely ignored you. Walking towards the commotion, you went up to Sheriff Stilinski. You were so relieved that he was here, “Hey Mr. Stilinski-” but he seemed too pre-occupied to notice you. You then noticed that there were a group of paramedics hovering over someone. Your knees buckled as you saw who it was. 

How was this happening? How could you be looking down at yourself? Was that why no one noticed you, because you weren’t really there? Through your distress you barely took in what was being said of your injuries. The main thing that you figured out was that you were in a coma and that you were about to be rushed to the hospital. You couldn’t tear your eyes away from your body. You weren’t dead because you were breathing. But still, you didn’t really look alive either. 

How were you supposed to process this? You were there, seeing, hearing, experiencing everything. But everyone else was entirely oblivious to your presence. It was like you were a ghost. You had to keep reminding yourself that you weren’t actually dead so that was impossible. 

You were taken to the hospital and straight into surgery. You decided to use this time to try to find your dad or your brother. And while you were trying to figure something out, you mind wandered to your mother. You couldn’t believe that she was actually gone. The image of her being zipped into that bag would be burned into your mind forever. It was devastating to think that you would never be able to ask her for advice again, or do karaoke, or go shopping together or--

Before you could continue down that depressing rabbit hole, you saw them come in with your brother on a stretcher. He was awake and obviously scared. You wished that you could be there for him and were relieved when you saw Melissa come out to be with him. You quickly found out that he only had a few bruised ribs and was going to be fine.

You were going to stay with him, but Stiles and Scott showed up. They asked the nurses at thee nurses station how you were or if there were any updates on your family. Even though she wasn’t supposed to give out that information to anyone, she knew Scott. They two of you came in to drop off food for Melissa several times together.

“Y/n came in unconscious with multiple injuries and went straight into surgery. Her brother is awake and only suffered a couple of bruised ribs. The two of them are going to need all of the support in the world considering they’ve both lost both their parents.”

The last six words felt like bricks. This wasn’t happening. This morning you woke up with a family. Now you were an orphan. You turned around and raced towards your brother’s room. You wondered if he knew. “Everything is going to be alright, we can get through this as long as we have each other” you told him even though you knew he couldn’t hear you. He was fast asleep which was a good thing. 

After a while you decided to try to go to the operating room to see if you could figure out what was going on with you. On your way, you passed through the waiting room which was filled with your friends. The only one missing was Isaac.

Oh god- had anyone called him yet? For all he knew you and your family were on a 12 hour flight right now. 

As if she read your thoughts, Lydia spoke up, “Has anyone called Isaac?” 

After some discussion it was decided that Scott would call. You followed him out wanted nothing more than to hear Isaac’s voice. Little did you know you picked the worst possible time to leave.

“Hello?” Isaac answered. God you loved his voice.

“Hey Isaac, are you somewhere where we can talk privately?” Scott asked still trying to figured out what he was going to say.

“Yeah what’s up?” 

“It’s about y/n-”

“I know I’m excited, she’ll be here in like...6 hours,”

“No Isaac, listen to me, she and her family never made it to the airport. They were on their way there when they got into a car accident.”

“How bad was it? Is everyone okay?”

Scott tried to hold in his emotion as he answered, “It’s bad. Really bad. Neither of her parents even made it to the hospital. Her brother is okay, just a few bruised ribs. But Y/n, she’s in a coma and had significant injuries. She’s been in surgery since she got to the hospital. My mom said that it doesn't look good.” 

You didn’t know what was worse, the pain of Scott’s word making you relive the last six hours of your life or hearing Isaac’s response. Either way you knew that you had to stay strong. You tried to focus on the fact that you still had your brother, Isaac, and the pack. It was not going to be easy, but you would make it through.

“I have to go Scott,” Isaac choked out before ending the call.

You watched as the young alpha hung his head. He was trying to keep it together and be the leader that he thought everyone needed him to be. But this whole situation sucked and it hurt and he wanted to be able to fix it so badly. 

After taking a minute, the two of you went back inside. Everyone looked even worse than they did before. That is when Melissa came up to Scott and pulled him aside. The look on her face told you before her words could. Your brother was dead. Apparently he had bleeding in his brain that they didn’t catch in time.

You should’ve stayed with him. You should’ve protected him. This whole thing was your fault. They wouldn’t even have been heading to the airport if it wasn’t for you. You just wanted all of this to be over. You didn’t want to be here anymore you didn’t want to feel it.

As those thoughts left your mind, the room began spinning. You sunk to your knees feeling like all of the energy had been sucked out of you. The next time you were aware of yourself, you appeared in an ICU room. Your ICU room, you glanced at the clock, it was after five pm. 

You then focused on your body that was lying on the bed. There were a lot of tubes and wires hooked up to different machines that you were sure all served different purposes. The blood that you saw this morning had been cleaned and was replaced with bandages. All of your jewelry had been removed, and you watch was replaced with a medical identification band. You then looked around the room itself. The art on the wall was generic and the walls were painted an obnoxious white. There was a tv, but it wasn’t on.  

You tried not to think about things. But how were you supposed to ignore the fact that your family was gone. Your dad would never walk you down the aisle, you would never be able to talk to your mom again, you brother would never have the chance to grow up. Why were you still here? How were you supposed to wake up without a family? How could you leave the pack? How could you leave Isaac?

Either way, you didn’t understand how it worked. Why were you in this in-between state, and how could you get out of it? If you thought about dying would you? If you pinched yourself would you wake up? You had this internal feeling that it was up to you, but how were you ever supposed to decide this? 

It was a quarter til eight when they moved you into a different room. And it was shortly after that when Melissa started escorting your friends in one at a time. She explained to them that the doctors had done everything that they could, now it was just a matter of if or when you would wake up.

Scott was first. He sat there for a minute before reaching over and trying to take your pain. You could tell how much he was struggling to figure out what to say to you. This must’ve been the first time that it really felt real to him.

“You know, you are the one I go to when I don’t know what to say, so this is a little unfair,” he tried to joke. 

“God Y/n, I want to tell you to stay strong and fight through this, but I’m not even keeping it together right now.”

“You’re doing your best” you said even though he couldn’t hear you.

“I’m at such a loss for words. You know that no matter what I will be here for you. My mom, the pack, Isaac, you still have so many people that are here for you. And I know you know that,” he sighed struggling to find the next words.

“It’s okay Scott.”

“After losing Allison last year, I can’t even begin to imagine losing you too,” he added as tears began to escape his eyes.

“I know that today was totally screwed up. And I would be an idiot to think that there is anything that I could ever do to fix it. I could sit here for hours telling you how much you mean to all of us and why we need you to wake up. But I can’t do that, because that would be selfish. So instead I’ll sit here and tell you that you need to do what is best for you. You are always making sacrifices for other people, you are one of the most selfless people I know. So this time I want you to know that we will be okay. Even if you decide that you need to be with your family.”

He remained it your room in silence just watching the slow rise and fall of your chest which was generated by a machine. He didn’t want this to be goodbye. He wished that he could sit in there with you until you woke up and then life went back to normal. Actually, he wished that he could wake up to find that this was all just a really bad dream. But neither of those things were going to happen, and he knew that he needed to leave so someone else could come in and see you.

Lydia was next. She was wiping away tears before she even made it through the door. She walked over to your bed and sat down. Just as quickly she stood up to reposition your nightgown and pull your hair out of your face.

“There, that’s better,” she decided as she found her seat again.

“Y/n, I’m so sorry that you have to go through this. Your parents, your brother, I can’t even begin to imagine. But I want to make sure that you realize that you still have a family. My mom, Scott’s mom, the sheriff, even Derek have all said that you can move in. You already know that the pack will be there for you every step of the way, even too much so sometimes. You are not alone. So I need you to wake up,” she said that last sentence as if it were the easiest thing in the world. She then continued to talk, but you weren’t paying attention as you were too busy thinking about what life would be like if you did wake up.  

You were drawn out of your thoughts as Derek entered your room. He two went to your side and tried to take your pain, which apparently isn’t possible when someone is unconscious and unable to feel pain. He then started talking to you about how he lost his family and would be here for you through everything. He told you that if you wanted to you could move in with him for as long as you wanted.

Liam came in next and was a mess. He told you that he didn’t know how to survive this messed up town without you and that he needed you to wake up. He started talking about all the times that you had been there for him but was cut off as a nurse came in to run some tests.

You glanced up at the clock to notice that it was almost two am. You wondered why Stiles hadn’t come in yet. But just as you thought in, Stiles came in looking completely wrecked. You could tell that he had been crying. He paced around the room avoiding looking at you. Taking a deep breath before sitting down and taking your hand in his. You could tell that he too was at a loss for words, which was very abnormal. But then again, nothing was normal about any of this. 

“I hate hospitals. Every time I come here, all I can think about is that day that my mom died. Or the multiple times that one of us has almost died here. But you have always been here for me through all of that. You were there when my dad started drinking. You’ve always stood up for me at school and helped me through panic attacks. You were there when I got sick, and never gave up on me when I got possessed by the nogitsune. Without you there would be no way that Lydia and I would be together right now. We’ve spent so many hours together studying or doing research. You were on my side when no one else was with the whole Theo thing. And you’ve saved me so many times. I can’t even begin to count the number of sacrifices you have made to make sure I was okay. I wish I had the magic words to make everything better, I wish there was something I could do to erase today. But all I can do is sit here and hold your hand. I promise that if you wake up I will be there for you until you are okay again. I can promise you that you won’t be alone,” he paused searching for any sign of recognition.

“Come on Y/n you have to come back to us, you have to wake up. If you die i’ll be devastated, I will literally go out of my freaking mind. I can’t do this without you, I don’t want to do this without you,” he was now crying. 

You just sat next to him your head on his shoulder. He sat there in silence until he got a text saying that his dad was back. He stood up kissed your forehead before leaving.

You thought that he would have been the last of the visitors. But then you saw the curly haired boy that you were so in love with peek through the door.

“Y/n you have to stay. I will move back, I will do whatever you want but you have to wake up. You are my home, you’re the only thing that keeps me human. It doesn’t even matter to me where we are as long as we are together. I am absolutely in love with you and I will be there for you no matter what.” 

He kissed your check and you just thought about how much you wanted to feel that kiss and how much you wanted to kiss him. Then something happened. You fell completely unable to move, you wondered if this was what it felt like to die. 

Your whole life flashed in front of your eyes. You saw your mom and dad, you saw the day you met Stiles, you saw your brother coming home from the hospital, you saw your fifth birthday party, you saw your first kiss with Scott, you saw the day you picked out Stiles jeep. You saw your Brother’s first lacrosse game, you saw your and Isaac’s first date, you saw Allison’s death, you saw Isaac getting on the plane, you saw the crash in slow motion, you saw your parents and brother one last time, you saw your friends, and then you saw a bright light. 

Everything was blindingly white. And then you blinked. You started to freak out as you couldn’t breath. You moved your hands and tried to pull the thing away from your mouth. Your heart rate was off the chart. You didn’t notice Isaac push the call nurse button or him begging you to calm down. You did however, feel it when his warm hands gently took yours  and forced them down. You both had tears in your eyes. You were filled with fear and pain that only subsided so much by him being there. And he was filled with an overwhelming sense of relief. All of that transpired in under a minute.

Then Melissa came in with another nurse and they forced Isaac to leave and go back into the waiting room where Scott, Stiles, and the Sheriff were talking. They looked up to him a bit surprised as he wiped the tears away from his eyes. 

“She’s awake...” he said a smile forming on his face. Before he could say another word Stiles had already started sprinting down to your room. “...but the nurses need to run tests so we won’t be able to see her for a while.,” he finished. 

Scott got up and pulled him into a hug and the Sheriff went after his dork of a son to make sure he didn’t get in the way. Scott and Isaac started calling the others and letting them know the good news.

Meanwhile, the tube had officially been removed from your throat and Melissa brought you a glass of the best water you had ever tasted in your life.

“Stiles Stilinski if you go in that room you are grounded from Roscoe, Scott, and Y/n for a month,” you heard Stiles’ dad yell which brought a smile to your face.

“Okay, you just woke up, can you tell me your name and the date?” Melissa asked. You answered this and a bunch of other questions she asked to check your cognitive levels. She tested your reflexes and explained to you in detail what had happened and the extent of your injuries. She told you that you would be in the hospital for up to a week, and had a long recovery ahead of you (which thankfully Deaton would be able to speed up). As she explained what happened to your family you cried as if you were experiencing it again for the first time. After all of that, she told you that you needed to get some rest. 

As she was getting ready to leave you asked, “Can I see them first?”

“Of course,” she smiled.

She went out to the waiting room where all eyes followed her expectantly.

“She appears to be fine, but we will have to run more tests in the morning. She knows what happened and is dealing with it as well as you could expect. She needs to rest, her body can not handle too much excitement. That being said, she has asked to see you,” she said before gesturing that they could go back.    

Again, Stiles took off sprinting down the halls with Isaac and Scott not too far behind him.

“I’m *huff* so glad *huff* your okay,” he said trying to catch his breath sitting in one of the chairs next to you. 

“I’m doing better than you at the moment,” you joked. 

He couldn’t even be slightly offended because he was so relieved to see that you were awake. And it was taking everything in him not to pull you into a hug. 

Scott and Isaac entered the room, and Isaac laughed, “I don’t think I’ve ever actually seen Stilinski run that fast.”

“How are you feeling Y/n?” Scott asked as he took a seat in the chair next to Stiles.

“Pretty great considering all of the drugs they have me on,” you smiled before yawning.

“That’s good, Stiles and I are going to go home-”

“What? No I’m not. I’m going to stay here.” 

“No your not, because Y/n needs to rest,” Scott instructed his friend who seemed to catch on. He then continued redirecting his attention to you, “But the two of us will be back tomorrow morning with some stuff from your house. Lydia is going to get you a new phone, and everyone else will be dropping by throughout the day. If you need anything let us know,” he said standing and almost forcing Stiles out of the room. 

Isaac, who hasn’t stopped smiling since he re-entered the room took Scott’s seat. You pouted for a moment before using all of your strength to push yourself over to the left side of the bed and gestured for Isaac to join you. 

“I don’t know if that’s a good idea,” he tried to reason.

“Please.”

And that was all it took for him to cave. He was very gentle and asked you multiple times if you were okay before the two of you finally settled comfortably beside each other. You took in the warmth of his body and the faint scent of his cologne. While nothing of the past day was ever going to be okay, here, in his arms, it felt like there was a possibility of okay, and maybe that was enough.

“I love you Lahey,” you whispered. 

“I love you too Y/n, try to get some rest,” he replied lightly kissing your forehead.

[ciathyzareposts]

Missed Classic: Borrowed Time – Won! And Final Rating

Written by Joe Pranevich

It seems like only two days ago that we started our look at Borrowed Time, the first game by Subway Software and a fun diversion as I prepare for Batman Returns. This is the first adventure game created by “The Game Doctor”, William Kunkel, during a brief period where he transitioned from game journalist to game designer. We left off last week after an extended chase sequence as my character, the hardboiled detective Sam Hawlow, survived an attempt on his life.

The plot thickens right away. As soon as I step out of the bar where I had fled, my assistant Iris finds me. Someone has kidnapped my ex-wife Rita; Iris recommends that I search Rita’s apartment for clues. I learned a few minutes earlier that Rita was on good terms with one of the thugs, Fred Mongo, so I do not understand why she was kidnapped. Was she double-crossed? Is this a setup intended to lure me to my death? Was she so upset about the unpaid alimony that she would seek out the mob, only to end up in over her head? I’ll have to play some more to find out. Although my character should know where her apartment is located, I will need to explore the city to find it. Let’s see what we see!

The dogs kids love to bite!

Rather than give you the usual boring play-by-play, let’s cut to the chase and I’ll summarize each area as I found it. The streets are in a grid so explaining the layout isn’t so bad:

First Avenue, running west to east, is where my office and the bar are located. Walking down the street to the west, I discover Hawkey’s newsstand, a vendor selling hotdogs, and a shack at the end of the road. Hawkey insults his own newspaper and won’t sell me any of them. In contrast, the hotdog stand is happy to sell me a weiner, but we eat it immediately rather than stashing it in inventory for later use. I’ll return to the shack in a bit. The hotel that I raced through at the beginning of the game has been closed due to “vandals”, but my office is still open. Shame there’s nothing new there.

The next street to the south is Sixth Avenue, so thank heavens for narrative compression. From east to west, that street features a police station, a park, Bruce Light’s house, a Medical Office, and a pile of trash at the end of the street. The park consists of two rooms: a statue of George Washington and a shed with a combination lock on it. I’ll be on the lookout for a combo. The trash at the end of the street hides a bone, which I pocket in true adventure style. Bruce’s house can’t be explored without a search warrant, but we catch a glimpse of some pill bottles on his table.

Not completely animated, but these scenes give the impression of a living city.

To the north of First is Polk Street, a residential area. I find a house guarded by a “bruiser”, Rita’s apartment, the offices of a company named “G&W”, and a parking lot. There’s a brief scene the first time you arrive at the guarded house: a woman goes, but comes out quickly flanked by a couple of goons before they all get into a cab. I don’t recognize her or the thugs so I have no idea if this scene is significant.

The only location not on those three east-west streets is a post office, tucked away between First and Sixth. The post office has a long hallway of locked PO boxes which seems promising. My bet is that I will find a key to one of them later.

I had to work all of that out over several restores. There seems to be an internal timer where if you don’t trigger some action to advance the plot every few turns, the mob catches up to you and eventually kills you. This gives the game a constant forward pressure, but it makes exploring difficult and is unfair to someone just trying to get the lay of the land. Before long, I got into the habit of saving whenever I think I found a clue, then using that to iterate until I find the next one. I use that trick to also ensure that I move from clue to clue as efficiently as possible, just in case there is an overall timer too.

Not the Kidnap Victim We Were Looking For

While I explore, I stumble onto some situations that warrant further investigation. The first of these is at the shack on First Avenue. Fred Mogo steps out just as I arrive, but hails a cab and speeds away before he sees me. The door to the shack is locked, but a little bit of shoulder-pressure knocks it down easily enough. Inside is the tied up figure of Mavis Brown, the barmaid who gave me advice then ran at the beginning of the game.

I admit that I had a complete “blue screen” moment when I arrived. Had I won the game already? Did I find my kidnapped wife without even trying? No! My ex-wife’s name is Rita Sweeny. Mavis Brown was also kidnapped, although we didn’t learn that until we found her here. Checking out the place, I also discover a white tube and a novel, Babes and Bullets by Bob Tucker. I free Mavis and she tells me that she was kidnapped because she was seen talking to Doris Maglam. Who is that? Doris had told Mavis that Fred has to see someone about a car, but why that information is so sensitive as to warrant a kidnapping is unknown. She believes that Fred thinks she knows more than she does. It sounds like I’ll need to see Doris myself. The tube contains medication for Fred from Dr. Lafferty, but it’s not clear what the medication is for. The novel doesn’t seem important, but Fred was using a receipt from Stiles Safe Park– including a license plate number– as a bookmark. Is this the car that Fred is interested in? Mavis heads out in a few turns and I follow suit.

Let’s pause a second to talk about Bob Tucker. Unless I miss my mark, this is a reference to a famous fanzine and science fiction author from the 1930s through the early 2000s. “Bob” Tucker was a pen name used by Wilson Tucker while writing fandom materials starting in the 1930s. I have tracked down twenty novels and many short stories that Tucker sold starting in 1941, but no “Babes and Bullets”. Given Kunkel’s deep experience with fan magazines and fandom communities, I would not be surprised to learn that this was a “deep cut” and that Tucker really did have a self-published story or novella by that name, even in 1934. Even if not, it’s a nice homage.

I head to the police station to tell them to arrest Fred, but they tell me that they need to catch him red handed. I saw him leave the scene of the crime. There is a witness who would testify that he locked her up, plus we found prescription medication in his name at the scene of the crime. What more could they possibly need? I resolve to ask at the doctor’s office next.

HIPAA Violation

With a map of the area, finding finding the doctor’s office is no sweat. I head inside and am confronted by a nurse. She asks if I am a patient and I honestly answer “no”. She asks me to sit in the waiting area… and I wait and wait and wait. I eventually restore and tell her “yes” instead. She then immediately leads me into a consultation room. I search it to find some bandages in the desk, but what’s more important is what I see through an open doorway into an examination room: Fred Mongo is here, being treated by the doctor for something; I can see the doctor bandaging his hands. This must relate somehow to the prescription that I found in the shack, although I am not sure how yet. If I try to confront Mongo or even stay too long in the consultation room, some goons ambush me and drop me unconscious back into the street. Any further attempts to get into the office results in the receptionist threatening to call the cops on me. I hope I found everything I needed.

Next door to the doctor’s office is Bruce Light’s house– I know this from the description but I have no idea who he is. He lets me in when I knock and I am shocked to discover dozens of pill bottles out in view on his front table. He blocks any attempt to go further into his house without a search warrant. I’m not sure how or if it connects to Fred’s doctor issues, but he seems like he’s up to something. I’ll come back later.

Visiting the Ex

Getting into Rita’s apartment is easy if you apply a little bit of force: we have to break down the door. Immediately after entering, someone attacks me from behind and I am knocked unconscious. When I wake up, I am dangling from the ceiling pipes with my hands tied above me. There’s not much exploring that I can do in this situation, but luckily a nearly table contains some matches and a candle. Using absolutely superhuman feats of skill, I am able to pick up both with my feet and toss them up to my tied hands. It seems impossible, and the game text plays off the silliness of completing this action. With the matches, it is easy work to light the candle to burn the rope that holds my hands to the bar. I drop to the floor unharmed and continue investigating.

My first observation is that everything is covered with dust. Either Rita doesn’t actually live here or she doesn’t clean much. I search the kitchen and come up with my next clue: a receipt for some burn salve. It costs exactly the same about as the white tube says on the label so they must be one and the same. That answers a few questions but opens a few more: Rita must have been helping Fred Mongo. After he burned his hands, he sought medical treatment and needed Rita to help him buy or apply the salve. Was he at the doctor getting his bandages replaced? Fred and Rita must be in cahoots– but why? And how did Fred burn his hands?

This is the point in the game where the inventory limit is starting to matter. We are able to hold eight items, two of which must be our wallet and gun. That leaves six slots but my hands are already full. I drop the glass shard so that I can pick up the receipt; I doubt I will need that again.

I wish I had found these earlier…

Case Files

Although my screenshots are of the Amiga version, up to this point I had been playing the DOS version. Realizing how much nicer the Amiga was, I figured out FS-UAE and downloaded the correct disk image. In the process, I end up playing over the whole start again and producing the lovely screenshots that you see above.

But in the second pass, I find a major missing font of knowledge, right at the start of the game: my case files. In your office, you can browse your records to get a list of open and recently closed cases. They shed a ton of light on what is going on in the game, so much so that I am surprised that I worked out as much as I did without them.

They are:

Case #1 – We are investigating Fred Mogo for the arson of Acme Paper. We’ve seen Fred twice now, first when we saw him leave the shed where Mavis was being held and then in the doctor’s office. The burn salve that we found (and connected to my ex-wife, Rita) must be to help him heal from wounds that he received during that attack.

Case #2 – We investigated F. Nagler for his political activities at the request of his employer. We found him innocent, but I’m not sure what kind of “political activities” he could have been involved in. Unionizing? Gosh, is he a socialist?

Case #3 – We investigated missing money at the Dublin Rose bar next door, discovering that Ms. Athlea was nicking from her employer to buy a sports car.

Case #4 – I am helping the FBI gather evidence against “Boss” Farnham. They are 90% sure that he is a mob boss, but need help to pin it on him. Doesn’t a nickname like “Boss” give it away?

Case #5 – G&W Inc. hired me to track down an embezzling employee. I worked out that it was Jim Schuman, but they demote rather than fire him. Case closed, even if that was a terrible decision on their part.

Case #6 – Morris Motors hired me to investigate Doris Maglam who was 60 days late for her car payment. We found her and the car was repossessed, now sitting at Stiles Park. Doris is who Mavis was talking to when Fred nabbed her; he seems to be interested in this car and I should find that parking lot.

Case #7 – We are investigating R. M. Donald, a “burger bandit” who is on the run. I’m sure he’d eat like a burger king, if he just went in (and out) of a Wendy’s. Robble, robble!

Of those, we know that we are dealing with #1, #4, and #6. I’m not really sure how pertinent any of the others are, but #7 is clearly just a fast food joke.

Duking It Out in the Parking Lot

When you arrive at the parking lot for the first time, there is a scene where Jake, the parking attendant, and Fred Mongo are arguing. Jake refuses to release a DeSoto to Fred because it’s been repossessed. My guess is that he left something in the car that he doesn’t want anyone to find, possibly pointing to his arson case. If I come back later, the argument is over and Fred is gone. At that point, I try to show Jake the receipt to find the car, or just to search around and see if I can find it myself, but neither does anything.

But here is where I get stuck. I can find nothing new to do. I cannot get past the thug into the townhouse, find a key to the safe deposit box, or anything else. I resolve to take a hint: I need to break up the argument.

I have to restore to catch the argument in progress, but that is not too big of a deal. If I flash my gun at Fred and Jake, they stop fighting. Jake tells me that Fred was trying to take burned gloves and three cans of lighter fluid from the impounded car including. Aha! That is proof that Fred was involved in the arson. A turn or two later, Jake calls the police and they tell me that I have to show them evidence. When I show them the burn cream, the receipt, the lighter fluid, and the gloves– one at a time– they tell me that they are interested but there isn’t enough evidence. When I show the last item, they are satisfied and arrest Mr. Mongo for arson.On his way to the big house, Fred rats out his former boss Farnham. He says that he hid a key in Rita’s apartment that opens box 999 at the post office. He says that there is enough evidence there to send Farnham away for good.

Seeing Fred taken away in handcuffs is oddly satisfying.

The Chase II: More Chasing

Searching Rita’s again, I find a key hidden behind the stove. Fetching it is more difficult than it looks since I burn my hands and drop everything. I need to apply the bandages before I can gather up my things and continue.

Using the key at the post office, I am surprised to only discover a poem: “In the country, in the city, under the father’s eye, dig six feet and you’ll have all that money can buy.” It’s not a particularly good poem, but it does have the number 6316 written on the back. What could that be used for? The shed! I head to the shed in the park next and try that combination on the lock. It works! Unfortunately, that only contains a shovel. But “under the father’s eye” is pretty clearly a reference to the George Washington statue so I go there to dig. I discover a suitcase!

Founding father!

Unfortunately, thugs emerge from all directions. I don’t have time to do anything except run; any other action kills me. I head north and find thugs coming from up the street. The only safe direction I can go is west but when I arrive at the end of the street (where I found the bone earlier), I am killed when I turn north. It takes more than a minute to realize that I can “hide” in the trash. Inside is a very angry dog, but he calms down when I return his bone. Leaving the pile too quickly gets me killed, but I can head east once the thugs pass.

The way east leads to the police station and that is where I head next. I tell them to arrest Farnham based on the evidence in the case and they take me to his headquarters. I hand over the suitcase as well as the folder describing embezzlement that is contained inside, but they are not enough. The police accuse me of sending them on a wild goose chase. Farnham stays a free man and I’m stuck.

Alas, I was unable to arrest him this time.

Taking a Hint

After thrashing about a bit and remembering that I’m supposed to be playing Batman Returns, I give up and consult a walkthrough. It’s not as satisfying, but it does get me to the end. I am satisfied that I came close to solving the game, but I needed two more bits of evidence to send Farnham up the creek.

The first thing I didn’t do properly was handle the thugs in the bar. They scared Mavis out and into the street where she was picked up by Fred, but I would not have thought to threaten them with my gun… twice… to learn where Lebock’s hideout is and how to get in. I wasn’t even thinking about Lebock. My only note on him is that he is “Farnham’s man” and that he was last seen with Rita and Fred. After the second threat, they tell me that the password is “tinplayer”. I head up to the building guarded by the bruiser to try it out.

This leads me into another “escape” puzzle. When I arrive at Lebock’s place, he is sitting in a chair by the fire. He kicks me out immediately unless I run east into his dining room. There, I can grab a candlestick and use it to knock out the thugs that are following me. I can then proceed further east and out the back door to emerge at the street. Any deviation gets me shot. All good so far? No. I missed some evidence! What I needed to do was immediately lock the door. Somehow, I don’t get shot or kicked out and Lebock acts defensive. That gives me time to search the fireplace for a piece of partly-burned paper documenting his wrong-doings and then I flee east as before.

The second bit that I missed was due to a mapping error. There were rooms west of the parking lot and that lead to the mob headquarters and another house. If you visit Farnham without the police, you can watch him say “hiyo” to his dogs to calm then. He won’t help me because he’s a mob boss and I’m a detective, but the “hiyo” is what I needed to get past a group of vicious dogs guarding the other house. Inside, I find Rita and Mr. Wainwright which is doubly impressive because I didn’t realize he was kidnapped or know who he is at all. If I talk to him after the rescue, he hands over an audit report that proves money laundering. I take all that evidence to the police (with the rest that I had found earlier) and I win! Farnham is going to jail for a long time.

Time played: 4 hrs 00 min

Nothing but the best minimum-security prison for you!

Final Rating

That was fun, if not particularly long. I’m used to the deep writing and twists and turns of an Infocom adventure and this wasn’t quite that. It reminds me of Scott Adams-style adventures like the Questprobe ones that I played, but more sophisticated in its approach to storytelling. There is a very rough sophistication here that I can’t put my finger on but which demonstrates a promise for future games. Let’s see how the score comes out.

Puzzles and Solvability – Overall not bad, if a bit unfair at times. The highlight (of a sort) is the three chase puzzles where you have to escape from thugs. While it was a rough way to begin, it was more fun than challenging. I only struggled with the second chase at Lebock’s place because I would not have thought that locking the door would have stopped him from killing me. Beyond that, identifying what evidence you needed for the police was nice and the little riddle with the poem was cute, if not particularly difficult. Having to flash around your gun to get people to listen to you fooled me twice– I just don’t think of that sort of thing. My score: 4.

Interface and Inventory – You know, I want to give a nice score here because the game looks polished… but it’s really not. The mouse is available but pretty much useless. The noun and verb lists do not update throughout the adventure and seem to be broken. The game is worse off for having those useless panes taking up so much space. Add to that a strict inventory limit which played off poorly with the timing-based puzzles and I just consider this a well-intentioned failure. Better than Curse of Enchantia though, right? My score: 2.

My completed map of the game.

Story and Setting – The game drops you into a world with a lot of names quickly, but once you work out how to read your case files it gets easier to understand how everyone connects. Solving one unrelated kidnapping while you are researching a second really threw me off in terms of what was going on. On the bright side, all of the cases led together back to the mob and the ending scene specifically calls out that you stripped Farnham’s allies one by one before taking him on. I was going to go lower, but I like the effort that went into creating the interlocking cases. My score: 6.

Sound and Graphics – The animation touches are nice and the images are fantastic… on the Amiga. Some of the scenes seemed a bit repetitive, but nowhere near the image reuse that we’ve seen with similar games in the past. This is nice as far as illustrated text adventures go. My score: 4.

Environment and Atmosphere – The chase sequence gave us a tense beginning to a game that never ceases pushing you forward. While I do not always like that from a puzzle standpoint, I do from an atmosphere one. The city itself was well-designed, if not that large, but the naming of the streets gave you the impression of someplace bigger. Nicely done. My score: 4.

Dialog and Acting – The text used in the game was limited, but what was there was fine. I wish that there had been more attempt to clarify who all of the names were that got thrown around at the beginning. My score: 3.

Add it all up: (4+2+6+4+4+3)/.6 = 38 points!

Looking over my scores, that puts it right around Spiderman and Hook and that feels about right. It was a bit of a transition game from text adventure to illustrated ones, plus the first game by a fledgling design house. It was an enjoyable few hours and I have no complaints.

Up next will be our regularly scheduled program: Batman Returns (1992). My copy of the game (and instruction manual) have finally arrived. Tune in next week: Same Bat-time, same Bat-channel.

source http://reposts.ciathyza.com/missed-classic-borrowed-time-won-and-final-rating/

[platonicteenwolf]

Wolf Moon (S1E1) Part II

Teen Wolf x Reader Series Rewrite

A/N: Let me know if any of the links are wacky or if I mess up on any of the pronouns cause posting three versions is sometimes a bit confusing so I can fix it if needed. Also lmk if there’s a misspelling or grammar issue too :)

She/Her Pronouns Version

He/Him Pronouns Version

Next Part / Masterlist

Warnings: dead body, swearing

Lacrosse stick strapped to his backpack, Scott pedals into the parking lot of Beacon Hills High School among the swarm of students. Skateboarders jump steps, potheads take barely concealed tokes, girls and guys hold hands, guys and guys hold hands, (yes it’s California.)

As Scott pulls his bike to one of the racks to lock it up, a pristine BMW with a license plate that reads: JCKSN37, blazes into the lot and stops in the space next to the racks. Scott, still kneeling, gets bumped in the back when the driver’s side door opens.

Jackson Whittemore, exceptionally good-looking and usually oblivious to anyone not within his social or financial circle, steps out to notice that Scott hit his car by being near it.

“Dude. Watch the paint job.”

He’s completely unaware of hitting Scott as he grabs his own lacrosse equipment.

“Yo Jackson!”

Hearing his favorite word, Jackson looks up and heads over to meet his friends. All good looking jocks with big smiles and expensive cars, pretty girls coming up to say hello.

—————

A school bell rings outside a brick building swarming with students.

“Alright let’s see this thing,” Stiles says, a little too eagerly. Now standing in front of the school, Scott takes off his backpack and pulls his shirt up a few inches to show Stiles and I the bandage on his lower back.

“Oh damn that looks bad!” I reach out to touch it and Scott flinches back. “Oops, sorry”

“It was too dark to see much but I’m pretty sure it was a wolf.”

Scoffing, Stiles countered. “A wolf bit you? No, not a chance.”

“I heard a wolf howling.”

”No, you didn’t.”

“What do you mean ‘No, I didn’t?’ How do you know what I heard?”

Jumping in, I explained, “California doesn’t have wolves. Not for the last sixty years. The animals were almost hunted to extinction in the 1920s California Gold Rush.” Both boys looked at me in surprise. “What,” I questioned, “I like history.”

Seemingly accepting that answer Scott continued on. “Well, if you don’t believe me about the wolf, then you’re definitely not going to believe me when I tell you I saw the body.”

“Holy shit!” This was amazing!

“You what? Are you kidding me!?” Stiles almost looked like a kid who just found the hidden candy cabinet.

“I wish. I’m going to have nightmares about it for a month.”

There was still one thing I’ve been wondering about though, “Which half of the body was it?”

“Oh- it was the top half. I saw her dead eyes staring back at me. It was scary.” Scott shuddered, thinking about her lifeless body laying in the forrest.

“Well I think that’s freaking awesome,” Stiles concluded. “This is seriously the best thing that’s happened to this town since...”

Stiles suddenly got very distracted by something behind Scott. I turned around to see what it is and you’ll never guess.

“...since the birth of Lydia Martin who’s walking toward us right now.”

A drop-dead gorgeous junior named Lydia Martin was walking towards the school doors like it was a fashion show runway in Milan. Stiles has had the biggest crush on Lydia ever since we were kids.

“Hey Lydia, how are you? You look--” She walks right past him not even giving him a second glance. “...like you’re going to ignore me.”

Scott chuckled at his failed attempt in flirting with the girl as I pat him on his shoulder.

“You’ll get her next time champ.” Stiles shot me an unappreciative glare as I held my hands up in defense and he started grumbling about how unfair everything was.

“You guys are the cause of this, you know. Dragging me down to your nerd depths. I’m a nerd by association. I’ve been Scarlet-nerded by you two.”

As we reach the steps of the school I get ready to part with the dynamic duo to get to my class. “Alright boys, I’ve got first with Harris so I’ll see y’all later.” Mentions of good luck were lost behind me as I entered the thick crowd ready to start the day.

—————

First period English. Scott takes the desk next to Stiles as the teacher, Mr. Curtis starts writing instructions on the chalkboard.

“As you all know by now, there was indeed a body found in the woods last night. I’m sure your eager little minds are coming up with various macabre scenarios as to what happened but I’ve been told that the police have a suspect in custody.”

Scott looks to Stiles who shrugs, news to him as well.

“Which means you can give your undivided attention to the syllabus on your desk outlining the semester. Read it now. And by read I don’t mean skim.”

As the students begin reading a cell phone starts ringing out of nowhere. Scott glances up and looks around. The other students quietly read the syllabus, seemingly not hearing the noise. Gazing about, he can’t seem to find the source until his eyes fall on the windows of the classroom...

Outside - across the quad, Scott sees a girl sitting on a bench who he will come to know as Allison Argent. Sixteen and radiating with an innocent beauty. When she puts the cell phone to her ear, it becomes obvious that, despite the closed windows and the distance, this is the ringing Scott is somehow able to hear.

More astonishingly, Scott can hear both Allison and her caller.

“Mom, three calls on my first day is a little overdoing it,” Allison teased.

“Just making sure you’re there okay and you’ve got everything you need.” But Allison digs through her bag, becoming alarmed.

“Everything except a pen. Oh my God, I didn’t actually forget a pen.”

“Don’t panic. I’m sure you can borrow one from another student.”

“Okay, okay, I gotta’ go. Love ya.”

Unable to take his eyes off the extraordinary girl, Scott watches the school’s principal join her on the steps.

“Sorry to keep you waiting.” The Principal guides her across the quad, their conversation becoming clearer to Scott with every step.

“So you were saying San Francisco isn’t where you grew up?”

“No, but we stayed for more than a year which is unusual in my family.”

Even when Allison and the Principal disappear from view, Scott hears the clatter of the building door opening, the clicking of their heels on the tile floor of the hall.

“Well, hopefully, Beacon Hills is your last stop for a while.” The door to the classroom opened, causing the rest of the class to look up. The principle turns to address the room. “Class, this is our new student, Allison Argent. Please do your best to make her feel welcome.”

Scott barely breathes as Allison heads for the one empty desk left in the room. Right behind him. She puts her notebook down, then glances up to see Scott turned toward her. Holding out a pen. With a relieved but curious smile, she takes it from him.

“Thanks.”

Scott gives her a nod, turning around with a proud expression. Looking up at the front of the room, Mr. Curtis stands up to start the lesson.

“We’ll begin with Kafka’s metamorphosis on page 133...”

—————

The school bell rings throughout the halls indicating its time to move to your next class. As I walked out of my classroom I spotted Stiles coming out of his. Jogging towards him to catch up, I shout his name to grab his attention. Whipping his head around he greets me with the classic, dopey, Stilinski smile. “Hey bub, what’s up?” I ask.

Rolling his eyes at the nickname he grumbles all about how boring his English class was. “...oh! And there’s a new girl at school today!”

Interesting.. I thought. Spotting Scott in the distance we both quicken our pace to meet with him at his locker.

—————

As he grabs his lock to open the door, Scott hears Allison just down the corridor. Looking towards where she stands they connect eyes. She starts to smile, recognizing the cute guy who gave her the pen. But then Lydia Martin swoops in front of her.

“That jacket is absolutely killer. Where did you get it?”

“My Mom was a buyer for a boutique back in San Francisco,” Allison explains.

Suddenly Jackson, Lydia’s boyfriend, walks up to the pair and puts his arm around Lydia and she greets him with a kiss.

Turning back towards his locker, Scott spotted Y/N and Stiles walking up to him.

—————

Looking at the Alpha Male and his arm candy across the hall, I turn towards the boys with a confused look on my face.

“Can someone tell me how the new girl is here all of five minutes and she’s already hanging with Lydia’s clique?”

“Because she’s hot. Beautiful people herd together,” Stiles answers. He’s got a point. He steps up to open his own locker next to Scott’s.

“Is that why Lydia isn’t herding with you?” I tease.

“Lydia’s a long term project, okay? And trust me, I’ve got all the patience in the world for a high yield investment like her.”

You’ve got to give him credit. He’s committed.

—————

Head cocked slightly, Scott tunes into the conversation from the other end of the corridor, voices coming into focus.

“So,” Lydia exclaims, “this weekend there’s a party.”

“A party?”

Jackson leaned on the lockers next to him, arm now wrapped around Lydias torso. “Yeah, Friday night. You should come.”

“I can’t. It’s Family Night this Friday. But thanks for asking.”

“You sure? Everyone’s going after the scrimmage”

“You mean like football?”

“Football is a joke at Beacon. The sport here is Lacrosse. We won the state championship the last three years--“

Cutting in Lydia praises, “Because of a certain team captain.”

“We have practice in a few minutes,” Jackson explains. “You don’t have to be anywhere, do you?”

“Well, no, I was just going--“

Lydia claps her hands in excitement, “Perfect! You’re coming.”

—————

A whistle blowing echoes across the field. The Lacrosse Team’s Coach gathers the team on the field, Stiles and Scott and I lagging behind, Stiles complaining about Scott’s desire to make front line.

“But if you play I’ll have no one to talk to on the bench! You really gonna do that to your best friend?”

“Hey! No fair.” I look toward Stiles pouting when gives me an obnoxious look.

“You don’t count.” I shove him sticking my tongue out and watched as Stiles accidentally collided with Scott.

“Oops sorry Scott,” I apologize.

With an amused smile after watching our banter Scott continued his argument. “I can’t sit out again. My whole life is sitting on the sidelines. This season, I make first line.” He heads for the field, pausing to see Lydia climbing the bleachers. And stepping right behind her... Allison.

I look towards the boy and follow his gaze behind me where I see the girls sitting. “Hey,” I nudged Stiles who was busy putting all his gear down around him in a destructive manner. “I think Scott’s got a crush on the new girl.”

“What? What makes you say that?”

“Look!” I point towards where Scott stands, still starring dreamily at Allison, but he’s suddenly interrupted when a lacrosse stick hits him in the chest.

“McCall! You’re in the goal.”

Scott turns to Coach Bobby Finstock, a man with little comprehension of the difficulties of teenage life. He tosses Scott the bundle of goalie equipment.

“But I’ve never played goal.”

“I know. Scoring some shots will give the boys a confidence boost. It’s a first day back thing. Get them energized, fired up!”

“What about me?”

“Try not to take any in the face.”

This is not gonna end well, I think to myself.

—————

Stepping into the net, Scott glances to the bleachers where Allison watches with Lydia, eyes focusing on them.

“Who is that,” Allison questions.

“Him? I’m not sure who he is. Why?”

“He’s in my English class.”

Scott looks up, shocked to hear Allison asking about him. But with his hearing momentarily turned up, he flinches at the whistle blow, sound ringing through his skull.

One of the bigger players charges forward as the Assistant Coach passes the ball to him. Catching it, he whips his stick forward, hurling the ball toward the goal.

Still reeling from the whistle, Scott looks up too late to see the ball soaring toward him. It bounces right off his helmet and into the net. The team laughs wickedly. Even Coach snickers.

Cheeks burning under his mask, Scott readies himself for the next player. When the whistle blows again, he’s ready. The Assistant Coach passes the ball to the next player who catches it and fires it right at the goal.

Scott moves startlingly fast, almost an instantaneous reaction. Then he notices the player staring at him with a mixture of disappointment and surprise. Scott has the ball.

“Yeah!” Stiles shouts from the sideline, impressed with his friends newfound luck. “See I told you he was practicing,” I brag to Stiles.

When the next player takes the shot, Scott catches the ball again. And then again. And again. Nothing can get past him.

In the bleachers, Allison and Lydia sit forward.

“He seems like he’s pretty good,” Allison continues to stare at Scott practicing on the field

“Very good.” Intrigued, Lydia keeps her gaze locked on Scott who now stands with a far more confident posture. Until he sees that Jackson is next in line. Glaring at Scott, he practically strangles the lacrosse stick with his gloves.

“Oh God...” Scott croaks with fear.

The Assistant Coach tosses the ball up. Jackson launches forward, catching the ball and spinning around to fire it at the goal. But Scott moves with supernatural precision. The ball lands right in the pocket of the goalie stick.

Stiles and I let out hollers of excitement, jumping up from the bench. In the bleachers, Lydia stands and cheers as well causing Jackson to throw a look at her. She returns his glare with a sly smile, a warning to step up his game.

Grinning, Scott gives the goalie stick a whirl, spinning it with a flick of his wrist and sending the ball soaring right into the pocket of the stunned Assistant Coach’s stick.

—————

After practice the three of us find ourselves in the woods while Scott retraces his steps from last night with Stiles and I following behind him.

“I don’t know what it was. It was like, I had all the time in the world to catch the ball.”

Walking towards a bank we came to a river we had to cross. I hope Scott knows where he’s going. After seeing nowhere to cross we trudged through the river soaking our feet in the water. If my shoes smell after this I’m gonna kill him.

Reaching the other side, Scott continued with his worries. “And that’s not the only weird thing. I mean I can hear stuff I shouldn’t be able to hear. And I can smell things.”

“Smell things? Like what,” Stiles questions.

“Like the mint mojito gum in your pocket.”

“I don’t have any...” Stiles pulls out a lint-covered piece of wrapped gum.

Looking up at Scott in shock, he just shrugged, continuing his walk into the woods. Double checking, I ask him, “so all this started with the bite?”

“What if it’s an infection? What if my body is flooding with adrenaline before I go into shock or something?”

“I’ve actually heard of this,” Stiles starts, “It’s a specific kind of infection.”

“Are you serious?”

“Yeah. Yeah. I think it’s called... Lycanthropy.”

“Oh my god.” I roll my eyes at his accusation. He can’t be serious.

“No I’m serious! This is important!”

“What’s that? Is it bad? It sounds bad.”

“It is. But only once a month.”

“Once a month?”

“On the night of a full moon. Awroooo”

Scott looks at him. And then it clicks. Giving him a push, we continued walking.

“Stiles you’re such a dumbass sometimes,” I chide.

“Hey, he’s the one who heard a wolf howling.”

“There could be something seriously wrong with me!” Scott looks back at Stiles with a look of fear.

“I know! You’re a werewolf! Grrr!” He slashes his hands through the air in a claw motion and I take this opportunity to stick my leg out in front of him and watch as he trips.

As Stiles falls to the forrest floor Scott and I laugh at his stupidity. “Okay, obviously, I’m kidding. But if you see me in shop class melting down all the silver I can find it’s because Friday’s a full moon.”

We seemed to reach the destination because Scott started to look around the area.

“I swear this was it. I saw the body, the deer came running, I dropped my inhaler...”

“Maybe the killer moved the body.”

“If he did, I hope he left my inhaler. Those things are like eighty bucks.”

As the boys thought of different theories I looked towards the woods and saw someone walking towards us. Is that.. Derek Hale?

“Hello,” I greet, waving to the man.

Stiles looks up at me and then to the man and taps Scott on the arm, pulling him to his feet. Derek Hale. Nineteen and unquestionably handsome, he has a rougher look than the cleanly shaven Beacon Hills boys.

“What are you doing here?”

Both Scott and Stiles are too stunned to speak at first “This is private property.”

“Sorry, we didn’t know,” Stiles assures.

Derek stares at Scott, barely noticing Stiles or I.

Scott opens his mouth to speak to the man but then closes it, at a loss for words.

I take this as an opportunity to explain. “We were just looking for something but we’ll leave. Sorry to bother you.”

As we’re turning to go, Derek tosses an object to Scott. His inhaler. When he looks up, Derek is already walking away.

Now finding his voice, Scott mutters, “Aight, come on. I’ve gotta get to work.”

“Dude, that was Derek Hale, “Stiles exclaims. “You remember, right? He’s only a few years older than us.”

“Remember what?”

“His family. They all burned to death in a fire like ten years ago.”

We used to have a class together in school. “I remember the cops pulling him out of class to tell him,” I tell the boys. “I wonder what he’s doing back.”

Scott eyes the inhaler in his hand, closing his fist over it. “Come on,” he says again.

[platonicteenwolf]

Wolf Moon (S1E1) Part II

Teen Wolf x Reader Series Rewrite

A/N: Let me know if any of the links are wacky or if I mess up on any of the pronouns cause posting three versions is sometimes a bit confusing so I can fix it if needed. Also lmk if there’s a misspelling or grammar issue too :)

She/Her Pronouns Version

They/Them Pronouns Version

Next Part / Masterlist

Warnings: dead body, swearing

Lacrosse stick strapped to his backpack, Scott pedals into the parking lot of Beacon Hills High School among the swarm of students. Skateboarders jump steps, potheads take barely concealed tokes, girls and guys hold hands, guys and guys hold hands, (yes it’s California.)

As Scott pulls his bike to one of the racks to lock it up, a pristine BMW with a license plate that reads: JCKSN37, blazes into the lot and stops in the space next to the racks. Scott, still kneeling, gets bumped in the back when the driver’s side door opens.

Jackson Whittemore, exceptionally good-looking and usually oblivious to anyone not within his social or financial circle, steps out to notice that Scott hit his car by being near it.

“Dude. Watch the paint job.”

He’s completely unaware of hitting Scott as he grabs his own lacrosse equipment.

“Yo Jackson!”

Hearing his favorite word, Jackson looks up and heads over to meet his friends. All good looking jocks with big smiles and expensive cars, pretty girls coming up to say hello.

—————

A school bell rings outside a brick building swarming with students.

“Alright let’s see this thing,” Stiles says, a little too eagerly. Now standing in front of the school, Scott takes off his backpack and pulls his shirt up a few inches to show Stiles and I the bandage on his lower back.

“Oh damn that looks bad!” I reach out to touch it and Scott flinches back. “Oops, sorry”

“It was too dark to see much but I’m pretty sure it was a wolf.”

Scoffing, Stiles countered “A wolf bit you? No, not a chance.”

“I heard a wolf howling.”

”No, you didn’t.”

“What do you mean ‘No, I didn’t?’ How do you know what I heard?”

Jumping in, I explained, “California doesn’t have wolves. Not for the last sixty years. The animals were almost hunted to extinction in the 1920s California Gold Rush.” Both boys looked at me in surprise. “What,” I questioned, “I like history.”

Seemingly accepting that answer Scott continued on. “Well, if you don’t believe me about the wolf, then you’re definitely not going to believe me when I tell you I saw the body.”

“Holy shit!” This was amazing!

“You what? Are you kidding me!?” He almost looked like a kid who just found the hidden candy cabinet.

“I wish. I’m going to have nightmares about it for a month.”

There was still one thing I’ve been wondering about though, “Which half of the body was it?”

“Oh- it was the top half. I saw her dead eyes staring back at me. It was scary.” Scott shuddered, thinking about her lifeless body laying in the forrest.

“Well I think that’s freaking awesome,” Stiles concluded. “This is seriously the best thing that’s happened to this town since...”

Stiles suddenly got very distracted by something behind Scott. I turned around to see what it is and you’ll never guess.

“...since the birth of Lydia Martin who’s walking toward us right now.”

A drop-dead gorgeous junior named Lydia Martin was walking towards the school doors like it was a fashion show runway in Milan. Stiles has had the biggest crush on Lydia ever since we were kids.

“Hey Lydia, how are you? You look--” She walks right past him not even giving him a second glance. “...like you’re going to ignore me.”

Scott chuckled at his failed attempt in flirting with the girl as I pat him on his shoulder.

“You’ll get her next time champ.” Stiles shot me an unappreciative glare as I held my hands up in defense and he started grumbling about how unfair everything was.

“You guys are the cause of this, you know. Dragging me down to your nerd depths. I’m a nerd by association. I’ve been Scarlet-nerded by you.”

As we reach the steps of the school I get ready to part with the dynamic duo to get to my class. “Alright boys, I’ve got first with Harris so I’ll see y’all later.” Mentions of good luck were lost behind me as I entered the thick crowd ready to start the day.

—————

First period English. Scott takes the desk next to Stiles as the teacher, Mr. Curtis starts writing instructions on the chalkboard.

“As you all know by now, there was indeed a body found in the woods last night. I’m sure your eager little minds are coming up with various macabre scenarios as to what happened but I’ve been told that the police have a suspect in custody.”

Scott looks to Stiles who shrugs, news to him as well.

“Which means you can give your undivided attention to the syllabus on your desk outlining the semester. Read it now. And by read I don’t mean skim.”

As the students begin reading a cell phone starts ringing out of nowhere. Scott glances up and looks around. The other students quietly read the syllabus, seemingly not hearing the noise. Gazing about, he can’t seem to find the source until his eyes fall on the windows of the classroom...

Outside - across the quad, Scott sees a girl sitting on a bench who he will come to know as Allison Argent. Sixteen and radiating with an innocent beauty. When she puts the cell phone to her ear, it becomes obvious that, despite the closed windows and the distance, this is the ringing Scott is somehow able to hear.

More astonishingly, Scott can hear both Allison and her caller.

“Mom, three calls on my first day is a little overdoing it,” Allison teased.

“Just making sure you’re there okay and you’ve got everything you need.” But Allison digs through her bag, becoming alarmed.

“Everything except a pen. Oh my God, I didn’t actually forget a pen.”

“Don’t panic. I’m sure you can borrow one from another student.”

“Okay, okay, I gotta’ go. Love ya.”

Unable to take his eyes off the extraordinary girl, Scott watches the school’s principal join her on the steps.

“Sorry to keep you waiting.” The Principal guides her across the quad, their conversation becoming clearer to Scott with every step.

“So you were saying San Francisco isn’t where you grew up?”

“No, but we stayed for more than a year which is unusual in my family.”

Even when Allison and the Principal disappear from view, Scott hears the clatter of the building door opening, the clicking of their heels on the tile floor of the hall.

“Well, hopefully, Beacon Hills is your last stop for a while.” The door to the classroom opened, causing the rest of the class to look up.

The principle turns to address the room. “Class, this is our new student, Allison Argent. Please do your best to make her feel welcome.”

Scott barely breathes as Allison heads for the one empty desk left in the room. Right behind him. She puts her notebook down, then glances up to see Scott turned toward her. Holding out a pen. With a relieved but curious smile, she takes it from him.

“Thanks.”

Scott gives her a nod, turning around with a proud expression. Looking up at the front of the room, Mr. Curtis stands up to start the lesson.

“We’ll begin with Kafka’s metamorphosis on page 133...”

—————

The school bell rings throughout the halls indicating its time to move to your next class. As I walked out of my classroom I spotted Stiles coming out of his. Jogging towards him to catch up, I shout his name to grab his attention. Whipping his head around he greets me with the classic, dopey, Stilinski smile. “Hey bub, what’s up?” I ask.

Rolling his eyes at the nickname, he grumbles all about how boring his English class was. “...oh! And there’s a new girl at school today!”

Interesting, I thought. Spotting Scott in the distance we both quicken our pace to meet with him at his locker.

—————

As he grabs his lock to open the door, Scott hears Allison just down the corridor. Looking towards where she stands they connect eyes. She starts to smile, recognizing the cute guy who gave her the pen. But then Lydia Martin swoops in front of her.

“That jacket is absolutely killer. Where did you get it?”

“My Mom was a buyer for a boutique back in San Francisco,” Allison explains.

Suddenly Jackson, Lydia’s boyfriend, walks up to the pair and puts his arm around Lydia and she greets him with a kiss.

Turning back towards his locker, Scott spotted Y/N and Stiles walking up to him.

—————

Looking at the Alpha Male and his arm candy across the hall, I turn towards the boys with a confused look on my face.

“Can someone tell me how the new girl is here all of five minutes and she’s already hanging with Lydia’s clique?”

“Because she’s hot. Beautiful people herd together,” Stiles answers. He’s got a point. He steps up to open his own locker next to Scott’s.

“Is that why Lydia isn’t herding with you?”

“Lydia’s a long term project, okay? And trust me, I’ve got all the patience in the world for a high yield investment like her.”

You’ve got to give him credit. He’s committed.

—————

Head cocked slightly, Scott tunes into the conversation from the other end of the corridor, voices coming into focus.

“So,” Lydia exclaims, “this weekend there’s a party.”

“A party?”

Jackson leaned on the lockers next to him, arm now wrapped around Lydias torso. “Yeah, Friday night. You should come.”

“I can’t. It’s Family Night this Friday. But thanks for asking.”

“You sure? Everyone’s going after the scrimmage”

“You mean like football?”

“Football is a joke at Beacon. The sport here is Lacrosse. We won the state championship the last three years--“

Cutting in Lydia praises, “Because of a certain team captain.”

“We have practice in a few minutes,” Jackson explains. “You don’t have to be anywhere, do you?”

“Well, no, I was just going--“

Lydia claps her hands in excitement, “Perfect! You’re coming.”

—————

A whistle blowing echoes across the field. The Lacrosse Team’s Coach gathers the team on the field, Stiles and Scott lagging behind.

“But if you play I’ll have no one to talk to on the bench! You really gonna’ do that to your best friend?”

“Hey! No fair.” I look toward Stiles pouting when he gives me an obnoxious look.

“You don’t count.” I shoved him sticking my tongue out and watched as Stiles accidentally collided with Scott.

“Oops sorry Scott,” I apologize.

With an amused smile after watching our banter Scott continued his argument. “I can’t sit out again. My whole life is sitting on the sidelines. This season, I make first line.” He heads for the field, pausing to see Lydia climbing the bleachers. And stepping right behind her... Allison.

I look towards the boy and follow his gaze behind me where I see the girls sitting. “Hey,” I nudged Stiles who was busy putting all his gear down around him in a destructive manner. “I think Scott’s got a crush on the new girl.”

“What? What makes you say that?”

“Look!” I point towards where Scott stands, still starring dreamily at Allison, but he’s suddenly interrupted when a lacrosse stick hits him in the chest.

“McCall! You’re in the goal.”

Scott turns to Coach Bobby Finstock, a man with little comprehension of the difficulties of teenage life. He tosses Scott the bundle of goalie equipment.

“But I’ve never played goal.”

“I know. Scoring some shots will give the boys a confidence boost. It’s a first day back thing. Get them energized, fired up!”

“What about me?”

“Try not to take any in the face.”

This is not gonna end well, I think to myself.

—————

Stepping into the net, Scott glances to the bleachers where Allison watches with Lydia, eyes focusing on them.

“Who is that,” Allison questions.

Him? I’m not sure who he is. Why?”

“He’s in my English class.”

Scott looks up, shocked to hear Allison asking about him. But with his hearing momentarily turned up, he flinches at the whistle blow, sound ringing through his skull.

One of the bigger players charges forward as the Assistant Coach passes the ball to him. Catching it, he whips his stick forward, hurling the ball toward the goal.

Still reeling from the whistle, Scott looks up too late to see the ball soaring toward him. It bounces right off his helmet and into the net. The team laughs wickedly. Even Coach snickers.

Cheeks burning under his mask, Scott readies himself for the next player. When the whistle blows again, he’s ready. The Assistant Coach passes the ball to the next player who catches it and fires it right at the goal.

Scott moves startlingly fast, almost an instantaneous reaction. Then he notices the player staring at him with a mixture of disappointment and surprise. Scott has the ball.

“Yeah!” Stiles shouts from the sideline, impressed with his friends newfound luck. “See I told you he was practicing,” I brag to Stiles.

When the next player takes the shot, Scott catches the ball again. And then again. And again. Nothing can get past him.

In the bleachers, Allison and Lydia sit forward.

“He seems like he’s pretty good,” Allison continues to stare at Scott practicing on the field

“Very good.” Intrigued, Lydia keeps her gaze locked on Scott who now stands with a far more confident posture. Until he sees that Jackson is next in line. Glaring at Scott, he practically strangles the lacrosse stick with his gloves.

“Oh God...” Scott croaks with fear.

The Assistant Coach tosses the ball up. Jackson launches forward, catching the ball and spinning around to fire it at the goal. But Scott moves with supernatural precision. The ball lands right in the pocket of the goalie stick.

Stiles and I let out hollers of excitement, jumping up from the bench. In the bleachers, Lydia stands and cheers as well causing Jackson to throw a look at her. She returns his glare with a sly smile, a warning to step up his game.

Grinning, Scott gives the goalie stick a whirl, spinning it with a flick of his wrist and sending the ball soaring right into the pocket of the stunned Assistant Coach’s stick.

—————

In the woods, Scott retraces his steps from last night with Stiles and I following behind him.

“I don’t know what it was. It was like, I had all the time in the world to catch the ball.”

Walking towards a bank we came to a river we had to cross. I hope Scott knows where he’s going. After seeing nowhere to cross we trudged through the river soaking our feet in the water. If my shoes smell after this I’m gonna kill him.

Reaching the other side, Scott continued with his worries. “And that’s not the only weird thing. I mean I can hear stuff I shouldn’t be able to hear. And I can smell things.”

“Smell things? Like what,” Stiles questions.

“Like the mint mojito gum in your pocket.”

“I don’t have any...” Stiles pulls out a lint-covered piece of wrapped gum.

Looking up at Scott in shock, he just shrugged, continuing his walk into the woods. Double checking, I ask him, “so all this started with the bite?”

“What if it’s an infection? What if my body is flooding with adrenaline before I go into shock or something?”

“I’ve actually heard of this,” Stiles starts, “It’s a specific kind of infection.”

“Are you serious?”

“Yeah. Yeah. I think it’s called... Lycanthropy.”

“Oh my god.” I roll my eyes at his accusation. He can’t be serious.

“No I’m serious! This is important!”

“What’s that? Is it bad? It sounds bad.”

“It is. But only once a month.”

“Once a month?”

“On the night of a full moon. Awroooo”

Scott looks at him. And then it clicks. Giving him a push, we continued walking.

“Stiles you’re such a dumbass sometimes,” I chide.

“Hey, he’s the one who heard a wolf howling.”

“There could be something seriously wrong with me!” Scott looks back at Stiles with a look of fear.

“I know! You’re a werewolf! Grrr!” He slashes his hands through the air in a claw motion and I take this opportunity to stick my leg out in front of him and watch as he trips.

As Stiles falls to the forrest floor Scott and I laugh at his stupidity. “Okay, obviously, I’m kidding. But if you see me in shop class melting down all the silver I can find it’s because Friday’s a full moon.”

We seemed to reach the destination because Scott started to look around the area.

“I swear this was it. I saw the body, the deer came running, I dropped my inhaler...”

“Maybe the killer moved the body.”

“If he did, I hope he left my inhaler. Those things are like eighty bucks.”

As the boys thought of different theories I looked towards the woods and saw someone walking towards us. Is that.. Derek Hale?

“Hello,” I greet, waving to the man.

Stiles looks up at me and then to the man and taps Scott on the arm, pulling him to his feet. Derek Hale. Nineteen and unquestionably handsome, he has a rougher look than the cleanly shaven Beacon Hills boys.

“What are you doing here?”

Both Scott and Stiles are too stunned to speak at first “This is private property.”

“Sorry, we didn’t know,” Stiles assures.

Derek stares at Scott, barely noticing Stiles or I.

Scott opens his mouth to speak to the man but then closes it, at a loss for words.

I take this as an opportunity explain. “We were just looking for something but we’ll leave. Sorry to bother you.”

As we’re turning to go, Derek tosses an object to Scott. His inhaler. When he looks up, Derek is already walking away.

Now finding his voice, Scott mutters, “Aight, come on. I’ve gotta get to work.”

“Dude, that was Derek Hale, “Stiles exclaims. “You remember, right? He’s only a few years older than us.”

“Remember what?”

“His family. They all burned to death in a fire like ten years ago.”

We used to have a class together in school. “I remember the cops pulling him out of class to tell him,” I tell the boys. “I wonder what he’s doing back.”

Scott eyes the inhaler in his hand, closing his fist over it. “Come on,” he says again.