𝖇𝖎𝖙𝖈𝖍, 𝖙𝖊𝖓

*    *    *

*    *    *

( 𝖛𝖊𝖓𝖊𝖒𝖔𝖚𝖘 )

Scott opened Coach's office door for the other two to enter, informing them of the problem that they now have to face. "Derek's outside waiting for Lydia."

Allison frowned, not knowing the full order, "Waiting to kill her? What about Elle, does he know what happened with her""

Scott shrugged, "If he thinks they're the kanima, then yes, especially after what happened at the pool."

Stiles shook his head, panic spiralling up his throat, making him feel slightly sick. "It's not Elle."

Scott looked over at his best friend sympathetically, knowing how much he cared for the blonde girl. "Stiles, they didn't pass the test, man. Neither of the did. Elle reacted but not in the right way, she's still a suspect."

Stiles shook his head again, walking around the desk. "No, it can't be her. There was only one creature, it can't be both of them."

Allison whipped her head between the two as she pointed out Derek's logic, "It doesn't matter, because Derek thinks it's one of them. So either we can convince him that he's wrong, or we've got to figure out a way to protect them."

"Well, I really don't think he's gonna do anything here, not at school."

Allison tilted her head. "What about after school? What if we can prove that Derek's wrong?"

Stiles looked at her with wide eyes, "By three o'clock?"

Allison shrugged. "There could be something in the bestiary."

Stiles rolled his eyes. "Oh, you mean the 900 - page book written in archaic Latin that none of us can read? Good luck with that." He said sarcastically.

Allison pondered for a moment then looked down in thought. "Actually, I think I know someone who might be able to translate it."

*    *    *

Unaware of the conversation between Scott, Stiles and Allison, Lydia was sat in the counsellor's office in front of Ms. Morrell with an unamused expression on her face while Elle waited outside again. Lydia was annoyed that she was forced into staring at random blobs of ink on a piece of paper.

"Butterfly. Butterfly. Butterfly. Butterfly. Butterfly." Lydia nearly chanted as Ms. Morrell held up different spots of ink on different pieces of paper.

Ms. Morrell held up the next piece and noticed the pause in answer as Lydia's gaze drifted out. "Lydia?"

"Danaus plexippus."

Ms. Morrell turned her head, "Which is the scientific name for-?"

"Butterfly." Lydia smiled with a falsely sweet smile, nearly mocking.

Ms. Morrell put down the cards and sighed, resting her hands in the desk, "Lydia, what's it gonna take to get you to open up?"

Lydia snapped out of her daze and leant back, "I don't know what you're talking about. We are as honest and open as people can be."

Ms. Morrell turned the last card over and placed it face-up on her desk. "Huh. I would've said wolf."

She turned around for a second just to spit out, "Well good for you," before leaving the room.

*    *    *

Lydia and Isabelle were being dragged out of the double doors coming out of the library by Allison and Stiles. Stiles having a gentle hold on Elle while Allison was guiding Lydia with an arm around her shoulders. "If we're doing a study group, why didn't we just stay in the library?" Elle asked as she let Stiles continue to hold her arm.

Stiles gaped for a second, thinking on the spot for a believable lie. "Because we're meeting up with somebody else."

Elle pondered for a second before twisting to face Stiles so his grip on her dropped, "Hmm, well, why don't they just meet us in the library?"

Stiles grabbed both of her shoulders to keep her moving forwards, "Oh, that would've been a great idea. Too late."

Lydia then inputted- well tried to. "Okay, hold on-"

Jackson then appeared from behind the four of them and grabbed Lydia's arm not so gently dragging her forward at a faster pace as Elle scowled at the back of his head. "Lydia, shut up and walk."

All five of them managed to get to Stiles' jeep pretty quickly, with Elle and Lydia having several unanswered questions. It was a bit of a squeeze but they managed with Allison and Stiles in the front then Jackson, Isabelle and Lydia in the back. As Stiles drove them all out of school, Lydia turned to watch the school get smaller and smaller by the back window.

*    *    *

They pulled up outside Scott's house with no sign of Scott anywhere. Elle and Lydia stepped out of the back, followed by Jackson who slammed the door shut causing Elle to jump in shock.

Lydia followed Stiles up the steps to the McCall house while Elle stayed by the jeep where Allison was. "If we're studying at Scott's house, then where's Scott?"

Stiles praised for a moment and went back down the steps to grab her by her shoulders gently, to manoeuvre her into the house. "Meeting us here, I think-" he then proceeded to whisper under his breath, "-I hope."

Allison, making sure they were out of  earshot from the other girls, pulled Jackson to a stop. "Thanks."

Jackson shrugged it off and put on his hard exterior once more, "I needed to talk to Lydia anyway."

The five of them made their way inside Scott's house, still without Scott, where Stiles locked the door immediately. Stiles turned around to see the rest of them looking at him with varying amounts of confused looks. "Uh, there's been a few break - ins around the neighborhood." He spotted a chair near the door and adjusted it so the back of it was blocking the door handle. "And a murder. Yeah, it was bad."

Jackson caught a look from Allison that told him to take the two girls away from Allison and Stiles. Jackson rolled his eyes and sighed, "Lydia, follow me. I need to talk to you for a minute."

Lydia rolled her eyes in return as she followed him while Isabelle was stood at the bottom of the stair, staring at them leaving, muttering to herself, "Seriously? What is going on with everyone?"

Lydia walked into a random room, that happened to be Scott's messy bedroom, with Jackson following her. As Jackson shut the door, his hand flew up to rub his forehead in pain. Lydia stepped forward slightly in mild concern for her ex-boyfriend. "You okay?"

Jackson gave a slight nod then scowled at Lydia as she stepped closer, unknowing the change in Jackson. "So-?"

Jackson glared at the strawberry blonde heavily that took her by surprise. "So you never gave me back my key."

Lydia gasped. "What? Wh- y-your key? That's what you wanted to talk about?"

Jackson stepped forward with an accusatory stare, "Why didn't you give it back?"

Lydia stood there gob smacked. "Are you kidding? I was attacked by some lunatic who bit me. A lunatic who, by the way, still hasn't been caught. I spent two days freaked out of my mind walking around the woods naked, all of my friends are acting like total nut-cases, and you expect me to be worried about some stupid key?"

Jackson ignored all of it and raised his eyebrows. "So do you have the key or not?"

Lydia glared at him, "Not."

Jackson's eyesight zoned in on the head of sweat falling down her forehead and her raised heartbeat. "You just lied to me."

Jackson strolled over to where Lydia was stood. "Where's my key, Lydia? It was you, wasn't it? You edited the tape."

Lydia looked at him in surprise. "What tape?"

Jackson sighed and explained. "The night of the full moon. The recording. You came into my house - into my room - and you saw what was happening to me, so you took the tape from the camera and you edited out the most important part. I don't know why. Maybe because you wanted to take that from me, my moment, like you take everything. Or maybe you just thought you were protecting me. But it was you, wasn't it?"

Lydia turned to face him. "I don't know what you're talking about- But if you need it so badly- Fine."

Lydia raised Jackson's hand and placed the key into it with the chain still attached that used to be around her neck. "I hate you. I hate you so much." She sobbed.

They were interrupted by Elle opening the door, "Stiles sent me up here for some reas- what's wrong Lydia?"

Lydia shook her head, tears falling down as Jackson faced his old friend. He looked down sadly as he turned back to Lydia. Jackson sighed as he shut his eyes tightly, not wanting to see her hurt. "No. No, you don't."

Lydia sobbed as she faced her ex "I should. I should hate you." Jackson reached up to wipe a tear from her eye. "Don't."

Elle took a step further into the room just in case but she knew her friends needed this. Before she could go any further her phone rang. Seeing the name in the screen she immediately ran for another room in the McCall house, finding an empty bedroom.

"Hello?" She answered.

"Hey sis."

"Damn you. Why has it taken you this long to call?" The last she had heard from Dan was a simple text months ago when she was at the movie rental store with Lydia and Jackson. That seemed like forever ago.

Dan laughed but even over the phone Isabelle could tell it was strained. "Why? Miss me?"

"Not anymore, asshole." Elle scowled.

Dan's chuckles died down. "I heard you were attacked. I thought I told you to be safe?"

Elle scoffed. "It's not like I asked for it! They said it was a bite from some kind of animal." Yeah an animal alright. "Jackson found me and Lydia and got us to the hospital on time."

"Lydia? I wasn't told she was involved as well."

"Yeah, she was worse than me." Elle paced the room, picking up random objects absentmindedly. "You'll never guess whose back in town though!"

Dan smiled. "Go on then, hit me with town gossip."

"Derek Hale. He supposedly trapped us in the high school and did the murder spree last term but it wasn't actually him."

Dan was in shock that his old friend was back in town. "Oh really? Have you spoken to him?"

Elle scoffed. "Of course not. Why would I speak to your old friend?" The blonde paused, her mood dropping. "When can I see you again?"

There was a long pause which caused Elle to wince. Silence spoke volumes. "Look, Iss, I don't know-" He was cut off by someone shouting his name over the phone. "Right I've got to go but I'll speak soon. Stay safe!"

Once again, Isabelle was hung up on. She growled to herself, throwing the phone onto the bed in frustration.

A sudden sound of breaking glass was heard from downstairs."What was that? What's happening?" She opened the door and stepped out into the hallway with Lydia doing the same from across the hall.

The pair made their way down the hallway gasping and clutching each other as they went, hearing growls from downstairs. Suddenly Allison appeared. "Get back. Someone's trying to break in, okay? Go. Lydia, Elle, go!"

Elle pushed Lydia back into Scott's room and closed the door as Lydia called out "Jackson?" To the empty room. Elle and Lydia then took notice of the open window and legged it into the bathroom where Lydia pulled out her phone to call the police as Elle locked the door.

"Hi, I-I need the police." A crash made Elle jump and hit lights off as they stayed together, crouched down.

When everything turned silent, they slowly unlocked the door and made their way downstairs where everyone was stood outside. Isabelle saw Derek Hale, Vernon Boyd, and unconscious Isaac Lahey and paralysed Erica Reyes on the floor with Scott, Allison and Stiles next to them, all staring at the two in shock.

Lydia shouted to them, "Would someone please tell me what the hell is going on?"

Scott looked at his roof where the Kanima no longer was, "It's Jackson."