Brother || Teen Wolf

Chapter 32 - Liars

'Descriptions of the Beast of Gévaudan vary, but most witnesses from the time described something resembling a dog or a wolf, possibly a hybrid. It was said to be about as big as a calf, with a wide chest and sharp fangs.'

Allison yawned and blinked hard, forcing herself to stay awake.

'Descriptions of the Beast of Gévaudan vary, but most witnesses from the time described something resembling a dog or a wolf, possibly a hybrid. It was said to be about as big as a calf, with a wide chest and sharp fangs.'

Allison frowned and rubbed her eyes, looking at the old book again. It took her a considerable amount of time to notice she had been reading the same paragraph over and over. It was getting late and she was growing tired of reading about man-eating creatures. All the books she had read repeated the same facts and at some point she felt like she was going in circles. Maybe Kate would know more about this story and how it was connected with the Argent family -- after all, she was the one who brought it up.

A loud noise made her look up. Her eyes fell upon the strangest of scenes. Stiles, a baseball bat in hand, barged his way through the door. He was making grand gestures and flailing his arms so fast he almost let go of his bat. Scott quickly followed him inside before almost collapsing to the ground, appearing out of breath. His head shot up and his gaze found Allison, making his features visibly relax. Lydia came in not a second later, her eyes scanning the room like she was on a reconnaissance mission. A few seconds passed in complete silence, Stiles' eyes still staring into the corridor expectantly. Finally, Jamie was barely inside the room that Stiles slammed the door shut, not missing a beat. Jamie squeezed his friend's shoulder gratefully, careful to stay away from the baseball bat. He then bent down and tied his shoelace securely -- one was loose and he had tripped.

Feeling a sense of urgency, Allison got up from her seat. Four pairs of eyes found her, all displaying the same expression of relief. Allison was at loss for words. She couldn't find a single reason for her friends to suddenly rush inside the library this late at night, all looking quite fearful and out of breath.

"What's going on?" she asked, demanding an explanation. She then pointed at Stiles, "And why do you have a bat?"

No one answered. Instead, Scott engulfed her into a bear hug, resting his chin gently on the top of her head. But if there was one thing Allison hated, it was feeling left out of the loop. And in that moment, that's exactly how she felt. She pushed Scott away firmly, forcing him to look at her and to answer her question. Scott looked away, refusing to meet her inquisitive gaze. He stepped away slowly, eyes cast down and visibly looking for an excuse, a lie to feed her. She would have none of that. Now glaring, the girl turned to face Jamie.

The usually smiling and confident teen looked like a deer caught in headlights. He took a moment to think and brought his eyebrows in a straight line before he spoke.

"Allison, there is someone inside the school with us, someone dangerous," he started slowly, "and we need to leave before any of us gets hurt."

Technically, Jamie hadn't lied and Allison was a keen enough observer to notice that. However, it soon became obvious that Allison now had even more questions to ask.

"What? Who? How do you know?"

Allison was about to ask something else when Stiles interrupted her.

"It's Derek, okay?" he asserted, "Derek Hale. He killed the girl in the woods, the man in the video store, then the janitor and if we don't get out of here, we're next."

Allison stared at Stiles, her expression blank. He looked quite convincing, but what puzzled her was how Scott and Jamie reacted to his words -- Scott, with disapproval, and Jamie, with a murderous look aimed straight at Stiles. Scott shook his head and appeared to reluctantly agree with Stiles' story.

"That's right, Derek--"

"Scott, just stop", Allison interrupted him. She was fed up with their lies already and didn't feel like hearing fake stories anymore. "You're a horrible liar. Just... Just tell me the truth, or leave me out of whatever this is."

A loud roar was the only answer she got. She saw her friends tense and turn to Scott, who seemed paralyzed by fear. Lydia stood next to her with her best reassuring smile and attached her small hands to Allison's arm. She led her to a secluded corner of the library, glancing over her shoulder just in time to see Stiles and Jamie escorting a trembling Scott out of the room.

"What was that? What's wrong with Scott?" Allison panicked. "And don't tell me Derek made that noise. What's in the school with us? Is it another animal? Another mountain lion?"

Lydia gestured for her to be silent with pleading eyes. The gears in her head were spinning, reviewing all kinds of scenarios and letting her think of the best way to handle the situation. They needed Allison on their side, and they needed to keep her safe. Swallowing hard and already feeling guilty for throwing her friends under the bus, she made her decision.

"They wouldn't tell me anything," she started, crocodile tears watering her eyes. "I don't know what's going on but the janitor, he was killed. We saw it and..." she shivered at the memory and closed her eyes. When she opened them again, resolve appeared on her face. "If there's one thing they didn't lie about, it's that we need to get out of here. My car is still in the parking lot, I say we make a run for it and go home. Deal?"

Allison inspected her friend's expression carefully. She saw genuine fear and concern, mixed with slight panic. Deciding to trust Lydia for now, she took her outstretched hand in hers and shook it. 

"Deal."

The two girls silently made their way to the back door, careful not to be heard by whatever roamed the school corridors. The second they were outside, they rushed to Lydia's car and drove off as fast as they could. Both were relieved, Allison for getting away from this madness and Lydia for successfully keeping Allison safe, close and still in the dark concerning werewolves. 

Lydia was truly astonished the Argent girl had believed her in the first place. Perhaps she was a better liar than she thought. However, she refused to relax for she knew Allison was bound to ask more questions, and she needed to concoct a believable enough story to tell her -- she couldn't play dumb forever and if her lie was too obvious, Allison would see right through it.

Of course, she couldn't help but feel a pang of guilt in her chest for leaving her friends behind. Putting her rational mind to use, she reviewed the facts and was soon comforted in her decision. Stiles and Jamie had known about the supernatural longer than her, which made them better equipped to deal with Scott. They had done it in the past and now, thanks to Derek's training, Scott had more control and was less likely to turn on his two best friends. Everything would be fine.

The thing was, Lydia was overestimating her friends. Scott knew about control, but only in theory. Stiles had dealt with Scott shifting before, but only sheer luck and a fire extinguisher had kept him alive. Jamie had been trained by Derek, but training and being in an actual fight were two radically different things.

Lydia had hope as she drove away, but they when locked themselves in the locker room with a fully wolfed out Scott, hope was the last thing on Stiles and Jamie's minds.