Brother || Teen Wolf

Chapter 39 - Life and Death of Mr. Bear

Allison Argent was enjoying a moment in the company of a newfound friend, someone she once had thought impossible to get along with. She was glad to have been proven wrong, now that she was laughing lightly at something Jackson had said, just like she had been a few days ago. The joke was not exceptionally funny, but Allison had readily jumped at the distraction, anything to take her mind off her breakup with Scott. She had seen him in the corridors and around the school, looking miserable and on the verge of tears every time their eyes met. Her heart broke a little more whenever she saw his defeated looks, but she made a point in remaining strong, at least in appearance. Her parents and her aunt had all sensed something was wrong, and the fact that she had stopped mentioning her first boyfriend altogether had made it easy for them to guess what had happened.

Allison was currently swimming, something she found particularly efficient to take her mind off things. Jackson was swimming as well, and she had caught the looks he had sent her way when he thought she wasn't looking. She didn't mind, for she had glanced his way as well. The breakup might have broken her heart, but her eyes were fine. Allison stopped to rest, noticing Jackson already waiting for her.

"You beat me again," she chuckled. She was a decent swimmer, but Jackson was captain of the swim team for a reason.

"I have an unfair advantage. You see these cheekbones? Aerodynamically suited for speed in water," Jackson answered, smiling. "So you're coming to the game tonight, right?"

"I was thinking no," the raven-haired girl shook her head.

"You have to," Jackson pleaded, "If we win tonight, we're in the semifinals. It's not because of Scott, right?"

"I was thinking it might be a little weird," Allison frowned, reluctant to talk about it with Jackson.

"He's fine with it. He actually asked me if you were coming. He said he hoped you didn't feel weird about it," Jackson lied, his face showing no trace of deception -- he was a skilled liar.

"He did?" Allison perked up, surprised.

"Yeah. You know, he's a good guy," Jackson added. "You can't hate him too much. I mean, it's pretty obvious he's a little immature to be dating somebody like you. But then, you... you can't really blame him for trying."

Jackson smiled flirtatiously, using the grin many girls had fallen for in the past. Allison broke eye contact and bit her lower lip, smiling. She appreciated the compliment, but she had a lot on her plate already without throwing another boy into the mix. She thanked him and told him she would come to the game, then left the pool. She headed home with an idea in mind, an idea that had formed ever since that dreadful night trapped inside the school. That evening, when her friends had barged in the library and explained what was going on, she had felt exposed, defenseless. The fact that they had lied didn't change this elementary truth, that she was incapable of defending herself if danger was to come her way. It was about time this changed, and luckily, she knew exactly who to turn to in order to make everything better.

Kate immediately perked up upon hearing her niece's request. She told Allison to wait for her and choose a target, an instruction that left Allison quite perplexed. She complied anyway and her eyes fell on an old teddy bear dressed in a dark blue jacket, that she had begged her mother to buy her. She had name the toy Mr. Bear, showing a lack of creativity so grand that even to this day, her parents still regularly mentioned it. It had been her favorite bear for years, the only one she ever wanted to take with her on vacation and the only one her parents knew to bring her whenever she was sad. It was a symbol of her childhood, appearing in many cherished memories, and that was precisely why Allison chose it as a target. Learning how to defend herself meant growing up, and growing up meant getting rid of Mr. Bear, no matter how painful it was.

Allison was busy gathering her strength when Kate came back into the room, holding a stun gun in her hands. She was smiling, but her eyes were weary and she didn't waste a second before she closed the door shut, not wanting to be seen training her niece. She looked at her niece and laughed when she recognized the old teddy bear in her hands.

"Oh, that's Mr. Bear, isn't it?" she perked up, remembering seeing it in Allison's arms so many times over the years. She shook her head and focused on her mission, "Right, now, you can't tell your father about this, because he would kill me if he knew."

"Okay," Allison answered. She felt the thrill of doing something forbidden run along her spine. She found herself challenging her parents' authority more and more lately, and as much as it scared her to admit it, she enjoyed how it made her feel. Kate handed her the stun gun and she was surprised by how heavy it weighted in her hand. She tightened her grip around it and took a deep breath, remembering her years of archery training to stop her hands from trembling.

"All right, well, just shoot your unimaginatively named bear and put it out of its misery," Kate instructed, her eyes fixated on the target.

Allison took one last look at the little plush toy, and she couldn't deny her oldest companion looked rather terrible. One of its paws was slightly burnt, from the time she had taken it outside but let it fall too close to the barbecue. Its left eye was badly damaged, not resisting too many harsh falls, dating back to the time its owner was still clumsy on her feet. The blue jacket it wore was torn apart, fallen victim to another girl's jealousy. Allison smiled fondly at the many memories and took aim at her dear old friend. Mr. Bear had had a good life. It was time to say goodbye. Allison squeezed her fingers and pulled the trigger.

The sound of electricity crackling resonated in the bedroom, and soon, smoke rose from the now deceased Mr. Bear. The sight was so incongruous it made both Allison and Kate laugh, none of them ever expecting this to be the fate of a teddy bear.

"See, now, that's what I'm talking about," Kate congratulated her niece, patting her shoulder with a proud smile. "See, if you would have had that the other night, you would have just..." Kate froze when she noticed the tears streaming down the beautiful face of her niece, "Whoa, wait a minute. I thought you wanted to learn how to do this, sweetie."

"I just don't know what happened," Allison replied, sitting down when the weight on her shoulders pressed down too hard. She felt so small in this moment, so stupid for thinking that learning how to use a stun gun would make her feel better. It hadn't changed a thing, she was still a teenage girl who was in way over her head, and whose heart was aching.

"With Scott?" Kate asked, rubbing Allison's back for comfort. She knew her niece well enough to understand this was certainly not just about a teddy bear. Allison nodded weakly, "Aw. Listen, my gorgeous, young niece. You're gonna break hearts left and right, okay? And he was lucky to have gotten the tiny, little taste of Allison Argent's world that he got."

"But it just..." Allison's voice broke, "It felt so right with him. And then he just started acting so strange, they all acted strange, and now I don't know what to believe."

"Well, sweetie, he's a guy," Kate explained, relying on her own experience. "You can't believe anything."

"It's just the whole thing with Derek Hale the other night... and Scott saying he didn't know him, but I saw them together," Allison kept talking, finally sharing the suspicions that had appeared in her mind ever since that night in the school.

"Whoa, hold on," Kate gasped, her expression now inquisitive. She was a woman with a mission, and right now, her mission was more important than her Allison's boyfriend issues. "Wait, back up. Scott knows Derek? Alleged killer Derek? Are they friends?"

"No. Not really. I mean, at least that's what he said," Allison answered, taken aback by her aunt's reaction. Yet another person in her life who seemed to have an ulterior motive.

"How about you tell me everything that Scott said about Derek."

"What do you mean by everything?" Allison questioned, hugging her chest under Kate's investigative gaze.

"I mean everything," Kate insisted, eager to hear more. She was on the verge of a breakthrough, about to discover who was this mysterious beta Chris had shot in the woods and who had been saved by Derek Hale himself.

Kate's voice had nothing left of the warm tone she had used not a minute prior. It was cold and demanding, intimidating almost, and it made Allison see her in a new light. This woman was an Argent, and like everyone in the Argent family, she had an agenda.