Night School

 

 

 

 

“Laura!” I’d squealed. “Laura, slow down!”

                “Come on we’re gonna miss it!”

                “Miss what?”

                ROAR.

                The searing red eyes of an alpha stalked towards us, strings of saliva dripping from its canines.

                “Get behind me,” Laura said, but she was already pushing me behind her. “My name is Laura Hale, you’re on pack territory.”

                The alpha didn’t respond, just bowed his head, lifting a clawed hand, almost as if he were preparing for a strike.

                “Emery, run!” Laura pushed me hard, and I ran.

                It’d all happened so fast but eventually, I found myself back at the Hale house, only coming to a stop when I saw my dad laughing with Talia on the steps.

                “Dad!”

                “Em?” He asked, immediately at my side. “What’s wrong?”

                “An alpha in the woods, Laura’s there she told me to run!”

                “An alpha?” Dad asked, and I nodded.

                “He had red eyes but he didn’t say anything—”

                “Don’t leave Talia’s side,” He told me, letting go of my hand but I anxiously whimpered, grabbing for him, I didn’t want him to leave, he’d get hurt again.

                The scars on his shoulder were still fresh from the other night.

                “I’ll deal with it.” The soothing voice of Talia told him. “Stay with her.”

                I knew all alpha’s weren’t bad, Talia wasn’t, but the blood red eyes lingered in my mind.

                “Talia—”

                “Johnny stay with her, she needs you,” She said softly.

                “Em, what do we do?” Stiles exclaimed. “Em snap out of it, what do we do?”

                With a sharp breath I realised I wasn’t stuck in the past, I was pressed against a wall in the very real and dangerous present. How could I forget I’d met an alpha before? Of course, I knew the reason but it didn’t make sense, if I’d been forced to forget then how did I remember? Was it like a trigger? Something must of unlocked the memory, maybe the sight of the alpha?

                “Emery?”

                “I don’t know!” I shouted back, my eyes dulling at the poorly placed pair of bolt cutters, barely holding the door shut. “I need to think.”

                “Call your dad.” Scott encouraged.

                “I left my phone at home, I don’t have it.”

                “Use mine,” Stiles said, shoving it in front of me.

                “I don’t know his number from memory.”

                “You don’t?”

                “No, I press a little icon on my phone and he answers.”

                “What about Ziyanda?” Stiles asked.

                “If I don’t remember my dad’s, how am I remembering hers?” I asked. “Wait no, the reception or the office will have my dad’s number on file, we can call from there.”

                “Okay, so we go to reception.” Stiles agreed, already marching on ahead, Scott behind him.

                “Wait no, I’ll go, you guys need to find somewhere to hide,” I said, quickly catching up with them.

                “You mean like splitting up?” Scott asked.

                “Yeah, that ends horribly in every movie, I don’t think it’s a good idea.” Stiles added.

                “This isn’t a movie and if we all go, then we all have a chance of getting caught,” I said

                “If we split up I know exactly what’s going to happen, and it includes the multiple endings of Scream and Night of the Living Werewolf.” Stiles said pointedly. 

                “Well the longer we stand here talking about it, the more likely it’s going to happen, now hide.” I whisper yelled.

                I took off before the pair could say anything else, running towards the reception. I just had to hope these guys were smart enough to stay hidden. If the alpha was chasing us then at least I’d act as a distraction – wait – had I just offered myself up as bait? Shit.

                Better make it a quick run then.

                As I got to the front desk I tried the computer but to no luck, since someone decided passwords were a good thing. Then I tried the cabinets but they were all locked. Oh come on! Who seriously would try to steal student records? They aren’t exactly important!

                I even tried to get to the back office but the door was locked. Damn, I should really have learnt how to pick a lock!

                As my eyes were drawn out the window to the half-moon in the sky however, my breath faltered – Derek was dead. How the hell was he dead? I knew how, I saw how but it couldn’t be true. He couldn’t be dead. He wouldn’t leave me, not alone with an alpha. He had to be alive. Derek wasn’t dead, not until I saw his corpse on the morgue table. God, that was a morbid thought.

                I kept trying the cabinets and door for another ten minutes but there was no way I was getting in. Why didn’t I learn phone numbers by heart? Stupid Emery! Bad Emery!

                Then the thought hit me – Sky was the new librarian at this school. Which meant he had to have a hiding place for a secret stash of Lumeric books, along with some Guardian shit and hopefully, a phone book. I’d take anyone’s number this point, even my dad’s. I dashed out from behind reception, keeping my back pressed against the cold wall the whole way.

                I had no idea what I’d do if the alpha found me, I didn’t have any weapons and hadn’t the faintest idea how to distract it. This is what the Red Guard were for right? If they policed other Guardians then they had to police rogue alphas, dad said Clay knew how to deal with them.

                With a steady hand I opened the door to the library and slipped inside, darting over to the desk. I tried to care about putting the drawers back the way I found them, after rifling through them, however when it got to the fourth one I couldn’t of cared less. I threw various bits of paper and order forms for Shakespeare plays to the floor, trying to find where Sky hid his stash.

                Come on, come on, if I was hiding things in a school where would I hide it? Somewhere no one would look. I scanned the isles of books and around the room until my eyes landed on the staff toilets, male and female.

                We had two male library staff at this school, so they wouldn’t have use for the women’s loo.

                “Bingo.” I smiled.

                As soon as I entered the girls bathroom it was clear that no one really did use these. I’m not saying there was dust, it was sterile and clean, almost like a hospital.

                I checked in the different stalls and what caught my eye made me smirk, as I saw the lid of the toilet was slightly crooked. I carefully lifted the top off to reveal three of the books I’d been using the previous days, housed in a plastic bag. Well at least the books were protected from toilet water. It was only when I got to the third stall, I found a little blue book covered in plastic wrap at the bottom, the holy grail of phone books. It took nearly five minutes to unwrap the damn thing, it was so damn tight I had to use my acrylic nail to even pierce the plastic.

                As I tore through the pages all the way to the letter G, I couldn’t help my delight as I saw Clay’s personal and work mobile number. I put the toilet back in place, shoving the address book into my jacket pocket and quietly slipped out of the library.

                I checked the coast was clear before heading down the corridor, it felt as if every breath I took, was as loud as a fog horn. For some reason silence had picked this very moment to be deafening. I tiptoed as best I could back towards the main doors, but it was only when I saw Scott’s head bobbling through a window in the door, I picked up the pace.

                “I got the book!” I exclaimed bursting through. “We can call for…help.”

                In front of me not only stood Scott and Stiles but Lydia, Jackson and Allison. What the fuck were they doing here?

                “Emery?” Lydia asked. “What are you doing here?”

                BOOM.

                The foam tiles of the ceiling shook and creaked as what I presumed was the alpha, circled us from above.

                Oh fuck me with a brick.

                “We need to move,” I said anxiously, tapping Scott’s arm.

                The thunderous cracking of the ceiling boomed over us as we all darted for the stairs, flying up them and down the corridor. It was only at this moment, I realised with no amount of adrenaline helped me keep up with Jackson who was barrelling it down the corridor. I grabbed for Stiles’ arm as the sinister roar of the alpha tore through the halls. He clenched my arm in return, yanking me forward with him. We kept running for what seemed like for forever, until the double doors of the canteen came into view, I found myself running just that little bit faster, my hand reaching for the door handle to push it open.

                We all flung ourselves in shoving the door closed behind us.

                “Find something to barricade the door!” Lydia yelled.

                “Help me,” Jackson said pushing a fridge in front of it.

                “Guys wait,” Stiles said. “Guy’s just wait a second.”

                Despite everyone frantically shoving everything they could find in front of the door, I soon realised why Stiles kept talking, stepping back from the door myself.

                “Seriously, guys!” I shouted but the four of them weren’t listening.

                “Hello!” Stiles yelled and finally they stopped, shakily turning towards us. “Nice work everyone, a really beautiful job now…what should we do about the twenty foot wall of windows?”

                We were so fucking screwed, I thought.

                Was this how we died? I didn’t want my last conversation with my family to have been an argument, I mean I was pissed and if I survived I’d still be, but I wanted my parents, I wanted Wyatt and Clay, I wanted them to tell me everything was going to be alright.

                “Can somebody please explain to me what’s going on because I am freaking out here and I would really like to know why.” Allison begged. “Scott?”

                Hold up, why did she think Scott had all the answers?

                Scott pushed away from her, stress stripping his face as he leaned on a table for support, skittishly wiping at his face. Stiles and I exchanged looks, silently asking each other what story we should spin – how could we lie our way out of this one?

                Lydia would be able to spot me lying a mile away, what the hell do I do? What about a half-truth? Those were the easiest to sell.

                “Stiles, we should tell them,” I said, still trying to catch my breath back. “About the murder.”

                Stiles nodded, catching onto my plan.

                “Murder!” Lydia squeaked.

                “Someone killed the janitor,” Stiles said lowly, stepping forward.

                “Yeah…the janitors dead.” I nodded.

                “What’s he talking about?” Allison asked. “Is this a joke?”

                “Why would it be a joke?” I asked sharply. “Yes let’s get you all to the school and magically time the ceiling caving in – makes perfect sense.”

                Allison looked a little hurt at my remark but I didn’t care, I could already feel the tone in the back of my legs hardening, and I was not in the mood for her games. If I was going to be in pain, I’d be damned if I had to listen to her asking ridiculous questions.

                “Who killed him?” Jackson asked, his eyes on Stiles.

                You know, he may of shoved me against a wall this afternoon but now, it was like he was back to his normal self. Did he even remember doing it? Should I confront him about it? Geez, not right now Emery, you’re being chased by a serial killer, I thought.

                “No, no, no, no, no this was – this was supposed to be over.” Lydia rambled, but I grabbed for her hands, squeezing tight.

                “Lydia, look at me,” I said softly. “There’s no mountain lion here okay?”

                “Then what?” She asked and I fell silent, shit what did I say now?

                “Who was it?” Allison asked, and it took all the strength in me not to yell at her, since her eyes were solely fixed on Scott. “What does he want? What’s happened? Scott!”

                “I don’t know,” Scott said shakily. “If we go out there, he’s gonna kill us.”

                “Us?” Lydia asked. “He’s going to kill us?”

                “Who?” Allison repeated. “Who is it?”

                Once again Stiles and I exchanged looks – what the fuck were we supposed to say now? Oh yeah guys by the way, there’s a psychotic alpha that wants to rip our throats out but hey, at least we’ve got each other and a twenty foot wall of windows!

                “Emery,” Lydia gripped my hand. “Who is it?”

                “It’s Derek, it’s Derek Hale,” Scott said, before a single syllable could pass my lips.

                Wait hold up, what?

                “Derek killed the janitor?” Jackson asked.

                “Are you sure?” Allison asked.

                “I saw him.” Scott said. “Derek killed them.”

                “All of them?”

                “Yeah, starting with his own sister.”

                “And the bus driver?”

                “And the guy at the video store it’s been Derek the whole time, he’s in here with us and if we don’t get out now, he’s going to kill us too.”

                Well there was Derek thrown under the metaphorical bus quite nicely, but in fairness to Scott, it was a good idea. We couldn’t tell them the truth.

                “Call the cops.” Jackson demanded.

                “No,” Stiles said.

                “What do you mean no?”

                “I mean no, you wanna hear it in Spanish?” Stiles said sarcastically. “Look, Derek killed three people okay? We don’t know what he’s armed with.”

                “Your dad is armed with an entire Sheriff’s Department, call him!” Jackson exclaimed clearly frustrated.

                “That’s it, I’m calling.” Lydia threw her hands up, grabbing for her phone.

                Fuck, no, no, no!

                “No Lydia, would you just hold on a second?” Stiles tried but Jackson stepped in front of her, blocking the way.

                “Hello yes we’re at Beacon Hills high school and we’re trapped and we need you to…what? But…she hung up on me.”

                “The police hung up on you?” Allison gawked.

                “She said they got a tip warning them that there are gonna be prank calls from the school, and if I call again, she’ll track my phone and have me arrested.”

                “So call again.” Allison persisted.

                “They won’t trace the cell,” Stiles said. “They’ll send a squad car round to your house first to check before they even think of coming here.”

                “Emery, call your brother.” Lydia said, turning to me.

                “I can’t, I left my phone at home.” I told her.

                “You left it?” She asked.

                “Yeah, I left it.”

                Even though it was the truth, Lydia didn’t look like she believed me. Sure I carried my phone everywhere, but surely leaving it at home for one night didn’t warrant the suspicion. Then again, I had no reason to be here with Scott or Stiles, hell even in school. I’d have to come up for some explanation later.

                Who would tip off the police about prank calls? The alpha? How could Scott’s boss have made a call if he was tied up? There surely hadn’t been enough time for him to escape, then make a phone call and then charge after us, right?

                “What – What is this?” Allison fretted, pressing her hands to her face. “Why does Derek wanna kill us? Why is he killing anyone?”

                Slowly but surely, everyone in the room turned to Scott, who unfortunately, had become everyone’s beacon for answers. Why, I wasn’t sure since Lydia pretended not to know his name half the time.

                “Why is everyone looking at me?” He asked.

                “Is he the one that sent her the text?” Lydia asked him.

                “No…I mean I don’t know.”

                “Is he the one that called the police?” Allison asked.

                “I don’t know!” Scott said through gritted teeth.

                Allison pressed her lips her lips together so tightly, they nearly disappeared, her once fierce gaze now doe-eyed as she turned her back on us.

                “Okay, why don’t we ease back on the throttle here, yeah?” Stiles asked, pulling Scott back.

                As soon as I saw Lydia turn to comfort Allison, since Scott kinda bit her head off, I held up Sky’s phonebook in my hand. Stiles scrambled for his phone whilst I quickly ferociously flipped through the pages for Clay’s number, quietly reading it out to him.

                “Em?” Jackson asked, but I didn’t look at him. “Em, come over here.”

                Stiles pressed call, pushing the phone to his ear.

                “It’s ringing,” He told us. “Still ringing.”

                “Emery!” Jackson yelled.

                I rolled my eyes.

                “You tell Clay what’s happening, if he doesn’t answer just keep ringing.” I told the pair of them, before turning to the clique.     

                God, we really were a clique, weren’t we?

                “What?” I asked Jackson, seeing his arrogant stance.

                “What the hell are you doing here?” He asked me. “I texted you earlier but you didn’t answer.”

                “I went for a walk and left my phone behind., I said, slowly walking towards the group. “Then I remembered I’d left stuff for an English assignment in my locker, so I came to get it, the door was open.”

                Allison screwed her eyes a little, looking at the small book in my hand.

                “What’s the book?”

                “Phonebook, I keep it at the back of my locker for emergencies, like being without a phone.” I told her. “I ran to my locker to get it once we knew what was going on.”

                “Why didn’t Stiles just call his dad?”

                “We tried but we got his voicemail, so since my Godfather’s the state police we thought we should call him, but I didn’t have his number memorised.”

                Even though the lies were rolling off my tongue by the second and quite brilliantly I might add, the one gaze that I kept coming back to was Lydia’s. I noted how she wasn’t just listening to what I was saying, but looking me and up down, like she was analysing every detail of my being; my clothes, my face, my body language – it was invasive but I knew why she was doing it – she didn’t believe a word I’d said.

                Fuck.

                Being unable to face her for any longer, I turned to Stiles but he shook his head, fuck why wasn’t Clay answering?

                BANG.

                The canteen door rattled against the barricade, so hard the hinges buckled from the pressure.

                “We gotta move,” I said hurriedly, but it was like my feet were frozen to the floor.

                Fuck, why couldn’t I move?

                “Where? This is the only door in.” Allison asked.

                “Behind us, there’s a staircase,” Stiles said.

                “That only goes up.” Scott fretted.

                “Up’s better than here.”

                “I second that,” I nodded. “Run.”

                In a sprint we all clambered to the back door, flinging it open and throwing ourselves up the stairs one after the other, running as fast as we could. For a moment I thought Stiles had grabbed my hand but it wasn’t, it was Lydia who didn’t even acknowledge what she’d done, she just kept pulling me along with her.

                We burst through the top of the stairwell, into the corridor, my breath hot as I followed the group but something made me stop – a thought – a very stupid thought. If I couldn’t get Clayton, then I needed a weapon, something powerful enough to stop an alpha or at least stun in, I needed to go back to the library.

                “Where are you going?” Lydia shrieked, as I tore my hand from hers.

                “Emery!” Stiles yelled, fumbling to a stop.

                With the book firmly in my hand I nodded to Stiles.

                “I know somewhere to get help, something to help us, just go I’ll be fine!” I shouted, darting down the corridor as fast as I could.

                “Emery, come back!” Lydia cried, but I didn’t listen.

                If this thing was chasing us then that gave the group some more time, hunters went for the stragglers of the pack – A.K.A. me. I just had to get to the library – I had to run.

                I’d just volunteered myself as bait again, fabulous.

                I made sure to keep my arms pumping by my side as I rallied on, back down another set of stairs, I couldn’t even hear if the alpha was coming after me, all that rang in my ears was the wet rush of my own heartbeat. It took nearly two minutes to get to the library and when I did, I barricaded myself inside, shoving everything from desks to chairs and trolley’s. I needed as much time as I could get.

                I headed back to the girls bathroom, throwing open the toilets but there was nothing but books hidden, I tapped on the tiles in case there was a hollow back, but no precious sound met my ears. I darted back out, going through the librarian’s desk once more before I grabbed for the phone, flicking for Clay’s number, I had to keep trying. The infernal phone rang for thirty seconds before I was sent to voicemail, without thinking however, I dialled again and again.

                Stiles had to be trying his number too, surely Clay would see all the missed calls and know something was up?

                With a groan I gave up on Clay’s number and moved to Sky’s, who was at the front of the book, and thankfully, he picked up on the second ring.

                “Hello?”

                “Sky, you need to help me,’ I begged. “There’s a group of us trapped at the school and the alpha’s here, it’s already killed Derek and the janitor.’

                “You’re in the library?” He asked, a professional façade befalling his voice.

                “Yeah, I’m alone, the rest of them ran towards the chemistry labs.”

                “Why did you split off from the group?”

                “To buy them more time, it’s more likely to come after me that way, so I need you to tell me where you store the weapons.”

                “…I don’t.”

                “Do not say that Sky, you must have some somewhere.”

                “I carry them with me, I can’t keep them in school – shit – listen I’m in car, I’m on my way, does Clay know?”

                “We’ve tried calling him but there’s no answer.” I told him. “Sky the beta’s here, he’s part of the group—”

                ROAR.

                A disgusting and primal roar rattled the library doors, the metal chairs clanging as even the windows behind me shook. I felt my breath catch in my throat as fear gripped it, I knew the alpha wasn’t close but I’d heard that specific roar before.

                “He’s called him out,” Sky said, filling in the thoughts in my head. “Have you barricaded the door?”

                “Yeah, but if there’s no weapons here I need to get back to the group.”

                “There’s a feral alpha with his beta out there, you won’t survive that.” Sky said adamantly. “Stay where you are, I’m ten minutes away.”

                “Sky…the beta, he’s not gonna kill anyone, right?”

                “The alpha’s called him out, his mind isn’t his own right now.” He told me.

                A scratch from a radio tore through the phone as a new voice said.

                “Where is it?”

                “Beacon Hills high school, I repeat alpha one is at Beacon Hills high school, two dead, a group of civilians are trapped inside.” Sky replied, but it was clear he wasn’t talking to me. “The alpha has called out a newly bitten beta, there are two hostiles in the field, be advised two hostiles.”

                “Sky he’s not hostile—” I tried by the click of the radio cut me off.

                “Emery listen to me, this guy might be the loveliest man to walk the earth but right now, the alpha is in control so just stay where you are, the response team and the Sheriff’s department won’t be far behind me.”

                BANG.

                BANG.

                BANG.

                The library doors clattered against my barricade and it was only then, that I saw a grey clawed hand grab at the door, tearing it open. Fuck. I dropped to the floor, leaving the phone behind and crawled under the desk, I couldn’t run for the stairs, it would see me. I couldn’t outrun it.

                How could I last ten minutes on my own? I wouldn’t.

                Fuck – why did I leave the group?

                The alpha roared again but I couldn’t move, I just shoved my hand over my mouth to quieten my breathing, not that it would do any use, it’d be able to hear my heart. I couldn’t mask my heartbeat on my own, I didn’t know how. Derek must of taught me when we were kids, he had to, fuck I couldn’t remember!

                The scrap and bang of the table smacking against the floor made my jump as the slow yet heavy footsteps of the alpha, thudded through library. Every small movement I made felt as loud as screaming; the small shift of the material on my shirt, my hair moving against the fabric and any shaky breaths trying to escape. I knew I could hold my breath for a while but that would only speed up my heartbeat, what did I—

                ROAR.

                The callous thick hands on the alpha grabbed me by the shoulders, flinging me back over the desk and tossing me to the ground. I coughed as I rolled onto my side, unable to breath as the wind had been completely knocked out of me.

                Fuck, that hurt.

                I tried to stand but the alpha’s hand grabbed my shoulder again, throwing me onto my back and pinning me with one hand on my chest, his other ready to strike. I was going to die.

                I was going to die like Laura, alone.

                I wanted to shut my eyes but I knew when the impending slash of its claws came it would terrify me even more, so I kept them open, staring right back at him. I couldn’t tell if I was crying or not, my vision was blurry but as I stared into its blood red eyes, the fear I’d once felt cracked in my chest, as a cry past my lips.

                This was it, this was how I died, I’d become the next body they’d find.

                My families secrets would die with me, buried in a coffin, in a graveyard and this time there’d actually be a body. Oh my God, I’m going to die.

                SLASH

                In three sharp movements, the alpha cut into my shoulder. I screamed, I know that much, I thrashed and tried to move but I couldn’t, not until it let go, sneered and then left.

                What the hell? Why didn’t it kill me? Not that I was complaining but it had every opportunity to do so. I thought he was going to slash my throat. A stern shaking wracked through my hands, as my breath come back to me. Holy shit I was alive, I thought, I was alive.

                My shoulder was bloody and stinging like hell but I didn’t dare move to look, everything hurt and ached. The tone in my legs was so solid I didn’t know if I’d be able to walk. A wheelchair would have been a fabulous option at this point. Fuck me, I was alive.

                It was only when the police sirens sounded I let myself cry and scream, nothing but fear running through me. My heartbeat was the only thing I could hear as I pressed my hand against my bloody shoulder, the metallic kick lingering in the air.

                I was alive…I’d made it out alive.

                “Emery!” Sky’s voice tore down the halls. “Emery!”

                I only looked up when I saw a large black boot kick through the remaining carcass of my barricade, one of which belonged to the only man I wanted to see.

                I snivelled, trying to pull myself up but I couldn’t, every hurt too much, I couldn’t move.

                “Hey, hey, it’s gone, it’s alright.” Sky told me, swooping down to me, taking my arms. “It’s alright.”

                “He let me live.” I breathed, coughing as a dryness caught in my throat. “He let me live, he didn’t try to kill me – why didn’t he kill me?”

                Sky shushed me softly, wrapping his arms around me and I couldn’t help it, I buried my head in the crook of his neck. He felt like the only stable thing in my life right now, the only thing keeping me together as sobs wracked through my body. Every fibre of my being was trembling as I realised I had no clue what I was doing – I pretended to know, pretended to be confident – it was all a fucking lie and that scared me even more.

                I wasn’t prepared to deal with this.

                “Sky, why am I alive?” I begged.

                “…I don’t know,” He said gently, his fingers running through my hair. “But thank the Gods you are.”

 

~*~

As police officers and paramedics swarmed around the entrance to the school, I slowly made my way out the front doors, Sky’s jacket around my shoulders. He led the way, a hand on my back ushering me through the crowds. I saw Scott and Stiles ahead, chatting in a tight huddle, which was the only good thing to come out of tonight.

                I thought the alpha had called him out and yet, there he stood like a normal teenager.

                Allsion, Jackson and Lydia were huddled around the back an ambulance but I didn’t look at them, I couldn’t bring myself to, there’d be too many questions. I couldn’t see the Sheriff, Clay or my brother but I could hear them delegating other officers from the front car park. I barely had time to hobble down the steps before Wyatt was by my side.

                “Em, you’re bleeding,” He said, taking my hand but I shook my head, wanting away from my friends.

                I wanted to scream.

                I’d seen an alpha but for some reason it let me live. Why? It could of killed me, I should have been dead, I should be dead. I should be as dead as Derek. Oh my God, he was dead. He’d been killed right in front of me, no one could survive that. Could they? Was Derek the latest in the list of murders? First Laura and now him…was I next? Is that why it scratched me? To mark me as the next victim? It should’ve killed me, I should be dead.

                Everything seemed like a blur as Wyatt led me through the car park, only the thudding of our shoes on the concrete to be heard. I didn’t speak and for once, it wasn’t an act, I just needed time to process everything. None of it made sense. He’d scratched me, that’s all. He’d pinned me down, scratched me and then left.

                I felt utterly weightless as I realised Wyatt was leading me to Clay’s jeep, however as my blurry vision started to clear, Clayton pulled me into a tight hug.  

                “Well kiddo, you sure know how to scare the living daylights outta me,” He said.  

                “Sorry.” I muttered, rubbing at my eyes which were still wet with mascara. “I-I uh…the alpha didn’t kill us, any of us.”

                “What?”

                “Well if Lydia, Jackson, Stiles, Scott and Allison are standing over there, then it must of walked right past them in the chemistry lab,” I said, exasperated, trying to hold back the tears. “It let them live, it let me live and I don’t know why – I should be dead.”

                “Don’t say that.” Wyatt told me, but I shook my head.

                “He killed the frickin janitor, why didn’t he kill me?”

                “Kraton, hir erm.” Sky said quietly, and I squinted.

                Why wasn’t he speaking English? What did he say?

                “I’m gonna look at your arm, alright?” Clay asked me, his hands moving slowly to peel Sky’s jacket away, to reveal my torn shirt and bloody shoulder.

                I could tell Clay was trying to soften his expression of worry, but it wasn’t working.

                “Is that…” Wyatt trailed off, and my brow furrowed.

                “Yes, it is,” Clay said gravely.

                “What?” I asked looking down at my arm, it was just three slashes, two straight whilst another cut diagonally through it, they were shallow enough, so I didn’t see what all the fuss was about.

                “That’s a Patrimony mark.” Wyatt told me, hesitation drawling in his voice. “The alpha is marking you for his pack.”

                “He’s what?” My eyes bulged. “But that doesn’t make sense, why didn’t it just bite me?”

                “No it’s marked you to be its Guardian,” He said. “It knows who you are and it’s marked you.”

                What? Alpha’s could do that? Claim their Guardian? But technically I wasn’t even trained I mean – how could it do that? How could it know I was a Halliwell, no one else did. Wait – Derek.

                “Did you find Derek’s body?” I snivelled, wrapping Sky’s jacket back around my shoulders.

                “…No.” Clay said, a little confused.

                “Where?” Sky asked, looking back to the school but as I followed his gaze, there was nothing there but Derek’s car.  

                “The alpha, he put his claws straight through his back, blood spurted from Derek’s mouth he – I saw him fall.”

                “The alpha doesn’t care about casualties so he wouldn’t of bothered to move him,” Clay said. “Sky, go find him, he can’t of gone far.”

                “I can’t,” Sky said, and Clayton paused.

                “What do you mean you can’t?”

                “Emery’s been indited under me, as my Charge, I can’t leave her.”

                A stone cold silence filled the car park as Clayton stood just that little bit taller, rigid and almost threatening.

                “You know who she is but you get her indited, who authorised this?”

                “I used one of the names on her ID’s, Carlisle still doesn’t know she exists.” Sky said adamantly.

                “You indited her?” Wyatt asked, but it was clear it wasn’t a question. “And why exactly did you do that?”

                Oh great, here we fucking go, I thought.

                Even though I was at Sky’s side, I may as well have been standing behind him and then a further two miles back, since the three of them were arguing without even acknowledging me. I know shock had turned me white as a sheet but I still had a voice, albeit a quiet one.

                “Because of situations like tonight, she was at the school and needed help,” Sky said.

                “You know out of everything you’ve said tonight, you’ve actually made one good point,” Clay said, a lowness in his voice. “Emery, why were you here?”

                The screech of tires tore through the car park as my dad’s car came to a halt beside us, it’d barely stopped before he jumped out.

                “Him.” I answered Clay, but my voice was weak as dad came to a sudden stop.

                ‘Emery?’ He asked, holding his hand to me, but I didn’t move. ‘Emery, I’m sorry, please I am so sorry.’

                Even though Clay looked confused, he didn’t say anything, he just took my dad’s hand and led him away. Their conversation was a mere grumble, but I could still hear it.

                “Mohtyl yivra ut tsie, dre alkha shienal merkil hir.”

                “Lat?” My dad asked.

                “Ut’al dre kalimonyl mer.”

                “An, an wa.”

                “I’n colkarn Tiyalna, aln sa lat eipal kol af kien drire wolk sepa muth, yia drie drial sepal bilnind.”

                “What are they saying?” I asked my brother.

                “Nothing you don’t already know.” He told me.

                “Then why aren’t they speaking English?”

                “Because there’s already too many people about and cops,” Wyatt said. “That and it’s how they talk in the field.”

                “In the field? They’re not spies.” I muttered, before asking. “You staying in the house tonight?”

                “Naw, I’m at the motel.”

                “Good.”

                My dad and Clay’s conversation continued but I didn’t listen in, I recognised some of the words they were saying, merkil hir meant marked her, and bilnind meant binding.

                “Okay, what do we do now?” Stiles asked, loudly sauntering over.

                What the hell was he doing?

                “Stiles you—”  I started but he cut me off.

                “Listen I don’t want anyone else involved any more than you do, but it’s gotten a little too crazy for my liking,’ He said, his head jutted to Sky’s. “Funny seeing you here, you must really care about those books.”

                “Mr Stilinski.” Sky nodded.

                “Are you the beta she’s been covering for?” Dad turned to him. 

                “No, that’s the guy currently trying stop his relationship from burning and sinking by the looks of it.” Stiles said.

                I followed his line of sight to see Allison and Scott, emotion distraught in their eyes. What the hell happened in the science labs?

                “Stiles.” I tried, seeing the intrigued look in my dad’s eye.

                Shit, he knew who the beta was now.  

                “Scott told me that the reason the alpha called him out was because he wants him to kill his old pack,” Stiles said. “Meaning us.”

                “What?” I asked, feeling my eyes bulge out of their sockets.

                That was a thing? I knew the alpha had taken over his mind but Scott wouldn’t of killed anyone, he felt bad enough when I asked him to kill a spider that one time.

                “Shit.” Wyatt muttered.

                “And as Scott has just informed me, when the alpha called him out, he wanted to do it.”

                “Oh, this day just gets better and better.” Wyatt muttered.

                “Scott, that’s his name?” Clay asked. “Right, well I need you to give this to him.”

                Clay handed Stiles a plain card with a number on it, which I now recognised as his mobile number.

                “Does he get a Guardian now?” Stiles asked. “Cause we don’t need that.”

                “I’m here to help, no ulterior motives I promise but unless you think Scott’s at risk tonight, I think it’s best you and him head home, get some sleep and I’ll contact him tomorrow.”

                Stiles nodded but he didn’t look like he was moving, his hands shoved into his pockets.   

                “Okay,” He said, puffing out a breath. “Um, just one thing, Emery has been nothing but helpful with Scott, she’s given us everything we’ve asked for and helped to teach Scott to control the shift.”

                I threw him a look, I felt like I hadn’t done any of that stuff. What was he doing?

                “Stiles, you don’t need to do this.”  

                “And for the people that are meant to be the experts,” He continued. “You weren’t exactly quick at tracking him down.”

                “Mr Stilinski, I understand—” Clayton tried, but Stiles cut him off.

                “No you don’t and maybe I don’t understand all your shady Guardian stuff, but I know enough, to know Em did most of the stuff you’re meant to do, she’s stopped everyone from seeing him shift at school and instead of keeping us in the dark, she actually told us what was going on. Tonight, she acted the bait so we could get away because you weren’t picking up the phone.”

                I didn’t understand what he was doing, was he trying to make me look better to them?

                “If she’d of given us his name a lot sooner, this could of all been avoided.” Dad said.

                “Well like me she doesn’t want her family involved, I could of called my dad to get the whole department here tonight but I didn’t, because that thing could of went psycho terminator and killed everyone.” Stiles retorted, with a moment of sheer confidence. “So if anyone’s the screw up here, it’s you.”

                Oh Stiles…you bloody angel.

                With that, he pulled me into a tight hug, whispering in my ear.

                “I’ll call you tomorrow, I’ve got a few things to show you.”

                I smiled.

                “Okay, talk to you tomorrow.”

                Stiles pulled back, cheekily winking before taking off back towards Scott. I wanted to thank him, to tell him he didn’t need to lie but the warmth of his hug lingered around my body. It was sweet and filled with care even after he’d gone.

                I was glad for Sky’s jacket, which had carefully concealed the Patrimony Mark and blood, sure I’d fill Stiles in on everything tomorrow but right now, we all needed to go home and get some sleep.

                “Okay,” Clay said, as I turned back to them. “What the hell was that about?”

                “Thought you of all people would know, since Talia thought I was fucking broken.” I muttered.

                “Broken?” Clay asked. “Johnny what’s—”

                “Em, I promise I will explain all of this, it’s not what you think.” Dad told me.

                “Nothing has been.” I shook my head.

                “I can bring her home, but I want to get her shoulder cleaned up first,” Sky said.

                “She’s coming home with me.” Dad said pointedly.

                “She’s his Charge now,” Clay said to my dad’s horror. “You’ll bring her home tonight?”

                “I just need an hour or so.” Sky nodded. “So I can explain everything.”

                “Clayton just because he’s got some bullshit inditement doesn’t mean he has rights over my daughter,” Dad said lowly. “She’s coming home with me.”

                Clay sighed.

                “Legally, if she wants to, she can go.” He said, turning to me. “Do you?”

                “Yeah.” I nodded. “I’ll be back tonight.”

                “You get one hour,’ Clay nodded firmly, before dragging away my less than content dad.

                If I was honest with myself, I was glad Clay had convinced him to leave, I didn’t want to be near him right now. Yes, he was my dad and I loved him but in his eyes, I was a disappointment to the Halliwell name. He was willing to create another life just to cover up the screw up of mine.  

                However, just as my dad was getting back into his car I said.

                “When I come home I want you to explain everything and I mean it, I want the whole truth – no more lies.”

                “Emery—”

                “Dre ludr, kluse.” I said, grappling what little I could of the language together, asking for the truth, but it was clear enough to grab dad’s attention.

                He nodded, then without another word to Clay, took off from the car park, I didn’t dare look away until I saw his taillights turn the corner.

                Clay however, dressed in his usual uniform sauntered back up to us.

                “One hour, I mean it.”

                “Clay, this is my job.” Sky told him. “She’s my Charge.”

                “Langdon, if I find out—”

                “Can you two stop speaking about me like I’m not here?” I yelled, a sudden anger boiling in my throat as I scrunched Sky’s jacket in my hand. “I’m going with Sky and I’ll be back home in an hour, end of.”

                I turned my back on the pair, heading towards Sky’s car. Wyatt took my hand for a moment before letting go and sauntering past Clay to his own car, which he soon sped off in.

                Clay knew this whole time and he hadn’t said one fucking word.

                However, what caught my gaze was the very familiar Martin car by the school doors. Lydia stood there, her gaze fixed on me and I knew then I was done for.

                Lydia was a smart woman, she had to know something was going on.

                What the hell was I going to lie next? Should I say Derek did this? That he ran when he heard the cop cars?

                It was only when she got in the car and it drove away that I let myself relax, as I didn’t see anyone else there except the police. There was no else to watch me in a moment of weakness, however as warm hands pressed on my shoulders, leading me into the car, I knew there was one more, Sky.

 

~*~

Sky didn’t say anything to me on the way back to his place, not that he needed to.

                The entire time his hand was on mine, which brought me some comfort but not enough to block out what happened. I’d survived an alpha and in doing so could keep my families secrets alive.

                The secret I wasn’t good enough to carry on their legacy.

                I knew there had to be more to the story and I shouldn’t wallow in self-pity, but I couldn’t help it. I was insecure, no two ways about it, Lydia and I had spent many a night talking about it. Cerebral palsy had been a big thing in my life, no matter how mild. I didn’t notice it much as a child but as I grew the symptoms got worse, and more identifiable. I’d hid my disability as much as I could at school and at home, if anything I tried to pretend I didn’t have one in the first place. I knew it wasn’t the right thing to do, I knew I should embrace it, it’s what I’d tell anyone else, everyone else.

                Evidently, I didn’t take my own advice.

                As we pulled into Bermuda Street I was a little confused, since I presumed we’d be going to the motel, but as Sky parked his car in the drive and turned off the engine, I was left to look at the large blue house in front of me. This was the house I’d woken up in the other day, did Sky live here now?

                Sky gave me a brief glance and a reassuring smile before he got out, opening my door for me. It’s not I was waiting for him to but I was comfy in my seat, I didn’t want to move. I just wanted to sleep here, I didn’t want anything else added to my day.

                “Come on,” Sky said, holding out his hand. “We’ll get you cleaned up, it won’t take long I promise.”

                I nodded, clenching his hand and following him into the very familiar house, watching as he flicked most of the lights on with the control panel at the door. However, we didn’t stay downstairs or go to the kitchen, instead, he led me up the stairs to a bright bathroom, with white tiles and crème walls.

                Geez, did he not see all the blood on my shoulder? Ziyanda was gonna kill me if I got any on the white bathtub or floor, I thought.

                Without a word Sky sat me down on the edge of the bath, before retreating to the cabinet under the sink and pulling out green medical box.

                “Doesn’t look deep enough for sutures, it should heal on its own,” He said, bringing the box over, kneeling in front of me. “How are you feeling?”

                “Like a fucking idiot.” I admitted, much to my own surprise. “I was helpless in there, there was nothing I could do.”

                I also felt like an idiot for falling for my parents lies, but I didn’t want to add it into the conversation right now, I wasn’t ready to talk about it.

                “There’s not much anyone can do when faced with an alpha.”

                “But I should’ve known what to do, I should’ve asked if you kept any weapons in school when I saw you in the library, I should carry my own for Christ’s sake!”

                “Whether you want to believe it or not, you may be in the know but by all counts you’re a civilian.”

                Shouldn’t of been, I thought, since I was born out of fucking duty.

                “No I’m not, I’m a Halliwell, I grew up with the Hales.” I told him, despite most of my childhood being a blur thanks to the Blue Mist, but Sky didn’t need to know that.

                “But you were raised a civilian, you’re not trained to deal with this.” There was a firmness in Sky’s voice I didn’t recognise when he said that, even though I didn’t want to believe him. “You need to stop being so hard on yourself.”

                Suddenly, I jerked away as a burning pain shot through my arm.

                “Ow!”

                “Sorry, sorry,” Sky said gently, moving away the small cotton ball I’d failed to notice in his hand. “This’ll be the worst bit, I promise.”

                I grimaced and grit my teeth as he continued to wipe at the slashes the alpha had left behind, the blood thinning with every swipe of the cotton ball.

                “You’ve done this before,” I said, trying to get my mind off the pain which had went from burning, to searing.

                “A few times.” He laughed.

                “So…I’m legally your Charge now.”

                “It’s a professional relationship,’ He said, but there was a teasing tone in his voice. “It just means I’ll be there if you need me, you can tell me anything you’re worried about—”

                “That sounds more like being a therapist.”

                Sky smirked.

                “Essentially, but with a killer alpha shoved in there.”

                It was almost methodical the way he went about cleaning my arm, like he’d done it a hundred times before and I knew he had, as his own arm was marked with scars. How many times had he been at the mercy of an alpha? Had all of the marks been from a set of claws? Had any been human? One of them had to be, it was covered by a tattoo but it looked like someone had cut a letter into his skin, two letters maybe I couldn’t tell.

                Had he ever been as stupid as I had?

                Sky’s eyes caught me looking, so I threw them back up.

                “When I called you, it sounded as if a radio went off?”

                “Yeah, I was working with a small team from a different state and they wanted a situation update, just to tell the higher up’s, nothing interesting.” He said,

                I tilted my head.

                “Higher up’s, so I’m guessing that means Carlisle?”

                Sky pressed his lips together.

                “He’s Clay’s boss, yeah.”

                I gawked.

                “You went above Clayton’s head to get me as a Charge – Jesus you must not like your legs as much as you said.” I joked, squeezing his hand.

                Sky leaned a little closer, looking up at me rather than me wounded arm.

                “I’m sorry about earlier, talking with him like you weren’t there.”

                “What’s new?” I shrugged. “It’s fine.”

                “No, it’s not,’ He said. “You told me I was the person you could talk to but as soon as the job took over back there, it was like I was back in the ranks. It was auto-pilot, so I am sorry.”

                “…Thanks.” I smiled softly.

                “What did you mean back there, by the way?” He asked. “Why would Talia think you were broken?”

                Shit – I hoped he’d forgotten about that.

                “It’s a family thing, really boring story, not important.” I waved him off. “Anyway, you’ve got to tell me all about this Charge thingy.”

                Sky shook his head.

                “I just did.”

                “But you said it would take over an hour.”

                “I thought you could use a break, albeit a small one.” He told me. “You’ve been through a lot—”

                “I’m not a baby—”

                “For any normal person to have gone through.”

                Even though I’d tried to cut him off and express my eagerness to be involved, Sky wasn’t having it. Would he let me be critical of myself for one minute?

                “Normal’s overrated.” I muttered, watching as he grabbed for some opaque medical tape, cutting it into small rectangles.

                Sky taped the gashes on my arms within five minutes, making sure to take his time and apologise, every time I couldn’t contain a wince. Before I knew it, I was in a slightly baggy top and sitting on the bed of the master bedroom. I presumed the shirt was Sky’s given it’s dark and plain material. The offer of turning on the TV had been made as Sky disappeared down the stairs, but I didn’t bother, since I’d spend more time looking at my arm than I would watching anything. The last thing I wanted to do was leave, I didn’t want to go back home, I wanted to curl under these sheets and sleep for at least a week.

                I didn’t even want to think about moving.

                KNOCK.

                KNOCK.

                Sky’s knuckles drummed against the door but what made me smile, wasn’t the fact he’d changed into a far more casual red t-shirt, nor was it the cheeky grin on his face, it was the Ben & Jerries, Chocolate Fudge Brownie ice cream in his hand, along with two spoons.

                “Not many live to tell the tale of an alpha, never mind a feral one, so I believe ice cream is in order,” He said brightly, jumping onto the bed beside me.

                “Okay, are you psychic?” I asked. “This is my favourite flavour.”

                “No,” He laughed, handing me a spoon and cracking open the lid. “But you got a similar flavour the other night so I thought this would be a safe bet.”

                I felt myself smile as I dug into the ice cream, filling the spoon and slowly eating away at it. The creamy chocolate ridding any aches from my body (okay, it didn’t but it tasted that good it may as well have).

                “Well, you were right.” I smiled.

                Then Sky said something I didn’t expect.

                “Has something else happened? I mean at home, your dad seemed off and Wyatt said he’s staying at the motel—”

                “It’s a long story.” I cut him off.

                “I know I said you were my Charge but right now, you don’t have to be, you can tell me anything,” He said, this time however, there was something gentle in his voice. “I’ll listen.”

                “How about you give me some time to come to the terms with it, before I talk about it?” I asked and Sky nodded.

                “I think that sounds like a good plan, or as they say in Lumeric, Gid Klan.”

                “Just saying, you should speak in Lumeric more often,” I said, relieved he’d dropped the subject. “Cause here I thought your accent was sexy, but add a bit of Archaic pronunciation and fuck me.”

                Where this sudden confidence had come from I didn’t know, it could be a high from the sheer lack of adrenaline or the ice cream, but as soon as the words left my lips, I wanted to take them back. I mean, I didn’t really but it was embarrassing, was it not? I’d added a fuck me at the end and everything!

                “Kila eip shienil eipar wa yia'd ka dre nilt, hire, widr eipa.” Sky said, his eyes attuned with mine as he leaned back in the bed. “Aln sepaciese eip drie yia kol't, ulnirkaln eipa, eip kol sa drat elen drial yia lik kan hen, yia're suf golal buutiful, aln yia kol't sa odrirwise.”

                “See I have no idea what you just said, but it sounded amazing.” I laughed, licking the spoon once more. “You could be talking about the weather for all I know.”

                “I could,” Sky mused. “But I wasn’t.”

                “Then what did you say?”

                “Why don’t I say it again in a month?” He challenged. “I’ll say it again and you can tell me what I said.”

                “Oh what? No!” I laughed. “You’re not seriously making me work for it?”

                “Oh, yes,” Sky said. “But it’s worth it, I promise.”

                “It better be the co-ordinates to a secret stash of cash.”

“Nah, it’s something way better than that.”

                Well if he was going to make me work for it, then I was going to oblige because if nothing drove me crazier, it was not knowing something and when it came to Sky, I wanted to know everything.

                His mere presence made me feel at ease but I didn’t understand why, even as we rambled about complete nonsense, fuelled by ice cream, I didn’t want to leave. He was like a really good friend but if anything, this felt like a date, a really informal of course, since I felt like half my makeup had slid off.

                His laugh was charming and yet filled with fun, I wanted to see him laugh more.

                Home was something I knew awaited me and I didn’t have long to get there, but I made sure to savour every moment I had with Sky, as if it were my last.

 

 

Sky Langdon's translation notes, written by Guardian Langdon

English translation to Lumeric speech given to Emerson Halliwell: If I had my way you would stay the night, here, with me and because I know you can’t understand me, I can say that even though you look like hell, you’re so Goddamn beautiful, and you can’t say otherwise.

P.S. And you still can’t because you don’t know I’m writing in your journal, I promise I didn’t read the parts about me, that much.

Sky