Nefarious ➛ Theo Raeken [2]

|05|

this one honestly hurts just a little bit.

•

Clarissa Bane found herself sitting in the backseat of the jeep later that afternoon. She had gotten frantic text messages from the human between third and fourth period about them skipping school but then had promptly been informed that they would have to wait after school to go as Lydia's mother had caught Stiles and Scott trying to escape. It had been something to keep her entertained as she sat and listened to Coach Finstock lecture for an hour.

Her eyes narrowed slightly as she noticed that the necklace that she had jokingly given to Stiles in New Orleans was no longer hanging over his mirror. She had gotten it at one of the shops there, instantly purchasing it when the witch who owned the shop explained that it was a protective amulet. Stiles had had a lot of bad luck when it came to his jeep and she hoped that it would protect him while he was driving. She supposed that he had taken it inside, but she couldn't imagine why he would take it down as it had been there since they got back.

"Is that the house?" Clarissa questioned softly as they pulled up to the lone house at the end of the neighborhood. It was a nice enough street but something about the house being alone and far away from the other houses seemed strange to her, almost as if it had been forgotten about as they expanded the line of houses. "They pretty much lived out here by themselves then. The next closest house is at least a fifteen-minute walk."

"It's pretty strange." Scott agreed with the chimera, sliding the seat up so that she could get out of the jeep. Clarissa nodded towards the alpha stiffly, her eyes narrowed as he gestured for her to go first so that he could close the door. "It's about a ten-minute walk from here to the preserve too."

"Did you memorize the way to the preserve in between howling at the moon?" Clarissa questioned the boy with an attempted smile, her eyes lingering on the structure of the house. The hollow feeling inside of her chest was back at full force and a shiver traveled down her spine as she stared at the lonely structure. "I heard that you walked there in your sleep one time."

"Dude you told her about that?" Clarissa heard the alpha hiss towards his best friend and she smirked at the nervous laugh that Stiles gave to his friend at the mention of the story. "Why?"

"She needed context." Stiles declared quickly before his eyes landed on the structure of the house. Clarissa watched his eyes go wide before he glanced between his friends, his fear coming off him in waves. "That's not creepy at all."

"Yes, it is." Clarissa mumbled underneath her breath as she buried herself deeper inside of her jacket. She watched as Stiles handed Scott the flashlight and sighed as the two teenagers started moving towards the house. "I really need to get new friends. One of these days I'm going to go along with them to explore some creepy house and never come out alive."

Leaves crunched underneath her boots as she started to follow the two teenagers and she grimaced at the sound that it created through the silent atmosphere. She focused her senses on the surrounding area, surprised that she couldn't even hear the birds chirping in the afternoon air.

The wind around her picked up gently and she jumped at the sound of chains rustling behind her. Her head snapped around quickly and focused on the swing set behind her, watching as they hit the sides of the set. Her head tilted to the side as she heard a faint sound that accompanied it and her eyes narrowed as the sound of breathing hit her ears. It was too low to be human, but she knew that it was impossible that she would hear a horse in the neighborhood that they were in.

"Clary?" Her best friend's voice broke her stare away from the swing set and her head snapped towards where both Scott and Stiles were waiting for her on the porch. They both looked concerned, but she had only been zoned out for a moment. "You coming?"