Saving Scott

4: Halloween

Beacon Hills High School Bus

Halloween Morning

Like always, as the day of the full moon dawned, Malia looked up at the sky as she left for the bus stop and thought about The Incident.

When she was young, right after the infamous camping trip when she had nearly killed Kylie, her own sister, Malia hadn't known how to control it. But Kylie, bless her soul, had snuck onto the home laptop, claiming an interest in supernatural creatures (not a total lie) and figured out that the transformation would happen to Malia every full moon.

So on the next full moon after the camping trip, Kylie had dragged a temperamental Malia out to the forest, and unfortunately she had shape-shifted into a full coyote, something Malia had only done once, on the way there. Her father had glanced out of the window and seen Kylie near a coyote, and he had fired a bullet into Malia's paw. Luckily, Malia had managed to escape into the woods before Mr. Tate could do any more damage, and she had run out onto the road, where she had nearly run into Deaton's car. 

Deaton had helped remove the bullet, and though Malia still felt that rise of power - the ability to turn into a full coyote - she hadn't done it, not since the Incident. She still remembered the animalistic urge to survive, to leave Kylie and find some animals for her supper. Malia had eaten a deer that night, and it was surprisingly good. 

She had never known anybody else that could turn full animal. Nobody, that was, until Scott. And she hadn't told anybody about the Incident - Kylie knew, of course, she'd been screaming at her father to stop shooting - except for Stiles, because Malia had confessed that to him one night in a haze of love.

Malia's phone rang, and she glanced down at the caller ID as the bus rumbled. It was Scott. Malia frowned; Scott never used the cell phone that his mother had bought him, mostly because he still didn't understand how they worked, and he had his mother to call people for him, or Malia.

"Malia?" Scott's voice asked over the phone, sounding husky, like he'd just woken up.

"Scott, you're using your phone," Malia smiled. 

"I can't put my claws back in," Scott told her. "On one hand. On the other, they won't come out, but..."

"It's the full moon," Malia told him with a sigh. "Look, Scott, your mom knows, all right, and she probably won't have anybody over there all day, okay? And I promised to help right after school, so I'll be there."

"But how do I make it stop?" Scott pleaded. "Malia, you said you'd teach me control."

Suddenly, Malia felt like the worst person in the world. "All right, Scott, breathe," she told him. "This, right now, is probably just your wolf freaking out because of the full moon. You're afraid that you're vulnerable, that you're all alone, but Scott, I promise you, you're not. So focus on those words, and pull your claws back in."

There was a moment of silence, and then Scott's voice said, "I did it, Malia, I did it!"

"That's great, Scott!" Malia praised him. "Now, you know I have school today - "

"I still don't understand why I can't go with you," Scott said sullenly.

Malia chose to ignore this statement right now, because they had already explained why Scott couldn't go to school just yet to him countless times, and said, "So I'll call you during breaks to check up on you, all right? And then I'll call you during lunch and study hall, too. And I'll see you in-person, after school."

Kylie tapped Malia's shoulder. "Lee, you have to get off the bus," she hissed, glancing at the annoyed-looking bus driver.

"I have to go, Scott, I'm sorry," Malia apologized. "I'll talk to you later, okay?"