Smoke and Mirrors

Chapter 1

A sudden frantic banging on her door pulls her head out of the fantasy world it was immersed in.

"What do you want Stiles?" She asks shortly.

He bursts through the door causing his sister to roll her eyes. She only asked what he wanted and did not invite him to barge into her room, but it was Stiles.

"They found a body in the woods." He states breathlessly.

"I'm pretty sure you shouldn't be invading dad's privacy."

"Yeah, yeah that's not important." Kaida sighs and rolls her eyes at her younger adoptive brother, "I'm going to get Scott so we can go find the body.

She sits up on her bed and looks at him with a frown decorating her face, "I thought you said they found the body?"

"That's the best part. They only found half of the body."

Kaida closes her eyes for a second. A dead body in the woods that's been cut in half. That could only mean something dangerous.

"So, are you coming?" He asks impatiently.

"Traipsing around the woods in the middle of the night looking for a body while the killer is probably still out there?" She questions incredulously, "Yeah, I think not."

"Oh, come on," Stiles complains.

"Have fun. Don't get yourself killed." She tells him as she chases him out of the room.

He grumbles all the way out the door. His noisy Jeep starts and pulls out of the driveway and she then jumps into action. Kaida grabs a black hoodie off her desk and launches herself out of her second-story bedroom window. She had no intention of staying in the house while some new threat to her existence could be stalking through the forest. In Beacon Hills a murder was never just some idiot with a weapon, it was always something more. She knew her brother would also be out in those woods but he would be ok, she didn't need them a part of her world. She glances around to make sure that no one's seen her and takes off into the woods.

She races through the forest paying attention to any sounds or smells that may lead her to the truth about who or what was killing people in the woods. Suddenly, she is overwhelmed by fear that was not her own. She follows the feeling. The next thing she notices is blood dripping off a nearby log, the metallic smell overwhelms her senses. A scream rips from Kaida's throat before she quickly slams her hand over her mouth to stifle the sound. Lying in front of the blue-eyed girl is the body of someone she thought died six years ago, Laura Hale. She falls to her knees next to the older woman and looks over her body silent tears falling from her eyes. Laura's cold dead eyes seem to stare directly into Kaida's soul. She pulls her hoodie over her hands and gently closed her eyes careful to avoid leaving her DNA behind.

"May you find peace, free of the fires of this world," She whispers, allowing her voice to be carried away by the wind.

The younger girl turns to leave when a slight shimmer catches her eye. Laura's triskelion necklace lies next to her body. She picks it up and slides it into the pocket of her jeans. 

 A low growl echoes off the trees. She snaps around nearly breaking her neck with the speed. Two red eyes stare out from the trees, an Alpha. The two beings stare into each others eyes, unmoving, the red eyed monster almost seems to recognise her and in turn, it feels strangely familiar to the girl. She prays internally that the recognition means it will leave her alone. Sadly, she has never been that lucky. Seeing her only seems to make him angrier. She can feel the anger and vengeance rolling off of him in waves.

The Alpha leaps towards her and she narrowly dodges to the side his claws catching the side of her shoulder. Its large size means it isn't as agile as she is, before it can even turn in her direction she takes off into the woods. It follows, hot on her heels. The Alpha is faster than Kaida , speed has never been her strong suit and not using her abilities for long periods of time has caused them to weaken. He quite literally nips at her heels and in one swift bite he succeeds. Searing pain rips through her calf but the adrenaline quickly dulls the pain. Her bright blue eyes frantically search for anything that can put some distance between her and the angry beast, but nothing appears. Then she suddenly remember that she is surrounded by towering trees. It's a long shot but it's the only one she has. A large tree looms in front of her and she use the last ounce of her strength to propel herself high up into its branches. She lets out a sigh of relief as the Alpha stays far below her. It howls with rage before disappearing into the woods. The debilitating pain in her calf picks that moment to return with rejuvenated strength. Kaida gently pulls her leggings away from the wound with a hiss. A clear bite mark marks her calf. She rips a piece of fabric off the other leg and ties it tightly just below her knee to slow the bleeding. Gently standing with the help of the branches Kaida begins to  climb from tree to tree back towards her house, too scared to return to the ground.

She manages to get to her house without any further incidents and lets out a sigh of relief when she notices that neither Stiles nor her dad are home yet.  The blonde haired girl lets herslef into the front door and limp up the stairs to the bathroom unable to repeat her window heroics from earlier that night. Climbing into the shower, she lets the scalding water wash any traces of the night off her body restoring her heart to its normal speed. A warm, soft bed is a welcome comfort after the night she's had and it almost seems like a dream but her bandaged leg and shoulder are going to ensure that she knows it was real.