pack mentality | teen wolf applyfic [next gen]

01. the call to the wild

PACK MENTALITY
THE CALL TO THE WILD

PILAR MCCALL SAT up in a cold sweat that morning, breathing heavy. She'd had that nightmare again. Except it wasn't really a nightmare. It was real life. It just happened to torture her every time she closed her eyes. The crunch of metal, the shattering of glass like the tinkering of rain drops on the concrete. The haunted look in her mother's eyes. It was a horrifying last memory to have of anyone. But she knew, somehow, that her mother didn't hold this against her. In fact, she could practically hear her mother now. You'll be okay, bebé. Getting ready for the first day of high school without her mother wasn't part of the plan. Even still, she knew her mother was with her.

Or at least she hoped so. Pilar wasn't much for religion, but sometimes she thought the absence of it was scarier than having it. She didn't like the idea of there being nothing after death. It seemed... terrifying. But she also didn't know what there was. Maybe there was nothing. Maybe when you died, there was just darkness. Maybe if you didn't live your life now, there was no other chance for happiness. Maybe if you died having been miserable, that was just it.

If she didn't work to be happy now, was this sadness all she would ever know?

Somehow, Pilar felt like she should be happy. She was privileged. She was pretty. And her dad had even let her get highlights, bringing beautiful pops of warm blonde to her otherwise dark brown ringlets. He was more lenient with her. (Especially after what had happened.) So why did she still feel empty inside as she stood with a yawn and stretch?

She didn't get to linger on it. The first day of school meant a fight for the bathroom. (It had been that way since they first started.) Gathering her robe and toiletries, Pilar bolted down the hallway. "Pilar, no!", her slightly older sister (by ten minutes) shouted in frustration.

"Uh, Pilar, yes! You don't have curly hair, Brigh, I need the extra time!", Pilar argued, just barely managing to slide into the bathroom door before their brother could. (Triplets were so stressful.) She gave him a sweet smile as she did so. "Sorry, Cesar. You snooze, you lose. Gotta be quicker than that."

Cesar groaned, knowing that he would definitely be last in this fight to the death. "Just save me some hot water, please!"

"Of course!", Pilar said cheerfully before abruptly closing the door in his face. She loved her brother, she did. So, she would make sure he actually got his hot water. She wished she were still as close to their sister. Brighton and Pilar were once as thick as thieves, but the older they got, the more they drifted apart. Especially after what had happened with their mother. It wasn't that Brighton blamed her sister, it was just that... Well, maybe she did. Just a little. If Pilar hadn't wanted to go driving, their mother would still be here.

Brighton didn't believe in fate, or destiny, like her sister did. However, it was a very real thing. One decision could change the course of everything. Fate was like the pendulum of a grandfather clock, always swinging back and forth. Tick, tick...