REAPING INNOCENCE ◦ STILINSKI [3]

xvii.

xvii. HOW THE MIGHTY FALL

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CARTER INEVITABLY BECAME oblivious to her surroundings that next morning, mind elsewhere as she mindlessly tapped her fingers on her desk. The class was quiet but her mind was screaming at her, but that much was expected considering what had happened to her last night. She wanted to keep her promise to herself to be calm, despite the fact that she was up all night staring at her wall with no sleep. After Lydia went home rather abruptly last night, she was left to explain to Logan why one of her best friends showed up at her apartment building screaming. And it hadn't necessarily been the easiest task persuading Logan not to tell anyone what happened.

Some part of her had a sliver of optimism that her predicted death would be proven wrong after the deadpool had been shut down, but the rippling feeling in the pit of her stomach and the blinding pressure at the base of her skull didn't seem to agree. Neither did Lydia. Neither did her dreams. After all she had gone through in the past few months, from being stuck in a fucking temple being experimented on to standing in front of another human with her claws lodged in the side of their neck, she finally understood what her life meant. For the longest time, she was just breathing and hoping the consequences of her past wouldn't catch up to her. Now, she understood that waking up every day to a pack—a family—that loved her, walking down the hallway to see people smile at her and not cower away in fear, and know that, if her life were just to abruptly end, she would be okay with it.

"Lydia?" The voice brought Carter out of her thoughts. She blinked a few times to dismiss her noisy head before glancing up to see that Malia was desperately trying to get Lydia's attention.

The strawberry-blonde didn't respond, too engrossed in her work.

"Lydia," Malia called again, her, Lydia, Carter, and Kira currently sitting in their economics class, and thankfully, the four of them had been seated next to each other.

The Were-Pheanix and Kitsune looked at one another, immediately noticing the excitement written upon Malia's face. Carter knew that Lydia wanted nothing more than to congratulate the Werecoyote on her hard work, but she also knew that Lydia was a bit out of it—had been since last night. And from what she could tell, Lydia barely remembered showing up at her apartment screaming. Everyone knew what that meant, but no one had the guts to talk about it. When a Banshee screamed, it meant death. There was no way around it; that was why Carter hadn't wanted anyone to find out, she didn't want them to get distracted from what really mattered trying to save her life.

Carter couldn't help but let an exhausted laugh fall from her mouth, pulling her hands up to her face and rub at it. Once again, she was following fear instead of running away from it—she had been running for too long—and she hated it. Every single instinct of her wanted to crawl out of her own body and get as far away as possible, knowing that she was an infection that would continue to everyone around her until they were all left utterly destroyed.

"Did you hear me? Look—" Malia continued, causing Lydia to finally glance up from her paper to see the girl waving her test out in front of her. "I passed."

Lydia distracted eyes fell upon the red C- written and circled at the top of Malia's test, and managed to give the girl a faint smile. Kira beamed, barely fighting the urge to applaud in the middle of class. And despite their differences, Carter was proud of Malia—for a girl who had been trapped inside the form of a coyote for over eight years, she had been picking up on certain things pretty well.