Creatures of the Night

Prologue | ARRIVAL

"You've got to let you, you're losing all your hope."

°°°°

"Scott, get down here! She'll be here in a couple of minutes!" Melissa called to her son from the kitchen, swiping at the nonexistent dust on the table for what seemed like the twentieth time.

"Going!"

Melissa put her hands on her hips and let out a defeated sigh as she heard the sound of things being knocked down, knowing that the teenager had been sleeping instead of cleaning.

Scott stumbled down the stairs, hastily running a hand through his hair, and gave his mom a sheepish smile. His embarrassment quickly turned to curiosity as he asked, "How old is she again?"

Melissa glanced at him swiftly before adding, "She's 15, Scott, and you are not getting her involved in any of your supernatural activities, understand? She's been through a lot. I don't want you adding to the struggles she's already facing."

With that said, Scott recalled what he had learned from his mom-and Stiles's snooping through the sheriff's files-about his cousin.

Both of her parents worked with the government- with his own dad in the FBI. Her and her mother had been kidnapped and tortured by a man looking for information about a case that had gone wrong years ago. Three weeks prior to that, her father had been shot in front of their home by the same man.

The operation to rescue her was a success; however, only she was able to come out alive. Her mother had been murdered cold-bloodedly in front of her. According to the police file, his cousin had been psychologically evaluated after the occurrence. Besides the bruises and broken bones, it was as if nothing had ever happened. Her emotional and mental state were completely okay, as if she hadn't lived such a traumatic experience.

To say he was nervous was an understatement. He now had to share the house with one more person, meaning he could no longer hold pack meetings at his place and had to be even more cautious of not letting his secret spill. He was even more concerned about how she would manage in Beacon Hills High.

The school year had already begun, and she was going into her freshman year- the year of discoveries and adventures. He wanted to look out for her as best as possible, but he wasn't so sure he could do that with everything that was going on.

His train of thought was interrupted by the doorbell ringing, signaling her arrival. His mom opened the door and welcomed his cousin into her new home.

She was a lot smaller than he expected, shorter than Lydia without heels and thinner than Malia. She had the same sun-kissed skin tone as he did and her hair was so dark that he would've thought it'd been dyed black. Of course, she also had the same wavy hair that his mother has.

What surprised him was the color of her eyes; they were the most electrifying thing he'd ever seen. They were a gray-blue shade, reminding him of a thunderstorm stirring up the sky. The blue in her eyes were like lighting bolts- strikingly beautiful and dangerous.

Melissa gave her a wide smile and said, "Hi sweetie, my name's Melissa. It's nice to finally have you here."

His cousin looked at him with curiosity before he realized she was waiting for his introduction. Panicking, Scott gave her an awkward wave and let out, "Hey, I'm Scott."

Melissa chuckled, bringing in the girl's bags and setting them on the floor. She looked at Scott, who was watching his cousin scanning over the room.

She cleared her throat to get their attention and said, "You start school next Monday, so you have time to get settled in and maybe even get to know Beacon Hills a little better. I'll usually be out of the house, but you can find me at the hospital if you need anything. Scott will take you to school," Melissa paused and laughed quietly. "I hope you don't mind motorcycles."

She gave the girl a pat on the back and continued to give her a tour of the house. Scott decided to take her bags upstairs to her room. Once settled in, he thought about how unusual it was for the girl to only bring a suitcase and a backpack.

Scott pulled his phone out and clicked on his message log, sending a quick text to his best friend.

'Got here around 10 minutes ago, Mom's still showing her around.'

Stiles replied in a matter of seconds.

'You planning to introduce her to the rest?'

Scott hesitated, he knew it was dangerous to introduce the pack to him but it was even more dangerous to just let her wander alone.

'Yes- I don't want her alone.'

As Scott put his phone in his pocket, he heard Melissa and his cousin walking towards the room.

"This will be your room from now on, let me know if you need anything else. We can go shopping tomorrow for clothes and anything you want to make the room more comfortable. I'll be in the room at the end of the hall." Melissa said as she gave the girl a warm smile and walked to her room.

"My room is the one right across the hall, you can go by anytime." Scott told his cousin. "I'll let you unpack now."

As soon as Scott closed the door, she let out a sigh of relief.

She sat down on her new bed and looked around the room. She spoke what was on her mind without a second thought.

"This is gonna take a while to get used to."