inhuman [2] // teen wolf

4. symbol

At school the next day, Allison and Lydia pulled Scott, Stiles, Riley and even Derek into a classroom alone so they could show them what they found.

"I don't see anything." Derek said boredly, as he stared at the two girls' wrists which were side by side.

They both had the same bruise on them, which Riley found weird. She definitely thought that it looked like something familiar. The two girls explained that a woman came into the school looking for Scott, and then gripped onto their wrists when they didn't know. She said she needed to find him, but then she ran off. Maybe it was the same girl that saved Isaac?

Speaking of Isaac, he had taken a few days off to recover in Derek's apartment, where he still lives. Early that morning, Isaac had invited Riley over for moral support because Peter was going to attempt to dig some memories out of Isaac's head by digging his claws into the back of his neck. Isaac had found Erica and Boyd but Peter did not get much more out of him.

"Look again." Scott instructed, which pulled Riley out of her thoughts. She tried to remember where she had seen that sign from, but she just couldn't pull it out of her mind. It was as if it was there, but something was blocking it. Maybe her shield didn't want her to know.

"How is a bruise going to tell me where Erica and Boyd are?" Derek asked, glaring at Allison, who was also staring at him with hatred.

"It's the same on both sides, exactly the same." Scott argued, trying to be persistent. Derek and Allison kept glaring at each other.

"It's nothing." He replied.

"Pareidolia. Seeing patterns that aren't there." Lydia informed knowingly, as everyone stared at each other in confusion. Lydia's smile dropped as she looked back at everyone. "It's a subset of apophenia."

"They're trying to help." Scott mumbled, dismissing what Lydia just said. Derek looked back in shock, not comprehending the fact.

"These two?" He asked, pointing at Lydia. "This one, who used me to resurrect my psychotic uncle, thank you for that by the way." He turned to Allison who was staring at him threateningly. "And this one, who shot about 30 arrows into me and my pack."

"Alright, okay, come on. At least nobody died, all right? There may have been a little bit of maiming, okay, a little mangling but no death! That's what I call an important distinction." Stiles interrupted, who was sitting on the desk beside Riley. Riley pursed her lips as she looked at Stiles; actually someone did die.

"My mother died." Allison said quietly, staring at Derek as if it was his fault.

"You family's little honor code killed your mother, not me." He replied, and Allison disregarded what he said entirely.

"That girl is looking for Scott. I'm here to help him, not you."

"You want to help? Find something real." Derek informed and walked to the door. Scott caught up with him and chatted quietly to themselves.

"Stiles, did you really have to be that insensitive?" Riley whispered to the boy next to her, and he looked at her in confusion. "Allison's mother died, her grandfather is as good as dead, and Jackson died like, twice."

"But two of those three deaths don't really count, do they?" Stiles pointed out, and Riley rolled her eyes. The bell went after Derek left, and that was a cue for everyone to leave the classroom. Before they all did, however, Riley stopped Allison and Lydia.

"Don't worry, I'll help you guys find out what that symbol means. I don't really have anything else to do." Riley said, smiling at them.

"Well, you don't really have a choice in this, do you? We're your friends, of course you have to help us." Lydia replied, smiling to herself as she dragged the two girls off to the library for their free period. It was good that they all had a free period together; Riley was also glad that she didn't have any homework so she could pay her full attention to what Allison was doing.

On the way to the library, a freshmen boy actually came up to Lydia and handed her large coffee from the Beacon Hills coffee shop down the road as a gift. Of course she took it and walked away with no thanks; only a smile and a wave of her hair over her shoulder.

They all sat at a table and Allison sketched out the bruise from her arm on a piece of paper. Riley sat next to Lydia, who was happily sipping on her coffee. Her eyes drifted from Allison to the two boys that had just entered the room. They stood at the bookshelf as they talked to each other inaudibly.

"I want one." Lydia drooled, staring right at them. Allison looked behind her and smiled at Lydia, leaning towards her.

"Which one?" She whispered, and Lydia looked at her.

"The straight one, obviously." She replied, and put her drink down on the table. Danny walked past and one of the boys stared and smiled at him. Danny was distracted by him and accidentally bumped into someone, then he quickly left. Riley picked up Lydia's empty coffee cup as she got up and left to talk to the boy. She examined the logo and studied it; a thought popping up in her head. Allison seemed to get the same idea as Riley handed her the cup in befuddlement.

"What if it's not a symbol, but a logo?" She asked, looking up and realizing that Lydia was gone. She looked behind her and saw Lydia getting close and talking to the straight boy.

Allison typed up something on her computer after she put the cup down and scrolled through the page. Riley's phone started to buzz continuously and Isaac's name showed up on her screen.

"Isaac? What's up?" She asked, turning away from Allison. She picked at a loose hem of her skirt as she listened to him talk.

"Can you please come down to the animal clinic with Scott and Stiles? I need you here." He replied, and Riley had a permanent frown on her face.

"Why, what's wrong?" She asked, but he didn't answer very well.

"I need moral support. Can you please just come with Scott and Stiles now? I got to go." Isaac asked again, and he hung up. Riley groaned and stood up with her bag. Allison watched her with an expectant expression.

"Isaac needs me for some reason. Call me if you find anything."