Later that evening, Scott and I were paying Stiles a visit. Scott knocks on Stiles' bedroom door and I hear papers rustling.
"Get in," Stiles says to us. "You gotta see this thing."
I follow Scott in, dropping my backpack by the door.
"I've been up all night reading - websites, books. All this information," Stiles speeds out, rushing to his desk.
"How much Adderall have you had today?" Scott asks, standing over Stiles. I flop my best friend's bed.
"A lot. Doesn't matter. Okay, just listen," Stiles rushes. His eyes are wide.
"Oh, is this about the body?" Scott asks, tossing his bag on the bed next to me. "Did they find out who did it?" I perk up, listening more carefully.
"No, they're still questioning people, even Derek Hale," Stiles explains.
"Ah, the guy in the woods we saw the other day," Scott says. As if we had forgotten the pale, dressed-in-black stranger who knew Scott was looking for his inhaler and just so happened to have it. Sounds like murderer material, especially when my brother happens to have dropped his inhaler right next to a dead body. I might believe Derek was the killer if I didn't have a feeling that he wasn't. The evidence added up, but my instincts said "no."
"Yeah! Yes," Stiles says, waving his arms spastically through the air. He wasn't lying when he said he had a lot of Adderall. "But that's not it, okay?"
"What then?" Scott asks, looking amused.
"Remember the joke from the other day? Not a joke anymore," Stiles continues. I look at the papers lying on his floor. They're all of beasts - wolves.
"Oh no, Stiles," I groan, seeing where he was going with this. Scott looks confused between the two of us.
"The wolf - the bite in the woods. I started doing all this reading," Stiles tells us, jumping up. He looks at me and Scott. "Do you even know why a wolf howls?"
"No," I say.
"Should I?" Scott asks.
"It's a signal, okay? When a wolf's alone, it howls to signal its location to the rest of the pack," Stiles informs us. "So if you heard a wolf howling, it means others could have been nearby. Maybe a whole pack of 'em."
"So there are wolves in California," I conclude.
"A whole pack of wolves?" Scott looks over at me. Then, he looks at Stiles for an explanation of how this fits together.
"No - werewolves," Stiles corrects solemnly.
"Are you seriously wasting my time with this?" Scott asks, standing up and picking up his bag. "You know I'm picking up Allison in an hour."
Stiles and I both knew. In fact, I think all of Beacon Hills knew, the way Scott hasn't shut up about it since.
"I saw you on the field today, Scott," Stiles says, walking up to my brother. "Okay, what you did today wasn't just amazing, alright? It was impossible."
"Yeah, so I made a good shot," Scott says quietly, starting to walk out. Stiles puts a hand on his chest, stopping him from taking another step.
"No! You made an incredible shot, I mean -" Stiles takes Scott's backpack and puts it back on his bed. "The way you moved, your speed, your reflexes. You know, people can't just suddenly do that overnight. And there's the vision and the senses, and don't even think I don't notice that you don't need your inhaler anymore."
I had noticed that too. He got himself all worked up last night at the animal clinic about his bite being gone and never once had to stop to use his inhaler.
"Okay! Dude, I can't think about this now! We'll talk tomorrow," Scott says loudly.
"Tomorrow?" Stiles' eyes bulge out of his head. "What? No! The full moon's tonight! Don't you get it?"
"What are you trying to do?" Scott shouts. I sit there in silence, watching my two favorite people fight for the first time in forever. "I - I just made first line. I - I got a date with a girl who - who I can't believe wants to go out with me and everything in my life is somehow perfect. Why are you trying to ruin it?"
"I'm trying to help," Stiles says, pulling a paper from his printer. "You're cursed, Scott. You know and it's not just that the moon will cause you to physically change. It also just so happens to be when your bloodlust will be at its peak."
"Bloodlust?" Scott furrows his eyebrows.
"Yeah, your urge to kill," Stiles explains.
"I'm already starting to feel an urge to kill, Stiles," Scott says lowly.
"You gotta hear this," Stiles turns and starts rifling through books. "The change can be caused by anger or anything that raises your pulse. All right? I haven't seen anyone raise your pulse like Allison does," Stiles stands up and slaps his printer. "You gotta cancel this date!" he declares, rushing around Scott. "I'm gonna call her right now," Stiles tells us, rifling through Scott's backpack for his cell phone.
"What are you doing?" Scott asks again.
"I'm cancelling the date," Stiles answers, walking back around Scott.
"No!" my brother roars, making me jump. "Give it to me!"
Scott slams Stiles into the wall and I spring to my feet.
"Scott!" I scream as he twists his fingers into the front of Stiles' shirt. "Hey! What the hell are you doing? Scott!" He ignores me, his fist in the air, and for one horrible second, I think he might actually punch Stiles. Then, he turns and flips Stiles' desk chair instead. He looks at Stiles, breathing heavily. I swallow thickly and wait for Scott to do something else.
"I'm sorry," Scott breathes. My shoulders relax. "I - I gotta go get ready for - for that party." Scott clutches his phone and grabs his bag from the bed, leaving Stiles' bedroom. He stops by the door. "I'm sorry," he apologizes again.
For a minute after Scott leaves, Stiles just stands there, looking as stunned as I feel. Then, he hits his head against the wall in frustration. Taking a deep breath, he uprights his desk chair. He stops and stares at the back of it weirdly.
"What?" I ask, my pulse picking up. "Stiles, what is it?"
He slowly swivels the chair to show me the back. Three long, deep slashes run through the dark leather, exposing the fluffy insides. I stare at the marks for what seems like hours, everything rushing at me. Fingernails wouldn't dig that deep so easily. Claws would, however. Claws like a wolf's - a werewolf's. Stiles said Scott's raised pulse would bring out the werewolf transformation and his pulse was definitely raised. I've never seen Scott almost hit Stiles before.
"That's not ... human," I say slowly. "But you don't think Scott's actually a ..." I trail off, looking up at Stiles.
"Werewolf?" Stiles asks. "You said it yourself. That - That's not human. So, yeah - yes. Yes, I do. I believe it very much. How else would you - I mean -" he gestures wildly at the back of the chair.
"So do I," I admit, pursing my lips and staring hard at the claw marks, engraving them into every part of my brain.
YOU ARE READING
Transformed (Incomplete)
Fanfiction"Don't be afraid of change. You might lose something good, but you'll gain something better." Emerson McCall is a pretty average high school student. She has one friend she shares with her brother, Scott, and between the two of them, she has all she...
