Monstrous ➙ Theo Raeken

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July Twentieth
[Two Weeks Before School]

"Mom, I'm fine I swear." Clarissa Bane muttered into her cellphone, digging around in her purse for the small orange bottle that her doctor had prescribed her before she went to London. She was parked in front of Mason Hewitt's house, waiting for his mother to let her brother and Liam inside. "I'm waiting for the boys to get inside before I head over to Lydia's. I might stop and see Corey on the way over there."

"I'm sorry we couldn't be there when you got back." Elizabeth Bane's soothing voice spoke over the receiver, earning a low sigh from her daughter. Clarissa smiled when she found the orange bottle and grasped the sleek tube in her hand, looking up to see the smiling Mrs. Hewitt waving at her from the door. "Your father really needed to close this deal."

"I understand." Clarissa murmured quietly, setting the bottle in her lap as she moved her car into drive. Her parents had been away on business, leaving her younger brother to stay with the Dunbar family for the past week until Clarissa stepped off of the plane from London.

"How was London?" Elizabeth questioned, her voice surrounded by static as Clarissa began to take the familiar route towards the Bryant household.

"Jackson is great. He has a boyfriend that lived in Beacon Hills last year." She let out a small laugh, one full of amusement as she shifted the phone around her shoulder. Her eyes were locked on the passing road, looking for the sign that was printed with the pristine letters that said Elm St. She grinned at the shocked gasp that came from her mother's side of the phone. "I really missed him."

"I know you did sweetie." Her mother declared softly, before her voice crackled once more over the receiver. Clarissa's eyebrows furrowed in confusion from the soft clicking that came from the stereo of her car as she turned down Elm Street.

Clarissa took her hand off of the wheel to grip her phone in her hand as the static over the line grew louder, more focused. "Mom?"

"Clarissa." The voice that answered her was not her mother's voice,  the whispering was a mechanical type of voice that terrified Clarissa immensely. The auburn haired girl threw her phone away from her with a gasp, gripping her hands on the wheel once more with shaking hands. Her eyes focused on the road in front of her, watching as her headlights flickered slowly. She put her foot on the gas, pressing harder to will the vehicle forwards but it slowed down rather than moved faster. She nervously looked around the darkness of the road that was surrounded by woods on either side of her, locking the doors as she pulled to a complete stop. Her car shut down completely, surrounding the blonde in darkness as she sat on the side of the road.

Clarissa reached her hand across to her passenger seat, keeping her eyes diligently trained on the road surrounding her. Her hand patted around the seat, not finding her phone right away. She wanted to call Lydia or Stiles to come get her so she wouldn't be sitting in the darkness alone. She knew she could make it to Corey's house by walking but she didn't feel like upsetting his parents, making them attack Corey for her presence in their household or be attacked by a supernatural creature of the night. Her eyes darted away from the road into the darkness to her seat, trying to find the object she couldn't spot immediately. The loud crackling from her radio startled her, causing her to sit up suddenly. Her eyes widened as the radio started to click and change stations in front of her tired eyes, the loud noise filling her car to the brim with noise.

"Clarissa." The mechanical voice that came from her phone suddenly fell from the station that the radio paused on. A shiver ran down her spine as she dragged her knees to her body, curling into herself out of fear. "Clarissa."