Burn It Down || Stilinski || Book One

Forty

"SO YOU'RE LEAVING," Scott stated from where he sat, hunched over in Sierra's desk chair with his elbows resting on his knees.

Sierra was sitting on the edge of her bed, fiddling with her fingers, and slowly nodded her head to confirm Scott's conclusion. Stiles was next to her, shocked at everything she had revealed to them.

It was the next evening after everything involving Gerard and Jackson had occurred, leaving the three teenagers too tired for another change. However, this one had been bubbling up since the night at Scott's house.

Jemma had finally revealed a lot about what she knew about the supernatural world, and explained that there was a reason she had tried every ounce of her power to keep Sierra out of it.

Her history with Derek went all the way back to when her parents were alive, a couple years before Sierra came to be. When the alpha was a teenager, they became friends through his girlfriend at the time. When they found out their supernatural families knew each other, their bond only strengthened. Jemma and Derek remained close friends that talked to each other about everything- especially after an unexplainable event that left the pair broken.

The night Derek showed Jemma his powers, Sierra's mom, Genevieve, had told Jemma about the ones she would inherit at eighteen. She would turn into someone who could actually connect to people and her surroundings. An Empath, her mother once told her, wasn't a monster. They could heal people, and connect deeply with their souls.

Then, a few months before the Hale House fire and the tragedy of the Page car crash, Genevieve took Sierra (only five at the time) to Talia, Derek's mom.

"My mom erased your memories," Derek had explained to Sierra, having been part of the conversation when Jemma shared the history of empaths. "Or at least some of them. Everything about me, my family, and the truth about yours."

Sierra had furrowed her brows. "Why?"

"Hunters aren't the only evil people in the supernatural world," Jemma replied, purposely keeping her words vague. "Mom was worried for your safety, that's all. She had planned to tell you everything on your eighteenth birthday. She had just chosen to tell me early, I guess."

But when Sierra had been injured the night of the winter formal by Peter, there was no going back. His claws had morphed Sierra into something that was already flowing through her veins.

"I didn't even think it was possible to be turned by scratch," Stiles commented slowly, trying to wrap his head around it. He had known something was wrong the minute her neck started bleeding when Lydia screamed in the hospital, but never expected his love to be a supernatural creature that could feel other people's emotions and warp the energy fields around them.

"One time I heard Kate ask Chris if you can get turned by scratch," Scott remembered, his mind flashing back to when he heard them talking in the bleachers after the hunter had seen the marks on Jackson's neck. "He had said it was possible if the claws went deep enough. I guess when Peter scratched you at the Hale House, they did."

Sierra still hadn't said a word and simply released a sigh. Stiles quietly moved his hand over hers and intertwined their fingers, offering a small smile. She returned it gratefully and then looked over to Scott, who was watching the pair
interact.

"Jemma said that even if I hadn't gotten scratched, I would still have my powers because it's in my blood," Sierra finally explained with furrowed brows, still slightly confused about the whole ordeal. "They would've started to show when I turned eighteen. She says that my grandmother taught her how to stay in control and use them when she was eighteen, just like my mom," she said softly and then bit her lip to keep her tears from falling.