Perpetual

Chapter 2

The small group stood in an abandoned building. The boy who called himself their alpha–Theo–was standing in front of them.

"Alright, the first thing we need to do, Hayden, Tessa, I want you to lead the police to the Nematon. Say you found four bodies there. Don't mention anyone that's here now. And if you see someone you know, stay away from them. Tessa, I don't want you running back to Scott and Liam, alright?"

He looked at the brunette girl expectantly. She glanced around.

"What?" she asked.

"Tessa, come on. Did you hit your head when you woke up or something?" the girl named Tracy asked her shortly.

"I–I don't know who you're talking about," the girl stuttered, seeming genuinely confused.

A look of realization crossed over Theo's face. He stood up. "Tessa, who am I?" he asked.

She blinked, confused. "Theo," she said uncertainly.

He nodded. "Alright, and what's your name?"

"Tessa."

"How old are you?"

She had to think a second longer about this one. "Fifteen...sixteen? Sixteen," she finally decided.

"And who is Scott McCall?"

She thought for a second, "I don't know."

"Stiles Stilinski?"

She shrugged.

"Malia Tate?"

"No."

"Lydia Martin?"

She shook her head.

"Liam Dunbar?" He looked slightly amused.

"Is this some kind of test or something? I don't know any of these people," she snapped, growing irritated by this game.

Theo looked amused.

"What?" she asked.

Everyone was looking at her.

"Never mind. It doesn't matter. Hayden, take her with you and do what I said. Stay away from anyone you know."

Hayden nodded, grabbing the confused girl's arm and pulling her after her.

~~~

"That's it. That's where we found the bodies."

Tessa stood beside Hayden with the police behind them. The light from their car was shining on the old stump where Theo had woken them up. Two boys stared back at them. The shorter boy with the blue eyes looked like he had seen a ghost and the other boy didn't look much better.

They stared at the two girls in shock and Tessa squinted back at them. What was their problem? Hayden just avoided their gaze, keeping a hold of Tessa's sleeve.

"Four of them," Tessa recited her line, making sure the police didn't know that there had originally been five more bodies lying there, hers being one of them.

~~~

The two girls waited in Hayden's sister's police vehicle as she left to check out a crime scene. Hayden glanced around before opening the door and sliding out. Tessa followed her.

She peered carefully around the door before slamming it shut. A reflection in the glass caught their attention. They spun around, swinging their fists at the boy but he ducked.

"Liam!" Hayden yelled, shoving Tessa up against the side of the car when she tried to claw at the boy.

"Sorry!" he apologized.

"What are you doing here?" Hayden asked him, giving Tessa a pointed look before letting her go.

The boy, Liam, glanced at Tessa curiously.

"I sent you guys like a hundred texts. Each," he said, glancing between them.

"I saw," Hayden said.

Tessa didn't respond, confused. She didn't have a phone on her when she woke up.

"Wha—you—you saw? That's it? Tessa?" he turned to her, waiting for an answer.

Tessa just blinked in confusion. Hayden glanced between the two of them before pulling Liam a little ways away. Tessa could hear her whispering to the boy but didn't bother to pay attention to what she was saying.

"Liam, there's something you need to know," Hayden told him.

"What?" Liam asked.

Hayden hesitated glancing back at Tessa. She raised her eyebrows at Hayden, her arms crossed across her chest as she gave her a disapproving glare.

"Tessa..." Hayden started. "She doesn't remember anything."

Liam looked lost. "What? Like she doesn't remember dying? Maybe that's for the best."

"No," Hayden said, a trace of sadness in her voice. "She doesn't remember anything. Me, you, Scott...she doesn't know who any of us are. I mean, she knows who I am now because Theo introduced all of us but—"

"Wait, Theo?" he asked angrily. "What's he got to do with this?"

"He brought us back," Hayden explained. "We're part of his pack now. All of us."

Liam glanced over at Tessa before marching towards her, Hayden on his heels, protesting weakly. The boy stood in front of her and Tessa glared at him.

"You don't know who I am?" he asked, his voice breaking a little.

"Am I supposed to?" She asked, her tone laced with annoyance.

They were supposed to show the police the bodies and return to Theo. This wasn't part of the plan and Tessa wasn't happy that she had been dragged along.

She didn't give him a chance to say anything else, turning to Hayden. "We were supposed to go back right after we showed the police the bodies. This wasn't part of the plan and I'm not gonna take the blame for something you dragged me along to."

She turned to leave, Liam started to go after her but Hayden held him back. As soon as she was out of sight, Tessa started jogging back to the hideout. She wasn't going to get in trouble for Hayden's mistake.