The Absence of Truth | S. Stilinski

XVIII. | archaic

XVIII. | archaic

                  BEACON HILLS PERSERVE was as haunting as it was terrifying as I trudged through the foliage. I hadn't stumbled through these woods in a long time, but the fear I felt when I heard a branch break or leaves rustle in the wind was enough to leave my teeth chattering. Next to me, Allison Argent tried calling Stiles on his phone again.

"Dammit," she swore when he wouldn't pick up.

We were together, following broad instructions from Stiles that he'd sent earlier in the day. Overnight, they'd gotten a police van in their possession, and now they kept Jackson locked up in the back. I'd only spoken to Stiles in the morning, long enough for him to make fun of me falling asleep while talking during our last call, and for him to explain his sticky situation.

Both Stiles and Scott were good at keeping secrets, but somehow, Jackson's family was already aware of his disappearance. Allison had found me during my study hall, and dragged me away from Lydia Martin, saying it was an emergency. Now, I had a full face of makeup on, save for the lipstick.

Lydia had called out after us as we rushed out of the library. "But I'm almost done!"

We hadn't listened. In the car ride to the preserve, Allison had held out her own lip balm. "It's not shimmery, but it will look good."

That's when I decided I wanted to be Allison's friend.

Now, we kept throwing each other looks of worry. Over my shoulder, I swore I heard the sound of a police siren. In response, I grabbed Allison's arm and made her jog with me to find the van. On our way, Presley called me.

"Hey," he said, "Where are you?"

"With Allison," I said, trying my best not to huff as I ran. "We're going to study for history midterm."

He didn't catch the lie. "Okay, cool. I'm going to the hospital to check on Danny. I'll tell him you said hi."

The line went dead just as soon as we both caught sight of Stiles leaned against a police van. We slowed to a walk and came up on him. He got spooked by our sudden appearance, but we didn't let him talk.

"They know," Allison said frantically.

Stiles looked at us and blanked. "What?"

I butted in. "They know Jackson's missing!"

"No, they can't. I've been texting his parents since last night." Stiles held up the cased phone of Jackson's. "They don't have a clue."

Allison was already shaking her head, looking around the forest to see if anyone was near us. The white scarf around her neck bobbed in a breeze. I pulled the collar of my mock neck sweater higher towards my chin, noting that the red color of the garment matched the lip color Allison had let me borrow.

"My grandfather told me, his parents went to the police." She was talking slow enough so Stiles could understand her, but I could hear the beginning sounds of panic in her wavering voice. "They know."

Stiles's eyes widened as he caught on to what she was saying. He held Jackson's phone out in front of him like it was a venomous snake. "Will you hold this?" He said to me, tossing the cell in my direction before darting off to the van where he could listen to the police scanner inside. Allison and I eyed each other before Stiles stood straight and turned around. "Yeah, they're coming."

We moved quickly then, jumping into the van and getting ready to leave. I was half propped on Allison's lap since the cab of the van was only two seats. "Where are we going?" I asked as Stiles settled into the driver's seat.

"Far away from here," he replied, dropping Jackson's phone out of the van window as it rang for his parents.

-

Scott met us on the edge of the preserve, where the forest sloped until a cliff cut it off. I stood and looked over the edge, down at Beacon Hills. Stiles and Allison stood nearby as they talked everything out with Scott.

I cut in when I didn't understand everything. "So Danny was restoring a video Jackson took the night of the full moon, and it showed him changing." Scott nodded. "But when you went to go find the tablet that the video was on, it had been stolen." Another nod. "And you're pretty sure that Jackson stole it."

"Yes," Scott said as the trio moved closer to me. "But if Jackson doesn't remember being the kanima, then he definitely won't remember stealing the tablet."

Stiles sighed. "Why would he steal the thing if he knew what was on it?"

"What if someone else took it?" Allison asked, picking at her scarf.

"Then someone else knows what he is," came Stiles's response.

Scott widened his eyes. "So, like, someone could be protecting him."

Allison shrugged her shoulders and stopped walking when she was standing next to me. "Like the bestiary says, 'the kanima seeks a friend,' right?"

There was too much to unpack, so I slipped away as the trio continued to talk. I wandered over to a place where I could still see Beacon Hills, then sat down and called my mother. I'd been such a crappy daughter recently, the least I could do was give her a call. She answered on the first ring. "'Sup?" She asked me. I laughed and she joined in. "Too much?"

"Yes," I said.

"What can I help you with, dear?" She sounded busy, so I knew I had to make it quick.

I breathed in deep for a second. "Mom, we're working on this problem right now - "

"Oh, you're studying?" She interrupted. "Is the Sheriff's boy there?"

Brushing off the suggestion in her voice, I sighed. "Mom..."

She gasped. "Oh! Gotta go! Be safe, hun, I'll see you when I get home."

When the line went dead, I sighed again. I felt like whatever we did, we ended up just talking in circles. I stood from my perch, and ambled over to the others. "Anything important?" I asked, stepping back into place.

"No," Stiles grumbled. "Nothing."

"Then let's keep looking."

-

I found myself at a new house later that night. Allison Argent lived in a large stone cottage, complete with ivy crawling up the sides of the home and nice cars in the driveway. I met her mother first when I walked in.

"Hi," I said, holding out a hand, "I'm Quinn."

"Right," she said, ignoring my hand and turning back to the room she'd emerged from. "I'm Victoria. You're new to town, aren't you."

I nodded to her retreating figure. "Just moved in a few streets down, yeah."

The woman, Victoria, with her wild short red hair and severe stilettos, turned on her heel before disappearing completely. "Allison's in her room. Upstairs."

"Thanks," I found myself saying before I knew what I was doing. I hurried up the stairs and walked down the hall until I saw a bedroom I assumed to be Allison's. I walked in, quiet as to not disturb her, but she was sitting on her bed, waiting. "Hi," I said to grab her attention.

She looked up at me and moved a notebook on her bed out of the way so I could sit down. "Hey." Her smile was warm. "Can you close the door behind you?"

I obliged and shut the door quietly, then turned on my heel. Allison had stood up from her bed, and now leered over to her desk where her laptop sat. Under her breath she started whispering. "My parents watch my every step. They don't trust me." She glanced up at me. "Sorry about my mother."

"No," I said, perching myself on the edge of her desk instead of the spot on the bed, as she opened the laptop. "Why did you need me to come over?"

She pointed at the laptop screen so I could see the foreign scribbles of the bestiary. "Did you know that Lydia can read archaic Latin?" I widened my eyes and looked down at Allison. "Because, I didn't either."