Secrets in the Hunt (Book 2)

Battle Lines

It was the first day back to school since spring break. The first day back since the sheriff station. The first day back since I found out who my mom is. Or, was. I bounce my leg up and down, desperately trying to calm my breathing. I've been having trouble breathing, trouble staying calm. Stiles says it's normal, but it's not normal for me. I glance at Morrell's door, waiting for Stiles to come out so we can go to class. Since the night I ran away to his house, Stiles and I have been super close. His dad cleaned off the couch in his office so that I could stay there and not sleep in Stiles' bed. Apparently he's fine with me being there, but not so much being in the same bed as his son. Something about hormones or some shit like that. Regardless, I'm just grateful that he's letting me stay. I've only been back to the Argents' house once to get more clothes and I'm terrified that Gerard will try to talk to me now that school is back. I don't want anything to do with them. Not yet. The door opens and I jump up, smiling.
      "Ready for class?" I ask and Stiles nods, grabbing my hand and pulling me out of the small waiting area.
      "That was weird." He says as we walk towards our first class.
      "How?" I ask, frowning.
      "Just some of what she said. And she didn't take notes. Every therapist I've ever been to has taken notes." Stiles says.
      "Do you think she knows that something is weird about this town? I mean, there's no way that every adult in this town is oblivious. Some of them have to realize that something unnatural is happening." I suggest, but he shakes his head.
      "No, I don't think that's it. Maybe she's just trying something new. I don't know. It was just weird." He says, letting go of my hand as we walk into class.
      "Victoria Johnson to the principal's office. Victoria Johnson." The secretary announces over the intercom. My eyes widen and I look around the classroom quickly, trying to find some escape.
      "Ms. Johnson, are you waiting for an escort or can you make it to the principal's office by yourself?" Mr. Walters asks, crossing his arms. I bite my lip and shake my head, turning and leaving the class. My hands shake the entire time I walk through the hall. I walk straight into Gerard's office, not bothering to knock. I stuff my hands in my, well Stiles', hoodie pocket, not wanting Gerard to see my hands shake.
      "You wanted to see me." I say, my voice sounding much stronger than I expected.
      "Take a seat." Gerard says, gesturing to the chairs in front of him. I hesitantly sit, frowning when he doesn't continue talking.
       "I don't mean to be rude, but I have class." I remind him and he chuckles.
       "I don't think you actually care about class, Victoria. You never have before." He says, and I clench my teeth together. "You haven't been home lately."
      "With all due respect, it's not technically my home. And it's not really any of your business if I'm there or not. I've talked to my brothers. They know that I'm okay." I say. And it's true. Well, mostly. I've texted my brothers so that they know I'm still in town. But I haven't had the courage to talk to them in person yet. Not since they've been lying to me. And randomly leaving me.
      "You're in Beacon Hills to help the Argent family, Victoria. If you're not going to help, then why stay here?" Gerard asks, leaning forward.
       "I like Beacon Hills." I say, trying to leave my friends out of it. I don't know what he's doing, but I'd never forgive myself if he hurt Scott or Lydia or Stiles because I'm "slacking".
      "I suggest you help, Victoria. There are plans in motion and if you don't help, you'll just be in the way." He says and I purse my lips.
      "Are you threatening me?" I ask, and he just chuckles.
     "Don't be on the wrong side, Victoria. Go back to class." Gerard says, ending our conversation. I walk out of the office, my hands still shaking. I can't be on his side. Not anymore.
***
I plop down on the bench next to Stiles, frowning at Scott.
       "Why are you sitting?" I ask, confused.
      "Gerard made Coach bench me because of my grades." He huffs. I wince.
      "Yikes." I say, before turning to Stiles. "Is your dad coming?" I ask, noticing that both of them are shaking their legs up and down nervously.
      "Yeah, he's already here." He says.
      "You seen Allison?" Scott asks both of us, and I shake my head.
      "Nope." I say, not bothering to mention that I've been purposely avoiding her. I feel someone squeeze my hand, and grin. I gently squeeze Stiles' hand back.
      "You know what's going on?" Stiles asks Scott.
      "Not yet." He replies.
      "It's going to be bad, isn't it? I mean, like people screaming, running for their lives, blood, killing, maiming kind of bad?" Stiles asks, and I frown. What the hell happened between school and now?
         "Looks like it." Scott says, his eyes stuck on the field. I glance around, trying to fit the puzzle together, and frown when I see Jackson. This can't be good.
        "Scott, the other night seeing my dad get hit over the head by Matt, you know, while I'm just lying there and I can't even move, it just - I want to help, you know, but I can't do the things that you can do. I can't -" Stiles trails off, shaking his head.
        "It's okay." Scott says softly, and I smile at the two. They act more like brothers than best friends.
       "We're losing dude." Stiles says, his tone hopeless. I open my mouth to try and reassure him that we won't lose, when Coach's voice right behind me makes me jump.
       "The hell are you talking about? Game hasn't even started. Now put on your helmet and get out there. You're in for Greenberg." Coach directs Stiles and my eyes widen. He's gonna play. It's the championship game and Stiles is going to play!
       "What? What happened to Greenberg?" Stiles asks, looking around wildly and dropping my hand.
       "Who cares!" I say, and Coach points at me.
       "Ass off my bench, Johnson. And Greenberg? He sucks. You suck slightly less." Coach says. I just grin at Stiles, rushing up the bleachers before Coach can yell at me again. I spot Sheriff Stilinski sitting next to Melissa.
       "Could I sit with you guys? Coach kicked me off the bench." I say, and Sheriff nods, scooting away from Melissa so that I can sit between them. She frowns a little, but the frown quickly turns into a smile and she nods. I sit just in time to see Stiles stumble onto the field.
        "Oh, no. Why is my son running out to the field?" Sheriff asks, looking at Stiles worriedly.
       "Because he sucks less than Greenberg, according to Coach." I say, and Melissa nods.
       "He's on the team." She adds, and Sheriff looks like he's coming out of a trance.
       "He is." He says, and Melissa hums in agreement.
       "He's on the team. He's- he's on the field! My son is on the field!" Sheriff yells, standing up and cheering. I stifle a laugh as everyone turns and looks at him. He clears his throat and sits back down.
        "I can't believe I actually get to see him play." I say, smiling at Stiles.
        "Tori, I'm gonna go grab a drink from the concession stand before the game starts. Wanna come with?" Melissa asks, standing up. I start to turn her down, then notice the look on her face. I nod and stand up, following her off the bleachers. She stops right behind them, not continuing to the concession stand.
       "Is everything okay?" I ask, and she frowns, crossing her arms.
      "I don't know if Scott told you that I know now." She says, and my jaw drops. Scott told his mom.
      "U-um, no. He didn't." I say, feeling a little sick.
      "He told me you're a hunter and he promised you're a good guy, but-" She pauses, glancing around.
     "The principal, Scott said he's a hunter too. And he is not a good guy. He has that lizard thing-" I cut her off.
     "Gerard's controlling the kanima?" I ask in shock. She frowns.
     "Maybe. I just want to make sure you aren't going to hurt my son. I-I couldn't live with myself if I didn't protect him." Melissa says, her face full of emotion. I nod in understanding.
      "I would never hurt Scott, Melissa. I've been busting my ass off this semester trying to help Scott and keep Gerard away from him. My family is different from Gerard's. Our motto is saving people, hunting things. And for me, that means all people. Even people like Scott. I want to be normal, Melissa. I've never had the chance and at Beacon Hills, I can be mostly normal. Even if one of my best friends is a werewolf." I say. She just looks at me for a second, and then her arms are wrapped around me. I flinch, but eventually relax and hug back.
      "Let's go watch that game." She says, smiling at me. I grin back at her, following her back up the bleachers.
      "I thought you were getting drinks." Sheriff says as I sit next to him.
      "We were going to, but I made Melissa come back. I really didn't wanna miss Stiles' game." I say, and he nods with a smile.
       "Could I sit here?" A familiar voice asks. I turn and grin at Lydia, nodding as she takes the seat next to Melissa.
      "Stiles is playing." I say and she quirks an eyebrow.
      "Is he?" She asks and I nod, grinning in excitement. The game starts and I lean forward, nearly on the edge of the bleacher as I watch Stiles. Number 24. I grin when the ball lands in his lacrosse stick, then wince as a player from the other team plows him over.
      "He's probably just warming up." Melissa says, and I think she's trying to be reassuring. I nod, watching as Stiles tries to scoop up the ball with his stick, continuously missing the ball. Until another player knocks him over again.
       "Oh, he's just a little nervous. Plenty of time to turn it around." Lydia says. I look at Melissa who nods in agreement with her. I turn back to the field and hold my breath as the ball flies towards him. It hits him in the helmet and bounces off, going behind him. The crowd boos and Sheriff hides his face with his hands.
       "He's got this. It's just a strategy." I say, and Lydia nods in agreement.
       "Acting bad and then being really great. Totally plausible." She says. I smile at her nervously, grateful that she's on my side. I frown as number 14 knocks into players on our team, sending some of them flying.
      "Who's 14?" I ask Lydia and she winces as the next person from the bench is knocked over by 14.
      "Isaac Lahey." She says and I frown. What the hell is Isaac doing? I glance down at the bench, realizing that soon, Coach will have to put Scott in. I get that, but did Isaac really have to break half the team to do it? I wince as Isaac runs into another player before being shoved down. He stays on the ground, and Scott rushes over. It must have been Jackson. The paramedics come over and load Isaac onto a gurney. Melissa runs off the bleachers towards Scott. This is getting serious. Scott talks to his mom for a minute before putting on his helmet and the game starts again. I glance at Melissa as she sits back down. I raise an eyebrow at her, but she just shakes her head. Hopefully that means everything is taken care of and I can just watch Stiles try to play lacrosse.
      "We can still win this, right?" I whisper to Lydia, who had scooted closer to me when Melissa ran to the field.
      "I hope so." She mutters. I wince when a player shoves Scott to the ground, continuing on a rampage and knocking Stiles down too. How does a team with three supernatural creatures lose a lacrosse game? I'm ripped out of my thoughts when a whistle blows. I glance up at the scoreboard and notice we're in the last quarter. Well shit. I wince as player after player gets knocked down. I glance further down the field and my eyes widen when I see the ball roll to a stop in front of Stiles. I grin when he scoops it up and starts running towards the goal. Come on Stiles. I wince as he starts screaming when he notices the other players all charging him.
       "Oh crap." Sheriff mutters, his head in his hands as he stares at the field. I shake my head as Stiles stops and just stares back and forth between the net and the players behind him.
       "Stilinski! Shoot it. Shoot the ball! Shoot it, you idiot!" Coach yells, waving his arms around. Stiles stays frozen.
      "Shoot it!" I yell. He unfreezes and shoots the ball, landing it right in the net. I jump up, cheering and screaming. Lydia cheers with me, a wide grin on her face.
      "I scored a goal!" Stiles yells, his arms up in the air as he cheers. I sit back down, watching as the game continues. Stiles manages to get the ball again and scores. I jump back up, cheering again.
       "Yeah!" Sheriff yells, cheering with me. I grin as the entire crowd cheers, for once, everyone is on Stiles' side. I laugh as he does a victory dance, noticing the score is finally tied. Stiles gets control of the ball again, scoring yet another goal. Lydia and I jump up and down together, both of us screaming and cheering at the top of our lungs. I smile as the entire team surrounds Stiles, everyone proud of him. The clock hits 30 seconds and continues to tick down, finally hitting 0. The whistle blows and everyone cheers. Stiles shot the winning goal.
       "We did it! We won!" Coach cheers. Lydia and I jump up and down and Melissa hugs Sheriff. Holy shit. I start to run down the bleachers to get to Stiles and congratulate him when the lights all go out. Someone screams and my blood runs cold. Gerard. Our conversation from earlier rushes to the front of my head. I didn't help. They had a hunt tonight and I didn't do anything. What did he do. People are screaming and shoving, and I barely manage to make it to the field without falling.
      "Scott! Scott, where are you? Scott!" I hear Melissa yell. I want to run to her, to make sure she's okay, but I'm scared for Stiles. My heart drops when I see the outline of a body on the field. The lights all come back on and I can hear Coach yelling as he runs towards the body. I'm close enough to see. It's Jackson. I look around at the players standing around the body, trying desperately to find Stiles.
      "Stiles?" I yell, running around the field as I try to find him. I vaguely hear Coach calling for a medic, but I'm too panicked to stop and see if Jackson is okay. If he's down, it's part of Gerard's plan. I see Sheriff Stilinski and I rush over to him, trying not to look too panicked.
       "Did you see Stiles over there?" He asks, and I shake my head. Trying to push down the panic.
       "I'm gonna go. I'll see if he ran off." I say, and he nods before rushing back to the center of the field. I run as fast as I can, trying desperately to get to the Argents' house. I run the entire way there, ignoring the burn in my chest as I try to catch my breath. I run straight up the front steps, pulling on the door. I curse under my breath when I realize it's locked. I grab the key from under the mat and unlock the door, rushing in. I frown when I notice how empty the house seems. It's quiet. The lights flicker and my eyes widen. The basement. I run to the basement, throwing the door open. I gasp when I see Gerard rear his arm back and punch Stiles in the face.
       "Okay, wait, wait." Stiles says as I run down the stairs. Gerard manages to punch him again, before I yank him back. Or attempt to. He whirls around and shoves me to the ground.
       "I warned you not to be on the wrong side, Victoria." Gerard says, before punching me. I hiss in pain, but roll to the side and jump up, ready to fight back. Stiles scrambles to his feet and I glance at him and the bruise on his cheek and the blood on his lip.
      "Go, Stiles, run." I say, blocking another hit from Gerard.
      "No, I-" He tries to argue. I block a hit from Gerard and manage to kick him in the side.
      "Please, go." I beg, letting out a sigh of relief when I hear him run up the stairs and slam the door.
       "You chose the wrong side, Victoria." Gerard says, tsking in disapproval. I shake my head.
      "No, I didn't. I'm not an Argent, Gerard. I'm not." I insist, and he sighs.
      "I thought you would be the next Kate. I thought I could trust you. I was wrong. If you want that Stilinski boy to stay alive, I suggest you leave this house. And don't come back. You aren't welcome." He says, and I lower my fists, glaring at him.
       "What are you going to do to them?" I ask, nodding towards Boyd and Erica.
       "It doesn't involve you, Victoria. Leave, or Mr. Stilinski will pay for it." Gerard says. I glance up at the two werewolves, who just nod.
       "You won't win." I say, turning and walking up the stairs.
       "I already have." He calls after me. I run out of the house and realize, battle lines have been drawn. 
***
Only a few chapters left! There will be a supernatural chapter or two after the end of season two of Teen Wolf. And then this book will be done! As always, please vote and comment! I'd love to see what you guys think of the last couple chapters.