Too Long

Chapter 14: Hallucinate

Ramie was having trouble processing a lot of things. First off, her brother almost died, which was scary enough as it is. But on top of that, it was one of her best friends' mothers who had tried to do it. Ramie knew a friendship with Allison was going to be difficult from the second she found out that Allison's family was basically out to get Scott, but once Allison and Scott agreed to keep things secret, Ramie thought that maybe things would be okay. And they seemed to be, until Ramie watched Derek drag Scott out of the club that night, saying Allison's mother was trying to kill him using wolfsbane.

Ramie also didn't know how to process that Derek had bit Allison's mother, and Allison had no idea. She knew it wasn't her place to tell Allison this information, but still felt really wrong about keeping the information from her. Scott insisted that they keep it all from Allison, for her own good. And Ramie agreed, but still felt bad. On top of all that, Jackson was still out there, being controlled by someone who they had yet to unmask. And, Lydia insisted on inviting Jackson to her birthday party, which Ramie had found herself helping Lydia set up for.

Lydia's parties were iconic in Beacon Hills, always huge, rambunctious and memorable. Ramie did her best to avoid them, always making excuses, but she never could miss Lydia's birthday. Even though Ramie insisted she return it, Lydia had bought her a cheetah print slip dress to wear with the same black chunky combat booties Ramie always wore, and she had to admit, the outfit was pretty cute. It was definitely her style, and Lydia even allowed her to wear her layered chain necklaces she always wore. Lydia, of course, had many outfit changes planned for the night, but always made sure Ramie had something new to wear on the occasion that she actually agreed on attending one of Lydia's parties. Lydia's family was very well off, and Lydia definitely spoiled Ramie just for being her best friend, but never made her feel guilty about the things she bought her.

That night, Ramie answered the door when Scott and Stiles showed up, the first to arrive other than Allison, who had gotten there a few minutes before and was helping Lydia finish up hanging lights in the backyard.

"Look at you!" Ramie exclaimed, hugging her brother. "All dressed up with a blazer, I love it."

"Allison told me Lydia bought her an outfit to wear, so I figured I should try and look like I actually deserve to be with her," Scott smiled, and Ramie rolled her eyes. "Lydia got you something as well?"

"She always does," Ramie sighed, still holding the door open for Stiles, who was standing outside of the doorway, looking zoned out, staring at her, mouth slightly open. "You coming in Stilinski or are you gonna party on the front porch?"

Stiles blinked hard, stepping forwards quickly into the house. Scott gave him a look that Ramie couldn't distinguish.

"You look..." Stiles started. "Nice. Pretty. Very pretty."

"Thank Sti," Ramie smiled, feeling her cheeks heat up, the two of them following Scott further into Lydia's house.

"Where's Allison?" Scott asked, breaking the silence between the three of them. Ramie nodded towards the backyard. "We've gotta tell you guys something."

When they found Allison in the backyard, Scott and Stiles explained that Stiles and his Dad figured out all of the people who the kanima, or Jackson, had murdered were members of the Beacon Hills swim team years ago, when Isaac's dad was the coach. Stiles was sure that was the connection between the kills, and whoever was in control of the kanima had something seriously against the swim team that certain year.

Before they could talk about it more, Allison mentioned how dead Lydia's party was. And by dead, she was putting it nicely. There was maybe two other people there, which was not typical for Lydia's party. Ever since Lydia ran away from the hospital and wandered naked in the woods for two days, everyone at school saw her differently. And since Jackson broke up with her, she wasn't dating the captain of the lacrosse team any longer.