Aspen Juniper Veata has only ever known Beacon Hills to be a quiet and dainty town. Herself, along with her best friends Scott McCall and Stiles Stilinski, had gone unnoticed by their peers in high school for as long as they could remember. Aspen ha...
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Stepping into the Lahey household late at night was not Aspen's idea of a simple "look around." Roaming around the dark house with flashlights would look like a robbery to anyone strolling by the street. The interior was decked with old furniture and pictures that aged back to when Isaac was a boy. The flashlight she held in her hand felt heavy suddenly when she let the light scour onto a particular photo of a woman she assumed was his late mother holding Isaac in her arms at the beach. Aspen had never bothered asking about a mother figure in his life, knowing the topic was delicate. But now she knew where Isaac got his gorgeous eyes from.
"If Isaac didn't kill his father, who did?" Scott asked Derek from the kitchen. The sound of Aspen's footsteps began to paint in the foreground of the house as she approached the boys. She was already so used to being the "backbone" with Stiles that being hands-on with two werewolves felt intimidating.
"I don't know yet." Derek blew out a sigh. Aspen tried making out their faces, but the gloom enveloped them completely.
"Then how do you know he's telling the truth?" Scott flashed his light ahead to lead them out of the kitchen, more so for Aspen's sake. His night vision was acting as his guide.
"Isaac's not a killer," Aspen chipped in with a light snap to her tone. With the full moon getting higher, she had to keep her head straight. Her phone had already been blowing up with messages from her grandfather to question her whereabouts, but Isaac was too important to leave now.
Scott ignored Apsen's tone while Derek looked back at her with an uncertain expression, wondering if this was her way of control. "She's right. Besides, I trust my senses. And its a combination of them. Not just your sense of smell." Derek pauses in the narrow hallway, looking to Scott, hoping he understood his meaning.
Scott squirmed tensely in place. "You saw the lacrosse thing today?" his question was more of a statement.
Derek drew in a long breath through his nostrils, embarrassed for the boy. "Yeah."
"Was it that bad?"
Aspen nodded instantly. "Absolutely."
Derek led the two teenagers down the narrow hallway toward a single door. A petulant crispness pressed against Apsen's skin as he opened the door to unveil a basement. She already knew what was down there, and from the looks of it, so did Derek. "You wanna learn?" Derek asked Scott, "Start now."
Scott was reluctant to take the first step down the creaking wooden stairs that led down into veiling darkness. The air was oppressive and muggy, causing Aspen's nose to twitch as she followed Scott with Derek just behind her to close the door. "What's down here?" Scott asked.
