ANOTHER STORY ANOTHER TIME

CHAPTER ONE * STILES

Stiles had planted himself at the end of an old, forgotten dirt road, peering into the forest that had literally changed his life. It had only been a little over six years since he last stood near this exact same spot. Since then, Stiles had lived through an ugly Supernatural war here in Beacon Hills, and then an ugly human war over seas in several different countries. Both of these wars had stripped him of any innocence that he had left after he had lived through the events that still haunted this community and his friends. It all started here in this very forest, that fateful night when his best friend was attacked and bitten by an unforgiving evil werewolf named Peter Hale.

Pulling out his head gear from the pocket of his CDU pants, he placed it on his head squaring it appropriately, as he started to take in the extant of the property. In his mind, Stiles could almost see the happy subdivision that the County of Beacon had intended on building. He could imagine the picture-perfect scene playing out. Then it all faded. He was still staring at an empty forest preserve.

Prior to Stiles leave for the service, the population had begun to decrease. Now it was but a shadow of the thriving society it had once been. As the McCall pack searched in L.A. for more orphan supernaturals, Stiles did a lot of soul searching himself and he had decided that instead of returning to the FBI training, he would enlist in the army. There he could learn to become a soldier and not pretend anymore or just be the brains. Surprisingly he enjoyed his military life, it had separated him from Beacon Hills and had given him purpose, his existence a new meaning, perhaps even more, a new identity. Still there was something in his head that pulled him back home.

Stiles remembered this land, this was the old Hale property, though any evidence of the towering house that originally would have stood in front of him proudly for several generations, had been wiped away just as the gallant family that had once lived in it. There were strange occurrences that surrounded the family before the fateful fire that eliminated all but a handful of them. The family and its history caused outsider to believe the land that Stiles was ready to take on, to be considered cursed. The so called "curse" was also the reason that Stiles had been the only person to actually show up for the auction. He scanned the distant tree line, "Where are you Sour Wolf?" He caringly said under his breath. In the back of his mind, he was sure that grumpy man would show up for the auction, but there was no sign of the socially awkward wolf.

"Here you are Sergeant Stilinski, though unfortunately, I have to do this by the book," Joe Smithers', the auctioneer, exclaimed as he smiled. Smithers was a kind man, but he seemed overly eager to finally dump this land for the county, and Stiles actually counted on that.

"I understand completely" Stiles said, nodding his understanding as he looked around in regret.

"Were you expecting someone else to show up?" Shelli, the auctioneer's assistant, asked.

"No, no not at all" Stiles lied and smiled. Stiles had noticed Shelli had watched everything that transpired in front of her taking it in all closely. Once Shelli was placated, Stiles glanced at the sky trying to throw her off.

Stiles wasn't one hundred percent sure how he was going to get through the next few days. He hadn't spoken to anyone from Beacon Hills since he left for basic training. He had written letters to everyone, and he tried to reach out to them on several occasions, but the cold reality was they had never written back to him. So, he decided what was the sense of trying anymore?

Mr. Smithers stood by one of the crumbling fences. The wired fences had been put up to separate the different lots that were to be sold to families building for their future... But now they were being sold as one large plot of land, due to the lack of interest. Smithers abruptly cleared his throat out loud to get their attention.