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I woke up and I felt dizzy. I had to blink a few times before my vision came into focus. There were bright fluorescent lights. I could tell that much. I didn’t really remember what happened. I had been in the car with Laura and Stiles. Then . . . she’d drugged me. Laura had drugged me. I could not believe it. I had started to . . . trust her almost. She had been so nice and she had wanted to help me. She had even defended me and she hadn’t tried to pry too much.
My eyes burned as the betrayal sunk in. I’d let my guard down and she wondered why I had trust issues. I started to push myself up from the hard floor I was laying on but my arms gave out. My head spun from the effort but I had to figure out where I was. I realized the murmuring in my ears was getting clearer. People were talking. It took me a minute before I could make out the words.
“Guys, this is not okay. Seriously.” I heard Laura’s voice. A flash of anger flared through me.
“Look she’s waking up.” I heard Stiles say.
“You know she’s going to be pissed,” Allison stated.
“It isn’t like she can do anything.” Scott pointed out.
“Scott’s right for once. Even if we’re right, then she won’t be able to do much either way.” This voice was unfamiliar. It was a male’s voice. Definitely older than everyone else.
I finally managed to push myself up into a sitting position. I leaned back against the wall behind me and when I took in my surroundings I was instantly filled with fear. I was in a cell. It was perfectly square and there was nothing but a toilet in one corner. It was probably a holding cell. It took everything in me not to start shaking. Memories raced to my mind and I felt my breathing getting faster.
“You all seriously think she’s one of us? She is a terrified little girl. This is a waste of time.” the unfamiliar voice scoffed.
I felt my blood boil. I looked out of the cell and found everyone watching me. Scott, Allison, Laura, Jackson, and there was another man that I didn’t recognize fully. He seemed vaguely familiar but I had no idea why. I didn’t think I had ever met him before. He was tall and muscular. He was scowling and he had his arms crossed as he leaned back against the wall behind him. His eyes were a blueish-green, and his hair was jet black.
“What the hell?!” I shouted. I was angry at his words and at this situation. I hadn’t done anything to any of them. Was this some kind of joke?
“Oh nevermind. Now the kid is pissed, this should be fairly entertaining.” the man said with a slight smirk.
“Is this supposed to be funny?” I demanded. I wanted out. I desperately wanted to get out of this cell. I was trying not to let my breathing get any faster. I was trying to keep my panic at bay. I was going to have a panic attack if they didn’t let me out.
“No, it’s a precaution.” Jackson replied lightly. He was clearly enjoying this and I glared at him.
“For what? What the hell am I going to do?!”
“Seriously let’s stop this. This isn’t right.” Laura chimed in.
“Now you’re thinking that? You drugged me!”
I saw the guilt on her face but I honestly didn’t care. I was so close to just begging her to let me out. I couldn’t stay in here. I had my fists clenched so hard to keep them from shaking that I was drawing blood from my palms with my nails.
“I-I was just-” I cut her off before she could finish.
“I don’t care! I don’t care what the reason is for this sick joke! Just let me out!” I snapped, standing up. I was unsteady but I didn’t let them see that. I felt like my chest was constricting and the room was getting smaller. I could almost see the memories like I was in them all over again.
“You are acting tough. I can smell the fear on you. What are you hiding? Why so scared of a little jail cell?” the unfamiliar man taunted me.
“Derek, knock it off.” Stiles told him.
“Well, if she were normal or wasn’t hiding something then the amount of fear on her wouldn’t be there, Stiles.” Derek retorted.
“Sorry, being locked in a jail cell doesn’t exactly make me feel very safe. This is messed up so haha very funny. Will you just let me out?” The slightest bit of desperation made it into my voice but I kept my face blank. I could feel blood on my palms.
Scott muttered something to Stiles and Laura. I saw Laura’s eyes widen ever so slightly with concern. I was so angry and afraid. I felt . . . weird too. Like it was going to boil over and I was going to explode. The inside of my body seemed to jerk. I winced. My body ached and I didn’t understand why. It felt like my body was fighting with itself but my masked face showed nothing.
“It’s just for the night, Sydney. After that, you can go and never talk to us again.” Laura said quietly. I saw Stiles put an arm around her shoulders and despite her face turning bright red, she looked at him and a smile came to her guilt-ridden face.
“Why? What is wrong with you people? I haven’t done anything to any of you. I even asked you to leave me alone. I didn’t want anything to do with any of you. Why can’t you just leave me alone?” I asked. I sank back down, knowing they weren’t going to let me out. I felt my panic rising. I wasn’t going to get out. That was all my head kept repeating.
“And why would you do that? Maybe cause you are some kind of freak.” Jackson spat.
I couldn’t answer. My mind whirled. It took all my focus to keep trying to breathe normally.
“What is that supposed to mean?” I finally asked in a small voice. I needed to get out of here. Maybe if I played along with their games then they would let me out.
“You know, being anything . . . special, supernatural maybe?” Stiles asked.
For some reason, I could almost sense something from this unfamiliar man, Derek, and from Scott. When I looked at them I almost swore their eyes were glowing. I blinked and looked away.
“You all are out of your mind.” I stated. I let my anger in again. It was the only thing that could overwhelm my panic and fear. The only thing that pushed the memories away. I swore I could almost see red.
“You should calm down.” Scott told me. Everything was beginning to make sense. Scott knew about my panic and anger when I knew my face didn’t show it. The conversations I’d overheard. Now this guy, Derek, said he could smell my fear. The glowing eyes. I knew what they were. I did know of what they were talking about. Supernaturals. I wasn’t going to let them know that. There were hunters here too. I remembered what I’d found in Laura’s house. These people were dangerous. Well, maybe not Stiles but you never know.
“Why?” I asked, my voice cold.
“So, nothing . . . bad happens.” Allison replied.
“Okay, so you’re telling me that I was drugged, brought to wherever the hell this is and got locked in a cell and I can’t even be angry about it? You have no idea-” I stopped. I didn’t want to say anything anymore. I wasn’t going to even hint at why I was so panicked.
“You can be angry. You can hate all of us after tonight, okay?” Laura murmured. She was clearly upset but I honestly couldn’t feel any sympathy for her.
“I was actually starting to trust you.” I told her.
“Don’t start with that crap! You’re just trying to make her feel bad.” Stiles snapped as Laura quickly wiped something off her face.
“Protective of your girlfriend?” I sneered.
Both of their faces turned red but neither of them said anything.
“As fun as this is… Scott and Stiles come with me. Jackson, go occupy Lydia so she doesn’t start asking questions. Laura, you’re on babysitting duty.” Derek interrupted.
“What about Allison?” she demanded.
I rolled my eyes and then rested my head on my arms. I tried to think of being anywhere else. Out in the woods, at school, or just outside. I wanted to calm down but it was like my body was rejecting the idea entirely.
“I’ve got homework and someone has to be home to make an excuse for you.” Allison sighed.
I ignored whatever other dialogue was exchanged and I only looked up when I heard people leaving the room. Only Jackson and Laura were still in here and they clearly looked pissed at each other.
“You are such a moron!” Laura shouted.
“Oh yeah? Well let’s see if you can handle her for the night since you’re so smart.” he quipped, grabbing Laura’s arm. She tried to kick him but he had unlocked the cell door before she made contact. He swore and smacked her across the face. I got to my feet and tried to get out of the door but he kicked me back. Then Laura was shoved in and she landed on top of me.
I heard the cell door slam shut and Jackson laughed as he walked out. I shoved Laura off me and she hit the cell door. I hadn’t thought I was that strong. I started to feel my rage boil up inside me. She was the reason I was in here. She had betrayed me.
“Damnit, WHAT THE HECK?” She yelled.
“You drugged me! I can’t believe you!” I shouted back. I was on my feet and I didn’t understand this anger. I wanted to destroy her. A look of worry flashed upon her face.
“Alright, you need to calm down.” She stated, looking at me dead in the eyes. I could see myself in the reflection. My eyes particularly.
“Yeah, sure, WHAT THE HECK? YOU LOCKED ME IN HERE!” I screeched.
“For this exact reason, Sydney. YOU ARE LITERALLY TURNING RIGHT NOW.” she yelled back
“Turning into what?!” I snarled. I didn’t even recognize my own voice. What was happening to me? I’d been panicked and angry but this was different. The ache returned to my body.
“Okay look at me, close your eyes.” She said, holding my shoulders in place
“Don’t touch me!” I screamed, shoving her back as hard as I could. She flew back and hit the opposite cell wall. I saw her flip her body around, and stick her leg through the cell bars. Her foot looped itself through the handle of a duffle bag, and she pulled it towards her body. She quickly unzipped it, and pulled out a small, dark dagger.
“Okay, I don't want to hurt you.” She stated gesturing to the knife.
“But if you wolf-out on me, I’m going to have to.”
I just screeched and ripped the toilet beside me out of the floor. I hurled it at her with every bit of strength I had. I looked at my hands and noticed my nails were longer. They were like claws. If I wasn’t so angry then maybe I would’ve stopped this bit I would never know.
“Okay, you need to calm down.” She repeated, ignoring the toilet on the ground next to her. My frustration had reached its peak, and out of pure instinct, I lunged at her.
She swung her feet hard, causing me to crash to the ground. I quickly jumped up, and swung my arm towards her face. She caught my elbow, and twisted me around into a headlock, knife to my neck. The anger in me was rising, which meant my strength was too. I grabbed her arms, and body-slammed her into the ground as hard as I could. She got up considerably quickly.
I snarled and slammed my fist into her stomach. My claws sank into her deep into her stomach. She yelped in pain and stepped back, holding her stomach. I went to strike again, but she jabbed her arm into the side of my leg before I had the chance. The dagger sank deep into my skin, and a painful burning sensation made itself present. I screamed and shoved her down and lost my balance in the process. Both of us tumbled to the ground.
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“Oh my god, you are just as stubborn as Isaac.” She yelled in frustration.
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I was going to retort but something about that name made me freeze. It seemed familiar but I had no idea how that could be. I’d never met anyone named Isaac. For some reason, the name sounded safe and it brought a sense of calm over me. The anger that had been fueling my actions seemed to die away as the calmness swept in. Isaac. I wondered who that was and why the name seemed to mean so much to me. Now when I looked down at my hands, they were normal once more.
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I quickly snapped out of it, and looked down at the black dagger in my leg, and up at her with a hand over her stomach. Blood slowly started to appear, as her gray sweater began to turn maroon. Crap, crap, crap.
I took my jacket, and pressed it against her lower abdomen.
“Reach into my bag over there and grab the purple bottle. Preferably before I bleed out please.” She whispered. I stuck my arms through the bars, and began to fumble through the bag. I saw the bottle and opened it, to find little capsules with shiny specks of gold in them. I handed the bottle to her, and she swallowed one.
“What was that?” I ask
“Nightlock,” she stated
“NIGHTLOCK? ARE YOU CRAZY?” I shrieked
“Nightlock isn’t yellow- Crazy.” She said, the nickname similar to how I was feeling a moment ago.
“Well then what is it?” I ask
“Maybe I’ll tell you, if you tell me why you didn’t turn into a full werewolf, yet you still had the claws and the eyes.” She remarked.
“Maybe I’ll tell you, if you tell me why you are good at using knives.” I stated, gesturing the knife still wedged into my now numb leg.
“It kinda hurts.” I sarcastically stated
“Oh yeah sorry about that.” She snarkily replied.
“Let me get that for you. Oh, as soon as the medicine kicks in and I can actually move without all my guts spilling out.”
“That's a really fun image that you’ve placed into my brain, thank you so much for that.” I stated, returning the snark.
“You have no one to thank but yourself.” She said, giving me a false smile.
“Now you better hope I can move soon, because in all seriousness, if that knife is in your leg for one more minute, we’re going to have to amputate.” she shrugged, as if it was no big deal. My panic started to rise, as I glanced down at the handle sticking out of my leg, in a downward position. Shit.
“Okay come here.” She stated, still not being able to stand, but strong enough to sit up.
“Hmm, okay so there are two things that could happen.” She explained, grasping the handle with one hand.
“Either I pull it out the right way, and your body just heals the wound. Or, I pull it out the wrong way, and a whole lotta mountain ash gets released into your bloodstream.” She explained
“Mountain Ash?”
“It's basically werewolf repellent.” She cheerfully explained while inspecting the knife
“I’m not a werewolf!” I snapped.
“DUDE! MY FAMILY AND I ARE LITERALLY WEREWOLF H-” She started,
“We’re literally werewolves.” She finished in a small voice
“Liar. You hunt werewolves. I know that guy Derek and Scott are werewolves so why you’re with them I have no idea. I am not a werewolf. I’ve never changed on a full moon and I’ve never been like that.” I retorted. I was angry that she’d lied, angry that she’d betrayed me, and angry that I’d been stupid enough to start to trust her.
“I’m not a hunter, my sister's boyfriend is a werewolf. If I was, he’d be long gone. My family tree has a long line of werewolf genes. Like, my cousin is one. And so is my mom.” She stated
“And your aunt. And you are such a liar. I am a complete idiot. I-I thought I could trust you. I thought that at the very least you wouldn’t hurt me. Why do you think I don’t want friends? You’re a liar!” I snapped, my voice breaking.
“Are you serious right now? You were the one that threw the fricking toilet at my face.” She quipped back.
“You drugged me! A-And you helped them put me in here! Y-You- don’t understand!” I shouted. I felt my breathing getting faster again. I was trapped in here and there was a dagger in my leg. There was blood and I’d hurt someone. I didn’t even know what I was or what was happening to me. It was too much and I couldn’t take it.
“You don’t think it was hard for me? You are a person, and you shouldn’t be treated like an animal. They put you in here for this exact reason. You are dangerous, and we can help you so that you can’t hurt people that can’t defend themselves.” She stated, clearly hoping I’d understand.
“And what if the only reason I freaked out so bad was because you put me in here? What if there are things I don’t want to re-live and now I have to. You don’t know me. You don’t know how much this hurts me.” I whispered. I felt like I could barely breathe. The walls were closing in again and those memories tormented me relentlessly. I just wanted to get out.
“My parents don’t know I’m a hunter, and neither does my sister. You aren’t the only one holding a burden of secrets.”
“Well, at least your secrets don’t make it impossible to smile or make friends. They don’t make it so that you freak out just from seeing something or someone from your past and having a panic attack. I don’t have any sympathy for you, Laura.”
“In what- How does being a werewolf stop you from making friends? I’m friends with Scott- wait no actually I just tolerate him.” She thought out loud.
“I’m not a werewolf! You are such an idiot. That isn’t my problem. If I am one then I had no clue until today. If my biggest issue was being a werewolf then I’d take it. My secrets really don’t have much to do with anything supernatural.”
“Okay, I get that you have things that you don’t want to talk about, but I can prove to you that you have some werewolf blood in you.” She said, drawing out the dagger.
I cried out and jerked away from her. “I don’t care! I want to get out of here, okay?” Panic finally made it into my voice and I was beginning to hyperventilate.
“Look at me, we need to stop. Let’s take a break. Here.” She stated, extending her hands.
“You gotta trust me on this one.” She said, speaking in a calm manner.
I shook my head as my hyperventilating got worse. “You’ll hurt me.” I whispered. I wasn’t really talking to Laura. The memories were seeming to become more real than actual reality right now.
“Squeeze my wrist.” She demanded.
I don’t know why but I did what she asked. I think it was mostly to prove to myself that the memories weren’t real. That I wasn’t there. I was with Laura, in the cell. I took her right wrist, and squeezed it pretty tight. I could feel her pulse through each one of my fingers. Her heartbeat was slow. I closed my eyes, and let the rhythm calm my nerves. After a few seconds, I was calm again.
“Hey, good job!” She said, giving me a weak smile. She went to pull her wrist away, but I kept my grip.
“Give me a second.” I told her, pretending like I was still trying to collect my thoughts.
“Now that I’ve basically got you on a lie detector,” I continued, giving her a mischievous look. Her face gathered with concern.
“Stiiiiiles Stilinskiiiii.” I teased.
“Oh my god.” She complained, pulling her arm away so it could cover her blushing face.
“I thought it was going to be something serious.” She explained, throwing her head back.
“Love is serious or at least that’s what I’ve heard.” I laughed.
“I can’t even with you right now.” She groaned, still covering her face. After a minute or two, she walked over to the edge of the cell where her bag was.
“Are you hungry? I brought Subway.” She smirked.
“I’m fine.” I told her. It was an automatic response when in reality I was starving.
“Can you just eat a couple of bites for me please?” She asked
“Why?” I didn’t understand why she was pressing it. People usually didn’t.
“Because I care about your mental and physical health.” She blatantly stated.
“Both are fairly decent. And if you cared about my mental health then maybe sticking me in a jail cell wouldn’t be the way to go.” I regretted the words so I looked down at the ground. She was being nice and I wasn’t really reciprocating that.
“We have been over this. Just eat the damn sandwich.”
Again I couldn’t help myself. “You probably drugged that too.”
“Oh please. Why would I need to drug you for a second time? You have got to trust me on this one.”
“Sure. Trust the werewolf hunter. Sounds like a smart move.” I muttered sarcastically. I honestly didn’t want to be rude but this was my defense. Just pushing people away.
“Here, I’ll take a bite first to prove to you that it's not poisoned or drugged.” She unwrapped the sandwich and took a bite. I watched intently as nothing happened.
“Isn’t that your food?” I asked flatly.
“Yeah, but you can have it. I’ll just eat yours then.” She snapped back.
“I don’t need you to babysit me and tell me what to do.” I retorted, still staring at the floor.
“If I win at Uno will you eat the stupid sandwich?” She asked.
“Why do you care if I eat the stupid sandwich?!” I shouted. I quickly suppressed that anger, afraid of losing control again.
“Because I can tell you’re hungry. You need to eat.” She shouted back
I flinched a little when she shouted and I hoped she didn’t notice. “I-I’m sorry.” I stuttered.
“You have nothing to be sorry for. I’m sorry that I screamed at you. You don’t need to pretend that you aren’t hungry in front of me. I’ve been in your place, and I know it's difficult. We don’t have to keep talking about it, but I’d appreciate it if you took a couple bites.” She replied calmly.
All I could do was nod in response. I was frustrated and upset that I’d flinched and been like that and she’d seen it. I was not all that happy that she saw through the lies I told either. There were a few moments of silence as we ate together.
“So can I request a truce?” She asked, after swallowing.
“Can I trust you?” there was no edge to my question. I looked up from the ground as I’d basically inhaled my sandwich, and met her eyes.
“Yes, only if I can trust you.” She replied.
“And what would make you trust me?”
“What if we both tell a secret, so we both have leverage on each other?” She suggested.
“Okay… you start.” I said hesitantly.
“Why me? I think you should go first.” She answered back.
“Being how you drugged me and put me in a jail cell, you deserve to go first.” I replied coolly.
“Okay fine.” She sat, and looked at the ground.
“I think I like Stiles.” She quickly stated, almost too fast to comprehend.
“Understatement but at least you admitted.” I laughed.
“Oh shut up.” She giggled
“Your turn.” she stated.
“I have many secrets so could you just ask something that you want to know?” I asked. It scared me a bit at the idea of sharing a secret but she’d done so.
“Something that no one knows, and that you are uncomfortable with sharing.” She said in a cheery voice.
I was quiet for a few minutes as I thought about it. “My birth mother stabbed me when I was a baby.” I muttered finally, looking back to the floor.
“Oh wow, that turned dark really fast. Your secret is so much cooler compared to mine. You literally had a near-death experience.” She commented.
“It isn’t a cool secret. It screwed up my whole life and forced me into the foster system.” I winced as I said it. I shouldn’t have said that. Now she had the power to make one phone call and I’d be gone.
“I’m really sorry. I won’t tell if you don’t.” She said, extending her pinkie finger.
“What are you doing?” I asked, pushing my emotions away and looking at her hand.
“A pinkie promise. Just an added level of security, you know?” She laughed.
I gave a small chuckle and extended my pinkie too. Maybe having a friend wouldn’t be too bad.
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