Destiny [D.H.]

82

Eliana's POV:

I made my way to class.

I entered Mrs. Fleming's class and got my test back. I'd gotten an 85. Malia had gotten a 'D-'.

"I'm impressed," Mrs. Fleming said. "With most of you. It really speaks to your study habits and your commitment to your education. Everyone else, see me for extra help."

Lydia raised her hand. "Mrs. Fleming, um..."

Mrs. Fleming shook her head. "I already told you, Lydia. I don't give extra credit for alternate equations based on your own theoretical findings."

My claws extended and I frowned, forcing them back before muttering, "What the hell?"

Malia's claws were also out and Lydia whispered, "Malia. Claws. Claws, Malia." She glanced at them and retracted them.

I noticed a distant look in Lydia's eyes and said, "Okay, seriously. What the hell is going on with you? Are you okay?"

Lydia frowned. "I'm trying to remember."

"Remember what?" Malia and I asked.

Malia and I exchanged a look. Something was obviously wrong with Lydia, and I intended to figure out what it was.

After class, Malia and I parted ways and I made my way to my locker. While exchanging books, Lydia grabbed my arm.

I yanked my arm away. "Hey. Don't like the grabbing. What?"

"Malia," Lydia replied. "We need to find her. Can you get her scent?"

I let out a sigh. "Yeah. Come on. Let's find her."

We followed Malia's scent of fear and confusion to the basement.

"Malia?" Lydia and I called.

"Over here," Malia answered.

We followed Malia's voice and found her chained to a wall. Malia looked at us. "I've got a problem. I'm growling at people in class. I'm clawing at my desk. I tried turning the floor of my bedroom into a coyote den. Do these look familiar to you?" She held up the chains.

I took them and frowned. "No, why would they? Do you really think these would keep you safe?"

She shrugged. "They used to. Before the lake house, this is where I'd come for the full moon. But you weren't down here with me. Scott wasn't down here with me."

Lydia's brow furrowed. "If Scott wasn't..."

"Who was?"

I shook my head. "I don't know, but I doubt you did it alone."

Lydia wandered off again and Malia and I followed after her.

We found her walking into the street.

Malia and I pulled her back before she could be hit by a car.

I stepped in front of my friend and said, "Okay, Lydia, what the ever-loving fuck is going on with you?"

Malia shot me a look before asking, "What were you doing?"

"Trying to remember," Lydia answered as she looked between us.

---

That night, I made my way to the woods to meet up with my friends.

Scott, Malia and Lydia were already there by the time I arrived.

Scott looked between us and said, "I went to bed at home and woke up in the woods." He gave each of us a flashlight. "About a mile out. I think there's a reason why this has happened. Eliana and I've been out here before. It was the beginning of sophomore year... the night before tryouts for first line. I remember because it was all I could think about."

"What were you doing?" Malia wondered.

"Ella and I were looking for a dead body."

Lydia scoffed, disgusted. "That's morbid."

"So then, what were she and I doing out here?"

Lydia shrugged. "I wish I could help you, but I didn't know you then."

"I was a coyote so I might've tried you eat it," Malia said.

Scott took a moment to think. "Deaton said that my subconscious is trying to tell me something. But I need you guys to help me figure out what it's saying."

Lydia looked at Scott. "Maybe you were just a curious teenager who heard there was a body."

"But how? I never watched the news. And I didn't have a police scanner."

"Your mom works at the hospital," Malia said. "Maybe she got called in and you overheard her?"

"My mom wasn't home that night. I live five miles away from here. How did I get here?"

"You drove."

Scott shook his head. "I didn't have a car."

"You ran?"

I shook my head. "No, he couldn't have. He had asthma. You know, that night I met the one person who changed my life for the better."

Scott glanced at me and smiled before saying, "I was hiding, but they knew that Ella and I were here."

"Maybe you made a ton of noise with your asthmatic breathing," Malia guesseed.

Scott frowned. "How would they know that it was me? Why would the sheriff even think that I would be out here?"

"Because like most deaths in this town, it was related to the supernatural," Lydia answered.

"I wasn't supernatural, okay? This was the night I was bitten. I wasn't a werewolf yet. And I wasn't out here alone. I know it sounds crazy. But I think Ella and I had a best friend. And I think he was out here with me and her that night."

"It doesn't sound crazy," Malia told him. "I know that someone chained me up and I think they wanted me to stay human."

I looked between my friends. "No, it's not crazy. He was always there to help me with Lucille. One day after school, Lucille hurt me and I think I called him, whoever he was. Derek showed up, but he wasn't alone. I just can't remember who was with him."

Lydia nodded slowly. "Someone always knew how smart I really was. I got my test back in class and turned to show it to someone, but no one was there. I came to school this morning, sure I was going to meet someone. But I couldn't remember who I was meeting. I've been looking for them all day. Whoever it was, I think I loved him."

"What if we're all missing the same person?" Scott asked, pulling a picture from his pocket. He held it up we could see. "I think that he was in this picture."

---

We made our way to Deaton's to see if he was able to help.

Deaton hung a shard of glass from a car on a string in front of Lydia. He lit it from below. Malia narrowed her eyes. "Now she just magically writes down all the answers?"

Deaton shook his head. "It's not quite that simple. It never is. In automatic writing, the hand moves outside of any conscious awareness. But hopefully the silence, the darkness, and the light will allow you to find a more comfortable, relaxed, trance-like state. Lydia, I want you to stare into the light and let go of all thoughts."

Lydia stared at the light and picked up the pen.

We watched intently and soon, the only sound was of pen scratching paper.

The light turned off moments later and Scott looked at her. "Are you okay?"

Malia picked up the paper and frowned. "What does "mischief" mean?"

Scott and I shook our heads. "That's not what she wrote."

He turned the paper, revealing a name.

Lydia frowned. "What the hell is a Stiles?"