Morningstar

26

BEACON COUNTY SHERIFF'S STATION

Luci stood back with an amused expression as she watched the sheriff and his son go back and forth.

"I know his family left town around the time Theo was nine or ten... his older sister died in an accident when he was eight..." Stiles said.

"Please, go to school," the sheriff told his son.

"Dad, this kid's a Werewolf!"

"Your best friend is a Werewolf! You are dating a Werecoyote. You're friends with the Devil! I still don't know what Kira's supposed to be. When the flying monkeys come soaring through this station, you will have my undivided attention. Until then? Just go to school."

Stiles looked at his father and asked suspiciously, "...What did you do?"

"What? What do you mean, "What did I do?""

"There's something different about you..."

"What are you talking about?"

"What is it? What's different?"

"For the love of God, Stiles, just go to school!"

"I will go if you promise to do a full background check of the Raekens."

"No. You know what? Just because I'm the only law enforcement officer who knows anything about this does not make it my responsibility to do something every time you have a minor suspicion!"

"...Except you're not the only one."

Realization dawned on the sheriff. "PARRISH!" He turned to Luci who had a smirk. "You too?"

Luci shrugged and smirked as she left the office.

BEACON HILLS HIGH SCHOOL

"I know what parasomnia is, Mom," Lydia said. "But what about the feathers?"

"People with night terrors have done far stranger things than eating their own pillows," Natalie told her. "And anyway, I already told her to take the rest of the day off, but she said she didn't want to miss the first day."

"Let me try. I don't have any more classes. I can take her home and talk to her."

"Lydia, she's having trouble sleeping. If she needs help beyond that, we'll find her professional help. Got it?"

"I couldn't agree more."

STEWART HOUSE

"I don't see any signs of an attempted forced entry..." Parrish said as he looked around. "The latch seems okay. You said something about birds, Tracy?"

"The bird was at the skylight-- the one that woke me up," Tracy replied.

"Can I take a look?" Tracy nodded and Parrish climbed up to the skylight. "Tracy, you said the skylight was sealed for weatherproofing?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"Anything?" Lydia and Luci asked.

"No. Nothing."

Luci frowned, studying Parrish's expression, getting the sense that he was lying.

After a moment, Parrish said, "I can't do anything official right now, but I can come back after my shift tonight and watch the house for a couple hours."

"I'll keep you company," Lydia decided. "And I'm sure Luci would be more than willing."

"I think I'll be okay."

Luci tilted her head. "But this is your own time."

"I wouldn't do it if I didn't think something strange was going on. I also owe you two."

"For what?" Lydia asked.

"Three weeks of digging through every piece of old literature and mythology, trying to figure out the "something strange" going on with me."

"But we never figured it out. I'll bring you coffee."

"Don't you have class tomorrow?"

"One class."

"How can you only have one class?"

"I had enough credits to graduate last year, and I will bring you and Luci coffee at midnight if I want to."

Parrish smiled. "Medium Americano. Black."

Luci nodded. "The same for me. That's one, I hate to say, good thing Dad did... Coffee."

LATER

Parrish said, "As far as Luci and I can tell, no one's gone in and no one's come out."

"Sorry I wasted your time," Lydia apologized.

Luci smiled lightly. "It wasn't a complete waste."

Parrish nodded. "She's right. Not a total waste. I'm just glad Tracy's okay."

Luci nodded. "Me too. Excuse me, but Stiles apparently needs me."

She kissed Parrish's cheek and left the Stewart home.

STILINSKI HOUSE

"Usually, we wait until they do something wrong before we declare them guilty," Sheriff Stilinski said, looking up to see Luci. "What are you doing here?"

"Well, he's guilty of something," Stiles told his father. "I told her to come."

"Accusations require proof, and proof always trumps instinct-- it has to."

"I know, Dad."

"Let it go, Stiles. Get some sleep. You should probably go, Luci."

"Hey, Dad?"

"Mmm-hmm?"

"I got it. There's something different. I know what it is."

"Okay..."

"You're not wearing your wedding ring anymore."

"You're sure this kid's guilty?"

"Absolutely."

"Then all you gotta do is wait--if they're really guilty, eventually, they make a mistake. They always make a mistake."

Luci frowned. "Who?"

Stiles turned to her. "A kid named Theo Raeken. I don't think he's who he says he is. He's hiding something."

Luci nodded. "Then let's find out what it is."