Willow ↠ Teen Wolf

[prologue]

"Wills, come inside honey!" Rain Harper called out to her daughter who was lying on the grass with a smile.

Willow got up, brushing off her leggings and went inside. The nine year old's cheeks were flushed as the cold September wind bit at them.

The Harper family lived near Piedmont, located on Lake Crescent in Washington. They didn't have any other house near them for miles and when most kids would be bored, Willow enjoyed spending time alone in the woods. She found it soothing.

"Hey, peanut." Mr. Harper came from work, his park ranger uniform still on as he crouched down on one knee.

"Daddy!" Willow exclaimed jumping in her father's arms.

He had been gone for a week so the girl had missed him a lot. Willow didn't know the reason for him to be away and they didn't let her know. She watched as her parents shared a look and her father nodded solemnly.

"What's wrong?" She asked puzzled.

"Nothing to worry about Wills." Her mother put on a smile but Willow couldn't shake the dread she was feeling.

Mr. and Mrs. Harper were talking about what he had found when he was away before they were startled by Willow screaming in her sleep. Her nightmares had gotten more frequent when she turned nine. The couple rushed to their daughter's bedroom in hopes of waking her up.

"Willow!" Her father shook her shoulders as she struggled in his hold.

"She's burning up again." Mrs. Harper placed a hand on her daughter's sweaty forehead.

After a couple of minutes, Willow woke up screaming, her hair stuck to her face with sweat. Her ears were ringing as she tried to steady her breathing.

"Just another nightmare, Wills. It's over." Her father wrapped his arms around her.

Whenever Willow had horror movie like nightmares, she wouldn't be able to shake it off for the rest of the night. They were usually bloody and with people she hadn't seen before but this time she had seen the man before. In another nightmare last year. He had the same eyes that had haunted her every night.

"Honey, what was is this time?" Her mother asked but Willow couldn't find her voice to tell them about it.

With tears streaming down her face, she shook her head trying to forget what she saw.

"Do you want to write about it? Or draw?" Her father asked. It was a coping mechanism they had established last year. It was also the only way they could learn about her nightmares.

Willow nodded and got up towards her desk. Her parents sat on her bed and let her do her thing. This time the young girl didn't have the heart to write about it so she picked up her watercolor palette and began painting.

She looked back at her parents with a solemn look. Understanding she was done, they walked towards her and her mother let out an involuntary gasp.

"He's coming for her." The parents shared a worried look as they stared at the painting that was dripping in red.

"I still don't understand why I have to spend my birthday at Aunt River's place." Willow huffed as her mother packed her bag in a hurry. 

"Because your aunt had missed you honey." Her mother replied.

"Yes but why can't you and dad go to your business meeting after my birthday?" To say that Willow was disappointed that her parents would be gone during her birthday would be an understatement.

"I told you Wills. We'll be back after your birthday. Your dad and I need to deal with something before." She zipped up the bag and faced her daughter. "Now, promise me you'll do as your aunt says."

"I promise mom." Willow replied in defeat, knowing there was nothing she could do or say to change it.

"Is my favorite niece ready?" Her door opened to reveal River Smith.

"Auntie River!" Willow greeted her aunt with joy and gave her a big hug. "I'm your only niece."

"Still my favorite though." The young woman joked giving her sister a hug as well. "Now let's get this show on the road. We have 14 hours worth of drive ahead." Willow shared one last hug with her parents before getting in her aunt's car. She watched as her house got lost behind the trees.

Willow fell asleep around 9 pm and after an hour or so she opened her eyes in her nightmare. Aunt River almost drove off the road because of the scream coming from the back of the car. She quickly pulled over and turned to Willow. Knowing well about her nightmares, she tried waking her up. After about three minutes, Willow jolted awake with a cry.

"Willow, hey. Hey, look at me." Her aunt tried to calm her down as Willow looked around frantically.

"We have to get back!" She cried out clutching her chest which was in searing pain.

"We're 2 hours away from my home Wills. We'll go and-" Her aunt tried to reason with her.

"No! We- we have to get back. It hurts Aunt River. It hurts." Willow choked out not understanding what was happening. "Please."

"Come on. Pick up, pick up." Her aunt dialed her mother in panic.

"She won't answer. We need to go now." Willow said between her pained grunts.

River looked at her niece in worry and looked at her phone not knowing what to do. She wasn't trained like her older sister but her niece's pained pleas got to her and she started the car. Willow's tears never stopped as the pain in her chest vanished and was replaced with fear and anxiety.

After an excruciatingly long 12 hour drive, Willow jumped out of the car before her aunt could hit the brakes. It didn't take long for her aunt to get out of the car as well and when she saw the bloodied symbol etched on the front door, her eyes grew wide with fear. She knew about that symbol too well.

"Willow! Stop!" She called out but Willow was already opening the door to rush in. Willow felt like her heart had stopped when she found her father in the living room.

"Dad!" She choked out when she saw the gaping hole in his chest. Her trembling hands retracted from her father's body as she wiped her eyes.

Her aunt had rushed in after her and her hand went to her mouth in shock.

"Rain?!" She called out to her older sister and with that both of them started to look around for Willow's mother in hopes she was still alive.

Aunt River was checking upstairs when she heard the blood curdling scream of her niece. She rushed down and found her standing in the backyard. Running towards her niece, her eyes caught sight of her sister's mangled up body. With tears streaming down her face, she quickly wrapped her arms around her niece and turned her around.

"Look away, Wills." She managed to let out as her eyes were still fixated on her sister's body.

"I- I saw this happen." Willow croaked between sobs, her nightmare flashing before her eyes.

"I'll explain everything, I promise Wills." Aunt River placed her lips on top of her niece's head as they kept weeping for the loss of their family. 

Author's note: Welcome to my humble fanfic everyone! I've been working on this for a while and didn't want to publish it until I was done with season 1. As you guys are reading this, I'll be working on season 2 and so on. Please vote and comment. Let me know what you think! I promise it gets better :) 

-Love, Ally