c h a p t e r t w e n t y s i x
lost in the woods

"She ate the liver?" Scott glanced at Stiles and Harper, a look of disgust on his face as they began to walk into the school building.

It was Monday morning and everybody knew about what had happened at the school dance last Friday night. Well, they knew bits.

Everybody thought that Lydia and Harper had been attacked by an animal, however, Lydia worse than Harper.

All of Beacon Hills knew that Lydia was somewhere running around naked in the woods, and people were already talking about her. She was officially the school's freak- even worse than Greenburg.

Stiles shook his head, "no, I didn't say she ate it. I just said it was missing. And you know what? Even if she did, so what? It's the most nutritious part of the body."

Harper was so thankful for her boyfriend. He knew that Harper didn't particularly want to talk about the disspearance of her best friend since she felt so guilty for being the one to, unconsciously, take her onto the field. That was why he was speaking for the both of them, most of the time.

"I never ate anyone's liver." Scott mumbled.

"Yeah, right, cause when it comes to werewolves, you're a real model of self control." Stiles muttered sarcastically, rolling his whiskey eyes.

Suddenly, he paused, turning around. "Wait, hold on- you're the test case for this, so we should be going over what happened to you."

Scott gave Stiles a doubtful look. "What do you mean?"

Harper butted in, "he means what was going through your mind when you were changing. What were you drawn to?"

The werewolf didn't even have to think about it for more than a second before a cheesy grin took over on his face. Harper already knew what was coming just from that look.

"Allison." Her name fell so softly from his lips.

"Nothing else?" Harper groaned. "Seriously?"

"Nothing else mattered." Scott sighed blissfully. "But, no, that's good though, right? Cause the night that Lydia was bit she was with you, Harps."

Harper rolled her eyes, "I'm the one that took her on that stupid field." Her throat felt tight from all of the guilt that she was feeling. "I bloody caused all of this."

Tears stung her eyes as Stiles' hand went to the small of her back in a comforting gesture. "You were being controlled by Peter, there's nothing any of us could have done about it. It's his fault, and his fault only."

Scott nodded from in front of them, a sympathetic look on his face when he saw how stressed the teenage girl in front of him looked. Only then did he notice how she smelled of anxiety, and how she hadn't even bothered with makeup that day- the dark circles under her golden brown eyes prominent.

"Let's get to chemistry." Scott changed the subject. "Harris will give us a detention if we're even a second late."

Stiles and Harper groaned in unison.

...

A test paper was smacked down on the desk in front of Harper, snapping her out of her dazed state. She looked up at Mr Harris as he put a test paper in front of Isaac Lahey, who was sat right next to her.

"Ms Verum, if you need to leave the class at any point, please let me know." Harris spoke quietly, surprising her and everybody else in the class.

Harper swallowed nervously, nodding to him as she began to write her name at the top of the paper. Mr Harris went to stand back in front of his desk just as Harper heard Scott and Stiles, but mainly Stiles, talking to each other.

Unluckily for her, she couldn't make out what they were saying, but she guessed it was something to do with Lydia and the whole liver situation. Apparently, last night Isaac had been working at the graveyard and he saw someone, or something, eat the liver from a grave.

She only knew this because Sheriff Stilinski had to interview him about it, so of course Stiles knew.

"This is a pop quiz, Mr Stilinski. If I hear your voice again, I may be tempted to give you detention for the rest of your high school career." Mr Harris' dull toned voice carried out from across the classroom, interrupting any conversation that the two teenage boys had been having.

Stiles' eyes widened a little, "can you do that?"

"Well, there it is again. Your voice. Triggering the only impulse I've ever had to strike a student repeatedly and violently." Mr Harris droned on. "I'll see you at three for detention."

Some people in the room snickered while Harper shot Harris a dirty look, which of course he didn't see. Stiles' mouth was hung open and Scott turned to look at him, raised eyebrows.

"You too, Mr McCall?"

Scott turned back around, shaking his head. "No, sir." He replied.

Harper suddenly felt a dull ache in her nose, the sensation stinging a little as she turned back around to write on her test paper. As soon as her pen touched the paper, a black liquid substance dripped from her nose, landing straight on the question.

Heart beating rapidly, she pinched her nose with her fingers and put her hand up quickly. Mr Harris simply looked up and nodded, and with that, Harper had run out of the room.

"Not you too, Mr Stilinski." She heard their chemistry teacher yell as she rushed out of the classroom, her entire body thumping with nerves and pain, "McCall, sit back down! You're already failing this class!"

She opened the doors to the girls bathroom, sliding inside as quickly as she could and going straight over to the sinks. Luckily nobody else was in the bathrooms except for Harper. Harper grabbed some tissues, trying to soak up the black blood coming from her nose as quickly as she could.

The door burst open and Harper was not surprised to see her very worried looking boyfriend stood there. As soon as he saw the state that she was in, Stiles dashed forwards, holding the small of her back and her cheek as he titled her head up.

"I didn't know you got nosebleeds." Stiles frowned.

Harper shook her head, "this isn't a nosebleed."

"Jackson left straight after you did."

Harper swallowed thickly. "Then this is because of him."

She turned to her side, looking in the mirror. The black substance was now dripping from her ears and her nose, a never ending cycle as she pressed tissues to where she could. Stiles helped her the best he could, humming softly to stop her slight panicking and dabbing the tissues against her ears.

Harper groaned. "What does this even mean?"

"For you? Most likely nothing. For Jackson?" Stiles paused, tapping his foot nervously. "I have no idea."

...

Harper slammed her locker door shut, almost shrieking when she came face to face with Matt, the slightly creepy guy from her German class. He leaned against the locker beside hers, a smile on his face that honestly looked more like a smirk.

"Hey." Matt chimed.

The brunette forced a smile, "hi, Matt."

He pulled his hands out from behind his back, revealing a bouquet of red roses. "These are for you." He announced, practically shoving them into her hands. "I didn't get to see you in the hospital, so..."

Harper accepted them, a small smile on her face now. "Thank you, Matt. That's really... sweet."

Matt just grinned back at her. "Yeah... So, are you going with Allison to her aunt's funeral tonight?"

Harper was a little taken aback by his straight forward question. She didn't know why he wanted to know, or why he even cared.

"No." She replied. "Allison said that it's close family only. Why?"

Matt shrugged, "no reason."

The brunette still looked sceptical as she nodded slowly. "Okay... Well, I have to go now. Stiles is driving me home."

"Stiles?" He repeated. Harper didn't like his tone.

"Yeah, Stiles, my boyfriend." Harper emphasized, swinging her backpack over her shoulder. "See you soon."

"Bye." Matt replied sourly before he scoured away down the hall.

...

Harper peeked her head around the large head stone just in time to see an old man grab Matt's camera. Scott was crouched underneath her, watching Allison worriedly. She couldn't hear from here, but she knew that he was talking to Matt calmly.

Now she knew why he had asked if she was going to Kate's funeral.

Paparazzi and news reporters watched from behind the barriers in confusion, clicking pictures and murmuring as the old man took something out of Matt's camera, crushing it in his hands and letting it crumble to the ground. He gave Matt his camera back and Matt went back behind the barriers.

The old man approached Chris Argent, greeting him with a short hug. Harper wished she could hear what they were saying as the man moved on to greet Victoria Argent with two kisses on the cheek. Just as he turned to face Allison, a loud noise came from behind Scott and Harper, making her jump.

"Yo." Stiles whispered, placing his hands on Harper's shoulders as he tried to look across at the funeral too. "Who the hell's that?" He gestured towards the old man.

As if he had heard Stiles, he looked over in their direction. Scott quickly turned away, grabbing Harper's wrist and moving her behind him as Stiles fell behind the head stone. Her heartbeat quickened up, worried that he had seen them.

"He's definitely an Argent." Scott muttered, not looking back.

When they finally peeked back around the stone, the mysterious man was now talking to Allison who was sat down on a chair, looking up at him. Allison looked over as the old man left, Scott shooting her a smile and a wave.

"Hey, you know, maybe they're just here for the funeral." Stiles tried to lighten the situation a little. "I mean... maybe they're the non-hunting side of the family. There could be non-hunting Argents. It's possible, right?"

"I know what they are." Scott mumbled. "They're reinforcements."

Suddenly, hands grabbed hold of the back of Stiles' plaid shirt and Harper's blouse, pulling them back and standing them up straight. Scott whirled around, watching worriedly as Sheriff Stilinski gritted his teeth at the three teenagers.

"Ah. The three of you. Unbelievable." He muttered angrily. "Pick up my tie." He hissed at Stiles who quickly leaned down and grabbed it.

"Got it." Stiles mumbled. "Sorry. I know, I'm supposed to ask."

...

That's pretty much how Harper ended up in the back of a police car with her two best friends either side of her. Stiles was glancing ahead in annoyance while Scott fiddled with something on the roof of the car, trying to distract himself. Harper leaned her head on her boyfriend's shoulder, playing with the end of her skirt.

The radio suddenly began to make static sounds before a voice played over it. "4-1-5 Adam."

Sheriff Stilinski spoke through the radio, "I didn't copy that. Did you say 4-1-5 Adam?"

Stiles looked over to Harper and Scott. "Disturbance in a car." He whispered.

"They were taking a heart attack victim- DO.A. But on the way to the hospital, something hit 'em."

Noah frowned, "well... hit the ambulance?"

The three teenagers leaned forwards in anticipation.

"Copy that." The officer replied. "I'm standing in front of it right now. Something got in the back. There's blood everywhere. And I mean everywhere."

"Alright, unit 4, what's your 20?"

"Route 5 and post. I swear, I've never seen anything like this."

Stiles grabbed hold of Harper's hand, dragging her out of the police car before Noah could even turn to talk to them.

...

Harper had lost Scott and Stiles ages ago. It wasn't accident, she hadn't wandered off or taken the wrong turn while distracted by something, no, she had meant to lose them. The Empath had an aching feeling in her chest and her head, telling her to go somewhere.

Where was somewhere?

In the middle of the woods, apparently. Her phone wouldn't stop ringing from in her pocket and night had fallen a while ago, but Harper didn't care. She moved forwards, brambles and twigs scraping across her skin as she walked carelessly, as if in some kind of trance.

It wasn't like when Peter was controlling her. She wasn't feeling an urge that wasn't her own, this was her urge. She, herself, felt the need to take this path. Harper could feel so much anxiety coming from one direction, and then suddenly it would change and she would only pick up loneliness and utter confusion.

Harper ducked beneath a half fallen log, her brown eyes trying to focus in the darkness. Her tights were ripped from the amount of bushes she had walked through and she was bleeding.

A twig snapped in the distance causing her to freeze. The petite girl shivered in the cold as she turned around, attempting to look for the source of the noise. She couldn't see anything. Just trees, trees, and more trees.

"Lydia?" Harper called softly. "Lydia?"

A tinted grey mist suddenly pooled around Harper's feet and she took a step back, almost falling over a log. She steadied herself, fixing her eyes to follow the fog that was coming from behind a particularly thick area of trees.

Harper slowly followed it, her heavy breathing causing icy clouds. She moved some twigs out of the way of her face, ducking underneath a tree until she came to a leafy clearing. In the centre of the clearing, lying pale on the floor, was Lydia Martin.

The grey fog surrounded her, leaving as soon as Harper blinked a couple of times. Sudden realisation that Lydia was right there hit Harper and she dashed forwards, a mixture of worry and excitement filling her.

"Lydia!" She choked, tearing up at the sight of her best friend. "Lydia, are you okay? Are you awake? ... Oh god, are you alive?"

Harper ignored the fact that Lydia was stark naked, grabbing her friends wrist gently and checking for her pulse. Harper felt it, slow but steady. She let out a sigh of relief, feeling her knees buckle from underneath her.

She wriggled the oversized denim jacket she was wearing off of her and tapped the side of Lydia's face, trying to get her to wake up.

"Lydia?" Harper called. "Lyds?"

The strawberry blonde's eyes suddenly snapped open and as soon as they fixed on the brunette they relaxed. She shivered, sitting up as Harper wrapped the jacket around her. Lydia was only a tiny bit bigger than Harper so it was oversized on her too and covered everything.

Lydia stood up, wrapping her arms around Harper as she cried. Lydia's salty tears fell into Harper's hair but neither cared as Harper calmly began to pluck the stray twigs and leaves out of Lydia's hair, holding her as close as she possibly could.

Both girls shook from the freezing air, using each other's body warmth to heat up. Lydia had never felt so relieved to see Harper in her life, although she couldn't even remember what had happened. Harper felt the same, never so happy to see her favourite strawberry blonde.

"W-what happened?" Lydia stuttered, pulling away at arms distance.

"I don't know." Harper wiped a tear off of her face. "One minute you were showering and then you were out the window. How do you not know what happened?"

Lydia shrugged, "I can't remember anything." She whispered.

...

The brunette pushed back some twigs, her heart stopping as soon as she saw her boyfriend stood there, talking to his dad. Ambulance lights flashed from around them, police cars pulled up as officers took in the bloody scene around them.

Stiles looked up from where he had been kicking a stick around, his eyes landing on his girlfriend and Lydia Martin.

"Harper?" He called out in relief. "Lydia?"

He had been so worried when Harper had suddenly disappeared, especially since Lydia was out on the loose killing random people and stealing the liver from dead bodies. Everybody turned to face the two teenage girls as Harper kept Lydia underneath her arm, guiding her towards Sheriff and Stiles.

Stiles instantly had his arms around Harper. "Where did you go? How did you find her?" He asked urgently, taking a deep breath. "I was so worried about you."

"I'm fine now." Harper sighed. "But Lydia can't remember leaving the hospital."

Noah nodded, taking off his police jacket and putting it over Lydia's denim one, since it probably wasn't doing anything for the cold. Officers came over and began to guide Lydia away from them.

"W-where are you taking her?" Harper asked worriedly as Stiles clasped her wrist gently, stopping her from going after her. "Is she gonna be okay?"

Sheriff sighed, patting Harper's shoulder. "Your friend will most likely be okay. They're taking her to the hospital to check her over. She's very lucky you found her."

He walked away, leaving the two teenagers standing alone. Stiles' eyes glanced down at his girlfriend, seeing her shivering. All she was wearing was a blouse and a skirt, and her tights had been shredded by all of the brambles. He took note of all of the scratches across her skin, a particularly long one down her neck and just above her collarbone from where the top few buttons of her blouse had been open.

"How did you-"

Harper shook her head, sighing. "I don't even know, Stiles. I don't even know. I'm so clumsy it's unreal. Lydia was out there for days and she has a couple of scratches, I have like a bazillion."

Stiles chuckled, "you wouldn't be Harper if you didn't come outside and get injured."

He shrugged off his plaid shirt, putting it over his shoulder and leaving himself in just a graphic t-shirt. Harper's eyebrows knitted together as she frowned, passing it back to him.

"Please don't make us fight over who is going to wear the shirt. You're shaking like a leaf." Stiles groaned, shoving it back into her hands.

"You will be too, if you take the plaid shirt off."

Stiles huffed, "let me be romantic for once, yeah? The guy always gives the girl his jacket- or in my case, plaid shirt." He wrapped over her shoulders again and this time she didn't protest, happy to feel a little warmer.

"I love you." She spoke softly, going up on her tippy toes as she held his hands.

Stiles smiled, "I love you too."

He kissed her in front of everybody, extremely proud that he had a girl like Harper. Some officers saw and smiled, since they had always known since the second Stiles and Harper walked into the police station at ten years old that they would end up together.

...

"Where were you?" Rose asked as soon as Harper walked through the front door, kicking off her brown ankle boots.

Harper scoffed, "where were you?"

Her grandma sighed, her eyebrows raising when she saw the scrapes and cuts across Harper's legs.

"Were you in the woods?" She asked sceptically.

Harper nodded, "I found Lydia." The brunette mumbled, taking Stiles' plaid shirt off and holding it in her arms.

Rose's eyes widened, "is she okay?"

Harper just nodded again. "She's being checked over at the hospital. I need to go upstairs and take a shower."

As she tried pushing past her grandmother, Rose clasped her arm, pulling her back. Harper was shocked at the amount of force her grandma used, standing still to see what she had to say.

"You can't blame me, sweetie." Rose coughed a little. "Please don't be mad at me. Not right now."

Harper's eyebrows raised. "Why? What's right now?" She folded her arms across her chest as she waited for Rose's answer.

Nothing came. 

Harper scoffed, turning back around. "Night."

Guilt washed over Harper as soon as she entered the bathroom, but she was too stubborn to go downstairs and apologise. She knew that her grandma was lying about why she didn't come and get her from the hospital, and until she told Harper the truth, Harper wasn't going to let it go.

Harper switched on the shower, the hot water spraying down her shoulders and down her back. If only her worries would go down the drain with it.

thanks for reading! i really hope you liked it. let me know what you thought?

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