Lindsey looked around the cafeteria for a seat. None of the tables were empty and she sighed. She saw three of the kids from her art class sitting with three others she didn't know. She approached the table and sat on the very end. A Japanese girl was laughing and Malia was looking confused. A dark brown-haired boy threw a wrapper at Isaac as a black-haired boy with a tattoo on his left arm and Lydia laughed. Lindsey pulled her lunch and her last class' homework from her bag as the subject changed to Malia's last name.

"You're changing your last name?' the brown-haired boy asked. "To Hale?"

The name caught Lindsey's attention. In the few days she'd been at Beacon Hills High School, she'd overheard a few conversations about the Hale family. From what she understood, the family had known nothing but tragedy for the past seven years, when their house caught fire, trapping almost the entire family inside and causing the deaths of eight people. She'd heard that one of the survivors, a woman named Laura, had been murdered the year before and made to look like an animal attack. Afterward, her younger brother, Derek, had returned and had been in trouble with the law several times since.

"Why not?" Malia answered. "It's my real family's name."

"Wait... Peter really is her father?" Isaac asked.

"Yes," Lydia answered.

"Someone actually had a child with him?"

The black-haired boy gave him a look.

"Sorry, that was uncalled for."

"I think he's finally getting smart," the brown-haired boy commented.

Isaac gave him a look.

"Did Derek teach you that look? I swear all three of you had the same 'I will kill you slowly and painfully' look that Derek has."

"Stiles, shut up."

"It's not your choice, guys," the Japanese girl said. "If Malia wants to take her birth name and not her adoptive name, that's her choice."

"Thank you."

"I see her point," Lydia said. "Would you want to keep the last name of a man who broke the news that you were adopted by throwing a glass at your head and saying he wished you never been found?"

Isaac held a finger up. "Glass throwing is never fun."

"Seriously?" Stiles sighed. "Still?"

"Uh, yeah."

"Don't start, you two," the black-haired boy said with a sigh.

The bell rang and the students in the cafeteria began to disperse to their next class. Lindsey put her book and notebooks back into her bag.

Without looking, she stood and turned quickly, walking right into another student and knocking their books from their hand. "Oh, my God! I am so sorry."

"Relax. It's just books." Lindsey looked up to see she'd walked into Isaac. "It's okay."

"I wasn't paying attention." She quickly crouched down and helped him pick up his books. She could feel his friends watching them and her cheeks grew hot. Lindsey dropped a book twice before his hands went over hers.

"Hey. Calm down. I said it's okay." He helped her to her feet. "I'm Isaac by the way."

Lindsey pushed a strand of hair behind her ear. "Lindsey."

"Nice to meet you."

"I... I have to get to class." Lindsey made a hasty retreat.

"What did you do? Scare the crap out of her?" she heard Stiles ask before she was completely out of earshot.

~~~

Melissa McCall ran down the hall as the paramedics rushed in a screaming patient, a middle-aged man wreathing in pain.

"We found him in the middle of downtown screaming bloody murder."

"Put it out!" the man kept screaming. "Put it out!"

Melissa looked confused. There was not a blemish on his skin.

"I think he thinks he's on fire."

"Why would he think that?" Melissa wondered out loud. The paramedic shrugged as the screaming man was rushed down the hall, a doctor calling for a sedative. Melissa ran after them.

~~~

Sheriff Noah Stilinski and Deputy Jordan Parrish approached her. "Hey, Melissa," Stilinski greeted. "We got a call about them finding a screamer in the middle of downtown."

"Yeah, he had to be sedated in order to treat him. We found nothing physically wrong and the tox screen hasn't come back yet."

"Are they suspecting drugs?" Parrish asked.

The young Deputy was still new to the other side of Beacon Hills. He had been introduced to the secret world of his adopted town when he insisted on helping Stilinski with whatever he was doing. Which happened to be looking for a kidnapped Derek and Isabel.

"Well not everyone suspects the supernatural. But in this case, they might be right."

"That it's drugs?" Stilinski asked.

"The man thought he was on fire and kept screaming 'Put it out'."

"Interesting."

"Yeah."

Scott chose that moment to walk into the ER with Melissa's dinner. He caught her eye and lifted the bag holding a Styrofoam takeout plate. Melissa still couldn't believe that her teenage son was not only a werewolf but a rare True Alpha. Two years earlier, he was struggling socially and had a severe case of asthma that kept him benched from playing lacrosse. Then seemingly overnight, he was a star player and had a girlfriend. Not to mention he stopped needing his inhaler. Then came the night that one of his classmates held her, Stilinski, Stiles, Scott, and Derek hostage at the sheriff's station, shooting Scott to force her cooperation. The night she found out about Scott's second nature when, in his wolf form, he attacked a lizard-like creature that was trying to attack her through the bars of the cell she was in. After she saw her first werewolf in the form of Derek. She hadn't known he was even there. It took her a week before the shock wore off enough for her to ask for an explanation, which actually made all his strange behavior of the prior few months make a lot more sense. The two were closer now because of it.

"Hey, honey."

"Brought you dinner. Mexican."

"Yum."

"You look tired. Long night?"

"So far." Scott saw Stilinski and Parrish and gave them a wave. The two gave a returning nod. "How was your day?"

"Fairly normal. There's a new girl at school. She literally ran into Isaac at lunch and then pretty much ran out of the cafeteria. I sensed she was really embarrassed about it."

"Poor girl."

"Yeah, I couldn't find her again after school though." Scott suddenly turned his head.

"Scott?"

A nurse walked out of one of the patient rooms and glanced down the hall towards them. She gave Scott a smile before walking farther down the hall. There was just something about that smile and the woman that unnerved the Alpha.

"Lydia?" Stilinski asked, concern in his voice. Scott looked over at his friend.

Lydia didn't look like she knew where she was. "Scott," she whispered. "It happened again. Just like with the Darach sacrifices."

Scott opened his mouth to ask what she was feeling when a man's bloodcurdling scream sounded from the room the nurse had left a moment earlier, causing Scott to noticeably wince due to his heightened hearing. Melissa immediately raced down the hall along with two doctors and another nurse. Lydia ran after them, followed by Scott. The man continued to scream. His heart was in overdrive and Scott could smell the panic coming from him. The man's screams were unintelligible but Scott was able to glean the word "fire" at one point. Scott and Lydia looked at one another and he caught sight of the nurse in the elevator. Her black hair hung loose about her shoulders. She lowered her head slightly and gave a knowing smile that was borderline creepy. Lydia looked to see what held Scott's attention as the doors began to shut. Scott's head whipped back towards the man just as the heart monitor flatlined. The staff immediately tried to resuscitate him, but Scott knew the attempt would be in vain. What had brought his attention back to the room was the loud pop only he could hear.

Stilinski placed a hand on both the teenagers' shoulders. "Come on, guys. Get out of here."

~~~

Scott couldn't shake the woman's unnerving smile out of his head.

"Who was she?" Lydia suddenly asked.

"Hmm?"

"The nurse in the elevator. You were looking at her like you knew her."

"I saw her come out of the room right before you showed up. Why were you here anyway?"

"I thought I was heading to Stiles' house. I promised him and Malia that I'd help her with her math. Instead, I'm here."

"Just like when you first found out you were a Banshee."

"Yes," Lydia sighed and Scott heart her heart rate increase.

She was scared of her powers and the fact that it seemed completely random. Scott knew how it felt not to have control of yourself. It had taken him months to gain the control over his shifts that he currently had. But he'd had Derek to teach him and mentor him the only way he knew how. And Stiles to throw lacrosse balls at his face. Lydia had no one to teach or mentor her. Although he knew about Peter somewhat helping her by explaining the scream to her.

"Scott, I knew that man was going to die tonight. I came before he did. Could I prevent someone's death? Could I have prevented his?"

"He was terrified. I could smell panic coming from him. Something popped right before he died."

"His aortal vessel in his heart. It must have popped from the hypertension of the panic."

"The question is what made him panic to the point that his heart exploded?"

~~~

"You've been very quiet today, Isabel," Deaton said. "Is something bothering you?"

"Is it that obvious?"

"A bit. No doubt Derek has noticed if I have."

"I told him it was nothing," Isabel sighed. "But it was a lie." Deaton waited. "I dug my talons into his back last night. I'm grateful that he can heal."

"What happened?"

"I had a dream last night. I told Derek it was about my mother's death, but that was a complete lie. I had a dream about someone I knew when I was a teenager. I haven't seen him in years. I'm not even sure if he's even still alive. Vincent may have killed him. The last time I saw him, I told him I never wanted to see him again." Isabel bit her lip.

"But you saw him in your dream."

Isabel nodded. "He went after some Hunters, I think. I have the feeling that something is coming to Beacon Hills. Something I'm not sure that the pack can handle on their own."

"Like what?"

"Something that the Nemeton will attract. Even the Argents don't know every creature out there."

~~~

Sean walked through the woods surrounding the old Hale property. From what he understood, the property bordered Beacon Hills Preserve. But what he was looking for was on the Hale side. The leaves crunched under his boots as he passed the flashlight slowly back and forth. The beam finally landed on a huge stump. What Sean had been looking for, a Nemeton. But Sean knew that a whole Nemeton was something to worry about. This Nemeton had been cut down, judging by the amount of vegetation growing out of cracks in the stump, years ago. The others were positive that Beacon Hills was a supernatural hotspot and his parents were positive that their target was here, drawn by said Nemeton. But with what Sean knew about them, this would not have, its power having drained with the cutting down of the tree.

Sean pulled out his phone and dialed. "I found it," he said to the person on the other end. "What's left of it, anyway. There's no way this is attracting the supernatural." He hung up and turned and went back the way he came.

From the shadows, a figure watched him. "It's more powerful than you think it is," the figure whispered before melting back into the shadows.