I kept my eyes on the road ahead as I drove, my hands gripping the steering wheel tighter than necessary. Scott sat next to me, one hand on his side where Derek had managed to slash him, as he stared wholes through the side of my head.

I knew I should talk to him, knew I should try to explain myself, but every time I tried I choked up and couldn't get the words out. What must he think of me, when he'd spent endless conversations trying to figure out how to find me? How must he feel knowing I was there all along yet kept myself hidden? I wouldn't be surprised if he hated me.

Still, after the ice rink incident, we'd gotton into Allison's car and Scott had told me to drive him to the Beacon Hills vet, because apparently his boss would be able to help him. I hadn't questioned it, and we hadn't talked since. The silence in the car was deafening, sitting between us as we waited for the other to break it.

Eventually Scott spoke first. "So, you're the witch, huh?"

I risked a quick glance his way. He didn't sound angry, and he didn't look mad either, but then again I didn't really know him well enough to be able to tell when he was angry or not. I nodded my head, unable to trust myself speaking.

"Why didn't you tell us earlier?"

There it was. The question. The one I was hoping to avoid. How could I tell him the truth? How could I confess that I let him believe I was on his side, that I was his friend, when in reality I was still pondering whether or not to annihilate his species?

"Because I wasn't sure I was on your side earlier," I said quietly.

The rest of the car ride was silent.

When we arrived at the vet, I offered to go in with him but Scott refused, claiming I should go home and get some rest. I felt my heart ache. The side I chose didn't even want me anymore. How great was that?

"Y/n?" Scott asked before I left.

I looked at him questioningly. "Yeah?"

He gave me a half smile. "Thanks for choosing us."

That was certainly not what I expected to come out of his mouth. "I- what?"

"Well, I mean, you were raised by Kate, a hunter, and you live with hunters. It's not that farfetched to think that you'd fight with them, since they're the closest thing you have to family. I just wanted to say your choice is appreciated. Like, a lot."

I smiled at him, still a little confused but glad to find that Scott didn't hate me. "You're welcome."

I went home after that, making a mental note to be extra nice to Allison tomorrow, maybe get her a cookie, for letting me borrow her car on such short notice. I entered the house, only to stop when I saw Gerard talking to Allison.

I felt uneasy around him. I had a suspicion he knew about me being a witch, which related to my theory that Kate knew I was a witch. If he did, he would no doubt be waiting for me to choose his side, which wouldn't end up well for me when he found out I was on the opposing team.

I decided I'd do some investigating on him tomorrow and went upstairs to my room, sighing contentedly when I collapsed onto my bed.

Today had been a long day.

. . .

As soon as I entered school the next day Stiles was upon me, asking questions after question about witchcraft. I answered his questions to the best of my ability, but some of the things he'd thought of stumped even me. Nevertheless I let him question me endlessly until I spotted Scott in the crowd heading towards us.

"Does he have an off switch?" I asked Scott when we met up with him, gesturing to Stiles.

Stiles scoffed. "Ha, ha, very funny."

We all sat down on the steps as Stiles started relaying a message Allison had given him to give to Scott. I was grinning like an idiot the whole time, because out of context it looked like Scott and Stiles had become more than friends.

"I know this because I love you," Stiles recited. Scott smiled widely and I muffled my laughter. "I love you more that- oh my god! I can't- you and Allison need to find a better way to communicate."

Scott stared at him imploringly. "Come on. You're the only person we can trust."

I stared at Scott, affronted, and cleared my throat. He looked at me apologetically.

"One of the only people we can trust," Scott corrected. "Is she coming to the game tonight?"

Stiles sighed. "Yes, okay? Message complete. And from now on Y/n can be your communicator because if I have to tell you one more time how much Allison is in love with you, I'll puke. Now tell me about your boss."

Scott glanced around cautiously. "He thinks that Allison's family keeps some kind of, uh, records of all the things that they've hunted. Like a book."

"He probably means a bestiary," I said.

Scott looked at me funny. "A what?"

"A bestiary."

Scott laughed, nudging my shoulder. "Pretty sure you mean bestiality."

"Nope, pretty sure she doesn't," Stiles chimed in. "A bestiary is like an encyclopedia of mythical creatures."

Scott looked outraged and upset at the same time. "How am I the only one that doesn't seem to know anything about this stuff?"

"Hey, you're my best friend, you're a creature of the night, it's kind of like a priority of mine," Stiles said.

Scott looked to me. "And your excuse?"

I snorted, ruffling his hair. "Please. I'm not gonna lie to make you feel better. You're not my best friend."

Scott pouted at me and I grinned, "Whatever. If we can find the book, and it can tell us what this thing is-"

"And who," Stiles added.

"We need that book," I finished.

Stiles shot off to go relay all this information to Allison, since he seemed to forget his earlier claim that I was the new messenger, and I decided to see her too, though I walked. By the time I arrived Stiles had just finished up his conversation with Allison and sent me a wave before running back into the school to Scott.

I sat next to Allison on the bench and waited for the questions she would no doubt ask.

"You're a witch?" she asked.

I nodded ruefully. "Yep."

Allison hesitated before asking her next question. "And you can cast... spells?"

I grinned at her confused state. "Yeah basically. I'm not that good at it right now, so I need spells to use my magic, but the book said that when I get better at it, I'll be able to use my magic without needing to cast anything."

"The book?" Allison questioned.

"You remember that book I asked you to open but you couldn't?" I asked. At Allison's nod I continued. "That's the book. It only opens for witches."

Allison made a 'huh' thought before going silent, thinking. Eventually she spoke again. "Do you think Gerard knows?"

I looked around, as if Gerard would magically spawn in the yard. "I have my suspicions."

"Do you think Kate knew?"

I looked down at my hands. "I think. Maybe."

We were interrupted by Stiles who ran up to us, chest heaving. "You know, drug dealers have been using disposable cell phones pretty successfully for years."

"My parents check every call, email, and text message I send," Allison said stonily. "Trust me, they'd find it."

I grimaced, glad they didn't do that to me. If they knew who I was hanging out with, they probably would, so we just needed to keep it a secret. No big deal.

"All right," Stiles panted. "Can you get the book?"

Allison sighed. "Not without his keys."

. . .

We were at the game, Allison on one side of Gerard and me on the other. Currently, we were losing the game, but my mind was on other things. Mainly the book we needed to get, and what it would tell us about this mysterious creature running rampant in Beacon Hills.

Allison rubbed her arms, shivering slightly. "I knew I should have brought a warmer jacket."

"You're cold," said Gerard, immediate standing up. "Here, take my coat."

Allison glanced at me, pleased with herself. "Are you sure?"

Gerard had already passed her his trench coat and she murmured her thanks before sitting back down.

"Lacrosse is a bit violent around this time, because all the teams are desperate to get into the finals," I explained, distracting Gerard as Allison searched the coats pockets for the keys.

I started pointing to random players on the field, talking off my mouth about... well, I wasn't really sure. Anything that came to mind that resembled something you'd say about the sport game. I hadn't been here long enough to properly understand the rules, and I certainly didn't know any of the players, yet I blabbed on about it anyway, filling Gerard's head with fake gossip and intel on all the characters as Allison discreetly passed the keys onto Stiles who had just happened to be walking past.

It was a few minutes after Stiles had taken the keys and left when I was overwhelmed with a sense of dread.

Something bad was about to happen.

A/N:

sorry for not updating for like... three weeks. i forgot 😬