"THE KITCHEN." Stiles said to us quickly, thinking on his feet. He didn't take his eyes of the rattling door as a bolt fell out and hit the floor, "The door out of the kitchen leads to the stairwell."

"Which only goes up!" Scott rushed out.

"Up is better than here."

"He's right." I nodded in agreement. My palms started to sweat again from anxiety, "We need to go."

Jackson made a beeline for the door first and the rest of us followed him, running through the kitchen before we came to the door Stiles was talking about. We piled through it quickly, the sound of the doors in the cafeteria bursting open giving us all the motivation to run a little faster.

The six of us dashed up the stairs and out into the first floor corridor, running partially blind amongst the darkness as we hurried to try doors that lined the hallway. We twisted the doorknobs but it seemed all the doors had been locked until Lydia finally came across a small amount of luck. She opened the door to one of the classrooms and ran in, holding it open for us all to pass through before Scott ran in last and shut it. He picked up a chair and put it under the door knob at an angle to stop the door from being opened from the outside.

There was silence in the room as no one dared say a word, the only thing we could hear was the sound of our own heavy breaths. I tried to keep quiet as I heard footsteps outside the classroom, a low and distant growling reverberating off the walls.

I couldn't take it anymore and in my fear I wrapped my arms around Stiles quickly from his side and I buried my head into his neck. He responded by wrapping his arm around my waist tightly, holding me protectively in place until the growling stopped and the Alpha had passed. Once he had I took my head out of the crook of Stiles shoulder but I stayed close to him.

"Jackson, how many people can fit in your car?" Scott asked him quickly while keeping his voice low at the same time.

"Five, if someone squeezes on someone's lap."

"Done." I replied, "I'll sit on your lap if it means getting it out of here." I added pointedly but Jackson only scowled at me.

"Five?" Allison whisper yelled, "I barely fit in the back."

"It doesn't matter. There's no getting out of here without drawing attention to ourselves." Stiles told us.

I almost wanted to snap at him for being so pessimistic but what he was saying was the complete truth.

"What about this?" Scott suggested, walking over to a locked door and we followed him, "This leads to the roof. We can go down the fire escape to the parking lot in, like, seconds."

"That's a deadbolt." Stiles shot down.

All of our ideas — or rather Scott's ideas — were good ones but they were ones that wouldn't work.

I watched Scott as he tried to come up with another plan and saw as his eyes lit up, "The janitor has a key."

"You mean his body has it." Stiles said to him.

"I can get it." He replied before lowering his voice even further. I was stood more towards the side of Lydia than what I was the side of he and Stiles so I didn't catch what he said afterwards until he walked passed Stiles, "I'm getting the key."

I turned my body as he passed me and rose my brow at him, "You—you're getting the key?"

Stiles came up behind me and huffed quietly under his breath, "He's getting the key."

"Are you serious?" Allison asked him.

"It's the best plan. Someone has to get the key if we want to get out of here."

"You can't go out there unarmed."

I almost wanted to quip that he wasn't unarmed and that he was a supernatural creature with sharp claws and teeth but I knew it most certainly was not the time.

Scott grabbed a pointer finger on the end of a short stick that whatever teacher had this classroom used to point to the chalk board. He held it in his hands and I dropped my head back in despair. I could imagine my companions were doing the same thing as right now.

"Well it's better than nothing." Scott said in defence.

"It may as well be nothing." I told him, "Scott you couldn't even swat a fly with that thing it's a flimsy stick of wood with a cardboard cut out of a finger glued to the end."

"Alex is right, there's gotta be something else." Stiles agreed with me.

"There is." Lydia nodded, gesturing to the chemicals cupboard with a nod of her head.

"What are we gonna do? Throw acid on him?" Stiles asked incredulously.

"No, like a firebomb." Lydia replied knowingly, "In there is everything you need to make a self-igniting Molotov cocktail."

Stiles furrowed his brows, "Self-igniting—?"

"Molotov cocktail." She told him, arching both her brows. I pressed my lips together to suppress the smile threatening to break out on my face. Lydia truly was a genius and she was about to save our asses by the looks of it.

As everyone turned to her with dumbfounded expressions she shrugged, "What? I read it somewhere."

Stiles exhaled, "We don't have a key for that either."

Jackson shook his head before forcing his elbow into the glass cabinet, shattering the screen latched into the wood. The five of us stood back as Lydia went about her work, grabbing everything she needed out of the chemicals cabinet and taking them to the nearest desk. She grabbed a beaker from the cupboard underneath the desk and silently got to work, reciting exactly how to make this firebomb cocktail from memory.

We stood in silence, watching her work in awe and I found myself shaking my head as she combined two powder substances into a liquid, "Must admit, it's not my ideal cocktail but I'll take it." I muttered, hoping to ease the growing tension in the room that was beginning to become insufferable.

"You don't want to be drinking this cocktail." Lydia told me, pouring something else into the beaker, "It'll kill you in minutes."

I nodded before replying, "Ah, well, isn't that just lovely."

"Jackson, hand me the sulfuric acid." Lydia instructed him.

I watched as he reached for the smaller bottle of chemical liquid before he hesitated and silently I glanced to Stiles with a raised brow. He seemed to understand what I was communicating as he rose his brows once before lowering them.

Jackson grabbed the taller bottle and handed it to Lydia without a word. I thought he would at least have something to say about how she ordered him to hand her the acid but he didn't and he complied with her silently. My strawberry-blonde friend shook the beaker to stir the mixture before putting a cork into the top of it to prevent it from spilling. She handed it over to Scott silently.

"No, no." Allison butted in quickly, "This is insane, you can't do this. You cannot go out there." She said to Scott.

"We can't just sit here waiting for Stiles' dad to check his messages."

"You could die. Don't you get that?" Allison replied quietly, her voice thick and filled with emotion, "He's killed three people."

"And we're next." Scott told her, "Somebody has to do something."

He headed towards the door but Allison followed after him, tears welling in her eyes, "Scott, just stop. Do you remember— do you remember when you told me you knew whether or not I was lying? That I had a tell?" I watched as Scott nodded silently, "So do you... you're a horrible liar and you've been lying all night. Just.. just please.. please don't go. Please don't leave us. Please."

I knew it wouldn't take long for her to figure out Scott was lying. It was almost obvious by the way he couldn't even look at her as he told them that Derek was the one terrorising us. He could only say it with his back turned, that was his giveaway.

I almost thought that Allison's pleas had gotten through to him and convinced him not to go but he stepped away from her and looked to Stiles and I before saying, "Lock the door behind me."

And then Allison pulled him back, pressing her lips to his desperately in a short but desperate kiss. I looked away from them, feeling like I was infringing on their moment and as they pulled away Scott wasted no time in leaving. He didn't look back, he just unlocked the door and quietly walked out, into the hallway where he was even more at risk of being caught and murdered by the Alpha.

He left us all in a tense situation, the mood shifting even further.

_________________

I sat with my knees drawn into my chest, my arms wrapped tightly around my legs as I pressed my head into the wall of the classroom. I had no idea how long it had been since Scott had left and every minute passed in a painstakingly slow daze. I didn't particularly know what to do with myself in the time we had to wait. The only thing I could do was think and what my brain was conjuring up was not what I wanted to think about either. I wanted to think about anything but what was happening right now. I'd rather face the feelings I had for Stiles than think about how the Alpha was cornering us into a trap.

It was like he'd planned this all along and was just waiting for the right time and by Scott calling him to the school we handed ourselves to him on a silver platter. We couldn't of made its life easier if we tried and I honestly just felt like kicking myself.

I didn't say anything when I noticed someone sitting down next to me, I kept my eyes on the floor but I recognised their jeans and shoes as Stiles'. He sat close to me and I was thankful for that as the feeling of his arm against mine brought me comfort I never thought I'd feel in a time like this. It was another sobering reminder of my feelings for him. Allison had been right that day we'd talked about it on the lacrosse field and I had dismissed her so easily. I had no idea how I'd gone this long being so oblivious to my feelings, they we so obvious to me now.

"Hey." He whispered quietly in an aim to grab my attention. We weren't alone in this classroom and even if we were on the other side of the room we were facing a dead silence.

I appreciated his low voice because whatever conversation we were about to have I didn't want Allison, Lydia and Jackson to hear.

"Are you okay?"

I silently shook my head before turning it, resting my cheek on my knees and facing Stiles. I met his eyes, the shine of the moonlight scattering through the window creating a glow I never knew I needed to see. Stiles' eyes shone on their own anyways, the soft hazel colour was truly captivating but with the moonlight it was like they twinkled.

He nodded to himself shortly, "That was a bad question to ask, wasn't it?" He asked me.

"It sure was." I replied meekly.

"Do you wanna stop at mine tonight?"

I met his eyes again while contemplating his offer. It was like second nature to us now but it was weird at the same time. I didn't know any girl who stopped at her guy best friends house and shared the same bed as him. It made me wonder whether Stiles was maybe feeling what I was feeling.

"I thought that would be a given." I said to him, trying to add a small spurt of humour to my reply but I just couldn't convince myself to execute it. I pulled my legs closer into my chest and added, "I think I'm going to have nightmares for the rest of my life."

"Yeah." He agreed, "Me too."

"I just wanna get out of here."

"We will." He nodded.

I turned to him after his confident statement and rose my brow, "You really think so?"

Stiles pressed his lips together before saying, "You don't think we will?"

"A half hour ago when the Alpha dropped through the ceiling I thought we were going to die." I told him honestly, "All night I thought I was going to die."

"Well I don't think we're going to die." Stiles said to me.

I dropped my head to rest on his shoulder while replying, "You're very optimistic."

He hummed before saying, "I like to see it as being confident in Scott's ability to be able to get the key from the janitor."

"There it is again." I told him. I yawned shortly before adding, "Optimistic."

I heard him chuckle quietly under his breath before Allison sighed heavily, speaking up, "I don't get this. I don't get why he's out there, why he left us." She said in reference to Scott, "And I can't— I can't stop my hands from shaking." She cried.

I watched as Jackson took her hands in his comfort and I pulled a face of disgust. Jackson really had been gunning for Allison's attention all night, in front of his own girlfriend and it was another reminder of why I disliked him so much. I truly didn't see why Lydia put up with him, he wasn't good for her.

"It's okay." He told her in his best voice of sincerity, "It's okay, it's going to be okay."

"Oh, barf." I mumbled low enough for only Stiles to hear.

I watched as Allison nodded while looking at Jackson and in turn he rubbed her hand comfortingly. He hadn't laid a finger on Lydia all night, hadn't asked her if she was okay or held her close to him to comfort her but he had no problem in doing all of those things for Allison. He was doing it in front of his own girlfriend, going after someone who had a boyfriend — well sort of — and it was for a reason I hadn't figured out yet.

Whatever it was though it was wrong.

"Jackson, you handed me the sulfuric acid, right?" My friend asked him, "It has to be sulfuric acid. It won't ignite if it's not."

"I gave you exactly what you asked for, didn't I?" He snapped in return.

I watched as Lydia blinked after he snapped at her, unknowing of what to say. I couldn't tell whether or not she was biting her tongue or not but she didn't look like she was going l challenge him. In fact, she almost looked like she was shrinking backwards.

So not only did he flirt with other girls in front of Lydia, he also treated her like shit.

Lydia didn't get the chance to reply because I did. I didn't care for my friendship with Jackson, we didn't have one anyways, and if he wanted to snap at me he was certainly going to get a shock, "Why don't you tell us?" I asked him, narrowing my eyes somewhat, "You're the one who handed her the bottle."

He glared at me, his jaw clenching, "You saw me hand her what she asked for."

"I saw you hesitate before you picked up a bottle." I countered.

He narrowed his eyes at me, "I don't know why—"

He was interrupted by a loud and chilling growl that bounced off the walls around us. I never thought the Alpha would ever be able to reach that level and I found myself burying my head into Stiles' shoulder, placing my hands over my ears to block out the sound. It was almost deafening and I screwed my eyes shut too.

As it stopped I pulled my head from Stiles shoulder to see Jackson on the floor. He was on his hands and knees, his hand clutching the back of his neck as he groaned loudly in pain.

I glanced to Stiles fleetingly in confusion as Jackson carried on crying in pain for a few more short moments until Allison and Lydia rushed forwards. They helped him up to his feet but he only shrugged them off, "No, I'm fine." He said before stepping away from them and snapping, "No, seriously, I'm okay."

"That didn't sound okay at all." Allison said to him.

Stiles stood up then and he reached out to Jackson, "What's on the back of your neck?" He asked curiously but all he did was slap his hand away.

I got up quickly and narrowed my eyes even further in anger, "You need to cut it out." I told him.

"I'm fine!" He replied, snapping at me in anger, "Are you all deaf?"

"It's been there for days." Lydia said then, "He won't tell me what happened."

"As if you actually care." He bit rudely.

Whether Lydia did or didn't care it was incredibly rude of Jackson to respond with that. I wouldn't blame her if she didn't care because honestly he wasn't worth the time in my eyes. He was a horrible person who said horrible things but clearly Lydia did care because she had asked about it in the first place.

"You know what, maybe she doesn't care because you're a horrible excuse for a person." I told Jackson bluntly.

"All right, can we not argue for half a second here?" Stiles asked, sandwiching himself between Jackson and I. He pushed me back gently and away from him.

"Where's Scott he should be back by now?" Allison asked, pacing slightly in anxiety.

I turned to my friend and tried to comfort her, "I'm sure he's fine."

I heard something snap although the echo of it was faint and I turned to the locked door to see a figure through the frosted glass stood on the other side of the door. My heart quickened in pace slightly but I was almost positive it was Scott on the other side of the door.

"Scott?" Allison asked quickly, rushing to the door. She grabbed the handle, twisting it as best as she could but the door wouldn't unlock, "Scott!"

"Where's he going?" Lydia asked.

Allison banged on the door as she yelled, "Scott!"

"Stop. Stop!" Lydia yelled over her. The five of us turned to her as she said, "Do you hear that? Listen."

I strained my ears to listen for what she was hearing and for a moment I heard nothing until I caught the sound of what sounded like a very faint police siren. I thought I had been imagining it at first until I heard it again and and again, the wall growing louder.

We rushed to the windows, looking through them and I stood by Stiles' side as I saw a police cruiser pull up behind his Jeep, followed by another one. I sighed in relief seeing car after car pull up knowing now that we would he safe but I couldn't help but notice one missing detail.

My breath hitched in my throat and I looked up to Stiles before saying quietly, "Stiles, Derek's car."

He met my eyes and frowned, "What about it?"

And then I looked back out the window, at the place Derek had previously parked his car to see the spot now empty, "It's gone."

_________________

Things has only gotten harder to wrap my head around once we had been rescued. Scott had snapped the key in the classroom door to prevent us from getting out and him from getting in. He had told Stiles and I that he had found the janitor in the gym and the Alpha had forced him to turn. He had figured out that the Alpha didn't want to kill us, he wanted Scott to do it. In order to join his pack he had to get rid of his old pack and the thought was deeply unsettling, especially with the next full moon only a couple of days away.

Scott had since then noticed his boss sitting on the back of an ambulance, seemingly all right and it just made me all the more suspicious. He disappeared just before the Alpha had the chance to impale Derek and he returned when we were rescued. We had been trapped in the school for almost two hours so why would he hang around? Why wouldn't he just run somewhere to get help.

It didn't sit well with me.

My werewolf friend had left Stiles, Sheriff Stilinski and I, chasing after Allison as she walked down the parking lot. Stiles and I watched him go after her, hoping things would be all right between them now but it didn't appear to be the case.

"Alex." Sheriff Stilinski called my name softly. Both Stiles and I turned to him as he spoke, "Stiles told me you're spending the night?"

"Oh—" I muttered, caught off guard. I glanced to Stiles to see his eyes on the floor, a small patch of colour rising to his cheeks, "Yeah, if-if that's okay with you, of course. I don't want to be a burden."

He nodded with a smile and put his hand on his shoulder, "You'll never be a burden to me, Alex. You're more than welcome to stay."

I gave him a small smile, "Tha—"

"—Alexandra!"

I exhaled heavily in a mixture of annoyance and dread, dropping my head as the voice of my father boomed across the parking lot.

I looked up to find him storming his way over, an expression of fury on his face and I noticed his car parked by Chris Argents. I turned to the Sheriff and Stiles mumbling quickly, "I'll be-uh... I'll be right back."

I didn't wait for their response before I left the comfort of their side, walking towards my dad as he continued to make his way over to me. I knew I was about to get an earful, perhaps an intense grilling about how Derek had been pinned as the one to blame for all this and I wasn't ready for it. I didn't have the energy to argue with my dad right now.

I met him half way, preparing myself for what he was possibly about to say to me by pressing my lips together.

"What the hell are you thinking!" He yelled loudly. I bit into my bottom lip as I saw everyone look over at us, he was attracting the attention of everyone.

I sighed before saying, "Dad—"

"—I don't want to hear it." He snapped at me, "That conversation we had the other night about you acting like a child all the time? This is you acting like a child!"

"How is this my fault?" I found myself snapping, my voice rising to an incredulous tone as I narrowed my eyes. There was just something about my dad that brought out my argumentative side and I hated it. He was supposed to be my dad. He was supposed to embrace me and say 'I'm glad you're all right' like Sheriff Stilinski had done to Stiles. He wasn't supposed to shout at me and call me a child in front of everyone here.

"Because you were stupid enough to come, to corner yourself ready for Derek to kill you!" He yelled, "I thought I taught you better?"

"You didn't teach me anything!"

"That's a lie." My dad responded, "I taught you how to be independent, how to survive in this world—"

"—No, dad, you ignored me for six years." I told him bitterly, "You left me to my own devices." 

"We are not having this discussion here, Alex." He said to me lowly, "Get in the car, we're going home."

I shook my head in defiance, "I'm not going home with you. I'm stopping with Stiles tonight."

"The hell you are." He told me angrily, "Get in the car."

"No. I don't want to go home with you."

"Alex." He snapped, seething through his teeth, "Get in the car."

"Why?" I asked him, "Why do you suddenly want me to come home? You don't normally care where I sleep."

"I've already told you once I'm not having this discussion with you here."

I shook my head in silence, looking away from my dad. I wasn't going home with him, there was no way. I didn't want to go home with him and sit by myself in my room all night knowing the Alpha was out there. I couldn't think of anything worse.

When I didn't respond my dad reached out and grabbed my wrist. He pulled me towards the car, his grip on me painfully tight. I reached for his hand as he dragged me along, trying to pry his fingers from around my wrist.

"Dad—"

"—Be quiet, Alex." He snapped, continuing to drag me along, "I don't care."

"Dad you're hurting me!"

He didn't loosen up like I thought he would. He just continued to drag me along to his car while I dug my feet into the ground, tears welling in my eyes. I knew everyone in this parking lot was watching us, their beady eyes taking it all in but it was at the bottom of my list of worries.

"Hey, hey, hey!" Sheriff Stilinski intervened quickly, jogging towards my dad and I with a hand out, "Come on, why don't we just calm down."

"I don't need you to tell me how to parent my daughter or to tell me when to calm down." My dad said irritably, not even turning to the Sheriff.

I took the advantage when I felt my dads grip on my wrist loosen and I pulled my hand out of his quickly, stepping back from him. He turned to me, fury in his eyes as he took a step forwards, "Alex—"

But Sheriff Stilinski stepped in between us both, "I've already told Alex she is more than welcome to stop at our place tonight." He said to my dad in a bid to reason with him, "And I think it's for the best."

"I don't want her anywhere near your son again." He responded, "He's the reason she was stuck here tonight in the first place."

"That is not true!" I defended, "Stiles didn't bring me here tonight, De—"

I caught my words before I could shout them across the parking lot but my dad caught on quickly. He knew who's name I was about to say and it only fuelled his anger filled rage. I'd well and truly dropped myself in it now.

I watched as his eyes narrowed further and he said, "What was that about you saying you weren't a kid anymore?" He asked me curiously but there was a mocking behind his tone, "That is what kids do Alex. They follow people, they're easily influenced—"

"—I make my own decisions, thank you very much."

"They're poor decisions." My dad said, "And it's just another adding factor to prove that you are still a child."

"I'm not a kid anymore!" I screamed at him, "And I haven't been since mom died. I'm just not the person you want me to be!"

That opened the floodgates and tears dipped down my cheeks quickly, my bottom lip trembling.

I thought my dad would have something to retaliate with but instead he leaned passed Sheriff Stilinski and grabbed my arm before saying, "Get in the car."

He pushed me towards the passenger door of his silver Skoda, opening it and pushing me into the seat before slamming the door. He twisted the key in the lock just before I grabbed the door handle to open it — locking me in. I banged against the window, kicking the side of the door in anger before I gave in and dropped my head back against the headrest.

I closed my eyes, the sound of my dad yelling at the Sheriff — blaming Stiles for everything that had happened to me tonight — background noise. I sat feeling the tears run down my cheeks listening to the last thing he said.

"I don't want her anywhere near your son again."

________________