( SHE WOLF. )
CHAPTER TWELVE.
suburban nightmare.

JUST AS THEY finished reading the yellowed pages of the bestiary, Derek abruptly closed the book, placing it back on the stack.

"Alright, that's all the time we have. Katie, this is the part where you go home. We have things to take care of," Derek ordered. As he said this, Katie noticed Boyd, who had been sitting on the stairs. He stood up, giving Katie a nod.

"Wait, what? That's it? You're all leaving?" Katie looked in bewilderment as the four of them began to head for the exit.

"Listen. You've only just figured out what you are, I don't think you should be volunteering for any real tasks just yet."

"I'd still like to know what's happening. I thought I was in the pack?" Katie stepped forward, following the group to the door. "How are you gonna ask me to be in your pack then just leave me here."

"Being in the pack means doing what I say," Derek said, "And I'm telling you to stay out of this."

"It's not like I'm going to set the world on fire, let me help," Katie begged.

Derek looked to his pack in annoyance.

Erica grabbed Derek's shoulder. "Derek, she's right. She can help us. Scott trusts her."

"Fine," was all Derek said, leaving with that word.

✶

Derek sat in the driver's seat of his black sports car with Boyd in the passenger seat. Isaac, Erica, and Katie were squeezed into the back with Erica in the middle. The cool leather interior felt nice on Katie's skin. Derek was driving 20mph above the limit. He wasn't lying when he said they were out of time.

"So, what's the plan?" Katie asked, turning to Erica.

Erica hesitated. "Remember how I told you Lydia didn't pass the test?"

Katie furrowed her brow, hoping that this wasn't going in the direction she felt it was. "Yeah, I remember."

"Consider this eliminating the threat," Erica said shortly.

"The hell does that mean?" Katie questioned, searching Erica's eyes. They seemed to have glazed over like a pond in the dead of winter.

"It means that she's going to keep killing people until someone stops her. We need to act now or things are only going to get worse." It was like she was reading her words out of a textbook. Repeating exactly what Derek had told her.

"You're not going to kill her, are you?" Katie asked incredulously, craning her neck to look at Isaac who was staring out the window, a blank expression on his face.

"Katie, has she ever done anything nice for you?" Erica scoffed, turning her head to look Katie in the eye. "Because she sure as hell hasn't for me. And on top of that, she's a homicidal snake monster."

"I don't like her as a person but that doesn't mean I want to commit murder? You said she doesn't even know what's happening. I mean, there has to be another way. You're not a monster, so why is she?" Katie reasoned. She suddenly felt very claustrophobic. "Erica, come on."

"It's different," Derek butt in from the front seat. "Werewolves are at least aware of what they do when they shift. Lydia gives up all control. She's killed people, and she's going to do it again. And next time, it might be one of us." Katie caught his eye in the rearview mirror.

"She's sixteen," Katie said. She felt the anger building in her chest. What the hell had she agreed to?

"She's a kanima. That's what matters here." Derek parked the car in a back alley of a neighbourhood. He pulled the key out of the ignition, silencing the engine. By now the sun had gone down, leaving the glow of streetlights and stars as the only light to see by. "If you can't handle it, stay in the car," Derek instructed. He opened his car door, as did Boyd and Isaac.

"Holy fuck, you guys," Katie cried, staring at Erica in disbelief. Erica left with the rest of them, giving Katie one last look as she stepped out of the car.

"Don't move," was all she said before shutting the metal door.

The silence was suffocating. Katie clenched her fist against the cold car window. She watched as the four pack members hopped the backyard fence and made their way to the front of the house. Katie was chewing her cheek relentlessly, wrestling with her thoughts. She couldn't understand why Erica, Isaac, and Boyd were complying with Derek's ridiculous requests. She knew they were afraid, but so was she.

She waited for what felt like an eternity, watching the house anxiously. She figured it must be Lydia's friend's house considering she knew it wasn't Lydia's (thanks to Lydia's numerous gigantic parties).

It wasn't until she heard a piercing scream coming from one of the windows of the house that she decided— "Fuck it," Katie whispered.

She pushed open the car door and jumped the fence, just as the others had done. She tried the back door, but to her dismay, it was locked. She looked around frantically, searching for an opening. Katie laid eyes on an open window on the second floor. She stepped back, scaling the house, looking for a way up. The house had a shed in the back, positioned just below the window. She pulled herself onto the roof of the shed with some struggle, now a mere two yards away from the window. It wasn't quite enough.

Letting out a sigh, Katie brought her foot to the wall of the house. What the hell am I doing? She used the ridges of the siding and slowly pulled herself up. She took it step by step, using the house as a climbing wall. As her grip strength began to falter, she almost gave up, but voices trailing out of the open window made her decide against it.

"This might make me sound like kind of a bitch, but I've always wondered what it feels like to steal someone's boyfriend." Erica's patronizing voice spoke from above. "I bet its a pretty sick rush of power. I think I might try it with Scott." Katie felt another surge of anger, using the last of her strength to propel herself upwards and grab onto the windowsill. She cried out, bringing her other hand up as well. Her foot slipped, leaving her arms as her only support. She felt her fingers slipping. The sweat of her hands making it nearly impossible to hold on.

"Help!" she called as a last resort, "Erica! Erica, please, I hear you in there!"

She felt a hand on her wrist, and then another on her forearm. She looked up to see Erica's honey blonde curls leaning out the window and pulling her inside the room. They both ended up in a heap on the floor while Katie caught her breath.

"Katie, what the hell are you doing?" Erica growled, "I thought I told you to stay in the car."

"I'm not gonna let you kill a teenage girl, seriously, what is going on with you?" Katie shot back, standing up. They were in a bedroom, though it was difficult to make out details in the low light. It was then that Katie noticed Allison Argent standing in the corner of the room. She was staring at the two girls in confusion. Her dark hair was pulled back into a half-ponytail and a shadow covered her face. In her hands was a shiny black crossbow, armed with an arrow.

"Katie, you have to get out of here. I've got this, alright? And she has a bow and arrow," Erica warned, remembering what they had read in Derek's old book.

"Yeah, I can see that," Katie breathed.

Before Katie could get another word in, Erica grabbed her, swiftly pulling her out of the room and dropping her on the floor. Erica positioned herself in the doorway, staring Allison in the eye, holding a hand out to keep Katie back.

"Where were we?" Erica resumed her calculated grin.

Allison smirked, aiming her crossbow at Erica. "I think we were right about here." Just as she uttered the final word, she pulled the trigger, sending an arrow flying directly at Erica. Katie's heart skipped a beat as she heard the click of the bow. As quickly as it happened, Erica was laughing again. She caught the arrow in her hand, leaving her without even a scratch.

"You didn't really think that would work did you?" Erica pouted mockingly, looking at Allison with wide, false pity-filled eyes.

"Actually, I did," Allison stated, taking a step forward. She had a knowing smile plastered to her face.

Erica's expression quickly shifted to one of horror as she opened her hand to reveal a clear, gel-like fluid across her palm. She looked at Katie and then at Allison before dropping the arrow to the floor. Her knees gave out, and in an instant she collapsed to the ground.

Katie hastily pushed herself off the ground, running to the motionless form of Erica Reyes. "What did you do to her?" she shouted, looking at Allison. Katie grabbed Erica's shoulders, shaking her.

Allison set the bow down, shaking her head. "Why are you on their side, Katie? Are you like them?"

"No, I'm not a werewolf and I'm not on their side. I'm trying to help protect Lydia, but that's kinda hard to do when I have no idea where she is," Katie said, all in a single breath. "Now what did you do to Erica?"

"I only paralyzed her. It'll wear off. She's fine," Allison said, reassuring Katie. "Look, you shouldn't be here. Things are a lot more complicated than you think."

"Trust me, I know. I know about kanimas and werewolves and how psychotic Derek is, alright? I know way more than I wish I did," Katie blurted.

Just then, there was a screeching sound that split through the air. It was terrible. Worse than a thousand nails on a chalkboard. Katie locked eyes with Allison, both their eyes widening to the size of saucers.

"Shit," Allison muttered, grabbing her bow and running downstairs.

Katie huffed a sigh, looking down at Erica. She rolled Erica onto her back, pushing the blonde hair off Erica's forehead. She put a hand under Erica's knees and another under her back. Katie tried to lift her, failing.

"Damn it, Erica. You're basically dead weight," Katie sighed. "Why'd you have to do this? Why the fuck are we here?" Katie stood up after another failed attempt, punching her hand against the bed in frustration before leaning her head back against the door frame.

"I'm sorry," Erica said, her lips being the only thing capable of moving.

"Yeah? How many times are you gonna say that? This is insane, Erica," Katie huffed. "Alright, come on." Katie tried for a third time, mustering all her strength. Wobbling, she managed to pull Erica over her shoulder. She held onto the wall as they slowly made their way down the hall and the stairs, taking numerous breaks.

The sound of sirens could be heard in the distance, urging Katie to hurry. She got the two of them through the door before collapsing to the ground, trying her best to gently place Erica on the deck.

"Katie?" She looked up to see Stiles, his mouth agape. "I knew it!" he exclaimed, holding his hands up in victory. "I knew it, didn't I Scott? I called it. I told you she was part of this!"

"Katie, what are you doing with them?" Scott exclaimed, looking at his lacrosse teammate in confusion. Behind him stood Derek and Boyd with Isaac paralyzed at their feet. Katie tried not to look at Derek for more than a second.

"I don't know Scott, I'm really fucking confused," Katie said, taking a deep breath. "Is Lydia okay?"

Something else answered; a sharp hissing noise came from the rooftop. Katie followed the group as they rushed to get a better look. Surely enough, the scaly form of the kanima was sitting atop the house. It's chilling, yellow eyes seemed to be staring straight at Katie, almost as if to say "we meet again". And that was so much worse than an icy, reptilian stare. The feeling of the thing recognizing her only terrified her more. But she wasn't the only one; everyone seemed to be frozen in fear.

Instead of attacking, the kanima darted away, just as it had the first time Katie encountered it. She brought her hand up to her chest, feeling the pounding of her heart through her skin.

Before anyone had the chance to speak, Lydia came rushing outside. Streaks of mascara ran down her cheeks, her curled strawberry blonde hair was tousled, and her pretty lace dress seemed uneven on her body. These flaws felt incredibly unnatural and unsettling on the infamously perfect Lydia Martin. "Will someone please tell me what the hell is going on?" she cried loudly.

Katie turned to Derek, wanting to gage his reaction. Everyone looked at Lydia in confusion before the heavy realization dawned on them. Katie then turned to the foggy abyss of a street into which the kanima had disappeared.

"It's Jackson," Scott said definitively.

AUTHOR'S NOTE.

( word count: 2220)

if anyone wants a timeline; this is the end of episode 5 (venomous). next chapter will be the beginning of episode 6 (frenemy) and so forth. this is where the plot of the show is crossing paths with katie's plot line so it'll be a little easier to follow where we are in the series. i hope you liked it <3

love,
skye