Stiles' leg had been bouncing uncontrollably since the call had come on his dad's radio. They'd only been on the clock for a grand total of five minutes when it had crackled loudly, signaling some life was still left in the old machine. Based on the way it looked, you'd never assume that to be the case.

But it was when they came into the parking lot, already swarming with other cops, that made his heart leap into his chest. For one thing, there was a body bag. The second one Stiles had seen in their tiny, normally very sleepy town, in the last few weeks. For another thing, both Jackson and Lydia seemed to be in the center of the madness.

He hardly had time to take in the rest of the scene before his dad parked and he was out of the front seat as fast as his feet would carry him. He put his hands in his pockets as he approached them, trying to slow his pace and make himself seem as non-threatening as possible. The last thing either of them seemed to need was someone rushing up to them with the million questions running through Stiles' head.

Not that his head was ever a particularly quiet place to begin with.

"Holy shit, holy shit, holy shit," he whispered under his breath as he took in the large broken window behind them. "Hey, guys. You okay?"

Jackson shrugged, but didn't move from where he was draped around Lydia. She had his jacket on and he was rubbing her shoulders, but the look on her face told Stiles she was anywhere but here currently. Her eyes were completely glazed over, and for the first time since he had met her, she looked fragile. Vulnerable even.

It made Stiles uneasy.

"We were picking out movies," she began, her voice hoarse. "The lights went out, and there was so much noise. It sounded like an animal, like, eating someone."

Stiles' head snapped upward again from where he'd been staring at the ground, scuffing his tennis shoes against the asphalt at the mention of yet another animal attack.

"An animal?" he asked.

Jackson nodded. "Yeah, but man, it was too tall, you know? Like, if it was an animal, it was standing on its hind legs or something. We could see its eyes behind the counter."

"Red eyes," Lydia whispered suddenly. "It had red eyes, Stiles."

She finally looked at him when she said the last bit, speaking the words directly to him and no one else. It made the world disappear, but not in the way he ever imagined it would when she did that. A shiver ran down his spine as a coldness seemed to descend on the scene.

"Red eyes?" he repeated unnecessarily. "What... what else did you see? Like see see. Not guessing. What did you see?"

He could hear his dad making his way over to them, and he knew he wasn't going to get another answer out of them without an audience, but he didn't really need any further information either. This was plenty to go on. And, thankfully, he knew just who to call.

"Leave the questioning to me and my people, okay, Stiles?" his dad said, clapping him on the back and jolting him back to reality.

Stiles nodded and smiled to his dad, pulling out his phone in the process. He angled it away from anyone who might be dumb enough to try and read it as he tapped away on the keyboard furiously fast.

"Yeah, Dad. Sorry," he mumbled.

He pocketed his phone just as his dad went into full Sheriff mode, pulling out his trusty pad and pen.

"I was just worried about them," he explained. "They're my friends."

"I know, son. I know," he said, taking Stiles' explanation at face value. "Look, once I'm finished, you can go with them, okay? Make sure they get home all right."

Stiles nodded. "Sure, Dad. Thanks."

He then did what he had been trained to do. He stepped back. But he wasn't new to this either, and he lingered. Anything juicy enough, he'd hear later, but he didn't want to make them relive what was clearly a traumatic experience for them both on his account.

It seemed cruel.

"All right, kids, I don't want you to worry too much. I know that this was very scary, but right now it's looking like an animal attack," he confirmed again. "I still need statements, but we can do them right here, if you want, or we can go to the station and wait for your parents. Technically, I should wait because they're supposed to be here, but I know both your parents, so it's up to you. You're both almost eighteen, right?"

Lydia nodded. "Yes, sir," Jackson answered. "Here is fine."

"Let's start with when you got here, then," Stiles' dad started softly. "Did you notice anything out of the ordinary?"

Jackson looked down to Lydia, but the same glassy nothing look was back. "Uh, we got here around eight, I think," he began, looking back to the Sheriff. "Just to pick out a few movies. The, uh...," he paused, swallowing hard, "guy. The one who, um, died. He was at the counter when we came in. He seemed... bored. I guess. We were the only ones in there the whole time."

His dad was writing quickly as Jackson spoke, and even though it might seem impossible for someone to be able to make any sense of his handwriting, his dad knew exactly what it said. And that's really all that mattered, which Sheriff Stilinski reminded him often.

"You didn't see the animal, though? No signs that one had been in there?"

Jackson shook his head. "No, sir. Nothing." He looked over his shoulder back into the store and then back to them again. "I mean, it coulda been in there, but we were only in a few aisles."

"Can you tell me anything about the actual attack? Did you notice anything as it was happening?"

"No, sir. Not really," Jackson admitted. "The lights went off. We heard more than we saw. And I guess it sounded like an animal attack. I mean, I've never heard one, so..."

"Right. Of course," his dad said. "What, uh, what happened after that?"

"Red eyes," Lydia whispered shakily, barely audible.

Stiles' head snapped up again and even his dad paused his writing, his pen poised over his paper like he didn't quite understand what she meant.

"Red eyes?"

Jackson nodded. "We saw red eyes over the counter. Right before... whatever it was jumped through the window."

"How did it have red eyes?" Lydia asked, undeterred by Jackson's comments. Almost as if she hadn't heard him. "They didn't look... natural."

"Probably a trick of the light," Stiles' dad offered. "Especially in the dark."

Stiles studied their faces to see if either of them were accepting his dad's explanation. Lydia, however, wasn't reacting enough to anything outside of herself to be able to tell, and Jackson was concentrating on her while trying to answer questions.

He swallowed hard, and a little nervously, as he noticed the way Jackson's lips were set in a thin line. Stiles knew that look, and it didn't bode well.

Not for Stiles anyway.

"And after that?" his dad continued.

"Umm, the lights came back on and we saw the blood on the counter. Lydia took off to check on him and I called 9-1-1," Jackson divulged.

He squeezed her shoulders as she nodded along automatically.

"And he was, uh, already dead? As far as you know?" his dad asked, directing his attention at Lydia.

"Yes," she answered, more decisively than anything else she'd said until now. "He was definitely dead."

Sheriff Stilinski nodded one more time, shut his pad, clicked his pen closed and put it in his shirt pocket before turning back to them.

"All right, you two. I think that should be good. If I need any more details, I'll be in touch."

"Wait, uh, sir," Jackson said, reaching out slightly when he moved to leave. "It doesn't make... sense. What kind of animal was it?" He let his hand drop and put it back around Lydia. "Why could we see its eyes over the counter? What kind of animal is that tall?" Jackson moved until he could lean in closer. "And the power going out? It went out just before the attack and came back on right after. That doesn't track."

His dad laughed easily. "Slow down there, Junior Detective Whittemore. You been hanging around Stiles too much or something? You're starting to sound like him."

Jackson blinked at the brush off and glanced at Stiles, who shrugged apologetically.

"Listen, we'll check with the power company about the outage. It was probably just a flicker. You know how this area of town can be when it comes to that. And there were some pretty big gusts of wind tonight." His dad put his hands on his hips. "As for the height, well, the animal coulda been standing on something, or gearing up to jump."

Stiles ran a hand through his hair nervously when he could tell Jackson wasn't going to let this go. But his dad stepped back in, obviously able to tell that much.

"I don't know if you know this, but Beacon Hills has a history of odd animal attacks. Ask Stiles. He knows all about that."

"Way to make me sound like a nerd in front of my friends, Dad," Stiles complained.

His dad just laughed and shook his head. "If they're your friends, Stiles, they already know that, son."

"Gee, thanks," Stiles joked.

"I've gotta go inside and check everything out," his dad said. "You kids are okay to go home. Stiles can be your official police escort."

"Great. I feel safer already," Jackson muttered sarcastically.

Stiles snorted. "You should. I have a direct line to the sheriff."

"Exactly," his dad said, pointing to him. "See you kids, later. Call me if you need me, okay?"

"Sure thing, Dad."

As soon as he was out of earshot, he turned to Jackson and Lydia, neither of which had made the move to leave. "Why don't we get you guys out of here, huh? Grab some pizza or something? We can watch those movies you picked out?" He paused, realizing he had just invited himself on what was probably their date. "Unless, um, you wanted to be alone."

Surprisingly, Jackson shook his head. "Nah. Pizza sounds good. I'll pick up the tab. You rode with your dad, right?"

Stiles nodded.

"My car's over there. You can come with us."

"Thanks, dude," Stiles answered sincerely as they began to walk to the car together.

As soon as Lydia was tucked away in the passenger seat, all buckled up and wrapped up in his jacket still, Jackson grabbed Stiles' arm before he could get in.

"I wanna know more about the, uh, animal attacks," Jackson demanded.

"Uh, sure, dude. I can tell you what I know," Stiles conceded.

In all honesty, there was no point to keeping him all the way out of the loop anymore anyway. If there really was a problem, he didn't have to tell them everything. But he could tell them enough to keep them safe.