6. HEART MONITOR

"YOU COULD'VE GOTTEN KILLED!!!". 

It looked as if literal smoke was coming out of my mom's ears as she unlocked the front door. She droned on about how the mountain lion could have ripped me to pieces. 

"I already lost your father, Lorelai… I can't lose you too.", she said, tears filling her dark blue eyes.

I got my green eyes, and smile from my dad. As for the dark brown hair, olive skin and everything else, I resembled my mom. 

"Mom… How did you… How did you find out he was murdered?", I asked softly.

She sighed, taking a seat on a bar stool.

"When the police called me to identify the body… They pointed out that it was foul play when the autopsy revealed that Jesse sustained a head injury… And a deep cut to his throat… Several hours before the accident.".

I tried to keep myself together, but instead I broke out into sobs, and my mom just held me. I couldn't imagine why anyone would want to hurt my dad in such a brutal manner. He was one of the kindest, most loving people I have ever met. 

When he found out about Ricardo's home situation, I had to beg him not to do anything because Ricardo would've been the one to pay the price. So instead, my dad allowed him to stay over at my house whenever he wanted to. They almost considered adopting him when his parents got deported. 

At first, I was jealous because he'd always point out that Ricky was the son he always wanted, not to mention the countless hours they'd spend together building display boats and muttering underneath their breaths whenever I'd walk into the room after we both turned thirteen. At least I sort of know the reason behind it now.

She gently stroked my hair as I cried in her arms. 

"Did they find any evidence leading to a suspect?", I whispered, wiping my face.

She shook her head, "They investigated for a few months, but came up short. That's when I decided to pack us up and move to Beacon Hills… I didn't find anything, no witnesses, nothing. I even spoke to Sheriff Stilinski about it. I cannot fathom who would wanna hurt your dad…".

I took a step back, pondering on my mom's words.

"Lorelai… I know that look. I do NOT want you playing Sherlock with your dad's case! Promise me you won't go poking around!".

I nodded, knowing well that I wasn't gonna let this go.

∞∞∞∞

"How's your dad doing?", I asked Stiles as we took a seat at our desks. 

The whole mountain lion incident from last night had everyone buzzing, ruling out the assumption of a serial killer on the loose. Stiles told me Mr. Stilinski just had some bruising and light tissue damage. 

"Have you heard from Ricardo since we played real life operation yesterday in your shed?".

I shook my head sadly just as Scott walked in. 

"Remember, we're giving him the silent treatment!", Stiles hissed. 

Scott took his sat down, a guilty expression covering his face.

"Still not talking to me? Okay, can you at least tell me if your dad's okay? It's just a bruise, right? Some soft tissue damage? Nothing that big… You know I feel really bad about it, right?". 

Stiles refused to turn around. Scott looked to me for help, and I held my hands up indicating to leave me out of this one.

"Okay. What if I told you that I'm trying to figure this whole thing out, and... that I went to Derek for help?".

 Now he got both Stiles' and my attention. I haven't seen that scowling werewolf since he came in through the window, warning me about my abilities. I had gone back to the journal, looking for any kind of answer, but to no avail. 

Still not turning around, Stiles retorted, "If I was talking to you, I'd say that you're an idiot for trusting him. But obviously, I'm not talking to you...". 

The bell went off signaling the start of the lesson. Stiles was getting antsy and finally caved, spinning around. 

"What did he say?". 

We couldn't really speak about the advice Derek generously offered Scott, mostly because our teacher constantly gave us the stink eye. I blamed Stiles due to his inability to whisper, so we had to wait for the end of class.

"Wh… He wants you to tap into your animal side and get angry?", Stiles recalled what Scott had told him to which the werewolf nodded.

"All right, well, correct me if I'm wrong, but every time you do that, you try to kill someone, and that someone's usually me. Or Lorelai.". Stiles' response dripped with sarcasm. 

"Wait, that could work. Adaption theory. Like the more you expose yourself to something, the more your body builds up tolerance and learns to adapt to the new environment. So, how's he gonna teach ya?", I asked.

"I don't know. I don't think he does, either...".

Scott sounded distressed. He mentioned that Derek was going to pick him up after he finished work at the animal clinic. 

"Well, I have until the end of the school day…".

Scott, confused by his statement, asked, "To do what?".

"To teach you myself.". 

Not even giving myself or Scott a chance to argue his answer, he was already heading to the cafeteria. 

"You do know his methods usually consist of something illegal and we could possibly end up in jail or ripped to shreds, right?", I mumbled to him as we tried to catch up with our crazy friend.

"Oh, trust me. I'm terrified.".

Trying to be inconspicuous, I sat next to Stiles while Scott was in front of us, hunched down with a book in front of his face. 

"Yeah, that's gonna do the trick.", I muttered.

"I think the book's making it more obvious. Besides, she's reading, anyway.", Stiles said before glancing at Allison. 

I pulled out a notebook and a pencil, ready to write down our possible ideas. 

"So, did you come up with a plan yet?", Scott asked, peeking from his book. 

Stiles nodded while taking a giant bite of his apple, the juice splashing the side of my face. 

"Dude, watch it!", I complained, wiping my cheek.

"Does that mean you don't hate me now?". Scott sounded hopeful.

"No. But, your crap has infiltrated my life, so now I have to do something about it. Plus, I'm definitely a better Yoda than Derek.", Stiles said, his mouth still full of apple. 

"Anyone's a better Yoda than Derek.", I added as I stood up. 

"Random question, do you know an Isaac Lahey by any chance?".

"Uh… Yeah, but not well… Haven't seen him around lately though. Why do you ask?", Stiles asked, shooting me an odd look.

"Oh, um no reason. I'm gonna get going. Got an extra credit paper that is not going to write itself. Text me with that suicide plan of yours, Stilinski!". 

Sprinting my way out of the cafeteria and in the direction of the library, I didn't watch where I was going and collided into someone's shoulder, knocking us both down.

"Crap, I'm so sorry…", I scrambled to help pick up the person's books, and realized who I crashed into. 

"Jackson… Are you okay?". 

His face was pale and sweaty. Usually, he would've yelled at me and made a scene, but this time he just nodded weakly. Crawling closer to him, I gently pressed the back of my hand to his forehead, looking directly into his eyes- he was burning up.

"Jackson…". 

"I have to go.". 

He yanked his book out of my hand and bolted. As I stood up, dusting my jeans, I stared in his direction. The faint sound of the familiar high-pitched ringing filled my ears. Something happened to him that night at the video store…

∞∞∞∞

Stiles texted me about his latest adventure with Scott and how they came to the conclusion that Scott's emotions triggered his shift and that he had to stay away from Allison because she made him weak. 

"Are you sure you're not in possession of an invisibility cloak?". 

My eyes snapped up from my phone to Allison, who was standing in front of me as we waited for the bell to ring before going into class. It was our last one for the day, Economics with my favorite teacher, Coach Finstock. 

"I'm so sorry, it's just been crazy trying to catch up with assignments and stuff…".

She frowned as she nodded and was about to say something when Coach Finstock yelled for us to come inside. Judging by the manner in which he dropped a bunch of textbooks on his desk, he was in a foul mood, shouting about the ton of work we need to cover. 

Not long after that, Tweedledee and Tweedledum came crashing into class, Scott frantically instructing Stiles to sit behind him. However, Allison was faster and sat down while Stiles shrugged in defeat, sitting at the desk in front of me. 

I couldn't hear Scott and Allison's conversation but by the looks of it, Scott said something to her that changed her usual smiling expression into a confused one. Coach Finstock immediately dove right into the lesson, asking us for a quick summary. Obviously, I raised my hand, but he brushed me off. 

"Urg, Maolán, put your hand down. Everybody knows you did the reading. How about… McCall!".

Scott, panicking, jolted upright. He had no idea what Coach was talking about, and unfortunately for him, our Economics teacher was very much aware of that.

"Come on, buddy, you know I can't keep you on the team if you have a D. How about you summarize, uh, the previous night's reading? No? How about the, uh, the night before that? How about you summarize anything you've ever read in your entire life?".

I poked Stiles' shoulder with my pen, noticing Scott's anxious body language. The more Coach egged him on, the worse he was getting. We were about to have a full-on wolf situation on our hands if Coach Finstock didn't stop.

"No? A blog? How about, uh, how about, uh... the back of a cereal box? No? How about the adults-only warning from your favorite website you visit every night? Anything? Thank you. Thank you, McCall! Thank you for extinguishing any last flicker of hope I have for your generation. You just blew it for everybody. Thanks. Next practice, you can start with suicide runs... unless that's too much reading.".

Suddenly, I saw Scott's shoulders relax. Stiles looked at me, nudging his head in Allison's direction. She had intertwined her fingers with Scott's, which calmed him down… She was his anchor, not his weakness. 

After listening to Coach go on for almost an hour about economic policies, it was finally over. As I started to pack up, Coach Finstock asked me to wait. 

"Maolán, I don't know what the hell is going on with McCall, but will you see to it that he manages to scrape at least a C plus? For the love of god, let that smart gene of yours rub off on him a little…", Coach Finstock sighed. 

I nodded and walked towards the door when he stopped me. 

"Wait, Lorelai… You and your mother… Are you two doing okay?". 

I nodded my head, thrown off by his genuine concern. 

"Yeah, thanks Coach.".

"Hmm… Well, then. Off you go.".

I didn't realize the boys were standing right outside the classroom door and bumped straight into them. 

"Jeez, what took you so long?", Stiles asked, dragging the two of us by the arm. 

Not waiting for my answer, he caught me up on what he discovered. 

"Summary of today's lesson- Scott becomes himself when Allison is around.".

"Also, I'm totally in love with her.", Scott added. 

Stiles rolled his eyes. 

"And that's beautiful. Now, before you go off and write a sonnet, can we figure this out, please? Because you obviously can't be around her all the time.". 

"How do we test this out?". 

I raised my eyebrows at the two of them. Scott frowned while Stiles rubbed his chin, his face lighting up literally a minute later. 

"You've got something, haven't you?", I stated nervously. 

Stiles nodded with a gleam in his eye.

"Is this idea gonna get me in trouble?", Scott asked nervously.

"Maybe.".

"Is this idea gonna cause me physical pain?", Scott pointed himself.

"Yeah, definitely. Come on!". 

Stiles wore a sly smile on his face as he pulled us towards the school staff's parking lot.

"What are we doing here?", I questioned, my breath catching in my throat. 

"Just trust me, you'll see.".

Stiles moved towards Scott as I crossed my arms against my chest, watching him fix the brown-haired boy's stance.

"Okay, stand right there… Do you have your keys?". 

Scott took it out of his pocket, showing it to Stiles. 

"Perfect. Hold 'em up like so. Now, whatever happens, just think about Allison. Try to find her voice like you did at the game. Got it?".

My eyes widened when I realized what Stiles' plan was. 

"Wait, stop! This is a terrible idea!", I shouted, but the deed was done. 

Stiles' genius plan involved keying a black truck. He waved his arms, telling me to move out of the way. 

"Hey, hey, hey, dude! What do you think you're doing to that truck, bro?!?", he yelled at Scott. 

The poor boy had a confused look on his face as he tried to form a sentence when the truck's owner confronted him. The owner punched him hard in the face which he then retaliated by tackling the guy to the ground. 

There was a lot of punching and kicking as the owner's friends joined in while I cringed, fighting every fiber of my being which screamed out to help Scott. Stiles noticed my discomfort and gripped my arm tight to keep me from rushing to my friend's aid. However, it didn't seem like he was in danger.

"Look!", Stiles held up the heart rate monitor, proving his theory.

"Did you steal that?".

Stiles brushed my question off, busking in the success of his plan. Our victory was short lived when Mr. Harris appeared out of nowhere, breaking up the fight.

"Hey, stop it right now!". 

The guys ran away, leaving Scott on the ground. He rolled onto his back, grimacing at Mr. Harris. 

"What do you idiots think you're doing?".

I smacked my forehead softly while Stiles lifted up the phone with an excited smile on his face.

"We did it!".

Mr. Harris ordered the three of us to follow him to his classroom-Stiles' ridiculousness earned us detention.

"Ms. Maolán, if I were you, I'd rethink my social circle.", he jeered. 

I hummed quietly in agreement as I sat down, Scott and Stiles seating themselves behind me. 

"Excuse me, sir? Uh, I know it's detention and all, but, uh... I'm supposed to be at work, and I don't want to get fired.", Scott spoke up. 

Mr. Harris gave him uninterested look, saying absolutely nothing and went back to whatever he was doing. This man truly hated us. I doodled random clouds in my notebook, trying to pass the time. 

On the bright side, we were able to find a way to help Scott control his shift. Now, I just needed to figure out who killed my dad, why Jackson was acting so weird, and how the hell my whole druid powers worked. I was left with a mysterious bow staff kept locked up in a trunk inside our garden shed, and a semi blank journal.

I wanted to tell the guys what my mom told me last night but ended up overhearing Stiles in the middle of an inspirational speech.

"You have something, Scott, okay? Whether you want it or not, you can do things that nobody else can do. So, that means you don't have a choice anymore, it means you have to do something.", I heard him say to Scott. 

I stared at them, admiring how close their relationship was. Scott agreed with Stiles' statement and they both looked at me.

"Lorelai Mao… M… Melon? Urg, what I'm trying to say is welcome to the sacred circle of friendship! It's the three of us against the world.". 

I stuck my tongue out at Stiles' cheesy comment before nodding and giving them a smile. The both of us realized that we hadn't told Scott yet about my friend Ricardo. Stiles filled him in, Scott's eyes growing wide.

"Long story short, I'm still left with a thousand questions, and nowhere close to finding out anything regarding my family or our abilities. Just a bunch of warnings with no instructions on how to defend myself…".

Mr. Harris cleared his throat, crashing my pity party.

"Alright, three of you, out of here. And Ms. Maolán, please consider my suggestion.". 

Thanking Mr. Harris, we shoved our things into our backpacks as fast as we could and sprinted out of there, in case he decided to change his mind. 

"I finally spoke to my mom, clearing the air about what happened to my dad… The person who murdered him made it look like a car accident.", I said as we got into the Jeep.

"Jesus… What are you gonna do?", Scott asked.

"Follow in my mom's footsteps… Stiles, any chance I could pick your dad's brain about it?".

"You sure about this?", Stiles questioned as we drove to the animal clinic.

"Yeah… I have to know…".

We dropped Scott off at work before heading in the direction of the station. We didn't say much to each other until we arrived, and walked in. Stiles greeted the lady at the front desk before asking if his dad was available.

"This way.", he said softly.

Finally standing outside Sheriff Stilinski's door, Stiles turned to me.

"Are you one hundred percent sure you're ready?".

"Oh my god, yes Stiles!".

"Rehashing the past always leads to unwanted… Oh… Hey… Dad…".

Stiles' attempt to talk me out of enquiring about my dad's death was interrupted by Sheriff Stilinski who looked annoyed to see his son outside his office door.

"Stiles, Lorelai, how can I help you?", he sighed.

"Hi Mr. Stilinski, I am so sorry for ambushing you like this, but I wanted to ask you something about a case? If it's not too much trouble?".

He looked from me to Stiles, who gave him an awkward smile, and then back to me. He cocked his head towards the inside of his office. Taking a seat at his desk, he pointed at the two empty chairs, and we sat down.

"Thank you so much, Mr. Stilinski… It's one of your unsolved cases, from seven months ago- 25th February.".

Mr. Stilinski gave me a thoughtful look before making a call, asking one his deputies to bring in the file. Stiles squirmed uncomfortably in his seat.

"Ah, it says here the victim was found dead at the scene in a head-on collision at 8:45pm… However, the coroner states otherwise- the victim had actually died from strangulation and head trauma.", he frowned.

"Did they find any suspects?".

I tried to keep my voice steady but failed. Stiles reached out, squeezing my hand gently.

"Unfortunately, no… Uh… Lorelai, forgive me for asking, but did you know the victim?", Mr. Stilinski pressed on.

"Yeah… It was my dad…".

The tears involuntarily fell from my eyes, and I quickly wiped them away. Stiles' phone started to ring, and he excused himself to take the call outside.

"I am so sorry kid… A woman came in a few weeks ago asking about the same case, your mom I'm assuming?".

I nodded as I got up.

"Thanks again Mr. Stilinski. Sorry for wasting your time.".

He gave me a sad smile, shaking his head, "Not at all. You need a ride?".

"Uh, Stiles said he'll take me.".

I turned to leave just when Stiles burst through the door. 

"Sorry, dad. Gotta get Lorelai home before ten. See you at home!".

He pulled me away, and we practically sprinted to his Jeep. 

"Yeah, that was Scott on the phone. It looks like we may have an idea of who the Alpha is.".

Stiles told me that Derek had broken into the animal clinic and harassed Scott's boss. Scott had a plan to prove the veterinarian's innocence which included luring the savage beast to Beacon Hills High.

I texted my mom telling her I was staying over at Allison's. I was still a little overwhelmed after my conversation with Sheriff Stilinski. Hearing him talk about my dad's murder made it a lot more real. 

Stiles blew a raspberry at me, tapping his steering wheel nervously. None of us uttered a word until we arrived at Beacon Hills High.

"This is a terrible idea.", Stiles said, not even sugar coating the truth, stepping out of the Jeep.

"Yeah, I know.", Scott agreed.

"But we're still gonna do it?", Stiles blurted.

"Can you think of something better?".

"Well, personally, I'm a fan of ignoring a problem until eventually it just goes away...", Stiles shrugged. 

I scoffed, "Only difference is this problem can actually eat our hearts and wear our skins as a fancy coat.".

"Ever the optimist, aren't ya?", Stiles retorted, retrieving a set of bolt cutters from his jeep. 

Scott rolled his eyes at us, pointing to Derek's car as the brooding werewolf got out, slamming the door shut. I caught sight of Scott's boss, tied up and unconscious, lying in a very uncomfortable position in his backseat. 

Scott turned to me, "Lorelai, stay here and make sure he doesn't hurt Deaton.".

Annoyed with his instruction, I was about to argue but I could see the helplessness in his eyes. 

"Okay, fine. But hurry. And be careful!".

"Wait, what are you doing?", Derek asked.

"You said I was linked with the Alpha… I'm gonna see if you're right.".

A shiver went down my spine as I watched them disappear inside the building and I couldn't shake the feeling that someone was watching us. I kept quiet and tried not to make eye contact with Derek, while rubbing my arms due to the cold breeze. 

"Do you know how dangerous it is for you to be here?", he asked, breaking the silence. 

"Do you know how much I don't care about your opinion?", I shot back. 

I was on edge and my eyes kept darting around, and I began scratching at my arms furiously, it felt like something was crawling under my skin. He knitted his eyebrows together, making his irritation well known. 

"Fine, you wanna get yourself killed, that's your problem. And what the hell is going on with you?", he pointed at my scratching.

"I don't know, it's-".

A shrill screech coming from the school's PA system caught our attention and Derek shook his head.

"You've got to be kidding me. Your friends are idiots.", Derek muttered underneath his breath.

 It sounded like an attention deprived cat. After a few minutes, a deep roar echoed through the speakers, causing even the cars to vibrate. Goosebumps covered my itchy arms, and my heart began to beat rapidly in my chest. That high-pitched ringing I had almost forgotten about suddenly blasted in my head.

"Lorelai, what is it?", Derek asked, concern in his voice.

"I-I-I don't know…", I squeaked. 

"I think… He's…".

We were joined by Scott and Stiles, smirks on both their faces. 

"I'm gonna kill both of you! What the hell was that? What are you trying to do, attract the entire state to the school?", Derek shouted furiously at them, his eyes landing back on me.

"Sorry... I didn't know it would be that loud...", I heard Scott answer, Stiles adding how awesome it was. 

Derek told him to shut up to which Stiles responded by calling him a sour wolf- that was going to have its consequences later.

"What the hell! Lorelai, where's Deaton? Derek, what did you do?", Scott interrogated the both of us. 

I struggled to pay attention due to how loud the ringing was, and suddenly, right before my eyes, Derek's body was lifted into the air, his body tossed aside like a ragdoll, blood pouring out of his mouth.

The three of us screaming, Scott grabbed my arm as we bolted into the school, slamming the doors shut. Trying not to let my negativity creep in, I couldn't help but believe that there was a five percent chance we were going to get out of here alive.