â The Patternsâ
word count: 3965
Juno and Stiles both sat next to each other at the police station. He had begged her to join him on working out a pattern of the latest killings. Despite Juno's many arguments, she gave in to his constant whining and irresistible puppy dog eyes he gave her. Stiles definitely didn't need Juno's help on working things out about the past few murders, but for the past few days, it felt odd to not have her by his side.
The two stayed silent as they waited for Ashley, the girlfriend of the recently murdered boy, to be released from questioning. Juno sighed as she leaned back in her seat, growing bored of waiting for this girl she didn't know. Stiles looked over at Juno and smirked. After discovering her being a Vampire he would take every opportunity to use puns, and make pop culture references just to tease her, so noticing her boredom, he decided to entertain her.
"So, you and your brother are obviously pretty rich from living for seven hundred years right?" Stiles began.
Juno eyed him suspiciously, "I guess so, why do you bring this up?" Her eyes widened as she noticed his smirk turning into a grin. Juno clasped her hands together as she begged, "Stiles don't-"
"So do you keep all your money in the blood bank?" Stiles then began to crack up in laughter, while Juno rolled her eyes and sighed, looking away from Stiles so he didn't notice the small smile forming on her face. His puns and references were never funny, but she couldn't help but find his laughter adorable.
She shook her head and looked over at Stiles who was still cooling off from his 'hilarious' joke and shook her head. "You'll never give up on those unfunny jokes will you?"
"Not until I run out. As long as I can continue to think of hilarious jokes, I will use them no matter what the situation," Stiles said with pride. The two then jumped in their seat as the door to the questioning room burst out. Ashley was escorted out by one of the officers, looking at the ground so her blonde locks covered her mascara stained cheeks. Juno took in a deep breath as she readied herself for the awkward question Stiles would ask her.
The two got up and asked to speak with Ashley alone. She looked up at Stiles oddly and waited for him to talk. "What I'm about to ask is going to sound super insensitive so just keep that in mind," Stiles began. Juno nervously stood next to Stiles, and put on a heartwarming smile on her face to make Ashley more comfortable. "Was Kyle a virgin?" Stiles asked.
Juno was about to speak up once she spotted the sudden anger appear in Ashley's eyes, but she was stopped when Ashley slapped Stiles' face as hard as she could. Juno cringed as Stiles cried out in pain. The rings on Ashley's fingers left dents in Stiles' skin, and there was a defined, red mark in the shape of her hand on his left cheek. The officer that brought her out of the room placed her hands on Ashley's shoulders and began to escort her away.
"No, he wasn't a virgin," Ashley spat, before leaving the police station. Stiles hissed as he rubbed his bright red cheek, glaring at Ashley as she walked away.
"Man, she really got me..." He joked.
Juno cringed at the deep dents left by Ashley's rings. Unknowingly, Juno slowly brought her hand up to Stiles' cheek, gently tracing her thumb over the red marks. Juno was so lost in Stiles' eyes that she wasn't truly aware of what her body was doing. It wasn't until Stiles smirked, that she snatched her hand away and began twiddling her thumbs awkwardly.
"I'm sorry... I don't know I just thought-" She tried.
Stiles chuckled, "it's fine. Your incredibly freezing skin kind of relieved the whole burning sensation," he reassured.
Juno shyly looked away, folding her arms over her chest as she tried to ignore the tingling sensation in her body, thinking that it was her sensing Stiles' emotions. "Yeah... yeah th-that was my intention!" Juno stuttered, trying to brush off the awkward encounter that just occurred. Stiles could only smile down at the blonde, he'd never seen her so flustered before, it was definitely something he enjoyed seeing on her since she was normally quite reserved, although she had been starting to show more of her colours to Stiles. Juno quickly turned her head and saw Stiles' father storm out of the interrogation room, ready to lecture his son for making Ashley upset.
Stiles placed his hands on Juno's shoulders and began to gently push her in the direction of the exit. "Go! Quick!" He urged, but the sheriff had already seen Juno, so she was officially in trouble also.
"Have you completely lost your mind!?" Sheriff Stilinski asked in disbelief. He looked at his son with annoyance, waiting for an answer. Stiles took his hands off Juno's shoulders and began to twiddle his thumbs, like Juno had done before.
"Dad, I'm sorry I was just looking for a pattern-"
"Well can you do that without terrorising our witnesses?" The sheriff's eyes then fell on Juno. He squinted for a moment, recognising her from the murder scene at the pool. The sheriff sighed, then stared back at his son. "This your new partner in crime?"
Stiles shook his head rapidly and began to lead Juno out of the station. "No, no she's not. I'm not going to get her in trouble, don't worry dad!" Stiles called out as he began to leave the station, ignoring his father's calls out to him.
"You don't have to worry about me getting in trouble Stiles," Juno sighed as he opened the car door of his Jeep for her. Stiles closed the door then quickly made his way into the driver's seat.
"Yes you made that very clear when you launched Derek across his loft which by the way, was incredible," Stiles agreed as he started the car. "But since you're with me helping out with this murder stuff I feel like I need to look out for you." Juno couldn't hold back a small laugh at the boy's comments, causing him to frown as he drove away from the station. "Hey I know you're this seven hundred year old badass but you never know! There could come a time where you need help and then bam! Stiles to the rescue!"
Juno giggled at Stiles' enthusiasm, but kept teasing going. "Or it could be Scott to the rescue," she joked. Juno continued to laugh a little, but it died out once she felt an unpleasant feeling in her gut, as if she were upset. She looked over at Stiles and saw his grip on the steering wheel tighten, and his jaw was clenched. She sighed, the feeling of her own guilt washed over her and replaced Stiles' anger. "Stiles I'm-"
"No it's cool, Scott always helps everyone out so I'm sure he'd be a better call." Stiles muttered, trying to shrug off his feelings.
"I was just kidding Stiles," Juno pleaded. She glanced at the baseball bat sitting in the backseat and looked back at the upset boy next to her. "I think I'd much rather someone who knows how to swing a baseball bat and ram people with their Jeep than a Werewolf who wanted to take me to Derek Hale." Juno said. She felt a sense of relief as she noticed the corners of Stiles' mouth curve upwards ever so slightly, while still keeping his eyes on the road.
"I would never damage my baby like that," Stiles said, stroking the steering wheel, "but I get what you mean. Thanks Junebug."
Juno glared at Stiles as he snickered in his seat, keeping his eyes on the road. He would glance over a few times and see her staring out at the road with a pout on her face. A few moments later, he glanced again, and she was smiling.
-
Since Stiles began bringing Juno into his mystery work, she had been trying to connect the dots with the recent murderers. She squinted down at her notes scrambled all over numerous pieces of paper. Over the phone, Stiles told her that Kyle was a member of the Reserve Officers' Training Corps. Before Juno could connect the dots and explain her theories, she was interrupted by Stiles explaining that it was exactly what he thought, but they couldn't be sure of a pattern from the few murders. Stiles had quickly hung up on her before she could explain that she knew of a pattern, thanks to all of her years living alongside Cyrus.
Juno leaned back in her desk chair and sighed. Three virgins were murdered, and a boy training for the army. It was an odd pattern that couldn't fully be deciphered unless she had some sort of context. She quickly raced down the stairs in her home and ran into the living room, where Cyrus sat reading an old book on philosophy he's had for centuries, literally.
He looked up from his book and at Juno quizzically, "why are you running around the house like a lunatic?" He questioned.
Juno rolled her eyes at Cyrus' bitterness and sat down next to him on the couch. "Have you ever encountered any human sacrifices of some sort before you met me?" She asked.
Cyrus chuckled as he put his book down. "Indeed, I think I've actually lost count now. If you're asking me for what the pattern is with these recent killings, I've not looked further than them all being virgin sa-"
"But there was another sacrifice, but he wasn't a virgin," Juno interrupted, impatience growing in her voice. Cyrus straightened his posture in his seat and looked up at Juno quizzically. Judging by his expression, Juno knew she needed to elaborate. "The latest victim was apart of the ROTC, he was a fighter-"
"A warrior," Cyrus corrected as he got up on his feet. "Three virgins, and now a warrior. Two more warriors, then another three guardians, healers, and philosophers," he connected.
"How'd you-"
"You asked me if I had experience with human sacrifices and I told you I have. Our surname, it was given to me as I was of scholarly importance, I was a philosopher Juno, I've been hunted by this thing before." Cyrus urged.
"So you know what is doing all of this?" Juno asked, "I knew of that pattern from something in your office but-" Juno cut off her words as she noticed Cyrus scowl at her upon knowing she's snooped around his office. "You can lecture me about that later, but I saw those words aligned together on an old piece of parchment, probably from whenever you were hunted by this thing. If you knew, why didn't you make the connection before?"
Cyrus sighed, "maybe I just hoped I wouldn't have to deal with anything supernatural except for ourselves, but clearly we've got a lot to deal with in this god forsaken town." Cyrus ran his fingers through his brown curls and sighed, thinking about the Werewolves in the town, and now the presence of a sacrificial killer he had dealt with years ago. It was exhausting for him, for years he and Juno had lived as two Vampires disguised as humans, but it was becoming more difficult to live a 'normal' life with other creatures living among them.
"It's a Darach," Cyrus began. "This Darach won't be the same one I encountered thousands of years ago, that one never completed his ritual and ended up dying."
"So they're going to kill more people to gain power? Power for what?" Juno asked.
Cyrus sat back down and rested his feet on the coffee table. He picked up his book, and began to read again. "I'm sure you will figure that out," he said tiredly. Cyrus didn't know what this Darach would need it's power for, but he knew he didn't want to be involved when the Werewolves of Beacon Hills could handle it themselves. Juno huffed as she marched up to her room, but soon returned with a black leather jacket, the jacket she always wore to blend in to the night.
Cyrus averted his eyes from his book and looked at Juno, "where are you going?" He asked.
"I'm going to figure this all out."
-
Juno could feel Stiles' scent grow stronger as she ran through the streets. She knew that she needed to tell Stiles before anyone else, her was the one that Juno trusted the most out of the small group of people that she knew. Juno thought that maybe Stiles would be able to connect the patterns together and find out why this thing was performing these sacrifices.
She stopped in the middle of a quiet street. The cool air blew the strong scent of Stiles' blood through her nose; she knew he was on this street. Juno tried to quieten her footsteps against the asphalt, not wanting to wake any of the people sleeping soundly in their homes. She felt a slight spark of envy for the people in Beacon Hills, they could all experience the wonders of sleep: being lost in one's own dreams and thoughts until they woke up. Juno couldn't sleep at all, she could barely remember what the sleeping sensation even felt like.
Juno stopped outside of a single story house, and felt her senses heighten, and her hunger increase as she knew she was at the right place. Juno's eyes glowed a dim gold as she fought for control over her mind, and crept towards the house. She found the scent to be strongest by one window, and used her supernatural strength to open it, breaking the lock as she did so.
Juno quickly climbed through the window as she heard Stiles shift his sleeping position due to the noises caused by her sneaking in. Juno knelt down by the side of his bed, one of his arms dangling over the side of the bed, with the side of his face buried in his pillow that his other hand gripped onto tightly. Juno couldn't contain the slight giggle as she watched him sleep. She'd never seen a human sleep so peacefully before, in fact, Juno had never really watched a human sleep before, knowing it was an unsettling thing to do.
But something about Stiles made Juno feel captivated in that moment. Her eyes began to glow without her control. Perhaps it was because of her attraction to his scent, but she wasn't inching closer to him in hunger, she was inching closer because she was being allured by his appearance.
Stiles could feel Juno's cold breath beat down on his neck, causing his eyes to flutter open. The first thing he saw was bright glowing eyes in his pitch black room. Due to the golden irises being the only things he could see, he didn't recognise Juno. He began to scramble in panic, searching the side of his bed for something.
"Stiles wait it's-" Juno tried, sensing his fear. Her words were immediately cut off by a sharp pain shooting through the side of her skull. She collapsed to the ground and cried out in pain. Juno's ears began to ring, she held onto the side of her head where she felt her skull had been fractured, but could feel the injury immediately seal again beneath her fingertips.
Stiles noticed a glimpse of something gold and silky glisten in the moonlight, instantly recognising what he saw as the blonde curls that belonged to the girl he had been captivated by lately. He dropped his baseball bat on the floor, the sound of the metal hitting the floorboards causing Juno's ears to ring louder, then quickly dropped down to her level to check if she were okay.
"J-Juno? Oh my god I'm so sorry," Stiles apologised quickly. Juno groaned as Stiles pulled her up from the ground. She noticed the metal baseball bat lying on the ground a few feet away from her, the tip covered in her dark blood. Stiles ran his fingers through her hair to feel for any injuries on her head, but found none except for blood. Upon noticing the blood, he began to lose balance, "I- I'm s-so sorry-" he choked.
"It's fine, I healed," Juno reassured breathlessly, gently bringing Stiles' hands down from in front of him, causing chills to run down his spine at her ice cold touch, and her very contact alone. Juno looked up at him and took in all the features the dim moonlight made appear in front of her.
Stiles' hair was a somewhat perfect mess after just rolling out of a deep sleep, his eyes were dark, but still managed to make Juno feel comfortable. Stiles felt sort of in a trance as he stared into her golden irises, feeling somewhat allured by their vibrancy. "Are you sure?"
Juno sighed, "trust me, I'll be okay," she explained. Juno squinted her eyes shut before opening them up again so she could stop her eyes from glowing. She felt ashamed to have her eyes glow so bright in front of Stiles after frightening him because of them. She felt slightly at ease as she felt her eyes return to their normal chocolate brown colour, but Stiles felt a pit of emptiness in him."Sorry for startling you."
Stiles turned on the light to his room, squinting slightly as his tired eyes tried to adjust to the light, "what are you even doing here? How did you know where I live? You know you're literally intruding my home, right? You're literally an intruder! How did you get in here?" Stiles began asking.
Juno looked at him blankly, before pointing to the open window. "In-tru-da window," she joked, making a pun on Stiles calling her an intruder. Stiles let out a deep sigh as he looked at Juno seriously, struggling to prevent the smile forming on his face.
He eventually gave in and let out a little chuckle. "That was pretty good, but still, couldn't you wait for a more appropriate time? Or do you vampires just like to do everything on your own schedule since you can't sleep? And again, how did you know where I was?"
"I can smell your blood from miles away-" Stiles' stunned look cut off Juno's words. He opened his mouth to begin questioning her more, but she slapped her hand over his mouth to let her speak. "That's not important, I know what's killing these people!" She enthused.
Stiles' eyes widened in surprise, Juno took her hand off his mouth, allowing Stiles' mouth to drop in surprise. "W-wait, how?"
"I was trying to explain the pattern to Cyrus and he immediately connected the dots! He says that it's some sort of Darach, and they're doing these sacrifices to gain some sort of power-"
Stiles immediately rushed over to his white board, where he grabbed a pen and wrote 'DARACH' in big, red writing. "He said he was hunted by one because he was considered a philosopher. The pattern is three virgins, three warriors, philosophers, guardians, and healers," Juno continued.
"Maybe it wants power to defeat the alpha pack-" Stiles began. His eyes widened upon the realisation of what he had just said.
Juno scowled in confusion, unable to believe what she had heard, "I'm sorry, the alpha what!?"
"Yeah I think I forgot to mention that there's this pack of alpha Werewolves kind of trying to get to Scott..." Stiles trailed off, adding more words to the whiteboard that Juno could barely read due to his rushed handwriting. "I didn't really think that you would need to be concerned about that since you don't like Werewolves, but I guess now that this is all connected..."
Juno sighed, "I don't hate Werewolves, I just don't like the Hales," she corrected. Stiles nodded and kept writing away. Juno watched Stiles' veins become slightly more visible in his hands from his tight grip on the pen. She was never easily hungered by the sight of veins, but perhaps due to his scent, there was something alluring about them that brought her closer to Stiles.
Without knowing, she was inching closer to him, feeling a little more on cloud nine as she allowed his scent to overtake her. Her brain was fuzzy, even after being so used to his scent, them being alone together late at night had changed her ability to control, and instead made her weak in his presence.
Stiles felt a cool rush of air beside him and looked to his side, jumping slightly at the sight of her so close to him. "You alright?"
Juno blinked multiple times and brought herself back down to earth. "Y-yeah, your handwriting is just hard to read..." she excused. She felt the butterflies again, but continued to excuse them as not her own feelings. Stiles chuckled and began to read everything he had written out to her. The Darach she had mentioned was making these sacrifices to possibly defeat the Alpha pack that was trying get to Scott and the Hales. After his explanation, Stiles yawned, and rubbed his tired eyes. Looking over to the alarm clock by his bed, he sighed.
"Four in the morning, how wonderful..." He sighed sarcastically.
Juno laughed nervously, shameful that she had woken Stiles up, "yeah, sorry about that, I couldn't really wait to tell you I suppose. I'm surprised your dad hasn't stormed up here yet."
"He's still at the station working his butt off, and don't be sorry, the sooner you tell me, the sooner we can figure out all of this stuff," Stiles replied, flashing Juno a small smile despite his eyes clearly struggling to stay open. "Although next time I would appreciate it if you would at least wait until the sun was up," he joked.
Juno shrugged, embarrassed, "note taken," she mumbled. "Again, I'm sorry for breaking into your house... And freaking you out with my... Demon eyes," she chuckled.
Stiles sighed and sat down on his bed, "don't say that about your eyes," he spoke softly. He opened his mouth to continue speaking, making Juno look at Stiles eagerly as she waited for him to say the words she wanted to hear, but he closed his mouth, afraid of whatever her reaction would be.
Juno sensed his hesitation and broke the silence, "I guess I'll go, let you rest up," Juno mumbled, walking towards Stiles' open window. As she was about to climb through, Stiles called out to her, making her halt her movements.
"Don't be ashamed of your eyes," Stiles muttered, a hint of pink forming on the apples of his cheeks. "They don't freak me out or anything, I think they're..." Stiles hesitated. He could say a million and one things about Juno and the wonders of her very existence, but only being somewhat friends with Juno for such a short amount of time, he felt embarrassed to be so open with her. "I think they're nice..."
But despite his hesitation, and him mentally kicking himself for using a word as bland as 'nice', Juno still felt the most flattered she had been in a long while. Not once had anyone ever told her anything positive about her golden eyes, and hearing those simple words come from Stiles Stilinski made Juno grin uncontrollably.
She quickly climbed through Stiles' window and ran home. Stiles sighed as he laid back onto his pillow, where he thought of not the murders, the wolves or anything else he should be worrying about, but Juno Clarke.