Thirty-Four

MALIA HATED DRIVING.

It didn't matter who accompanied her, she hated the uneasiness she felt sitting behind the wheel. All the rules of the road confused her and there were too many buttons in the car for her to remember.

Add the darkness from the sun setting in Beacon Hills, Malia found herself locking her jaw to keep her frustration at bay.

Kira and Lydia attempted to help, showing her the proper placement of her hands on the steering wheel. But when Malia slowly started down the street, Kira's constant assurance didn't make Malia feel better.

"Please, just shut up," she snapped, keeping her eyes focused in front of her.

"No problem," Kira nodded, pursing her lips. "Shutting up right now."

However it didn't last long as Malia drifted into the other lane. "Uh, other way. Other way!"

"Malia," Lydia called her name worriedly, gripping the edge of her seat. "We are now off the road, this is not the road."

"Malia, please go the other way!"

Malia ignored their pleas and discarded the branches hitting her windshield. She only spoke when an irritable beep wouldn't go off. "What is that?" she asked them. "What's beeping?"

"The car is trying to tell you to not run into a tree," Lydia informed quickly and hit her arm once the trunk was a mere feet away. "Turn the wheel. Malia!"

Just before her beautiful new car crashed into the wood, Malia swerved. She listened to Lydia and turned the wheel, while Kira reminded her to stay on the actual road.

The tires squealed as Malia continued the turn, Kira trying not to panic. "Okay, sure. This is called a U-Turn."

"You said, turn the wheel," Malia muttered to Lydia, who bit down on her lip.

"Okay, but maybe you should press a little harder on the gas," the strawberry-blonde claimed, holding up her fingers squeezed together. She fell back against her seat as Malia slammed her foot on the accelerator, Kira completely falling into a window. "Kira, put on your seat belt!"

"Yes, my bad, I didn't know we'd be going seventy on the bypass," Kira replied sharply and sat back up, but nonetheless ended up buckling herself in.

Lydia attempted to direct Malia, squeezing her eyes shut from another intense turn. Malia asked a question, making her re-open them. "Can someone tell me where we're going?"

"The school," Lydia answered. Casting a glance at Kira, she added quietly, "We can finish with parking practice in the lot."

The kitsune nodded her head in agreement. Being in a parking lot was much safer.

But then, Kira looked at the road and furrowed her brows at the sight of huge businesses and apartment buildings. "Lydia, we're actually heading downtown."

"What?"

"If we're going to the school, we should do a U-Turn," Kira clarified. "Right?"

Reality caught up to Lydia and she gulped. "No," she whispered, a familiar feeling burning in her stomach. "Keep going."

"You sure?" Malia glanced at her, but Lydia didn't even blink.

"Yes. We're almost there."

Lydia told Malia to stop the car once they pulled onto a small, hidden road. The three girls quickly climbed out from seeing a white van smashed into the wall, the lights on and the engine running. They only took a few steps forward before a body came into view, bleeding severely as they shakily stretched out their hand.

"Call nine-one-one."

*^*^*^*^*

Sierra answered her phone the second Lydia called.

After hearing the girl's shaken story, Sierra got the boys into the Jeep and they sped to the scene. By the time they arrived, at least two police cruisers had been stationed to keep onlookers back and EMTs were providing any necessary medical assistance.

The trio slipped between the blockade, only pausing from seeing a man wheeled by, completely covered in blood and breathing through an oxygen mask.

"Kids," Noah's voice made them turn back around. He was still wearing his coat and tie, but now his tool belt around his waist. His eyes focused in on Scott, "You saw Donovan...he wasn't like you, right?"

"I don't think so," Scott answered honestly, glancing at Sierra for help.

"If he was, it's possible he knows how to hide his scent," she suggested to the sheriff, who looked beyond worried.

Noah sighed, accepting the answers with a small nod. "Well, human or otherwise, this kid might have just murdered his lawyer and mortally wounded two officers. We got an APB out on his but...do you two think you can find him faster?"

"We can try," Scott agreed, and Noah then pulled out a walkie for him to hold onto while he was out.

"All right. Keep it on channel two."

Scott took a few steps back before he realized Sierra wasn't following him. "Are you coming?"

"No, go on ahead," Sierra waved him off. "I'm going to check on the girls. You know, make sure they're alright."

Scott nodded and then slipped out behind the blockade before taking off into a sprint. He hadn't lost Donovan's scent.

After he disappeared, Stiles looked at his girlfriend knowingly. "You just didn't feel like running, did you?"

"If he needs me, I will be there," Sierra stated instead and left his side to find Lydia, making him shake his head in amusement.

Before he followed her, he turned towards his father and asked him an important question. "Dad, what if it wasn't Donovan?"

"I'm guessing you've already got a theory?"

"Yeah, I think I do."

Only five minutes after Scott left, the radio crackled with his voice. Sierra stood between Malia and Stiles, facing Parrish as he called out to her best friend. "Scott, is that you?"

"Yeah, I found Donovan," Scott rushed out, Noah and Lydia moving closer to Parrish so they could hear him better. Kira hung back besides Malia. "But he's completely freaked out. He keeps saying some name."

Picking up his own radio, Noah inquired, "What name?"

Theo. That's the name that fell quietly from Stiles's lips; surely his former classmate had been involved.

"Tracy," Scott replied instead, instantly causing Lydia and Sierra to freeze. "He keeps saying Tracy."

"Tracy who?" Noah asked, but Scott wasn't the one who answered.

"Stewart."

Everyone turned to Lydia, who let out a heavy sigh while Sierra confirmed her words. "Tracy Stewart."

*^*^*^*^*

The next morning, the pack grouped together so they could discuss their plan on finding Tracy.

Noah had sent them all home after figuring out the girl's name, claiming they needed rest for school. But no one slept a wink. They were all too anxious about another classmate being on the run.

Stiles kept an arm around Sierra's waist, allowing her to lean on him while everyone stood around his Jeep. Meeting in the parking lot before the bell rang proved to be the best plan, but didn't help Sierra stay awake any easier. Especially since Stiles wore a cozy, maroon sweater, all she wanted to do was take a nap.

She and Lydia conducted most of the conversation, as they knew Tracy best. "She wasn't just having trouble sleeping," Lydia explained while everyone listened intently. "It was a real disorder. It was night terrors."

"Well, now she's the night terror," Stiles remarked.

Sierra nodded in agreement, rubbing her face tiredly. "He's right. Especially since no one can find her. She hadn't been answering my texts, but I thought she was just sick."

Scott chimed in from the other side of the Jeep, standing beside Kira with his backpack on his shoulders. "Okay, I know we're all tired and miserable...."

His gaze drifted to his right. "Well, except for you."

Mason had practically bounced on his toes since the meeting began, completely in awe as he glanced between the seniors. Liam finally ended up telling Mason the truth after a wolf chased them through the halls. But instead of freaking out like any normal human being, the sophomore thought it was the coolest thing in the world.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Mason apologized with a huge grin on his face. "This is all just mind-blowing." His eyes flickered over to Sierra. "I mean, you can read minds and create energy in your hand! That's freaking awesome."

Sierra chuckled from his enthusiasm as he then looked at Kira. "And you're a kitsune! I don't even know what that is."

Kira, clearly caught off guard from being singled out, could only offer Mason a small smile. "I'm still learning," she replied.

"Liam," Stiles turned to the only other sophomore, looking at him over Sierra's head since he was on her other side. "We said you could tell him, not invite him to the inner circle."

Mason widened his eyes excitedly. "Wait, I'm in the inner circle?"

"No," Liam and Stiles stated together immediately.

"Okay, just let Mason be," Sierra informed the two boys, straightening her back. "Two days ago he didn't know about any of us and it's a lot to process. We all know because we've all been through it.  And right now, I couldn't care less about who is in the 'inner circle.' I care about finding Tracy."

Scott nodded his head, "Sierra's right. I mean, she's just one lone wolf. We can find her."

"One lone serial-killing wolf," Malia corrected seriously, speaking for the first time.

"Uh, she's only killed one person," Stiles pointed out. "The other two were mauled. We just need to figure out what we're gonna do when we catch her."

Malia stated, her voice sharp. "I say we put her down."

The words hung in the air, forcing everyone to look at Scott and Sierra. They were the two who decided the final plan.

Sierra pursed her lips to hold herself back from scolding the werecoyote and made eye-contact with Scott, who also knew killing Tracy would never be an option.

Mason glanced around the circle, bewildered at the dire situation. "Intense."

"Guys, let's concentrate on catching her first," Scott finally spoke, Sierra agreeing wholeheartedly with him.

"We'll figure out the rest later."

*^*^*^*^*

As everyone dispersed and headed to first period, Stiles pulled Malia and Sierra aside.

He stood across from them at the top of the side stairwell, where less students could potentially eavesdrop. The girls exchanged confused glances when he didn't speak. Stiles just pulled out his phone and handed it to Malia.

"Now, I wanted to show you both first," he started off as Sierra's eyes widened from seeing the photo, "but considering my lack of self-control..."

Malia didn't know how to respond, her lips pressed into a thin line. The image was completely horrifying but she couldn't look away. Chairs overturned, at least five clawed bodies sprawled across the picture. Blood pooling the floor.

"The Desert Wolf did this?" Sierra asked her boyfriend, tearing her gaze away from his phone.

"My mother," Malia whispered, her voice full of hurt.

"Yeah." Stiles exhaled deeply and rubbed his neck as he informed them Braeden texted him a few hours before. It was the first information they received about Malia's mom in months, but it made Stiles want to stop the investigation.

However, it wasn't his choice to make. Malia got to decide if the Desert Wolf would continue to be pursued.

"Braeden said these guys were bad. You know, really bad," he emphasized.

Malia read between the lines and finally lifted her head. "So they deserved it?"

"Malia," Sierra called her name gently and rested a hand on her shoulder. "I'm not sure anyone deserves that."

Stiles and Sierra didn't voice their worry about Malia to anyone besides each other and their concern only looked to be growing.

As of lately, the werecoyote had seemed more on edge and snappy than normal. Between her comment about killing Tracy that morning and finding justification for her mother's horrendous actions, Sierra felt Malia was burying herself back into the girl she used to be--who she was right after Scott turned her back into a human.

And that thought terrified Stiles and Sierra.

"I, uh, should be getting to class," Malia dropped the subject and shoved Stiles's phone back towards him. "Don't want to be late, you know?"

Sierra offered her a comforting smile. "Okay...you know though, that we're here for you if you wanna talk."

Malia nodded, but still held a dazed look in her eyes. "Yeah, I know. I'll, um, see you guys later." She turned on her heel before either of the two could say anything else, gripping onto her bag tightly.

Sierra and Stiles watched her walk away, a frown etched onto Sierra's face. She felt Stiles wrap an arm around her shoulder to pull her into his side and moved her hand to his back. He questioned softly, "You okay, string bean?"

"I'm just worried about her," Sierra admitted, glancing up at him with fear in her eyes.

"Yeah," Stiles agreed with a sigh, casting a glance to where Malia had disappeared. "I am too."

*^*^*^*^*

Sierra Page was proud of Scott McCall.

Sitting at the lab station beside him, she watched Mrs. Finch return his placement exam. His eyes widened in surprise at the grade in the top right corner and he turned it so Sierra could see.

In all honesty, Scott thought he wouldn't score above a fifty. Yet there he was, resting happily with an eighty-six. For his first AP class and this simply being practice, he did really well.

Sierra grinned and gave him a fist bump as Mrs. Finch congratulated him. "It's nice to see where your priorities are, Scott. Since you have a good grasp of the subject, how about you lead us in a review of last night's reading?"

Scott's smile faded at her words while she looked at him expectantly.

Due to last night's fiasco, he didn't read the assigned pages--neither did Sierra, Lydia or Kira. He fell asleep the moment he got home and woke up early to have the pack meeting. There hadn't been any time for him to read.

Sierra felt Scott's anxiety as he answered, "Uh, sure." He flipped through some pages, but his eyes momentarily got distracted by someone in the doorway.

"Scott?" Mrs. Finch made his gaze snap back over.

"Sorry," Scott apologized. "I'm just looking for the page." Discreetly, he glanced at Sierra and then nodded towards the door.

Sierra looked over in confusion, only growing more puzzled from seeing Liam standing there waving his hand.

He looked panicked, feet bouncing and eyes widening, motioning for her to get out of class.

Mrs. Finch once more called out Scott, and the senior tried to focus on his textbook without getting into trouble. Sierra delicately tapped her ear and Liam nodded, understanding.

"She's here," Liam whispered from the hallway, making both Scott and Sierra tense up in their seats. "She's in history class right now. Tracy. She's here."

Thousands of ideas flickered through Sierra's head. Mrs. Finch wouldn't let both of her students leave the room at the same time. They needed a distraction.

Sierra muffled her mouth with her hand so only Scott and Liam could hear her. "Pull the fire alarm."

"What?"

"Pull it," she hissed under her breath.

Liam did as he was told and sprinted off to the other side of the hallway. He stared at the red rectangle nervously, but then swallowed down his fear.

He yanked the alarm. Immediately an irritating ring blasted through the classrooms.

Sierra exhaled in relief.

"It's probably just a drill," Mrs. Finch informed the class and motioned to the door. "Let's go everyone."

As students poured into the hallways, Scott and Sierra slipped away from Mrs. Finch and found Liam. Together they walked as quickly as they could to Mr. Yukimura's classroom.

By the time they arrived, they saw Tracy sitting in the back with her head down. Her hands gripped the side of the wooden desk. Except she wasn't alone.

Hayden stood in front of her, calling out to her worriedly.

Tracy didn't recognize her surroundings, her eyes narrowed in a daze. And then her arm shot out. Tracy clenched Hayden's wrist, the sophomore gasping from the sudden pain.

Seeing this, Sierra moved forward cautiously. "Tracy?" She kept her voice gentle, taking steps one at a time with Scott right behind her. "Tracy."

Mr. Yukimura and Liam watched the seniors approach her from the doorway, to stop anyone else from coming in.

Sierra noticed Tracy's ragged breathing and the fear surrounding her. The girl stared straight at them, but failed to see who they were.

"Tracy," Scott spoke next after Tracy rose to her feet, her fingers digging into Hayden's skin. "Let go."

Hayden whimpered from the blood starting to seep through Tracy's fingers. Her eyes found Sierra's and glistened with tears. "She's, she's hurting me."

Sierra hardened her tone, commanding sharply, "Tracy, let her go."

"They're coming," Tracy breathed, her hand falling limp from Hayden's wrist. Sierra pulled Hayden back from Tracy, who started to sway. "They're coming for all of us."

Sierra stumbled into Scott from watching Tracy suddenly collapse, her body falling motionless with her eyes stuck open. A silvery substance dripped from her mouth, pooling around the tile floor.

It only took one look at each other for Scott and Sierra to spring into action. Scott lifted Tracy off the floor carefully, bracing his arms underneath her legs and neck. They walked urgently out of the classroom, Sierra by Scott's side in case he needed assistance.

Due to Liam's quick thinking, Stiles and Malia met them near the double doors and helped them get Tracy out of the school.

Hayden watched the entire exchange, completely bewildered. Liam stood awkwardly next to her while she held onto her injured arm. "She wasn't even supposed to be in our class," Hayden stated to him. "Where are they taking her?"

"The hospital, I guess," Liam lied, shrugging his shoulders. Guilt flooded through him once he saw her bleeding and he softened his voice. "Do you, uh, need help getting to the nurse's office?"

"I think I'll make it."

Liam sighed as Hayden then stalked off, leaving him in the hallway by himself. He turned around, seeing students starting to come back inside after the fire drill. The words Sierra whispered to him before she left with Scott played like a broken record in his head.

Find Kira and Lydia.

*^*^*^*^*

After discussing how the others were taking Tracy to Deaton, Kira and Lydia decided with Liam to attack another angle.

Since Tracy was a werewolf, it made sense for her to have an Alpha. None of the teenagers heard of any new alphas in Beacon Hills. However, there was another pack--Satomi's. It was possible the older woman bit Tracy after losing some of her pack members from the dead pool.

This lead Liam to begrudgingly agree to seek out Brett and question him, while Kira and Lydia traveled back to Tracy's house to search for more clues.

The girls thought it'd be more difficult to sneak in, but since Tracy was missing and her father was dead, no one really stopped them.

"Hold on," Kira hesitated Lydia when she reached for the door handle, the one that led into Tracy's bedroom. "Isn't this like a crime scene or something?"

Lydia scoffed, "No."

The banshee then pushed the door open, yet stopped from the sight in front of her. Caution tape surrounded the perimeter and crossed over Tracy's bed. "Maybe," she corrected herself and waved her hand. "Don't worry about it."

Luckily, Lydia knew they wouldn't get in trouble for snooping, thanks to the sheriff being aware about the supernatural.

This thought forced Kira to take a deep breath and follow Lydia inside. "Okay, so what're we looking for?"

Lydia shook her head slowly; she didn't really have an answer. "I'm mostly just following a feeling." She stepped closer to the nightstand besides Tracy's bed and flicked on the lamp.

The room instantly brightened up. "Your feelings usually lead to dead bodies," Kira reminded her, still shaken at the idea of illegally investigating a crime scene. "Shouldn't we wait for Sierra?"

"You know she needs to stay with Tracy," Lydia replied sternly. "When she wakes up, she might get scared and seeing a familiar face will help. And let me know if you do find a body. That might explain a lot more than we think."

The pair split up then, separating into the different sides of the room to look for signs of suspicious activity. Lydia scanned Tracy's desk, flipping through old journals while Kira found a box under the bed.

From what Lydia read, Tracy recorded her dreams as a way to cope. However, none of them mentioned werewolves, glowing eyes or pent up anger. It all surrounded these horrible men who wore World War I gas masks and ravens.

Lydia snapped the notebook closed, a shiver running down her spine. It felt like she had been reading a horror novel.

Lydia then could understand why Tracy seemed so frightened on the first day of school; her nightmares were completely terrifying.

"Hey, look at this."

Lydia turned to see Kira standing on the opposite side of Tracy's bed. On the mattress was a simple box, where Kira pulled out a handmade dream catcher.

"Remember, Tracy Bear, it only works if you believe it. Hope this help. Love, Dad," Kira read the card attached, before setting it back down with a sigh. "This is beyond depressing."

Lydia glanced over the items with a solemn look on her face. "He was just trying to help her."

Kira cast her eyes around the room with a heavy heart, unable to believe their classmate killed her father the night before. She shook her head sadly. "Why would she go after him like that?"

"I guess she wasn't in control of herself," Lydia couldn't provide a better explanation. "Fear can make people imagine their darkest thoughts. And from what I read in her diary, what she sees isn't exactly pleasant to the eye." She took the dream catcher from Kira and studied the beads. "There are cases with people accidentally murdering their entire family in a night terror. They had no idea what they were doing. It's called homicidal somnambulism."

"So what if she thinks she's still in a night terror?" Kira inquired, trying to fit the pieces together. "What if the people she's killed, her dad and her psychiatrist, happened because she didn't know what she was doing? Because she might not actually be awake."

"She's still in a night terror," Lydia realized, the theory making sense.

"So how do we wake her up?"

The two girls looked at each other, feeling completely overwhelmed. None of them experienced nightmares in broad daylight, and neither of them knew how to snap someone back into reality. How do you wake up a girl who is turning into a werewolf and who already murdered two people while she thought she was dreaming?

"Wait a second." A thought crossed Kira's mind as she paced along the carpet. "Her dad was just trying to help her, right?"

"So was her psychiatrist," Lydia muttered, her eyes locked on the drawings Tracy pinned against the wall.

"Well, maybe that's why she was at the school," Kira suggested.

Lydia processed the idea, and crinkled her nose. "You think she was trying to find someone else who was trying to help?" When Tracy confided in Lydia and Sierra about her parasomnia, she never said she told anyone else. And Lydia was the one who went to her house to check the windows.

"Oh my gosh, what if it was you and Sierra?"

Lydia whirled around to face her friend, her eyebrows raised. She wasn't exactly keen on the idea of someone wanting to murder her. Again.

"Or, or not," Kira stuttered, noticing how her words sounded out loud. "Since that would mean she wants to kill you both."

But the longer Lydia thought about it, the more Kira's words made sense. "No, you're right," Lydia sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. "We were trying to help...but only because my mom said--"

Lydia didn't finish her sentence.

Her eyes widened and she spoke softly, her words breaking. "My mom." She gulped and looked up at Kira fearfully. "What if Tracy went to the school looking for her?"

"Then we'll find her before Tracy does," Kira quickly assured, stepping forward to rest a hand on Lydia's arm. "Where is she now?"

"Normally she'd be at home but she was meeting the sheriff at the station for a date," Lydia rushed out, her fingers trembling.

"Then that's where we're going," Kira stated, and grabbed her hand. The two ran out of the house to get to Lydia's car.

For all they knew, something could've happened at the animal clinic. Tracy could be terrorizing the streets and Lydia's mom could already be dead.

Recognizing her friend's anxious state, Kira took the keys and instructed Lydia to call Scott and Sierra. Hopefully the duo still had everything under control.

Lydia tried again and again, trying to get at least one of them to answer.

But the phone just kept on ringing.