{2.3}

"Ice Bitch"

***

KATRIN DIDN'T KNOW what to think.

 She only knew three things for certain in that exact moment: 

1. everyone seemed to be tripping absolute balls.

2. Ollie was obviously not having a good time (and Katrin had a theory that it was because of the full moon). 

3. Lydia Martin had something against cheesy, yet adorable, birthday presents.

 Fine, she would admit that she was still reeling over what had happened with the girl previously. Katrin was honestly excited to see her - she loved other peoples birthdays. It gave her an excuse to show affection without seeming like a complete idiot... and Katrin liked to show affection more than one would think. 

 So she got Lydia a necklace. It wasn't anything very fancy, it cost less than fifty dollars from a jewellery store in the mall. It was a gold chain, with a little emerald beaker charm. It reminded Katrin of Lydia so much that she had no other choice but to buy it. Come on - a beaker! A beaker for Lydia, who loved science and knew how to make molotiv cocktails! It was perfect, and Katrin knew that no other stupid bitch at this party had a better gift.  

So why was the girl suddenly continuing her preperation for the role she was born to play: annoying ice bitch?

 She supposed that was why she didn't realize something was wrong sooner. 

 She was looking for Ollie. 

 Really, she was looking for anyone. She hated full moons for more reasons than evil werewolves trying to kill her. She felt like it was a big fat stupid warning in the sky. Like she was risking something even being outside. The only issue was that she couldn't figure out what she was risking. She was completely normal ...

 Well, give or take.

 And Ollie was never even affected by the full moon. That being said, Scott was. And Katrin was so wrapped up in her annoyance with Lydia that she completely lost sight of him. 

 She supposed that was the thought that made her realize that something was wrong. She looked up and allowed her senses to fall into focus again, forcing any thoughts of Lydia Martin out of her brain. Besides, she didn't deserve Katrin's thoughts; much less her efforts. It was a good thing that Lydia showed her true colors. That saved Katrin a lot of time. Time that she could be spending doing something actually important. Like learning to play the flute. Or buying more weapons off of Amazon. Or preventing a girl from drowning in the punch bowl.

 That last one was the only one happening at the moment, though. 

  In her defense, her thoughts were muddled. People were shouting from all around; and it wasn't even the normal party yelling. Someone was crying in the corner - a girl in a silver dress - while a boy was laughing to himself and talking to a wall like it was a person. Katrin's eyebrows furrowed, the girl taking a step back so she could turn in a circle. Over by the glass doors, there was a brunette holding her stomach as if she had just been shot. Next to her was a boy standing completely still, his arms outstretched as if he was trying to keep his balance. Katrin turned to glance behind her, her lips parting in a soft gasp as she spotted a girl with her head beneath the liquid in the punch bowl. 

 Normally, that was a sight that Katrin would have laughed at. It was pretty ridiculous, especially since the punch was pink and the girl was wearing a shirt that was nearly the same color. But Katrin knew that something deeper than drunken idiocy was at play, so she ran over to pull the girl upwards by her shoulders.

 "Hey," She shook her shoulder, gently tapping her tanned cheek. "Hey, wake up-"

 Her eyes flew open with a loud gasp, and Katrin jumped away. The girl stared at her, her eyes wide as if she was staring at a ghost. She backed away, turning and running off. Within seconds she had disappeared into the crowd, leaving Katrin to place a hand on her temple with a deep sigh. 

 She needed Ollie. 

 But where was Ollie? He was acting weird outside - like he was having one of his visions. Katrin had seen it many times before, and she knew of the side effects. He would go still and his eyes would turn milky, then he would gasp and shake his head as if he had an ache behind his eyes. Outside, his side effects seemed more like that of a panic attack. Like he was having trouble breathing and gaining bearing of his surroundings. Katrin knew the feeling, and she also knew what she would do to escape it. 

 It took her a few tries. The first time she opened a door, all she found was a bathroom with a suspiciously clean mirror. The next time she ran into a vaccum cleaner that had been shoved in a closet. Finally, she was able to find something. She turned the bronze doorknob and leaned her weight forward, only to scowl in annoyance when the door dipped forward but didn't open. Like there was something blocking it. 

 She knocked gently, although her tone wasn't as soft as she hoped. "Ollie? Are you in there?" 

 It took a moment to get a response, and when she did she sighed in relief. It was unmistakably Ollie - despite his voice being tired and somewhat hoarse. "Yeah?" 

 "It's Katrin, let me in." 

 She counted to seven, before pushing the door open. Ollie was standing in front of her, his tan skin ashy and his eyes red. He looked - honestly - like he just smoked weed. But Katrin knew how unlikely that was, so she stepped inside the room and shut it tightly behind her. 

 "What's going on?" 

 Her cousin shook his head. He reached up and ran a hand through his hair - a telltale Ollie nervous habit. In all honesty, he didn't look all that much like Ollie. He had the same face, but his usually bright eyes were heavy with an emotion that Katrin couldn't place, and his shoulders were slumped like he wanted to disappear. He took a shaky breath before speaking. "I don't know. I have no idea. This has never happened to me before, and-" 

 The redhead's eyebrows furrowed. "To you?" 

 Ollie faltered, fiddling with the fabric of his shirt. "Yeah I... what were you talking about?"

Katrin wondered if anything dangerous was happening out there. If anyone was potentially in harms way to due what she could only assume was a fluke in some evil scheme dependent on the influence of the full moon. The odds were more likely than not, but still she asked; "Ollie, is something wrong?" 

 The boy hesitated. Katrin could see that he was trying to think of something to say that would allow them to move on. To not pay close attention to why he was hiding in a bedroom during a party. She shot him a sharper look. "Oliver." 

 Her warning. He knew it, as his shoulders slumped with his exasperated sigh. "Fine. I think that the full moon is... fucking with me?" 

 Katrin didn't even hesitate. "Fucking with you how? Claws and teeth or homicidial feelings?"

 The boy shook his head. "No. More like... headaches and weird visions that don't make sense. It's happening around-" he gestured his hands vaguely around his head, "-everyone. Supernatural or not. And it was fast, like I was having some sort of hallucination-slideshow."

 Hallucination slideshow. That was a first. 

 Katrin didn't know if hugging him was an appropriate route to take, and she decided against it. She didn't want to risk him having another freaky vision, and she especially didn't want him seeing her future. That was a whole level of scary that she wasn't ready to unlock. Instead, she gestured to the door with a weak wave of her hand. "Well you're not the only one. All of those losers are tripping balls for no reason. It's like the punch was laced with some weird drug that makes you hallucinate and act like an idiot." 

 Her words seemed to strike a chord in Ollie, as his eyes widened and he walked over to the door. Katrin had to jump out of the way to avoid touching him, and she stuck her foot in front of the door so that he couldn't open it. "Ol-" 

"The punch? Did you say the punch? Because I could count like, at least five people I know out there who were drinking that shit." 

 "At least five, but only two you really care about." Katrin retaliated, her tone indignant. "Scott and Stiles are fine. You don't have to go back out there and have another freak-out." 

 His voice rose with his frustration. "I'm not going to hide out in here like some sort of pathetic physic who can't handle his first full-moon issue." 

 "And that's a sentence I never thought I heard." Katrin focused on keeping her tone dry, but her heart was beating quickly in her chest. She didn't like when Ollie got mad, and even if he was just frustrated at her for preventing him from running off to help his boyfriend, she still felt uneasy. She had seen Ollie's anger get the better of him, and she knew that he hated it more than anything. So she spoke evenly, with a sharp edge to her tone that she knew made Ollie listen. "It's a risk every second right now, okay? As long as there's a full moon, there's a huge chance of things going wrong." 

 The two fell into silence, which was almost as unstable as shouting. Katrin knew Ollie better than she knew anyone else, and it made her chest hurt that he had to deal with this. That he had to feel so alone. Before he came around, she was alone - so she understood the feeling. Like you were standing on the edge of a cliff and one gust of wind could send you spiraling. But he was there for her, so now she had to be there for him. She had to be the brave one. Another facade; another face to wear with fake confidence that felt sticky under her fingertips.

 That was why when Ollie turned to run out of the room, she just followed him. 

 ***

WHEN OLLIE SAW SCOTT, he was so relieved he almost allowed himself to pass out.

 That relief was replaced with dread when he saw what was going on. Scott was knelt in front of Stiles, who was slumped against the wall with a far off look in his eyes. Ollie took a second to mentally curse out Lydia and her weed-punch, as well as the moon that was still glaring at him from the sky; and rushed over. 

 He put his hands on either side of the boy's face and shook him lightly. Another wave of relief flushed over him at the lack of vision, but he stamped it down. Worry creased his eyebrows, and he gently slapped the side of Stiles's face. "Stiles? Stiles you gotta snap out of it."

 He turned to Scott. "What the hell is going on?"

 "I think it's the punch," Scott said, Ollie's head immediately whipping over to trade a surprised look with Katrin. "Everyone who drank it is like, totally freaking out."

 "I didn't drink it," Ollie mumbled, speaking more to himself than anything. Questions were building up like a migraine under his skull, but he ignored them and held his hand back. He was intending to slap Stiles - that was a tactic for sobering people up, right? - but stopped when a hand grabbed his wrist. 

 Katrin shot him an unimpressed look. "You were seriously about to slap your boyfriend in the face?"

 Stiles shook his head, his words slightly slurred. "Don't slap me." 

 "Yes, obviously I was going to slap him." To prove a point, Ollie licked his thumb and rubbed it on Stiles's cheek. The boy didn't even cringe, he just kept staring vacantly forward, his eyes seeming to be brimming with tears. "He's obviously upset, what else am I supposed to do?"

 Katrin rolled her eyes. She gestured for Ollie to step back, so he did so reluctantly, sharing a look with Scott as the girl spoke. "You three obviously have no experience with quickly sobering up. You need a good old fashioned shock to his system, something to snap him out of it." She grabbed a handful of the collar of Stiles's shirt, and shoved him to the side sharply. Ollie felt his heart skip a beat as she held his head under the water of the pool. Scott must have heard it, as he reached over to pat Ollie's leg reassuringly. 

 Katrin pulled the boy back to his spot, him now gasping for air and shivering as water soaked the front of his shirt. Ollie grabbed onto his hand and squeezed it, shooting him a small smile. "How do you feel, Stilinski?"

 Stiles shivered again, shaking his head to make droplets of water fly off his skin. He turned to shoot Katrin a whithering glare, annoyance evident in his tone. "Like I'm rethinking my policy on never hitting a girl." 

 The redhead smirked, "as if you could take me." 

 "Guys, we have to find Lydia," Scott said, patting Stiles's ankle as if to make sure he was in one piece. The brunet geniunely seemed worried, and Ollie knew that in this situation, Scott knew best. "I don't know what she did, but she did something. It can't all be a coincidence." 

 Ollie stole a look at Katrin, who bit the inside of her cheek. She spoke with a surprisingly hostility free tone. 

 "It's her house, how hard can it be?"

 Scott scoffed, "you never know. We split up and bring her to the front yard if we find her. Away from all the people."

 All the people were currently Ollie's biggest concern. He felt a cold flash of anxiety in his chest at the prospect of wandering through more crowds. Luckily, Katrin seemed to catch that. 

 "I'll go upstairs, Stiles can check this floor, and Scott can look outside." She said, crossing her arms. "Ollie, stay here in case she loops around." 

  As Scott nodded and rose to his feet, Ollie shot the girl a grateful look. He stood up on uneven knees and pulled Stiles to his feet. He leaned closer to the boy, lowering his voice. "Look, I hate to ask, but... when you were, you know, did you see... your dad?" 

 The boy nodded softly. "Yeah, actually. How did you know?"

 Ollie exhaled, unease building in his throat. "Lucky guess."

At the look he received, he knew for a fact that Stiles didn't buy a word of his lies. Fortunately, they had more pressing shit to deal with, and after exchanging a few words with Scott, Stiles squeezed Ollie's bicep and turned to disappear into the house. 

 Once he was alone, Ollie was allowed to re-begin his overthinking process. 

 The full moon was still in the sky, and Ollie could feel it digging its claws into his back. He crossed his arms tightly, leaning against the wall in an attempt to make himself as small as possible. All the while, he sifted through his thoughts in an attempt to gain at least a sliver of understanding about why the full moon was just now beginning to affect him. He wasn't a werewolf - and it was one of the only things he knew with one hundred percent certainty. Even if he was, he would put the whole 'claws and fangs' thing aside. That's embarassing. And stupid. And totally did not fit Ollie's vibe. 

 A splash from the pool brought his attention back to the present. More people were seemingly going batshit crazy, and jumping into the pool was apparently one of the side effects. It wasn't until a panic shout sounded from that direction that he actually began to pay attention. 

 "Hey, hey!" The voice shouted, although it was the fear in the familiar tone that made Ollie glance over. It was Matt. Creepy pervert camera Matt, who was now being grabbed by two guys and being dragged over to the pool. "Hey, stop! I Can't swim! I can't-" 

 His yells were cut off when he managed to squirm out of the boys arms, immediately casting a shameful look over the party. Ollie's eyes followed him, a crease forming between his eyebrows. Swimming. Stiles said something about swimming to him. Something about the murders and Isaac's dad...

 Well, a puzzle's a puzzle.

 Ollie wished he didn't but he stepped forward to walk towards Matt. He saw the boy glance at him, and his curiosity only piqued when he turned and quickly ducked into the house. 

 Ollie picked up his pace, forcing himself to stay focused. He would occasionally bump into someone and lose sight of Matt when a hazy vision overcame his eyesight. Luckily, they were only short lived. Still, by the time he got to the back of Lydia's house, he had lost sight of the boy. 

 "Shit," Ollie muttered, scowling. It wasn't until he was about to turn away that he noticed the door near the corner of the room. The wind had pushed it open, signifying that it wasn't fully shut. Ollie mentally praised himself for a moment, wondering if he should become a detective, before running to the door and pushing it open. 

 Another lucky point, as well as a fact that Ollie felt he should confirm: Matt was fucking stupid. He was in the backyard of Lydia's house, lurking near the treeline when Ollie caught sight of him. That was pretty much the most suspicious thing that anyone could possibly do at a house party. He could have been cooking meth in the kitchen and that would have been less suspcious.

 But Ollie didn't want to act like too much of a weirdo himself, so he raised his hand and called out. "Hey, Matt!" 

 He walked at a relatively average pace, the brunet's wide eyes passing as surprised as Ollie approached. "Oliver!" He said, chuckling and shoving his hands in his pockets. "Hey, what are you doing out here?" 

 "I have a perfume allergy," Ollie lied, smiling sheepishly. It was a lie, but Matt knew nothing about Ollie other than the fact that he once beat the shit out of Jackson while he had a restraining order against him. The boy hoped that was enough to make Matt a little bit nervous, and he flashed him a grin to try and unsettle him further. "There's too much perfume in that house right now. Thought I'd get some air." 

 "Oh," Matt seemed as if he didn't know how to respond to that, which Ollie was hoping for. It gave him leeway to continue speaking and make it not seem too odd. 

 "Yeah, I saw what happened by the pool." He placed a hand on his chest. "I'm an awful swimmer. Destroyed my phone when I fell into a pool."

 Technically true, but it was Stiles's fault and involved a homicidal snake and a paralyzed werewolf man who thought Ollie's name was Oscar.

"Oh, yeah I-" Matt chuckled nervously, "Parties aren't really my thing. I just thought it'd be nice... Y'know, since it's Lydia's birthday and all."

 Ollie crossed his arm and pretended to be interested. "Mhm, you are Lydia are friends?" 

 Ha, he knew that wasn't true. Matt was kind of creepy - and although Lydia had a history of dating creepy weirdos, she was also very much someone who judged based on first impressions. And there was no way Matt made a good first impression on her.

 As the boy stumbled for his answer, Ollie glanced at his shoulder. He wondered if he could reach out and pat it without seeming like a weirdo. Or maybe he could, but then he had a vision that made him stand in place for a few seconds? He could blame it on his allergy, maybe it gave him a physical reaction...

 As Matt continued lying out of his ass, Ollie decided that it was worth it either way. Information was too valuable, and having Matt think he was unstable really didn't matter to Ollie. Plus, he had to get home soon. He didn't want Nicole to worry, and he was seriously done with the full moon. 

 He reached over and brushed his knuckles against the boy's arm. 

 And boy was it a mistake.

 The first thing he felt was a pain in his stomach that felt too real to be a figment of the future. The smoky haze of his vision encapsulated him, making him feel as if he was floating on a really daunting cloud of death.

 The first thing he saw was Matt. Obviously. But Ollie didn't care about that. All he cared about was the creature that was posed around his ankles. Waiting with its yellow eyes and sharp scales. Almost as if he was... protecting him.

 A punch to the face forced Ollie back to the present. In all honesty, he thought it was just another mind fuck from his vision; but when his back hit the ground and tears sprung to his eyes he figured that it was real. 

 Unfortunately for him, he was so out of it that it took him two more hits to figure out what was going on. He brought his arms up to cover his face and rolled to the side, gasping as he struggled to right himself. The metallic flavor of blood overrided his senses, and when Ollie gently touched his lip, his fingers came back crimson.

 It was no surprise that it was Jackson.

 Ollie gasped for air, his face hurting as well as his head as he mustered up the strength to glare at the boy. He was glowering down at him, his eyes spaced out and his knuckles clenched. Ollie spit a glob of blood onto the ground, annoying brimming in his tone. "Seriously? What about the restraining order, dick?"

 He knew he should've stayed silent, but that wasn't in his blood. Although as he looked up at Jackson, he felt his eyebrows furrow. Why wasn't he turned? He would have thought that Matt would have enlisted his super-secret homicidal lizard man to protect him, not some idiot teenager that Ollie had already beaten the shit out of countless times.

 But then it struck him. The punch. Jackson probably drank the punch. That means that there was at least a small part of him that was human, and a small part of him that was stoned out of his mind. Jackson took advantage of Ollie's vision, maybe he could do the same. 

 "What are you doing?" Matt demanded, his tone way too harsh to be speaking to someone who could probably kill him with one punch. "What do you think punching him is gonna do?"

 "Aw, come on, Matt." Ollie rose to his feet, ignoring the throbbing in his nose and the blood on his lip, "you should really be nicer to your pet."

 Jackson's eyes turned yellow, and Ollie's heartbeat quickened. Shit. Maybe it was a bad idea to taunt the evil lizard man after he already beat him up. Ollie turned with the full intention to sprint back to the party and hope Matt wasn't stupid enough to kill him with a bunch of eyewitnesses. Before he got the chance, Matt yelled something else at Jackon, and Ollie froze as he felt a sharp sting on the back of his neck.

 He knew what it was, but he thought that maybe if he ignored it, nothing would happen. He tried to take another step, but all of a sudden it felt as if his leg weighed one thousand pounds. The ground was quicksand, and he was sinking - and any second he was going to suffocate.

 He fell on his back, the panic seizing his chest almost counteracting the pain in his head. And the last thing he saw before everything faded to darkness was the foreboding  and watchful eye of the full moon. A beacon in the sky that still couldn't manage to save him.