-

Amelia leaned against her locker, dressed in her lacrosse practice gear, her mind lost in thought. She was still processing the revelation that Hanisa's father, Krish Chandi, was one of the Hunters who attacked her and Hana during the full moon over the weekend. Stiles, having just finished getting ready for practice, noticed Amelia's dazed expression and decided to approach her.

"Did you apologize to Hanisa?" Stiles asked, a hint of curiosity in his voice.

Amelia, still lost in her thoughts, nodded weakly. "Yeah."

Stiles, wanting more details, pressed further. "Is she giving you a second chance, or...?"

Amelia, struggling to focus, nodded once more. "Yeah."

Stiles couldn't contain his excitement for her and tried to encourage her. "Yeah? All right! So, everything's good?"

Amelia shook her head weakly, finally starting to come out of her overwhelmed state. Stiles furrowed his brow in confusion. "No?"

Amelia confirmed, "No..."

Stiles pressed on, wanting to understand what was bothering her. "No...?"

Amelia finally made eye contact with Stiles as she attempted to explain. "Remember... the Hunters? Her dad is one of 'em."

Stiles' eyes widened in shock. "Her dad--?"

Amelia, now more focused, cut off Stiles to clarify. "Shot me--"

Stiles interrupted with disbelief. "Hanisa's father--?"

Amelia finished her sentence with a heavy sigh. "--with a crossbow."

Stiles, still in disbelief, dramatically repeated himself. "Hanisa's father?"

Amelia, growing increasingly impatient, nodded emphatically. "Yes! Her father!"

Seeing that Amelia was panicking again, Stiles urged her to calm down. "No, Amelia. Snap back!"

Amelia snapped out of her panic and met Stiles' gaze with concern. Stiles sighed in relief. "You okay?"

Amelia nodded, and Stiles continued to reassure her. "Hey, all right? He didn't recognize you, right?"

Amelia took a moment to think before responding slowly. "No... N-no, I don't think so..."

Stiles asked another important question. "Does she know about him?"

Amelia's eyes widened as she realized she had no idea if Hanisa knew about her family's status as Werewolf Hunters. Panic started to creep in once more. "Oh, yeah, I don't know! What if she does? This is gonna kill me, man--"

Stiles grabbed Amelia's shoulders, forcing her to focus on him, and spoke in a reassuring tone. "Okay, just focus on lacrosse. Okay?"

Stiles handed Amelia the rest of her lacrosse gear, pushing it into her hands. "Here, Amelia. Take this. Take this, and focus on lacrosse for now, okay? That's all you gotta do, yeah?"

Amelia took a deep breath, reluctantly nodding in agreement. "Lacrosse."

Stiles nodded in encouragement, patting her on the arms as he emphasized his next words. "Here. We. Go!"

Together, Amelia and Stiles left the locker room, with Stiles almost tripping over his own feet in his enthusiasm.

-

Amelia and Stiles arrived at the lacrosse field just as Coach Finstock began announcing their first task.

"Let's go! One-on-one from up top!" Coach called out.

James, who was running onto the field, was instructed to take a long stick for this practice. He nodded and quickly swapped his stick, then joined the others on the field. When Coach blew his whistle, the team sprang into action. Players ran around, passing the ball, and giving each other some shoulder-checks in their attempts to score goals. Coach watched their moves with an intense expression from the sidelines.

"That's how you do it, James! That's how you do it!" Coach cheered as James successfully stole the ball from a player using his longer stick.

However, James's aggressive tactics were a bit much, as he hit one of the players in the back with the blunt end of his stick. Coach wasn't pleased.

"Greenberg, take a lap!" Coach ordered.

Greenberg grudgingly obeyed, running around the field as Coach turned his attention to the lined-up players ready for their one-on-one rounds. Amelia, now at the front of the line, readied herself.

"Let's go! Faster, Greenberg! Let's go," Coach urged impatiently.

Distracted and still lost in thought, Amelia snapped back to reality when Coach shouted her name.

"Gilbert, what are you waiting for? Let's go!" Coach demanded.

James was waiting for her, ready to show her up with his long stick. Amelia clenched her jaw and ran toward James. However, James easily tackled Amelia, tossing her flat onto her back on the grassy field.

Coach didn't waste time in mocking her. "Hey, Amelia!"

Over by the lineup, Stiles winced sympathetically at Amelia's bad play. He looked worriedly at Amelia, who was still on the ground.

"Gilbert!" James taunted, standing over Amelia. "You sure you still want to be first line?"

Coach made his way to Amelia as James walked away, and Amelia quickly jumped to her feet, her embarrassment mixed with pain.

"My-my grandmother can move faster than that-- and she's dead!" Coach shouted mockingly. "You think you can move faster than the lifeless corpse of my dead grandmother?"

Amelia, angry and frustrated, couldn't respond as she clenched her jaw. Coach kept taunting her.

"I can't hear you!" Coach yelled.

Amelia finally looked up at Coach, her irises flashing gold. She gritted her teeth and muttered irritably, "Yes, Coach."

Coach, still trying to provoke Amelia into a more competitive mindset, continued his mockery. "Then do it again!"

Amelia sighed, still clearly upset, and ran back into position. Coach shouted mockingly to the rest of the players, "Gilbert's gonna do it again!"

James returned to his position in the midfield, and Amelia moved back to the front of the line for one-on-ones. Though her eyes were no longer glowing gold, she still looked determined and angry. Coach blew his whistle to start the round.

"Let's go!" Coach commanded.

Amelia charged toward James, gripping her lacrosse stick tightly. She collided with James, shoulder-checking him in the collarbone with her right shoulder. James fell backward, landing flat on his back in the grass, clutching his shoulder in pain.

Stiles, panicked, ran over to Amelia, concerned about her. Everyone else rushed to check on James, while Coach instructed them to back up and give James some space.

Amelia's fangs had come out, and her eyes were glowing bright gold as she desperately tried to prevent a full transformation.

"Amelia? Amelia, you okay?" Stiles asked, throwing his arm around her shoulders and clutching her arm.

Amelia had clearly lost control, and Stiles was startled. "What? Right here? Now?"

Amelia looked around, realizing everyone else was distracted by James's injury. Panic set in once more. "Oh, yeah, I don't know! What if they see? This is gonna kill me, man--"

Stiles quickly grabbed her shoulders, forcing her to focus on him. "Okay, just focus on lacrosse. Okay?"

He handed Amelia the rest of her lacrosse gear, pushing it into her hands. "Here, Amelia. Take this. Take this, and focus on lacrosse for now, okay? That's all you gotta do, yeah?"

Amelia took a deep breath, reluctantly nodding in agreement. "Lacrosse."

Stiles nodded in encouragement, patting her on the arms as he emphasized his next words. "Here. We. Go!"

Together, Amelia and Stiles left the field. Unbeknownst to them, Hana watched from behind the stands, his gaze focused on their exit.

-

Amelia and Stiles finally reached the locker room after leaving the lacrosse field. Stiles gently pushed Amelia through the door.

"Come on, here we go," he urged.

Amelia, still reeling from her near-transformation, fell to her knees next to one of the sinks. Stiles followed suit.

"Sit down. You okay?" Stiles asked, concern etched on his face. He crouched down in front of Amelia, trying to make eye contact.

"Amelia, you okay?" he repeated, his voice filled with worry.

Overwhelmed, Amelia finally looked up and let out a desperate, piercing scream. Her eyes glowed a bright gold.

"GET AWAY FROM ME!" she shouted.

The force of Amelia's roar sent Stiles tumbling backward, and he ended up on the floor, crawling away from her. He quickly got to his feet and darted behind a row of lockers.

He had to crawl backward to put some distance between himself and the transformed werewolf Amelia, who now seemed to be stalking him. Stiles scrambled to his feet, flinging himself behind a row of lockers.

From his vantage point on top of the lockers, Amelia peered down at Stiles, her vision tinged with the red haze of rage that had triggered her transformation. She watched him intently as he once again fell onto the floor, desperately trying to regain his footing and escape. Amelia slowly crawled to the end of the locker row, never taking her eyes off Stiles.

Using heating vents along the ceiling, she maneuvered herself to follow Stiles, who had circled around the locker room and ended up near the entrance. Startled and desperate, Stiles bumped into a fire extinguisher. He grabbed it, formulating a plan. Waiting for Amelia to jump down from the lockers, he sprayed the extinguisher at her.

Amelia was taken aback and disoriented as the white foam enveloped her. She covered her face with her hands, trying to shield herself from the spray. Stiles stopped spraying, prepared to use the extinguisher again if necessary. He huddled just outside the locker room door, clutching the extinguisher tightly, ready for whatever came next.

Inside the locker room, a dazed and bewildered Amelia sat down on one of the benches. She slowly removed her helmet and called out in a weak voice, her anger and ferocity having momentarily subsided.

"Stiles...?"

Stiles, still on high alert, peeked around the door frame cautiously. He saw Amelia, covered in sweat, squinting at him from the bench.

"What happened?" she asked weakly.

Stiles, exhausted from the chase and exasperated by the situation, sighed deeply. He walked inside, looking at Amelia with an exhausted yet serious expression. He dropped the fire extinguisher to the floor with a loud clatter and began removing his gloves, tossing them aside forcefully to underscore the gravity of the situation.

"You tried to kill me," Stiles said plainly.

Amelia sighed, her guilt apparent as Stiles crouched in front of her, locking eyes with her. He reminded her of their research from the previous weekend.

"It's like I told you before—it's the anger, it's your pulse rising. It's a trigger," Stiles reiterated.

Amelia let out a tired, defeated laugh. "But that's lacrosse. It's a pretty violent game, if you hadn't noticed..."

Stiles' tone became firm, emphasizing the urgency of the matter. "Well, it's gonna be a lot more violent if you end up killing someone on the field."

Stiles sighed deeply and maintained eye contact with Amelia. "You can't play on Saturday. You're gonna have to sit this one out."

"I'm first line—"

Amelia immediately attempted to protest, but Stiles shut her down firmly.

"Not anymore," Stiles declared, his determination unwavering.

-

The lacrosse practice had left Amelia and Stiles tired. They walked together across the courtyard, their laughter punctuated by comments about the day's practice.

As they strolled, Stiles' attention shifted to Matt and Elena, who were walking a few paces ahead of them. His gaze lingered on them, and a hint of concern crept across his face as he remembered what had happened to Vicki. It was a lingering mystery that had been gnawing at him since the incident.

Stiles slowed his pace, and with a discreet nudge to Amelia's arm, he inclined his head subtly towards Matt and Elena, his voice low and hushed.

"Hey, can you hear them? Matt and Elena," he whispered, his curiosity getting the best of him.

Amelia, her senses attuned to her heightened hearing, concentrated for a moment, listening in on their conversation.

Matt's voice carried as he spoke, and Amelia's eyes widened slightly at the words she picked up. She shifted her attention back to Stiles, her expression mirroring his concern.

"They're keeping her overnight to make sure there's no infection, but she should be able to come home tomorrow," she relayed the conversation quietly to Stiles.

Elena responded to Matt, and Amelia continued to listen. "That's good news," Elena said with a hint of relief in her voice.

"Did you get in touch with your mom?" Matt's voice questioned, his tone tinged with resignation.

Amelia heard the disappointment in Matt's voice as he spoke of his mother. "Called and left a message. She's in Virginia Beach with her boyfriend, so...we'll see how long it takes her to come rushing home," he replied.

Elena empathized with Vicki's situation, and Amelia picked up on her sentiment. "Vicki's lucky that she's okay," Elena commented genuinely.

Matt then mentioned the unsettling talk about missing campers, and Amelia couldn't help but feel a shiver of concern. Elena's next question, however, made her pause.

"Did she say what kind of animal it was that attacked her?" Elena asked, her voice edged with curiosity.

Matt's response took both Amelia by surprise. "She said it was a vampire," he revealed.

Stiles' eyes looks at Amelia expression which is wild, "What?"

"Yeah, she wakes up and mutters 'vampire' and then passes out," Matt explained further.

"she said it was a vampire." she relayed the conversation quietly to Stiles, shock evident in her face. 

Amelia and Stiles shared a concerned look, both realizing that this information was far from ordinary.

"Okay, that is weird," Elena agreed, her voice tinged with apprehension.

Amelia and Stiles continued their walk across the courtyard, their faces etched with concern after overhearing Matt and Elena's conversation.

Stiles, his brow furrowed in thought, turned to Amelia. "You heard what Matt said about Vicki, right?"

Amelia nodded, her expression mirroring his concern. "Yeah, that vampire thing. It's strange."

Stiles rubbed his chin, deep in thought. "You know, what if she's like you? I mean, what if she got bitten by something, and now she's mistaking it for a vampire attack?"

Amelia considered the possibility, her mind racing with the implications of such a revelation. "It's possible," she admitted slowly. 

Stiles nodded, a determined look in his eyes. "We should go to the hospital, see how she's doing.  It could help us figure out what's really going on."

Amelia agreed with a resolute nod. 

-

Amelia and Stiles walked briskly through the hospital hallway, their footsteps echoing against the sterile walls. Stiles glanced around nervously, feeling out of place.

Stiles leaned in closer to Amelia and spoke in a hushed tone, "We need to make this quick, Amelia. Just check on Vicki, see how her wound is doing, and get out."

"If she's like you, the wound should be long gone by now."

Amelia nods. 

As they kept walking, they suddenly bumped into someone rushing in the opposite direction. It was Stefan Salvatore, and he appeared to be in a hurry, his brow furrowed with concern.

Stiles, Amelia, and Stefan found themselves in the hospital hallway, and the atmosphere quickly grew awkward. Stiles, trying to break the silence, started to talk a little too much.

"Hey Stefan, we just thought we'd check on Vicki, you know, since we're all friends here, and she's been through quite a lot lately. Not that we were eavesdropping or anything. Just being good friends." Stiles rambled a lot when he was nervous, and it was never as obvious as it was at that moment.

Amelia stood by, nodding dumbly in support.

Stefan glanced at Amelia and Stiles with an odd, awkward expression as they stand in the dimly lit hospital corridor.

"I was just visiting someone," he said, his voice soft and somewhat hesitant. "But I'm on my way out now."

With a nod, he offered a polite yet somewhat reserved smile and began to walk away down the hallway, leaving Amelia and Stiles to continue on their mission to check on Vicki.

Stiles and Amelia quietly entered Vicki's hospital room, their steps hushed by the sterile linoleum floor. The room was dimly lit, with Vicki lying still on the hospital bed, her eyes closed. She seemed to be in a deep sleep, and the machines around her beeped rhythmically, monitoring her condition.

As they approached the bed, Amelia's heart raced with anticipation. Stiles, trying to suppress his anxiety, swallowed hard and nodded toward Vicki's bandaged neck. Amelia gently lifted the bandage, her fingers trembling slightly as they revealed the wound beneath. What they saw sent a shiver down their spines - the puncture marks on Vicki's neck were still raw and oozing blood, far from healed.

Amelia and Stiles exchanged a perplexed look as they observed the unhealed wound on Vicki's neck.

Amelia whispered softly, "Stiles, this doesn't look like anything like my bite mark. It should have healed by now."

Stiles nodded in agreement, his voice equally hushed, "You're right, it's strange. Maybe it really was an animal attack and not some supernatural demon."

Let's hope that that is the case.

₪
Disclaimer: I do not own the body of work that is The Vampire Diaries and Teen Wolf. Only the character Amelia Gilbert.
₪

I hope you enjoy this new story.
Comment
Like
Imanstar52