❛ All you do is take, take, take, like a river. Swallow up who's in your way. ❜

SEASON 2, EPISODE 4
abomination

AFTER WILLOW LEFT with her dad, she was given a two-in-the-morning update over text from Scott on what had happened the night before just, so she knew the following morning before school. Stiles had an encounter with a strange shape-shifter stalking around town separate from Derek and his new pack. At the same time, Scott was jumped by Scott's pack, rescued by Deaton, and learned that Deaton seemed to know a lot more about all of this than any of the kids realized.

⠀⠀⠀Willow took in what he sent and sought the two out before classes began for the day. She was walking down the stairs, finding the two sitting at the bottom of the steps and staring at each other as best friends as they spoke softly. Willow only stopped when she heard what Stiles was saying.

⠀⠀⠀"I'm so sorry about the other day. I'm trying. We'll get through this," Stiles told Scott, his smile soft and his eyes warm as he stared into Scott's. "Uh, I know, because I love you. I love you more than—"

⠀⠀⠀Willow let out a laugh from behind her lips she didn't mean to let escape, the two turning to her, and Stiles' face immediately broke into annoyance.

⠀⠀⠀"Oh, my God! I can't—" he exclaimed, turning from her and back to Scott with a stern glare. "You and Allison just have to find a better way to communicate."

⠀⠀⠀"That wasn't you talking?" Willow asked, walking further down the steps so she could sit between them on the stage above them.

⠀⠀⠀"Ha, ha," Stiles snarkily imitated a laugh back at her, glaring. "No."

⠀⠀⠀"Come on," Scott sighed, hitting Stiles across the arm playfully. "You're the only one that Allison and I can trust."

⠀⠀⠀"What about Willow?" Stiles asked, throwing his hands back at her, and she raised her hands in surrender as he did.

⠀⠀⠀"We tried that," Scott said, his face deadpanning. "She'd forget what we said and makeup stuff."

⠀⠀⠀"Like what?" Stiles retorted, raising an eyebrow.

⠀⠀⠀"Like, 'Allison said, she really loves you, but she doesn't know how much longer she can take it. Your mom is just way hotter than you,'" Scott explained, frowning as he turned to look at Willow.

⠀⠀⠀"Is it really wrong if I'm still telling the truth?" Willow asked with a slight shrug.

⠀⠀⠀"Anyway," Scott sighed, turning back to Stiles. "Is she coming to the game tonight?"

⠀⠀⠀"Yes! Okay, message complete," Stiles huffed. "Now, tell me about your boss."

⠀⠀⠀Scott turned to look between the two and sighed, "He thinks that Allison's family keeps some kind of, uh, records of all the things that they've hunted. Like a book."

⠀⠀⠀"He probably means a bestiary," Stiles stated, Willow nodding in reply, and he turned to look at her. "Your parents have a library. Maybe there's one in there instead of going into the lion's den."

⠀⠀⠀"I can ask, but we have a lot more on witches than bestiaries on other creatures," Willow explained. They were cut off from their discussion as Scott started to chuckle.

⠀⠀⠀"I think you mean bestiality," Scott corrected the two.

⠀⠀⠀Willow and Stiles stared at him blankly.

⠀⠀⠀Stiles took the lead, thinning his lips, and shook his head as he said, "Nope, pretty sure we don't."

⠀⠀⠀Scott still looked lost, and Willow picked up after him, saying, "It's an encyclopedia of mythical creatures."

⠀⠀⠀Scott's face fell as he looked between the two and the fact that they didn't start laughing and tell him he was right all along. Instead, he let out an annoyed huff, flapping his hands around him when he realized they knew what they were talking about.

⠀⠀⠀"How am I the only one who doesn't know anything about this stuff?" Scott asked.

⠀⠀⠀"Okay, you're my best friend, and she's my ex, creatures of the night. It's kind of like a priority of mine," Stiles stated. He placed his hand on Scott's shoulder to reassure him it wasn't on him to be doing the research.

⠀⠀⠀"And I've grown up with it my whole life, so..."

⠀⠀⠀Scott sighed but nodded.

⠀⠀⠀"Okay, if we can find it or if Willow has it, and it can tell us what this thing is—"

⠀⠀⠀"And who," Stiles added.

⠀⠀⠀"We need that book," they both said together, all three pausing at the moment before moving off the stairs to figure out their next steps.

"I THINK YOU mean—"

⠀⠀⠀"No, I mean bestiary," Stiles cut Allison off before she could say the exact same thing. "And the two of you, I don't want to know what's going on in your heads."

⠀⠀⠀"Okay, um," Allison muttered, scratching her forehead before looking back up at him. "Can you describe this thing?"

⠀⠀⠀"Uh, it's probably like a book. Old, worn," Stiles explained.

⠀⠀⠀"Like, bound in leather?"

⠀⠀⠀With the confirmation Allison's grandfather most likely had a bestiary, Stiles went sprinting across the campus to find Scott, panting as he caught up to him in the hall.

⠀⠀⠀"Yes, seen her grandfather. With a book like that," Stiles panted, stopping beside him.

⠀⠀⠀"Where does he keep it?" Scott asked him.

⠀⠀⠀Stiles sighed, sprinting again to find Allison but stopped seeing Willow and Blair walking together.

⠀⠀⠀"Sorry, sorry," he told them, waving his hands and panting as he placed his hands on his knees.

⠀⠀⠀"It's alright, Stiles," Blair assured him with a small smile. "Been with Dillon?" she asked him innocently, a slight smirk coming up to her lips as he looked up at her with a raised eyebrow.

⠀⠀⠀"No," he told her, shaking his head in annoyance. "I just came. To ask. If Willow's mom. Had the book," he explained, turning to her.

⠀⠀⠀"She said she has one, but nothing like you described in it," Willow explained with a slight frown. "Most of her books are from Europe, Asia, and Africa, so it seems like the etymology of the creature you're wanting to present on isn't from there."

⠀⠀⠀Stiles sighed, his shoulders slumping as he looked to the door closest to them.

⠀⠀⠀"Okay, thanks," Stiles panted, picking himself up.

⠀⠀⠀"What's your presentation on?" Blair asked curiously, furrowing her brows. "Is this for English?"

⠀⠀⠀"Yeah, English," Stiles nodded, looking to Willow then Blair. "We're given a mythological creature by description and have to figure out what it is based on that," he explained, nodding his head. "I'd love to chat, but I have to talk to Allison."

⠀⠀⠀Blair nodded, and Stiles ran back out to the courtyard and to Allison.

⠀⠀⠀"Where. Does he. Keep it?" he asked Allison, nearly tripping over himself as he did.

⠀⠀⠀"His office, I guess," Allison explained with a shrug. "He doesn't keep it at home. I would've seen it recently."

⠀⠀⠀Stiles nodded, running back into the school and slammed into the lockers beside Scott.

⠀⠀⠀"She says. Has to be. Office."

⠀⠀⠀"Can she get it?" Scott asked, and Stiles rolled his eyes, running off again.

⠀⠀⠀"You know," Stiles told Allison, taking Scott's inhaler he still held onto and taking a large intake of air to help catch his breath. "Drug dealers have been using disposable cell phones pretty successfully for years."

⠀⠀⠀"My parents check every call, email, and text message I send," Allison told him simply. "Trust me, they'd find it."

⠀⠀⠀"All right," Stiles sighed but didn't really believe her comment thinking that him running around the school would draw more attention than her with a second phone. "Can you get the book?"

⠀⠀⠀"Not without his keys," Allison stated.

⠀⠀⠀Stiles nodded, about to run again but paused.

⠀⠀⠀"I might have something better," Stiles told her, backing away as he pointed a finger at her. "Don't do anything yet. It might be a little bit before you hear from me."

⠀⠀⠀Stiles ran across the campus again, thankfully finding Willow alone, this time outside of the girl's restroom as she waited for Blair.

⠀⠀⠀"Willow," Stiles called, jogging over to her.

⠀⠀⠀"If you have something to say, say it quick," Willow told him. "She'll be out any second now."

⠀⠀⠀"Can you break into Allison's grandfather's office without his keys?" Stiles asked her, raising an eyebrow.

⠀⠀⠀"Most likely," Willow commented. "I doubt his office is lined with mountain ash or has sigils up to keep me trapped."

⠀⠀⠀"Okay," Stiles nodded, still panting as he leaned on the wall beside her. "Good, good. Meet me at the lacrosse game tonight. We'll go in then."

⠀⠀⠀Willow nodded back, the bell rang, and Stiles headed toward his class while Willow waited for Blair before heading to hers.

WILLOW AND STILES had been at the lacrosse game separately. Stiles sitting on the bench, answering Coach's questions about the abomination of a player on the other team. While Willow and Blair watched their friends and Blair's step-brother play against.

⠀⠀⠀It was less than halfway through, giving enough time to appear normal that they both slipped away. Stiles without saying anything, and Willow telling Blair she needed to use the restroom.

⠀⠀⠀The two were headed toward the school when Stiles paused a couple of times, his head whipping back and forth between their destination and a blue car in one of the parking spots.

⠀⠀⠀"Is that Lydia?" Stiles whispered, staring at the car as he spoke to Willow.

⠀⠀⠀Willow stopped, turning to look where he was to see Lydia's car with the light on as she sobbed alone, her window down so they could just barely hear her.

⠀⠀⠀"Uh, yeah," Willow whispered back, raising an eyebrow as they both looked at each other.

⠀⠀⠀"Hey, Lydia," Stiles exclaimed, walking to the car quickly. "What's wrong?" he asked, but she rolled the window upon him, and he sighed, leaning down to try and get her to roll it back up.

⠀⠀⠀"Just go away," she told him, her arm covering her face as she turned away from him.

⠀⠀⠀"Stiles," Willow told him, pushing him away from the window. "Go," she finished, pointing to the parking lot beside them.

⠀⠀⠀"What—?"

⠀⠀⠀Willow ignored him, walking around the car to the passenger's seat. She knocked on the window, and Lydia looked over to her, rolling her eyes and frowned, looking away.

⠀⠀⠀"Lydia," Willow said to her. "I have to do something right now, but I just want to say something."

⠀⠀⠀Lydia didn't move, Willow watching as she opened her mouth, probably to make an annoyed sigh, but finally, she complied, unlocking the door. Willow opened it before she could lock it again, slipping inside and closing the door. She locked it back before Stiles could try to slip inside.

⠀⠀⠀"I'm not here to talk about your feelings," Willow told Lydia simply, and Lydia scoffed at the statement, shaking her head with a small smile. Willow stared at her, unamused, but continued. "Just listen to me."

⠀⠀⠀"Alright," Lydia muttered, turning to look at her with glassy eyes and a thin smile that screamed tortured teenage girl living through hell right now. "What?"

⠀⠀⠀"I know you've been through a lot, and it hasn't been that long since it's happened—" Willow explained, trying to be as concerned and considerate to Lydia as she could be.

⠀⠀⠀"Since I was attacked on the lacrosse field by some animal and you and Stiles left me to die?" Lydia retorted, annoyed, her smile coming off more callous as she narrowed her eyes. "No, I remember, don't worry."

⠀⠀⠀"Lydia," Willow hissed at her, gritting her teeth as she already started to grow annoyed with her as she tried to make her amends. But sometimes, that jealousy and anger and general annoyance she had for Lydia Martin still came tumbling out. Her nails pressed into her palms, she took in a deep breath and continued what she wanted to say. "As I was saying, I know you feel like you have everything in the world when you don't. I just wanted to offer a shoulder to cry on, someone to talk to," she explained, but her words now had more bite to them in response to Lydia's biased view of what happened to her that night.

⠀⠀⠀"But not right now," Lydia added on for her in a sickly sweet voice as she glanced at her. "I'm fine," she told her simply, but her eyes were still filled with tears as she turned away with her hand in her hair and her eyes facing the window.

⠀⠀⠀"You're not. We can all see it," Willow replied in annoyance. "The hospital, the ice rink, Lydia, you're not—"

⠀⠀⠀"I said, I'm fine!" Lydia snapped at her, turning to Willow, no longer amused or hurt but angry and annoyed by a false friendship Willow seemed to be chasing.

⠀⠀⠀"Fine," Willow stated, opening the car door and putting one leg out. "If you change your mind, let me know because I'm still here for you. Even after everything."

⠀⠀⠀"After everything?" Lydia asked, rolling her eyes. "We haven't been through anything."

⠀⠀⠀Willow grit her teeth, knowing her issues with Lydia was one-sided and left them at that. She got out of the car, closed the door, and walked to Stiles.

⠀⠀⠀"What did she say?" he asked, furrowing his brows in concern, and Willow couldn't tell if he was just concerned because he saw a girl crying or because it was Lydia crying in her car. Either way, it wasn't her problem now, which he cared about.

⠀⠀⠀"Nothing," Willow muttered, rolling her eyes. "Come on, we need to do this before Principal Argent finds out somehow."

AUTHOR'S NOTE —

Um, so, Past Ashley didn't fully make sense of this episode and just started in the middle where Stiles and Willow were in the office so I wrote all of this tonight. SO, it's the first draft currently so please excuse any nonsense that might not make sense.

Also, I felt like I had to point out that Starla most likely has a bestiary in her library. Now, whether it's actually books only from Europe, Asia, and Africa like Starla said (seeing as the Kanima has Southern America origins) or maybe Starla just said that so her daughter wouldn't get into more trouble, who knows? I say, it's whichever makes the most sense because I won't say anything else about this ever again probably :)

SONG: Fake Nice by The Aces

Thank you for reading! Leave comments telling me your thoughts on this chapter, but however you interact, know that I really appreciate you reading. I hope you enjoy, and until the next one.