♡ 𝙩𝙖𝙨𝙩𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪 ♡
𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘪𝘹

it's a mountain lion

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

KATE ARGENT paced back and forth with a glass of whiskey In her hand, huffing to Chris who sat on the lavish sofa. "The one that attacked me was big. It had width and power." she thought out loud. "But the one I shot was lean and fast."

"Well, that would be Derek Hale." Chris glanced up at his sister.

She squinted her eyes at him. "Are we sure?"

"Mostly."

"And how do we even know it's just two of them?" She pushed her muddy-blonde hair out of her face and crossed her arm. "And what about Garcia's kid?"

"Not a problem.. yet." he leaned forward with his glass, careful not to spill any of the liquid. "If Derek's still alive, he will lead us to the Alpha."

She turned on the electric fire and nodded her head. "We take the pack leader... and then we take the pack."

Chris gave her a warning look. "And we do it according to the code."

She shook her head at him sarcastically. "You and the code."

"Its there for a reason, Kate."

"Of course." she hummed, taking a match from the matchbox and examining the flame before throwing it into the fire, igniting the fireplace. "I always play by the rules."

⊱ ──────ஓ๑♡๑ஓ ────── ⊰

The light inside of the movie store flickered as a worker stood high up on a pedestal, trying his best to fix it. Yet, he was a retailer - not an electrician. So, his attempts fell flat.

Dallas searched through the DVDs for Clueless but huffed silently as she didn't see it stocked on any of the shelves. "Can somebody help me find Clueless?" she cocked her head at the empty video store. "Hello?" she searched through the empty aisles. "Does anybody work here?"

She heard the faint ringing of a cellphone in the background. The brunette stalked towards a nearby isle as two legs stuck out from behind a shelf. As she turned the corner, Dallas jumped back as she laid eyes on the dead worker. His throat was slashed and blood-soaked into his shirt and splattered up his face and glasses. Her breathing became laboured and her chest felt tight. The broken light fell from the ceiling and pushed all the other shelves down, leaving nothing but the creepy flickering as her source of light. The girl stumbled into the middle of the shelves and froze as she felt a hot breath fan her neck and throaty growling that made the whole room shake. She turned around steadily, her body drowning in its fear as her eyes met with crimson-red ones.

The Garcia bolted past the shelves and hid behind another, breathing heavily and her hands becoming clammy. She ducked her head out from the side and swallowed as the pair of eyes had disappeared, although, she ducked back in once a black figure darted past her eyes. It flew past again, knocking over a few shelves while a few DVD cases fell on her shoulders. Instantaneously, the shelves behind Dallas began to fall against each other like dominos.

She leaped out of the way, narrowly avoiding the next falling shelf as she smacked her head against the rough carpet. As she tried to raise herself, she was knocked to the floor again as the humanoid hovered over her. She pushed herself onto her back and tried to crawl away, but she ended up backing into the shelf. Her eyes squeezed shut as the felt it's claw trace down her cheek and across her throat. Its growl echoed throughout the store and caused the ground to shake.

The air around her felt cold as the humanoid swiftly disappeared, leaving the girl crying alone in the messy video store. It leaped through the glass windows, shards shattering across the pavement and into the nearby woods.

⊱ ──────ஓ๑♡๑ஓ ────── ⊰

Stiles and Noah Stilinski sat parked in his father's cop car as they eat their takeout. "Did they forget my curly fries?"

His son rolled his eyes at his father. "You're not supposed to eat fries, especially the curly ones."

"Well, I'm carrying a lethal weapon," Noah spoke with his mouth full. "If I want the curly fries, I will have the curly fries."

Stiles took a sip of his soda. "If you think getting rid of contractions in all of your sentences makes your argument any more legitimate, you are wrong."

Noah attempted to scold his son but was cut off by the radio. "Unit One, do you copy?" the dispatcher asked.

The youngest Stilinski choked on his drink and reached for the mic, but his hand was swatted away by his father. The man cleared his throat and brought it to his mouth.

"Unit One, copy."

"Got a report of a possible 187." The dispatcher noted as Stiles sent his dad an enthusiastic look with a mouth full of fries.

"A murder?"

⊱ ──────ஓ๑♡๑ஓ ────── ⊰

The sirens of the ambulance wailed as James Garcia stood by the open doors, his daughter stood on the steps with a blanket draped over her petite shoulders. Sheriff Stilinski pulled up to the crime scene and knitted his eyebrows at the sight. "Stay here." His father warned before exiting the vehicle.

"Paul, lets get this area locked up." The Sherrif advised one of the deputies. Stiles watched as James Garcia argued with one of the officers, a traumatised expression lay on his daughter's face.

Stiles felt his heart drop. He stared at someone who had a grin on her face every time he saw her and there was nothing but a ghost of that girl in front of him. Her eyes were puffy from crying and small droplets of blood trickled on her head. What the man said was inaudible, but Stiles was sure that there was a lawsuit pending.

"Oh, no way."

Sheriff Stilinski also glanced at the teenager. His brain flashed back to when he first met her, sappy and alone in an ice rink - asking for her mother. She was slouched in the same position and had the same look on her face. Broken and alone.

"You okay, kid?" he mumbled, allowing her father to speak to the deputy. She remained silent as he knelt before her. "The EMT said you hit your head pretty hard. We're trying to rule out a concussion."

"Dallas?" he placed his hand comfortingly on her shoulder and jumped slightly when she let out a soft whisper.

"I saw a Mountain Lion," she spoke, almost robotically, without emotion and her long stare failing to break.

Stiles Stilinski crept out of his father's vehicle and hung out the window. "Woah, is that the dead body?"

Dallas gasped as she turned to look at it, her head falling back to the floor. Noah gave his son a warning look as he climbed back inside the car with a nervous expression. The Sheriff pushed back the surrounding crowd as Stiles noticed how Derek and Scott stayed perched above the video store."Alright, everybody back up."

"Starting to get it?" Derek murmured to Scott, his guilted stare focused on Dallas Garcia.

Scott shook his head in dismay. "I get that he's killing people, but I don't get why." he thought aloud. "I mean, this isn't standard practice, right? We don't go out in the middle of the night murdering everyone, do we?"

The Hale inhaled sharply. "No." he began. "We're predators, we don't have to be killers.

"Then why is he a killer?"

Derek's eyes flickered from Dallas to her father before turning to leave. "That's what we're gonna find out."

⊱ ──────ஓ๑♡๑ஓ ────── ⊰

Dallas Garcia lay back on her pink duvet and cuddled her pillow close to her chest. Her curtains were drawn and her fairy lights that hung around her vanity illuminated the room. Pictures and polaroids scattered across her walls as they were plastered over a box of stuffed animals and cheer gear.

"I'll tell the school you're not feeling well, try and get some rest, okay?" Her father spoke concerningly from the doorway. She hummed in response, a blank stare on her face.

She didn't respond as he huffed and treaded towards her bed, sitting on the side. "Dallas, can you talk to me?"

"It was a Mountain Lion." she spoke, mumbling into her pillow. "I saw a Mountain Lion."

He clenched his jaw and averted his eyes. He hated seeing his daughter in such a state - he hated how she fell victim from the one thing he tried to protect her most from. When she needed him most, he wasn't there. Just like her mother.

Dallie's mind wouldn't let her rest. Every time she closed her eyes, all she could see was the monster from the video store. It was like it was haunting her - plaguing her every dream and threatening to return during the night.

"It was just a Mountain Lion."

⊱ ──────ஓ๑♡๑ஓ ────── ⊰

In Chemistry class at Beacon Hills High, Danny Māhealani watched as Jackson Whittmore came to class late. Lydia was busy staring at her reflection in her compact mirror and Stiles was behind him graffitiing a chemistry book with his highlighter.

The Teacher glanced down at Scott's empty seat. "Has anyone seen McCall?" Stiles raised his head and examined his surroundings, shrugging innocently. Mr. Harris approached the chalkboard but stopped halfway and placed his hands on his hips. "Mr. Stilinski. Try putting the highlighter down between paragraphs. It's chemistry, not a colouring book."

Danny snickered at the sight, but his carefree attitude hardened as Stiles leaned towards him from his desk. "Hey, Danny. Can I ask you a question?"

The Māhealani looked up from his book momentarily. "No."

"Well, I'm going to anyway." he began. "Um, did Dallas show up in your homeroom today?"

Danny sighed heavily. "No."

"Can I ask you another question?"

He dropped his pen on his book and groaned. "The answer's still no."

"Does anybody know what happened to her last night?"

Danny chewed on his lip. "She won't pick up the phone."

"But she's your best friend."

The boy shrugged gloomily and picked up his pen, continuing to write.

"One more question," Stiles spoke up as Danny seemed to snap.

"What?"

"Do you find me attractive?"

Danny knitted his brows and pretended to think. Stiles had leaned forward so far that he didn't notice himself falling until he made contact with the floor. All the class stared at him as he nervously picked himself up, gesturing that he was okay.

"Mr. Stilinski!"

⊱ ──────ஓ๑♡๑ஓ ────── ⊰

When class ended, Stiles yelled into his phone in the hallways. "Finally! Have you been getting any of my texts?"

Scott, who had decided to skip class with Allison for her birthday, huffed in annoyance. "Yeah, like all nine million of them."

"Do you have any idea what's going on?" The human scoffed. "Dallas is losing her mind, another random guy's dead and you still haven't done anything about it."

"Like what?"

"Like something!" Stiles let out an exasperated sigh.

Scott began to buckle under the pressure of it all, but was determined to stay focused. "Okay, I'll deal with it later."

⊱ ──────ஓ๑♡๑ஓ ────── ⊰

Dallas examined her nails on her bed as a knock echoed on her bedroom door. "Dallas, Stiles is here to see you," James announced but the brunette still didn't respond.

"Melissa advised to give her some prescriptions to calm her down a tad, but she's still a little loopy." James explained to Stiles who nodded slightly. "You can go in.. that's if she decides to talk today." he murmured before shutting the door behind him.

He examined the photographs on her wall. The multiple selfies with her and Lydia and even some group photos with her cheer squad. He stopped by a photograph of a young Dallas, photographed at the Beacon Hills Ice Rink with her mother. Dallas always looked more like her father to him, but he could see sprinkles of her mother's features in her. A ghost of a grin sat on his lips before he heard the girl speak.

"What are you doing here?" She took a glance at him. He noticed her hair was slightly messy and how she wore a high-rising pink nightgown. It had a scarlet, fluffy trim, and hung across her thighs.

"I was just making sure you were okay." Stiles stuttered out, fumbling with his hands.

She hummed in response, turning her head away and tracing her hand along the stitching of her pillowcase. "Why?"

"Uh.." he trailed off, taking a seat on the side of her bed. "Danny told me you weren't picking up the phone. I got worried."

She let out a heavenly laugh and lay backward on her bed. "Worried, huh?" She mumbled to herself.

He noticed the bottle of pills on her bedside table and reached for them. "Would you rather I not worry about you?"

She cocked a brow at him and gave him a devilish smile. "Psh, you're being polite." she trailed off, signing. "Everyone thinks I've lost the plot because of what I saw." she said between a few other snickers as Stiles frowned at her. Her face became less carefree and more alarmed as she repeated. "Because I saw.."

He placed his hand on hers and leaned towards her face. "Hey, it's okay. What did you see?"

"It was furry," she croaked, the memories flooding back. "Something large."

"Was it something like... Like a mountain lion?"

She nodded, "A mountain lion."

He gave her a skeptical look. "You can tell me what you saw, Dallas. I know it wasn't a mountain lion."

"A mountain lion." she repeated, swallowing hard.

Stiles paused for a moment before grabbing one of her pink seal plushies and holding it in front of her face. "Dallie, what's this?"

Dallas took a look at him and knitted her brows. "A mountain lion."

"Okay," he mumbled, sighing heavily. "This is pointless." she lay her head on his shoulder and gently closed her eyes.

Stiles stood up and paced around her rosy bedroom before clearing his throat. "I'll see you at school, okay? Maybe when you're not so.. drunk." he mumbled, placing his palm on the door handle.

"Stiles, wait." she mumbled with her eyes closed, barely above a whisper. He turned back towards her with a hopeful expression.

"Sure, Dal." He tried to hide his grin and shoved his hands in his pockets. "What is it?"

"Can you stay?" she opened her eyes and patted the mattress next to her. "Just.. just for a little while?"

He returned to his previous position and gave her a puzzled look. "You are the only person who's come to see me today." she inhaled sharply. "Besides Danny. I worry about him sometimes."

"Dallas, you just got attacked by a 'mountain lion'" he said with air-quotes, "And you're worried about Danny?"

"Yeah, but I worry about you too," she mumbled. "I worry about my dad.. and I worry about Derek Hale." she trailed off, her face confused.

Stiles knitted his brows. "Wait, how do you know Derek Hale?"

"Oh, I don't. He was stalking Scott and the lacrosse game and I thought he was gonna hurt you." Dallas muttered.

Stiles felt a smile stretch across his face. "You were worried about me, huh?"

"I think my dad is running a drug cartel with him." she met Stiles's eyes as he couldn't help but snicker. For the majority of his life, he thought the brunette felt nothing towards him - but that wasn't true. She felt worried.. and that was a big enough victory for him in itself.

"A drug cartel?" he asked, his eyebrows raised.

"Jackson thinks that he's selling Scott McCall steroids and my dad is always talking to him. I think he's a drug lord, you know? Like Pablo Escobar."

Stiles rolled his eyes but his face still held a wide grin. "Your dad is a lawyer, Dallie." he passed her the seal plushie as she tossed it across her bed. "What about your mom?"

Her face softened. "My mom," she mumbled. "I miss her."

Stiles felt his heartache for her. He opened his mouth to speak but he was cut off by her phone chiming. "You want me to get that?" he asked as she nodded. It was a text from Danny, but as Stiles tried to respond, it took him to her videos.

"I don't know how to-" he trailed off, taking a closer look at the newest video. It was directed up to the ceiling as if she had dropped it somehow and she had accidentally started recording - but he could hear the flickering lights and the heavy breathing of Dallas Garcia. He could hear the growling, the whimpers, and the sound of the animal's claws against the rough carpet. Most of all, he could hear the animal snarl out her name, in an almost human-like form and catch a glimpse of its red eyes staring down at her.

"Dallas."

He abruptly paused the video, his stare lingering on the bloodshot eyes of the Alpha. It was after Dallas and he became determined to find out why. If not for Scott, for her.

☆ word count: 2,897. ☆