Underneath the Moonlight

I still can’t believe of the events that happened yesterday. It’s been so bad on my end that I could barely even speak to anyone, especially to Chris who informed me that somehow Isaac escaped from his cell last night. It doesn't really surprise me that much given his condition, but the police still put out an APB and labeled Isaac as a wanted fugitive. The full moon had its effects on me as well with my emotions in an uncontrollable state and my powers being mixed with that. All of this is way too much to handle, so I decided to try and not bother with it anymore.
Chris is still here so that he could take me to school today. I went on with my morning routine, but I still couldn't find the will to speak. It was even more unpleasant when our parents called to check in on us and I avoided every opportunity to talk to them. Chris pretty much did all of the talking for me.

“She’s still on shock over what happened, Mom.” I hear him say into the phone. With my enhanced hearing, I could hear the conversation as clear as if they were actually here.

“But will she be okay, Chris?” My mother asked.

“Yes, I believe so. Our Laci is one strong little flower, but I still think she needs to take her mind off of things and rest for a bit.” He assured them.

“I agree. She’s already been through enough as it is. This is too much for just a teenage girl to handle.” My father commented.

“I know of that, but she will get better. I’m actually supposed to be taking her to school right now, so we’ll talk you guys later.”

“You two be careful out there, okay?” Mom had her worried tone on again.

“We will Mom, and I’ll make sure to have Laci call you before the day is over.” Chris said goodbye to them for me before he hung up the phone. I ate the rest of my breakfast in silence as Chris continued to get ready for the day. Once he was done, I put away my dishes and followed him out towards the car. I turned on the radio to stall any talking during the ride to school. I laid my head against the door and closed my eyes the entire ride there to try and attempt to calm myself down. It was after we hit campus grounds that Chris finally wanted to talk.

“Do you want to tell me what’s on your mind, Laci?” he asked me sincerely. Since I couldn't find the right words to explain it to him, I’d figure that it was just easier to show him. I wrapped my hand around his and let my abilities do the work. I show him an image of Isaac along with a sense of worriedness.

“I can’t promise you much, but we will find Isaac; alive and well.” He told me. A faint smile appeared on my face but it didn't stay on long as Chris got out of the car and escorted me towards the main campus. “That trick that you just did. Is that new?”

I nodded my head to him and he laughed. “It still amazes me of what you’re capable of doing, little sis. Speaking of which…”

When we got onto the sidewalk, he made notice of the wall that’s being repaired as we speak. He looked at the wall and then turned to me. “You have any clue what happened here?” Since I couldn't get out of this, with our hands still intertwined, I showed him the memory of my episode yesterday. “Laci, you have got to keep yourself together! Someone could’ve be hurt or worse, seen you.”

I gave him an apologetic smile as I showed him that the hallways were abandoned and I melted the security cameras. “Just promise me no more episodes today, all right?”

I extend my pinky finger out to him and he could help but laugh as he wrapped his around mine. He kissed my forehead before leaving to go to work. I walked into the building and prayed for today to be as normal as it could be.



The school day went by very slowly. I was still out of it but with having Danny in majority of my class, he managed to be the highlight of my day. He actually took my mind off of things for a while. I even took up his offer to sit with him at lunch today.

‘Well it wasn't like I had any other choice’. I brushed thought out of my head, but it was the truth. I highly doubt that Isaac would come back here with the police looking for him. Lydia and I aren't exactly on good terms so she’s out of the questions. I don’t really have that many other friends and plus, Scott and Stiles have been giving me these pretty weird looks lately. To be honest, I couldn't really blame them.
It’s not like I’m ashamed of him; I love Danny with all my heart. He always knows how to put a smile on my face. He was in the middle of talking about his ex, when the bell rang, signaling our next class. Both of us left Econ together and went straight to gym class. We went into our designated locker areas and got changed into our workout attire. I usually change in the stalls but I didn't feel like it today. In the middle of my shirt being off, I hear a voice behind me.

“That’s a nice tattoo you have back there.” I turned my head to see a brunette girl who I've seen before. She’s in both my English and Econ class. I've also seen her around Scott, Stiles and Lydia a lot. Maybe she’s a friend of theirs.

“Thank you.” I said to her to not seem rude, but I got a funny feeling about her.

“It’s a water lily, isn't it?” She asked as I put my top on and faced her.

“It’s a lotus flower, but they’re pretty much the same.” I placed my stuff in my locker while she did the same to hers.

“It’s still very pretty. My name is Allison by the way.” She introduced herself. “Sorry if I was bothering you.”

“You weren't a bother at all.” I put on a smile. “My name’s Alaycia, but people just call me Laci.”

“Well it was nice to finally meet you, Laci.” She grabbed her water bottled and waved goodbye. “See you in class.” I waved back as I went to close my locker. Before I left the locker room, a thought roamed around my head.

'How is it that she could see my mark when regular humans are unable to see it?' I pondered at it until my eyes wandered to her notebook which laid right in front of me on the floor near her backpack. Her full name was written on one of the sheets and I could help but read it.

Allison Argent

'So that must explain it. If I’m correct, then this seemingly sweet girl is related to the infamous Argent family that I've heard so much about.'
I didn't want to label her so quickly so I pushed the accusation away, grabbed my water bottle and followed the rest of the girls to the gym, where it looks like we’re doing rock climbing today. We waited for Coach to pick us by names and it looked like Danny and I are the first ones to try it. We got ourselves strapped in and waited for Coach’s call for us to go. Danny tried to make it a competition to see who could get up there the fastest. He was so sure that he was going to win, but he was sadly mistaken when I reached the top before him. I laughed as I pushed myself off and stuck around for him to come back down.

“You sure are quick for someone so small.” Danny smirked as he draped his arm around my shoulders and dragged me to the back of the crowd.

“I’m not that short, Danny. I’m only 5’4”, just a few inches shorter than you.” I lightly pushed him and he laughed.

“That still makes you small, Laci.”

“You’re just upset because I beat you. Admit it.” I teased him.

“Maybe, maybe not.” We watched other classmates take their turns on the obstacle before he said something else. “Have you had any more trouble with the other students lately?”

His question caught me by surprise.

"I think everyone else is too preoccupied with what's been going on around here to call me a freak none the less." I told him. "But I'm pretty sure when they get bored and have nothing else to do with their lives, they'll be back to harass me again."

"You're not a freak, Laci." Danny looked at me. "Sure, your eye color might be a little different, but that's just it. You could be Blue covered in purple polka dots, but you would still be my stubborn little princess no matter what."

"Even tough I despise that nickname, that's really sweet of you to say." I punched his side lightly and he he laughed while rubbing the area. "That also could've been the gayest thing you ever said to me."

"Oh honey, that's not even close to it." He made me grin as I gave him a side hug. 'Danny, If only I could tell you the Truth... would you still treat me the same?'

My deep thoughts were cut short when I saw one of the girls try to climb the wall and she started hyperventilating. I broke off from Danny to see what was happening. From what my ears picked up, Allison is telling Coach that the girl, who's named Erica, is epileptic. He complains that no one tells him anything and tells Erica to come down and that everything is going to be fine. Erica finally jumps down only to have half the class laugh and tease her. I could feel her humiliation as she stares at the ground and walk past everyone. Knowing that feeling all too well, I was the only person who went after her. Erica had her head in between her knees as as she sat herself down near the wall on the other side of the gym. I could barely make out a soft cry from her as I squatted down near her level.

"Erica?" She lifted up her face slowly to make eye contact with me. Her eyes are turning a bit pink from tearing a bit. I couldn't help but notice how some parts of her face is riddled with acne, and that I've seen her wear baggy clothes for a while now. I felt sympathy towards her because even though I know she's human, Erica is kind of like me: being harassed just because she's different from most people.

"Alaycia?" She wiped under her eyes to get rid of evidence that she was crying. "What are you doing over here?"

"I came to check up on you. Are you alright?" I sat next to her and started rubbing her back gently.

"Yeah, I'll be fine." She stopped wiping her face and looked over to the other classmates. "I just hate people, that's all."

I sighed with her. "I know the feeling. You just have to learn to ignore them, that's all. I've been doing that for years now."

"I wish it was that simple." She said to me then lowered her head again. I grabbed my water bottle from beside me and handed it to her. She hesitated for a minute, but Erica took the gesture and took a few sips before handing it back to me.

"How come you're being so nice to me?" She asked me. I was stunned by the statement that I almost started laughing.

"Why shouldn't I? I'm not like those douche-bags over there who's going to laugh at you." I explained. "And besides, you looked like you could use a friend."

Since apparently all of the students took their turn on scaling the wall, Coach let us have open gym until class ended. Since Danny seemed content playing with the boys, I stayed by Erica's side and we just started talking about whatever came to mind. I found out a lot about Erica and vice versa. She's a pretty nice girl, so I don't see why anyone would tease her just because of her condition, but then again there are some cruel people in this world. Shortly before we knew it, it was time to head back to the locker room. I stood up from the floor and extended my hand out to Erica, who gladly took it. Danny waved over for me to come along and I was about to when Erica stopped me.

"Alaycia?" She fidgeted with her hands a bit before meeting my eyes. "Thank you... for, you know."

I smiled at her. "Anytime Erica. Just know that I'm always here if you need a friend. By the way, you can call me Laci."

I followed the rest of the classmates into the locker rooms and took my stuff out. When getting my stuff ready, I realized that Erica never followed us back inside. I grabbed my stuff without even bothering to change and walked out of the locker room, only to find Scott running inside to go in the now darkened gym area. I saw it for only a second, but I could see Erica trying to climb the wall again but she ended up falling. Without any hesitation, I dropped my stuff and ran to help her. Scott caught her before she could fall onto the ground. I was immediately by their side when she began going through a seizure. Others came by to see us put Erica on her side. Scott held her hands down while I made sure her head didn't bang against the floor. Stiles and Allison were at our side as well to see what was happening. Being this my first time actually seeing this, I didn't like seeing Erica go through this. I placed her head in my lap and cradled her face to stop her from shaking her head too much. Without even caring who was around me, I began whispering an incantation that would try and calm her down until help is arrived. My powers swirled around inside me and started flowing towards Erica, trying to heal her. It was working for a good while until I feel grip on my arm. I didn't look up at all, but I stopped the healing process as I took my hands off of Erica when I could see the paramedics finally taking her away.

I watched as Erica left on a stretcher to go to the hospital. With teachers and administration telling us to go back to what we were doing, I stood up from the ground, brushed off the hold that was on me, grabbed my stuff and left the area. Since the school day is technically over, I went outside to the main campus parking lot and waited for Chris to show up. I didn't realize that I had gotten a text from him saying he was going to be at least twenty minutes late picking me up. I let out a deep sigh as I put my phone into my backpack and sat down at the stairs. I felt content for a few seconds until I feel a pair of eyes on me. My instincts followed the gaze and it belong to Scott, Stiles and Allison. All three were looking at me, especially the boys. They probably know that I was doing something to Erica, and that's why they stopped me when the paramedics finally showed up.

'Looks like cat's out of the bag now.'





Alaycia turned around to catch all three of us looking at her. The expression on her face is somewhat uneasy. It read that she was both worried but looked guilty at the same time. Scott and I knew something was up when we saw her lips moving really fast when she was cradling Erica's head in her lap. Her lead got low and we thought that something was happening to her as well. When we saw the paramedics coming and she was still in her little 'trance', I grabbed her arm so that at least she would come back to reality. When she let go of Erica, Erica just stopped shaking and looked like she was sleeping. I don't think Alaycia even know that it was me who grabbed her because she just brushed me off like I was nothing and left the building right after Erica.

Allison left us when she said that Lydia was waiting for her, so it just left me and Scott. We said goodbye to her and promised to meet up with them later, and then we turned back to see Alaycia walking away and heading to the woods.

"Something is definitely up about her." Scott said to me as he walked down the steps and I followed suit.

"So what do you have in mind, genius?" I ask him. "Just go up to her and ask ''Hey Alaycia. Are you even human by any chance, because we have trying to figure that out ever since we saved you from the woods that night?'' Yeah, like that's not going to be awkward."

"It's a start, at least to finding out something." Scott said. "Like how is it that she knows that I'm a werewolf? Or what were with those burning tree branches the night we found her? Or even that thing that happened when she touched you at the hospital."

"Yeah, still shaken up on that, to be honest. I mean it's not like everyday you can look into a person's nightmare and see them being chased by a bunch of werewolves." I informed him, "Because that's so totally normal nowadays."

"That's why I want to get to the bottom of this once and for all." Scott leads us into the woods, even though Alaycia is nowhere to be found.

"How good are you at even tracking her, Scott?" Looking at the ground, I can barely even see footprints that she might have left.

"She has a very strong distinct scent." He rubbed his nose looking around the area. "Even stronger than yours."

"I'm not sure if I should be even the least offended by that." I questioned my thought. "So what is her scent anyway?"

"Flowers. All I can smell is flowers." He hinted.

"Well, that helps a lot, especially with us in the woods and there are plants and flowers everywhere." My sarcasm comes out like second nature.

"This is different, Stiles." He kept walking. "The smell is almost..."

"What? Almost what, Scott?" I asked him.

He turned towards me with a puzzled expression. "Like almost intoxicating."

"You better not tell Allison about that." I joked with him and he gave me a look like means 'shut up'. Both of us stopped when we found something up ahead. Scott ran up to it, only for it to be her backpack. "Did she just drop it and kept on going?"

"That's the weird part." Scott looked all over the area. "Her scent ends right here."

"Okay I know my nose isn't as good as yours, but what do you mean that it stops right here?"

"Like right here, I can smell her as if she's right here. So where is she?" Both of us looked around, but there was no sign for her. Not even seconds after that, something wrapped around both me and Scott. We tried to get it off, but the thing tied around us even more and pulled us up so that we were dangling in the air. Whatever this thing is wrapped around us good enough so that we can't even break free. I get a look at the material, but it just looks like normal tree vines to me.

"Not this again." Scott mumbled as he was dispensed in the air upside down just like he was the night Lydia went missing. We tried to think of what just happened when her voice stopped us.

"Any particular reason why you two are following me?"

Alaycia's voice is as clear as crystal, but we still could not see her. Scott kept saying that she's right here with us but couldn't pin point her exact location.

"Well?" She asked again, and the vines twirled around our persons. They weren't trying to strangle us, but to keep us in our place.

"Can you let us down?" Scott asked still trying to cut the vines with his claws but they kept regenerating.

"Can you answer my question first?" She demanded.

Seeing as our struggling is getting us nowhere, I might as well do as she says. "We're here looking for answers, about what's been happening, mainly about you."

She waited a while until we heard her voice again. "You two are the only ones here right? If there are others out there, you both aren't coming down for a long time."

"We're the only people out here, suspended in the air by possessed tree vines so to speak." I said suddenly feeling nervous. The vines slowly lowered us back down to solid ground, and man was I ever happy to be on land again. Once we were finally free from our bondage, our restraints went back to becoming branches on the trees surrounding us.

"How can I be sure that I can trust you two?" Her voice rang out closer than before but still no sign of her.

"We know that you've been through a lot lately and it's tough for you, especially with the Isaac situation seeing as how you two are so close." I spoke out and waited for a reply, but she didn't so I kept going. "We won't rat out what you are, seeing as if you are anything."

"Look, you somehow know what I am, and we just want to figure out why." Scott said out loud. "We are only trying to help you."

"Help me? What can you do to help me?" She asked us. Both us looked at each other before I spoke this time.

"For starters, with everything that's been happening, you look like you could use a friend or two."

It was silent for a while before Scott's head whipped towards the huge tree in front of us. The bark began to move and shift around before eventually forming into what looked like skin. Alaycia's body image formed within the tree and then slowly, she emerged from inside it. She stepped forward and looked at both of us with piercing glowing amethyst orbs. I couldn't even tell if Scott was reacting the same but my jaw had dropped to the ground from just looking at her. Aside from Lydia, she's one of the beautiful creatures I've ever seen.

Her eyes returned to normal and began to speak to us face to face this time. "Friends, huh? Maybe I can trust you two after all. But first I want answers, about everything that's happened since I... went missing."

"Only if you answer ours first." Scott informed her. "Like what are you?"

"What do you think I am?" She asked. "I know you two are smart boys, so you probably must've figure something out by now. You can obviously tell that I'm not a werewolf, because of my scent and of my capabilities."

I said my answer too quickly and the expression she gave me proved that it was the wrong answer. "Witch?"

"Don't even think that you can compare me to some common caster! They can only access only parts of nature with the extent of their abilities, whereas I..." Her eyes glowed once more as tree roots moved and began to bond at her feet. The air blew around us in a circle, and fire formed in her fists. Even her skin began glowing as we watched her.

"I am nature itself personified into a human body."