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IT BECOMES CLEAR THAT the blood isn't Hallie's. In fact, there is nothing wrong with her— not physically, at least. Mentally, however, the girl was forever to be scarred with the discovery of yet another body, this time in her house.

Her parents stand at her side as she relays her story with wide eyes, telling the sheriff that she had just going to take a shower and she opened the bathroom door and, almost as soon as she stepped in, slipped on wet tile. Confused, she had glanced down and seen that oh god, it was red and it was everywhere. Then, as if straight out of a horror movie, Hallie had moved back to curtain to find the mutilated body of god only knows who.

"That's when I screamed," she sniffed, letting out a shaky breath. "He was— oh, god, he was ripped apart. His one hand was ranging out of the tub and it was barely connected to his shoulder and I didn't know what to do and—"

"Alright, alright," Sheriff Stilinski said, stopping the girl before she broke down once again. Already in the short time they'd been there to get the story and examine the crime scene, the teenager had let tears escape several times. "It's late— we can get the details after you get a good night's sleep, okay?" Now, he turns to the girl's parents. "It's going to take some time to clean that up and clear it, so for now, you're going to have to stay in a hotel nearby. There is one right near the school that's decent enough."

As her parents and the sheriff discuss what is in store, Hallie stands numb. She doesn't realize how bad she's shaking, or that pajamas she had been wearing when she walked into the bathroom are sticky on her body with the blood that she fell into. She's thinking why, why me, why this town? In the span of two days, she's already been the one to make two horrific discoveries. Part of her hopes it will make her parents see the light and move back to Huntington Beach, but her father is so dead-set on the position as lead surgeon that he wouldn't even leave if she was the one to end up dead in the bathtub.

On top of that, she's wondering why those three boys are lurking near the police and paramedics. They're just kids like her— shouldn't they be freaking out just as much as she is at the finding of two dead people in just two days? She catches the eye of one of them— Isaac, the boy she talked to in school earlier— and suddenly she feels very self conscious, noticing that all eyes are on her and she looks like some relative of The Grudge.

"I'm going to go get changed and pack my stuff," she says suddenly, interrupting the conversation that the adults were having. When her dad starts to say something about not going near the bathroom , she rolls her eyes and says, "I know, dad. It's not exactly on my priorities list," and, with that, turns on her bare feet and stalks into the house.

She manages to avoid the people milling around her house by making a bee-line for her bedroom. Once inside with the door closed, she pauses in packing her suit case only to examine herself in the mirror. She looks awful, with rust colored blood staining the light blue clothes she had on. Feeling disgusted with herself, Hallie slipped off her dirtied clothes in a rush and put on clean, dry sweatpants and an old long-sleeved shirt with Sharks Track and Field printed across the front in bold letters. The shirt, a momento from the district meet last year, offered an odd sort of comfort to her in such a strange time. Things aren't always this bad, it told her. Things can get better.

After shoving more necessities in her bag and grabbing her pillow, she returned back outside. No one had cleared, not even Isaac and his friends. Feeling a sudden need for conversation, Hallie found herself walking towards the teenage boys, hoping for some sort of sick relief in their presence.

"Hey," she says slowly, carefully. "I-uh, we talked in history," she turns to Isaac, and then wonders why she's suddenly lost the ability to speak.

"Yeah, I remember," Isaac says, offering a smile. He takes a step back then and nods towards the two boys on either side of him. "Hallie, this is Scott, and that's Stiles."

"Nice to meet you," she tells them, and she can't help if it sounds sarcastic, because meeting someone after you've just found a dead body in your bathroom is not exactly an ideal conversation starter. She pauses to turn her head away from them and yawn, then returns her gaze to Isaac. "So what brings you around here on this beautiful night?"

He raises his eyebrows, surprised by her attitude, but simply shrugs. "We needed something to do and went for a ride, saw Stiles' dad here."

"Yeah, I mean— why? Is he here, I mean," Stiles says, eyes slightly narrowed. "What happened?"

She probably shouldn't say anything. It's the same voice in her mind that warned her not to give details to Isaac earlier. Except, this time, she ignores it. Maybe it'll help, talking about it. Of course, she could call her old friends and cry to them about it, but they're hours away in Huntington Beach and the concept of death is as foreign to them as it is to her. They'd offer nothing more than an ear to talk off.

"A dead body. Another one," she let's out a breath, shaking her head. The three boys are looking at her with calculating eyes, just waiting for her to continue. "Earlier they found someone in the backyard, tied to a tree and murdered. And I—," she pauses, taking a long breath in this time. "I found one. In my bathroom. It was in the bathtub and it was just..." Hallie trails off, eyes becoming distant.

Saying it out loud makes it seem so much worse. A body. In her bathroom. Outside was awful enough, but this meant that a murderer had been in her house. Someone had been killed just down the hall from where she slept the night before. Why was it in her house? None of it made sense. She had come home right after school, had used the bathroom probably two hours before and nothing had been wrong with it. For a second, she gets a sick feeling in her stomach that maybe, possibly her parents had something to do with it. That didn't make sense, either. Her mother had been home with her, but her dad was at work — he only rushed home when the call came in.

"I'm sorry," Scott tells her, genuine sincerity in his tone. "That's awful."

"Yeah," Hallie agrees. "It sure isn't the welcome present I was expecting when I moved here. I would've been satisfied with some homemade brownies."

There's yet another voice in her mind saying, Hallie, you should't be cracking jokes. Somebody was mutilated in your bathtub and she knows that the voice is right. Maybe it's shock— she thinks she's seen that in a movie before. The girl experienced something awful and all she could do is laugh. And the image in her mind of the bloody arm dangling towards the floor, of the ripped off jaw and the impossible angle the one knee was bent at— it was traumitising enough, she assumed. Shock. She was in shock. But, wait— does a person know when they're in shock?

Her mind is wandering, only to be brought back by her name being called. It's her mother, who has walked next to her. It seems that her mother has aged ten years in the past day, and her blue eyes are about as blank as Hallie's. "Hal, hun, we're going to be leaving now. The sheriff said tomorrow we'll be in for more questioning." As she speaks, her eyes wander to the three boys her daughter had been talking to.

"Okay. Oh, mom," Hallie starts, noticing her mother's curious expression. "This is Isaac, Scott, and Stiles. They go to school with me." It's the only explanation she can give, really. She barely knows any of them, spare from their names and the fact that, apparently, they like coming late to class. Her mother seems to accept it though and nods a hello, before insisting that they must get going now if they want any sleep at all.

And that's it. She bids the guys goodbye with nothing more than a small wave and hopes, perhaps in vain, for tomorrow to be a better day.



"IT'S NOT A COINCIDENCE!" Isaac practically yells, and he swears that everyone in the locker room turns to him. Lowering his tone, he turns back to Scott and says, "Seriously, man. The body in her yard is one thing, but one in her bathtub? It's more than just bad luck."

Scott is leaning over a bench and tying his sneakers, eyebrows furrowed. Stiles is leaning against a set of lockers with his typical wide-eyed stare and, much to Isaac's surprise, he makes a sound of agreement. "Sorry, Scott, but I'm with him on this. And, you heard her. She said tied to a tree for the first body— bet it has to do with the guy Lydia found. And you said that kid went missing last night." Stiles doesn't say anymore, merely finishes with a small shrug.

"So, what? Now we want to take on an alpha pack and a serial killer?" Scott sighs. "I don't want to seem like the bad guy here, but, Isaac, it's not our job. Not your job. I'm sure Haley—"

"It's Hallie," Isaac corrects.

Scott's eyes flicker with what could be seen as annoyance before he continues. "Okay, I'm sure that Hallie isn't in any type of danger. Just— I don't want you to get hurt again, Isaac. You don't know what you could be getting into with this."

"Hey, are guys realizing that not all of us are strong werewolves? That some of us are completely human virgins that are applicable to be sacrificed and—"

Stiles' rambling is cut off by comments from Danny, and then by the emergence of Coach Finstock in the locker room. Their coach goes off in some spiel about how cross country isn't optional for lacrosse players and then the boys are filing out of the school for an early morning run. They're outside, waiting for the girls to meet up with them at the starting point, and oh. Isaac's eyes fall to the girl that had haunted his dreams the night before.

Hallie looks more put together today. Of course, he's sure anything would be better than what they pulled up to see last night— she had been wet and shivering and bloody, the pajamas that she wore clinging to her body. Today, however, her hair was pinned and styled in a smooth ponytail and there was something in her eyes other than the blank look from the night before. Isaac's mind flashed to the image of her talking to them last night, the shirt she had changed to saying something about track and field. The fact that she's a runner does something to combat the sick feeling the Isaac feels in his stomach regarding her immediate safety.

He's about to approach her, but then another feeling overtakes him and all he feels is rage as a pair of twins walk near him. "That's them" he growls, not to anyone in particular but Scott is close enough to here. Scott attempts to stop him, but it's no use— the three of them have taken off, Isaac in some attempt to get back at them, and Scott has no other choice than to chase after his friend.

Normally, Isaac enjoys running; it is like the animal in him has time to be free, and it's just so liberating. But as he currently runs, he's too blinded by rage to bask in the feeling. His mind is a cycle of catch them kill them catch them kill them and he doesn't know how he expects to kill the alphas that can merge into one giant creature, but he just knows he needs to.

He's too angry to see where the twins disappear to. He's too confused to see them come from behind him, and he's too ready for the first punch to his body that he doesn't even notice Scott arriving and landing a hit on one of the twin's jaw. Then he's up, reach to fight, but he hears a scream and just for a second, his mind flashes to Hallie. It's not her high pitched scream, he realizes, though it's somebody's and, by the sound of it, something bad had happened.

Isaac and Scott take off to the house without a second thought, leaving the twins in their wake.

As soon as he sees the body on the tree, his remind returns to Hallie. He feels so stupid— his desire to get revenge on the twins had distracted him from what weighed so heavily on his thoughts before they'd made an appearance.

She's standing, pale faced, blue eyes focused on the boy, and he doesn't even have to say that words to Scott for his friend to nod towards him. It was not a coincidence.