Not All Nightmares End In Tragedy

“Stiles! You’re kidding me, right?”

“Um, about?” The young man asks, a piece of toast hanging out one side of his mouth and a piece of bacon hanging out the other.

“The mess you leave in every single room you seem to enter in this house.” April motions to the amount of clutter her brother has brought into the kitchen that includes a couple of notebooks, dishes from the previous night, and a few bags of chips, half empty but undoubtedly stale.

“April, be nice.”

“Dad, it’s like following a wild animal around to clean up after it trashes-”

“Don’t talk about wild animals and the trash they leave around. That’s just...weird.”

Raising a perfectly sculpted eyebrow at her twin, April holds her hands up in defeat. “Okay, okay. I’m sorry.”

“Thank you. Now, both of you need to get ready for school. Stiles, I trust you will show your sister around the school?”

“Dad, I’m sure I can find the classrooms on my own.”

“I know but I would feel better if you didn’t have to wander the halls all on your own.”

“No worries, dad. I have this covered. Between Scott and I, April will be under full surveillance.” Stiles makes a point to swing his arm over his sister’s shoulder and smiles. “You get on to the station before you’re late.”

“Have a good day at school kids.” Sheriff Stillenski smiles at his children before walking to the front door and exiting the home.

“Stiles, you really don’t have to keep an eye on me. I can honestly find-”

“I know but you don’t know anyone besides Scott and me so-”

“Fine. Fine. I’m going to get ready then.” April grabs her giant cup of coffee and heads back up the stairs to start a warm shower.

April Stillenski is turning sixteen in thirteen days. For the past ten years, she has been living with her Aunt in South Carolina and as sad as she is to leave the beach house, April is beyond happy to be back with her brother and father. After her mother passed away, April’s state of mind went between being catatonic, sitting and staring out the front window of their home and crying hysterically for hours on end. Knowing his sister would have better luck raising his daughter, the Sheriff sent the little girl on her way. A lot of her friends didn’t understand why her father would do such a thing, but April understood. She understood why her father did what he did. While he beats himself up daily for sending her away, April just smiles and tells her dad that she loves him. It’s the best thing she can do considering.

“April! You’re going to use up all the hot water!” Stiles bangs on the other side of the door which is quickly opened and April barely dodges her brother’s next knock that would have landed just under her eye.

“Geez, Stiles. Trying to give me a black eye before the jerks at school can?”

“No one is going to lay a hand on you, sis. And my hand missed your face. We can call it even and let me shower.” He spins so April is in the hall clutching her towel to her body and her brother promptly shuts the door in her face.

Heaving a gentle sigh, April heads down the hall to her bedroom and shuts the door before going to her closet to pull her clothing for the day from it’s hangers.

As she is fastening her necklace around her neck, there is a knock on the door and Stiles slowly pushing it open, his hands covering his already squeezed shut eyes. “You decent?”

“I’m dressed.” April smiles and leans against her dresser, finishing her cup of coffee.

“You’re wearing a moon necklace?” His eyes go to focus on the crescent moon.

“Um, yeah. Why?” April asks, concern washing over her face at the ashen expression that has fallen over her brother. “Stiles?”

“What? Oh, nothing. Let’s go.” He says and walks down the hallway, his feet heavily taking the stairs two at a time before he reaches the door and pulls it open. “Scott! He man.”

April quickly grabs her backpack and follows her brother. Empty coffee cup in hand she slowly walks down the stairs to hear the tail end of their hushed conversation.

“Stiles, she’s fine. Nothing smells different. And I would have told you when we picked her up from the airport, Friday.”

“I know, but I saw her necklace and kind of freaked.”

“What was it?”

“A half moon.”

Scott lets out a barking, loud laugh that makes April smile from her spying perch. “Dude, a lot of girls are walking around with those things. Just because she’s wearing a moon doesn’t mean she’s like me.” At that last sentence, April rounds the corner. Scott’s brown eyes look up and he smiles. “Hey! Morning, April.”

April sends a smile to Scott. “Morning. Give me a second to get this in the sink and to grab a travel mug.” Ignoring her brother’s groan of annoyance, April heads into the kitchen. Her ears are tuned towards the front room where Stiles and Scott are talking again.

“Derek knows she is here.” Scott's voice sounds.

“You’re kidding me, right?” Stiles has a tone of fear.

Scott must have responded with a nod or something because it is quiet from there.

“Ready.” April appears behind the boys and smiles.

Stiles quickly spins around and holds his arms out to regain his balance. “April. Hey sister of mine. Are you, um, you ready to head to school?”

“Yeah. Let’s get this day over with.” The young woman says and walks out the front door, leaving Stiles and Scott to follow. “Don’t forget to lock the door.” .

The ride to school is seemingly quiet and April suddenly wishes she drove her own car to school since she feels like the silence on her behalf. Scott keeps turning and making small talk with her but there is still an unsettled feeling that falls between the three of them. Well, more like between the two boys and April.

As soon as the Jeep is parked and Scott is out of the seat, April climbs through and hops down, heading towards the school.

“April, hey, wait!”

Ignoring her brother, April is heading towards the school but suddenly feels someone watching her. Stopping in her tracks, she scans the parking lot and all of the new faces of her peers. Her eyes pass where Scott and Stiles are rooted besides the Jeep, watching her. When her eyes land on who is watching her, the ceramic cup of coffee is dropped and shattered on the ground.

Bright, red eyes.

In the far distances across the school, buried in the woods.

“April!” Stiles shouts and runs over with Scott, seeing his sister has a look of distress on her face. “April, are you okay?” Stiles looks at Scott who scans the parking lot and locks his eyes in the direction of the where April saw the red ones. “Scott?”

“I don’t see anything.” But the look he gives Stiles tells April that he is lying.

Pulling away from her brother and his best friend, April steps back. “Sorry, saw a hot guy.” And as if on cue, the chatter begins.

- - - - - - - - - - - -

“Dude, who is that?” Boy number one says as he slaps a hand against the second boy’s bicep, nodding in the direction of April.

“I have no idea.” Boy number two says as they watch the sixteen year old pass them by.

“Whoever she is, dibs.” Boy number one calls to his friends.

“No way, man! I totally saw her first.” A third boy comments.

“When?” Boy number two asks, raising a questioning eyebrow.

“At the mall Sunday.” Boy number four responds. “She is in my first period class. And her name is April. She’s a transfer student from South Carolina.”

“Danny, she’s not even on the right team for you to even call dibs.” Boy number one narrows his eyes at his friend.

“I didn’t call dibs, just giving a name to the face.” Danny shrugs as he pushes away from the lockers to follow the steps of April, calling her name.

“Stiles!” Boy number one calls out to a boy in plaid who is heading up the stairs.

There is a disgruntled sigh from Stiles as he leaves his Scott’s side and walks towards boy number one. “What do you want, Jackson? It’s a bit early in the school year for your crap.”

“Geez, calm down. I just have a question about April.”

“My sister?”

“She’s a Stillinski?” Jackson asks with disgust on his face. “Never mind!” He shudders and follows his two friends into the school building.

- - - - - - - - - - - - -

“April!”

Stopping at the sound of her name coming from a familiar voice, the brunette stops and turns to face the direction the sound came from. Landing on Danny who is jogging into the school and stopping just in front of her, she smiles. “Danny, right?”

“Yeah.” He offers a smile. “How are you?”

The pair start down the hallway. “Looking for the office.”

“I’ll take you there.” Danny smiles and the pair walk in a semi-comfortable silence towards the office. “So, are you nervous about your first day?”

“No, not really.” April smiles and pulls her buzzing phone from her pocket. “What Stiles?” She says into the phone after connecting the call..

“Where are you?” Her brother’s voice sounds.

“On my way to the office, why?”

“I was going to help you find it and see if we had any classes together.”

“Well, I’m with Danny and he’s showing me.”

“You know he’s gay, right?” There is a small pause to let the first statement sink in before he continues. “Gay and wants me.” With that, Stiles ends the call causing April to stop and stare at her phone.

“Everything okay?” Danny stops and looks down at April as she stares at her phone.

“I, um, yeah. I’m fine.” She lies with a smile and looks up. “I can see the office from here so thanks for showing me. I can find my way.” With that, she quickly hurries from where the young man is standing and pushes through the heavy office door.

The first part of day passes by slowly and April can feel herself being stared at wherever she went. After spending lunch in the back of the library, hugging her knees and trying to talk herself out of skipping, she calls her dad.

“Sheriff Stillenski.” He answers in his formal, work voice.

“Daddy.” April says with a sadness she had no idea she was holding onto.

“April? Sweetie, what’s wrong?” His voice softens to the one he saves for when his kids are distressed.

“Everyone just keeps staring at me without saying a word. Well, there is a lot of pointing and whispering among themselves, but not a single word to me. Scott and Stiles are nowhere to be seen since I guess their classes are nowhere near mine. I want to go home.”

“Sweetheart, where are you? You didn’t leave did you?”

“No, I’m in the back stacks at the library.” She answers and wipes her eyes on the back of her jacket. “It’s my lunch time so it’s not like I am skipping or anything.”

“Stiles has lunch this period, go find him.” The Sheriff says gently before there is the crackle of his car radio. “Baby, I hate to end this here but I have to go, okay? I’ll bring home dinner and we can all sit and talk.”

“Okay, daddy. I love you.”

She can feel her father smile from his end of the phone. “I love you, too. Go find your brother.” With that, the call ends.

Eyes on her. Again.

Something about this set of eyes feels familiar. Not Scott, Stiles, or Danny. Looking up from her blank, black screen April scans the back of the library for the eyes she feels watching her. Not seeing any glowing red irises, the young woman slowly pushes herself to her feet, grabs her books and backpack before hurrying towards the only door, the entrance. She stops in her tracks a couple stacks back when she sees her brother’s red hoodie.

“It was Derek.” Scott’s voice sounds in a hushed whisper.

“What do you mean, Derek? He’s watching her now?” Her brother’s voice is strained and panicked.

“I guess he was curious as to what the new girl in town looked like. I mean, I could feel her when the plane landed. His senses must have been stronger.”

“Damn. This, this is great. What if he goes after her?”

“He won’t. I’ll tell him that she’s your sister and he should back off.”

“I’ll declaw him if he hurts her.”

“I don’t doubt it, bro.” Scott gives a soft chuckle before turning and scanning his eyes to find April’s a few stacks back. “Found her.”

“Thank god for your sense of smell.” Stiles hurries around Scott and walks over to where April is pretending to be reading a book from the shelf. “Dante’s Inferno?”

“It’s a good read.” April closes it and sets it back on the shelf.

“Please don’t be mad at me.”

“I’m not. I’m hungry.” April pushes past her brother and heads out of the library.

“How is the first day going?” Scott asks as the trio walk down the empty hall and towards the cafeteria.

“Fine.” April feels bad for being so short with Scott but the two of them are hiding something from her and that pisses her off.

Scott grabs her arm just before she enters the cafeteria. “Wait.” He says, looking down the hall and that is when April puts a face to the eyes she has felt twice before.

“What? Why?” April pulls her arm from Scott’s. “I’m hungry.” She acts as if his presence means nothing and goes towards the door again.

“April, meet a friend of ours.” Stiles says, blocking her way.

“Okay, this is feeling a lot like a horror moving. The two of you drag me here and he’s going to pull me away and hack me to pieces behind the school. I’m going where there are people and away from two of you being cryptic and away from creepy and attractive stranger.” At the last word, the young woman gasps and covers her mouth.

A smirk comes to the strangers face and he cocks his head to the side a bit. “Creepy and attractive? That’s a new one?” He steps forward a couple of steps. “I’m Derek and no, I am not going to take you behind the school and hack you to pieces. I had just been hearing so much about the Sheriff’s daughter coming back into town and curiosity got the best of me.” He takes April’s hand in is. Instantly she feels the differences in their skin texture. April’s hands are soft and gentle hands where Derek has calloused and strong hands. The hold he has on April’s hand is strong enough to keep it in his grasp but relaxed enough that if she wanted to pull away, she could.

She left her hand in his. Watched with wide, surprised eyes as the stranger lifted her hand and places a gentle kiss to her knuckles.

“Okay, you are being creepy, Derek.” He brother speaks up from her left causing April to jump and jerk her hand from Derek’s. Her eyes quickly find the floor as she blushes deeply. To her right, she can feel the agitation coming from Scott.

“I’m just being friendly, guy, calm down.” He gives a pointed glance to Scott who slowly relaxes and huffs, crossing his arms over his chest. “You and Stiles look so much like you mother. But where Stiles matches his father’s mannerisms, you are graceful like your mother.” Another smile comes to the full lips that were just on April’s knuckles.

“You knew our mother?” Stiles asks, standing straight up.

Derek nods, his eyes never leaving April who is still refusing to look up from the spot on the carpet. “I did. Not for long before she got ill, but she was my teacher when I started the fourth grade.”

April feels tears fill her eyes before she turns and looks at her brother, hoping he would get her signal and pull her away from the conversation. It may have been a decade, but that doesn’t make talking about her mother any easier.

“With that note, time for us to get lunch.” He gets the look and quickly pulls his sister to his side and opens the door, pushing her through. “See you around, Derek.” He follows her and lets the door shut heavily behind her.

As she is walking away from the door, April can swear she hears a growl come from the hall but pushes it to the back of her mind and checks it as her being hungry and just follows Stiles through the lunch line.

Scott doesn’t join the twins for lunch that day.