Season of the Witch

"Seriously?" October crossed her arms over her chest. "You want me to train? I'm already busy enough, Derek."

The man's glare never faltered. "If you're going to be sticking around, Toby, I suggest you learn a few survival skills when it comes down to being one-on-one with a werewolf."

"But -"

"No," He threw a pipe at her. "I wanted to teach you hand-to-hand combat, but I'm sure Isaac would have more fun teaching you that."

She caught the pipe in both hands. She sent a scowl to Isaac, who was leaning against a column in the wide room. He shrugged and gave her a smirk. October shook her head, while passing the pipe between hands.

"So, you're gonna wolf out and attack?" She rose a brow.

She got her answer when he did wolf out. October made an irritated sound before holding the pipe like a baseball bat. She thought this whole thing was dumb. She had to get ready for the stupid party in an hour because little miss Princess Lydia wanted to do other errands as well. Derek came running towards October. The girl sidestepped and brought the pipe down, missing the man.

October's eyes narrowed. He gave her a grin, taunting her. Her body moved on its own accord. She moved the pipe and hit him square in the chest. Derek doubled forward, allowing October to grab his head and smash his face against her knee. She stepped back a few feet, gathering herself. Her breathing was labored. When Derek looked up, it was like he hadn't broken a sweat.

"Dammit," October blocked his punch with the pipe.

She caught his arm in the pipe, twisted and turned. Hearing the pop of his shoulder dislocating brought a smile to her lips. She pulled back the pipe and hit him in the chest again. Derek groaned as he popped his shoulder back in. October's green eyes widened. She was definitely not ready to be fighting any werewolves soon. Derek gripped the pipe and threw it to the ground.

October took a few steps back, only to hit a wall. She panicked and a repeated a chant in her head, trying to build power in her hands to fight back. Derek stared at her for a few minutes. His brows furrowed even more. He sniffed at the air before sniffing her. She was too afraid to move.

"Oh, God, Derek," Peter waltzed in. "Even I know that won't get you laid."

Derek pulled back, face back to normal. But, his eyes continued to glow red. Isaac stared at October, confused with the whole situation. Peter had his brows raised. October jumped when her phone rang. She pushed past Derek, heart racing. Grabbing her phone, she sighed.

"What the hell do you want, Stiles?"

Stiles scoffed. "Well, nice to hear from you, too, Toby. Jeez. How long has it been since -"

"A day," October interrupted. "I saw you yesterday. You tried feeding me a hotdog when you know I'm a vegetarian. Remember that?"

"Yeah," Stiles muttered. "My arms remembers that, too. You bruised me!"

"Was there something you wanted?" She was nearly outside of the depot at this point.

Stiles cleared his throat. "Y-yeah. Well, you see, there's this party tonight and I was just wondering if -"

"Yes, Lydia is coming."

Stiles laughed nervously. "W-what? What makes you think - Okay, yeah. Is she, uh, with you now?"

October rolled her eyes and hung up. The boy was hopelessly in love with the girl. She didn't understand why he couldn't just man up and ask her on a nice date. Though, then again, they were talking about Lydia. October made it to her Impala, but sighed when she realized she left her keys inside. She turned around to come face-to-chest with the one and only Isaac.

"Yes?" She looked up.

He pulled out her car keys from his pocket. "You left these. You did pretty good today, until you freaked him out. Whatever you did made him angry. He won't tell me what yet. I think Peter knows."

October grabbed her keys. "Uh, thanks. I don't know what you mean."

"You're lying," Isaac pulled at his hair. "Look, I don't care right now. But if Derek asks you, you tell him. I don't know what he'd do to you. Just don't be the smartass you are."

She snorted. "I can't make any promises."

He sighed. "Just try."



October tried not to poke her eyes out when Lydia pushed her around the mall. First they went to eat some lunch, which October was fine with, then they went to the mall. The strawberry-blonde had made October wax everything. She made the girl get her haircut, go out to basically buy a new wardrobe, and get her makeup done. The dark-haired teen was so exhausted, she was afraid she wouldn't be up for the party.

"Are we done yet?" October asked when they reached Lydia's car.

Lydia popped open her trunk. "For the most part, I think."

October placed the heavy bags into the trunk, feeling the weight of the world roll off her shoulders. They were finally done. She felt like if she had to deal with bumping into anymore people, she'd go clinically insane. Once in the car, October felt at ease.

"Do you like your hair?" Lydia asked when they hit the road, heading to October's home. "I think it suits you. Not a lot of people can pull off blunt bangs like that."

October pulled the sun visor down and looked at the mirror. "It's different. But, I like it. Thanks again for this treatment."

Lydia waved it off. "The haircut wasn't even that expensive. Don't worry about it."

"I know, but thanks."

Lydia turned up the radio and started to sing along. October laughed as she sang with her. By the time, they made it to October's home, they were breathless from laughter. Lydia went back onto the subject of boys when they carried their bags into October's room. October had to keep herself from rolling her eyes. Lydia was way too obsessed with the male gender.

"I wonder if Mr. Curls will be there," Lydia said, airily.

October felt her eye twitch. "Why?"

The strawberry-blonde shrugged. "So, I could see how perfect you two would be together."

"Really?"

"No," Lydia laughed. "You'll just have to see why."

October huffed and shook her head. Lydia literally scared October, though she'd never admit it to the other girl. October knew she was a smart person, she just never liked to brag about it.

"You just love to leave me hanging," October laughed.

James knocked on her door before walking inside. "Hey, Toby. I need to speak to you. Alone."

She nodded. "Yeah, okay. Uh, Lydia you can use the shower first. I might use the guest shower when I get back."

Lydia glanced at James, confusion in her eyes. October shrugged. It couldn't have been anything too important. She left the room, James following behind her. They walked a few ways down the hall before stopping. October rose a brow, expecting him to speak first. James ran a hand through his short hair, exhaling deeply.

He wrung his fingers together. "Aunt Marie… She disappeared."

"That's a normal occurrence, though," October leaned against the wall. "She'll turn up with some dead animal and Uncle Darren is -"

"He's dead," James interrupted. "Darren and Rosemary are dead, Toby. Marie wasn't found. She ran from the asylum."

"She wouldn’t do that."

He gave her a hard look. "You and I both know for a fact that she would. She disappeared the same night they were killed. I saw the pictures. I think they were hexed."

October shook her head. "No. She wouldn't do that. She wouldn't do that to Rosemary."

"Then, how?"

"I don't know. But, I can't just say that it was her. I know she's crazy," October licked her lips. "She can't - she couldn't, James."

"Until I know for sure," James started to walk away. "I'll blame her. Their funeral is Monday morning. Pack something light - we'll be the only ones there."

October stood there for a minute, unable to process what she was just told. Aunt Marie couldn't have done that. How would she find the materials for a hex bag to begin with? She disappeared the same night as Uncle Darren and Rosemary were killed. It could have just been a coincidence. October brushed her hair from her face before strolling back into her room.

Lydia was sitting on her bed, holding a book. October's heart stopped when she noticed the book was leather bound. She quickly snatched her BOS from Lydia's hands. She shut the book and placed it on her nightstand. Not being able to face Lydia, she grabbed a dress from a bag.

"W-what was that?" Lydia asked.

October stopped in her tracks. "Something I wish you didn't see."

"Toby…"

"Look Lydia," October turned around, eyes casted to the ground. "I need you to trust me when I say this: if I tell you and you told someone who could potentially hurt me, I'd be dead."

Lydia grabbed the book again. "I do trust you. You should have a little faith in me."

"You can't tell anyone, Lydia," October begged.

She shrugged. "Who would believe me anyway?"

"Stiles, maybe. Or Allison?"

"If it's something you want to keep from everyone, then of course."

October bit her lip. "I have a lot of things that I haven't told you, or anyone for that matter. Um, first things first, I'm a witch. I was kind of just born into it, but I got my magic later in life. My dad never really seemed to like me when I was younger. Um, yeah. I'm Toby the teenage witch."

Lydia plopped down on October's bed, flipping through the pages of the book. "You're a witch."

October nodded. She figured Lydia wouldn't believe her, but in front of her was one of her many BOS's. She didn’t keep everything inside of one book. She had multiple books about a multitude of things. October sighed when she noticed Lydia shaking.

"I told you that you didn't want to know," October kept her voice low. "I-it's what I was born into, I didn't ask for it. Hell, for the longest time I didn't even want it."

Lydia licked her lips and shook her head. "N-no. I'm not scared of you - well, not really. What other things haven't you told me?"

The dark-haired girl shrugged before sitting down. "Um, I already told you I'm a witch. My parents and sister didn't die by accident. We were normal, Lydia. We were as normal as a family could be. We didn't hurt anyone - at least, I didn't. My family was at home when they came.

"I remember coming home with James to see the house riddled with bullet holes. I didn't hear anyone inside the house. So, we ran. We were too nervous to even think about running to the car. James and I lost each other. I can still feel how easily the arrow pierced my leg. That's what got me down first. But, I got up and kept running. Another arrow got me in my calf.

"I fell from this slope," October stared straight ahead, never blinking. "I got these cuts and scrapes all over my face and arms. I got this scar from hitting a rock. It's funny, normally with this ring, I'd be all good and healed. But those bastards stuck some poison on the cut. They did it just to watch me squirm and they laughed the whole time. And, that's when th-they -"

"You don't have to tell me anymore," Lydia wrapped her arms around the other girl. "I'm so sorry, Toby."

October blinked a few times, tears falling from her lashes. She wiped them away quickly. Sniffling, she tore herself from Lydia.

"This is the most I've said about it to anyone. And, it's absolutely scares me," October picked at the dress in her hands. "Not even my brother knows about what had happened. I don't even talk to Ms. Morrell. I just sit there while she asks questions. I don't acknowledge her."

"Toby," Lydia looked her straight in the eye. "I might seem like a girl who could care less about another person's problems, but you're a really really great friend of mine. I-if you need someone - anyone to talk to, just call or drive over."



"Hm," Lydia looked herself over in the mirror one last time. "Do I need anything else?"

October shook her head. "I wouldn't think so."

Lydia turned her head, giving October a sidelong glance. October brought her hands up and shrugged. It didn't look like Lydia needed anything. She was fine just the way she was. October looked down at her dress, feeling like she was the one missing something. She wore red heels that gave her another four inches in height. Her dress was a dark red, with floral lace that ended mid-thigh. She had a thin belt tied around her waist.

"Do I need anything?" She looked over at Lydia.

The strawberry-blonde tilted her head. "Turn around. Hm, no. You're fine. But, to be safe, I can curl your hair."

She looked excited at the thought. October shrugged and went with it. If it made Lydia as happy as she could possibly get, then October didn't mind. She sat on a stool and let Lydia do her thing. Lydia hummed under her breath as she curled October's short hair.

"Do you ever think you could get intimate with someone?" Lydia asked in a small voice. "Y-you don't have to answer. That was dumb."

October thought about it. She felt that if she were to tell someone that she wanted to be intimate with what happened, they'd surely run the other way. No one wanted to be with someone who was defiled in such a way. She figured that no one would want her to begin with. She knew that wasn't the case, but she couldn't help but feel that way. October would love to find someone who didn't care about that, but thinking about the boys she knew, it wasn't going to be possible.

"No," October answered.