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allisonslover · 2 years ago

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chapter two: the dead parent club!

word count: 2.5k

content warnings: language, slight references to nightmares and a car crash but nothing too graphic

It was late in the night, an alarmed Max after bursting into his cousin's room to see if they had both heard the ear-splitting noise from outside. They could rule Melissa out as the culprit, the nurse after leaving for a late night shift not too long ago.

That was what led the pair to creep into Jade's room, grimacing as she stirred, the light from the hallway shining into her room. They were most definitely going to have a riot on their hands in the morning, the girl always being moody until she got a coffee in her at the best of times. They were already mentally preparing for the scolding they were about to get for waking her up but desperate times called for desperate measures.

Max and Scott squabbled silently, both backing away from the bed as they fought over who would wake her. Max smiled triumphantly, tilting his head after shoving his cousin ahead of him. If someone was going to be beaten with a pillow, it wasn't going to be him. He had learnt that lesson too many times to make the same mistake.

Jade woke with a jolt, scream muffled by her pillow as she screwed her body in on itself, trying to make a shield to protect her from the splinters of glass that were flying through the car.

"Calm down, it's just me!" Scott whispered gently, flicking on the lamp on her bedside table in hopes of bringing her back to her senses. To be fair, that was their fault; they should have known not to wake her so suddenly, especially when she was suffering from nightmares so frequently.

"Sorry," Max muttered sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck anxiously as he flopped onto the bottom of the bed, getting a light kick as he sat on her feet. Yeah, thinking back on it, it wasn’t a great idea.

"What the hell is wrong with you two? What time is it?" she asked groggily, burying her head back into her pillow as her heart rate eventually slowed to a normal place. God, what was it with people sneaking up on her? It seemed to happen too often, making her on edge even when she was asleep. It was like the twins couldn't catch a break recently. Well, they could never really catch a break to begin with, it was just getting worse lately.

"It's only twelve," Scott shrugged nonchalantly as if he was usually up at this time on the first day back to school. He had tried to get to sleep, honestly he had, but the nerves and excitement made him restless, no matter how many meditation podcasts he listened to (and trust him, he had listened to a lot of those, even the ones with white noise, brown noise, pink noise, the whole shebang).

"You better have a good reason for waking me up at this godforsaken hour, or I swear, I’m gonna crack up," she hissed furiously, voice muffled from her face still being delved into the pillow. She refused to move from the warmth and comfort of her bed until she was given an explanation she deemed compulsory, although she could gradually feel the sleep start to slip from her body.

"I think there's someone outside, we heard a bang," Scott rambled, eyes widening for emphasis. If she could hurry up and come with them before an intruder broke in, stabbing them all in the process, it would be a great help. "We want you to come with us."

"Remind me, how does this affect me again?" she queried, recoiling away from the bright flashlight that was being shone directly in her eyes. She was seriously going to kick them down the stairs one of these days. The four walls of her jail cell would finally give her some peace. Hey, she might even be able to get some sleep!

"Because it could be a murderer. And if I died you would miss me so much because I'm your favourite cousin," Scott argued his point, nodding along, giving Max a high-five behind his back when she sat up.

His short speech seemed to have worked, the girl begrudgingly forcing herself to her feet, slipping on a pair of trainers, glaring daggers over her shoulder all the same. The string of curse words she muttered under her breath showed she wasn't happy, yet she was coming with them, which was the main thing. "Scott, you're my only cousin," she sighed, throwing on a flannel shirt over her pyjamas. It was destined to be cold outside; spring in California was never the warmest.

Max shared a short-lived glance with his sister as she passed, discreetly nodding as he followed the pair out onto the landing. He wouldn't have woken her up unless he was genuinely worried that someone was outside.

"That's why you'd miss me the most, right, Max?" Scott slammed the door closed behind him. God, the twins wondered if sometimes he momentarily forgot that he had neighbours. What they were more surprised about was that the McCalls hadn't gotten a noise complaint yet. Hey, there was still plenty of time left for that.

"Sure, whatever helps you sleep at night," he rolled his eyes playfully, cracking his knuckles anxiously. He could already tell that Scott was about to quip back a sarcastic joke, their teasing cut short when another crash sounded from outside— this time a lot closer than the last.

The teenagers' eyes shifted nervously between the three of them, wondering who was going to be the sacrifice if it came down to it. Logically, it would have been Jade, considering she was the slowest when it came to running. Although, if she pushed one of the others back— every man for themselves and all that jazz—, she would probably have a higher chance of getting out alive.

Scott motioned for the others to follow him down the stairs, running a hand down the banister to maintain his balance. Jade shoved her phone into her jacket pocket, after grabbing it off her nightstand. She had seen too many horror movies to leave it behind; that was a rookie mistake that the characters made. What if they got kidnapped and needed to send someone their location? Okay, they would kinda be fucked, considering Melissa was the only other phone number that she had from this stupid town. Although she loved her aunt dearly, god the woman didn't have a clue how to use technology.

"Are you seriously going towards the noise?” Max hissed, mouth agape as he waved his hands about. See, this was a prime example of why he was going to start forcing Scott to watch horror movies. Whenever someone went to investigate, they always died, and that was a fact. In his opinion, he'd much rather hide under the covers and pretend he'd never heard anything until it went away. It seemed like the safer option— the less stupider one, anyway.

Scott shushed his cousin, tightening his hold on the wooden banister. He had to know what— or who— was outside, otherwise he had no chance of getting to sleep tonight. Grabbing the baseball bat that he kept beside his back door, he raised it up as if prepared for battle. He knew it wasn’t a weapon that would do the most damage, but a quick swing to the face or the groin and they’d go down like a sack of potatoes.

Jade held her hand out slightly beside her, ignoring the look that she received from her brother. It was merely an instinct by now, magic being a part of her since she was born. Even though her powers weren't working how she wanted right now, that didn't mean she wasn't going to try to help. Besides, it was only a backup plan, in case they really were being attacked. If all came to all, she could just fire as many spells as she could and hope for the best. It would be hard to explain that away, but it was the best plan she had right now.

The McCall boy and Pierce twins stampeded onto the patio, screaming as something fell from the oak tree that resided just outside of the patio, swinging in front of them. Hanging upside down from the tree was the one and only Stiles Stilinski.

Max and Jade hadn't seen him in roughly a year, the same amount of time they hadn't seen Scott in. After arriving at Beacon Hills, there hadn't been a lot of spare time to visit friends they hadn't seen in a while. There were more important things to do, such as planning a funeral for two thirty-four-year-olds.

Stiles had changed a lot, one of the only noticeable consistency’s being his terrible sense of fashion (which wasn't that big of a shocker.) Since his mom had died, he had kept his hair at a short-ish length because she adored it like that, but now he had a buzzcut, something that took it to a whole new level of commitment.

"What the hell are you doing!" Scott screamed at his best friend, firing the baseball bat to the ground in a temper. Thank the heavens his mom was at work or they would have been grounded before the spring semester had even begun.

"You weren't answering your phone!" Stiles shouted back, voice cracking halfway through his sentence. It took a second for it to register that there were other people with Scott, eyes finding the twins, who were awkwardly standing by the back door. "I completely forgot you were here, sorry!" he was fighting a losing battle by trying to untie himself from the tree, after getting his leg caught in a rope of some kind,. "Jade! Max! Long time no see, how have you been!"

He fell with a painful grunt, landing flat on his back like a starfish. Jade covered her mouth, pressing her lips together in an attempt not to laugh, while Max winced and held his back in pain. Apparently, he had an empath connection with Stiles, which was just his luck, considering the hyperactive boy was a walking ambulance.

Stiles continued to ramble on excitedly, brushing the leaves off his jacket. "I'm fine, totally didn't hurt, not at all. That was a stupid question, sorry, you’re obviously not gonna be fine. Hey, at least you're both members of the dead parent club now!"

They'd forgotten the boy had no filter and was as blunt as a pencil, but they knew he meant no harm. Scott kicked him in the shin, trying to communicate with his eyes that were dangerously dark.

Stiles hissed away from his best friend in pain, confused as to why he had gotten brutally attacked before realisation finally dawned. His hand flew up to cover his mouth, trying to take back what he had just said. It hadn't been done out of spite, he just sometimes started talking and didn't know how to stop the words from spewing out. "Oh my god, I said that out loud, didn't I?"

"It's okay. What are you doing here, anyway? It's really early in the morning," Jade pointed out, laughing lightly in an attempt to diffuse the tension that was strangling her like a blanket. There was a knife that seemed to be reserved for especially slicing through their hearts every time someone brought up Sean and Elizabeth.

"Oh, yeah! We need to go to the woods," Stiles tried to stay on topic for what he had originally drove over for, ignoring the bump in the road as his voice filled with excitement, eyes lighting up with devilment— something they had learnt was never a good sign, as it usually ended with them sitting in the sheriffs station.

"Why?" Max questioned sceptically, not wanting to be dragged into a dark forest the night before school. Their eyes met, a blush dusting both their faces. Jade and Scott both had razor-sharp eyes when it came to romantic gestures, not missing the small movement even in the darkness. They knowingly glanced at each other, taunting smiles tugging at their lips.

When they were younger, Stiles and Max had a thing for each other, and both Jade and Scott knew it. In fact, pretty much everyone knew it. Thinking back on it, she was ninety-nine percent sure she had heard Melissa and Noah betting on the kids love lives. Scott used to always tease Stiles over it— he still did, even to this day. Jade used to tease her brother, until one day he said he'd had a seer vision of her falling into a ditch and he was going to let the monster drown her. It had soon shut her up and kept her quiet from mentioning it again— until now. In her defence, she had only been nine!

"Ditch," Max whispered, lips barely moving as he hissed the singular word to his sister, who merely snickered.

"There's a body in the woods," Stiles averted his eyes from the boy's as he rocked backwards and forwards on the balls of his feet.

"A dead body?" Scott scoffed, confused about what was so special. Stiles’ father was the sheriff— they saw dead bodies all the time. Besides, if he wanted to see a dead body so desperately, he could pay a visit to the hospital morgue.

"No, a body of water. Yes, a dead body!" Stiles spat impatiently, already itching to get going. It was good to see that he hadn't lost his signature personality trait— sarcasm.

"Seriously? Screw this, I'm going back to bed," Jade groaned, head already starting to pulse with pain, a sign that a migraine was surfacing. This was too much thinking, too early in the morning.

"I'm getting to that, hold your horses. They only found half of the body," Stiles paused for dramatic effect, nodding reassuringly when their eyes widened in disbelief. They didn't know what on earth they had been expecting, it most definitely hadn't been that.

Max caved, hands on hips as he rushed forward to the baby blue jeep, Stiles following close behind him. "I'm in. This, I wanna see. Dibs on passenger seat!"

Sighing, Jade ran a hand through her hair, turning to her cousin tiredly. "We better make sure they don't get themselves killed."

"Yup," he chuckled, kicking a stray stone out of his path. "You trying out for the lacrosse team in school?"

During the summer, when the Pierces used to visit the McCalls, Scott and Jade used to love playing lacrosse together. Max, on the other hand, stood on the side, on his iPad or phone and screamed when a ball came within an inch of hitting him.

"I think I might, but I don't have any equipment or a kit," Jade trailed off, the two cousins' steps falling in line as they walked down the pebbly driveway. It was pitch black outside, the street lamps and stars in the sky being the only guiding light. It was surprisingly quiet; considering they were on the main road, there was only a rare car that passed by during the night.

"Coach usually has some spare," Scott waved a hand about, stopping to tie his shoelace that had come undone.

"Is Stiles coming to wake us up to go find dead bodies gonna become a regular thing?" Jade sighed, waiting for him to finish the double knot.

"Probably."

"Of course it is."

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allisonslover · 2 years ago

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chapter one: monopoly

word count: 2k

content warnings: mild swearing, mentions of grief, family banter really :)

California. Somewhere they hadn't visited in the last five months, yet the house still felt just as familiar and welcoming, a warm hug in the freezing cold weather. The two spare bedrooms had been vacated of its usual occupants, which included anything that had stepped foot through the door and had been shoved in there for safe keeping— in other words, to never be used again.

There was playful shouting coming from the kitchen of the McCall residence, rain pattering softly against the window. It was January fifth, the evening before the three teenagers had to venture back to school after spring break. For Jade and Max Pierce, their first day was daunting upon them, the reality starting to hit. Being the new kids on the block wasn't easy, especially not when people had already formed their cliques and were determined to shun anyone who tried to interfere.

"You're a cheater! Nope, you're a cheater, you counted that wrong!" Jade pointed an accusing finger at her cousin as she counted out her money another time, leaning across the table.

Monopoly was a competitive game in the household, everyone desperate to have the glory of winning—that was, if Max didn't get bored and decide to quit halfway through. Lasting an hour and a half was a new record, the unusual thing being that no one had flipped the board yet and then stormed off in a huff, returning with a box of cookies as a peace offering.

"You conned me out of my money!" Scott yelled back, the corners of his lips tugging up into a smile as he gestured for his mother to side with him. This was why he never played with his family; the whole lot of them were cheaters! It was even worse when Sean and Elizabeth joined in on summer holidays, teaming up to bankrupt everyone on the board.

He knew that his cousins were taking the loss of their parents a lot harder than what they were making it out, but he hadn't wanted to pry. The pair had been living with him for the last two weeks, and considering their parents had left Melissa as their legal guardian, it was looking like a full-time thing.

Even though they had been brought together through a heartbreaking loss, it was still nice to have Max and Jade back. Seeing them every summer just wasn't enough, yet maybe seeing them every day would make them hate each other. Although, he couldn't see that happening; the three of them had been best friends since they were toddlers and a bond like theirs wouldn't be broken that easily.

On the subject of people hiding their grief, his mom fit right into that category, too. She was trying to be strong for the three of them, but they all knew that she was in excruciating pain. She cried late at night sometimes, when she thought no one could hear her. They could, though, as clear as day, her muffled sobs in her pillow as she mourned the loss of her brother.

Well, her adoptive brother, but she didn't see it that way. They had grown up together, squabbled like normal siblings, Sean had walked Melissa down the aisle in their father's place. All of that 'blood is thicker than water' was bullshit. Family wasn't defined by blood, not in the slightest. Family was the people who were always there for you, the people who would get on stage and dance with you because you didn't have a partner, the people who never gave up on you. The people who loved you for you, not for some fake version of yourself that was created to fit in and to please the people around you.

"She gave you the right amount, you just can't count," Melissa covered her mouth with her cards as she laughed lightly, nudging her son gently in the side to show she was only joking.

The night aimed to have some fun and forget about their troubles for as long as humanly possible, while simultaneously not upsetting anyone. Believe it or not, but when the three kids were as sensitive as they were, both goals overlapped, making it hard to do the two at once.

Max pumped his fist in the air in triumph, wiggling around in his chair. "You don't have enough to pay us, so we want your dark blue property and you can be debt free," he challenged, small tufts of brown hair peeking out as his head moved up and down, eyes drifting from the board to his cards and back.

Technically speaking, they were Jade's cards, but he had gone bankrupt and teamed up with her. It beat being cooped up in his room and having a panic attack, thanks to everyone's anxiety piling on top of him.

He hadn't yet learnt how to control his empath abilities, hoping that it would kick in on instinct if he was put through enough mental and physical torture. He didn't even know where he was supposed to start, let alone get it under control!

Did he start by trying to compile a list of things that he could do with these newfound powers? Or by thinking back on memories of his dad's experiences? Perhaps by reaching out to other empaths? He hadn't the foggiest, and frankly, it was the least of his worries right now.

Melissa didn't have enough to pay off her debt, being the next one to get kicked out of the game. Leaning back against the countertop as she raised a cold glass of water to her lips, she couldn't help but feel pity form in her chest.

She didn't know if she could be the one to look after these kids. It wasn't that they were bad, actually quite the opposite. She was honestly worried that she couldn't give them what they needed— not physically, but emotionally. A roof over their heads, food on the table and financial stability she could just barely provide. But emotionally, the pair seemed rightfully traumatised by the car accident.

They tried to mask it as well as they could, but every now and then their façade slipped. Sometimes it was just a glimmer in their eyes, a far away look, as if they were being forced to watch a repeated nightmare on loop. Other times it was more extreme, like the full-blown panic attacks when there was a speed bump on the road.

But it wasn't only that. She knew some of their personality traits were a bit extreme, but couldn't tell if it was something to watch out for or a cry for help. For example, how Max always joked about being an orphan and played all his feelings off with humour. Maybe it was a way to cope, she wasn't too sure. It worried her nonetheless. Or how Jade relied so heavily on validation from everyone around her and was constantly pushing herself to ridiculous limits to try and please them. It was just... it was a lot.

When her eyes travelled to Scott not being able to breathe from laughing so hard, or how the twins were finally smiling for the first time since they had arrived, she couldn't find it in her heart to kick them out. She refused to give up hope, repeating her promise to Elizabeth and Sean like a mantra in her head. She wouldn't leave them cold, abandoned and hurt, wondering what they had done wrong. She wasn't going to give up on them, not after so many people had already deemed them as too difficult and left.

Because the truth was that they weren't difficult. They were brilliant, creative and bright sixteen-year-olds who had shining futures ahead of them. Scott would go to the college of his choice and become an amazing vet. Max would excel in psychology— she would hope so, given that he never shut up about it. Jade didn't exactly have her mind set on what she wanted to do yet, but Melissa was sure that whatever it was, she would make it her own, she always did, with everything she did.

Max popped the kettle on, rolling his eyes at Scott and his sister arguing about the game. They were like three-year-olds, yet he wasn't too far off himself. A cloud settled itself over his head once again, the last few remaining sparks of joy fizzling out to nothing. A snake was slithering underneath his skin, desperately trying to find an opening.

Anxiety had been a part of him for so long that he didn't think he could name a time when he wasn't plagued by the overwhelming and crushing dread that crashed like waves against the shore. No matter how many different anxiety medications he took or how many therapies he tried, none of them helped at all.

Jade held the piping hot cup in her hands, resisting the urge to cower away from it. It was as cold as an ice box in the kitchen, the drink bringing some warmth to her body. Yet it didn't soothe the gnawing nervousness in her stomach, the feeling that she was being dragged away from the table, still sitting perfectly normal in her chair and waiting for the others to notice that she was drifting further away from them.

“How are you all feeling about school tomorrow?" Melissa asked, snapping on a pair of yellow rubber gloves as she made a start on the washing up from dinner. Sparks flew from the lamp in the corner of the room, specks of light drifting down to the ground. "What the hell was that?!"

"The lightbulb probably went, that's all," Max shrugged, widening his eyes in warning at Jade while Scott was distracted with a notification on his phone.

Jade covered her hands with the sleeves of her sweater, pressing her lips into a tight line as she tried to breathe evenly. God, she needed to get a grip, not let the emotions get the upper hand. Get some control. In through her nose, out through her mouth. Clench her hands into fists, before relaxing her muscles. "Good," she finally replied, answering the question that her aunt had originally posed. The question that had made her explode— quite literally.

"Good," Scott drawled the word out, rubbing his hands together eagerly, almost as if he was outside in the cold without gloves. He was genuinely really excited to show the twins around the school; even though they had spent every summer in Beacon Hills since they were five, they hadn’t stepped foot inside the high school.

It was a new territory for them and he could imagine they were almost as scared as freshmen on their first days. But lucky for them, he knew all the ins and outs of the place— like how the back seats in the cafeteria were always covered in food, or how their religion teacher was always out on the third Tuesday of the month when she drowned her troubles in alcohol, or how the lacrosse team was one of the best in the local area.

"Feel like I would rather be buried six feet below than enter the place. I'm telling you right now, it's gonna be full of girls who think they own the school, quiet girls, nerds, theatre kids, the jocks and everyone else," Max quipped, raising his hands in surrender when his aunt cast a glare over her shoulder. People didn't appreciate entertainment nowadays, hm?

Jade clapped her hands together, grabbing a cookie from the box on the table and pushing her chair in with her foot, wobbling unsteadily on the other. "Right, I'm off to bed," she mumbled through a mouth full of food, ignoring her soaked hair from her shower dripping down the back of her sweater. Kissing her aunt on the cheek and waving a hand lazily at the boys, she trudged upstairs before slamming the door closed behind her. Phew.

Who knew how much energy playing monopoly would take? Definitely not her. Rubbing her knuckles into her eyes, she flicked her wrist before flopping onto the bed. The contents of the remaining boxes that had remained untouched for the last two weeks flew into their appropriate places. Setting her alarm for early in the morning, she pulled the covers up over her head, refusing to let the thoughts in.

She knew she could only hide for so long but right now, she was okay with that.

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