( FIVE )
a novel approach

"Alex, can I talk to you for a sec?" Lucas asked, catching Alex's attention from the doorway.

"Yeah, of course, come in." Alex nodded, Lucas walking into her room and sitting next to his sister, who was on the edge of her bed.

"I hope I wasn't interrupting something." Lucas spoke as he glanced at his sister, Alex shaking her head.

"You weren't." Alex responded, Lucas nodding. "Anyway, what did you wanna talk to me about?"

Lucas inhaled a breath, releasing it a second later. "It's about Malia...and Lydia."

Alex frowned in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"To rephrase, it's sort of about my relationship with Malia, and my friendship with Lydia..." Lucas corrected himself, Alex slowly nodding as her eyebrows furrowed.

At Alex's reaction, Lucas continued. "You've been in a relationship where you've had...feelings...for someone else, right?"

Alex frowned as her brain wandered back to her relationship with Isaac. "Uh, yeah, how'd you know that?"

Lucas blinked as he raised his eyebrows. "Really? I just guessed. Huh..."

"Good guess. Anyway, continue..." Alex let her voice trail off as her brother nodded, the boy getting back to his point.

"I like Malia a lot, don't get me wrong, but..." Lucas sighed, Alex frowning. "I think I might have feelings for Lydia."

Alex's eyebrows raised as her mouth parted slightly in surprise. "You- what?"

"Is that wrong?" Lucas glanced at Alex, who shook her head.

"No, Lucas, it's not wrong." Alex responded. "There's nothing wrong with having a crush on someone else while you're in a relationship."

"Are you sure? Am I a bad boyfriend?" Lucas questioned quickly.

"Well, I wouldn't know. If I did, that would be extremely weird..." Alex replied sarcastically, a small frown appearing on her face, Lucas huffing a chuckle at her words. "You've never had a crush on another person while you've dated someone, have you?"

"Obviously not." Lucas frowned, Alex rolling her eyes.

Lucas' tone went serious as he continued. "What do I do?"

"Well, things are going well with you and Malia, right?" Alex questioned with raised eyebrows. "You like her?"

Lucas nodded. "Yeah, I do."

"Considering it's a small crush, and your relationship with Malia is going pretty well so far, I'd say focus more on her and your relationship." Alex responded. "But then again, I'm not you, so...and coming from me, that advice pretty ironic..."

Lucas chuckled. "What, considering your crush on Stiles was more than 'little', and you ended up with him instead?"

"Well, yeah." Alex replied with raised eyebrows.

"Thanks for the advice, though." Lucas spoke after a moment, the boy standing up, Alex nodding a 'you're welcome'. "It was surprisingly helpful."

"Wait, 'surprisingly'?" Alex frowned as her brother began to walk out of her room.

••••

"Alex?" Stiles' shaky voice spoke as he answered his phone. He was still calming down from the anxiety attack he just had due to how he accidentally killed Donovan just earlier, left the area for a minute, and then came back to find Donovan's body gone.

Alex didn't pick up on the state he was in, as she responded from the other end immediately. "Stiles, someone's taking the bodies, Scott just told me now."

Stiles paused, the boy widening his eyes before taking a breath.

"Stiles, you there?" Alex asked at his silence.

"Y- yeah, um...what are you- what are you talking about?" Stiles frowned in confusion as he stuttered.

"I'm at the animal clinic with Scott and Kira. Tracy's body is gone." Alex explained. "The lock on the door was broken from the outside, and Scott's mom told him that Lucas' body is missing from the morgue, not my brother's, of course. They've been searching the whole hospital for it. Someone's stealing the bodies."

••••

"The Dread Doctors, by T.R. McCammon." Alex spoke as she held a book in her hand, Lydia and Malia walking next to her on either side.

Lydia took the book from Alex's hands, the girl frowning at it.

"What?" Malia frowned in confusion.

"I don't know...there's something about it..." Lydia let her voice trail off.

"Has anyone actually read it yet?" Alex questioned, glancing at Malia.

"Just me. And I didn't understand any of it." Malia responded with a shrug.

"We should probably all read it." Lydia sighed, Malia nodding.

"Kira's working on it." Malia replied as the three girls made their way to Malia's locker.

"Stiles says he can't find anything on the author. He thinks it's a pen name." Alex informed the girls.

"'In a small New England town, teenagers are taken in the night and...buried alive'." Lydia read the blurb, frowning as she glanced between Alex and Malia, letting her voice trail off again at the familiarity of the phrase. "'Days later they emerge transformed, wreaking havoc and spreading terror, commanded by an ancient order of parascientists known only as the Dread Doctors'."

"Sounds vaguely familiar." Alex glanced at Malia as she crossed her arms. "How does it end?"

"It doesn't." Malia responded, glancing at Alex. "This is supposed to be volume one."

"Oh, let me guess, there is no 'volume two'." Alex scoffed.

"I think we're living 'volume two'." Malia replied with a sigh.

"Then maybe the real question is, is this a novel or someone's prediction?" Lydia finished, Alex and Malia glancing at her.

••••

"Why is your heart beating so fast?" Malia whispered as she turned to face Lydia, Alex glancing at the two girls from her desk next to Lydia's.

"Look at this. Look at the 'Acknowledgments' page." Lydia whispered, handing the book to Malia, Malia frowning as she read it, the girl then handing the book to Alex.

"'For providing scientific perspective and invaluable insight, this book is dedicated to Dr. Gabriel Valack." Alex spoke quietly, the girl frowning at the page, before glancing between Lydia and Malia.

••••

Alex tapped the pen she was using on her desk nervously as she bit her lip.

"Okay, what's wrong?" Malia spoke annoyedly, Alex stopping her tapping as she glanced at Malia.

"Hm?" Alex raised her eyebrows.

"Why are you so nervous?" Malia frowned, the girl glancing at Alex.

"I should've gone with them." Alex sighed. "I knew it, I should've gone..."

"They'll be fine, there's four of them." Malia responded, trying to comfort Alex.

"I know, but I'm just worried." Alex replied as she released a breath.

"Hey, it's okay." Malia raised her eyebrows. "Plus, you're helping me study. If that makes you feel better..."

A small smile appeared on Alex's face as she nodded.

Suddenly, Theo sat in the seat across from Alex, sending the girl a small smile. "Page turner?"

Both Malia and Alex frowned at him.

"If you can call precalculus absolutely riveting, then sure." Alex responded, the girl wondering why Theo sat with her and Malia.

"My favourite." Theo joked as he held up his precalculus book, the boy huffing a chuckle.

"Oh, would you look at that..." Alex mumbled sarcastically at the coincidence.

••••

Once Malia had left the area, Theo stopped Alex before she could leave. "Need a ride?"

"I can just take the bus..." Alex responded, glancing at Theo.

"The last one left an hour ago." Theo replied with a small smirk.

"I'll walk." Alex shrugged.

"You can drive, right?" Theo questioned, Alex frowning but nodding anyways.

"Yeah..."

"Cool." Theo then threw his car keys towards Alex, the girl catching them with ease.

••••

Theo glanced at Alex for the tenth time since they left, Alex driving Theo's car.

"What? Something on my face?" Alex frowned, quickly glancing at Theo before casting her eyes back to the road.

"No, there's nothing on your face." Theo released a chuckle.

Alex frowned in question as she glanced at Theo. She then stopped the car abruptly, Theo frowning in confusion.

Alex frowned as she noticed a figure in the distance, the girl getting out of the car and stopping as she narrowed her eyes at it.

She didn't hear Theo's calls as she was focusing on the figure, Theo's muffled voice becoming clearer as he approached her quickly. "Alex!"

Suddenly, Theo grabbed Alex tightly as he jumped away from the oncoming car that was about to hit Alex, the two panting as their hearts raced, Theo's arms still around Alex protectively.

Alex glanced at the space where the figure was, however, it was gone. She frowned in confusion.

"What the hell just happened?" Theo frowned, the boy panting. "Alex?"

"Nothing...I thought I saw someone..." Alex frowned as she turned her head to face Theo, Theo glancing at her already. Theo's eyes flickered from her eyes down to her lips, the boy slowly beginning to inch closer to Alex.

Alex immediately backed up, the girl breaking away from Theo's grip and standing up quickly.

Theo stood up too, the boy widening his eyes. "Sorry- I didn't mean to overstep my boundaries..."

"Theo, what was that?!" Alex exclaimed with a frown.

Theo raised his hands up in a surrender motion. "I'm sorry! I- I just got heated in the moment-"

"I don't care! Never do that again!" Alex yelled as she shook her head, the girl beginning to walk away.

"What are you doing?!" Theo called after her with a frown.

"Walking home." Alex answered, not facing him as she kept walking in the direction of her house. "Away from you."

Theo narrowed his eyes as his lip twitched angrily.