CHAPTER 2

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The roads were empty and silent. The only sound that disturbed that was the slow roll and rumble of Rosyln's car as it made its way down the unfamiliar road. The moon was full and shone brightly onto the car giving some semblance of light and a way for Rosie to see past her headlights. Finn accompanied her in the passenger's seat and talked none stop. His sister did not mind, however, unlike their parents or other people. Finn talked about interesting things or at least things that she found interesting so she always listened. It was always better if whoever you were seated with was chatty and not dry. That way, the journey was more enjoyable.

It had taken Finn an exact 5 minutes and 7 seconds to race into his room, grab his phone, wallet and comb his hair. It then took him another two minutes to catch up with Roslyn's car once she had pulled out of the driveway and slowly drove up the road as a joke. He didn't react to this.

Rosyln eyed the boy while also trying to keep an eye on the dark road in front of her. There had been a lot of road accidents involving wild animals near this area of beacon hills so she was rather cautious. Putting a hand in the air when Finn was mid-sentence, she spoke. "Sorry to interrupt, but who's party are we going to exactly?" she asked, checking her mirrors as a red car overtook her. In the passenger's seat, she could see Liam Dunbar, nervous with a silhouette in the driver's seat whose face was covered by its long black locks.

"We?" Finn said as he stared out the window. The red car sped away at an alarming rate and was gone pretty quickly.

"Well, you, whose party are you going to?"

"Liam got invited to it by a Junior or something. Its Lydia martin's lakehouse, it's probably her party."

"Lydia Martin?" She teased. "For a freshman you sure as hell are doing well. I heard she's loaded. Wouldn't it be nice to have all that?"

"I guess," Finn said quietly as he continued to airily gaze at the stars.

Rosyln furrowed her brows just slightly. They stayed silent for a few minutes before Finn, wanting to break it, posed some questions. "Hey, Ros?" He began. "Lydia's a junior right?". Rosyln nodded her head as her brother continued. "Yeah isn't she a bit you know-" he twirled both his fingers in a circular motion around each his ears to signify crazy. Waiting for his sister's response he clicked his fingers, eager for her reply.

"Wai-What, uh no, no. I don't think so" Rosyln spluttered quickly, her eyes refocusing.

"Do you know her?" He asked.

"No-I mean, I've talked to her a good amount of times. She used to be pretty uptight so I kept my distance from her but not crazy if that's what you're thinking. She has like, episodes in class...." her words trailed off as she remembered fleeting images of the redhead girl screaming uncontrollably.

That group in school where.... suspicious. You couldn't meet someone in Beacon Hills who hadn't witnessed, been involved or had family members involved with some horrific event. Particularly five students in her year always seemed to know more than they should. Scott McCall, captain of the lacrosse team, Lydia Martin, Kira Yukimura, new last year and daughter of Ros's history teacher, Stiles Stilinski, friend to Scott and Malia, new that semester. They seemed to just get weirder and for the nearly two and a bit years she had attended high school with them, their names always seemed to surround weird violent occurrences. For instance, at the very end of sophomore year, Scott's girlfriend Allison was mysteriously murdered but no further information was given on request of her family.

God beacon Hills was so fucked up.

Finn clicked again for her to continue so she did." I think they're just panic attacks and I mean who would blame her? Getting attacked and then going missing". That too. See what she meant? they were always involved with weird things.

"That was her?" Finn asked intrigued. He had most likely heard about the incident on the news.

"Yeah I'm sure"

"Sick" Finn sighed.

"Not sick,". Rosyln took one hand off the steering wheel so she could hit her brother. He got a square knock in the jaw which he took without much of a fight. "Don't be disrespectful" she muttered.

"Right" Finn replied sarcastically. As if his sister's warnings meant much to his morality.

Soon enough The Martin's lake house came into view and Rosyln's car swerved around the corner towards the vast parking space. There were only about five cars in sight, including the red one she'd allowed to pass by earlier but soon enough a swarm of people surrounded the door. Rosyln looked to her brother. "Guess that's your cue. Who're you waiting on? Mason, Liam? Those other two? Garret and something. Was it Violent?"

"Violet" He sighed as he opened his door. He walked over to Rosyln's side of the car and her face dropped.

"No, no, no, no way, I'm not getting out. I'm not going in" She warned but he had already opened the door. "You specifically said it was you going to this party, not me."

"Yeah but I'm going to look so awkward going up alone. Come on, please!!"

"No," She said crossing her arms and anchoring her feet to the ground so that they would be extremely hard to move. "Literally how am I going to help you look any cooler going to a junior's party?"

"You're a junior!"

"Yes, a very anti-social one who does not want to go to a party with what likes 40 freshmen!"She screeched as he tried to actually drag her out of the car.

Finn stomped his foot but gave in. "Okay, fine! I'll go in by myself, it's your fault if I die"  he whined as he promptly turned his back on his sister and made his way to the door. She smiled at his back profile. Sometimes they were more similar than she always told herself. Ros would despise entering a party like that without her friends- without some friends.

Rosyln called after him. "Call me when you need to be picked up! And no drinking and shit! What else?"

That was pretty hypocritical. He didn't answer or acknowledge her call but he heard. He reached the door no problem and the girl sighed. It was his first high school party. She had to be that annoying older sister. Not knowing if he wanted her gone completely, she sat in the lot for a few minutes, just in case he came running out and she was halfway down the road.... again. Rosyln grabbed her phone and opened the message app.

.

Rosyln started her car up again and began to reverse and manoeuver it so it would gradually make its way out onto the main road. Her car was incredibly slow for some reason and only made it to the side of the forest before her tires gave in. Frustrated, she managed to pull it out of what little traffic there was and onto the side of the road, neatly. She got out and began examining her tires, starting with the front ones. Nothing wrong, and so she moved to the back. She turned her head in the dim light, unsure of what she was looking at. The moonlight gradually hit it correctly and her eyes widened. One large slash was visible on each of the back wheels.

She sighed tiredly and rubbed her face. Why in the world did people think that the vandalisation of her only good, expensive possession in the world was funny?

Going closer, she put out her hand slowly and dragged them along the rough cut edges.

Suddenly she heard some cursing in the distance and her heart jumped. She had to cover her mouth with her hand so that she didn't make a startling sound. Peeping her head around the bonnet of her car, Rosyln saw a man in a similar situation to her. His tyres were also slit. He seemed an awful lot angrier than her and was breathing heavily. He began whispering something but the girl couldn't hear it properly.

It began to sound like something along the lines of "The sun, the moon, the truth". The man kept repeating those words as his eyes began to glow. A bright golden yellow.

Rosyln had to suppress her squeal at that time. What in gods name was happening? Fangs sprouted abruptly along with claws longer than the rich girls Rosyln always spotted on a night out. She fell on her back as she crawled away from him. He must have heard her since right after, his head piped up and began searching for the source of the noise. His eyes had stopped glowing, his teeth retracted and his claws reduced to what was considered somewhat normal.

Ros sighed again, maybe she had just been hallucinating. Hopefully, she had just been hallucinating. She began to push herself up when another flex of movement caused her to look back up at the man.

A thin metal chain was wrapped around his neck as he helplessly clawed at his throat, trying to get a grip so he could pull it off. But it was too tight and the dark figure pulling it only made it tighter. Ros inwardly gasped but tried to keep herself together so she could just get out of there. If she started the car it would draw the mysterious figure's attention and she couldn't have that. But she needed to help him. He was going to die if she didn't.

A loud thump echoed through the area. Rosyln swerved around and screamed. There, on the road, just in front of her car lay the severed head of the man with his body fallen shortly behind. The person standing over the fallen being looked rather short as it's long head of hair whipped round at the girls scream, now muffled by her hand. Eyes bulging, heart racing and taking what little bravery she had left, Rosyln ran for her life into the woods without turning back. She probably should have taken the car.

|| INTO THE WOODS ||
|| INTO THE WOODS ||

A heavy breeze shook the otherwise still trees around as if they weighed nothing. It seemed so effortless and looked haunting. The trees large branches intertwined with each other, only penetrated by tiny bits of moonlight. The canopy was infested with all sorts of wildlife such as birds, insects and even bats. The path was rocky and mucky which didn't help much as Rosyln tried to run through the derelict area. Her shoes had no grips on the bottom so every few steps or so she would have to swing her arms in a circular motion to regain her balance and not trip. Her breathing hitched as she slowed to a walking pace. She'd lost the figure chasing her, they'd given up a mile back and returned to what seemed to be lake-house... with her little brother.

Had she just seen a murder? A real-life fully-fledged murder? If so, was she next? Her tires had also been slashed, just like the man's and she had been chased by the literal murder meaning if she was not a victim, she was a target. And, and the man- his eyes had been glowing! He'd had claws and fangs. What the hell was he?

Terrified and shaken she kept walking through tree gaps which got larger and smaller as she wandered. Over long thick roots that would most definitely have tripped her, had she been running like before?

The only question now was what the hell she was going to do. She was in the middle of the woods with no phone or any form of navigation. She'd dropped the device when she'd fallen over after, after the incident. The girl had always thought she wouldn't be as stupid as those girls in horror movies. She wouldn't be as stupid to run out into the woods with a murder chasing her and no one in sight. But she was one of those girls and in she didn't care. The pure fear that took over her body was like something she'd never experience before. An icy nostalgia.

The girl had heard of so many murders, had she not been present, this being reported on the news wouldn't have even crossed her mind but standing there in the moonlight with only you to make decisions is a scary and bad way to make decisions.

Rosyln stood in an open clearing the moonlight lighting up the area in a way she'd never really witnessed. It was almost peaceful. Almost.

A painful cry echoed through the forest. Birds took flight, disturbed by the sound of the scream. Ros jumped at the different occurrences. She was rigid and had dug her feet into the floor for support as she examined the area around her. The cry had come from somewhere off to her right and so she followed it. As silently as she could, the girl walked through the forest until she reached another clearing, similar to the one just before. But this one, this one was different.

Different as in, it included a ring of what looked like garden lights that weren't lit. These 'lights' encircled a young boy knelt on the ground as well as an older boy whom Rosyln recognized. Pressing herself against a tree, she steadied her breathing so that neither would look her way and peeped her head around the side of it to get a better look.

Liam Dunbar, her brother's good friend was on the forest floor sobbing, helplessly and in front of him Scott McCall, a junior, stood up from a similar crouched position. Finally, Ros spotted a middle-aged man in completely black attire a few meters away from the pair and outside the circle.

What the hell was going on?

As Scott stood up, looking down on Liam, he whispered a few words which Rosyln heard clearly. "You're not a monster" he paused. "You're a werewolf"

Roslyn's brows knitted together forming one long brown unibrow. Was she witnessing some sort of occult baptismal ceremony? Did these people think they were werewolves?

Liam lifted his head to look up at Scott as the boy continued. "Like me". The teen's eyes turned a violent shade of red and Liam relaxed.

Terrified and confused, Rosyln went to take a step forward which was an idiotic idea. A large thick stick which had presumably fallen from the tree overhead snapped underneath the weight of her foot.

Scott's head swirled around in the direction of the noise as did Liam's. Rosyln cringed. She was going to die now. She was dead. These people were insane just like she'd been telling herself for the last year. Scott McCall and anyone who associated themselves with him was undoubtedly insane.

"Hello?" Scott called out. "Who's there?"

He said this hoping it was Stiles or Lydia or Kira or Malia but he didn't smell them and didn't recognise the scent. It worried him. Ros didn't answer. What was she supposed to say? "Uh yeah, just me here. Definitely didn't see your eyes turn red and announce that you were a werewolf, nuh-uh."

No. She stood still. More still than she ever had in her life. But Scott wasn't going to leave without making sure. If someone had seen him and Liam that wasn't good. Not good at all. He turned to the beta. "Stay here". Liam nodded but got up from his awkward stance on the ground. The man behind both of them stiffened and pulled out some sort of weapon.

Rosyln closed her eyes tightly praying for anything to save her. Her hands clenched and her fingernails dug crescent moons into her palms. She was so scared she felt herself melting. It was all like a fever dream.

Her eyes stayed closed and she didn't open them even when she heard Scott getting closer. She only hoped miraculously that he did not see her and her, him.

Opening her eyes for a split second, the girl noticed her perspective had taken a slight downward toll. When Scott looked at where she was or rather had been standing he only shook his head and smiled.

Confused and frustrated, Rosyln looked up at Scott. She looked up at him from around ankle height. Ankle height.

Why and how the hell was she on the ground?! Scott's smile only made her more angry, baffled and upset. "My bad!" He shouted to Liam and the man. "Only a rabbit!".

Turning around he left the clearing along with Liam and the man. Rosyln stood there perplexed and on the verge of tears. A rabbit? What was he talking about? Closing her eyes again she felt the melting sensation but this time it was in a sort of reverse. Hoping that when she opened them again she'd be home in bed, the girl dramatically shot her eyelids open. She was not home in bed but she was back to her normal height, thank god. Whatever happened, and that's a solid whatever, she never wanted it to happen again.

|| INTO THE WOODS ||
|| INTO THE WOODS ||

-AUTHORS NOTE

So this is actually where the action starts, from here it gets better but the next chapter is personally my favorite. What do you think Roslyn's powers are? I hope you're enjoying this somewhat because I've always loved this storyline. Anyway,I will update again soon, cya!
-Malefecentlt, 7/1/21

WORD COUNT: 2971