Once in a Lifetime

33

"There's something wrong with it," Stiles replied.

"It's broken. And it wasn't a magic bullet. It was a regular bullet that blew out a regular windshield." He motioned to several other cars. "Just like that one, and that one, and that one."

Tabitha reached forward and grabbed a piece of glass. "Magic bullet."

---

The next day at school, Stiles overheard Tabitha ask, "Why would I want to ruin your yearbook photo?"

"Maybe because you haven't signed up for your own photo yet?" Malia retorted.

"Yes I did," Tabitha argued, showing the papers.

"It's blank."

She stared at it, obviously confused. "Uh..."

"Or maybe you're sublimating the stress of graduating and starting the next school year by avoiding key milestones," Scott guessed. "Psych paper."

Lydia nodded. "Oh."

Tabitha frowned at her friends. "Hey, the deputy searched the car. No slugs, no exit hole. And the address Alex gave my mom and Stiles' dad, it's an abandoned house. Come on! Missing parents, suspicious guy on horseback, magic bullet. Who's comin' with?"

"I've got to retake my photos," Malia replied.

Lydia shook her head. "Yeah, not interested."

Scott sighed. "I cannot miss anymore classes. I missed 38 last semester. And Lydia's mom is the only reason I'm still in school. I can go after school."

Tabitha huffed. "You know what? Forget it. I'll take Liam. Stiles?"

Stiles nodded. "You don't have to ask twice." He looked over to see Liam who was kissing Hayden. "Yeah, we're not taking Liam."

Tabitha sighed. "We may have to."

Sydney walked over and asked, "Hey, can I get a candid?"

"Uh, no," Tabitha said.

Stiles set Tabitha down on his lap and wrapped his arms around her waist. Lydia sat on the right side of Stiles. Scott and Malia were behind the three of them.

"Everybody smile," Sydney said as she took their picture.

During World History, Lydia heard a song associated with a certain monster she'd read about.

---

Scott, Tabitha and Stiles had just arrived at the Turner family's house in Stiles' Jeep. The three climbed out and walked up to the front steps to the house, which looked completely abandoned and disheveled. Stiles, Tabitha and Scott frowned at the sight of it as they considered what they were dealing with.

"That's not creepy at all," Stiles and Tabitha muttered.

The three walked inside the house, and Scott turned on a flashlight in his hand as they looked around. Just like with the exterior, the first floor of the inside of the house was completely empty and looked like it has been vacant for decades; everything was covered with dust and cobwebs, and there were no personal belongings to be seen. The floorboards creaked under their feet as Scott, Tabitha and Stiles walked into the dining room, where two plates, two water glasses, and two wine glasses were sitting on the table, which like the foyer and living room, was covered in dust and bits of dried up leaves. After visually examining the room with the flashlight, Scott looked at Stiles and Tabitha with a concerned and confused expression.

"You two wanna split up?" Scott asked.

Stiles and Tabitha looked at Scott as though he'd lost his mind. "Uh, absolutely not!"