CHAPTER EIGHTEEN: THE BIG, NOT-SO-BAD WOLF
LYDIA MARTIN AWOKE NOT even a half an hour later after Scott and Prudence slipped into her room and gave her the antidote, consulting with Melissa of course to properly administer the substance into her body. Her eyelids fluttered open slowly at first, vision hazy, and the dryness of her throat was almost unbearable to her. Gradually though her green eyes focused; first on her relieved friend, and then on the blonde that was the reason for her unconscious state in the first place.
Startled and shocked by Pru's appearance by her bedside, the strawberry blonde opened her mouth to warn Scott that she was the one who did this to her, but all that was accomplished was a fit of coughing. The alpha instantly grabbed the glass of water on the end table next to her and guided it to her chapped lips, which led to the recently awoken girl gulping the entire glass greedily and breathing in deeply after she was done. She didn't know how long she had been out or what the hell Prudence had injected her with, but she was intent on not letting it happen again.
"Scott... she's with—"
"The nogitsune, I know. It took us a couple of months to figure it out, but we got there. And she's no longer with him, she came to help. She's the reason you're awake right now." Scott interrupted the breathless and the quite frankly a little frantic redhead, her eyebrows furrowing as she processed the information.
The golden-haired girl hesitantly took a step forward, not wanting to freak the hospitalized banshee out further. "I'm sorry, if that means anything to you. I wasn't exactly in the right state of mind. I'd give you a card or something, but I don't think they have one for this type of situation."
"Yeah, well, I don't think an apology is going to make up for being unconscious for practically the entire summer," She replied hostilely before turning her attention back to Scott, wondering what on earth he was thinking, "You really trust her?"
Pru examined the way Lydia looked expectedly at the werewolf, his answer obviously affecting how she looked at this entire predicament and if she should believe that things had changed during these past few months she had been out of the loop. Though of course it did, because Lydia trusted Scott and more importantly trusted his judgement; even with his constant behavior of seeing the good in people, the true alpha was smart enough to know if someone deserved a second chance. The blonde hoped she had proved herself to him enough to let him see she was no longer the enemy.
Scott absentmindedly glanced towards the person who quickly became the subject of the banshee's inquisition, watching the way her blue eyes warily settled on him as well, curious about what he was about to say next. He thought for a minute, even though he already had his mind made up, recalling their previous interactions. She was never that stereotypical villain that called the shots and clearly enjoyed all the pain that took place because of her wrongdoing—although Prudence sure did sell the act very well that she was. For some reason, Scott was able to see past that and pay attention to the signs that there was a part of her that cared. There was a part that was good, and almost instantly the compassionate boy made it one of his missions to pull it up to the surface. And finally, he smiled a little, knowing he'd accomplished just that.
"Yes, I do."
The stunned girl couldn't help but return his kind expression, allowing the corners of her lips to upturn and curl into a small, heartfelt grin, because truth be told she'd never been more happy with herself. She achieved something that she previously thought couldn't be done, she earned someone believing in her for her capacity to be considerate and selfless and... human, which were things she'd abandoned for so long. Pru felt like she was on the right path and was thankful that Scott was willing to guide her along that. He was a good friend to have.
"Okay then someone better start explaining what I missed, because I'm ready to save Stiles and help you guys fix this mess once and for all." Lydia said, carefully moving herself into a sitting position and letting the pillow behind her prop her up.
"I couldn't agree more." Scott answered honestly, pulling up two chairs beside the hospital bed. "Pru, why don't you tell us what happened from the beginning before we get to what happened after you guys showed up? Why weren't you here the first time he was in Beacon Hills?"
The blonde sat down next to him, finding herself unhesitant and not afraid at all to finally tell the truth. "Just to warn you: it's kind of a long story. But, it all started hundreds of years ago, and I was walking home from my grandmother's cottage..."
"SO, ARE YOU GOING TO TELL me what exactly we are looking for?" Scott McCall asked, speaking up for the first time ever since they had gotten back in the car.
They were about to pull into their destination, Beacon Hills High School, and his sudden question interrupted the blue-eyed girl as she stared out the window. The car ride had been silent, but not due to awkwardness or uncomfortableness, it was actually a relaxing kind of quiet. Really they had both been caught up thinking. Scott had been remembering certain pieces of what the blonde had told him earlier on and trying to understand how the nogitsune had a totally different side of himself the werewolf never could have predicted. He had assumed whatever the relationship Pru and Void had wasn't that serious, that in the end he at least would drop her if things got too complicated, but that wasn't the case.
Prudence herself hadn't allowed herself to think about her dearly beloved dark fox and when she told their tragic story, it brought up memories, ones she couldn't help but get sucked into for a moment. She recalled the playfulness in his eyes and the way he would uncontrollably chuckle whenever she let out a giggle, joining her in laughter every time even if the situation wasn't that funny to him. Or the how the coolness of his skin would always heat up when she was close and how if she dared to taunt him he would make it his mission to tease her more profoundly. They did make each other happy, and although she wasn't exactly in a depressing state right now, the human missed his presence.
"You'll see." The blonde promised, unbuckling her seatbelt as soon as Scott slid the car into a parking spot.
Both of them got out of the vehicle, the werewolf leading the way while they walked towards the front of the school—or more specifically towards the statue-like monument that had the name of the school engraved on it. Malia was there waiting for them, deciding to run there rather than bother her father for a ride and having to listen to his horrible taste in music that the werecoyate let known that she didn't like. She glanced at Scott briefly before letting her face twist into a frown when she caught sight of the girl that weeks ago was helping cause the torment of her pack, definitely not being up to trusting her. It took a twenty minute argument over the phone for Scott to convince Malia not to eat her.
"Alright, Malia, I need you to open the Hale vault. There's something inside we need." The crooked-jaw boy told her, interrupting her fierce glare directed towards Prudence who didn't really mind it, since she has screwed them over more than once and knew there was still anger there because of that.
The brunette huffed, turning around and making her claws appear before letting them slide into the correct position on the smooth surface where five discrete holes were, and it would only take her turning them in the right direction for things to shift and a set of stairs to appear. "What are you even getting down here?"
"I don't know," Scott admitted, watching as Malia successfully unlocked the entrance to the vault, and sent a knowing look towards Pru. "but, apparently I'm going to find out."
They all took a step back as they watched the heavy, bulky sign move out of the way for the cement stairs to be reveled, leading all the way down to the hidden space that was like a sanctuary to the Hale family. Dust rose from being disturbed after so many months, floating around in the air, and Malia accidentally swallowed a good amount, chocking momentarily as her tongue stuck out of her mouth in distaste. It made the two witnesses hold back laughter.
The true alpha pulled the small flashlight that he brought with him out of his pocket, not hesitating to turn in on so they could see where they would be going, night starting to settle in. The moon was out, not even a faint remainder of the sun could be found, and it was full. Scott could feel its influence, making his senses heighten uncontrollably and the urge to shift poke at him; luckily he had good self control as did the werecoyate now did from practice. He was ready to help Prudence find what she needed to find.
"Are you guys going to be here long because I have to get back to my dad, we're having a late dinner?"
"Go ahead and go, Malia. I'll call you when we need to you to come back and close it." Scott dismissed, not wanting to keep her. "Be careful though, okay?"
"Yeah." She said, and she left the two alone after sending one more pointed look towards the blonde, knowing for everyone's sake she better be being honest with them.
Once again Scott took the lead, carefully going down each step with the flashlight beam guiding him, the girl following behind him without thinking twice. The vault was spacious, having an open center while shelves lined the walls, holding numerous objects and boxes that probably played a supernatural role in one way or another. Though of course there was the actual safe in the middle that was broken into months ago by none other than Kate Argent, which also involved a lethal deadpool where no supernatural was safe in the town of Beacon Hills. Prudence remembered Scott himself was worth a couple million of dollars during the time.
Without saying a word, she strayed away from him, gravitating towards the right where the first row of storage shelves began. Her fingers skimmed across what she could guess were herbs of some sort and eventually some photo albums, getting a feel of the infamous Hale vault that she was always curious about. Even before she first came to Beacon Hills, she had heard of the known alpha Talia Hale, and mostly the respect and power she held. Word still always seemed to get around to her involving the secret world most humans knew nothing about. For some reason, living a normal life never appeared to be in the cards for her, but maybe that was a good thing.
Pru let out a breath before she bent down, grabbing a hold of a brown, cardboard box that was unlabeled, though she still noticed that Scott was still standing there unaware of what to even remotely look for. "It's red, and it's a piece of clothing—kind of long. You'll recognize it when you see it."
"Okay. I'll start on the other side." The werewolf breathed out, questioning why a piece of apparel had such importance that it was stored in the vault of all places. He was sure she'd explain when they found it though.
Her hands unfolded the rectangles that were located on top of the box she pulled towards her only to find old looking china tucked away and wrapped in bubble wrap—so definitely not anything close to what she was looking for. Scott and her repeated that exact same process for the next half hour, tugging open a storage container and rummaging around inside of it to see if they caught sight of anything that resembled crimson cloth. Of course they found a lot of other things instead, including a small amount of wolfsbane, mountain ash, and other ancient objects that appeared to hold a certain significance. She was about to give up when Scott called her over.
Balance wasn't precisely something she had when she stumbled her way over across the room to the russet-skinned boy who sat on the concrete floor, one her legs asleep due to the way they were crisscrossed for a long period of time. She almost couldn't believe it as he carefully unfolded it in front of himself, the cloak unraveling instantly, no tag found on the inside like the fake one she came across in Texas. The fabric appeared thinner, more tearable, but it was still together, holding on throughout the years like its original owner.
Gently the blonde took it from Scott's grasp, a smile etching itself onto her lips, fond memories coming back to her. She knew this was it, that this was the same red riding hood her grandmother had made herself, and absentmindedly she pulled it against her chest in a caring manner. It wasn't anything she feared when she thought about finding it, there wasn't a stench of smoke or blood stains or anything that resembled evil; there was only the warmth it gave and the tiniest bit of fragrance of the pine trees she would walk by every day. It was just hers, like it always was.
"That's what you were looking for? A red cloak? What were you? Red Riding Hood or something?" He attempted to joke after seeing the way she clung onto it, but with the way her grin became a little wider knowingly, he started to contemplate whether it was actually true. "No way."
"I can't believe we found it. Thank you." She admitted, leaning over in excitement to wrap her arms around him and pull him into a hug, one which he returned with a soft smile of his own.
"Some things are just meant to be found I guess." He whispered while his arms were still wrapped around her, becoming even more glad that he decided to help.
The true alpha's cell phone ringing interrupted them, and they both simultaneously backed away from each other so Scott could stand up and answer, the girl returning her attention to the memorable piece of clothing in her hands. "Hello?"
A sharp inhale made the blonde's blue eyes turn to face Scott again, his face twisting into a look of pain, contrasting against his gleeful expression he held earlier. She even noticed how his grip on his phone grew tighter, water starting to pool in his eyes, threatening to fall at any moment. Prudence was watching someone's heart break right in front of her, and it was the type of recognizable hurt that only came from one thing: loss. Someone was dead.