Luna

"THE CORPUS CALLOSUM IS not only the largest white matter structure in the brain, but also the bridge connecting all parts of the brain to each other," Mrs. Finch teaches at the front of class while standing in front of a diagram of the brain.  I'm sitting one row behind Scott and Lydia next to someone I don't speak to outside of this classroom.  "That ability for all parts of the brain to communicate, and to work together, help us make leaps in cognitive thinking.  Any questions, thoughts, insight, Lydia?"

Lydia had been leaning back as Mrs. Finch approached her desk.  Her eyes staring out the window to whatever was happening out there.  All I see is a tow truck loading up a blue Jeep.

"I completely agree," Lydia tells her.

Mrs. Finch points to the window, not even glancing out, asks her, "Is there something outside that's more fascinating than the structure of the human mind?"

"No," Lydia answers quickly.  "I don't think so.  No."

Mrs. Finch nods, "Okay, good.  Now, many people credit the corpus callosum, uh, for giving us a sense of intuition, gut instinct, even we ourselves aren't aware-"

"I'm sorry," Lydia interrupts, making me look up from my notes.  "I'll be right back."

Lydia grabs her bag and her heels click against the marble floors towards the exit of the room.  Scott only hesitates for a second before following after her.

His excuse to Mrs. Finch was, "I'm just gonna check if she's okay."  Then, he proceeded out of the room.

My feet move to follow them, but Mrs. Finch's words stop me.

"You guys know that classes aren't optional, right?"  Her eyes seem to find me and my cheeks flush a light pink as I shrug.

Later in the school day, when the days coming to an end, a high-pitched screeching noise that sounded like feedback sent me outside to stand in front of the blue Jeep I saw earlier.  Lydia stood next to me less than a minute later and Malia and Scott ran up to us not too long after.

Lydia tells them, "It's coming from inside."

Scott and Malia walk around to the driver's side door and stare inside.  I walk around to the passenger side door and peer inside also.  My eyes feast upon the radio inside in which was causing the static all of us were hearing.  Scott tried the door and finds that it's locked.

"Did somebody just lock the keys inside?" Malia asks.

I shake my head, "No, there aren't any keys anywhere."

"Break it," Lydia tells Scott.  The three of look to her and then Scott glances at Malia before breaking the lock to get inside.  Scott gets in the driver's side and reaches over the counsel to unlock the passenger side door.  I let him climb into the backseat before I follow him.  Lydia and Malia get into the front seats.  We let the radio go on as we search the rest of the car.  Lydia opens up the glove box to search through to see if she can find anything familiar or anything to point us in the right direction.  Suddenly, the radio stops.

Malia looks to Lydia and asks, "Why'd it stop?"

Lydia sighs, "It doesn't matter."  She switches the radio on and off.  "There has to be a reason."

Scott screws his eyes shut and shakes his head.

"What?" he whispers.

"What?" I ask.  Lydia stares at him.

She asks, "You caught a scent?"

"Yeah," he answers.  "Uh, ours.  Mine, yours, all four of ours."

I sniff around as Malia speaks, "Mine?  I've never been in this Jeep before."

"Neither have I," Scott says.

"Yes, we have," Lydia says.  "We just don't remember it."

"I thought we were done with that," Malia grumbles.  My eyebrows furrow.

"Done with what?" I ask, but they ignore me.

"Uh, yeah, Lydia.  Parrish checked the VIN number.  There's no record of owner," Scott adds onto what Malia had said.

Lydia defends herself, "The Jeep didn't just drive itself here."

Scott stares back at Malia.

"Whose side are you on?" Malia asks incredulously.

Scott glances back forth between the two girls.

He says, "I'm on everyone's side."

"Done with what?" I ask again, louder this time.

"Stiles," Malia answers.  "He's not real.  Trust me."  Lydia sighs and dives back in to the glove compartment.

"Stiles is real.  I believe it," I announce out loud.

Malia growls, "I've lost a lot of people in my life.  It's a long list and I don't feel like adding to it."

I continue, "I don't know how to explain it.  I just feel it in my gut that Stiles is real.  He was here."

I lean back into the seat and stare down at my fingers.  One of my fingers trace the two black rings, Scott's pack symbol I'd gotten tattooed, on the index of my left hand.  I turn to the window beside me and see Tara staring right back at me.

"You might not have to," Lydia says, referencing to what Malia had said.  "Not if we get him back."

Malia takes a piece of paper from Lydia's hands.  Scott takes it next.  I catch two very familiar scents as I lean forward to the passenger seat to look at the paper in Scott's hand.

"This is from '96," Scott states.  "And there's no name."

"But there's an address," Malia tells him and points down at the paper.  "129 Woodbine Lane."

Lydia declares, "I know that address."

"Guys."  Everyone turns to look at me, and Scott's eyes widen as he sees a slight panic in my eyes.  "I caught Liam's scent and-and-" I swallow the nerves, "and Theo's."

They all seem to flinch when I say his name and glance around the Jeep.  I take a deep breath in through my nose.  The smell of Theo's cologne hits my nose more strongly now that I'm looking for it, and I have to grab the side of the Jeep to calm myself down.  I haven't smelled his scent since he's been gone and I wasn't prepared to smell it now.  My eyes shut and I lean my head back, taking it in.  I can feel Theo's presence all around me as if he's holding me in his arms like the one day I'd cried to him about my family.  I can picture him in the passenger seat as we wait for the person who'd been taking the bodies show up.  But why wasn't I in the front seat?  Parrish tosses the Jeep over and causes a fire.  I remember someone coming out of the Animal Clinic and telling us something as I laid in his arms.  He-

"He sat right there!" I jump up, pointing at where Malia was sitting.  My breath seemed to leave my body as a very unclear image of someone sitting in the driver's seat that night enters my mind.  "Me-Me-Me and Theo were watching Josh's body to catch who was taking the bodies.  And I had to sit in the back.  I-I-I-I swear.  He was here."

The three of them glance at each other until all at once they look at me.

"Luna, are you sure?" Scott asks me.

"Yes, Scott," I say exasperated.  "I can see a blurry figure in my memories.  It started when I heard the gunshots from the Ghost Riders and I had a different memory with someone who I couldn't see his face."

"I guess we know which side she's on," Malia mumbles.  I tilt my head at her as my shoulders drop in disappointment towards her.

"Really, Malia," I say.

  〰〰〰 

Lydia and I park with her headlights pointing in the direction of the Jeep.  The sun is down now and Scott is arguing with a tow truck driver.  Lydia picked me up out at my house after she got the SOS text from Scott about the tow truck coming back to pick up the Jeep they spent one hundred and fifty dollars on.  At the same time, Lydia and I climb out of her car.

Scott argues with the guy, "We already paid you.  I gave you all of my money for that drop fee."

"Yeah, and I dropped it, all right?  Now I'm picking it up again," the guys defends himself.  Lydia and I rush over.

"How much?  I'll write you a check," Lydia says to the man.

"It's not about how much.  They want it out of here, okay?  It's not up to me."

I roll my eyes and step around my friends to get in the Jeep.  The guy steps forward to hook the Jeep, but Scott stands up to him.  I climb into the Jeep and pop open the board under the steering wheel.  There's a mess of wires inside and I strain to think about the book I read about wiring a car to start.  In less than a minute, I've connected the right mismatched wires together to start the Jeep.  I roll down the window and lean out.  Malia had shown up while I was messing with the wires.  I was just in time to see her break the guy's hook and hand it back to him.

"Your truck's broke," Malia says.

I yell out as well, "Oh, and don't worry!  I got the keys."  I turn the headlights on to show my point.  I wait until after the guy pulls away and I can't hear his truck on this street until I unhook the wires again.  The three friends approach the window with expressions of astonishment.

"How'd you do that?" Malia asks.

I shrug and say, "I read a book."

They laugh and shake their heads at me.  I open the door and get out.

"So, how are we protecting this Jeep?" I ask.

Scott shrugs, lifting his arms and brings them back down to hit his legs, "Take turns on watch."

"I'll be on first watch," Malia volunteers.

I join, "Me too.  Actually, I'll be on full night duty."

"Still not sleeping?" Lydia asks.  I shake my head.  Scott pats my arm as he and Lydia get inside the jeep.  I go to stand next to Malia, her facing towards the woods and me facing towards the road.

A few seconds pass of silence before Malia asks, "Why aren't you sleeping?"

I shrug.  She glares at the side of my face.

"I'm not stupid.  Don't make me ask again."

I sigh and answer her, "I've been having a recurring nightmare about Theo's sister ripping out my heart."

Malia shakes her head in a sympathetic way.

"That's gotta suck," is all she says.

I nod and reply, "Yeah, I've only told one other person about it so if you could-"

"Oh, yeah.  Of course.  No one will hear a word out of me."

It's been a couple of hours since Malia and I took post outside of the Jeep.  There hadn't been any confrontations since earlier that night.  I glance at Lydia and Scott in the Jeep and find them asleep inside.  That is until we hear a thunderous roar coming from the direction of the woods.  I whip around to stare out into the woods as Scott and Lydia run out of the Jeep.

"Did you hear that?" Malia asks as they come up behind us.

Lydia answers, "I think all of Beacon Hills heard that."

"More like all of California," I retort.

"Who is it?" Scott asks.

Malia shakes her head and turns to him, "I'm not sure, but I think I recognize it."

Lydia urges us on after a few seconds of silence, "Go!"

All three of us take off into the woods, leaving Lydia to take care of the Jeep.  We split up trying to cover more ground to look for the owner of the roar.  I catch a burning scent, but it's not familiar to me and I can't tell where it's coming from.  I meet Malia and Scott in a clearing, each of us panting from running around the woods.

"Hey," he pants.  "Any luck?"

"No," she answers.  "He hasn't roared again.  I got a scent, but-"

"There's something wrong with it," Scott says.

Malia points out, "It smells like whoever it is, is burning."

At that moment, another roar soars through the air and we're able to pinpoint which direction it's coming from.  We run in that direction and come across another small clearing, this one has a single body laying on the ground in the middle of it.  The three of us approach it slowly.

"I hear a heartbeat," Malia declares.  I listen for a second and I hear it too.

Scott inquires, "Who is that?"

"I don't know, but I know the scent.  Even through the barbeque."  Malia approaches the, now obvious, man first as Scott and I study the area.

"How do you think he got here?  There's no tracks.  No fire," Scott states.

I suggest, "Maybe someone carried him out here?"

"For what reason?" Malia asks.

I shrug, "So he can die a slow death?"

All of a sudden, the man's eyes rip open and Malia jumps, gasping.  From where I'm standing, I can see the man staring at Malia like he knows her.

Malia whispers and gets closer, "Oh, my God.  Peter?"

The burning man struggles to nod his head.  Scott rushes to the man's other side as I vaguely remember there being a mention of a Peter in the back of my mind.  I crouch down near the man's head.

"Who's Peter?" Scott questions.

"Peter Hale," she says.  My memories return to me as I remember all of the times the pack had mentioned Peter in the past.  I'd only caught a glimpse of him once during Junior year when a lot of my now friends' names were on a deadpool.  Malia finally looks up from the wolf.  "My dad."

Peter is nodding his head, but I don't know if that's because he's confirming what Malia's saying or because he's in so much pain.  Once his and Scott's eyes lock, Scott gasps.

"Peter."  Scott shakes his head.  "He bit me.  How could I forget him?"

Malia whispers, "How did I forget him?"  Peter gestures to his right hand with his eyes and head.  "He has something."

He starts to convulse and grunt in pain.  His breath is shallow like he can't catch it.  Scott takes his hand in his, and I see black veins snake up his arms as he takes his pain.  Malia does the same with his other hand.  It only takes a few seconds for Peter to stop convulsing and for him to catch his breath.  His eyes close as the pain leaves him, and Malia can finally grab what he has in his hand.

"What is it?" Scott asks.  She pulls out a set of keys and holds them up for us to see.  We all glance at each other, wondering if these were the keys we needed.  

"I think you guys should take these back to Lydia, make sure they are the keys to the Jeep.  I'll call an ambulance and get Peter to the hospital," Malia tells us.

"Do you want me to stay with you?" I ask her.

She shakes her head.

"No, I'll be able to handle it."  When Scott and I stay where we are, Malia shoves the keys in his hand.  "Go! I'll be fine."

Scott nods and we both stand up as Malia gets her phone out to call the police.  We head back to the Jeep in a quick pace.  When we're in view of the Jeep, Scott lifts the keys up in the air to show Lydia and we both run up to the vehicle.  Scott lets me into the backseat before settling in the passenger seat.  He hands Lydia the keys.  She holds the largest key to look like a car key and stares at it.  She glances at me then Scott, who shrugs like what-would-it-hurt?

Slowly, she places the key inside the ignition and turns it clockwise.  The engine sputters as she tries to turn it on.  She lets go and looks to Scott.  The look must've told her took keep trying because she grasped the key again and turns it.  She keeps turning and pressing on the breaks to try to get it to start.

"Don't flood it," Scott warns.

Lydia asks as she lets the key go, "Do you even know what that means?"

Scott's eyebrows pull together as he thinks about it.

"Not really," he says.

Lydia tries again and this time the headlights turn on while the engine hums in satisfaction.  The gleam in our eyes as we laugh at the success shows how good it felt to be able to figure at least this one thing out.  But our laughs quickly die out as we realize what this means.  That we forgot about someone who had to have been really important to us.  Silence washes over us as we glance around the Jeep to see if anything had changed.

Out of the blue, the radio pulses static throughout the car loudly, making all of us jump in our seats.  Scott goes to turn the volume down but a voice breaks through the static.

"Hello?" a man's voice calls.

"Wait," Lydia stops Scott, I lean in between the seats.  "Wait, wait, wait, wait."

"Hello?" The man repeats.  "Is anyone there?  Can anyone hear me?

We all look at each other in disbelief.  Lydia quickly picks up the speaker.

She presses the button and stutters, "S-S-Stiles?"

Scott gets closer to the speaker and says, "Stiles, are you there?

"Scott?  Lydia?  Is that you?" The man's voice says again and it triggers something in the back of my mind.

My eyes flash to the glassy, light blue orbs that had came along with Beast side of me.  Flashes of memories play in my head like someone was flipping through channels.  They were short little clips, but it's all I needed to remind me all of the memories I'd forgotten.  Each memory starred a boy with dark hair and moles scattered across his face.  He had spastic movements that everyone got used to once you became fond of him.  His whisky brown eyes that always stared at me with either weary or slight amusement.

Theo shrugs, "Not anymore." His eyes flicker over to me and runs them over my entire frame as a smirk spreads across his lips. "Looking good, Luna. Did something change from the last time I saw you?"

"Yeah, I dropped about a hundred fifty pounds," I retort with a straight face. He kept his gaze on me and the smirk didn't leave his face at the diss. It made me shift on my feet with uncomfortableness.

"Ha! Good one! I'd give you a high five, but you know," Stiles laughs.

It switches.

 I'm the first one of the pack out on the sidelines, but Scott and Stiles are the first ones I see plant themselves on the bench to get ready. I walk over to them and lean over behind them. "This is exciting." Stiles flinches at my voice but sighs when he realizes it was just me. Scott shakes his head amusingly at him.

"What? The possibility of everything going wrong and us getting everyone killed?" He asks, fumbling with his gloves.

"No, the fact that this is the first time I'm going to watch you guys play lacrosse. Did you know, I've always wanted to join the team?" I ask , looking in between the two. Their expressions soften.

"That's honestly adorable. You're just a ball of sunshine, aren't you? I almost don't want to remind you we're not actually playing the game tonight," He states seriously but he has a ghost of a smile playing on his lips.

It switches again.

"What are you doing here?" Scott questions.

Theo steps forward and glances between Scott and Stiles, "I still need to graduate." His eyes meet mine. "I gave you your books back. You don't have to rip my throat out."

"I want to do that regardless," I declare with malice, nearly baring my teeth at him.

"No. No. What you need is to be beaten severely with a lead pipe wrapped in barbed wire..." I nod in agreement and raise my fist for a fist bump. Stiles doesn't hesitate to give one to me.

"Okay, I admit that mistakes were made," Theo acknowledges innocently.

"Murders," Stiles clarifies. "Some murders were made."

A prominent memory surfaces after the string of images.

"Stiles," I say just before he disperses with the rest of the pack, grabbing at his elbow. He waits and Scott gives me a thumbs up before walking away from us. "I want to apologize for snapping at you yesterday. It wasn't fair to you since you ended up being right and I'm sorry. The last few weeks haven't exactly been all that great for any of us, and I just happen to take my frustrations with the world out on you."

"Luna, it's fine. I know you didn't mean to. None of this has been easy, especially for you. I get it."

"Yeah, but what I did was unnecessary and it wasn't right for someone to talk to another person that way. Even with the extra circumstances thrown on me. I-"

"Don't. I understand. You don't have to apologize for it."

"But-"

"Luna, st-"

"Can you just accept my stupid apology so I don't feel so bad when I look at you now?" I interrupt, clearly agitated. A lopsided smile crosses his face and he pulls me into a tight hug.

"Okay, Luna, since you want it so badly. I forgive you." I squeeze harder than I should causing a few satisfying cracks in his back. He grunts at the short lived pain as I push him away.

"Thanks, dude," I say as I step away. I hear him laugh once I grab my bag and walk out of the house.

"You're welcome!" He calls after me.

"Oh, my God, you know me?  You remember me?" Stiles asks.

"I remember you!" I scream, springing forward.  Scott and Lydia stare at me with wide eyes, probably because my eyes haven't returned to their natural blue.

"Is-Is that Luna?"

"Yeah, Stiles, it's me.  I remember everything about you.  I remember all the first bumps, all the warnings about Theo, and how much of an impact you had on my life."  I tear up.  "I remember you, Stiles."

"Oh, thank God.  Lydia, do you remember the last thing I said to you?"

She nods.

"You said," she glances at Scott, "You said remember I love you."

"My ship," I whisper.

"Are you okay?" Scott asks after a moment of silence.

Lydia asks, "Where are you?"

"We're comin' to get you," Scott tells him.

"No, no, no," Stiles says.  "You can't.  You won't be able to find me."

Scott grips the speaker with Lydia's hand still on it.  His desperation to get his best friend back is evident.

"Stiles, what-what are you-what are you talking about?" he stutters.  "Just tell us where you are and we'll-we'll come and-"

"Right, just remember this.  Canaan, okay?  You have to find Canaan.  Just find Canaan."

There's a moment of just radio static before it completely shuts out.

"Stiles!" Scott shouts into the speaker.

When he doesn't answer, the two of them turn to look at me.  A few tears slip down my cheeks as I see the tears in their eyes.

"He is such a great friend," I tell them.  "We need to save him."

Hi, guys!  This was a pretty emotional chapter. Luna had been remembering the thought of Stiles but once she finally heard his voice it all came rushing back.  I really hope you liked the memories I chose for her to relive.
Any new theories? How did you feel about this chapter?
I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Please vote or comment what you think!
- chelsie

word count: 3949