chapter seven

[ season 2 | episode 3 ]
[ ice pick ]

SHE DID NOT WANT TO BE AT SCHOOL. Instead of laying in bed with her T.V. playing reruns of Friends, she stood next to Erica with her arm leaning against on of Beacon Hills High's bright blue lockers. Ew. As the blonde twirled some hair and babbled on about some greasy kid hitting on her during first hour, Marley tried not to fall into that empty void of despair.

          The feeling climbed through her throat, bubbling beneath her skin and crawling so slowly across her bones. She felt like she'd either throw up or shatter at any moment— like a broken antique doll with a fake smile forever etched onto her face and empty eyes. It took all of her strength and focus to remember to breathe and to shake the feeling of suffocating away. In one last attempt to rid herself of the constant worry, she painted a smile on her lips and felt a mask of perfection slip over her body.

Erica rubbed a bit of smudged lipgloss from the corner of her lip, eyes staring straight into the mirror that sat gingerly in her locker. What she didn't see was Scott walking up next to the two girls with a fiery glare. Marley nudged her friend and nodded towards the omega.

          "Two's not enough for Derek. I know he needs at least three, so who's next?" He barely even raked his eyes over the biracial girl, focusing more on the seductive blonde. If there was one word to describe the new wolf, it'd be siren. She lured boys in by her secret giggles and flirty smiles before sinking her teeth into their ego and ripping them apart.

          Reyes hummed, slamming her locker shut and pasting a smile just like her friend's onto her glossed lips. "Why does there have to be a next one when we've already got you?"

          Scott's patience seemed the thin as the tall female stalked toward him like a lioness creeping towards pray. Erica Reyes was hot and she knew it. "Who's next?" His voice raised, urgency lining the two syllables.

          With a single look towards Marley, she decided to reach deep into her trauma and pull something dark from her soul. "You know, I never knew what I looked like during a seizure until someone took a video of me once and put it online," she said, her voice soft and tentative. A facade of safety waiting to trap him. One of Marlowe's heart strings tugged and she felt pity rising for the newfound friend of hers.

          "I don't care." Scott shook his head, trying not to pay attention to either of Derek's betas.

          Marley walked up, standing next to Erica and lifting her chin. She wasn't that submissive, weak little girl anymore. No, she was a wolf. She could kill with just one swipe of her hand and bring fear to even the strongest of men. Confidence should've oozed from every pore on her body, but, instead, it licked at her bones before hiding once more; leaving her as just a shell of a person. The whole confident, fear her thing was an act.

          "It happened during class. I started seizing in my desk and everyone was saying how they should put something in my mouth until some genius—," her voice raised, anger and pain reaching for the two werewolves like tendrils of darkness, suffocating them both, "—reads the card on my key ring which tells them not to because it could break my teeth."

          "Erica." A warning. Like Scott was annoyed by her releasing the traumatic memories.

          Stepping forward, the brunette girl felt something deep beneath her skin. The need to protect Erica. "Shut the hell up and listen, Scott." He shot her a nasty glare before turning his attention back to the blonde.

          Instead of the loud, furious, and demanding tone, she held one that quivered. Almost like she wanted to cry as she spoke. "Do you know what happens next? I piss myself." Ice threaded through Marley's veins like yarn, sorrow and grief pulling her down into the Underworld. In a classroom full of immature teenagers, that was perhaps worse than death.

          Erica scoffed, anger lacing itself back into her speech. "And they start laughing. You know, the only good thing about seizures was that I never remembered them. Until some brilliant jerk-off—" The lockers rattled and sang as she pushed Scott into them, her mouth twisted into a pained scowl and his in an angry snarl. "—had to go and put cameras in everybody's phone." Her hand reached up, caressing his cheek lightly and placing both arms on either side of his head. Now she whispered, an air of sensuality vibrating in the hallway. "Look at me now, Scott."

          Marley's attention was pulled away from the duo as a loud, thunderous heartbeat raged like fire just beyond them. Allison stood not too far away, her eyes trained on the girl touching the boy she loved before they moved to the girl who revealed herself as a wolf not too long ago. Emotions coursed through her like a rollercoaster. Confusion, heartbreak, frustration, despair. But the loudest, most prominent one was a rancid anger that singed Marlowe's nose hairs and climbed into her nostrils.

          "That's right. You only have eyes for her," Erica sang. Her words were like a siren's song, captivating Marley and never letting go. Scott wasn't so entranced, though, because his hands where gripping her forearms just a moment later, squeezing until a sharp gasp of pain left her lips. Marley stepped forward, waiting for the girl she admired so much to signal for help. But she never did, and, instead, grabbed Marley's hand lightly and led her down the hallway.

          The lioness giggled, disconnecting her warm hand from Marley's cold one. And, despite still harboring a suffocating sense of doom, she found that a light laugh left her own lips. "That was cruel, Erica."

          Sending a look over her shoulder, Erica giggled even more and winked, her caramel eyes glowing against the fluorescent lights. "Cruel but fun." Once the two reached the blue doors that led to the parking lot, they piled into Marlowe's silver car.

Both girls told Derek about Boyd last night, about his potential. He'd offered the bite already, meaning dumb and dumber would no doubt be piecing everything together as soon as Vernon didn't show up during lunch. Despite the nickname she'd conjured for them, Scott and Stiles weren't as idiotic as they seemed. Put both of them together and they nearly made a whole brain cell.

As soon as her car pulled into the abandoned parking lot, the two girls bounded into the station. Derek and Isaac both stood next to the train, leaning against the dusty, rusted walls. Four eyes moved quickly to Marley and Erica.

          "And you two finally join us." Clad in his new, signature, black leather jacket, Isaac Lahey brushed a finger over his lip. Though she admitted to missing the old Isaac, she quickly made herself come to terms with the idea of this one. Perhaps his arrogance and cocky attitude would grow on her. Or she'd rip his head off, whichever came first.

          Sending a sickly sweet smile his way, she narrowed her hazelnut eyes. "I see you're still a fugitive. Kill anyone else lately?"

          He took a step forward, the curls on his head finally visible. Unlike Erica's gorgeous golden locks, his were more of a dark honey, but still blonde if you knew how they looked under the perfect angle of the sun. "Yeah, I actually just got back from my recent spree. Killed a whole family this time. You witness anymore fires?"

          That'd been their dynamic for the past few days: her sending a jab at him and him answering with another retort, both obviously digging at a piece of their buried trauma. Instead of a resentment and deep hatred blossoming, she found that releasing all of her pent up anger in those measly little comments was almost therapeutic.

           Before she could unleash another snide remark, Derek shut the both of them up, cutting off Erica's small giggles, as he said, "Alright you three, here's the game plan."

          Marley zoned out while he told everyone what they needed to do. She'd been the one to help the alpha make his plan of action last night, meaning she already knew where she would be. Right beside Erica on Boyd's doorstep. Derek gave them both Stiles duty, which meant they'd be following his powder blue jeep. But they all knew where Stiles would be.

          They waited until school ended to leave. The boys left earlier to get to the ice rink before Scott, so Erica and Marley were alone in the old station. Talking about school ended up getting boring about halfway through the day, leaving the girls to just sit in silence.

          She wouldn't say she had a phobia of it, but Marley didn't really love silence. It let her mind wander and run through a plethora of scenarios. Perhaps normal people didn't think of a million different things while sitting in silence; perhaps Erica wasn't sitting there imagining all the ways tonight could've gone wrong. Maybe her brain was different, an error among the billions of success stories. Or maybe she just wanted to feel separated from the majority.

          Thinking back to that cold day on the lacrosse field, she felt phantom pain in her abdomen, almost like Peter's teeth had sunken into her flesh once more. She remembered the pure terror and loneliness that flooded through her body, filling her with ice. What if she was dead. All of this werewolf stuff was just her mind coping with the fact that Marlowe Gray St. Claire was dead and never coming back from it. Gone.

          Ice piled into her veins once more as she tore through a layer of skin with her claw. Pain. Pain grounded her to reality. She was real. This was real. Erica was real. She was living, breathing, alive.

As soon as the clock hit three o'clock, the two girls were bounding towards Boyd's house. It wasn't too far from the old station, meaning they didn't have to take the sedan. Running towards the old building, Marley synced her movements up with Erica's, moving at the same speed and breathing in the same tune.

          When they reached the house, their eyes took in the dorky teenager pounding on the front door. While Erica moved right behind him, her actions silent, Marley watched just behind the jeep. She focused on her ears, on the blood rushing through them and the beating of her own rhythmic heart. She faintly heard Stiles' voice and changed her focus to that. Listening to every syllable, every change in that voice, she allowed to sounds to amplify.

"Oh! Wow." He whirled around, mouth agape, as Erica stood just behind him. She giggled, taking a slow step forward.

Her head titled and a sick smile brightened up her angular face. "What're you doing here, Stiles?" Taking note of the way his eyes were trained solely on her almond irises, she stood beneath his gaze.

His heartbeat was quick, like a stallion racing the wind, feet barely even touching the ground. "Uh, no, I was just looking for, um..." He trailed off, seemingly thoughtless as he tried to search his brain for the name.

"Boyd?"

There was something so innocent about the way the Reyes girl spoke, something almost vulnerable in her single syllable. She knew how to bend and twist her vowels to achieve her goals, how to manipulate even the strongest of minds. Marley deeply admired that.

Stiles nodded, lips pursed. "Yeah. Yes. Boyd."

She moved her head a bit, eyes still locked with his. "You know what you're doing right now that's kind of funny?" Erica breathed out a laugh, nerves tingling as he shook his head so quickly. "You're only looking in my eyes."

"That's funny?" he said.

The blonde finally halted the slow movements of her head. "Well, yeah. Because it's that kinda look where you're not trying to look anywhere other than my eyes, but you want to, don't you?" She took a menacing step forward and Marley could've sworn she saw the world stop spinning in Stilinski's eyes. "You want a nice, long, hard.. look." He gulped and his heart sped up even more. The poor boy was probably on the verge of a heart attack.

His lips did a weird frown thing as he shook his head. When he spoke, his voice was higher than usual and his eyes were still trained on hers. "Not really, no."

"Oh, so it's just my eyes?" It came out as more of a pout, her usual lips coming back.

Nodding, he said, "Yes. You have beautiful eyes."

"I have beautiful everything." Which was very, very true. And her tight tank top, low jeans, and tight leather jacket definitely showed that off.

"And a newfound self-confidence. Congratulations, Erica. I should get going." He stepped forward, trying to maneuver around the she-wolf. Before he could truly move, though, her hand shot out and pushed his chest roughly.

With a tougher, more dominating tone, she growled. "You're not going anywhere." Marlowe's que.

"Why not?" His breathing seemed ragged against her strong hand as the third heartbeat moved from behind the car with a cylindrical, silver thingy in her hands.

"You're having some pretty bad car troubles, aren't you, Stiles?" She tried to come off half as manipulative and seductive as Erica but it seemed so much more cocky. Yeah, the whole siren thing wasn't for her.

Tossing the thing to Erica, she watched her friend knock the boy out with a quick swing. It was fast, one fluid motion and he'd fallen back towards the door. The blonde bounded down the steps and through the overgrown weeds, her hair flying in the light wind. She seemed serene, peaceful almost, after hitting him perfectly in his temple.

          She shook her hands, putting them on her hips with an air of childishness floating around her. "Well, now that that's been taken care of, would you join me for ice skating?" Erica held her leather clad elbow out and put an awful British accent on.

          "Oh, it would be an honor, kind sir. An absolute honor." Marley put on that same accent and placed her hand so gently in the crook of the other girls elbow, both of them giggling and walking towards the rink in a prestigious manner. They dragged the body along, dropping it off in a dumpster not too far away.

          Boyd's house was only a few minutes away from his job even by walking, but was on the other side of town from the school, meaning they arrived before Scott despite being on their feet. As soon as they stepped into the building, a deep chill buried itself in their bones. The rink was freezing.

          She stood beside Derek and Erica, trying to stand closer so she could soak up their body heat. Apparently badass, leather-jacket wearers who were too cool for school didn't get cold because the other three wolves were standing perfectly still, not a shiver in sight. While she shook so much they could all probably hear her bones rattling.

          They all seemed okay with that too, until her teeth start chattering like crazy. Finally, Isaac swiveled his head to stare at her. "Holy hell, are you okay over there?" And that tiny comment made everyone's eyes fall on her trembling figure.

          "Oh, shut up. It's not that bad," she said, voice shaking and eyes rolling back into her head.

          Erica barked a laugh, covering her mouth before anything else could slip through. Tucking a bundle of blonde curls behind her ear, she shook her head jokingly. Isaac was breathing out chuckles, his shoulders lightly shaking with mirth. And Derek just stood, brooding as always. Despite the cold exterior, Marley knew he was holding in a tiny, microscopic chuckle.

          "I don't know, I kinda thought you were gonna die of hypothermia at any second." Scowling at the only other girl, she wrapped her hands tighter around her arms, trying to both warm herself up and stop shaking so damn much. She remembered when the Barley's took all the kids to the snow, a day that started with fun and ended in a busted lip and black eye. Poe and Cam, her foster brother and sister, wouldn't stop teasing their younger not-sibling about shivering so much, going as far as blowing hot air on her to 'warm her up'.

The memory brought a pang into her chest, her heart stopping for a moment at the sheer thought of the kids she once thought of as family. God, she would've given up everything just to see them again; to see that they were okay. Maybe after Marlowe left, Poe decided to take the brunt of the abuse— to shield the younger kids just like she did. She knew he wouldn't let anyone touch Avery, Elijah, and Cam, meaning there was no doubt that he did surrender his unyielding pride. When she'd been there, he let her take it, knowing she would never forgive herself for just watching her foster brother get beaten. But she still knew he took many of the beatings behind her back, trying to get the anger from Helena and Terrance before they reached her. And she knew he loved her like she truly was his own sister.

A hand on her waist brought her away from the horrible thoughts, making her entire abdomen go stiff until Derek's concerned eyes met hers. Shielding every single emotion she carried, all she did was nod. That was all she could do. So, despite knowing she buried all of the burning sadness, he pushed her towards the doors. Scott must've arrived while she was stuck in her own mind.

As they strolled into the rink, she didn't necessarily listen in on the conversation, knowing he was probably trying to make the bite seem horrible. It wasn't until Derek said "that really hurts, Scott" that she began listening. "I mean, if you're going to review me, at least take a... consensus." He gestured towards his beta's. Erica stood with one hand twirling her hair and Isaac looked like his new, cocky self. Marley just tried not to shiver fifty pounds away. "Erica, how's life been for you since we met?"

"Hmm. In a word... transformative." She growled, fangs protruding from four of her teeth, and glowered at Scott.

"Isaac?"

He looked up from Erica and pretended to go deep into thought. "Well, I'm a little bummed about being a fugitive, but other than that, I'm great." Both of their answers pleased Derek so he finally turned to face his first beta.

"And, last but not least, Marlowe?"

She puckered her lips, furrowing her brows, narrowing her eyes, and humming in thought. The question truly did stump her because she wasn't given a choice. The bite was forced upon her and she didn't know whether or not she would take it back. "Well, I didn't exactly make the decision to turn, but, uh, I say Derek's made it pretty damn great so far."

          Holding eye contact for just a moment, Scott eventually changes his focus to Derek. "Okay, hold on. This isn't exactly a fair fight."

Derek cocked his head as two of his betas began to move; their claws and fangs ready for action. "Then go home, Scott." He wolfed out, his form seeming more taunting than the other two, and brought a fist down to the ice. Cracks scattered around the impact like a web.

"I meant fair for them," he snarled, words jumbled because of his new fangs. He let a roar tear through the cold atmosphere and caught Isaac before he could truly inflict damage.

Marley tried to maintain her cold composure as Isaac went flying through the icy air and i to one of the plastic barriers. He landed on the ground with a thud and loud moan. Scott and Erica, though, didn't pay attention to the injured wolf as they continued their fight. Soon enough, her back was pressed against the ice resurfacer as Scott staggered away. She crumpled to the floor.

          Neither of them noticed Isaac's approaching figure until a moment before he reached the duo, his eyes radiating a dark anger. As Scott turned to fight him off, Erica stood and punched the back of his skull, leaving Isaac to push him against the large vehicle.

          Their triumph didn't last long because Scott soon recovered, his body taking the blond boy to the ground. They kept fighting in the frozen air, Erica hopping on his back and him ramming her small body into the Zamboni with as much force as he could muster. Isaac, not relenting and surrendering his pride, went to punch the Latino, receiving a sickening hit to the gut. Two fists come down on his back and his exhausted body crumpled to the ground. As soon as he tried to get back up, a knee connected with his cheek bone and, like a white flag waving in the wind, he merely laid on the ice. Erica soon joined beside him, Scott tossing her by her arm.

Anger filled the atmosphere of the rink, the emotion crawling into their throats. "Don't you get it? He's not doing this for you. He's just adding to his own power, okay? It's all about him. He makes you feel like he's giving you some kind of gifts when all he's done is turn you into a bunch of guard dogs!" His voice rode as two body moved against the force of the wind and met the sides of Derek's shoes.

A slight nod from the alpha sent Marley into a flurry of determination, anger, and fangs. She felt her claws shift from beneath her clear-coated finger nails and tried to ignore the itch from the four fangs growing from her canines. Adrenaline rushed to her muscles, causing the need to act wash over her. Go time.

          She stalked towards the boy, her golden eyes illuminating the entire world in front of her. Scott got back into more of a tense stance, his body readying for a more challenging battle. Unlike Erica and Isaac, she'd actually received quite a bit of training from the Hale, and could definitely put up more of a fight. But nobody forgot about the time that Scott had on her. He knew how to be a werewolf more than she did, meaning the chances of her winning against him were still slim.

          As the two met, a fist rammed into her cheek and another went to her gut. Pain sprouted from those two points, blood rushing to those areas like a team of medics. She took a few more hits, relishing the pain and building her volcanic anger. When his knee connected with her stomach, she doubled over and hid a slight smirk. She built on that rage, the fury that circled her organs, and sent a punch into the brunet's temple, his body stumbling back at the impact.

          Claws embedded themselves into Scott's abdomen, a low roar dying in his throat as sheer pain accompanied the running blood. Her body ached for both surrender and a bigger fight, the two halves of her battling within her mind for dominance. As she continued through the internal war, she didn't cease to fight this one.

          Sending her leg into his already healed abdomen, she sent more punches into his face. To easy, something in her warned. A small whisper raging against the cries of fury. It was true, though. Scott looked moments away from collapse despite her being a younger and less experienced beta. He should've kicked her ass.

          The revelation caused a moment of falter, a moment that gave him the perfect opportunity to regain himself. Fire built in her arm as his claws ripped through layers of skin and let a river of blood run loose. His hand came down on her, the force of the hit sending her to her knees. An entire army of fists seemed to rain down on her, each one bringing her fatigue closer and closer to the surface.

          Soon, she collapsed from the feeling.

          As soon as her body found its way to Derek, he tried to stifle a sharp sigh. "It's true. It is about power." He walked towards the only standing teenager and wolfed out, his claws, fangs, and side burns looking more deadly than the other three combined.

Soon, his paler head came into contact with Scott's and his claws tore at his abdomen, leaving a searing pain for the fists to irritate as they fell onto him. The kid pushed his elder away, trying to get back up, to gather the strength to fight, but instead of his own punches meeting Derek's skin, they merely sliced through air. It didn't take much time before his body was on the ice just like the kids he'd won against, blood pooling from his mouth and a boot on his neck.

As soon as that pressure released, coughs and groans came from the limp figure.

          Boyd, who'd witness all three fights, jumped down from the Zamboni and turned towards the pack, his feet unable to move before that very limp figure spoke.

          "Don't. You don't wanna be like them," he said.

"You're right." Boyd lifted his shirt, revealing a red, angry bite from Derek. Marley watched as hopelessness crawled into the McCall boy's expression at that, her elbows shaking as she fought to stand. "I wanna be like you."

word count: 4296

author's note

carpe noctem has 1k reads 🥲 ily

also, i haven't been writing anything
bc i zero motivation but it's all good in
the hood ig idk