The forest felt different this time.
Quieter.
Heavier.
Stiles walked a bit closer to Scott than usual, looking around nervously.
"I'm just saying… if something jumps out, you run in a direction, and I run in a different one. This way at least one of us could leave."
Seeing the cowardly Stiles, he shook his head helplessly while trying to concentrate on finding the body.
Soon the two of them arrived in front of the burned house. Scott then walked straight to the side, where he saw the traces of digging.
He then slowed down, focusing on the scent he picked up on in the morning when he was here.
"…It's here."
Stiles immediately stopped.
"Don't say it like that."
Scott stepped forward, eyes locked on the ground.
The dirt was disturbed, obvious signs of being freshly dug.
Like something had been buried in a hurry.
Stiles swallowed.
"…That's it, isn't it?"
Scott nodded slowly.
For a moment, neither of them moved.
Then Scott crouched down, pushing his hand into the loose dirt.
The smell of blood hit him stronger.
Stiles crouched down, trying to smell something.
"I don't smell anything…"
Scott looked speechless at his friend trying to be a dog.
"Stiles, quit playing around, and let's start digging."
Then they started digging.
Slow.
Careful.
Then—
Something appeared beneath the dirt.
It was something wrapped around a thick material, and as they began to uncover it slowly, they finally saw something.
But it wasn't human.
Scott froze.
Stiles leaned in from behind him.
"…Scott?"
Scott brushed more dirt away.
Fur.
Dark.
Matted with dried blood.
Stiles blinked.
"…What the hell is that?"
Scott didn't answer.
He kept digging, revealing more of the body.
An upper body of a wolf.
Or at least… something that looked like one.
But bigger.
Wrong.
Stiles took a step back.
"Okay… no… no, that's not normal."
Scott's expression tightened.
"…This doesn't make sense."
As he shifted slightly, his foot brushed against something near the edge of the disturbed soil.
A thin rope.
Barely visible.
Connected to a small plant arranged in a rough circle around the buried body.
Stiles noticed it too.
"…Wait… what is that?"
He crouched down, grabbing the plant.
"I don't know what this is, but it's definitely not random."
He pulled slightly.
The rope moved.
Connected.
Scott frowned.
"…It's surrounding it."
Stiles looked around the circle.
"…Like some kind of… barrier?"
Without overthinking it, he started pulling the plant out of the ground.
The rope followed.
Tight.
Connected through the entire circle.
"Dude, this thing is everywhere—"
He kept pulling.
Step by step.
Breaking the circle.
The moment the last part came free—
Scott suddenly tensed.
"…Stiles—"
The body shifted.
Right in front of them.
The fur—
Started to recede.
Bones cracking softly.
The shape changing.
Stiles stumbled back in shock.
"WHAT THE HELL—"
In seconds—
The wolf was gone.
And in its place…
A human body.
A girl.
Torn in half.
Stiles stared at it, pale.
"…Nope… this just got a thousand times worse."
Scott couldn't move.
His eyes locked on the body.
"…It was her…"
Scott remembered the dead girl he had seen the night he was bitten.
Silence fell again.
They were shocked, from finding a dead wolf to then watching it becoming a human torn in half.
But this time—
It wasn't just heavy.
It was wrong. The sight made them horrified.
Then—
A sound echoed through the forest.
Both of them froze.
It was not small, not even distant from where they were.
Something moving.
Fast.
Stiles whispered, barely breathing:
"…Scott?"
Scott slowly stood up, his senses sharpening.
Eyes scanning the darkness between the trees.
"…We should go."
But before they could move—
The sound came again.
Closer.
Branches snapping.
Something approaching.
And whatever it was—
It wasn't trying to hide.
Suddenly, someone appeared behind them, tapping Stiles on his shoulder.
"What we got here? A bunch of grave diggers?"
Stiles jumped in terror as he screamed like a little girl.
"Ahhh!"
Scott quickly spotted him, then he was shocked to see who it was.
"Lucas!!"
His eyes widened when he saw that it was Lucas.
Recalling what he called them, he shook his head in panic.
"You've got it all wrong, we are not grave diggers."
Then he looked at the shovel in his hand, and the dead body in front.
"We… kinda are grave diggers…"
He then tried to explain himself.
"But it's not what you think it is, we found the missing part of the girl that was killed."
Lucas looked at the panicked Scott who tried to explain himself, and then at Stiles, who now was lying on the ground face to face with the dead girl.
'These guys… it seems that they are a magnet for trouble,' he thought to himself in amusement.
He then reached and grabbed Stiles, pulling him from the ground.
"Thanks," Stiles said, while still being terrified that he almost kissed a dead body.
He looked at them, then he explained why he was there.
"I like to take a walk sometimes in the forest to clear my mind. While I was walking I saw a car driving by, and I got curious since no one leaves here."
Stiles calmed down, as he grumbled unhappily, whispering:
"And you had to sneak up on us…"
Scott nodded helplessly. It's not like they were any better, digging for a body in the middle of the night. The weird ones seemed to be them.
Lucas then focused on the body, the grotesque sight of a girl obviously ripped in half making him want to puke. Looking at this sight, he realized what kind of monsters he was against.
His face hardened with resolve as he stared coldly at the sight.
'soon, soon he will join you.'
Seeing the silent Lucas, Scott thought he was shocked by the sight of the body. Then he started speaking.
"We need to call the police."
Stiles too realized he needed to hurry and call his dad or if Derek finds them, they're dead.
Lucas broke from his daze.
"You guys go call the authorities, I will stay here to watch the body."
Scott and Stiles nodded. Although it was weird he was staying alone with the body, it's not like he's gonna steal it.
Soon Lucas was there all alone. You see, he didn't follow them because he just wanted to see a dead body. He followed for one single reason: to see the wolfsbane.
To make sure once and for all if he can be affected.
Soon he spotted the plant not far away. Slowly he walked towards it, his gaze filled with hesitation, but he still forced himself to reach for it.
Then he grabbed it.