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‘Don’t worry, fair maiden!’ Allison cries out, throwing open the bedroom door. ‘I am here!’
Lydia doesn’t move from where she’s sitting on her bed. This is a stupid game. Why does she have to be rescued? She is perfectly capable of tricking the guards and sneaking out of her “tower” herself. She doesn’t need to be rescued.
‘You have to say: Thank you, my brave knight. With you, I will never fear again. I can’t take you from the tower if you don’t,’ Allison frowns. She tabs the floor with her umbrella-sword and pushes her helmet, one of Lydia’s dad’s old hats, up so it won’t block her sight.
‘Why?’
‘Because it’s in all the stories.’
‘All the knights are boys in the stories and you’re not a boy.’
Allison nods, scrunching her eyebrows together in thought. ‘So we make our own story, with a girl knight and- What do you want to be?’
‘I want to be a princess,’ Lydia says decisively. ‘I want to be a smart princess, who doesn’t wait until she gets rescued, but who rescues herself.’
She watches her friend as the dark-haired girl takes in this information. After a few seconds of thinking, Allison nods.
‘I’m a knight, you’re a princess. You got kidnapped, and when they lock you in a chamber, you find a way to get out, because you’re really smart. I’m following the kidnappers and start to fight my way inside. We meet halfway and then we steal a horse for you, because you are one of the best riders in the lands, and then we ride to safety. Okay?’
Lydia likes this story much better. ‘Okay,’ she says with a smile.
Her friend nods happily and runs out of the room and down the stairs.
‘I am here for princess Lydia!’ Allison cries from the living room, starting the story.
Lydia jumps off her bed and goes to the door. She takes one of the bobby-pins out of her hair and pretends to pick the lock. A strand of red hair falls in front of her eyes and she tucks it behind her ear impatiently. Her sister can fix that later. And she just got kidnapped, she’s allowed to look a little ruffled.
When she’s managed to “unlock” the door she peeks out. Bandit, a raccoon with a prison uniform, and Shere Khan, a purple and gold tiger, are standing guard. She has to distract them. She looks about her room. Raccoons eat almost everything and tigers eat meat.
‘I’m sorry Sebastian,’ she whispers to the plush fish as she grabs him off her bed. She throws him into the hallway, and Bandit and Shere Khan go after him.
With the guards distracted she runs down the stairs. Halfway, the princess runs into her knight.
‘Milady,’ Allison says, bobbing her head. ‘I’ve come to escort you home.’
Lydia giggles at the seriousness of her friend’s voice, but when she speaks her voice sounds as grave as Allison’s.
‘Thank you, lady-knight. But you can’t expect me to go out there unarmed.’
Allison looks surprised at the sudden addition to the story, but her face soon clears when she gets an idea.
‘Of course not. I know where I can get you a weapon, milady.’ She grabs Lydia’s hand and pulls her down the stairs and towards the front door. She takes Lydia’s umbrella from the stand and presents it to her. ‘I brought this one for you. I hope it is acceptable.’
Lydia accepts her “sword”. Inspecting it carefully, she says, ‘This is a gracious gift. We must hurry. I have distracted the guards, but it won’t be for long.’
Allison nods in understanding. ‘This way, milady.’
Lydia lets herself be guided to the garden and to the patch of grass by the fence.
‘Will we be safe here?’ she asks.
‘Yes, at least until the morning.’
Lydia nods and shuffles a little closer to her friend. When she’s close enough, she places a quick kiss at the corner of Allison’s mouth. Allison startles and looks at her questioningly.
‘Why did you do that?’
‘A princess always kisses the knight who rescues her. To thank him. Or her.’
‘Okay. Then what?’
Lydia thinks for a moment.
‘They hold hands,’ she decides. The stories aren’t very clear on that, but it makes sense. When you like someone you kiss them and you hold hands, her mommy and daddy do it all the time.
Allison nods, putting down her sword so she can grab Lydia’s hand.
They stay like that until Lydia’s mom comes to tell them that Allison’s dad is at the door.
‘But she was supposed to sleep here,’ Lydia pouts.
‘I know, honey,’ her mom says. ‘I’m sure that she can come stay over next weekend.’
Lydia keeps her pout, but she nods. She helps Allison take off her armour (kitchen gloves and knee and elbow pads they stole from her sister). They hold hands until they reach the front door.
‘I’ll see you Monday,’ Allison says, waving goodbye.
But Lydia doesn’t see her on Monday. And Allison doesn’t stay over next weekend, either.
~
‘It’ll be fine, sweetheart.’
‘Are you sure?’ Allison asks. ‘I mean, we helped put away a lot of hunters who’ve gone off the code, but we’re still hunters. We’re Argents.
Her dad squeezes her hand in reassurance.
‘You said Alpha McCall sounded like he’d be open to us hiding in his territory. And from the stories floating around, he’s not a traditional Alpha. His pack is filled with all kinds of beings, including humans.’
‘That doesn’t mean he’ll want two humans, trained in killing his kind in his territory.’
‘Are you sure it’s the Alpha you’re nervous about?’
Allison sighs. Her dad’s right. She’s not that worried about the meeting with the Alpha. If he tells them they can’t stay, they’ll turn around, drive to the nearest airport, book a ticket to Iceland, and live there for the next ten years. No, she’s worried about Lydia. She hasn’t seen or heard from the girl in ten years. She doesn’t even know if she’s still in Beacon Hills. Or alive.
Ten years ago, they had to pack up and leave Beacon Hills on a moment’s notice. The Hale’s house had burned down, killing most of the pack. Rumour was that the one surviving adult was out for hunter-blood, so her parents had grabbed their things and they’d moved east. After that, her life became a whirlwind of training, school, and eventually hunting.
Six months ago, the werewolves of Beacon Hills had turned her world upside down for a second time. News of a feral Alpha, terrorizing the small town, had reached them. Allison had discovered her aunt’s hand in the murder of the Hale-pack. And once she’d started digging, she’d found a lot more buried bodies. Now, most of the Argent family and their associates were behind bars, excepting she and her dad. They’d been offered witness protection, but they both knew conventional law-enforcement couldn’t protect them. They would need a little more power to stay safe.
She checks the GPS. They’ve almost arrived at the meeting point. McCall had told them to they would meet just outside the town limits of Beacon Hills. After her dad has parked the car, she gets out and checks her surroundings. It’s strange. She hasn’t been here in almost ten years, but it feels like coming home.
‘Leave your gun,’ she says.
Her dad frowns, but does as she says and puts his gun on the driver’s seat before closing the door.
‘You sure about the “no weapons”? The Alpha hadn’t said anything about that.’
‘We’re not her to fight them, dad. We’re here looking for shelter.’
‘Well, I’m glad to hear that,’ a voice says, coming from behind them.
They both turn, fluidly moving into a fighting stance.
The man that steps out from behind one of the trees looks familiar, and as he comes closer, Allison recognizes him from the newspaper clippings. He’s a little more build and the ears aren’t as pronounced, but the eyebrows and the shape of his face are definitely the same.
‘Derek Hale,’ she nods. ‘We understood we had a meeting with your Alpha.’
‘He’s here. I’m here to make sure you are alone.’
‘We are.’
Derek tilts his head. He’s listening to her heartbeat, checking for a lie. After a while, Derek nods. He doesn’t look happy about the fact he doesn’t have an excuse to rip their throats out. She can’t blame him.
At the nod, more people emerge from the treeline. Allison does a quick count. There are nine of them, all girls and boys her own age, but only two of them are armed. One of the guys is casually swinging a baseball bat back and forth, and an Asian girl appears to have a sword strapped to her back.
A guy with floppy, dark hair and a crooked jaw steps forward. Most werewolves she’s met look like actual wolves, or attack dogs, but this guy looks like a puppy.
‘Hi,’ he says, extending his hand. ‘I’m Scott McCall.’
Baseball Bat facepalms and she can see Derek rolling his eyes and sighing.
‘Bro, you’re not supposed to get chummy with them. You’re supposed to state our conditions and be all, grr do not harm my pack grr. Maybe flash your eyes a bit,’ Baseball Bat says.
‘But they don’t smell hostile,’ Alpha McCall explains, his eyes widening. ‘And they’re unarmed.’
Baseball Bat shakes his head with a despairing look and waves his hand at him to proceed.
‘Right, conditions,’ the Alpha continues. ‘We only have one, really. You kill anyone, we’re coming after you. The Sheriff’s Department is in the know, so getting into another pack’s territory won’t help you.’
Allison nods in understanding.
‘That’s it?’ she asks to makes sure. It’s very little, especially considering what her family’s done to one of his Beta’s family. ‘You don’t want us to surrender our weapons?’
‘We want you to help us,’ the Alpha says, shaking his head. ‘Beacon Hills is literally a beacon for the supernatural, and we could use your experience.’
A lot of scenarios had played through her head, this had not been one of them. She’d expected at least some hostility and mistrust, but McCall is essentially asking them to be part of his pack. One glance at her dad tells her that he’s just as surprised by the offer as she is.
‘We’ll be glad to help,’ she assures them with a relieved smile.
‘Great,’ the Alpha beams.
Baseball Bat steps forward then.
‘This means you’ll be working with me a lot. I’m Stiles, the planner and researcher, together with Lydia.’
Allison sags with relief. Her old friend is alive and protected. She looks closer at the pack in front of her. She can’t find Lydia amongst them. The girl would’ve grown up, but her red hair definitely would’ve caught the hunter’s attention. She turns back to Stiles, who is watching her closely.
‘Where-‘ she starts.
‘I’m right here.’ Lydia steps out from behind the tall guy wearing a scarf. At first glance she doesn’t seem that different. Aside from being a little taller, she’s still the princess Allison remembers. Lydia is wearing a skirt and high heels, with her hair draped over one shoulder. She’s standing tall and confident. At a second glance, though, Allison can see the sadness and pain that confident exterior is hiding. She knows Lydia has seen things that no one should have to. She knows, because she’s seen them too.
‘Hey, Lydia,’ is all she manages without her voice breaking.
‘Allison,’ the girl nods. ‘Do you have a place to stay yet?’
‘We were going to stay in a motel until we could find a more permanent place.’
‘You can both stay with me and my mom,’ Lydia says, walking towards her. Allison has no idea how she manages to walk through the forest like it’s a catwalk. ‘I’ll drive with you so I can show you the way.’
Allison is certain her dad is about to say that he still remembers the way from dropping her off four times a week, but she shakes her head.
‘Thank you,’ she says instead.
~
They’ve put her up in Lydia’s sister’s old room. They weren’t even allowed to look at this room when they were younger, and now she’s sleeping here.
The drive over had been silent except for Lydia telling her dad when to make a turn. Allison had wanted to ask her old friend a thousand questions. How she’s been. How she’d ended up in the pack. If she’s still top of her class. Why she hasn’t gone to college. But all those questions had stuck in her throat.
She sighs and turns onto her stomach, pulling the blankets around her tightly. She can’t get comfortable. Every time she closes her eyes she sees the pain that’s edged itself into Lydia’s face. She wants to take it away, mould it back to softness, protect her so she doesn’t need that armour of confidence to get herself through the day.
Allison sits up and kicks away the sheets. She needs to talk to Lydia. There’s no way she’ll be able to sleep before she does.
The house is dark and quiet, but there is light coming from under Lydia’s door.
‘Lydia?’ she whispers and knocks softly. ‘Can I come in?’
There is the sound of carpet muffled footsteps, and then the door opens. Lydia’s eyes are red and her face looks splotchy, as if she’s been crying. Without thinking, Allison wraps her in her arms and hugs her close. To her relief, Lydia hugs her back.
‘I missed you,’ Lydia mumbles into her shoulder.
‘I missed you, too.’
The other girl pulls back abruptly and walks to her bed. She sits down, exactly like Allison remembers her, in charge and on a mission.
‘Did you?‘
‘My parents told me that I could write to you, but always later. We moved around so much in the beginning, there was so much later, that I got scared you didn’t want to be my friend anymore. And then, with all the training, I didn’t know what I could write about.’ She moves towards the bed. When Lydia doesn’t move away or tells her to get lost, she sits down on the edge of the mattress. She puts her hand on top of Lydia’s and squeezes lightly. ‘I’m sorry I didn’t write or call, later.’
Lydia moves away her hand and grips the sheets tightly.
‘Maybe it’s a good thing you didn’t. Hunters and monsters don’t really mix.’
Allison frowns. What was Lydia saying? That she’s a werewolf too, now? And why would that matter?
‘What-‘ she starts, but Lydia interrupts her.
‘I’m a banshee.’
Allison goes through the bestiary in her head. Her family didn’t know a lot about banshees. They’re not usually dangerous, so they don’t need to hunt them. They’re known to go insane from their premonitions, but they’re not lethal in the way that were-animals are. The pain and sadness in Lydia’s eyes makes even more sense now.
She has no idea what to say so she scoots a little closer and tentatively wraps her arm around her friend. This time Lydia doesn’t move away, but relaxes into the embrace.
‘Sometimes I don’t know what’s real or not. I dream about death and when I wake up, it’s still there. I’ve been sleepwalking a lot, especially when something bad is in town. I’ll have dreams of being in a maze of screams and pain, and when I open my eyes there is a dead body. There are motion detectors on our doors that have to be turned on every night, to make sure I don’t wake up alone in the middle of the woods.’ She’s crying again. Allison pulls her further onto the bed and tucks her in. She goes to sit back on the edge of the mattress, but Lydia grabs her hand and pulls her down next to her. ‘But even if there is no sleepwalking, no body to find, I still wake up alone. I’m so scared of waking up alone, or waking up with one of the others shielding me from the sight of another body, that I’m afraid to go to sleep sometimes.’
‘You’re not going to be alone tonight,’ Allison assures her. Her throat feels thick and she wants to cry for her friend, but Lydia doesn’t need her sympathy tonight. She just needs her to be there. ‘You can sleep. I’ll be here.’
Lydia curls into her chest. Allison runs her fingers through the long red hair until she falls asleep.
~
‘Lydia, wake up.’ The voice sounds calm, but urgent. It’s a kind voice. It doesn’t belong in this place where kindness isn’t even a distant memory. It’s a myth. ‘You’re dreaming. Wake up.’ She’s being shaken now. The hands feel rough, like workers hands, but they don’t hurt her. They’re kind, like the voice. She wants to see who the voice and the hands belong to, but she’s afraid that the face is not so kind. She’s been deceived before. ‘Please,’ the kind voice begs in a whisper. It sounds so sad.
Lydia blinks open her eyes. Allison is leaning over her, kneeling next to her on the bed, face contracted in worry.
‘Lydia, you with me?’ Allison asks.
‘Yeah.’ And she is. It takes her a while to realize that she’s actually awake, sometimes, but not this time.
Allison’s face floods with relief.
‘You were breathing heavily, and you looked like you were in pain,’ she says, lying back down, so they’re facing each other.
Allison’s face is soft, but there’s still a hint of concern in her eyes. Lydia suspects that she looks like a mess. Not surprisingly, since her head hurts, and she can’t seem to unclench her hands.
Allison reaches out with one hand, brushing a couple stray hairs out of her face.
‘I’m sorry. For waking you,’ Lydia says, relaxing a little and leaning into the touch.
The other girl shakes her head. ‘It’s okay. Do you- Do you still want me to stay?’
‘Yes,’ Lydia says, a small grateful smile on her lips. She moves closer and wraps her arms around Allison. ‘It’s like when we were little.’
‘You mean when I rescued you?’
She pulls back a little and raises her eyebrows. ‘No, when I rescued myself and you brought me a horse to ride home on.’
‘Right, sorry,’ Allison smiles. ‘You are the smart princess.’
‘And you are my knight.’ She kisses Allison softly. This time she doesn’t miss Allison’s lips.
‘I see your aim has improved.’ Allison is grinning and even in the low light, Lydia can see that her eyes are twinkling.
‘Careful, or you don’t get to hold my hand.’
‘I apologize, milady,’ Allison says, twining their fingers together.