Chapter 21: Answers

The next day, luckily, was a Saturday.

Catori could afford to sleep in –for the first time in a while, with no nightmares at all –and calm down. Even if the events of the previous day haunted her, reminding her that all those things were happening even if she wanted to ignore them.

Yet she was surprised to realize everything felt empty without all those worries in her mind. If it wasn't doing anything related to the supernatural and looking for answers –which she did now want to do -, Catori found herself not knowing what to do.

She could always practice jujitsu. Even if yesterday she proved that she wasn't rusty at all. And she could also do her homework or study. And actually, that seemed like the better option. Otherwise she would end up failing of her classes and that seemed like yet another nightmare.

At least she had the incredibly smart Lydia Martin as her friend. The redhead could always provide her with great notes as well as support and maybe some studying meetings.

Forcing herself to win over laziness and get some work done, Catori sat on her desk and cracked her knuckles, preparing for a hardcore study session that would catch her up with her subjects. She had notes from Stiles, Scott and Lydia from those days she had been absent from class. Just putting a little order in them would be enough to study normally.

Determined and almost motivated, Catori opened her notebook and began reading the first notes. Stiles' quick and messy handwriting from History.

She clicked her tongue in irritation when her phone rang just at that moment. But she snorted in amusement when she picked up and read it was precisely him calling.

"I'm studying" Was the first thing that Catori told him.

"And I'm bored" He replied with a childish voice.

Catori laughed when she pictured him lying down on his bed, fidgeting around restlessly and having a small tantrum.

"I really need to study, Stiles" The girl opened her book while she talked to her friend. "It's my first day off in weeks and I should catch up"

"Why don't you come over?" He suggested casually. "I'll help you study"

"You nerd..." She chuckled, smiling widely. "We wouldn't study and you know it"

Very awkwardly and bashfully, the boy cleared his throat in the other end of the phone. None of them talked for a good ten seconds, and the silence would have lingered if Stiles hadn't broken it.

"But I want to hang out with you!" He whined, keeping the childish attitude. "Come over to my place!"

"Am I hearing correctly?" Catori felt the urge to mock him a little. "You want to be with me? Are you actually missing me?"

"Now not so much"

"But you miss me"

"Yeah, I do" Stiles sighed and made a dramatic pause. "And so do you, grumpy Cat"

Even if he couldn't see her expression through the phone, Catori pursed her lips together not to smile.

"If you let me study, I'll be there in a few hours" The girl gave in, feeling excited at the thought of spending more time with him.

"Awesome!" He exclaimed, satisfied now. "See you then"

"Bye, silly"

*

Catori just managed to put some order over the varied notes from her friends and read them a little before her need to be with Stiles was too great to repress. The girl couldn't stop thinking about him and about the fact that he was waiting for her, making it impossible to focus on studying.

At least she had an idea of what they were studying on each subject before she left the house, which was enough for her. She could always do some extremely serious studying when exams came.

At that moment, she couldn't wait to meet Stiles. Even if she wondered when that happened. When she missed him whenever they spent too many hours without seeing each other. Especially since he felt the same way.

It felt extremely odd to have those feelings. To have butterflies in her stomach as she made her way over to the Stilinski house. Feeling jittery at the thought of meeting that nerd again. Yet Catori embraced it all.

She knocked on the main door when she arrived and waited for a few seconds until the Sheriff received her.

"Catori" He offered her a friendly smile. "Come on in"

"Thank you" She politely told him, feeling slightly inhibited.

"Stiles is upstairs, he's waiting for you"

Catori grinned at him in appreciation and started going up the stairs. As she did, she noticed that grin started turning into a happy and excited one.

She stood in front of the door and smiled to herself, looking down as she allowed herself to be overwhelmed by that feeling that could only mean one thing. Love for Stiles.

Clearing her throat and forcing herself to display a deadpan expression, the girl lifted her arm to knock on the door. Barely a second later, a fidgety Stiles opened it and showed her a heartfelt and delighted smile.

"Hi, Cat!" He greeted her cheerfully, accompanying his smile with a quick but casual peck on the lips. "Come in"

"Um... okay" Amused by such sudden gesture, she walked into his room and plopped down while trying her best to not smile.

He was facing his back to her, but stopped in the middle of the movement. His shoulders tensed up noticeably.

"Did I just...?" Realizing he had just kissed her, the boy immediately turned to her and squinted restlessly.

"Yup" Catori smirked, raising an eyebrow. "Guess that answers some of my questions about us"

"I'm sorry if..."

"Calm down, stupid"

The both of them just stood there in silence, seizing the other and their reaction. Until Catori chuckled and he mimicked her in relief.

"Look" He piped up to break the ice after the mildly awkward moment.

The boy turned slightly, motioning over to the whiteboard on his left. It was filled with photos and threads of different colors as well as his own messy handwriting.

"What's that?" She got comfortable on the bed, lying down on her stomach.

"Basically, all that happened here since you got to Beacon Hills" Stiles sent her a meaningful glance that had playful implications.

"I'm sorry, are you blaming me for it all?" It was refreshing to have that conversation without the prior amount of hate and saltiness.

The boy gave her a lopsided grin and opened his mouth, just to close it after a few seconds.

"I was about to say something really corny and silly" He winked and shrugged. "So I'll shut my mouth"

"Yeah" Catori nodded vehemently. "You better avoid being romantic, Stiles"

He licked his lips to conceal a smile and pretended not to hear her, carrying on with the board.

"I got bored and lonely, so I called you" Stiles plopped down next to her, sitting so close their sides touched. "I couldn't figure out anything new"

"Really? The genius can't figure it out, huh?" To annoy him, she poked his cheek repeatedly.

"Yep" He replied nonchalantly, holding her hand with the excuse that she was being obnoxious. "Not what Vanessa's pack is or what creatures they are, not what they want with the triquetra... nothing"

Stiles sighed in defeat as his eyes lingered on the chaotic board. Even if his hand still held Catori and his thumb brushed against her skin delicately.

Those words reminded her of certain findings related to her sybil nature. And it was suddenly extremely hard to breathe.

Catori couldn't help but to stare into the distance as she got absent in her own mind. Thinking how scared she was of what being a sybil implied, how overwhelming it was to think that she needed to tell everyone and how surreal it felt to realize she was actually a supernatural creature.

She jumped up startled when something gently touched her cheek, tying her back to the real world. To Stiles' room.

He had kissed her in the cheek unexpectedly, making her jolt up in surprise and nearly giving her a mini heart attack.

"Okay, spit it out" Stiles licked his lips, fidgeting around as he crossed his arms over his chest in stern determination.

"Spit what out?"

"I know that look"

"What look? What are you talking about?"

"That look on your face means that something's worrying you, that you're scared about something" He spoke seriously, his eyes filled with unease. "And don't bullshit me, I know what I'm talking about"

"It's nothing" Catori rolled her eyes sassily, managing a convincing smirk. "Just trying to figure your stupid board out since you can't do it yourself"

Somehow, she knew he wouldn't be bothered at all to know she was a sybil. Probably no one in the pack would be but... why was it hard to say it then?

Why was impossible to Catori to say it out loud? Would that make it real and hence scarier?

Fearing he was onto her and her lies, she looked over at him with the corner of her eye. He was frowning in deep thought, his caramel brown eyes focused on her. That wasn't good.

"Look" Catori said confidently, turning her body to face him. "I came all the way here and-"

"Okay" He interrupted her, in a tone that meant to show he wasn't going to push her.

Stiles knew something was with her, yet he knew better than to pressure her into confessing whatever it was. Besides, after all they had been through he knew she trusted him. The boy was positive that she would tell him if it was truly important. Eventually.

For now, he just pretended nothing happened. He played dumb and acted like she had convinced him.

"So if neither of us can't figure out the board" Instead, Stiles decided to take another approach. "Maybe we should do something else"

Catori noticed everything that was going through his head. And she appreciated his effort to leave it all behind and respect her wish to ignore her restlessness. So she obliged and forced herself to forget about it as well.

"Whoa" She arched her eyebrows in amazement. "Are you thinking what I think you're thinking?"

As all response, he showed a goofy grin.

"I could use a reward" Catori cheekily kissed him right on the lips. "After all I had the make the great sacrifice of quitting my studying to come here"

Stiles reciprocated by moving his lips in sync, holding his hands on her hips and pulling her closer.

"What a great sacrifice..." He joked, breaking away just long enough to speak and then carrying on with the kissing.

Catori smiled and muffled a chuckle on his mouth, dropping her arms over his shoulders and gently squeezing him closer as well.

But then Stiles stopped moving completely, he broke away and froze.

"Sacrifice..." The boy whispered in realization.

Completely forgetting about Catori's presence, he stood up again and got closer to the board. He picked up his white marker and absently took the cap off as he stared at the photos.

"Stiles?" She worried, observing him nervously. "What's wrong?"

"They were sacrifices..." He breathed out lowly, carelessly scribbling the word 'sacrifice' and drawing arrows all over.

"What?"

"What if they were sacrifices?"

An ominous silence fell over them, taking over the room. Stiles fidgeted around restlessly as Catori sat there in awe.

"The... the girls that Vanessa kidnapped and then killed" The boy kept on explaining, struggling to speak because of the implications. "What if they were sacrifices?"

"For what?" Catori held a hand over her stomach, suddenly feeling a little sick.

"I don't know" He admitted, turning back to the board. "But it wouldn't be the first time"

Feeling slightly scared and spooked, Catori let her eyes wander around the room. Even if they ended up falling over Vanessa's picture on the board.

Then, a gasp escaped from her throat as a chill overcame her spine.

"Cat?" Noticing this, Stiles immediately sat next to her and passed an arm over her shoulders. "You okay?"

"Selkie" She uttered in a shaky sigh, glancing at him. "What the hell is a selkie?"

"I... I don't know" He mumbled as he played around with the marker on his hand. "What are you talking about?"

"That word just popped in my head, 'selkie'... I-I don't know why"

Seeing how distraught Catori was, he decided to be cautious and reassuring. Stiles rubbed her back in soothing circles, speaking in a low voice with a gentle and sweet tone.

"Maybe it was that super clairvoyant Catori thing?"

Her eyes grew wide as she nodded in shock, slow and absent. Somehow Stiles felt like whatever was bothering her had to do with her seer nature.

"Maybe" Catori confirmed after a few more seconds, finally locking eyes with him.

"Something might have triggered it. With Lydia it happens like that" He stirred in the spot as he licked his lips nervously. "What were you thinking about exactly?"

"I..." Her eyes wouldn't leave him as he stood up from the bed just to sit down on the chair and start typing on the laptop. "I was looking at Vanessa's photo"

Stiles nodded in understanding as he focused his attention on the laptop. He navigated through the internet in silence for a moment before he heaved a sigh and turned to Catori.

"Selkies are marine creatures" Stiles said in a matter of fact way.

She didn't reply nor moved, just gulped in unease.

They might finally know what supernatural creature Vanessa was. Which could help know not only how to protect themselves from her. But also how to hurt her.

*

Pack meetings were getting old, especially since it felt like peril was imminent. Like getting the answers they wanted wasn't so good because it brought them closer to the truth, and hence to the danger.

Like everything was coming to an end.

So Catori was overcome by an ominous feeling that wouldn't leave her. That, plus the sybil issue was enough to keep a grim outlook. On top of all, everyone was taking their time to come since Stiles insisted that they'd meet outside his place since Catori and himself were already there.

The two of them were waiting outside, sitting on the curb of the pavement. The last of the sun shone over them before the sunset arrived.

"Relax, Cat" He cheerfully passed an arm over her shoulders and effusively shook her. "It's not like we're in the middle of a crisis or anything"

"Not helping, Stiles"

"Sorry..."

"I mean, I'm a-" Before she could say the word, Catori grunted and kept rambling in annoyance. "I'm some sort of clairvoyant that just found out all those girls taken in my place ended up dying to serve as human sacrifices"

"You're freaking out" Stiles stated, not admitting any doubts.

"Yes I'm freaking out!" She gave in, throwing her arms in the air in exasperation. "So?"

"Nothing, it's a perfectly normal reaction to something like this, you know?"

Catori sighed and took shelter in Stiles, tiredly hiding her face on his shoulder and closing her eyes in content when his arms fell around her.

"It'll be okay, Cat" He rubbed his arms over her back reassuringly. "We're one step closer to solving everything"

"I know" She nodded as her own arms wrapped around him. "It's just that when it feels like everything's better it all goes to crap again"

"Welcome to our world" Stiles said in a fake cheerful tone.

"You're a good comforter" Catori told him, looking up at him. "Kinda"

"You sound surprised" He smirked, leaning closer to leave a tender kiss on her forehead. "I'm offended"

The girl managed to smile a little because of him, she just wanted to hide it by shoving her face on his shoulder again. Stiles laughed at this rare cute gesture of hers and played with her hair tenderly.

"You guys are adorable" Scott's voice startled them as he towered over them.

Catori was too embarrassed by it, so she just pushed Stiles away and took a sudden interest in the floor as she placed her hair to the side.

"Hey, Scott" The latter greeted him with a passive aggressive voice. "Great timing, dude"

The girl cautiously looked up, just in time to see a wide grin appear on her friend's lips. It lingered as he calmly sat by her side in a silent yet amused way.

"Derek's on his way" Scott mumbled after a while. "He shouldn't take long"

Catori finally looked directly at him and saw a friendly expression on his face, as usual. So she showed him a sweet grin in return.

Then he turned his head as though he heard something. But since neither Stiles nor her noticed anything, it was probably Scott's werewolf hearing.

"Where's everyone else?" Derek showed up, which had to be what caught their friend's attention.

"On their way" Stiles stood up and brushed himself off.

Scott shrugged and jumped to his feet as well, to which Catori used their shoulders as anchors to do the same.

Just then, she spotted Kira, Liam and Malia in the distance. They saw the four of them too and walked over to them.

"Where's Lydia?" Scott noticed her absence and voiced his question.

"She's late" Derek replied in a monotone voice, shrugging even if he looked over his shoulder for her.

Catori's phone vibrated at the exact moment the other three arrived to them and began quickly greeting each other and commenting about the subject at hand.

"Lydia's gonna take a bit longer" She read the text message out lout for everyone to hear. "She was held up with something and wants us to start without her"

"Okay" Derek crossed his arms gravely and started talking. "What was that about something called a selkie?"

*

When they heard Lydia running in their direction, they had already stated the crucial points of the meeting. The fact that they thought Vanessa was a selkie and it could finally mean the first step towards her defeat. Also, the discussion of the implication of Stiles' discovery about the human sacrifices.

"Sorry I'm late!" Lydia panted as she combed her red hair with her hands and exhaled heavily once she was right next to them.

"You're never late..." Stiles observed, taken aback by the sight of a hurried and out of breath Lydia. "So what happened?"

"I was doing a little bit of research" The redhead grinned and stared at Catori in a way that she didn't like. "And I found something"

"That's great!" Stiles exclaimed excitedly, so loud that his voice echoed in the street.

"What did you find?" Scott encouraged her, smiling a little at Stiles' enthusiastic response.

"A specific kind of seer" As those words escaped Lydia's mouth, all eyes fell on Catori. The girl was gulping in fear and anticipation. "Prophetic dreams, senses and premonitions. Intuitions induced by auras and touch"

"And blackouts?" Stiles turned serious immediately. "Overwhelming feelings of danger?"

By that point Catori was clenching her fists so hard that her nails painfully sank on her palms. Her eyes turned watery in helplessness and unease even if they were directed towards the ground.

"So what is she?" Kira piped up, intrigued and agitated. "What's Catori?"

The aforesaid winced at the question. It felt like she was some kind of monster, like being something supernatural rid her from her human nature.

"Catori's a..." Lydia was beaming as she spoke, proud and happy that she was helping and that she managed to figure it out.

"Sybil" The girl finished for her, causing an eerie silence to settle amongst her friends.

"What?!" Stiles' voice echoed around the streets again.

The boy fidgeted around, making strange noises of confusion as he shook his head in disbelief.

"You knew, Tori?" Scott kindly lay a hand on her arm, but she shrunk away from his touch.

"How long have you known for?" Liam asked her, frowning sadly.

"Not long, just for around a day" Finding it impossible to look directly at them, Catori kept her eyes on the ground as she compulsively bit on her fingernails.

"Why didn't you tell us?!" Stiles yelled in outrage. "Any of us?!"

"I don't know!" She finally looked up at him. Only at him. "I guess I needed to accept myself before I told you guys..."

Stiles noticed her glassy eyes and the fact that she nervously bit on her nails. He knew her better than any of those present and was aware of the fact that she felt inhibited and vulnerable.

Two things that she probably hated to be feeling and felt ashamed about. Again, it was more of an internal struggle than a fearful reaction about their opinions on it. She subtly hinted it herself with those last words.

Derek was the first to break the silence, as he realized how awkward the scene was. Especially for Catori.

"Of course, a sybil" The young man nodded to himself. "I heard about them, it makes perfect sense"

"What..." Lydia cleared her throat, feeling extremely guilty about the situation she put her friend in. "What did you guys meet about?"

"The selkie" Malia rushed to tell her, hoping it would help to change the subject. "Vanessa is probably a selkie"

"It's a marine creature" Scott supported her words. "We don't know much about it yet, but we're looking into it"

Catori still held her head low, but the tiniest of smiles crept upon her mouth. She appreciated the effort everyone was making so she wouldn't feel so mortified and overwhelmed, how they tried to change the subject for her sake.

To show how grateful she was for this, the girl softly leaned her head on Scott's shoulder. That boy who rescued a lost sleep-walking Catori and first spoke to her back when she had just arrived in the city and knew no one. Her closest male friend in the pack.

Then, she cautiously and subtly brushed her fingers against Stiles'. He noticed, but thought she did it on accident and preferred not to do anything just in case it made her uncomfortable.

But Catori gingerly pulled at his fingers to keep his hand closer to her. Until they worked together in a mutual effort to interweave their fingers.

The girl smiled a little with the always soothing touch of the boy who had become some kind of unofficial boyfriend for her. That special someone who always made it all easier and better in a magical and unexpected way. Even then.

*

Vanessa tapped her long fingernails against the surface of the table, bored and uninterested.

"Please" Norman was begging her again. "If you finally let me in your pack I'd stop being an omega"

"You're the alpha of your own pack" Vanessa mocked him with a cruel smirk.

"But we're a pack of omegas and..."

"I allow you to follow after me like a despicable lost puppy because you're still useful" The woman glanced at him with her deep and frightening dark eyes. "But you have to prove yourself worthy of belonging into my pack"

"I tried!" The man insisted, not minding that she thought he was pathetic. "I went after the girl and-!"

"That girl was stronger than you" Vanessa didn't let him finish, making her voice sound loud and threatening. "How is that worthy?"

"Vanessa, I-"

"Should I remind you what I did to the last one that failed me?"

"George?" Norman gulped in fear, shaking his head at the memory of the poor dead boy. "It's not necessary, I remember"

"Then don't forget it" The woman emphasized each word through clenched teeth.

"What should I do next then?" He dared to ask, eyeing her carefully.

"You've done more than enough" She replied sarcastically, looking at him with the corner of her eye in contempt. "I will handle the rest, for now"

"What's the plan?"

"We have the triquetra" Vanessa grinned evilly, satisfied with how everything was working out despite everyone's stupid mistakes. "So..."

"S-sorry, the what?" The man stuttered, being afraid to even ask.

"Chandrika's symbol, you moron!" Her head angrily turned to him, making her long mane of blueish hair to fly around with it.

"Oh, right..." Norman bowed his head down like a kicked dog.

"With the triquetra and the sacrifices all we need now is a volunteer" The woman eyed him up and down with a shady and enigmatic smirk. "And the full moon"