Chapter 11: Stability

Weren't they glad that they weren't in that hallway anymore...

Still, shards of glass flew all around and yet endangered them. Luckily, Catori had been fast enough to yank Stiles with her while she threw him out of the way. Because of the force she desperately used to bring the both of them down, they landed on the floor, holding onto each other and screaming.

The boy put an arm around her to protect her from the glasses that were falling upon them. Startled, Catori huddled closer to his body and hid her face on his chest, tightly gripping his shirt to keep him close.

When the glass rain ceased, they cautiously glanced at each other.

"That was close" Stiles let out a nervous laugh.

Her first reaction was a death glare of annoyance as she punched him in the shoulder, harder than he wanted to admit. Then, Catori slowly stood up and looked around her to analyze the damage.

Huge pieces of glass were all around them, scattered across the ground. They would have stabbed them gravely if they had been standing there.

Thinking that her bad feeling was once again right and that they cheated an almost certain death, Catori felt herself growing breathless again.

"I need to call Lydia" Even though her hands were shaking, Catori reached on her pocket to pick up her phone. "I have to make sure everyone else is okay"

An irrational fear had taken over her. What if Stiles wasn't the only one that had been in danger? What if because she saved him it meant that someone else was hurt? What if-?

"Relax, everything's fine" Being more used to all those strange things happening in Beacon Hills, Stiles tried not to make a big deal out of it.

He covered her phone with a hand, but she quickly turned around to face her back to him and keep him away.

"Shut your mouth for once, Stiles!" As his friend tried and failed at dialing Lydia's number, her eyes kept looking up to the broken glass.

He noticed how she was struggling to breathe and he imagined it was because she was scared out of her mind. So much that she couldn't even hide it, no matter how bad she wanted to.

It was then when Stiles realized what was going on and why the girl was so agitated. She knew something was going to happen.

And if it weren't for her, since she insisted on staying outside, he might had ended up seriously hurt. Catori had definitely been scared for him as well.

"Okay, how about you give me the phone and calm down first?" The boy tried to make his voice sound soft and calm as he cautiously reached out to take the phone away from her.

"Back off!" She shouted at him, continuing to fiddle around with her phone.

"Wow, easy there, Cat!" He actually backed off and put his hands up in surrender.

Sighing and giving him the phone in resignation, she dropped her head in defeat.

"I'm sorry, I'm just so fed up that we can't get a break"

"Tell me about it" Stiles snickered, managing a sarcastic grin.

"I'm fine, I just need a minute to calm down" Catori deeply breathed in and out, trying to ease her nerves.

"Yes" He agreed, placing a hesitant hand on her back. "You need to go back home and forget about everything, okay?"

"But I want to make sure everyone is okay, and I think we all need to talk about what happened" She complained, staring at him with a mix of harshness and softness.

"We'll do one thing" He licked his lips restlessly. "I will talk to them for you and message you later"

"No, you don't understand!" Feeling anxious and helpless, she swatted him away. "Just before we found out Scott had been attacked, I got this same feeling!"

"What are you talking about?" The boy squinted as he stared at her, even though deep down he knew what she meant.

"We almost got killed, Stiles!" She made an arm motion that contained all the broken glass spread all over the ground.

He just stared at her silently for a moment before he sighed and rolled his eyes. The boy did his best to subtly change the subject.

"Well, if I don't take you home you're gonna have a nervous breakdown or something" He calmly reached out to grab her by the wrists and stop her from picking the phone again.

"You're being so nice that it makes me think you want to get rid of me"

At first he just chuckled, now finding amusing her usual sassy but unfriendly behavior. He didn't expect her to be all cheery after how their relationship started out.

But seeing as the girl didn't change her alert and unamused demeanor, he changed the expression and turned more serious.

"Cat..." Stiles clicked his tongue and heaved another sigh. "Just get your ass to my Jeep and let me take you home"

Observing him for a few seconds and noticing his insistent and somewhat smug expression, she pursed her lips tightly together.

"Fine" Catori didn't give in because of Stiles, but because deep down she really felt like she needed to go home and forget about everything.

She just couldn't wait until she stabilized herself in that crazy town. She looked forward to the moment in which being surrounded by werewolves and random dangers wasn't so cripplingly frightening.

Even if he was obviously shaken up and mildly scared himself, Stiles was definitely used to crazy shit going on.

"Want me to hold your hand?" He mumbled cheekily as they walked over to the parking lot.

"Stop being such a little shit" The girl simply replied in a deadpan voice.

"Yes, ma'am" He grinned as he followed her, realizing she was walking faster to leave him behind.

*

Catori lied in her bed without moving a muscle. Her green eyes were locked on the ceiling above her, her limbs sprawled out. Only the music playing in her laptop distracted her from her own thoughts.

A knock sounded on the closed door of her room, making her sigh. Something told her it was Stiles again.

"Go home and leave me alone, nerd!" That time she didn't mean it cruelly but as some sort of secretive mean horseplay.

He knocked again and just as Catori was rolling her eyes and rolling off bed, the door opened.

"Wrong person" Lydia stood there, smirking as she leaned her hip on the door frame.

"It's you" Feeling pleasantly surprised by her presence, her friend smiled. "Hi"

"I see you and Stiles get along so much better now" The redhead sarcastically said, walking into the room and taking a good look around it.

"What are you doing here, Dee?" She chuckled, sitting back on her bed.

Lydia also grinned at Catori's new nickname for her, actually being fond of it.

"A little birdie told me about what happened and that I should visit because you were upset about it" Casually sitting down by her side, the redhead observed her.

"I'm not upset" Catori shrugged not so convincingly. "Your source is not reliable"

"Even if he's the one who was there with you?"

As they stared at each other, seizing each other, they remained still. Finally, Catori rolled her eyes and fell backwards on the bed feebly.

"He doesn't make it easy for me to like him" She mumbled under her breath. But her friend heard the comment and grinned in amusement.

"Why don't you tell me what's going on, Catori?"

"Because you'll think I'm crazy, that's why"

"Try me"

Determined and daring, Catori sat back up and took a deep breath before she began. She was almost positive that Lydia would think she was exaggerating or paranoid.

Even if it was pretty obvious that Lydia herself was some sort of intuitive supernatural creature. But Catori didn't want to think about it at that moment in order to not get overwhelmed.

"I had the same feeling that when Scott got attacked, but this time I had a freaking deja vu" The girl stated, challenging her to disagree.

"Okay..."

"And you know why? Because I dreamt about it, Lydia" Rubbing her hands over her face to avoid the headache that began to settle in her skull, Catori let out a soft sigh. "I dreamt that Stiles was in danger, but I didn't remember it at first because I tend to block all these nightmares"

Lydia frowned a little and restlessly combed the ends of her hair. She remained silent until she came up with a valid reply to that.

"I just want to remind you that I felt Scott was in danger too" The redhead tried to comfort her. "I don't think you're crazy"

"Can't we just talk about something else, please?" Catori shuddered. "It's creeping me out"

"Okay, what do you want to talk about?" Lydia recovered her bubbly and spry aptitude by slightly bouncing on the bed and crossing her legs.

"How about you explain to me why you all seem to love Stiles?" He was the first thing that came to mind, and it was as good subject as any. "It really slips my understanding"

"You like him, don't lie" The redhead teased her a little, nudging her in the ribs.

"No I don't" Her friend replied with an offended huff. "I want to get him back for what he did to me"

When she glanced at Lydia, a mildly evil grin was taking over her red lips.

"Maybe you can"

"I'm listening" Catori squinted in curiosity.

"How about we go shopping?" Lydia's smirk widened. "With him"

*

The next day, the pack met at Derek's loft to discuss some issues. Stiles had told Catori over text, just like he promised.

Stilinski had informed everyone about the incident and told them that they needed to gather and talk about it all. So there they all were: Scott, Kira, Liam, Stiles, Lydia, Malia, Derek and Catori.

Everyone chatted and discussed in little groups. Scott and Derek, Catori and Liam, Malia and Kira, Stiles and Lydia.

They all spoke basically about the same subject, but on different point of views. Scott and Derek were trying to decide if their pack was threatened by the other one or if those had been isolated attacks and if it meant they wouldn't happen again, but it did.

Catori and Liam just discussed about what supernatural creatures could be inside that pack. There were obviously werewolves, but Liam explained that they had faced far more of them.

Malia and Kira assured that, as a werecoyote and a Kitsune, they could defend themselves against that evil pack that had threatened their safety.

And Stiles and Lydia were just talking about the last addition to the inner circle.

"I don't think you should tell Catori that you're a banshee yet" He was telling her, glancing over at the girl every now and then before looking back at the redhead.

"Why not? She's my friend, she deserves to know" Lydia made a little pout. "I want her to know!"

"She's too overwhelmed" Stiles whisper-yelled. "I think she has enough with Scott being a werewolf and being attacked by a pack of evil ones"

Lydia frowned and looked over her shoulder to Catori. It was obvious that their friend was overwhelmed and was doing her best to get used to it all. And to hide her restlessness as well.

"You're right" She obliged. "I won't tell her"

"I think it's for the best" He reassured her, understanding why she wanted to tell her. Lydia just nodded and softly smiled at him, and so did he.

For a few moments, everyone kept talking amongst them in a chaos of mumbles and voices until Derek put some order.

"Alright!" He shouted once he had finished talking with Scott.

"Do you think she's doing okay?" Lydia whispered so only Stiles could hear her.

While the racket began to die down, he glanced at Catori and realized she didn't look okay. She was a strong girl, but she seemed to be exhausted and upset.

"Derek, do you know you look like the Grumpy Cat?" Stiles said out of the blue, just timing it so no one was talking anymore.

Catori couldn't help but to snort in laughter and cover her mouth to hide her wide grin. Stiles looked over his shoulder at her and smiled proudly to himself.

Meanwhile, Lydia and Scott exchanged a glance, knowing that their friend had said that deliberately to make her laugh. He wanted to cheer her up.

"Shut up" Derek deadpanned, crossing his strong arms over his sculptured chest.

"Are you two related? Cat and cat..." Stilinski insisted, pointing one hand to Derek and the other to Catori.

The both of them slapped him away at the same time, which caused a collective wave of low chuckles all over the room.

"Stiles" He said in a threatening voice. "Stop being stupid and shut up, or I'll throw you out"

"Okay..." The boy mumbled as he hid behind Lydia, who tried her best to keep back her smile.

"Alright!" Derek exclaimed clear and loud, catching everyone's attention. "Let's clear out what we know so far"

"Not much..." Scott sighed tiredly. "Just that the other pack has a problem with us"

"Yep, wasn't fun almost getting killed" Stiles agreed, pursing his lips together tightly as he sulkily crossed his arms.

"I feel like everything's connected" Lydia frowned, getting serious since Stiles didn't seem to be too eager to let it go.

"What do you mean?" Kira asked, frowning herself.

"The museum..." Catori guessed, already having some sort of mental connection with Lydia. She imagined her train of thought.

Her friend nodded since that was exactly what she was thinking about.

"What about the missing girls?" Malia added, catching Stiles' attention.

"Yes!" He exclaimed, pointing a finger at her with a spastic movement. "I've always thought the pack is after that!"

"Why would that pack be interested in kidnapping girls?" Liam frowned, confused. "Don't they just kill them? They appear dead after a while"

Catori averted her gaze from her friends at the thought that she had been the only one to escape that situation. Although she knew that if they had actually taken her for real, she would be dead right now.

"Does your dad know if there's a pattern?" Scott asked his best friend, who was nibbling at his bottom lip restlessly.

"No, there are no patterns" He sighed with resignation. "Just that they're girls"

Despite his words, Stiles sent Catori a subtle smirk as he glanced at her with the corner of his eye. She saw, and frowned at the gesture, but didn't say anything about it.

Surprisingly, Derek had done the same even if she hadn't noticed him.

"I think there is a pattern" He stated gravely, his eyes fixed on Catori.

Stiles' jaw dropped when he realized what the 'grumpy cat' was thinking.

"What?" The girl felt his eyes on her and couldn't help but to sound offended because of it.

"One's an incident, two's a coincidence, and three's a pattern, but four..." Stiles mumbled once he realized of the pattern Derek was talking about.

"What four?"

"The girls, the museum robbery, Scott being attacked and then Stiles..." Lydia was quick enough to see it too.

All eyes turned to Catori when they figured out what all of those incidents had in common.

"You're the pattern!" Malia exclaimed, pointing at her in an accusatory way.

For just a second, Stiles had second thoughts. Everything indicated that she was involved with the pack. What if his first instinct to doubt her wasn't so wrong after all? Maybe his intuition hadn't failed him.

But as he stared at her and saw the clean look in her green eyes, he slightly shook his head to himself. No, Catori wasn't evil, she was their friend.

"I knew there was something weird about you" He replied in awe, observing her.

"Stop it, all of you!" Catori angrily shouted, ready to leave that place as soon as possible if things turned.

Scott and Derek could notice her heart speeding up, so the first one intervened.

"Look, we don't think you consciously have something to do with it" He tried to comfort her, showing her a sweet and comforting smile. "Nor that you are bad either"

"But there's something going on here!" Stiles complained, slightly mad. "With the robbery, the missing girls, these attacks, you!"

"Are you actually going back to that, Stilinski?" Catori challenged him, hiding her fear with anger.

"No one is accusing you of anything, calm down" Derek walked closer to her and tried to calm her with a hand motion.

"Good" She stubbornly replied.

"But do you know anything we don't?" Since Derek hadn't spoken to her like the rest of the pack had, he needed a little something to make sure she was okay.

The approval of the rest of the pack was enough for him, but he also wanted to see for himself.

The girl took a deep breath and held his glare calmly, acquiring a more relaxed attitude instead of a defensive one.

"No, I told you everything I know" She responded, remaining calm.

Derek didn't hear her heart missing any beats or speeding up, which meant that she wasn't lying. Because in spite of her stubborn and sassy nature he could feel like she wasn't a great liar. Like Stiles was, for example.

Nodding seriously, he just took a few steps back to stop imposing himself onto her. Then he dragged his eyes away from her.

"Despite her, it all must have a reason to be" Derek shook his head, hating to be feeling so helpless and lost. "We have to make sense out of it all"

"First of all" Malia said gravely. "Why would they want that triquetra symbol?"

"We just know what Catori told us" Scott explained, motioning a hand towards her absently. "That it makes a connection between three principles"

"But it must have some sort of power" The girl intervened, scowling because they couldn't decipher so many mysteries at once. "They wouldn't want a random antique just because it's pretty"

"We need help" Derek summed up, apparently calm despite his tired sigh. "But until we figure something out, we have to stay alert"

"You don't have to tell me twice" Stiles huffed, cringing at the thought of the glass breaking and the pieces flying everywhere.

"Derek...?" Scott asked, though, piercing him with his eyes.

As everyone glanced at the older boy, they realized he looked absent. Maybe even shifty, like there was something else on his mind.

He dragged his intense green eyes away from that spot he had been staring at in deep thought and let them land on Scott. Derek didn't reply, but had a questioning look on his face.

"Is there something on your mind?" Scott continued, staring at him.

"Yeah, you look like you know something we don't" Stiles helped him, giving him a silly stare.

"I'm just thinking..." He scowled. "That Norman, the alleged alpha of the pack... he's too weak and hopeless to be the actual alpha"

"What are you saying?" Kira questioned him, while all of them waited for his reply.

"The actual alpha that is taking care of all of these things... the kidnappings, the museum robbery, the attacks towards us... they seem much stronger and smarter" Even though his voice sounded flat as usual, there was a hint of concern in it.

"So?" Lydia asked.

"I think there are two packs"

*

With the promise that he would ask Deaton for help, Derek dismissed the gathering. He warned everyone to be careful before they left, though.

Derek also told Catori that neither he nor any of them really thought that she was dangerous or was knowingly meddled in the other pack's business. Even if it was Scott who insisted on it. Because he wanted Catori to hear it from Derek's mouth.

So after that, the girl was about to leave for home and try to put aside all for a while when Stiles stopped her.

"Catori" He gently held her by the arm, wondering if what he said earlier really bothered her.

"What" She replied with a neutral tone.

"I have something for you" Rummaging through his backpack, he grabbed something from it. "I saw it and it reminded me of you"

Genuinely curious as to what it was going to be, Catori waited until he offered it to her.

Her mouth was left wide open in surprise when she saw the object.

It was a little wooden totem shaped like a tiger. It was oddly beautiful as well as wild, definitely something very special.

"I thought it was perfect, because your name is Native American, right?" He smirked a little because of the fact that he knew that information. "It means spirit"

Catori grinned, pleasantly surprised by his knowledge.

"That's right" With gentle hands, she gingerly picked the totem up from his.

It was as big as her whole hand, from the base of the palm to the tip of her fingers. The totem was incredibly dainty to her.

"And tigers are technically cats, so... Catori... Cat" Stiles managed an adorable goofy smile and she chuckled in response.

"Why are you being so nice to me?" She wondered aloud even if she tightly held to his gift, internally treasuring it. "Giving me all this stuff and all..."

"Look, I don't need to have Scott's werewolfy senses to know you're tense around me because you're resented" Restlessly, Stiles shifted his weight to the other foot. "I just want to make sure everything's okay between us"

"Is that all?" Catori coolly raised one eyebrow.

"It's also a thank you for saving me back there" Embarrassed and not ready to show he was, Stiles hung his head low timidly. "I'll try to keep you safe too"

"You're just trying to make it up" She decided to tease him a little. Or annoy him. Both worked.

"Well, yeah" He huffed, as if it were obvious. "But I want to make sure you're safe for myself, not just for you"

"You're just saying that"

"Not helping"

"Anything else you wanted to say then?" Catori tested him, somewhat smugly.

"Yeah, if it makes you feel better, slap me or something" Stiles gulped, which made her think that he was sure she would.

"As tempting as that sounds" Catori began to say, her voice dripping sarcasm. "It wouldn't be as satisfying as slowly torturing you"

"Funny!" He let out a few guffaws of the fakest laughter.

"If you're done being Mr. Sensitive Guy" She rejoiced in teasing him for a bit longer. "I'm leaving now"

"Want a ride?" The boy offered kindly.

"No, thanks" She shook her head. "I need to walk and be alone for a while"

Understanding that need, he just nodded. Before Catori turned around, she sent him a small smile.

Then he observed her walk away.

*

It was such a tiring day that when she arrived home, all Catori wanted to do was lie down and go to sleep. She would definitely doze off as soon as her head hit the pillow.

At least, it finally felt like she was coming to terms with it all. She had sorted things out with Scott, Stiles gave her a gift to make up and it began to feel like they could be friends for real, the pack had let her stay during one of their meetings and discuss things with her and no one thought she was evil.

The girl still had no idea why everything seemed to have something to do with her, but it did. Stiles was right. Just that one time.

But Catori didn't really want to dwell on that, she had faced it earlier that day and she preferred to forget about it now that it finally felt like she had reached some stability. Things could be much worse.

She was about to go to sleep when she noticed a certain notebook sitting in her bedside table.

Catori was already in her pajamas, covered by the blankets and ready to close her eyes and try to doze off. However, knowing that she was likely to stay awake for many more hours, she picked it up.

Besides, it might help with the nightmares that involved supernatural creatures. After all, like Stiles himself had said, maybe if she knew about them she wouldn't be so scared. And she'd know how to fight them.

Taking a deep breath before opening it, Catori proceeded to read it.

In the first page it said 'werewolf' in Stiles' messy but legible handwriting. Immediately, the girl thought about Scott and George. The both of them were werewolves, but so different.

Scott was still a puppy even if he could show his claws and fangs. But he wanted to help people, to protect them. Unlike George, who preferred to use his abilities to attack them and terrorize Beacon Hills.

Trying to get into more detail, she kept reading attentively.

Werewolf

Hairy features. Fangs. Claws.

Eyes colored red, gold or blue. Red means alpha, gold means beta and blue means a beta that has stopped being innocent, who has killed someone.

There's also another kind of werewolf, called omega. This one doesn't belong into a pack and hence is less powerful.

Werewolves can hear, smell and see better. That's why they can track a scent or catch's someone heartbeat, especially when it speeds up when they lie. They also heal fast and are very agile as well as strong.

Werewolves are 'allergic' to wolfsbane, obviously... Mountain ash can be used against them by using it as some sort of a magical barrier to keep them away.

Even if all of this was very useful to Catori, she couldn't help but to roll her eyes and smile at Stiles' redaction.

She kept eyeing the page, trying to make sure she didn't miss anything. She noticed something about Derek scribbled around there and the word 'sourwolf' written right next to the name. From that she deduced he was one as well. He gave alpha vibes for sure.

The girl turned the page and tried to read more. She remembered having read that before when the notebook was in her power for the first time, but now she could pay more attention to it. So she continued with the next page.

Banshee (We don't know too much about banshees)

Psychic. Intuition. Powerful scream. Harbinger of death.

Even if most of supernatural creatures are trapped by the mountain ash, banshees can cross it.

Their scream can be used as a weapon.

They hear voices that guide them through the supernatural events.

Kitsune (from Japanese lore)

Japanese fox. Longevity. Healing.

Different types of Kitsune (we just know about two, but there's more):

Thunder. Power over electricity.

Nogitsune, Dark Kitsune or Void (all bad, all very very bad)

Celestial

Wild

Ocean

They can control Onis with their tales. Their abilities falter when they are in a telluric current.

Catori wanted to learn more about Kitsunes and other supernatural creatures like wendigos or werecoyotes, as she had glimpsed at before in the pages. But she was so exhausted that she fell asleep without even having the time to close the notebook and put it back on its place.

*

When she lunged forward in her sleep that night, just waking up from yet another nightmare, Catori tried to calm down. But something lingered on her mind.

Her dream was about Lydia, and she was screaming. Catori had a feeling like that wasn't just a stupid dream, but it was actually trying to tell her something.

Moved by a hunch, Catori rushed to get Stiles' bestiary and thumbed through the pages as fast as she could until she found the one that she was looking for.

Banshee. Intuition, psychic, scream.

Lydia.

Lydia was a banshee.