b a n s h e e

Riley was making her daily attempt at sneaking into the train depot like the highly trained badass spy that she was not.  Usually it just involved humming the James Bond themesong and  a lot of squatting behind dumpsters if she thought she heard someone before she could get the door open and scurry in to hide in her train car.  But this time, she wasn’t quite so careful.  Another day of canvassing Beacon Hills for a backup second job had left her exhausted, and pleading to any god that would listen for Sinema to call her soon and tell her she’d gotten the job there.  Which is probably why she didn’t hear the person approaching until he spoke, scaring the bejeezus out of Riley.  

She let out a little shriek of surprise, which, to her astonishment, actually sent an old crate flying. Her eyes sparkled with excitement as she realized that she had actually managed to use her scream!  It wasn’t in the direction of the voice, but the fact that it moved at all nearly made Riley forget to be afraid of whoever was there.  Shit, someone was there.  She whirled around to face them, trying to calm her rabbit-like pulse.  “Oh my god,” Riley exhaled heavily, upon realizing she recognized him.  “Theo, right?  I think I just had a heart attack.”  

“I guess you have a point there. I forget that I’m fortunate enough to have never even gotten a paper cut, much less a lasting slice from a knife.” Talia had been hurt before, sure, but it healed within a matter of seconds unless it was deep. And even then, deep cuts healed in a matter of minutes or hours. She’d never had a scar, and she couldn’t even begin to imagine how vulnerable she’d feel if she was in Riley’s position. “You just gotta be careful that you’re reading books that have good information. There’s a lot of fake stuff out there from humans who just kind of make it up, even though they’ve never even seen a real supernatural. It’s kind of annoying having to sift through all of it, but I’m sure you can find something that’d help you out.” When Riley asked her question, she glanced over to the blonde and nodded. “Yup. I’ve known since I was old enough to understand words that I was different, and that once I turned thirteen I’d have to start dealing with full moons and stuff. All of this is my normal. I forget sometimes that a lot of people have no idea werewolves even exist.”

“Yeah, but I’m sure you’ve had way worse,” Riley winced.  She would never get used to the way that werewolves played off huge injuries like getting shot, stabbed, and whatever else.  Yeah, super healing is cool and all but she was pretty sure that just because it healed doesn’t mean it didn’t hurt.  Honestly, Riley would probably be pretty pissed if she didn’t at least get a sick scar out of the injuries she’d gotten.  “No way! Are you trying to tell me vampires don’t actually sparkle?”  She gasped.  Talia was definitely right though.  “I promise not to try and jump off a bridge if the books tell me banshees can fly,” she vowed.  “That’s really cool,” Riley marveled at Talia’s answer.  “What was it like when you were little?” She loved getting to watch the pack she knew in France, hearing from her friends about the differences in how their pack operated versus how Riley’s little family of two had.  Now it made her wonder about banshees, if they were ever in groups of their own.  “It’s crazy to think I was one of those people like seven years ago,” she shook her head.  

The response to Lydia asking Riley if she wanted to come over and eat bonbons reminded Lydia of the girl she used to be friends with. It also reassured Lydia that she made the right choice by reaching out instead of just pushing Riley away. She honestly couldn’t help but grin back at the other girl, remembering just how infectious her excitement had been in the past. “Sounds delicious.” Lydia stated. “I’ve never been the biggest fan of junk food. You’re basically the only person who ever got me to eat any of it.” She joked, thinking back to the many conversations they shared over milkshakes. They were memories Lydia still thought of fondly. “So I think I can make an exception for those.. chocolate covered delights.” Lydia joked lightly as she looked down at her feet. She then glanced back up and made eye contact with Riley for what felt like the first time since their conversation started. “My phone number changed.” Lydia had got a new one in an attempt to freeze everyone out. Stiles had the number, of course. And Lydia was now slowly starting to give it out to people other than him, Talia, and Allison. “But I can give you this one and you can let me know when you’re free?”

Riley couldn’t help her own small smile as she remembered crawling over the fence to Lydia’s old house, armed to the teeth with popcorn and junk food.  Her grief over her dad was fresh then, but soothed by Lydia’s presence, and the bright warmth she felt around her and Scott in those early days.  “I had to endear myself to you somehow,” she joked, feeling the fear of rejection fading more as  every minute passed.  Riley fished her phone out of her pocket as soon as the offer left Lydia’s mouth.  She fiddled with it for a second before holding it out to her friend eagerly.  “That would be really, really great,” the younger banshee nodded vigorously.  A beat passed as she let Lydia set her new number up in the contacts, before Riley quietly spoke again.  “I missed you.” She didn’t expect Lydia to respond in kind, or to respond at all really, but Riley wanted to make sure she knew.  Even when she was pushing everyone away herself, and ignoring the supernatural completely, she had felt the absence of her friends painfully.  

“Don’t be sorry.” Lydia shrugged her shoulders gently. “It’s not a big deal. They’ll come back soon.” The smile on her lips told an entirely different story. It was one mixed with so much anger and pain that it actually made Lydia scared. She was trying so hard not to take her hurt out on Riley. Her face was practically twitching as her brain struggled with trying to turn her glare into the forced smile that wasn’t working so well. “Awards?” Lydia laughed a little. “Yeah, I can’t think of any awards I would deserve.” Well, she could but they were not nice awards. Most blood on her hands? Definitely. Lydia sighed when she realized her tone of voice was starting to sound cold again. It really was a huge internal battle for her. She almost wanted to just walk away from the conversation but some part of her was saying to reach out to Riley more. They were close friends once. “Um-“ Lydia looked down at her feet and avoided Riley’s gaze. “About that whole, sitting on a comfy couch and eating bonbons thing.. well, I’m not exactly sure what bonbons are.” Lydia shrugged. She wasn’t a big junk food eater. “But maybe you’d want to do that with me?”

Riley could hear the reassurances coming out of Lydia’s mouth just fine, but the look on her face told a different story.  She hesitantly decided to table that for later.  “Okay.  That’s good.”  It felt like a lie just coming out of her mouth, but she didn’t want to upset her anymore than she already had.  Riley bit her lip as the cold tone came back to Lydia’s voice, and the dismissive expression seemed to flicker on and off of her face.  For once, she felt completely at a loss and uncertain how to approach her friend.  And then, it seemed like the Lydia she used to know threw her a lifeline.  Riley grabbed it.  “I’d really like that,” she nodded, feeling some of the strange apprehensive shyness fade.  “And I promise to bring bonbons.  Trust me, they’re like reverse truffles and they’re amazing.  Little chocolate covered delights!” She grinned, unable to keep herself from coming off like a kid envisioning a candy store.  

Talia was kind of excited to potentially see Riley at work, and was glad that the blonde was considering it. Talia had a feeling that the money would be decent for doing the bottle service, and Riley clearly needed the money. She laughed a bit at Riley’s statement. “So you’d be more comfortable stabbing someone than chopping up some carrots? I think that’s a first.” She teased as she shook her head and glanced at Riley. “A handbook on being a banshee? Probably not. But there may be stuff at the library on banshees that could help. I don’t know how much, though.” It didn’t seem like a terrible idea, but Talia knew how inaccurate books could be on this sort of stuff sometimes.

“Listen,” she whined, trying not to laugh as she realized how weird it sounded.  “The werewolves teaching me how to use knives usually healed pretty quick from any of the little scratches I gave them that managed to get past protection.  Chopping carrots on the other hand-”  Riley held up her pinky finger, giving it, and the long white scar just above her knuckle a exaggerated glare.  “Chopping carrots gave me this.  And it didn’t just magically heal, which was a real pain in the ass.”  Some of her friends had been astonished by that, unhelpfully watching her bleed over the kitchen counter in awe.  “Huh, that’s a pretty good idea.  I haven’t browsed there since I figured out I was a banshee.  It wasn’t super helpful when I was trying to figure out what all the symptoms were, but it might not be so bad for this.”  The packs that Riley knew in France were mostly born ‘wolves, who had known their entire lives that they were werewolves, and Talia gave off the same vibe, but she asked anyway:  “Have you always known that you were a werewolf?  Raised that way, I mean?”  

Lydia had been softening around Riley but the second the other girl mentioned banshee lessons, her demeanor changed again. In fact it had gone colder and harsher than it was even before. “Yeah..” Lydia began, her lips tightening and her arms crossed over her chest. She wanted to think rationally before she just started lashing out at Riley. That didn’t go over so well with Mia and Lydia wanted to do things differently this time but it was so hard. Besides, did she really want to throw her problems at Riley after everything the other girl had been through? Lydia just didn’t know what else to do, since she couldn’t quite pretend it was fine. “I don’t think I’ll be able to help you out with those lessons anymore.” Lydia could not hide the bitterness in her tone. Even if she hadn’t lashed out, her words were sharp. “I don’t..” Lydia sighed. “I don’t have my powers anymore. It’s not a big deal or anything, I just got really hurt a few weeks ago and had to use them a lot. Probably only a temporary thing so it’s fine but there might not be any banshee lessons until they come back.” She sounded empty. It was a complete lie but better than the truth. Lydia just knew they were never coming back. 

Riley’s brow furrowed.  Lydia’s powers... gone?  She wasn’t aware that was even possible.  Thank god the usually all-too-quiet self preservation part of her brain happened to speak up before she actually said that out loud to Lydia.  Even in Riley’s sad attempts at research before Lydia had started teaching her about banshees, she had never seen anything about banshee powers running out like an drained battery.  But... Beacon Hills.  Anything was possible.  Even as a relative newbie, Riley knew that.  “I’m sorry,” she shook her head, twisting her ring around her index finger.  Lydia had gone through so much, just in the time that Riley knew her.  “You deserve a lifetime of sitting on comfy couches and eating bonbons.  With wine.  And lots of awards.” Her jaw snapped shut, the only way she could make herself stop the rambling.  

Malia thought about her question for a moment. “Yeah, it’s not bad.” She shrugged, saying nothing but the truth. “Sure, you have to wear this tacky shirt but is it really a job if it doesn’t have a tacky uniform.” She joked. It could have been worse and could have been stuck wearing something formal which Malia did not own at all. “I guess the only downside is having to work like a night shift at least once a week? But I don’t really find it difficult since it’s only a few people who come in those hours. Coworkers are pretty chill too.” Malia enjoyed her job and was glad she was able to get hired here. 

“So true,” she laughed.  “Plus, then I’d be able to make jokes about wearing the uniform.”  The opportunity for silly jokes was always an upside for Riley.  “Nights are actually better for me,” she admitted.  “My other job is mostly day time. The mall...” She gave a comical little shudder.  “Lots of tweens.  Not ideal."

“Definitely let me know if you apply and I’ll put a good word in.” Talia was happy that she could help Riley out with that advice, and hoped the girl could get the job so she could see her around more often. As moody and tough as the werewolf tried to come off most of the time, she really did enjoy Riley’s upbeat attitude. It was really refreshing and definitely helped keep Talia’s mood up even considering everything going on. Which was kind of crazy, especially since Riley also had some pretty heavy shit she was dealing with. Talia didn’t know how she was still smiling after everything she’d been through with her aunt. “You’d just gotta be careful not to spray it the wrong way or whatever. But I think that’d be slightly easier to use than like a knife.” While Talia would have no problem with close combat like that, she knew Riley might. “Yeah, based off of what I’ve seen with Lydia control is possible though. You’ll get the hang of it.” Talia wanted to mention that Riley should try to reach out to the banshee, but she definitely knew that’d be a bad idea with Lydia’s current state.

“Thanks,” Riley said softly, unable to stop a small smile from appearing on her lips.  “I’m definitely going to walk over there sometime soon and apply.”  It felt like a good decision the moment that she said it out loud.  “Oh god... I so would do that,” she whined, pinching the bridge of her nose.  “I’m actually okay with knives...  As long as you don’t ask me to cook anything with them.”  Riley was sure that even with the minimal training her friends had tried to give her in France, Talia could probably have a knife out of her hand and at her throat in a matter of seconds.  Maybe she should be practicing that too...  “I hope so,” she said glumly.  “I wish there was a handbook.  Do you think there is one?  Because that might be my only shot at getting a handle on this nonsense.”  

Lydia’s heart sank when she noticed the tears in Riley’s eyes and realized her attitude had been the cause. God, she really was a terrible person. Maybe that’s who Lydia had always been. Being a banshee just masked how truly awful she was. The strawberry blonde had managed to trick people into thinking she was a good person just because she had the ability to tell when someone was going to die and happened to save a couple of them before it happened. Without that fake heroism to hide behind Lydia was simply ice cold. She didn’t want to be, though. Riley was her friend.. right? Surely they could still be friends if they didn’t have the banshee thing connecting them. “Look, I’m sorry for being the worst right now.” Lydia said with a sigh. “I know you’ve been through a lot recently and you don’t need me being a bitch to you.” She wanted to believe that this was genuine, but could it just be Lydia’s mind trying to pretend to be nice once again? “I am happy to see you again. Really, I’m glad that you’re doing better. Or at least better enough to come outside.”

“It’s okay,” Riley brushed it off quickly.  She wiped a few stray tears from her cheeks, feeling stupid for it.  “You’ve been through a lot too...” Logically she knew that she shouldn’t let herself take Lydia’s coldness personally, but she couldn’t quite make herself meet the other banshee’s eyes.  Her fight or flight had been triggered, and usually Riley was more of a stick around kinda gal but all her muscles were tensing to flee.  “Thanks.  I, um, I’m sorry I was gone for so long.  Probably missed some banshee lessons, huh?”  She joked weakly.  

Talia couldn’t hide her smile at Riley’s very clear enthusiasm about the fact that she was eighteen now. And then she made a drink pun and the werewolf chuckled a bit as she nodded. “Yeah, that’s pretty much all you need. I think you’d get good tips considering how talkative you are. And working for tips is honestly worth it if you can find a place that has good tippers. It’s way better than hourly.” She thought about serving for awhile, but ultimately bartending was closer to her old job and she preferred to not have to do the maintenance of checking on individual tables. She nodded and left the train station with Riley and headed towards her car, thankful that this time there wasn’t her entire closet and a pillow inside of there. It was a lot more presentable now that she had an apartment. “It might not be a terrible idea for you to get like.. I dunno, some pepper spray or something too. Or a knife. Just in case you’re not comfortable to try and use your scream to defend yourself if someone does stumble upon you.” She explained as she drove towards the store.

“Huh, never thought about that,” Riley admitted.  But she was almost certain that she would apply now, especially after Talia said she’d get good tips.  Plus, she’d already know one person there!  The banshee had to consciously remind herself not to bother Talia too much if she got the job; she knew she was chatty and sometimes came on too strong for people when they were getting to know her better.  Riley followed Talia to the familiar car and slid into the passenger seat.  It made her happy to see that it was clean, another reminder that the werewolf was living somewhere better.  “Pepper spray wouldn’t be a bad idea,” she agreed.  “I think... I think I could do it if it were an emergency.”  Riley twisted the ring on her index finger.  “It’s worked when I really needed it to.  Usually with the banshee stuff it’s harder to turn it off than on,” she laughed weakly.  “But it’d probably be easier to aim for the eyes and run.” 

“Oh, so this would be your second job then?” She asked, trying to clarify the information for herself. Malia knew that the blonde didn’t have to tell her anything, but she was just trying to make conversation as she filled out the application. The werecoytote was bored anyways. It had been a slow day at the gym where not many people were coming in to work out. “I feel like this town becomes more dead by the week. Might be cause of all the actual death this town has encountered.” Malia realized she probably could have phrased that better but it was too late. “We might have? I just am really bad at remembering people who aren’t my friends.” She admitted honestly. “But if you end up working here, I’m sure I won’t forget.” She joked. 

“Yeah,” she grinned sheepishly.  “Gotta make ends meet somehow, you know?”  Riley scrawled her information in a few of the boxes, tapping the other end of the pen on the counter.  “Do you like it here?” It was a lame question, but she got the feeling that Malia wouldn’t lie to her.  Riley winced.  “Yeah.  I’m surprised there hasn’t been a cemetery expansion,” she muttered.  A giggle slipped past Riley’s lips.  “That’s comforting!  I feel like cleaning sweat off of machines would bond us for sure.” 

“I was in the same boat a couple of weeks ago before I got hired. Have you tried like Macy’s and Sinema? I know those places are always hiring.” Malia wasn’t trying to deter her from the gym but instead adding to the options she had. She knew how it would be better for her to apply to multiple locations. “Nice to meet you Riley. I don’t think I’ve seen you around town before? It’s small town, but I’m also not very good at paying attention.” If it wasn’t someone in her immediate friend circle, she didn’t really try much. But she was trying to change that. “I’m Malia Tate.”

“Already working at the mall, actually!”  Riley nodded.  “You’d think there’d be more openings in a town like this,” she mused, almost forgetting that most people didn’t know about the turmoil beneath the surface of Beacon Hills.  Even so, she figured the regular turnover should be common knowledge enough to cover for her.  “Thanks Malia, you too!”  She chirped earnestly, granting the brunette a bright smile.  “I’m new this past year... So not so new anymore, I guess, but not surprised we haven’t run into each other.  It’s been... Eventful, to say the least.” 

“I’m sure you did, I feel like a lot of places can be pretty hard to get a job at here.” Talia was looking for a solid month or so after she’d gotten back from seeing her mom, so she knew the struggle. Riley had actually been there when she’d finally applied to Sinema. Her eyebrows raised when Riley said she needed a place that wouldn’t interfere. “I mean I know they need bottle girls at Sinema, but I dunno if that’s really your thing. Either way, we close at two in the morning so that seems good. Or maybe you could try night shifts serving at the diner. They’re open all night so that’d be good. It’d be a lot, but once you save up some money you’d probably be okay.” She shrugged, not wanting to keep rambling anymore about jobs. She was sure Riley had thought of all of this already. She smiled softly at Riley’s thanks as she nodded. “Of course. If Jake does end up going back to grad school you’re more than welcome to stay. But I don’t know what his plans are so I can’t promise anything. And by then you’ll probably have the money to find your own place.” She’d hope so, at least. She shook her head at Riley’s next words as she waved her hand, as if to wave the conversation about her father away. It wasn’t something she liked to think about and she didn’t really care anymore. She was living in her own apartment and had her own life now. “I’m sure there’s something at the hardware store if you wanna go. I can drive us.” She wasn’t a mechanic or anything, but maybe the two of them could figure it out. It felt wrong to not at least try. “I bet it is. Who knows who wanders through here at night.” Knowing Beacon Hills, probably a lot of dangerous things.

Riley perked up a little at the suggestion.  “I actually hadn’t considered it,” she admitted slowly.  “Before, when you were applying, I wasn’t eighteen so I couldn’t even go inside, but now... Hey, it’s worth a shot!”  She brightened gleefully at her own words.  “Worth a shot?!  I’m practically bottle girl ready!”  The diner wasn’t a bad idea either, but she had marked down ‘no preference’ for shift times when she applied the first time, so Riley doubted that she’d hear back from them with an offer.  “Thanks, Talia.”  She looked at the werewolf earnestly, gratitude clear in her voice.  “Even the offer-  it really does mean a lot.”  Hopefully she was right, and Riley wouldn’t need a place to stay by then.  “That would be awesome, if you don’t mind!”  She nodded quickly.  Besides the fact that it really was a good idea, Riley found that she missed Talia’s, and her other friends’, company, and she was none too eager to say goodbye.  

Somewhere buried deep inside of Lydia the logical part of her still existed, and it was screaming at her. It was trying to remind Lydia that Riley had absolutely nothing to do with the fact that Lydia lost her powers. Being cold towards the other girl was completely unfair and not justified in the slightest. Lydia wasn’t listening to logic right now, though. She couldn’t stop herself from glaring in Riley’s direction. She couldn’t stop the anger she was feeling inside. The.. jealousy? “Fine.” Lydia replied back without even really hearing what Riley had said or asked. It was just an automatic response. “So, you’re back now then? I’m going to be seeing more of you?” This probably could have been mistaken for Lydia being angry at Riley for being so aloof the last few months. But that wasn’t the case at all. Lydia understood Riley had been through an awful ordeal and needed time to herself. She was just angry at the entire world right now and Riley was in her direct path of destruction. 

Riley felt about two feet tall, standing before Lydia.  It was painfully strange, to feel so small in front of the girl who had always made her feel like she was ten feet tall.  She almost wanted to shake the older banshee, to remind her it’s me! Riley! Your friend!  But she was terrified to think that Lydia would fix her with that blank indifferent look, and tell her that she knew exactly who she was talking to.  So she just stood there, paralyzed.  “I’m back,” Riley repeated faintly, ignoring the burn of tears welling in her eyes.  God, maybe... Maybe this was what she deserved, for disappearing for a few months.  Maybe Amelia was right.  Maybe she was just a burden on everyone around her. 

“Thank you.” Xavier said, catching the ball in his hands and throwing it back in the box. He knew it would have been bad if he had lost that. He knew one of his little brother’s was already claiming it from his dad’s belongings. He would have had a fit if he had lost it. “I mean, if you want to help provide an opinion if some of this stuff should be donated or kept?” He laughed softly. He didn’t really expect someone to offer help. He was just going to take his time going through all of his father’s belongings. Maybe it wouldn’t be bad to not be alone. Even if he didn’t know her. “My name’s Xavier, by the way. I use to live here but I just got back”

“Sure!” Riley chirped.  “I am an excellent sorter.  And Riley,” she smiled a little sheepishly, “I’m also Riley.  Welcome back!”  Though she found that most people weren’t usually excited to be back in this town.  “I used to say I’m new here but... I guess I’m actually not that new anymore.”  It was hard for her to believe she’d been in Beacon Hills for over a year now.