Chapter Text
"Yes, mom," Allison says on the phone, rolling her eyes at Scott, who grins at her discomfort. "I'm fine. I'm sorry I didn't let you know, but I felt awful at the party, so Stiles took me back to his. We're literally pulling into the drive right now."
Stiles parks his Jeep on the pavement outside the Argent's house. They can see Mrs Argent, glaring at them from the living room window.
"Maybe this is a bad idea," Stiles says when Allison hangs up, eyeing Victoria Argent with trepidation. "Your mom looks like she wants to kill us both, and I don't want to leave you after your first full moon. It just doesn't feel right."
Allison does look awful - her hair is ratty and her eyes are rimmed with red, and she looks very small swamped in one of Stiles' jackets - but she shrugs and jumps out of the car. "I'm fine, guys. I'll explain everything to my mom."
"Not... everything, right?" Stiles asks, clearly alarmed.
Allison rolls her eyes. "No, not everything. Don't worry, Stiles. I'll ring you after she's shouted at me for being a terrible daughter."
Allison slams her door, waves and then treks up the driveway. She knows that she's in for a major grilling, not just from her mom but probably her dad as well, and that makes her want to run back to the Jeep. But Stiles and Scott are already gone. There's only one option left.
Her mom swings the door open before Allison can even touch the doorknob.
"You are in a lot of trouble, young lady."
Allison just nods miserably - she's already accepted her fate. She slumps her shoulders and walks dejectedly inside. Her father's stood by the fireplace in the living room, his arms crossed and face dark with anger and slight disappointment. Allison is too weak to even consider getting out of this somehow; her first turn was atrociously painful.
"Allison, where were you last night?" her dad demands before she's even in the room.
Allison collapses on the nearest sofa and says, "Jackson Whittemore's party."
"All night?" her father exclaims, clearly not believing her.
"No, we didn't stay for very long," Allison says truthfully. "I felt really sick, so Stiles took me back to his place to rest for a bit, but I fell asleep and they didn't want to disturb me."
Her father cocks an eyebrow. "And I'm supposed to believe this?"
"Actually, yes," Allison sighs. "The Sheriff was there the whole night. He can vouch for us."
She knows she's won now. Her father is friends with the Sheriff, and will believe anything he says. Mr Argent relaxes a little.
"We're still not happy about this," her mom snaps. "What were you ill with? The flu? Did someone drug you?"
"Mom!"
"Vicky, leave my lovely niece alone."
Allison perks up suddenly at the new voice. Her aunt Kate, who Allison hasn't seen for years, is leaning casually in the doorway, a large grin on her face. Forgetting her ailments, Allison leaps up from the sofa so that she can fling herself into the arms of her aunt.
"Kate! I didn't know you were coming!"
Kate pulls away, grin still there, her ash-blonde hair curled perfectly as always. "I thought I'd come and surprise my favourite niece."
"Don't play that game with me," Allison jokes. "I'm your only niece."
Kate shrugs. "Whatever. Now, what's this I hear about a party?"
That night, they order take out and gather around the kitchen table, eating rubbish and laughing loudly. Allison excuses herself to go to bed early, even though she wants to stay up later, because these times with her family are her favourite. Every problem just seems to melt away. But her body aches all over, and her eyes are closing of their own accord, so she slopes off to her bedroom.
Allison's about to clean her teeth when she notices that there's no toothpaste left in her bathroom. Grumbling to herself, she's about to head downstairs when she hears her parents and Kate talking in hushed tones in the living room. Curious, Allison creeps down the stairs and then along the wall, holding her breath as she listens.
"You've been gone for five years, Kate," her dad's saying aggressively. "Five years. We thought were dead."
Allison balks. Kate had been away for a very long time, but she'd never personally assumed she was dead. She'd only been travelling the world; it wasn't as if she was ever in any kind of danger.
"We knew what you were looking into," Allison's mom whispers. Thanks to Allison's new super-hearing, though, she can hear perfectly well. "Kate, we were trying to find ways to tell Allison that you'd died. We didn't hear from you in so long, we were certain you'd died."
"Thanks for your concern," Kate says a little spitefully. "I was following a lead, and I couldn't exactly give myself away by sending birthday cards."
Allison decides she doesn't want to hear anymore. She wants to go to bed, remembering her family as the one that had just been laughing around junk food, so she tiptoes into the downstairs bathroom, where she grabs a tube of toothpaste and heads back upstairs.
As she's making her way out of her bathroom, Allison glances downstairs to see Kate arguing in the hallway with her parents. Her mom and dad head away to their room soon after, but Kate hangs around a while and walks over to the mirror in the hall. Holding her breath, Allison creeps forward and looks over the bannister.
Kate's admiring her own reflection, which is a little weird. But then something even stranger happens.
In the mirror, Allison can just make out Kate's eyes turning red.