AN: Hey guys! Welcome to "Followed", the sequel to "Drowned"!

If you haven't read "Drowned" yet, stop what you're doing and go back. There are a lot of references to the first book, plus the OC and the relationship she's in is kinda the center of the story, so reading about it in the first book is going to do you a world of good.

Good? Alright yay! Then sit back, relax, and enjoy chapter 1 of "Followed". This takes place about 8 months after the events of the first book.

Police tape everywhere, people walking around trying to figure out the latest disaster that occurred in town, sirens flashing red and blue so bright that it was hard to see in front of your own nose. There were people talking to the sheriff, wondering if what they saw was even real while he talked them down, telling them they probably just imagined the whole thing because of the trauma. But the victim knows they saw something. They saw something unreal. One would say it was like a panther of some kind.

A jeep pulled up to the scene. Out came 5 teenagers who were just students at Beacon Hills High School. If the driver wasn't the sheriff's son, people would be wondering why they would even show up to this place. However, they all looked extremely worried, especially the sheriff's son and the boy in the passenger seat. The strawberry blonde, the tall brunette, and the buff curly haired boy were looking around the crime scene, trying to figure out what went down just by looking at the scene.

The sheriff saw them group around the crime scene and he sighed. He placed his hands on the two nervous boys' shoulders.

"Did you get 'em?" he asked.

Scott McCall turned around and nodded to the sheriff proudly.

"We got him," Scott replied.

Stiles spun around and added, "And when he says 'him', he means we got the werepanther. We got him."

Sheriff Stilinski frowned at his son, then nodded and bat both boys on the back.

"Good work," he commended.

"Where is she?" Stiles asked immediately, getting more and more anxious by the second.

The sheriff looked doubtful, but began to open his mouth. Scott cut him off, calling to his dad when Agent McCall came on the scene. He and Stiles scrambled themselves over to the agent, almost out of breath just with the nerves.

"Did you find them?" Scott asked.

Agent McCall sighed, "No… none of my team could find either of them in the sewage."

Both Stiles and Scott took a second and sank. Even the sheriff could see how this messed them up. Agent McCall didn't look too happy with the result, even after they took down the threat to the town. It just wasn't complete until they were found.

"I knew it…" Stiles said quietly, running his hands through his hair, "I shouldn't have let her go. We should have gone with her or all of us could have found another way. I should've told her-."

"Dude," Scott said, placing his hand firmly on Stiles' shoulder, "They're not dead yet. If we can't find them, they'll find us. I know they will."

There was silence between them as Stiles started breathing heavily to calm himself down. What was starting to get on Scott's nerves even more was a tapping sound that he was hearing that sounded like it was coming from a far distance. Next he started to hear a muffled cry. There was a pause, then the tapping got louder. This was followed by another cry under a much more clear voice.

"Help!" it shouted, "Scott! Stiles! Isaac! Someone help!"

Scott looked over at Isaac, who looked back at him, their expressions wondering if they just heard the same thing. When it suddenly hit them, they took off running fast towards the sound. They ended up in the middle of the road in the woods where the crime scene was far off in the distance.

"Did you hear that?" Scott asked Isaac.

"Yeah…" Isaac responded quietly, looking around.

The sound of the tapping continued, but it was louder because they were closer. They heard the cries for help once again and Isaac looked over his right shoulder, then started walking closer and closer until the sound got louder.

"Scott!" Isaac called when he saw what was now under his feet; a sewer hole cover.

He turned around and felt his heart racing faster. Isaac used all his strength to slowly lift up the huge metal cover to reveal the sewer hole with two girls inside, one sitting on top of the other's shoulder.

"Scott? Isaac?" the girl on top gasped when she finally smelt the fresh air.

Scott looked into the hole and took the hands of the brunette, taking her in his arms and hugging her tightly. "Arielle! I thought I lost you."

"We thought we were gonna die down there," Kira said as Isaac helped her out of the hole next.

Arielle let go of Scott and looked behind her. "Isaac! You're okay too!"

"It's gonna take more than a stupid werepanther to get rid of me," Isaac laughed, hugging Arielle, "I'm just glad you're safe."

"And you?" Scott asked, placing his hands on Kira's body to make sure she was standing up alright, "Are you okay? Are you hurt?"

Kira nodded, squeezing Scott's strong arms tightly as she tried to keep her balance, "Yes… I think I'm okay."

Scott let out a huge sigh of relief and moved his hand to the back of Kira's head, pulling her against his chest and kissing her messy forehead, thankful that she was alive. He smelled the scent of smoke on in her hair and he looked to Arielle, who was looking at the flashing sirens in the distance. She looked from the cars to Isaac and then Scott.

"Is he…?"

Both boys nodded and Arielle's own heart started racing.

"Wait!" Scott halted, still using his strength to keep the tired Kira standing, "Are you sure you're okay?"

"I'm fine," Arielle assured him, "It was humid down there. I need to see him."

Before anyone could object, Arielle took off running towards the direction of the police cars. Back at the crime scene, however, Stiles was leaning against his dad's car, talking his ear off.

"Okay, so if that didn't work, we should check around all the lakes in Beacon Hills," Stiles insisted, "Leave no stone unturned."

"Stiles," the sheriff said, "We'll find her soon."

"I know, but soon isn't soon enough," Stiles said, starting to become anxious, "Do you realize what could happen to her between now and soon? We have to get to her NOW before-."

Stiles' eyes wandered towards the woods when he started to see the silhouette of someone approaching him. He suddenly stopped speaking when he saw who was standing a small distance away from him. Her hair was perfect, newly cut to just below her shoulders, and curled perfectly against her smooth tan skin, which was covered in mud. Stiles thought he would lose all of his breath just at the beautiful sight of her. Arielle saw the boy in front of her, remembering the last image she had of him. She was yelling at him, wishing he would just leave her alone. Then the explosion happened and she didn't know what had happened to him. Yet there he was, shaking like a freezing wet dog, on the verge of tears, wearing another stupid long sleeved plaid shirt. He was perfect.

"Oh thank god…" both of them finally said breathlessly.

They bolted towards each other and kissed, his hands on the back of her head and around her waist. Her hands were grabbing onto his unbuttoned plaid shirt over that stupid white shirt with black hemlines. When they let go of the kiss, he took another deep breath and placed his hands on her shoulders, feeling her skin and rejoicing that he could actually be in her presence again.

"I thought you were dead…" Stiles whispered quietly.

Arielle shook her head. "No… I made it out in time…" She reached her hand up and touched his cheek, rubbing her thumb against his face, then sliding it to the back of his neck. "Stiles… I'm sorry about what I said-."

"It doesn't even matter," he interrupted, "I don't care about what was said earlier, we know now. You're okay. I'm okay. We're all okay."

With another deep breath, Arielle fell into his arms and rested her forehead against his, closing her eyes just to remember what it felt like to be close to him again after thinking that it might never happen again. The two of them were so caught up in each other that they didn't even notice Scott, Kira, and Isaac returning to the crime scene area just as the police were cleaning everything up.

"Scott," Agent McCall said, patting his son's shoulder, "I'm headed home. I trust you have your own way of getting there."

"Yeah," Scott said, "I left my bike nearby."

"Alright, I'll see you at home," his father responded, peeking over at his daughter in the arms of the Stilinski boy. He lowered his tone to talk to Scott again, "Make sure you sister gets home… safely."

Scott looked confused and turned over his shoulder to see Arielle and Stiles simply standing in front of each other with their eyes closed. He nodded to his dad.

Moments later, Stiles kissed Arielle's head and they broke out of their trance with each other. Scott told them it was a good idea to head back home, but Arielle insisted that Stiles be the one to take him home. Not even a protective older brother could ignore the light in her eyes when she looked at Stiles like that. Scott agreed to take Kira home his motorcycle, since her getting home by herself was probably not a good idea right now.

Stiles and Arielle sat in the jeep, driving down the road, not saying a single word. They were just holding each others hands tightly in between the two seats, rubbing each their thumbs against each other's skin, listening to the radio play a slow and sweet song. When the jeep pulled up in front of the house, Stiles stopped the car and let the radio play. He looked over to his side and saw Arielle staring at him with a small grin on her face.

"What?" he asked.

Arielle shook her head, still grinning. "I need to do better at appreciating what's right in front of me… I've been pretty bad at that recently."

"Hey, we had one fight," he said, "Out of the last 11 months that we've known each other and the 10 of those months we've been dating, we've only fought once… I'd say we're doing alright."

"Yeah…" Arielle sighed, then chuckled, "It's funny… I don't even remember why we started fighting in the first place."

"That's probably because it was something stupid we were both worked up about," Stiles suggested, "but that doesn't matter anymore…"

"No…" Arielle shook her head, "Not one bit."

He looked at her for a second, seeing her calm and peaceful with the moonlight hitting her face just right. She was going to be the death of him, for sure. There was something in his pocket that was there before any of this started and he was pretty sure it was still there, so he reached into the deep pocket and pulled out the little heart locket with the sea glass inside it. Arielle's eyes were immediately drawn to it.

"What's that…?" she asked.

"I was gonna give it to you on the first day of summer," he said quietly, looking down at the little heart shape in his palm, "I found this really pretty sea glass on the beach the other day and… it reminded me of you, so I found this little locket to go with it."

"It's beautiful… I love it."

She turned her back to him and pushed her hair out of the way as he placed the necklace around her neck, snapping the clasp into place on the chain. Arielle let her hair down and she touched the silver heart once, feeling the butterflies return to her stomach. The only thing she wanted to do was lean in and kiss him, so she did. The moment would have been hotter if there wasn't dying sewage on her arms and legs. She broke the kiss with their foreheads pressed together, both of them breathing heavily.

"If I weren't covered in sewage shit," she whispered, "I'd throw you in the back seat and have my way with you."

Stiles laughed a little bit, "Maybe I should buy you stuff more often…"

"Next time you screw up, I want a keychain with our names on it," she joked, causing him to laugh and fall back into his seat. She still leaned over to him, resting her head on his shoulder, "I love you…"

"I love you more," he said back with a grin.

Arielle looked up at him and stared for a moment before she maneuvered herself from the passenger seat to straddling his lap on the drivers side, taking his face in her hands and kissing him passionately. His hands started to wander from her waist, down to her hips, then to her ass as she began to rock her hips. She leaned back ever so slightly when the sound of the jeep's horn startled both of them.

"Goddamit," Arielle laughed, "Now they know we're here."

He sank his head down and touched her arm, really feeling the dusty and icky texture of the sewage.

"You know what? Maybe it's best we postpone this for another time."

"Good idea," Arielle nodded, opening the driver's door and getting out of the car first, "Walk me to the door?"

"Of course, my lady," he answered, getting out of the car and closing the door behind him, "I am nothing if not a gentleman."

He faced the house and held his arm out for her, which made her giggle before curtseying a little bit and taking his arm. They strolled up the walkway until they reached the porch just in front of the vestibule. Then he turned to face her and placed his hands on her waist.

"Let this be my promise to you," he said, tapping the necklace on her chest, "I'm gonna be a way better boyfriend this summer than I have been for the last couple weeks. Think about it, senior year starts in three months, which means everything's gonna change… I don't wanna look back on this summer and think, 'man, I was an idiot and ignored my girlfriend'. I'm gonna be the best for you and you're gonna hold me to this promise. Alright?"

"For the first time, that actually sounded like a cheesy Rom Com love declaration," Arielle giggled.

He smiled and kissed her forehead, then kissed her nose, and finally her lips. They had been kissing for a little bit before there was the sound of someone clearing their throat. Stiles and Arielle both awkwardly turned their heads to see Scott, standing behind the glass door of the vestibule with his arms crossed.

"Dad said to make sure you made it home… safe," Scott said.

Arielle made an angry face at Scott, then smiled at Stiles. "Typical…"

"He's probably just jealous because you're the one kissing me under the moonlight instead of him," Stiles laughed and kissed her cheek, "I'll call you tomorrow." He waved to Scott, who still had the protective brother face on. "Do you want me to call you too?"

"Goodbye Stiles!" Scott shouted.

Stiles winked and gave Scott a thumbs up before leaving, causing Arielle to giggle as she watched him get into the jeep and drive away. When Arielle turned around, she saw Scott opening the door and stepping aside, still giving her the judgmental brother look.

"You're just mad because he thinks I'm a better kisser," Arielle joked, immediately opening the next door and running up the stairs, "Love you!"

"Yeah, whatever," Scott said, trying very hard not to laugh.

There were always these moments after a supernatural threat has been taken down. Usually there's a sense of relief and now things can return back to normal, at least for a little while, until the next threat comes to town and pushes Scott and his friends to new limits they didn't even know they had. He had to admit he was dreading the next threat already, but for now, he would just have to turn off the lights and put this threat to bed. So Scott turned off all the lights on the first floor and slowly climbed up the stairs to go to sleep.

I hope you guys enjoyed it! Just like in the first book, your reviews are a BIG help. Hearing back from you guys motivates me to write more and update faster, so the more you review, the quicker the chapters go up.