Chapter 1

Kara Grayson believed that there were four main events in her whirlwind of a life that had thrown her into the current situation. She came to this conclusion as she drove along the highway, furiously wiping tears from her cheeks and wondering how on Earth this had all started with a book.

Ella Grayson had seen the book standing proudly in the window of a bookstore and immediately pictured Kara, curled up in a chair at home, silently mouthing the words to her favourite picture book. Her eight-year-old daughter was always engrossed in reading, so who was she to deny her another chance to dig deeper into the world of words? So Ella bought it, carrying both the book and a smile on her face all the way home.

This was the start of four terrible events.

Every Sunday afternoon the Grayson's (consisting of Kara, Ella and Asher Grayson, Kara's brother) would do something together as a family. Typically it would be a picnic, but the location changed frequently. On one particular Sunday, Ella packed a picnic basket full of food for them to take on their picnic in the park. Kara took her new book along and read while her brother walked further into the woods, predictably looking for a suitable tree to climb.

"Kara! Come and see what I found!" Asher had yelled, coaxing Kara from the clearing where their picnic rug was set up. He pulled his sister along, the book still held by her small hands. Ella watched her children laugh and play with a content smile. Asher showed his sister the tree he had found, perfect for climbing. Kara dropped her book and scampered up the tree, soon followed by her brother. They invented games and climbed trees for hours before Ella decided to call it a day. With happy smiles on their faces, they packed up the picnic and left the woods, Kara's book long forgotten.

Kara gripped her steering wheel a little tighter and gritted her teeth, knowing what came next. She hated that the memory of this beautiful day was tainted with disaster. Hated that of every memory that she lost due to growing older, this was the one that stuck with her and replayed in her mind at night when she couldn't sleep. Hated that what came next was all her fault.

The goddamn book had been lying on the leaf covered ground, forgotten, for at least an hour before Kara realised what she was missing. She instantly began to cry, convinced that it was lost forever. Once she had calmed down enough to speak, she told Ella of her missing book. Ella glanced up at the sky, worriedly watching it slowly get darker. She didn't really want to go back and search for the book in the fading light, but her daughter was so distraught that she couldn't bear to say no. Ella smiled kindly to her daughter, completely unaware that it would be the last time she smiled. At least for a while.

So they set off to search for Kara's beloved book, oblivious to the vicious creature that lurked in the trees.

"I-I think I found it!" Asher called out to his mother, waving the book around in triumph. Thank god, Ella thought, glancing up at the close-to-pitch-black sky. They had been searching for at least an hour and in that time the temperature had dropped dramatically. Ella shivered and pulled her cardigan tighter around her body.

"Kara, honey, Asher found your book," she informed her daughter. Kara didn't walk over to her mother and grab her hand like she wanted to, but instead became preoccupied with staring at something prowling behind the trees just in front of her. Something that stared back.

The something that hid behind the trees suddenly stepped forward, into Kara's line of sight. In the dark, she could only see the silhouette of the beast that advanced towards her and she was almost glad it was too dark to see properly. Kara stared up at the monster with red eyes and her mouth opened in a silent scream, eyes wide with terror.

"Mum!" Asher shouted, looking frantically at his sister. Although Asher had shouted, Ella had heard it as a whisper, a distant echo of the panic that flowed through her now. All she could hear as she watched the dark, hulking figure tower over her daughter was the blood rushing in her ears and her heart pounding against her rib cage. A growl emanated from the beast and Kara's scream was all it took to snap Ella out of her fear-induced trance. She ran towards Kara, pushing her behind her outstretched arms. The beast raised a clawed hand and Kara peaked out from behind her mother's body, gripping tightly onto Ella's waist, as if that could save her from the beast's claws.

The beast struck them both down with a powerful blow and Kara cried out as she fell with her mother, landing hard on the ground. Pain erupted in her skull and she weakly lifted her head to see her mother get up. She distantly registered a piercing pain somewhere on her lower torso and moaned in pain.

"Mummy," Kara mumbled before her head became too heavy to hold up, so she let it drop back down to the ground again. She watched her mother through half-lidded eyes, frowning in her semi-conscious state as Ella thrust out her hands in front of her and sent the beast flying with a supernatural force.

Kara ran a hand through her hair, lazily flipping it over to one side. She kept her eyes focused on the road and felt them droop ever so slightly. They were becoming heavy with sleep and Kara knew that meant she had to take a break from driving soon.

That was one of the few parts of that the night that Kara still didn't get. Almost everything else that happened that night had eventually been explained to her, but this went over her head. How had her mother done that? How had Ella fought back with so much force against this vicious beast? Kara had to keep reminding herself of what the monster actually was, of what her mother said it was. Because if she didn't keep telling herself that werewolves are real, she wouldn't survive a day in this new world she had been introduced to.

The world of the supernatural.

Kara slowly blinked her eyes open, disorientated for a minute. Pain on the side of her stomach drew her attention to three bleeding claw marks just above her hip bone. She looked to her right with wide eyes and saw her mother slumped against the side of the car, groaning and holding her left arm gingerly. Asher was driving the car and kept throwing glances behind him, as if he were scared Kara and Ella would suddenly disappear. It didn't seem so impossible now after what they'd just witnessed.

Asher wasn't technically allowed to be driving yet, so his lack of experience and nerves were making the drive home less than pleasant. Every time he swerved Ella and Kara were jostled into either side of the car. It didn't take long to get home and in that time Kara's eyes never left her mother. They still didn't, even as Asher helped Ella hobble through the doorway and into the kitchen. Kara trudged after them, holding her side and sniffling. Her head throbbed with a powerful headache and her tears only made it worse.

She followed the sounds of her mother's groans into the kitchen and gasped at the sight of a large bite mark on her arm. Blood was oozing steadily from the wound and Asher was frantically searching through the kitchen cupboards for bandages.

"Kara, go get some toilet paper. Quick!" He ordered her. Kara obeyed, hurriedly grabbing toilet paper from the bathroom and returning to the kitchen. Asher grabbed it from her and pressed it to Ella's wound. He wadded up some toilet paper into a ball and placed it against the claw marks on Kara's stomach. Blood seeped steadily through the paper.

"We need to go to the hospital or-or something. We need to get you help," Asher begged for Ella to comply with his request. But she only shook her head and replaced his hand on the toilet paper with her own.

"That's not a good idea," she mumbled.

Kara spotted the Welcome to Beacon Hills sign and sighed with relief. She would stop and get some rest soon, and close her heavy eyes…

Asher found a roll of white dressing and began wrapping it around Ella's bicep, then replaced the toilet paper on Kara's torso with the dressing. Ella winced every so often, then caught her daughter staring with tear filled eyes.

"You should go to bed honey," Ella said softly, after the dressing was securely taped to Kara's wound. "Asher will come and tuck you in soon,"

Nodding mutely, Kara walked up the stairs to her room and crawled into her bed. She ignored her pyjamas that sat draped over the desk chair and grabbed her teddy, holding him tightly against her. Asher came into her room after he helped Ella get into her own bed, eyelids weighed down with images of things sixteen-year-olds shouldn't have to see, let alone eight-year-olds.

They were just kids, after all.

Asher's heart gave a painful lurch at the sight of Kara curled up on her bed with tears in her eyes.

"Hey," he said, crouching down so that he was at eye level with her.

"Is mum going to be okay?"

Asher hesitated.

"Mum is going to be just fine, kid,"

There was silence for a bit, then Kara looked up at her brother through her lashes.

"Am I gonna be okay?"

Tears filled Kara's eyes then, as if she were eight and sitting in the kitchen watching Asher wrap a bandage around her mum's wound. She inhaled a shaky breath and blinked back tears. God, she was crying already. It hadn't even been a week since she'd left her town and she missed it already. How was she supposed to last the rest of her life without it?

The truth was, there was no home left for her. It was probably a pile of ashes by now. The thought made tears spill over her eyes and run down her cheeks. A choked sob escaped her, followed by another one, and another. By now she was sobbing freely, tears clouding her vision, which was why she nearly missed seeing the deer that seemingly came out of nowhere. Kara swerved to avoid hitting the animal and in turn panicked, hitting the brakes. Hard.

Her body lurched forward with incredible force and her head slammed into her steering wheel. Gasping, her body flattened back against the seat. Kara's head exploded with pain and she whimpered, delicately reaching up to touch the sore spot on her head. Her finger came away red with blood, making Kara's eyes widen and her vision spin with dizziness.

She peered outside with her untrustworthy eyesight and opened her door. Stumbling out of the car, Kara could see what looked to be a police station on the other side of the road. Finally, a bit of luck.

Just need to find him, Kara thought. Need to…need to find…

She ambled across the road, tripping occasionally, and came to a stop outside of the police station. Things were getting much harder see now—fuzzier, more…disorientating. Kara found the door handle and clumsily fell through the door, head pounding. She gritted her teeth and found her way over to the receptionist, who was staring at her in shock.

"Miss? Are you ok?"

"I have to find…need to find…." Kara started, before she collapsed on the cold floor. She began shivering like her life depended on it and the receptionist rushed to help her. With every last ounce of strength she had Kara gripped the lady's wrist, forcing out the words before the black spots appearing in front of her eyes overtook her vision.

"I need to find Derek Hale."