CHAPTER THREE
Luminosity
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The thing I hated most about being a freshman, was that we weren't eligible to drive.

Kira agreed to pick Liam and I up, which was pretty embarrassing if you do ask me.
She pulled up to the driveway of the address Liam had given me after school. Liam was already waiting outside, his leg twitching uncontrollably and his eyes squinting to see us through the dark.

He sat in the back seat with me, and I caught a glance of Kira smiling through the rear view mirror. Embarrassing.

The drive was silent for the next ten minutes that had followed. Liam and I exchanged a few awkward glances and smiles, making me feel tingles each time.

We were only five minutes away from Lydia's, when a curious yet twitching Liam spoke. "Where's the party?"

Kira cleared her throat, tapping her finger against the steering wheel to the beat of the music. "It's Lydia Martin's lake house. Actually, it's her grandmother's lake house. But she's dead, so it's okay. I mean, it's not okay that she's dead. Unless she was in pain." She spoke fast, causing me to become confused.

Liam nodded his head, staring out the window. His body tensed up, his leg still twitching and his forehead covered in sweat.

"Liam? Are you okay?" I asked, sitting up straighter.

His head turned to face me, nodding his head quickly as his eyes met mine. "Yeah. Yeah, yeah I'm okay." He stuttered.

'That's a lie.' I said in my mind, thinking about the full moon tonight. It was certainly getting to his head. The nonstop shaking, the sweat and his nervousness. If only he knew what was really happening.

"Can you turn the music down?" Liam asked with an agitated tone, his hands reaching up to his ears to cover them.

Bewilderment struck me, as I wondered what he was talking about. The music was down to the lowest volume, and even with my new super hearing abilities, it wasn't that loud at all.

"You want me to turn the music up?" Kira asked, her hand on the knob as she twisted it so that the music was only a few levels louder than before.

Grabbing Liam's hand with mine, I watched as he seemed to calm down. He pulled out his phone, and tapped away on it while I exchanged a look with Kira again, her head nodding as we pulled up the long driveway where the supposed 'party' was going to be held.

The three of us exited the car, the light of the full moon covered by clouds making the pathway to the house more difficult to see.

"Where is everyone?" Liam wondered, probably noticing that the whole place was completely empty from cars and teenagers.

"They're here. It's a small party." Kira hopped her way over to the door as quick as he could.

"You said everyone was coming." Liam looked at me, confused.

"They are." Kira and I chanted, exchanging looks at each other at how suspicious we sounded.

A small laugh escaped from Kira, as she grabbed Liam's hand and began pacing quickly to the door. "They're late. And we're early. So we better hurry. Yay! Party."

Running up in front of them, I opened the door before they got the chance, and rushed in. Scott, Stiles, Malia and Lydia were already waiting for us. They surrounded a coffee table that was piled high with the chains and shackles Malia used every full moon.

"Sorry." Kira muttered, the door slamming from behind me.

Turning to see Liam, I saw his face light up with a scowl as he looked around the room at the familiar people he didn't trust.

"What the hell is this?" He asked, giving me a look of disgust. "Jess?"

"I'm doing it for you." I mumbled, looking away from him to stare at the ground.

"Think of it like an intervention. You have a problem, Liam." Stiles said, sounding very formal.

Taking my attention off of the floor, I gazed up to meet the eyes of Scott, who looked ready to speak. "And we're the only ones that can help."

"Help me from what?"

"Liam, you and Jess were both bitten. The bite will change you." Scott answered, his expression calm.

"You people need to stop saying that! Just tell me how." Liam stepped closer to me, making my arm feel weak at his touch.
Everyone remained quiet. I guess none of them knew how to say it, so I decided to step up for once and talk.

"I saw what it did to Scott when he was first bitten. It scared the hell out of me, but you're going to be okay. You'll be okay because all of us are going to make sure of that." I said, pointing at everyone around the room, as they stared back at me. "You and I, we're going to be different from now on. We're going to become something. It will be hard and you'll think it's insane, but if you can trust me, than you'll listen to what they have to say."

The light of the full moon shone through the window, and I could feel my body heat up and shiver, but I tried my hardest to ignore it.

Keeping my eyes on Liam's, I noticed how unsure he looked as his eyes tried to search mine for any sign of doubt.

"Okay." He said, looking away from me with his lips in a thin line. "Tell me what I'll become."

Nodding my head at Scott, he seemed to be thinking things over in his head.

"A werewolf."

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"So you are... a werewolf" Liam stated, pointing his finger at Scott who only nodded in response. "Werecoyote... Banshee..." He continued to point at Malia and Lydia, their responses similar to Scott's. "Fox?" Liam's eyes fell upon Kira.

"Kitsune. But fox works." She smiled uncertainly.

"What are you?" Liam turned around again, facing Stiles with another scowl.

"Uh, for a little while, I was possessed by an evil spirit. It was very evil."

"What are you now?"

"Better. Um..." Stiles flopped his hands around, doing his usual thing when he explains.

Liam turned to me now, still looking as confused as ever, "And... you and I are both going to be-"

"Werewolves? Maybe." I interrupted, knowing that the 'maybe' was because he may not be a werewolf at all.
Hell would break loose if he ended up being another kanima.

Liam then pointed to the chains that lay on h table, and it seemed as though he was raging with questions, "Are those for me?"

"No, they're for me." Malia answered with a sly smile. Her eyes flicked to a dark blue, the same as Derek's had once been.

"How did you do that?" Liam asked, taken aback.

"You'll learn. But first, you need to get through the full moon. Both of you do." Scott said, his voice rising when he looked at me. If only I could tell how he was feeling. If only he'd know that he did the right thing for me, at least I think it's the right thing.

Cutting me from my thoughts, Liam's arm swooped out in front of me, his arm pointing towards the window. "The moon's already out."

Only taking one glare outside of the window, I could see the full moon looming in the sky. The light shone through onto my face, causing my vision to become blurry as another headache erupted in my head.
Both Liam and I, began to breath heavily. I could hear my heartbeat pick up at a rapid pace, but it was nothing compared to how loud Liam's was. I began to stumble around, almost tripping over until Kira grabbed my arm to help me balance myself.

"And you're starting to feel something, aren't you?" Scott's voice echoed through the rushing of heartbeats. Everyone's heartbeat. I could hear them all.

"I feel like I'm surrounded by a bunch of psychotic nutjobs. You guys are out of your freaking minds. I don't know how you did that eye thing and I don't care. I'm walking out the door right now!" Liam shouted, his eyes darting around the room. "If any of you try to stop me, I swear to God, I'm gonna..."

Darkness.

Falling to the ground, I felt as though I had passed out. Except, I knew I hadn't. I could hear Liam screaming in pain, as well as Kira calling my name. My eyes were open, but I couldn't see. The cold floor began to sting my skin, and my whole body burned at the slightest touch of it.

What was happening to me?

"Jess? Hey, hey look at me." I could hear Kira say, as though she was only inches away from me.

"No, no don't touch me!" I yelled, trying to shuffle away from her. My body ached as I fluttered my eyes at least a dozen times, before I could only see silhouettes of people.

"What's wrong? Liam?" Someone asked, who I could only assume was Scott.

Liam panted, out of breath. "You don't hear that?"

"Did you tell someone about this?" Lydia called.

The sound of footsteps pierced my ears. What the hell was going on?

"My friend Mason." Liam said, just as my vision started to come back. "You said it was a party.

"Who did Mason invite?" Stiles voiced over.

"Everyone." Said Kira.

Suddenly, I felt a ripping of a knife cut through me. Liam dropped to the ground beside me, as both of us groaned. Looking down at the source of pain, I noticed it wasn't a knife that had cut through me. Instead it was my own hands digging through my stomach, each nail having turned into claws.

"The floors! Get him off the floors!" Lydia shouted, as I heard Liam's hands drag across the ground.

"What is he?" I muttered, wondering if anyone could hear me over my muffled screaming.

"He's a-"

Stiles was cut off by a load roar, that came from Liam. Tilting my head towards him, I saw canines stick from his teeth and golden eyes that had replaced his greenish blue ones. One thing I wished had never happened.
A roar of my own ripped through his, my body still burning and my head exploding.

"We need to get them to the boathouse. Now!" Scott yelled before Kira and him grabbed Liam and I, two newly bitten werewolves.

Balling my hands into fists, I tried my best at keeping calm. The full moon was definitely working. I could feel canines of my own digging into the sides of my cheeks as I did my best at keeping in the screams I so desperately wanted to let loose.

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I awoke abruptly, taking in a deep breath. The last thing I remember, was being knocked down to the ground by Scott after I had tried attacking Kira. Thinking about it, almost made me cry. I could've killed her.
The smell of fresh water and rotting wood had alarmed me that I was in the boathouse, which seemed empty.

"Scott?" I whispered, looking around the room through the darkness to try and make out any figures.

My eyes fell upon someone who was shackled to a beam; Liam.

"Liam!" I whisper shouted, leaning forward to get to him until I could feel something tugging at my wrists, pulling me back. I looked down at them to see two bands of iron wrapping around my wrists, chains connecting them to a beam behind me.

"Jess?" My brother called for me, as he and Kira appeared from behind a few boxes.
A sigh of relief escaped me as they both began unlocking the chains from my wrists.
I stood up strongly, expecting myself to fall over.

"You're okay." Scott said as he grabbed me in his arms. "And so is Liam."

Liam.

"What's wrong with him? Did you hurt him? Is the full moon over?" I spilled out multiple questions as I stepped around the room trying to focus my attention on Scott and Liam at the same time.

"Nothing's wrong with him. I just had to... knock him out." Kira said, as she pointed to a wooden paddle that lay on the ground beside Liam.

The three of us sat in front of him, as we all sorted through our thoughts.
"So he's a werewolf." I stated, sitting as close as I could without waking him.

"Just like you." Scott replied, tapping his hand against the cold ground.

"He looks so young." Said Kira as she leaned in closer like I had.

"He is. He's only fifteen."

Silence filled the room, until Kira sighed.
"Scott, Jess." She muttered, causing me and my brother to look at her.

"Yeah?" The two of us answered, giving her a look of wonder.

"What are we going to do with him." Kira's voice turned fragile, her gaze falling onto the floor as she pointed at me. "And you. You don't need any of this."

"We're going to help them." Scott replied, shooting me a smile which I couldn't help but return.

"What if Liam doesn't want our help?"

"He will." I answered before Scott could. "And if he doesn't than i'll show him why he can."

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"Cute." I whispered to no one as Scott and Kira disappeared onto the deck.
Still sitting in front of Liam, I took the chance to sort through any thoughts or feelings I have.

The first, would be my thoughts.
So, basically tonight I've learnt several things. One, being that Liam is a werewolf. Good. Well I mean not good that he is one, it's just good that we know he won't turn into some snake like serpent. I am not going through that again.

Two, is that I now know when I could possibly change, because of the irritating headache I get right before.

Three, would be that I know Scott and the others are willing to help Liam. Hell, if they didn't i'd help him myself. I'd risk getting Peter to teach him if I had to. I mean, I don't exactly possess the best knowledge on werewolves. I spent so long watching Scott go through this, but I never really knew how excruciating it would be until it actually happened. I'll have to remember to praise him for what he's done.

Hearing a slight mutter from Liam, I focused on him only to be disappointed. I wish he was awake so he and I could just talk the way we had in the hospital. Both of us were so innocent back then, which is strange to think since we had been bit the exact same day we met.

Liam's mousey brown hair stuck up in all directions. His eyelashes were long, and they'd probably look better if his eyes were open. The red on his face was probably caused by the heat, but it was almost as though he was blushing. His lips were pink and they twitched every so often when he breathed. The more I stared, the louder a song played. The song was soft, and sounded like the kind you'd dance to at a prom. I can't wait for prom. Maybe I could ask Liam?
The music became obnoxiously loud, and I realised that Scott and Kira were probably the ones listening to it.

I continued to stare at Liam, taking in his scent that surprisingly didn't smell since he had been sweating so bad. Instead, he smelt like well... what I can only describe as boy. But to a girl, it can sometimes be the best.
I suddenly felt the urge to hold his hand, so that's exactly what I did.

I shifted closer to him, pulling his hand onto my lap where I held it in mine. His skin was cold, so I began rubbing small circles on it with my fingers. A light groan came from Liam, and his whole body seemed to relax.
I smiled, my heartbeat becoming rapid.

Having gotten my thoughts out of the way, I decided to pay attention to my feelings for once. Most of the time I ignored them, knowing that it would always come back to Allison or Aiden. I distanced myself from people my age for that reason. I was so use to being around Scott's friends, that they became my own. After all the things we've been through, I felt like I could only trust them. I didn't want to let anyone else into my life, because I was so afraid that they'd disappear just like Allison. It wasn't fair that she had been taken away, but I know she did it for a reason. So that's what I tell myself. I hope that some day, I could be as brave as her, as strong as Scott, and as smart as Stiles. I want to be kind like Kira, curious like Lydia and brave like Derek.

And for some reason, I feel like I can be all of that when I'm with Liam.

Feeling tears falling from my eyes, I wanted to slap myself for thinking about how I felt. Except, I didn't mind it. I knew that I was going to have to admit them one day.

Not bothering to stop crying, I let the tears come and held onto Liam's hand tighter, hoping that he'd just wake up.

If it wasn't for the sounds of growling, I wouldn't have known Liam was already awake. Not only awake, but very much, changed.

Snapping my hand away from his as fast as I could, I shuffled away from him, rubbing the tears from my eyes before Kira and Scott came rushing inside.

"Are those chains going to hold him?" Kira asked as Liam began trying to escape the shackles that held him back. His face had changed from human, to disfigured. I would have found it terrifying, if I wasn't so use to Scott looking like this.

"Uh. Yeah. I think. Definitely." Scott answered, noticing me wipe away tears that just never stopped coming. "He can't be that strong..."

Cling!

Scott's prediction was false. Liam had broken free, the chains falling to the ground.
Before I could react, I dropped to the ground just as the chains had. My head spun, and my body tensed as I felt the uncontrollable headache coming.

"Jess?" Scott called, reaching down to me as I heard the loud bang of glass smashing.
Shooting my head up, I saw the glass falling in slow motion. My eyes zoomed in on one of the larger pieces. A reflection of me and golden eyes was the only thing I saw, before the world turned to normal, the glass falling on the ground at the normal speed it always should.

Letting out another roar, I jumped out the window, unable to stop myself. Instinct told me it was the right thing to do, and I couldn't help but follow it.

I ran and ran, never loosing stamina or balance. I felt like I was chasing something, but I didn't know what until I saw the silhouette of someone running past trees identical to the ones I've been passing.

I darted towards them, not thinking about why, or who it was. I could hear more footsteps behind me, but ignored it as I pounced onto the one I had chased.
Pinning the person down on a bed of dead leaves, I took a look at them.

Liam stared back at me, his eyes an identical yellow to mine. My hands wrapped around his wrists as he began snapping his head up at me, trying to find a place to sink his teeth into. However, I didn't let him. Instead I let the anger flow out of me, and grabbed him tightly around the neck, hugging as hard as I could. He continued to groan, but I held on tighter, hoping that he would calm down.
His whole body stopped flailing around, and his shoulders became relaxed once more.
Lifting my head up from his chest to look at him, I saw him staring back at me, both of us still in werewolf form. Unexpectedly, he too wrapped his arms around me and held on.

I had no idea why I followed him, but I was sure glad I did. He could've hurt someone.

Or killed them.

Suddenly, two strong hands pulled me away from him, my heart feeling like it had jumped off of a tower.

I roared in growled, as I saw Scott picking Liam up from the ground. He held him against the tree, Liam trying to break away from him.

I couldn't do anything. I wanted to help Liam, but I knew that Scott was only trying to help. So I stood there, watching as Liam kicked and yelled.

"Calm down!" My werewolf brother yelled as he threw Liam onto the ground beside me.
I was about to tend to his needs, until he picked himself up with ease and ran straight for Scott head on. It reminded me of lacrosse, and I just hoped it wouldn't be a repeat of Liam breaking his leg.

His shoulder connected with Scott's stomach, but Scott easily picked him up and threw him back down beside me.

Liam was about to stand up for another round, until Scott walked up to him and pushed him onto the ground.

"Liam... Liam, wait. Stop!"

Of course, Liam refused to listen. He punched Scott straight in the face, but Scott was quick to react. He grabbed Liam by the neck once more and smacked him against a tree again, holding him there.

"What did you do to me?" Liam asked between breaths.

"Liam..."

"Agh!" I screamed, slamming my fist into the closest tree. My eyes started to tear up, and my neck began to burn. Breathless, I dug my claws into the tree, trying to get an ounce of air in me.

What the hell is happening?

"This is your fault. It's all your fault! This is all your fault!" Liam snapped.

"Scott let go of him!" I screamed, feeling my neck tighten.

Seconds after, Scott dropped Liam on the ground. Both of us taking in the largest amount of oxygen possible.

Before I knew it, Liam was trying to attack Scott again, and I couldn't let that happen.
Grabbing Liam's arm before he reached Scott, I slammed us both into a tree.

Woosh!

Something whizzed past us both, hitting the tree behind us. A bright flash followed it, blinding me as Liam and I both growled.
A hand grabbed mine, and before I knew it, the two of us were running off.

My vision was filled with white, and my sense of smell was blocked by the horrible smell of dead leaves. I was totally blind, with only the person as my guide. I assumed it was Liam, by the rate of his heartbeat being identical to mine.

We ran for what seemed like a good five minutes, and that's when my vision became as good as clear can get. I could spot a clearing from behind a row of trees, and Liam ran straight for it before I had any time to disagree.

The whole area seemed... suspicious.
And I was right.

Out of no where, three balls of light began to shriek. Liam's hand pulled away from mine as we both covered our ears. The sound was unexplainable. The intensity of it, made my blood boil. I wanted to run, but I couldn't move. The only thing I could do, was close my eyes and cover my ears from the loud shrieking. Another whooshing sound could be heard, and I opened my eyes to see another ball of light trapping Liam and I in a square, the sound growing louder with the total of four electric devices.

Beside me, Liam screamed as I stayed quiet, deciding what to do. I couldn't do anything though, I knew it and I was afraid. I had no idea what was going on, and that made me mad. Mad enough to break down. Mad enough to break my own hand.

So I tried. Taking both of my hands away from my head, I stood up, doing my best to ignore the noise. I slammed my fist down onto the ground, only making my hand bleed from my knuckles. I tried again, this time groaning at the pain of a few fingers breaking. It wasn't satisfying enough though.
Standing up straight again, I looked at Liam who was still fighting against the noise. Anger flooded through me once more, so taking one last glance at him, I tightened my fist once more, and threw it down onto the ground.

Beneath me, it was as if the ground had exploded. The earth began moving as I felt it crack and shift. Then; silence.

The irritating noise from the electric lights had stopped, and instead made a little buzzing sound. I believed it was over, what ever just happened was over.

Until...

Whoosh!

Several waves of air shot off of me in a circle. I watched as they slammed into Liam, sending him flying a few feet away. I could see Scott watching on beside a tree, but he too got blown away by the ring of winds. The sound was loud, as it ripped through the trees.

The waves continued to erupt from the centre of where I was kneeling. It was impossible to know what it was, but somehow I knew how to stop it.

With my hand now broken as it rested on the ground still in a fist, I flattened my palm out, causing the wind to stop all at once.

"Jess!" A distant voice called. "Jess!"

"Jess!" Scott shook me out of my trance, looking distraught.
"Are you okay?"

I shook my head, my eyes fixed on his as he picked me up slowly. My body was limp, and my hand was numb, but I still grabbed into his shirt for support.

"What the hell was that?" Liam shouted, coming up beside Scott and I. Liam's werewolf features had disappeared. Instead, he wore the expression of fear.

"Jess." Scott coaxed, letting go of my waist so he could hold onto my arms. "What did you just do?"

"I-I don't..." I looked at him and Liam, both of them looked dazed and confused. "...I don't know."

I pulled away from him softly. I needed time alone. But not before I do what I need to.
Stepping closer to Liam, I opened my arms out, as he did so too, and we both embraced each other. His arms wrapped around my waist as mine went around his neck. Holding him tightly, I felt like crying. I wanted to cry but no matter how hard I tired, I just couldn't. I don't know if it has to do with my tear ducts, but I'd like to think that it's because I'm with Liam; in his arms.
I reluctantly pulled away from him, knowing that I'd have to face Scott sooner or later. Turning to face my brother, I grabbed Liam's hand and leaned against him as he squeezed my hand tighter.

Scott shook his head, squinting his eyes as he bent down to touch the dirt that I had hit my fist onto. Blood was smeared across the grass, but cracks were also seen along it.
"It... it was like an earthquake. But the wind thing, it was different. It was like... like..."

"Like a shockwave." I finished, nodding my head at Scott.

Oddly enough, the word seemed to fit the situation. What had happened was a mystery. But why it happened, is something I want to figure out.

But for now, I'm just glad that Liam and I, are both safe.

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— Published: August 3rd, 2014
— Status: Unedited

A/N (edited May 5th, 2016)
I gave Jess the abilities of an Earthbender from the freaking Avatar, apparently. I honestly don't remember — during any point in the story — explaining why she can do that, so I'll have to make sure to put an in detail run of it once I edit Instinct properly. Basically, the idea is that she is both werewolf and druid, so the whole 'drop it like an earthquake' vibe was inspired by Jennifer Blake!