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The bell chimed in as I oh-so-excitedly pushed open the door.
I strolled into the store with Tara reluctantly trailing behind me, her eyes boring into the variety of catalogs in the psychology section.
I reluctantly started heading towards the reception, which was conveniently placed at the farthest corner of the store, when I noticed a face that made me roll my eyes internally.
"Jacob?" I called his name with just the right amount of fake enthusiasm, and he finally took his face out of the 'I'm an Idiot Sandwich' cookbook by Gordon Ramsay he was reading.
"Stiley!" He squealed, hopping over the desk with a grin like he just won the lottery. With his arms wide open, he reached out for a hug.
Jacob Black was a friend from middle school. He dropped out of high school to manage his father's ranch. He belonged to a Native American tribe called the Quileutes, who are quite legendary around Beacon Hill as the county's first settlers.
"Good to see you too." I managed to mutter as he practically smothered me in a bear hug, leaving me gasping for air.
"Wow, it feels like it's been forever since I saw you." He said, pulling back.
"Exactly two months, which is like an eternity, you know." I deadpanned. "I didn't know you were back from Mexico."
"Yeah, I just hit home last night." He sighed dramatically, slumping his shoulders to really drive home the point of his fatigue and joylessness.
"Could have given me a call, J. You totally missed Lydia's party." I said with an air of mock disappointment.
"Lydia's party?" He scoffed, raising his brows so high they almost disappeared into his hairline. "I can't believe you even went there after what she did."
I sighed again, shaking my head. Can't blame him; everybody in my contacts knew about my embarrassing crush on Lydia, and everybody in this town knew about her rejection.
"Remarkable doubt, the same one I had, but I never understood his obsession with her in the first place." Tara chimed in beside me, holding a book in her hand.
"Good to see you too, Tara." Jacob nodded, clearly oblivious to her sarcasm.
Tara, being true to her character, didn't bother replying, too engrossed in her book.
"Anyway, what are you here for?" Jacob asked.
"Ah…" I mumbled reaching for my phone as I forgot the name, I flipped the phone up and scrolled through the gallery and finally found the screenshot of the book. "Monstrorum liber."
"The book of monsters?" Tara translated, her brows twisting in confusion as she glanced up from her page.
"Yeah." I nodded awkwardly. "You know latin?"
"Yes." She nodded without briefing any further. Great policy, say something ominous and leave it at that, absolutely not making me curious as to why she even learnt it.
"Why are you searching for that?" Jacob asked like he was taken aback by my choice as he moved towards the fantasy section.
"Research purposes." I plainly stated.
Jacob narrowed his eyes, finding my reason for the book a bit too vague, but I didn't bother to elaborate. Finally, he sighed and handed me a hardcover book from the shelf.
"Ok." I said, giving it a quick glance before reaching for my wallet. "How much?"
"Nah, I got you, bro." Jacob shook his head, sporting a smile as he walked back to the counter.
"Are you sure?" I raised an eyebrow skeptically.
"Yep." He replied, squinting his eyes playfully. "But are you alright?"
"Yeah, why?"
"You... You just smell weird." He remarked.
"Do I?" I sniffed at my collar, realizing I smelled perfectly fine, like a field of bloomed lavender on a good day. "Tara, do I smell bad?"
Tara placed her book back on the shelf and walked over, pulling my jacket closer to her and sniffing my chest. Jacob rolled his eyes awkwardly at Tara's peculiar behavior, but it didn't faze me. I was used to her eccentricities.
"I find your scent a bit rough but alrighty pleasant." She stated matter-of-factly.
"Thanks." I smiled, stepping back and away from her clutches. "See you around, man."
"See you."
I waved at Jacob as I walked out of the bookstore, and Tara followed me to the jeep. As soon as she got in, she gave me a piercing glare.
"What exactly are you doing with that?" She asked but before I could answer she left me stunned with a choice. "If you are trying to summon a demon, It won't work."
My mind went blank for a moment, which is a rarity.
"What?" I snapped out of my daze. "No, I'm not trying to summon a demon, why would I?"
"For unlimited power, I guess?" She rolled her eyes sarcastically. "I tried summoning Satan for unlimited power in exchange for my Barbie when I was six, it didn't work."
"Your Barbie?" I asked, unable to contain my surprise.
"It was a gothic variant, one in a million, a limited edition, but I guess Satan wasn't interested."
"...." I blinked, struggling to process her ridiculousness before shaking my head to snap out of it. My mind quickly returned to Scott's metamorphosis.
I turned the key, and the jeep roared to life. As I stepped on the gas, we drove away from the street.
"First of all, I don't plan on summoning any demon and I just took a sudden interest in the topic of monsters and such, no big deal." I explained, trying to sound convincing, but Tara didn't seem to buy it.
"It would make sense if it was me, but not you, Stiles. You were never into monster lore, so why now?" She questioned, still skeptical.
"You're not gonna drop this, are you?" I sighed.
"Not until I get a satisfactory reply."
"Ok, last week, Scott and I went searching for a corpse, and we came across something big, like a bear, but not a bear. It howled, so I tried searching for everything I could on the net and finally leaned into the folklores, thus the book."
There was silence in the jeep as we turned into Tara's street. Her mansion-like house, one of the old cottages owned by her family and passed down, came into view.
"You went looking for a corpse and didn't invite me?" Tara asked, sounding almost offended, her glare burning a hole into my skull.
"Well, after what we did in the graveyard last time, your sister put an eternal ban on involving you in activities like that." I said with a stretched smile. "And frankly, I'm more terrified of her than you."
Tara remained silent and nodded understandingly before stepping out of the vehicle.
"Next time, make sure to call me." She added matter-of-factly, turning around and walking away.
I smiled as I turned the steering wheel, driving out of her lawn. Finally, it's time to check on Scott's transformation.
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Team Jacob drop some power stones.
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