CHAPTER 156

[Malia> Met her again. Druid 1 – 0 Malia & Tristan]

Tristan saw the text Malia sent a few hours later after they left the school and he didn't know how to feel about it. It was a pretty short and concise message but since it was from Malia, chances are that it went a little more complicated than her text made it seem.

[Tristan> As long as you're okay.]

His reply was just as short and simple as Malia's, and just like hers, left many words unwritten.

He could almost picture Malia leaping at the druid with little to no provocation from the druid.

'I thought we made it clear that we aren't attacking that… thing on our lonesome.' Tristan thought lazily to himself as he drove back home to grab a change of clothes and maybe a glass of chilled blood. He was feeling quite patched after the rather uneventful day.

"Better." Contentment flooded his veins as the cold blood slowly rang down his throat and into his stomach.

While Malia's blood wasn't the most delectable of the Red ambrosia he's tasted, hers was most special in a way that it could actually induce in him the feeling of fullness.

Other people's blood, like an Alpha's for example, was an intoxicating drink that seduced his desire and crave for more. It births an insatiable greed in him that he never wants to overcome.

Going through his drawers, he picked up a beige flannel, a dark red beanie and a pair of comfortable pants.

He went into the bathroom to wash his face while his tails stretched into the room and started folding the clothes he'd just taken off.

He looked at the bathroom mirror, at the tails of coagulated blood swishing behind him, opened his mouth to reveal his growing fangs and the almost crystal-white claws of paralytic venom on his fingers that was holding a side of his face.

"Monster." He said softly; an apt word for what he looked like to other people, even supernaturals. He knew how much of an outlier he was when compared to other werewolves in his pack.

'Pack. How annoying.' That thought immediately soured his contemplating mood.

Remembering Satomi's words about his natural path as a Primearch was something that never failed to bring his mind to a complicated mess of quivering emotions.

"Recital first, Nemeton second. Deucalion third, Primearch fourth." He said to himself as he went downstairs to whip up a sandwich for Malia when his phone rang.

"Boyd." He said as he answered the call.

He could hear Boyd snorting from the other end of the call. "Seriously? I get out of the hospital and decide to give you a call and this is how you respond? Jeez man, at least pretend to try."

"Hmm." Tristan hummed noncommittally as he made two sandwiches for Malia in case one wasn't enough. "The recital?"

"If I'm going? Yeah, of course. It's a recital in remembrance for those who've died, it's a no brainer that I'll attend. You're coming, right?"

"Yes, but not for the same reasons as you." Tristan said just as he finished wrapping up the sandwiches. He was about to leave but then paused, tilted his head and asked Boyd who was patiently listening on the other end. "I'm about to leave the house. Should I make you a sandwich?"

"Um, if it's not a problem, yeah. And extra lettuce if you don't mind." Boyd said. "Is someone going to die tonight?"

"…"

"C'mon man. I almost died. The least you could do is just say something rather than remaining silent as if you don't hear me." Boyd said, sighing tiredly as Tristan didn't reply back. "Fine, make it two sandwiches for me."

"…Got it."

"…Bastard." Boyd's whisper came through right before he cut off the call.

Finally done with the sandwiches, Tristan drove off to the recital. On his way there, he took out his phone and texted Derek something and waited for the reply that came a few seconds later before putting his phone away.

"'Do people really like recitals all that much?'" Boyd's unmistakable voice interrupted Tristan's thought as the vampire stared at the crowd of people filtering into the school halls.

Tristan's thought had been on similar paths with Boyd's words and from the self-serving look on Boyd's face, the dark-skinned boy knew it as well.

"Inside."

Catching Malia and Allison's scent, he led Boyd to where they were sitting with Chris Argent, which was one of the closest rows to the stage.

"Kid."

"Mr. Argent."

An awkward silence pervaded their seats as Chris and Tristan stared at each other for a brief moment before the latter and Boyd took their seats.

Unlike what they thought as a subtle, not so subtle, show of hostility, it was anything but that. Both were simply just coming to terms with the fact of how quickly they were becoming comfortable with the other party who was supposed to be their natural enemy.

For Tristan, it didn't matter all that much, but the same couldn't be said for Chris. Luckily for the older and wiser man, he saw no point in overcomplicating what was already working.

"Here."

"Thanks, Trist." Malia gratefully accepted the sandwiches with a peck to Tristan's lips, earning them fed up groans from Boyd and Lydia.

The girls and Boyd chatted for a bit, mostly asking about his health and if he was sure he was okay to which he nodded as he took large ravenous bites from his sandwiches.

"Couldn't bring yourself to make me a sandwich too?" Allison asked, feeling a little bit hungry when she saw both Malia and Boyd eating and then remembering that she didn't have much to eat during the midday break.

"You never told me to."

"You never asked."

"Same thing."

During their short exchange, Chris who was watching the dynamic between Allison and Tristan to gauge how relaxed and trusting Allison was in his presence, something he'd done too with Allison, was pleasantly surprised at their little back and forths.

"I wouldn't bother trying to make sense out of whatever those two have going on." Lydia off to his side commented as she glanced at them.

"What do you mean by that?"

Lydia shrugged while waving her finger fleetingly between Tristan who had taken one of Boyd's sandwiches and Allison who had done the same to Malia.

"Sometimes they feel like best friends, sometimes they look like clueless crushes. And most of the time they look fed up with each other, though that's just Tristan to everybody." She explained absentmindedly as her mind was on the stage and the recital that was about to start.

"Are you alright, Tristan?" Allison prodded the vampire teen who looked so uncomfortable that it was the only expression that one could read on his face.

"Don't worry about him. He's not comfortable mingling with large crowds. I think I understand why now." Boyd answered, nodding to himself as if he just figured something important out.

Tristan had his senses spread wide throughout the hall, watching and listening with rapt attention to anything that looked slightly out of place.

The recital started and as it went on, Boyd finally was able to convince Tristan that it wasn't that bad, and in all honesty it wasn't.

While they were partially engrossed in the recital, Lydia who sat to the side between Chris and Allison started humming a tune to herself and moving her fingers in a way reminiscent to the way someone played a piano.

It didn't take long before Chris noticed as did Malia and Tristan.

Chris saw how weird she was behaving and called out to her, while on the other hand Tristan and Malia were slowly swinging their head to the enthralling tune the musicians on stage were playing. The tune felt very lively and soul-soothing but they realized something was wrong when they continued hearing the same lovely tune when the musicians on stage had stopped and was about to begin another piece.

"What's wrong with Lydia?" Boyd asked upon seeing Lydia's weird behavior.

"Nothing." Tristan quickly cut him off. They all watched as Lydia jumped up startled, earning a few angry whisper shouts from the people behind them.

"I need to use the restroom. I'll be back in a minute." She sifted her way through in a hurry, not aware of her previous actions or that they saw her.

"Trist."

"I know. She's not going to the restroom. She's startled, extremely nervous, and also hoping." Even with his eyes directly on the stage in front of him, his senses were following Lydia's movements and saw as she walked past the girls restroom.

"I'll see what she's up to. I don't believe the druid would be willing to nab someone in front of half of Beacon Hills anyways."

"Wait, don't hurry after her yet. As long as you can keep an eye on her from a distance, then that's good." Chris suddenly said

A hunt.

A classic one of the mantis and the cicada.

"I understand." Tristan said as he stood up. He didn't have to worry about her because as far as he was knowledgeable of, she was either leading them to another body or something related to the bodies.

'The classroom?' Tristan frowned, thinking she was going to draw something else on the board like she did this morning, but that was until someone entered the room after Lydia.

"She's here." He said to himself, knowing those who could listen were already listening in.

He was yet to confirm who that was but from how fast Lydia's heartbeat was rising and the sticky mist of terror she was releasing into the air, Tristan came to a very simple conclusion.

He ran along the halls of the building towards the classroom where Lydia and a woman was.

Who the woman was remained to be seen. Though not for long.

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