All over again

The war on supernatural creatures in Beacon Hills had died down a few, since the two-faced shape shifter called the "Anuk-ite" was its major kickstarter. It fed off of people's fears, brought out their worst nightmares, drove them to panic, insanity and despair, ending their own lives eventually.

"It was supposed to ride with the hunt forever" These were the words of "Halwyn" the hellhound who helped build Eichen house and froze himself for a hundred years, waiting for the miserable day the ancestral creature managed by some means to escape.

Looking for its two faces, the Anuk-ite made the decision to conquer shape shifters' bodies, believing their strength would also make it even more powerful once the two parts merged; powerful enough to never be trapped again, and it worked. It went on its merry way, petrifying everyone and anyone who dared crossing its gaze.

Gerard, the patriarch of the Argent family, wasted no time and seized the golden opportunity in order to further push his ultimate agenda: the annihilation of supernatural creatures from the surface of the planet. He hoped to expand and reach more people around the globe and gather more supporters to his cause, so in the effort to defeat his sworn enemy Scott MCcall, he teamed up with none other than the Anuk-ite who also seemed to have a particular interest in the true Alpha.

Only... caught in the hype of winning a few battles, the new allies omitted a crucial detail, more so a flaw " you can't have the power of a shapeshifter without equally having its weaknesses", and so was the downfall of that plan, and their end was on the hands of Scott and his Pack, who swore to honor the code of their late friend Allison: To protect those who cannot protect themselves.

All of these events were vivid memories carved onto a lot of people's minds, that was certainly the case for Deputy Parrish.

From time to time images would flash before his eyes, stuck revisiting all that had happened during the past five years.

Starting from the day he first walked into Beacon Hills, he was hit with the inexplicable feeling of being drawn to that place, to the day he realized he was no longer a mere human like he used to be.

The realization of what he was and what his role consisted of, his bloody and ferocious battles against the beast, the strong bond that tied him to banshees and ghost riders.

All of it played back in his head so realistically that he would lose all sense of awareness and reality, hearing only the echoes of sounds and conversations he once had or heard. Sometimes he'd sink so deep into his contemplations that he'd forget where he was or what he was doing.

For instance, he didn't realize that his car had stopped until his collegue, Deputy Fisher, brought him out of his train of thought, back to reality, when she opened the door and slid inside, neither her chestnut hair nor the brown of her eyes properly distinguishable under the gas station lights. She was a five foot five, athletically built, beautiful young woman in her twenties.

He flinched and looked in her direction, eyes wide open. She seemed to notice his surprise because once she was comfortable in the passenger seat she quickly asked:

"Is everything alright?" concern was showing on her face.

"Yes... Everything is fine," he replied nervously before shifting his eyes towards the windshield, a confused expression appearing on his face. He looked through the car windows, almost like he was wondering how he got there.

"We are at the gas station," Fisher said, she did catch his attention, but when he still didn't say anything she added, "You asked me to fill the tank,"

A mix of comprehension and frustration in his eyes confirmed Fisher's suspicion. She knew that look very well regardless of the fact that she'd only been his partner for a month.

"Still happening?" she asked.

Parrish took a deep breath and gripped the steering wheel tightly with both hands. After staying that way for a few seconds he finally relaxed, his expression softening.

"It's like I was there again," he finally admitted.

She discerned defeat and distress in his eyes, and even though she was the type of person to know exactly what to say to a human being in these situations, she also knew that Parrish wasn't a regular human being. Perhaps his increasingly frequent moments of absence meant something other than what she was used to with regular people.

"You said that you got help from someone to figure out what supernatural creature you were, and that they helped you evolve and embrace your power, maybe they can help you with this too?" she asked.

Parrish understood that she was talking about Chris Argent, and he didn't take long to think about her question, "Yeah but this time it's different. This time… I think everyone is dealing with what I have... Some may even have it worse than me..."

She stared down for an instant, debating whether she should voice her ideas or not, then her demeanor shifted from compassion to determination as she focused back on him.

"Maybe it's more of a reason to talk to them about it, so that you can help each other," she marked a brief pause when he started the car and drove back on the road, then once the vehicle was rolling in a straight line, she continued, "After I tragically lost my mother, the only thing that really helped me was talking about it with other people that were going through the same trauma..."

She kept talking, but no matter how hard Parrish tried to concentrate on her words, her voice became increasingly echoey and far-away sounding, giving the impression that she was talking from the depth of a well.

He became aware of a low fuzzy sound; static emanating from the car radio. The longer it went the louder it got, until suddenly a voice came through, someone breathing heavily. It was a woman's voice, and it felt like she was struggling to talk. After a few attempts she finally managed to spit out something cohesive, it came out in a whisper, almost like she was on the verge of death,

"HELLHOUND!" she gasped, then resumed panting.

"What was that?" Parrish questioned, looking away from the road to the radio.

"What was what?" Fisher stopped speaking and seemed puzzled as to what he was talking about, but before she could add anything she lifted her gaze towards the road for a split second.

"Watch out!!" she screamed, putting her arms forward, resting her hands on the dashboard in an attempt to prepare for a brusque halt.

Parrish was so absorbed by the sound coming from the radio that he had forgotten the car was still rolling, startled by Fisher's scream he jumped straight back into his seat facing the roadway to see that he was about to drive right into someone standing in the middle of the otherwise empty road.

He abruptly swerved to the side, luckily managing to stop the car after swerving only once. They immediately jumped out to make sure the individual was alright, but also to ask them what they were doing out there in the middle of the night, but by the time their feet hit the pavement, the person had already disappeared. The two deputies looked at each other, shocked and bewildered by what had just occurred.

"You saw that too right? I wasn't hallucinating?" Fisher asked in a panicked voice.

"Only if we had the same hallucination!" replied Parrish, while turning his flashlight on.

They both circled around the car in opposite directions, drawing their weapons alongside their flashlights. They figured whoever it was, if it was fast enough to disappear in that time span, then it had to be a supernatural, and they didn't want to take any chances.

They scrutinized the area for over five minutes, then finally concluded that the person or creature had to have been long gone Fisher was already heading back towards the car, shaking her head, wondering internally what it could have been, and Parrish was having a similar silent dialogue with himself.

<<It couldn't have been a coincidence>>

He thought, and for a good reason. Two mystifying events on the same night, moreover the same minute, definitely couldn't have been a coincidence. Though he was quickly snapped out of his reverie by his partner... Once again.