Strange Rumors

The next day, Ethan returned early in the morning to take a quick shower and prepare for school.

As usual, no one questioned where he had been. No one had the right to, after all. He carried a device on his body that monitored his condition, and alerts would only be triggered if something was wrong for several hours.

Since no issues had arisen, no one was worried about him. No one would think that someone like Ethan could be in serious trouble, especially in a town like this.

And the truth is, they were right. There were only a few things that could kill Ethan, such as time, a powerful demon general, or facing an ancient god.

...

Beacon Hills High School

Stiles, who had been thinking about everything he saw at his teacher's house, remained silent. He hadn't told anyone and hoped to keep that secret as best he could.

"Stiles, what happened with what you said you'd investigate?" Scott found him at his locker and approached him to see if his suspicions were confirmed.

"Yeah, I went to that mansion."

"How did it go?"

"Terrible... I mean, the night was horrible because on the way home, we ran into a lot of animals." Stiles corrected his response as soon as he realized what he had said.

But Scott, who knew his friend well, asked, "The professor is a hunter, right?"

"Yes..."

As soon as Scott heard that, he felt as if a weight had been lifted off his shoulders. "I'm dead, man; the professor is going to kill me."

"I don't think he mentioned knowing you've been bitten. Damn, I don't remember clearly, but I don't think he'd kill you—at least not during the day." Stiles didn't know what to say to comfort his friend and added, "But he did say he needed my help."

"What would he need your help for?" Scott couldn't understand why Ethan would want Stiles' help.

But Stiles, feeling slightly superior, murmured, "He asked me to be his eyes in the school. Isn't that awesome? You won't have to die at the hands of our history teacher because your friend is awesome."

"That's terrible, man; he's going to find out."

"No, he won't, not if you stop making stupid mistakes like going to a damn party when there's a full moon." Stiles gave some much-needed psychological support to his friend.

Scott looked at him and said, "So, are there more like me in this school?"

"No, I don't think so. He told me a lot of students can say really stupid things."

"Like, exactly? Everyone does stupid things, especially at this age."

Scott's question was so loud that Alison overheard it, and she said, "You're right about that. Lydia says the senior girls are trying to complete the guys' challenge."

"What challenge? What are you talking about?" Stiles, now Ethan's new detective, was intrigued by the mysteries of others.

"They say the guys are going to summon Slenderman tonight, those kinds of things." Alison grabbed her books and walked away.

But before she could leave, Scott caught up to her and asked, "Who exactly?"

"It's important; I need to know." Stiles appeared on the other side of Alison, very interested.

Alison looked surprised and asked, "You don't believe those strange rumors, do you?"

"No, we don't believe them."

"Yeah, of course not." Scott was talking to Alison about the double date, so he didn't want to mess it up.

Meanwhile, Stiles was only thinking about helping his friend avoid being killed by their history teacher. "So, just out of curiosity, who are they?"

"Tom and his friends. Those idiots believe in anything. That's why they're not invited to our parties, and if they keep it up, they never will be." Lydia approached Alison, and her gaze passed over Stiles, who grinned like an idiot in response.

Scott, eager to end this conversation, quickly said, "That's why we just wanted to know who was trying to play those childish games."

"Exactly, childish games," Stiles added, deep in thought. This could be his chance to provide something useful to Ethan.