Pulling up outside my dad's house I pushed against the horn, beeping twice before shutting off the engine, my 2010 Nissan Altima going still and silent as I then grabbed my bag from the passenger seat before sliding out, seeing someone moving towards the door from inside the house. My dad's car was parked outside and it was late at night, so I was glad he was home though I felt guilty for making him wait up. Though knowing my dad he was probably pouring over some case or other trying to figure out everything in record time before he went back to work in the morning. Being the sheriff of this town sure made things difficult, Beacon Hills wasn't exactly your standard area. If something went wrong, everyone knew about it within half an hour, sometimes less.

"Hey Sophie, glad you made it okay." Dad smiled as he opened the door and I could instantly see how tired he was. "I really appreciate you coming." As I locked up my sleek black car I gave him a smile, walking over to give him the biggest hug I could, surrounding myself in his familiar and comforting scent as the clouds peeled back to reveal a bright silver moon.

"You know that I'm the one who asked to come, so you're doing me the favour here." I answered him, kissing his cheek before pulling back, still smiling as he reached up his hand and brushed aside my silvery blonde hair. I looked nothing like him and I knew I looked nothing like mom either, I took after his mother and that sometimes made me feel guilty since mom had passed away a while ago. Dad never let on how much he missed her, but sometimes when he was looking at me, it felt like he was trying to picture her in my place. I took after her in everything other than looks, I guess that's what reminded him of her.

"Yeah, sorry you lost your job. That's really too bad, I know you enjoyed working in the city with all those fancy restaurants and big stories to chase after." I gave a light chuckle, kissing his cheek again before he took my bag for me and opened up the door, letting me inside. It did kind of suck that I got fired but it gave me a good excuse to come home. Dad had mentioned how he'd been struggling with work, the house and keeping Stiles in line, so I figured I'd come home and help out. Maybe I'll find a job here and stay a while before setting myself up with an apartment of my own. "Stiles! Your sister is here!" Dad called up and immediately there was a crashing sound and I arched an eyebrow, listening as the clambering sound of heavy footsteps rushed from my brother's room, down the stairs whilst crashing into everything humanely possible before finally he appeared.

"Soph! Man am I glad to see you." He greeted with a nerdy grin, instantly making me drag him into my arms as I beamed.

"Hey kid, I hear you've been causing trouble for dad so you're stuck with me keeping an eye on you, got it?" I teased him as I knuckled his head which was now trapped in a headlock under my arm. "So if you even put a toe out of line you're going to have to deal with me."

"Jeez! You know for a moment I was genuinely glad to see you but now I'm not so sure. Want me to call your work and ask they take you back?" He offered but I only grinned with laughter, throwing some loose punches at him for him to dodge before he went for my middle but I only stood there, rock solid and unmoving. Yeah, nice try Stiles but that's not happening. "You're like a rock, ow! I think I broke my shoulder or something." He complained as he pulled back so I just folded my arms and gave him a look.

"Hey, just because I work out and do a little kick boxing doesn't mean you can go around calling me a brick wall. No wonder you don't have a girlfriend yet, you're as sensitive as a stone." He complained and we argued a little longer before dad broke us up, saying that I should settle myself in my room and offered some food but I wasn't hungry. In fact I brought food with me in the form of takeaway pizza which Stiles immediately ran to get from my car as I had left it on the back seat and almost forgotten about it as I'd been so happy to see dad again. It's nice to be home, but I'm still a little bummed about getting fired. I was a journalist for the New York Times but they'd decided to cut down their expenses which meant that some of us minor journalists and a few other staff members got cut. It sucked, but I'll deal with it. Besides, there are some interesting things going on right here at home that have caught my attention.

"So dad, I hear there was a murder in the woods not long ago. Something about a mountain lion attack?" I brought it up casually, wanting to know the details myself and who better to ask than the sheriff for the rundown on things?

"Word gets around pretty fast, I didn't think you'd hear about it until tomorrow." Dad answered, a little impressed as he started to clean up a little around the house, tidying away his files so I helped him out, stacking them neatly and sliding loose paper away out of sight from Stiles who no doubt would have already found a way to rifle through everything. "But yeah, we found the body of a girl torn in half at the waist in the woods which was the first attack, the next was a bus driver at the school just this morning. He was bit and scratched almost to pieces."

"Wow, the guys at the pizza place mentioned it but I didn't realise it was that bad. What are you thinking dad? Is it really a mountain lion or a serial killer making it look like it as an animal attack?" I questioned him, holding the files in the crook of my arm however dad just gave me an amused look so I shook my head, banishing my instinctive interrogation skills away. "Sorry, it's a habit I picked up from asking people so many questions."

"I get it, I just can't tell you too much about what's going on. Confidentiality and all." He answered, taking the folders from my arms to put them in his office. "But there is a curfew for the town, so I'd rather you didn't go out when it's late just in case. I know you can handle yourself honey but all the same, I wouldn't want to arrive at a crime scene and find your body mangled and torn up." I saw the glint of sadness and depression in his eyes so I went over to him and placed my chin against his shoulder, rubbing his arm gently to console him.

"Don't worry, I promise I'll be careful and I'll keep an eye on Stiles too. If there really is an animal out there then I'm not going to go looking for it, I'm a little out of touch with nature since being in the city." Giving him a smile I looked up as Stiles came back with the three boxes of pizza, balancing them carefully yet almost dropping the top one so I went to take over, laughingly telling him to go get a plate for everyone before suggesting we watched some TV. It was good to be back home, however when everyone else went to bed I couldn't help but hear Stiles sitting up even later in the evening, typing away and flicking through books. He's working pretty late, though that's not unlike him.

With a sigh I rolled over and began to think about that girl and the bus driver. My instincts were telling me that there was something not right. I'd heard reports and got a little detail on the subjects myself, concerned for my family's safety especially considering my dad was the sheriff. If anything, I was beginning to suspect that these murders weren't what people thought they were. Perhaps they were both animal and human, it wasn't impossible. My instincts guided me home and already I could sense that someone was out there, waiting.

Getting out of bed I went over to the window and pulled back the curtains, looking up to see the partial moon up in the sky, feeling a slight pull towards it. As the noises of the natural world created its symphony within the trees, my periwinkle blue eyes turned silver under the moonlight before all at once, they blushed deep vermillion red.