A hand stretched out toward Eli.
"Do you need help?"
He wanted to bat the hand away, but instinct told him not to anger whatever this thing was. Instead, he planted his hands on the floor and pushed himself up. The boy watched with a faint smirk, as if mocking the effort. Eli felt the urge to swing at him, but he held back, remembering the force that had flung him into the bathroom.
It didn't make sense. The guy in front of him had yellow hair and blue eyes and was barely taller than a five-year-old. He was thin, almost frail. Where did that kind of strength come from? And even if Eli was exaggerating the height difference, there was no way someone like this should've been that strong.
The boy held his hand out again.
"Guess I should introduce myself. I'm Henry. Henry Wolcott. I'm what you might call a,"
A sudden noise came from one of the bathroom stalls. Someone wearing headphones flushed the toilet, stepped out while singing, then froze when they turned and saw both of them staring.
They didn't speak again until they were in the library.
Henry tried again.
"I'm Henry," he said. "And I'm a wendigo."
Eli's pupils widened slightly. He had only followed this guy because everything had been so disorienting. One second he was talking to Scott and Stiles, then he was in the bathroom, face-to-face with someone whose mouth had been full of canines.
Instinct took over.
Eli activated his eyes. He hesitated for half a second, his powers had been acting strangely since he woke up, but there was supposedly a man-eating monster standing in front of him. And he didn't have his bag. What was the point of making weapons if he didn't even bring them? Even if he was just going to the damn bathroom.
The room flared with light, and Eli flinched, squeezing his eyes shut for a moment.
Henry took a step back. Fear crept into his voice.
"Hey, don't turn on me now. The full moon's still three days away. You should still have some control."
He kept backing away. The truth was, Henry was weak by wendigo standards. Even slamming Eli into the bathroom had taken almost everything out of him, and that was only possible for one very specific reason.
"You're starving," Eli said suddenly, lifting his gaze, eyes glowing.
"Were you planning to eat me? Is that why you pushed me?"
Henry blinked, thrown by the accusation.
"So he knows about the supernatural?" Henry thought. His thought continued, "Maybe. And even if he didn't, an alpha should've explained the consequences of a bite."
Henry shook his head, his tone edged with something defensive, almost mocking.
"Your eyes can't glow like that. Didn't your alpha tell you that before biting you?"
He scoffed.
"And I'm not that hungry."
He looked away at the last part.
Eli frowned. His eyes did not glow when he used them. Even if they did, it was not a light others should be able to see. Was this a type of distraction? And the wendigo was clearly trying to get him to lower his guard. Not that hungry?
Through Eli's vision, Henry's essence twisted. The shape stretched and warped into something tall and horrific, a long, skeletal creature with a deer skull and antlers for a head, its body made of exposed bone and sinew. What convinced Eli wasn't the form. It was the way the creature clawed at its own stomach. Tearing into itself. Eating itself.
Eli could feel the hunger bleeding through the image. Crippling. Crushing. How was he even standing?
Eli was certain of one thing. He was next.
Then Henry said it, the single funniest thing Eli had heard all day.
"I'm a vegetarian wendigo."
Eli tried to keep a straight face. He really did. But it was pointless. He snorted. Then laughed. Then couldn't stop.
"Ha, ha, that's, ha, like saying you're a vegetarian carnivore."
He tried to rein it in. He really did. But when Henry frowned, actual veins popping at his temples, it only made it worse.
Before Eli could catch his breath, Henry stood up, slammed a book onto the table, and stormed down the aisle.
The laughter died in Eli's throat.
Just as Henry reached the end of the row, he snapped back,
"Make sure you get help from your alpha, you damn mutt."
Then he was gone.
… Maybe Eli had overdone it.
He scratched the back of his head, still catching his breath, when a tall woman appeared beside the table. She gave him a stern look, tapped the "Quiet" sign on the shelf once, and walked off.
Great. Now he was in trouble with the librarian, and for something he didn't even do.
Looking down at the book, Eli scoffed, thinking. Okay. He was fine. It wasn't even that big of a deal. But Henry's words lingered.
Find your alpha. Alpha? And bite?
Eli didn't remember getting bitten. And the glowing eyes, Henry had clearly assumed he was a werewolf. Which he wasn't. As far as Eli knew, you either had to be bitten or born into it. His parents weren't werewolves. That ruled that out.
Still…
His thoughts drifted back to the hospital. To that moment. He hadn't been himself then. There had been biting, but not him, someone else, someone familiar. Who was it?
And that red footprint… How did it get there?
Interrupting his thoughts, a whispered shout came from the end of the bookshelves.
"Hey, Scott, he's over here!"
Eli looked up to see Stiles holding his bag, a confused expression on his face.
Henry hadn't actually left. He was just outside the door. Waiting. If Eli was going to lose control again, Henry was probably the only one who could stop him.
Then a low growl came from his stomach. It doubled him over slightly, reminding him just how painful it was.
What did it mean to be a vegetarian?
For Henry, it meant never eating a human. Ever. And only eating animals when it was absolutely necessary. It was about that time now.
There was no fixing a wendigo. Eating anything other than what they were meant to eat wouldn't kill them, but it left them in a perpetual hunger. One that could never truly be satisfied.
Just then, three boys stepped out of the library. One of them was Eli.
Henry pressed himself against the corner, hiding from view. Another student passed by, caught sight of him flattened against the wall, and gave him a look like he was an idiot before walking off.
When Henry glanced back, Eli was already gone.
His stomach growled again, harder this time. He clutched it instinctively as his knees buckled and he dropped to the floor. He huffed once. Then again. Forcing himself to breathe.
Slowly, he pushed himself upright and stumbled down the hallway. As he passed an empty classroom, something caught his eye.
A small hamster ran on a wheel inside a cage.
Henry stopped.
He was really hungry.
Eli walked behind Stiles and Scott. When they asked why he hadn't been in the bathroom, he brushed it off as exploring. They were talking again, something about a lacrosse game on Thursday and a party on Friday.
Eli didn't have time for any of it.
His thoughts were still stuck on the last few days. Slamming the potion down on the tree. Wanting to do the same to the serial-killer grandmother and her grandchild. And Harley.
What was he going to do to Harley?
Henry had drawn his attention to something he might not have noticed until it was too late.
"Hey!" Stiles said suddenly.
"Earth to Eli. Testing. Testing."
Eli didn't like being interrupted while thinking, but he liked where his thoughts were going even less.
Stiles gestured ahead with a knowing look. Eli followed his gaze.
Scott stood frozen, staring down the hallway at a girl walking past. It was the very grandchild he was thinking about.
His eyes started to glow.
He really didn't want to hear her agitating voice again, and her grandmother, would she be here too?
Eli looked around instinctively, and his eyes widened. He did not find an old lady, but Scott.
Something was wrong.
What the hell?
Stiles hadn't changed.
But Scott definitely had.