The Monsters Inside [Isaac]

[Jackson Whittemore]

Jackson had not been sleeping well. Images of ripping into those that he cared for had flooded his brain for a few weeks. Every night the dream began the same. He was at school, sitting in class with those that he had learned to tolerate, and care for. Lydia, Danny, Isaac, Allison, even Stiles and Scott. And one second he would just be thinking to himself how did he end up with such a weird group of friends. One moment they are all making plans, little trips to the beach, and what movies to see or rent, and the next, Jackson is in his Kanima form, and all of their bodies are lying limp on the ground. Eyes staring up at him, with blank expressions. Lifeless. And it was all his fault. He hated that feeling of guilt. He had been racked with it, regretting ever wanting the bite. 

Jackson shot up from his bed, covered in sweat. He rubbed his head. He cared. He hated thinking about what he had done. What he might be capable still of. Every night he wondered if being the Kanima was something that still hide behind the wolf that was inside of him now. He kicked his covers off, and sent a text to the one person that he thought understand about the nightmares. Isaac. It was a different kind of friendship. Sure he picked on the kid, but he was one of the few that understood, now more than ever what was going on. Jackson put on some clothes, nothing like the things he would wear to school, and headed out to the woods. He walked right out of the front door, even though it was 2 in the morning. He needed something to take the edge off, and driving his car was not going to help. So he ran. 

The cold felt good against his normal than warm body. Jackson had to admit that he enjoyed the perks of being a werewolf, even though he had been through hell to get where he was. He didn't even talk to Lydia as much as he should have been. And Aiden had been trying to get in good with her, and that made his blood want to boil. Sure they were rocky at best, but he cared for her. She was the reason that he fought so hard to keep his cool, even when he wanted too rip peoples heads from their bodies. His feet slammed the ground as he jumped over a stream, landing further than he had wanted to. His thought went back to the dream that he had had that night. He wanted to scream, but instead he just punched his fist into one of the trees.

His heart was racing, and his heart was beating so fast that he almost felt bad for Stiles, who was known to having panic attacks."This cant be happening.." Not to him. Jackson Whittemore. He was better than this. 

[Isaac Lahey]

It seems like all these conversations
Go running sideways through my head.
And sticks and stones can be used to build a home.
And words can change almost anything.




- - - - - - - - - - - -

Isaac had tossed and turned all night. He couldn't just get comfortable at all. Sleep came for short seconds and then he was wide away. He spent a good amount of time with his blankets wrapped around him as he stared at a randomly lit wall. He had never been able to conquer his fear of the dark, opting to get a lamp and light it was a low watt bulb at night. Fuller moons, he would allow natural light in to keep the darkness away.

The teen got up and paced his bedroom for a couple minutes. He was quite tempted to just go sleep with Derek, it was always more comfortable. He could sleep sometimes. But he tossed that idea aside, especially when his phone began to vibrate on his nightstand. He honestly had no clue who would be texting him in the middle of the night. No one else was awake at this time of night. Erica rarely woke up in the middle of the night and Boyd wasn't big on calling or texting. Maybe Scott or Stiles?

Isaac traced across the room to grab his phone before it woke up all the other wolves. He was quite surprised to see that it was actually a text from Jackson. He paused for a minute before reading it. The other wanted to meet up in the woods? Isaac thought about it for a minute before responding back that he would meet the other wolf.

He tossed on his blue hoodie, tugged on a pair of jeans, and slipped on a pair of sneakers. He grabbed his phone and keys on the way out of his room, trying to be as quiet as possible. He knew how to be quiet, spent most of his life pretending he didn't exist. He managed to get out without waking anyone. If he did, they never made it known he had.

The nice thing about living pretty much on the preserve meant that his backyard was the woods. He was able to run and be free. It had been the one thing he asked of Derek when they went looking for a pack house. And as he walked through the woods, he was glad they found the perfect house.

Isaac's attention snapped back to the fact he was meeting Jackson when the familiar smell of the other wolf hit his ears. But it had a different tinge to it that made him scrunch up his nose. Panic. The blond teen took off running, chasing down the words that had hit his ears. He slowed down as he neared the area where Jackson's scent was strongest.

"Jackson?"

- - - - - - - - - - - -

NOTES: None
MUSIC: "Rainy Day" - Zach Berkman

[Jackson Whittemore]

Jackson was trying to steady his breath as he looked at his fist. It was scratched, and it felt like he had bruised a few of the fingers but it had felt good, to let some of what he was feeling out. He was not a crier. His dad, or whatever you wanted to call him had said that crying was for people that were weak, and he was not weak. So Jackson did what he did best. He turned to anger and aggression. He ran his fingers over the marks that were already healing.

He hated thinking that he was more like everyone else. Jackson had an image to uphold and these nightmares were taking that away from him. His mind wandered back to what he had seen. Since he had joined Derek's pack he was more on edge than ever. The nightmares had started once he had turned into a wolf. Images of those that he had hurt had filled his brain, and now that he had been fully integrated into the pack, he dreamed of hurting those that had taken him in. He tossed it up to being part of a real sense of family. He hated most of them, but he would give his life to keep them safe. Not that he would tell any of them that.

Jackson knew that Isaac would understand more than most. So when he could start to smell the others scent, he realxed just a bit. It was weird not being around them all much since he still lived at home with his adoptive parents. He was almost glad when he heard the other call out his name in the darkness. Out of the whole pack, even Derek, Isaac seemed to not mind him as much as the others did. But it was a reputation that was well deserved.

He threw another punch into the tree, his hand splintering the tree even further, his hand bleeding once again. "Yeah, over here." He pulled his hand from the tree, and rested his back against it, his breathing still heavy as he tried to reign in his emotions.

[Isaac Lahey]

It seems like all these conversations
Go running sideways through my head.
And sticks and stones can be used to build a home.
And words can change almost anything.




- - - - - - - - - - - -

Isaac was actually a little worried about Jackson. He hadn't expected the other to reach out to him. But he was glad for it. He had never wanted to be enemies with Jackson, especially since the other had been his neighbor. But when he became a werewolf, his emotions became too much to control. The thought of being powerful, he became drunk off the power. He hadn't even cared that it possibly meant injuring the wolf he now considered pack.

He raced through the woods and became a little calmer when he did smell Jackson's familiar scent. But the emotions wrapped around it... They made him frown. He called out so he didn't take the other by surprise. He was glad for the reply, ensuring Jackson had heard him. He heard the crack of wood before the call, worrying the blond wolf as he pushed through the brush.

He stumbled upon the sight of Jackson. The faint smell of blood still clung to the hair, making Isaac scrunch up his nose a little as he walked over. He stood in front of Jackson, raising an eyebrow. "What's wrong?" Why had the other decided to call him out to the woods in the middle of the night?

- - - - - - - - - - - -

NOTES: None
MUSIC: "Bleeding Out" - Imagine Dragons

[Jackson Whittemore]

It was not that it was hard to breath, it was just that he was angry at everything. He was mad at his parents, both birth and adoptive, he was mad at having killed so many people, he was mad that he couldn't get a better control of the wolf within himself. Jackson had bottled up so many emotions for so long, it was just a matter of time before they all came spilling out. Luckily for him, it was a tree he was taking it out on, and not some innocent person. He had enough guilt to last him a lifetime.

Jackson almost wished that it would rain, and then the slow patter of water droplets hitting just about everything would lull him into a mindless sleep. But that probably wouldn't even help him. He knew that Isaac would be there in a matter of minutes, from the different branches that he heard snapping, and from the rate of how fast his scent had begun to reach him. Jackson leaned is head back, looking up at the sky, thinking to himself. "You are stronger than this."

He could feel his eyes flashing back to normal, at the same time that Isaac was standing above him. It was weird that they hand't been friends growing up. But that was his fault. With one word to his parents, he could have saved Isaac from his own father. Guilt. That was what was driving him to make things better with him.

"Nightmares." He sighed, realizing that he had finally gained more control over himself, and his hand had fully healed. "You don't owe me anything. I shouldn't have bothered you." He needed someone to talk to about his new lifestyle, and he hadn't said two words to Lydia, and Danny...well he didn't want to drag is last friend into a world where you were hunted just for existing, even if Ethan was willing to. 

Notes:Tag Isaac. 

Music: Behind blue eyes by Limp Biscuit

[Isaac Lahey]

It seems like all these conversations
Go running sideways through my head.
And sticks and stones can be used to build a home.
And words can change almost anything.




- - - - - - - - - - - -

Isaac wasn't sure what he should expect when he found Jackson. Should he expect the other to be fine? Should he expect to find Jackson in a pool of blood? Or perhaps the other just needed to vent? But then why would Jackson be calling him? It would make more sense that he would call Danny if it was to vent. Any other option... He'd contact someone who knew of the supernatural. Isaac wasn't so sure Danny knew about the supernatural yet, or if he ever would.

Isaac brushed passed the bushes to find Jackson. The hint of blood still lingered in the air, but it wasn't enough to concern him that much. If the other wolf was injured, it wasn't major. That ruled out an alpha attack. But it was enough to tell him that his former neighbor wasn't completely alright.

The word nightmares made him frown. But then he rolled his eyes at the words. "Have you forgotten the fact that I nearly tried to kill you?" He crossed his arms as he brought up the kanima. Jackson had been out of control. Isaac knew that he didn't owe Jackson anything. Jackson and all the others neighbors knew exactly what his dad did to him, but never talked. But Isaac wasn't sure he would have said anything if their roles were reversed. Though it hadn't really warranted Isaac to try to kill Jackson, but the kanima had been out of control.

"Besides, we're pack." And pack helped each other. That is what Derek always said and Isaac believed the words. Pack meant you were family and you were supposed to do anything for family. Although Isaac was hesitant in some aspects of pack life, he did do his best to look out for the others in the Hale pack.

"So... nightmares..." He couldn't really come up with a way to get the other to spill his dreams. Though what if Jackson didn't want to? Isaac could force him to talk, but it'd probably end in a fight and he really wasn't up for tumbling around in the woods. Last thing he needed was Derek's scolding of fighting pack.

- - - - - - - - - - - -

NOTES: None
MUSIC: "Boom Boom Japan" - Super Eurobeat

[Jackson Whittemore]

Jackson was not used to having someone to really turn to. His "parents" they just wanted him to do something that just wasn't in him. Love them as a mother and father. Sure it seemed like he was still holding a grudge, but he felt that they should have never told him, since it was a closed adoption. Lydia was...well Lydia. The girl he cared for, but not loved. Those words were guarded to him, and haven't slipped past his lips since he was six.

His breathing had slowed and he looked at Isaac, the confused look on his face almost amusing to Jackson. He wanted to poke at it, the holes in his old neighbors closed off body language. It was funny how many different things one noticed once they were bitten.

Isaac reminded him that he had tried to kill him. And technically, they had succeeded. And if it weren't for them, well, then he wouldn't be standing here; or in his case sitting, having the conversation that they were. So he just laughed, and moved to get up. "Thanks for that." He didn't want to think about the very reason that he was out in the woods, in the middle of the night, even with the threat of an Alpha pack and a coven full of witches that wanted to torch their bones and use them.


Pack. The word hung in the air. He still didn't get the whole meaning. Except for him it was another family that he was apart of. Three families. His birth parents, adoptive parents, and his pack. "Yeah. I've been hearing a lot of the word, but I haven't been to a single meeting, and to be quite honest, we all hate each other." He crossed his arms. He didn't know why he just lashed out his probably only friend in the super-group of weirdos.

He wanted to hit the another tree, and trees were a lot better than people. He didn't want to hurt any more people. Isaac said the word nightmares, and he saw flashes of all the bodies again.

"Its always the same. All my friends, and the..pack. Decimated around me. Me covered in blood."

[Isaac Lahey]

It seems like all these conversations
Go running sideways through my head.
And sticks and stones can be used to build a home.
And words can change almost anything.




- - - - - - - - - - - -

Isaac watched Jackson carefully. He could tell that there was something wrong. He had spent so many years of his life observing his dad, trying to figure out his moods. It had become important to tell when someone was upset or not. And he could tell that Jackson was clearly not alright. It was in the every little movement his body did.

Isaac raised an eyebrow when Jackson laughed and thanked him. Did Jackson just thank him for trying to kill him? For failing at it? Because he had been the one who did stab him right in the throat with a powerful sedative. Though he wasn't even sure if Jackson could even recall that night in the club. He had never stopped to ask how much Jackson remembered while being the Kanima. He felt it better to just not ask.

Isaac frowned when Jackson spoke the truth about the pack. "You should come." He hoped the other would. They could use all members trying to come together to be a family. "We all don't hate each other. We just haven't spent enough time around each other to be comfortable." He gazed at the ground. "But families on tv... they seem to argue and appear to hate each other even when they're really close." Isaac wasn't exactly sure how a family really was supposed to operate, outside of little bits of info Derek would tell him about his family, what Isaac saw when observing Scott and his mom or Stiles and his dad, or from television.

Isaac was silent when Jackson spoke of his nightmares. He tried to think of the right words to say, but kept coming up short. He stuffed his hands in his pockets. "We can protect ourselves, Jackson. We'll protect ourselves and we'll protect you." If it came down to it, they'd take Jackson out. But Isaac didn't want to think of that. He was tired of the fighting.

"The nightmares... One day.... you won't have them every night."

- - - - - - - - - - - -

NOTES: None
MUSIC: "Don't You Worry Child" - Swedish House Mafia

[Jackson Whittemore]

Jackson could feel his pulse slowing. His anger was receding as well the need to punch his fist into the trees that were near him. Jackson had heard of the horrors of wandering wolves in the forest alone, and the Hunters that might end up there to kill him. He was glad that he at least had Isaac if no one else to turn to. The thought of hurting another person made him sick to his stomach, and he was not someone easily turned by the thoughts of hurting others.

He could feel the watching eyes of his friend study him. Taking him in, trying to decipher which emotion he was feeling when, and what he would say next. Jackson wanted to believe his pack mate when he said that they didnt hate one another, and while it was true, he still felt more of an outsider than ever before, and not being a part of the group, that claimed him as "family" still twinged a bit. "It's not like any of you can be bought. Getting people to like me that have hated me, more like an uphill battle, without rope."

The images of his pack mates and friends came to the forefront of his mind. He wanted to be able to just forget. To go back to the way things used to be, but that was just a wish that would never come true. He could see the awkwardness that Isaac presented, and feel the distance as much as he said he was there for him. Protect. He never needed protecting before. Not when his parents told him the truth, not when he was trying to get the bite. But now...Jackson was just a bit more broken and cracked than he used to be. Held together with tape and glue.

"That sounds like more trouble than its worth." He was more implying to himself than the group, but it came out rather...harsh.

Jackson rubbed his fingers over the back of the hand that he had been punching trees with. Nothing. He felt nothing. No pain. Just an emptiness of where it all should be. "If that were to happen, how would I remember all of the horrible things that I have done."

[Isaac Lahey]

It seems like all these conversations
Go running sideways through my head.
And sticks and stones can be used to build a home.
And words can change almost anything.




- - - - - - - - - - - -

Isaac could hear Jackson's pulse slowing down. He was rather glad to hear it. There was always something that made him on edge when those around him were on edge. But he was able to just relax and let himself focus more on Jackson than anything else.

Yet there was a part of him that still feared saying the wrong thing. He felt like he was treading on glass, and any step would shatter Jackson's current state. Whether he was careful in his behavior because he of fear of angering Jackson or causing him to break down... Not even Isaac was 100% sure. "Or maybe it's more like being on a ledge and if you reach out your hand, someone might take it." Isaac thought it was a better fitting analogy. "People take time, Jackson. They need time, especially time spent with you. Or else no one will ever reach out their hand." Isaac really wasn't the kind of person to stick his neck out for strangers, so figured any buddy but Scott would probably feel the same way. They'd need to actually learn about Jackson from Jackson or just spend time with him to slowly accept him.

Isaac shifted how he stood, just watching Jackson. He felt a little bad that he didn't know how to properly comfort people. This wasn't his forte. Erica was better, so were Scott and Thaila. He figured even Stiles would be better. He just told it as it was, unsure if his words would cause pain or relieve it.

"Well... tough. That's what pack is all about." Isaac crossed his arms. He got beat up by the Alpha twins all the time because of his pack, but he wouldn't change a thing. He'd get beat up daily and still claim to be Hale pack. Sure, it hurt like heck, but... He had a family that cared and helped plan revenge. "Pack looks out for each other, Jackson." There was a small, fond smile on his lips as the memories of pack stood out.

Isaac was quiet as he watched the other Beta. He was quiet for a minute before he shook his head. "You will never forget, Jackson. Do you honestly think I forgot my dad the second I stopped having nightmares every night?" He only knew how to challenge the remark. He wondered if he hadn't, if Jackson would still come to the same outcome: You can never escape the memories of your past. You could only learn to live with them.

- - - - - - - - - - - -

NOTES: None
MUSIC: "Kill Your Heroes" - AWOLNATION