Lydia didn't scream when she woke up. How could she when all the air was surging out of her lungs? She was suffocating. Just like Meredith. She sucks in a shaky breath and feels the hot ache of tears behind her eyes when she exhales. The most sleep she'd gotten in days and it was riddled with nightmares of the dead.
"Not so different from being awake." She mutters to herself.
She was still distraught. The only other banshee she'd ever met was gone. Just another whisper of life for Lydia to pluck out of yarn and piano strings. She wonders if that's even true, wonders if banshee deaths are the same as humans. She gets out of bed and throws on some clothes. She climbs up into her heels and thinks, not for the first time, that she needs to invest in new shoes.
She gets in her car not thinking of going anywhere in particular just wanting to drive. It's not like she ever gets where she's going these days anyway. She ends up at the –police station. Somehow she knows exactly why she's there. She takes her time walking in, knowing this is probably a hopeless venture.
"Can I help you?" The lady at the front desk asked her.
"Is the Sheriff in?"
"No he worked this morning."
"Lydia?" She sees Jordan lean around the corner to look at her. Deputy Parrish, She chides herself mentally.
"Hi." She says uncertainly. He gestures her into a room and closes the door.
"What are you doing here?"
"I uh," She bit her lip a moment and then forced her self to stop. She breathes out a tired laugh.
"What?"
"I was going to say I came to ask a favor."
"Of the Sheriff?" She nods.
"Or of you."
"Me?" She nods.
"But then it occurs to me I shouldn't think I can."
"It's okay Lydia." He says trying to calm her. She laughs shakily and falls gracefully into one of the chairs.
"It's not. You have no idea."
"So tell me." She shakes her head wearily.
"Can I trust you?"
"Do you trust me?" he inquires instead.
"Yes."
"I think you're a good judge of character then." He says, the corners of his lips tilting upward.
"You didn't answer my question."
"I know."
"Let me ask the favor then." Parrish nods at her to go on. "The sheets that Meredith used to–" Lydia presses her lips together past the lump in her throat, the words dying out.
"What about them?" Parrish prompts gently.
"Do you have them here? Or can you get them for me?" His mouth opens and he blinks.
"That's… that's a strange request."
"Yeah."
"They should be with evidence right now if they've not been burned already."
"Can you find out?"
"What are you going to do with them?"
"Is it important?"
"Yes."
"Don't you trust me?"
"Perhaps, but I'm curious all the same. You and Meredith, you weren't family, were you even friends?" Lydia shakes her head helplessly.
"So why is this so important?" Lydia takes a deep breath and twists her hands in the fabric of her skirt. She blinks back tears.
"Hey," Parrish make aborted movement like he can suck the words back inside. "I didn't mean to imply you guys weren't close or anything." A tear escapes her and she bats it away angrily. Parrish puts a comforting hand on her back and surprisingly it does help her breathe easier.
"You know I'm different." Parrish looks at her a little shocked, pleased, but shocked.
"I do."
"She's the only other person I've ever met that was like me." She sniffles and looks at him. "And I killed her didn't I?"
"Lydia no."
"I pushed her, right over the edge."
"It's not your fault."
"I feel like I should have felt it."
"Her death?" Lydia nods.
"She wasn't a friend, or family, but she was important to me. It didn't seem like she had many people that thought that." She swallows thickly. "I need those sheets because I might be able to say goodbye. I might be able to tell her she was important." Parrish nods solemnly and strokes Lydia's back a few more times. She feels calm in his embrace for a moment. The sound of a phone ringing breaks Lydia out of her stupor. She sits up and wipes the tears from he face but Parrish makes no move toward the phone.
"Aren't you going to answer that?" she gestures to the desk where the phone sits.
"Lydia?"
"Hmm?"
"That phone's not ringing." She looks at him with wide eyes and then squeezes her eyes shut. They sit in silence for a moment.
"I'm going to go talk to one of the other deputies that went to Eichen House okay? I'll see what I can do." She nodded gratefully as he got up and left the room.
The phone was still ringing.
"Oh shit." She's shaking from head to toe but she gets up and moves around the desk to pick up the phone. She closes her eyes and listens. A woman is screaming.
'No please! Please no I'm engaged I could have a life! A family!'
'I have a wife. I have kids. Kids I can send through college with the price that's on your head.'
'Please don't!'
'I'm sorry.' There's a click and a whoosh. Sounds like flames.
"Lydia!" She's screaming. She's back against the wall the phone falling from her hands. Parrish has his arms around her trying to keep her from lashing out. But she can still hear; she can hear… chains? The creak of metal, so familiar…
"Someo-someone just died."
"How do you know?"
"I heard it. Hear it." She shakes her head still trying to place the creaking sound.
"Okay where?"
"I don't know, I-I don't know, I just–" Her eyes widened. "Swings."
"What?"
"I hear swings. Where's the closest park? We have to go there now." The urgency in her voice must spur him into action.
"Beacon Hills Central Park is three blocks from here. Come on." He shuffles Lydia to the cruiser and they drive fast but without the lights on. Lydia calls Scott on the way.
"Lydia? What's wrong?"
"Someone just died. Someone from the list, in a park."
"Who is where'd you find them?"
"For once I haven't found the dead body yet. I'm heading over to Beacon Hills Central Park now."
"Okay stay there me and Kira will meet up with you soon." She nods even though he can't see it and hangs up.
"This really happens to you often, doesn't it?"
"Yeah, yeah it does."
They pull into the park and it's obvious right away that they have the right park.
"Oh my god." Parrish says as he looks at the charred body and the blackened grass around it. Lydia walks forward a little shaky but mostly okay.
"Stay back, this is pretty gross."
"Seen worse." She says crouching down on her heels next to the head. It was the fat diamond ring that caught her attention. She slides it off as gently as she can. It feels cold. And that doesn't sit right. This woman was just burned alive, yet the ring is cold; it's different.
She gets up and walks over to the concrete. She flips the ring in her hand a few times before letting it drop to the pavement. She hears the whispers as it clatters. She lays down and taps it on the side walk listening intently.
"Lydia?" She gasps softly as she comes back to her body.
"Cheryl Calix." She tells him. "Her name is Cheryl Calix."
"Okay, I'm going to call this in."
"No! Just wait."
"What for?"
"For Scott."
"You called him like five minutes ago though. Won't it take–"
"Lydia!" Scott calls getting out of his car, Kira following behind him.
"You were saying? Wait five minutes, then call it in." He nods.
"Oh god." Kira says when she sees the body.
"Do you know who it is?" Scott asks.
"Cheryl Calix. Can you track the assassin?" Scott shoots a questioning look over at Parrish.
"He's fine, can you track them?" Lydia says. Scott kneels and breathes deeply eyes closed. He ends up looking straight down the street.
"Scent's faint where the assailant leaves– after however they set fire to her– but I can smell the smoke and the gas and the scent that's strongest with them. I'll follow it to see where he came from so we can see if we can find out where he's going." He nods at Kira and they move to set off down the street.
Parrish looks confused and he gives Lydia a questioning look.
"Scott?" She calls and he turns. She walks closer so their words will be more private.
"You brought a deputy?"
"I had a breakdown in his office." Lydia defends. "Besides we can trust him."
"He's on the list."
"Which means he's like us."
"Kate's like us. Peter's like us."
"I trust him." Lydia says sternly. Scoot considers her and then nods sharply.
"Okay." He turns again.
"Scott." He looks back again.
"Can I–?" She was going to phrase it as a question because it's not only her secret, but she feels right about this. "I'm going to tell him. He has a right to know." Scott takes a slow breath and then he nods.
"Call Stiles." He says and then him and Kira are of into the night.
"Everything all right?" Parrish tells her when she rejoins him by the cruiser.
"As all right as it gets in this town." She sighs.
"You know I'm different." Parrish nods with a patient blink.
"I'm not the only one."
"I know, you said Meredith–"
"Meredith was the only other Banshee I've met."
"Banshee?"
"Yeah."
"The wailing woman?"
"After what you just saw is it to hard to believe?"
"No, no on the contrary. It makes perfect sense."
"But there are other creatures."
"Supernatural creatures?"
"Yeah."
"How many?"
"I've three dead pool lists full." Lydia says looking him straight in the eye.
"The Wallcotts?"
"The wendigo family."
"Okay, uh, Cheryl Calix?"
"I don't know."
"Take a guess."
"I'd guess werewolf."
"Werewolf?"
"They're the most common."
"Wow. Scott?"
"Werewolf."
"The girl he was with?"
"Kitsune."
"The sheriffs son?"
"Human. Not on the list remember? He knows about supernatural creatures and a year ago he was possessed by a demon call the nogitsune. It killed a lot of our friends, Stiles almost included.
"Me?" He asked quietly.
"I don't know. That's why Stiles and me told you about the dead pool. We were hoping you might know why you were on it. And why you were worth as much as a Kitsune."
"Who?"
"Noshiko Yukimura."
"What do you think I am?"
"I have no idea. I'm sorry I really don't. I've not been privy to the supernatural world my whole life."
"No?"
"It's a long story. I'll tell you it later."
"Okay."
There's a lull in the conversation and then Lydia bumps Parrish's arm with her own.
"I knew you trusted me." He laughs softly.
"Yeah, I don't know why but I do." He blinks slowly thinking over his words. "I'm sorry that sounds–"
"Accurate." Lydia says smirking at his confused expression. "I get it. Its exactly how I felt about you." She admits
"Didn't think you felt anything about me." She presses her lips together to stifle her smile and she bumps against him again.
"Well that's precious." Says a new voice.
A girl steps out of the shadows. She's so pale she practically glowed in the moonlight. She's dressed in all black, black boots, black cargo pants and a black tank top to show of the rivulets of ink etched into her skin. Her hair was shaved close to her head on one side and let long to her chin on the other. There was not ink on her face and no make up either, there was a silver piercing on her brow and on one side of her nose. Lydia appreciated her style for about ten seconds.
"Crap." She breathes.
"Lydia Martin." The girl laughs. "How could I be so lucky? Lydia Martin and Jordan Parrish."
"Leave him be." Lydia says quickly stepping forward. Jordan grabs her arm but she doesn't move.
"Why should I?"
"What's five million to twenty?"
"How bout all twenty-five." She says hefting the flamethrower.
"What would your children think?" The girl tenses. "What would they think of you killing, innocent people–"
"You're not innocent."
"Just to fuel your gluttony! What would your wife think?"
"How–?"
"Does she even know you're here? What would happen if she finds out?"
"She won't!"
"She, will. The past catches up eventually trust me."
"Why do you care?"
"Why shouldn't I care? We've done nothing wrong, can't change who we are. I've never killed, I've only known what I am for a few years." The girl is quivering.
"Monsters."
"Not all monster do monstrous things." She pleaded and watched the girl waver.
"Run." She spits the word. Lydia twitches. "Not you just him." Lydia nods.
"Go." she tries to shake off his hand.
"No."
"Ten seconds." The girl tells him.
"I'm not going." Parrish tells her sternly.
"I'm sorry." The girl says. Lydia feels Jordan's arms come around her, lifting her around and pushing her out of danger. Lydia hits the ground at the same time the girl pulls the trigger on the flamethrower. Lydia tastes smoke and she knows someone is about to die.
"Jordan!" her call turns into a scream as the flames wrap around Jordan's body.
It takes her longer than it should because she's looking through her tears and the flames.
Jordan's face is a pale delicate green only a few shades darker than his eyes. He has scaly ridges across his brows and forehead. His pupils have elongated into slits. The fire licks across his skin without doing damage. Lydia and the girl are just staring at him.
"Are you okay?" There's a gentle hand on her shoulder and she looks back to see Scott. She shakes her head at him and looks back to where Jordan is standing. The girl is standing with wide eyes and the lets the flames dwindle and die. Scott takes that as his cue and lets his eye bleed red.
"Run." He tells her simply. She hesitates and Lydia scrambles to her feet.
"Your wife, your children, you can still go back to them if you run. You have a flamethrower but fire doesn't touch him and this is Scott McCall. He's faced hunters, a Darrach, the entire alpha pack, and he's already put down handful of assassins. He can add you to that list to.
"Wolves aren't resistant to fire." She says finally, points the flamethrower at Scott and pulls the trigger. Kira surges forward out of nowhere and her katana slices through the assassin's neck.
"Oh my god." Kira rears back dropping her sword and Scott hurries to comfort her.
"Parrish! Jordan oh my god." Lydia grabs onto his arms trying not to lean on him. His skin is rippling and fading back to normal. His skin is warm to the touch but otherwise unmarred. He's steady and he's fine and Lydia's panic turns into relief as she slumps against him.
"I can't believe you did that." She says
"It felt right." He says cradling her and she leans back angrily and punches him on the arm.
"You didn't know that was going to work!"
"I didn't care." She hits him again.
"Someone once told me death doesn't happen to you, it happens to everyone around you."
"Didn't think I had many people who'd miss me anyway." He mumbles. She hits him again.
"Idiot." She grumbles grabbing his neck and dragging his face down for her to kiss. It's a strange kiss. Lydia realizes this after she gets used to the feel of his too-warm mouth. It's because she looks ratty– well, ratty by her standards. She's not wearing any make up, no lip-gloss, not even Chap Stick. Her bed hair was twisted up into a sloppy bun, and she wearing the same dress from the day before.
The kiss is strange because she doesn't care. She had meant it when she told him she trusted him and she didn't know why. Almost watching him burn to death hurt her though. He sighs a breath when she leans back and Lydia laughs at the trail of steam that leaves him.
"Guess I am a supernatural creature too." He gives her a wry look. "What you think I am?"
"Well," She cards her fingers through the hair. "I'm no expert, but I'd say you looked like a dragon."
"A dragon?" he repeats in an incredulous tone. She hums contentedly.
"Stranger things have happened." She laughs breathily. "Who'd of thought I had a type."
"What do you mean?"
"My last boyfriend was a homicidal lizard."
"Should I be offended?"
"Jealous?" He stoops to claim her mouth again and his pupils are slits again when he breathes against her mouth.
"Very."
A week later Jordan is knocking on Lydia's door. He's out of uniform and Lydia thinks he looks better with out it. She kisses him on the cheek in greeting and relishes the pink flush that follows it.
"What's up I thought we were meeting up later?" She asks taking his hand and pulling him in the house.
"I got something from one of the deputies I thought you'd want to see." Lydia swallows thickly and nods pulling him up the stairs to her room.
Once they're inside with the door shut Jordan hands over the bag he'd been carrying.
"The sheets she used. I made sure they didn't destroy them but my friend hadn't been able to get them out before now." Lydia hands start to shake. Jordan covers them with his own.
"You don't have to do this."
"Yes I do." She says quickly. "I have to try." She unwraps the sheet rope and sets it carefully on the floor before sitting down next to it. Jordan sits with her in reach but not wanting to crowd her. Lydia wrings her hands and licks her lips and then presses her fingers to the frayed edge of the sheets. She shudders and her fingers find a frayed thread that feels colder than the rest.
When she tugs she hears the whispers pour. She leans forward and tugs a little more. She can't hear Meredith though and she tugs harder. The whispers rise and beneath it louder than the rest is a scream. Meredith's scream.
She jerks back scrambling away from the sheets and back into Jordan's arms.
"You're bleeding." He says touching her upper lip. She had a bloody nose. She touches her ear and it comes away bloody. Jordan inspects both ears rolling her face from side to side gently.
"She was screaming. My ears, they bleed when she screamed the first time. I think it hit me harder, her spirit. We can't connect like I'd be able to with anyone else."
"Lydia it's okay. There's nothing you could have done." He cradles her head to his chest.
"I know I just I keep thinking about how I was the only one you could call, when she died. She had no one, what she was– what I am it changed her. It drove her to the edge," She takes a deep breath. "And I pushed her over."
"You didn't know."
"Will I become her?"
"No."
"I could lose my mind. The hearing phones ringing that weren't ringing, she did that too. I might go crazy." Jordan nuzzled his nose under her ear.
"But I'd still be there for you. I'd never let you hurt yourself; I'd never dump you at Eichen. And neither would you're pack." She sighs and relaxed against his chest.
"How do always know the right things to say?" She asks. He threads his fingers through hers and whispers like it's a secret.
"Probably because I love you." It was early for them to be dropping 'L' bombs but somehow it made Lydia's heart lighter. She turns so that their noses are touching.
"You better." Which she knows he'll understand means I love you too. She kisses him soft and happy. She trust his words, she trusts him. And as she closes her eyes to listen to him breathe, she hopes that doesn't have to change.