Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Wolf, nor any of its characters.

CHAPTER NINE
The Ashes of Despair

"Grief does not change you, Hazel. It reveals you."
- John Green, The Fault in Our Stars


Stiles turned into Rose's street and cradled his phone against his ear. "Okay, so she was on her way home when you last spoke? Concussion? Yeah, Liam's the same. Thanks Nessa." He said, hanging up the phone and screeching to a halt outside of Rose's house.
Jumping out of the car, Stiles eyed the Hunter house suspiciously; the front door was ajar.
"Weird." He muttered, thinking to himself that if he were a teen murderess, he would probably shut the door behind him.
Mounting the steps, he knocked on the open door and peered inside.
"Rose?" He called, but was met with silence.
The house had an almost eerie quality to it, and Stiles felt a shiver run down his spine as a dark feeling of foreboding overwhelmed him.
"… Rose?" He called again, stepping over the threshold. Walking carefully through the hallway, he couldn't help but note how normal the home appeared; there was a coat rack, Rose's backpack had been tossed into the corner next to the door, and family photos hung on the walls. Stiles studied a photo of Rose and Charity at Wrigley Field. They were dressed in Cubs merchandise and grinning cheerily at the camera.
"Huh, Wrigley Field… Chicago." He muttered.
Stiles walked into an office and curiously opened a drawer of the desk. Looking at the dimensions of the drawer, he frowned; the bottom of the drawer and the interior of it didn't match up.
"Fake bottom?" He wondered aloud.
Curiously, Stiles removed the contents of the drawer and knocked on the base of the drawer. Sure enough, it was hollow. Carefully pushing down on the back of the drawer, eventually the false bottom lifted to reveal a single file. Opening it up, the file revealed a series of official paperwork for a string of different people. Birth certificates, driver license's, passports… Stiles realised in shock that the file was full of fake ID's for both Charity and Rose. Stiles picked up a handful and skimmed through "Jodie Parks, Cornelia Spencer, Blair Astoria… Is Rose Hunter even her real name?" Stiles questioned aloud. Abandoning the file from the desk, he stepped into the hallway again. "Rose? Are you here?" He said, walking into the kitchen.

It was the smell that hit him first; the metallic scent of blood was overpowering as he stepped into the room. Stiles gagged, covered his nose with his sleeve and peered over the kitchen counter. He gasped and took several steps back as he saw the body of Charity Hunter, bloody and pale, lying spread-eagled across the kitchen floor. Her arms, legs and chest were emblazoned with the words 'Bad Blood', and her throat had been slit. Blood was everywhere, it pooled around her head and seeped out of her wounds still, it looked as if she had been killed mere moments before Stiles had arrived. Charity stared at the ceiling with dead, glassy eyes.
Stiles felt his stomach heave and quickly removed himself from the room. He took out his phone and dialled his Dad's number. Bursting out of the house he spoke madly into the receiver.
"Dad, there's a corpse at the Hunter residence, it's Charity Hunter, Rose Hunter's Mom, your new assistant. She's got Bad Blood written all over her Dad." He gushed, beginning to feel dangerously ill.
"Stiles get out of there now! The killers could still be there!' The Sherriff commanded.
Stiles leant over the front garden of the Hunter residence and emptied his stomach completely, then wiped his mouth on his sleeve and took a deep breath. Stiles quickly made his way to the curb and wrenched open the driver's door of the Jeep.
"I'm out, they're not there anymore. Rose isn't there either." He replied into the phone, leaning heavily against his headrest.
"Okay son, just get home as soon as possible, I'll be there as soon as I can." The Sherriff assured.
Stiles turned the keys in the ignition shakily. "Dad, get here soon. It's… Messy." He advised, hanging up the phone.

Suddenly, the passenger door of the Jeep swung open and someone jumped into the passenger seat. Stiles yelled out in surprise and regarded them incredulously.
"Rose?" He questioned, looking at the girl disbelievingly.
Rose looked at him. She was a mess, sobbing and red faced, her hands shaking. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, I just don't know what to do and you were just here and… And… They're here." She said madly.
She took a shuddering breath and began to cry heavily. "They killed Maree, they killed her Stiles. I thought they would just take me back and leave her alone. Stiles she wanted to leave, she told me we had to leave and I said no. Oh my God this is my fault, this is all my fault…" Rose ranted as she began to hyperventilate and cry hysterically, trembling like a leaf.
"Rose..." Stiles said, realising with horror she was having a panic attack. She looked at him with terrified eyes and tried to breathe, but it was like her lungs were a vacuum and nothing she could do would make the air reach them.
Stiles grabbed her by the shoulders "Rose! Look at me!" He commanded. She looked at him with wide eyes and gasped. Stiles bit his lip and looked at her helplessly.
"I'm only doing this because it worked for me once… It's platonic I swear." He said simply, before kissing her fiercely.
Rose stiffened in shock before quickly pushing him away and taking a deep breath. She looked at him in surprise and took another deep breath, "Thanks I guess." She muttered.
Stiles shook his head. "Don't mention it… Ever. Now we're going to take a quick trip to Deaton's, before I take you to my Dad for your confession." He commanded, pulling the Jeep into gear and pulling out into the road.
Rose looked at him in confusion. "What am I confessing?" She questioned, biting her nails anxiously.
"The murder of Aurora Lyall." He stated, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
Rose smiled humourlessly. "Stiles, I haven't committed suicide." She said.
He looked at her quizzically. "What do you mean?" He demanded.
Rose shot him a sad smile and sighed. "I didn't kill Aurora Lyall." She explained. "I am Aurora Lyall."
Stiles raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Explain." He demanded.


The men shifted awkwardly under Jeremy's withering gaze.
"Sir, she uh… She wasn't there." Mark said uncomfortably.
Jeremy's eyes flashed a terrible red; he pinched the bridge of his nose and attempted to calm himself down.
"What?" He questioned softly, in quiet fury.
Mark scuffed his feet. "There were signs that she had inhabited the house, but she was nowhere to be found. We believe she may have… Evaded us."
Jeremy took a deep breath and smiled serenely at his men. "I want my sister found, and I want you to drag her back here. Then, I want to kill her. Is that such a demand? Is it such an arduous task for you to find a SIXTEEN YEAR OLD GIRL?" He roared.
Mark flinched. "I don't believe we should make the mistake of underestimating your sister again Sir." He said quietly.
Jeremy looked at him sneeringly. "What is there to underestimate? She's a stupid little girl, nothing to it; the fact that she has managed to slip through your fingers so many times is not a testament to her abilities, but rather a telling glimpse into just how unqualified you are."
Mark coughed. "Sir, I mean no disrespect, but Aurora has managed to siphon all of the funds from her trust, as well as a significant amount of money from the family accounts into a separate account that even our greatest minds are unable to find. They don't know how she did it Sir, but she's robbed you over at least twenty five percent of your family's fortune."
Jeremy opened his mouth to rebut but Mark continued.
"She's managed to get her hands on several false identities that we don't discover until she leaves them behind for us to find. She's also hacked into various government systems and deleted huge sections of data that make it impossible to use facial recognition software on CCTV footage. Now, I'm not saying she did this all by herself, in fact it's impossible that she did, but your sister is resourceful and charming enough to befriend the right people who will then happily do her favours at the drop of a hat."
Jeremy stared at his mercenary in cold fury. "What are you trying to say here?" He questioned dangerously.
Mark raised an eyebrow. "You asked me what there is to underestimate Sir… The answer is plenty. My advice would be don't allow the image that you have in your head of your defenceless and timid little sister stop you from seeing the big picture here… Because Aurora is not an easy enemy, nor is she someone we should underestimate."
Jeremy took a deep breath. "Very well." He conceded. "Do whatever you need to do, but find that little witch and bring her to me, it's time I received some vengeance for my Mother." He said cuttingly, before stalking out of the room.


Liam sat down in Deaton's office and looked at him disbelievingly. "Mates." He said.
Deaton smiled. "Yes, mates."
Liam shook his head. "I don't believe you."
Deaton smirked, "Okay then, I'm going to ask you a few questions and you're going to answer them honestly; then we'll get to the bottom of this." He said. Liam shrugged and nodded. "Okay."
"When you met Rose, was there a connection? A need to prove yourself?"
"Yes. We were racing, all I wanted to do was prove I was faster than her… Strong I guess."
Deaton nodded slightly, "And your relationship as a whole, what was that like?"
Liam ran a hand through his hair absentmindedly, "Erm... Turbulent? We were either really close and everything was fantastic, or we were at each others throats ready to kill one another."
Deaton nodded again. "Okay, and when you spoke, what was that like?"
"Easy, comfortable. Like talking to someone I'd known my whole life." He admitted.
"But you didn't know anything about her."
Liam shook his head/ "No, she was a total mystery and I wanted… Hell, I needed to find out more about her, she was a riddle that I had to solve. Little did I know the riddle was a murder investigation." He said bitterly.
Deaton sighed in frustration, "If she really killed someone, we have an even bigger problem. It would mean you're tied to a murderer for life, this kind of thing isn't exactly reversible Liam."
Scott stood up and paced madly across the room. "This is my fault, I told you to kiss her." He muttered guiltily.
Liam shrugged. "I would have kissed her sooner or later, it's not your fault." He opened his phone and frowned. "Rose called me." He said in surprise.
"What?" Scott questioned standing up from his seat and peering over Liam's shoulder.
"She called me, look, she left a message and everything." He said. "We just beat each other to a pulp, why would she call me? This doesn't make any sense, even for her."
Deaton frowned. "Listen to the message." He said.
Liam bit his lip and played the voicemail.
"Liam, it's Rose. I just wanted to say before I left that I'm really sorry for the way I handled things today. You were upset and that's completely understandable and I was totally in the wrong. Anyway, um, I'm leaving town soon and I figured it was best I apologise for the way I treated you before I left. I uh… I really enjoyed the time I had with you and I'll never forget how good you were to… Oh my god!" The phone message cut off abruptly and Liam looked at Scott in alarm.
"What the hell was that?" He demanded.
Scott raised his eyebrows. "I have no idea… But I think your girl might be in trouble."


The Jeep was parked at the edge of the lookout on the reserve. Below the car, the lights of Beacon Hills gradually flickered out, as the unknowing citizens of the tiny town went about their nightly business, unknowing and ignorant of the suffering of a single girl. Yet Stiles? Stiles knew the entire story.

Rose sighed. "So there you have it, the whole truth and nothing but the truth." She said humourlessly, her voice hoarse and her eyes raw from crying.
Stiles sat back against his seat and looked at her wordlessly.
"There has never been a time when I was more wrong in my life." He said.
Rose managed a single, pathetic laugh, yet it sounded more like a sob. "So you believe me." She said.
Stiles looked at her. "No one could make that up." He stated, looking at her sympathetically. "So what will you do now?" He asked.
Rose sighed and looked out the windscreen into the inky darkness of the night. "… I don't know." She admitted. "After today and everything with Liam, I was ready to pack up and leave, but now? I wouldn't even know where to begin."
Stiles took her hand and squeezed in comfortingly. "How about you stay with me tonight? You can take my bed, I'll explain to my Dad what happened, technically you're a ward of the state now, so you'd probably be staying with us anyway." He explained.
Rose looked at him. "Are you sure?"
Stiles nodded. "I accused you of murder, the least I can do is give you somewhere to sleep." He said, smiling gently at her.
Rose gave him a weak smile in return. "… Okay." She conceded.
Stiles started the car again and drove towards home. "You know you're going to have to tell the pack the story, right Rose?" He said.
Rose ran a hand through her hair. "Yeah… I know. I guess that'll have to happen tomorrow." She said.
Stiles took her hand again and rubbed his thumb consolingly across her knuckles. "It'll be okay, I promise." He swore. They drove in silence through town, before finally pulling into the Stilinski driveway.

The two teenagers got out of the car and Stiles ran upstairs and grabbed an old t-shirt and a pair of boxers. "You can wear these tonight, tomorrow I'l get someone from the station to go and get your clothes. Just wake me if you need me, okay?" He said, looking at Rose seriously.
Rose nodded and gave him a quick hug. "Thanks Stiles." She whispered.
He rubbed her back and nodded. "It's okay Rosie, it's the least I can do." He said, drawing away from her and kissing her lightly on her forehead before going downstairs. He quickly pulled out his phone and texted Scott: 'We have a problem. Speak soon, don't come to the house.'

Rose pulled on Stiles' clothes and jumped into bed. She stared at the ceiling mindlessly, before the grief crashed down on her and she began to sob hysterically. For the first time throughout this entire ordeal, Rose was completely and utterly without hope. She felt as if she was clinging desperately to the tiniest of lifeboats in a raging black ocean and at any moment a wave would thrash into her and drag her down. She cried for what seemed like years and grief sapped from her all good memories, or moments of light in her life. There was just she and the darkness of loss.

Eventually, sleep embraced her and she sank into blissful nothingness.


Heavy stuff, I know. Congratulations to those who guessed that Rose was indeed Aurora Lyall! Unfortunately this is just the beginning of a whole series of problems the pack is yet to face. This aren't exactly peachy with Rose and Liam at the moment either.

Thanks must go as always to everyone who reviews, I appreciate it immensely! Please feel free to drop a comment at the end of this, letting me know if you like the story thus far. I adore reading what you guys have to say! Chapter 10 is coming soon, so stay tuned!

- Ivy