Chapter Ten
Web of Lies
Sheriff Stilinski sat very still and absorbed in the quiet of his living room. His mind rushed with the swirling thoughts of past and present.
The room was filled with the orange glow of twilight flooding in through the windows. It was the only thing that caught his attention as the minutes passed on.
With Stiles gone away- the house always seemed quiet now.
Too quiet...
Sheriff Stilinski hated that quiet. It reminded him if the wife he no longer had. It reminded him that he was alone now.
Sometimes, he couldn't help feeling like Stiles had left him alone. He knew that reasonably Stiles should go to college, but he couldn't help it.
He just wished that his son would be more honest and open sometimes...
Stiles had promised to come home for Spring Break. That had been the agreement before he'd left for university- so why was he at Lydia Martin's beach house?
Sheriff Stilinski could only reach one obvious conclusion...
Stiles and Scott must have decided to go college wild. Lydia had talked them into the idea of Spring Break at the beach- of course!
The phone rang before he could question his son's actions further.
"Hello," he answered the phone.
"Sheriff Stilinski?"
"Yes," he said shortly. "I'm off duty right now, so if you need the department..."
"Oh I'm sorry," the voice said. "I didn't mean to give you a wrong impression. My name is Gerard Argent. I'm one of your son's professors."
Sheriff Stilinski thought it odd that a college professor would call his house phone.
"Something wrong?" he asked Gerard.
"Nothing serious," the other man answered. "It's more my fault actually. You see...I forgot to mention a bit of course work I wanted him to do during his break..."
"Right," Sheriff Stilinski said, unsure if he believed the man or not. "Well I can give you his cell number. Will that do?"
"If you don't mind," Gerard replied kindly.
Sheriff Stilinski couldn't have seen the smirk playing across Gerard's features as he scribbed down the cell number.
"Thank you," Gerard said warmly, hanging up.
He looked questioningly at Kate.
"I got Scott's number," she said with a devious smile. "Just like we planned..."
Gerard handed her the slip with Stiles's number.
"You know what to do," he said, as his look became hungry. "Just run their numbers through our network, and we'll find them. Use the app..."
(At the beach house)
Scott looked worried as he glanced at the clock again. He shouldn't have insisted Stiles go alone...
They all figured when the power returned that Stiles must be on the way back. Where was he then?
Scott grabbed his jacket- deciding to do what he should have done twenty minutes ago.
"I'm going to look for him," he told Jackson and the others.
"I wouldn't worry," Lydia said. "The walk back is harder..."
"I still think he's taking too long," Scott said shortly.
He turned the front door's knob, but then his cell phone notification dinged.
Scott somehow knew the text message was from Stiles. Even before he checked...
Stiles: Scott! This you?
Scott thought the text was odd. He had a feeling of dread.
'Of course dude,' he typed out. 'You playing a joke?'
The text notification dinged again about twenty seconds later.
Stiles: I just wanted to make sure you were him. I have Stiles. You're going to do exactly what I want...
Scott felt pure horror and terror flood him. If anything happened to Stiles- he'd never forgive himself!
Stiles: I won't hurt him. I want you to grab your friend Liam and come to me. Do it- he'll be fine...
"Guys," Scott said, anxiety clear on his face. "We have to go back. Now!"
Jackson and Lydia exchanged horrified looks. They both guessed...
"Tell him we're coming," Lydia said.
Scott sent the reply as directed, but that plan went out the window when they opened the front door...
Kate was standing outside. She was flanked by a bunch of scary looking guys with automatic weapons.
She pushed a gun of her own directly against Scott's heart and edged him back in.
"I've got you my pretty," she hissed malevolently. "...and your little friends too!"
She smirked at Lydia and Jackson with a slightly crazed look.
(The Hale Loft)
Stiles groaned and opened his eyes to pitch black darkness.
He briefly remembered the power shed incident. Then he realized he was tied up...
"Stiles do you hear me," a man's voice almost whispered.
He realized he was in a closet, and someone was on the other side of the door.
"Do not scream," the voice advised. "I have your father here with me. I will kill him if you disobey..."
Stiles flooded with panic.
"What do you want?" he muttered back, sounding fearful.
"To share my plan with you," the man said, sounding almost amused. "You see- I wouldn't have turned your friend. Given the choice..."
Stiles realized the speaker was referring to Scott's lycanthropy, and shock blended with fear.
"That was my niece's unfortunate mistake," the man went on.
Stiles felt his heart skip a beat.
The man had said niece! Could he mean...Laura Hale?
"However, I will need a pack. That's where I'll need Scott, and your friend Liam too. Yes, that's right Stiles..."
Stiles fought against the urge to scream.
What if the man wasn't bluffing? What if his dad was there? Could he risk it?
Sure...he could yell for Laura or Derek, but- the other man must be one of them too...
"I advise you to think Stiles," the man emphasized. "I need a pack. Think very carefully. You have until Scott and Liam get here to choose your answer..."
Everything in Stiles revolted against what the stranger was suggesting.
He'd would never want what Scott and Derek had...
(Unknown location)
Kate pulled the van into the parking lot of an abandoned warehouse. Gerard had converted it into an Argent base.
Her father was already standing in the parking lot- waiting with his wide, calculating smile.
Scott was stashed in the back of the van with Jackson and Lydia tied up and gagged nearby.
He was bending his body to near snapping in half- trying to send a message to whoever had Stiles's phone.
He was tapping out a message with his rope-bound hands, while he held the phone between his feet very carefully.
Somehow he'd managed to stay in the pretzel position long enough...
'Captured by hunters...please don't hurt him...'
Seconds later- rough, strong arms were wrestling him out of the cab.
He was forced to turn and Gerard slapped him hard across the face. He got a vague coppery taste of blood...
"Scott McCall," he hissed through clenched teeth. "You survived before, but your luck has run out! My daughter has a very special death for you..."
"Why!?" he demanded, trying in vain to wrestle free. "What did I do to you- you old psychopath!?"
A nearby hunter clicked on a rod weapon and stabbed it into Scott, whose insides lit up with firey pain.
The fly of sparks went in every direction and he gasped weakly when the weapon was retracted.
"You watch your tongue," Gerard warned. "I can make this much more prolonged and painful..."
Then the old man gave a chuckle.
"You hear that men!?" the old hunter laughed. "He asks us why!"
Then he clapped Scott on the shoulder like they were having a mere professor to student talk.
"The Hales went back on their word," he breathed coldly into Scott's ear. "They said they wouldn't make any more. Unfortunate for you..."
"I'm innocent," Scott pleaded.
Gerard's expression became hard again.
"Don't beg for mercy," he warned. "I don't give mercy to your kind. I told myself a long time ago when I murdered my own mother that mercy is for the weak and pitiful. I don't beg for any, and I give none..."
He thrust Scott forcefully into the arms of Kate's henchmen, who were waiting nearby.
Kate was there too- smiling with pure wicked malevolence.
"I don't show any either," she said sweetly, before slapping Scott hard. "Now carry this rabid dog in! Time to put it out of it's misery..."
The men dragged Scott into the dark warehouse kicking and struggling to no avail.
(Hale loft)
Stiles had managed not to scream.
It seemed like hours had passed in the dark, but he could only wonder with terror if his dad was dead or alive.
The dark and silence may as well have been enternity, but finally the man was there again...
"A slight wrench has been thrown into my plans," he said quietly against the door. "They have him. If Scott can't escape this without help- he isn't worthy to call me alpha!"
Stiles had a new fear as he was again left alone and tied up in the dark.
What if Scott was dead too? What if Liam was? What if they all were?
(Argent compound)
Scott was bound with chains to a stiff metal table. He gazed up with horrified eyes at a huge blade that Kate was tampering around with.
Getting ready...
"I wouldn't want to kill you before I play," she explained. "This swinging blade with sway back and forth. Back and forth..."
Then she released the blade and it began it's swinging.
"It will get closer and closer," she continued. "In about twenty minutes Scott- you're sliced like ham!"
"No," he pleaded. "Kate don't! We were friends..."
"Were friends," she emphasized, turning his words on him. "Past tense..."
With that she left him alone. The men had left him. Scott was alone.
Only the ominous swoosh of the blade swinging back and forth penetrated the silence...