I had my answers from Deaton, even if they were annoyingly vague. Before I left he told me he would do some digging to see if he could find anything and I was grateful. Apparently my reaction, or lack of a reaction, to the kanima venom had given him more clues on how to find answers. The next person I needed to speak to was Stiles. I knew I couldn't put off our conversation forever and the awkwardness of our every interaction was getting ridiculous. If I was going to be a team player, I needed to offer up more information than I was currently giving.
I was sitting in his desk chair in his bedroom when he walked through the door. He was startled to say the least and screamed like a little girl before tripping over his own feet and falling onto the carpet. I remained seated, watching him nonchalantly from his chair. He quickly scrambled to his feet before frowning at me in his own way he did when he was out of breath and confused. If I was a werewolf I was sure I would have been able to hear his heart hammering in his chest rapidly.
'Alex… wha… how did you get in here?' His sentence was fractured as he breathed heavily, still getting over the scare. I rolled my eyes at him and gestured to the open window across the room.
'Oh right… remind me to lock that later,' he said as he dropped down on his bed heavily. The springs squeaked and pinged. 'Err… is everything okay?' he asked. It was unlike me to be the one dropping round unexpectedly at his house, so he had a right to be a little puzzled.
'We need to talk,' I said seriously, looking over to him. He had a look of understanding on his face. I stood from my spot by his desk and began pacing up and down the short length of his room. It somehow helped me gather my thoughts when I paced and I wished in that moment that I had planned exactly what I wanted to say before showing up in his room.
'I guess I just feel like I need to explain a few things to you. It wasn't fair of me the other night to say what I said,' I started.
'Yeah, what was that about?' he asked, his tone was light by I could sense the undertones of seriousness.
'You were right before when you said I was running from something,' I told him, but I could tell by his expression that this was not new information. He was a smart kid, and I shouldn't patronise him. 'Well someone actually.'
'Him,' he said ominously, echoing my words from the other night.
'Not exactly,' I explained. 'After I ran when I was fifteen, I was on my own for a long time. One day, I was walking back to this apartment I was staying in, and this car pulled out of nowhere – hit me side on at like 30mph. It was pretty bad, broken femur, punctured lung… but this guy who hit me got out of the car and put me in the back seat. I figured he was gonna drive me to the hospital or something. I could feel myself starting to heal, and I panicked, so I told him he couldn't take me. I think he must've figured out what was happening. In the end, he took me back to this place where I got better. But the weird thing was, he didn't seem weirded out or anything – it was like he was used to this kind of thing. I asked how he could be okay with all this, most would just freak out. Turns out he was a hunter.'
'A hunter? Like the Argent's?' Stiles asked, having just listened to only a small part of my story.
'Yeah I guess. I told him everything, about my ability, where I had come from. He told me that not all hunters were like him, and that I needed to be careful and keep my ability a secret. I stayed with him for about 9 months. He trained me in armed and unarmed combat, how to defend myself, and more importantly, he taught me all about the supernatural.'
'But why? Why would a hunter want to train you?'
'He said I wasn't like the other supernaturals he had met. I guess he thought in the long run, it would be useful having a partner who couldn't get hurt. And I guess he was alone, just like me. He was like family.'
'What was his name?' Stiles asked in a soft voice.
'Dylan, Dylan Bristol,' I said, the memories of my old friend flooding my mind. I felt a tear slide down my cheek and I quickly brushed it away before Stiles had a chance to notice. 'We moved around a lot. Dylan said it wasn't safe for us, especially me, to stay in the same place for too long – we had to be careful. But we weren't careful enough.' I paused as the memories of that night came crashing around me and I shivered where I stood, remembering the screams of my best friend, my only family, telling me to run.
'What happened,' Stiles asked. I looked into his eyes. They were filled with questions and concern. I decided that if was going to carry on with the story, I needed to distance myself from any emotions I felt about that night – there was no way I would be able to get through it if I didn't. I had never told anyone about that night, ever, and it came as a surprise to me more than anyone that Stiles was the one who would hear it.
'They came one night. We would have gotten away, but there were too many of them,' I said, my face feeling heavy as I spoke the sombre words. 'They went for him first. He told me to run, to leave him, but I didn't listen – how could I? There was no way I was leaving him.'
I could tell Stiles was troubled by what I had told him, and concerned that I was upset. 'You don't have to tell me anything else,' he said, but I could tell he wanted me to continue.
'No,' I told him, 'you need to hear the rest.' I took a deep breath before I continued. 'At first I thought they were taking me to some kind of prison, or that they were just going to try and kill me, but that's not what happened. The men who came worked for this company, it was some kind of supernatural intel facility. And they had a unit at the bottom where they kept all the 'subjects', that's what they called us. It was supposed to be a scientific research base, to everyone on the outside that is, but it wasn't.'
'Like Eichen House,' Stiles said quietly, and I nodded.
'There were a whole load of researchers there, and every day they would come down and poke and prod us like we were animals or something.'
'What else was there?' Stiles asked.
'Werewolves, wendigoes, and god knows what else. There was a banshee too, but I never saw her, just heard her screams every now and again.' Stiles looked horrified by my words and I debated in my head whether I should continue for his sake.
'What happened to you there?' the boy beside me asked, and I took that as my queue that I should carry on.
'This one guy there took an interest in me especially, he was pretty crazy. I think he must have got a kick out of watching me heal over and over again or something. Almost every day he would bring a new idea he wanted to try: poisons, all kinds of surgery, bone reconstruction, dissection, trepanation…' His head shot up at the last one and I frowned, but decided not to ask.
'Oh my god,' Stiles said, a pained look of sympathy written on his face. I shivered thinking about everything that had happened to me and was grateful I was no longer there. 'Alex, I'm…'
'Don't apologise,' I said, quickly cutting him off, 'It's not your fault, it's there's. They're the reason I am how I am.' His eyes flooded with what seemed to be grief and hurt for me and soon we fell into a silence that wasn't comfortable or awkward.
'Who was he?' Stiles asked after a while.
'I never knew his real name, he only ever went by this code name he gave himself – I think it was for some kind of protection or something,' I explained.
'What was it?'
'The Chemist,' I said ominously and felt another shiver run down my spine.
'And what happened to Dylan?'
'I don't know, I never saw him again,' I said sombrely a I could see an apologetic look on Stiles' face.
'Do you think he's dead?' Stiles asked.
'I'm not sure, but for his sake, I hope so,' I replied truthfully. If they had kept him alive, I didn't even want to imagine what they might have done to him. 'I should get going,' I said after a beat, now wanting to get out of his room as fast as possible. Stiles stood as I made for the door, awkwardly reaching out a hand to comfort me. He ended up patting me on the shoulder harder than he must have intended. It didn't hurt but it certainly wasn't comforting. I wanted to giggle at his awkwardness but I bit my tongue – at least he was trying to be friendly which was more than I could say for myself. I smiled a little at him before turning back towards his bedroom door.
'Wait,' Stiles said suddenly, remembering something me had meant to ask. I turned my head to look at him, expecting him to continue with what he wanted to say, but he remained silent, eyeing me weirdly as my hand hovered over the door handle.
'What?' I snapped at him as he continued to look at me oddly.
'Nothing, I just thought you might want to talk about the other thing…' he said and I narrowed my eyes at him.
'What other thing?' I said, turning my body away from the door to face him.
'You know? The Derek thing?' he said as if it was obvious.
'What Derek thing?' I asked, growing more and more irritated by the second.
'You know? You and him… you two…?' He awkwardly gestured to me with his arms and had a pained look in his face that said he wanted me to catch on quick so he didn't have to explain fully what he was talking about.
'Stiles, there is no Derek thing! As in, me and Derek are not a thing!' I yelled as I rolled my eyes at him. He didn't look convinced.
'But you want it to be a thing,' he said as if it was a fact.
'What?! No!' I yelled again, trying to get him to drop the uncomfortable subject as quickly as possible. It was strange how this kid could go from having a serious and mature conversation to behaving like a six-year-old in only a few minutes.
'He wants it to be a thing?'
'No! No one wants it to be a thing!' I clarified, hoping he would get the message.
'Why? Don't you think he's attractive?' he asked, as if I had done something to offend him. I was completely taken aback by this sudden U turn in the conversation that I had no idea how to respond. 'You hesitated,' he said as he grinned mischievously at me. I imagined steam coming out of my ears as I screamed in frustration before I kicked him in the shins.
'Okay, okay, I get it,' he said in defeat as he raised his hands. 'I won't mention you and Derek again.'
I grabbed him by the top of his shirt, not too hard, remembering he was only human, and brought his face close to mine. 'There is no me and Derek, are we clear?' I asked in my most threatening tone. He gulped and nodded before I released him with a smirk. It still made me laugh how much I intimidated him and I wondered it there would ever come a time that he wasn't a little a bit scared of me. 'I'll be leaving now,' I told him with a fake smile. I spun around on my heel and marched to his door.
'Ah crap,' I heard a small but desperate voice say from behind me. I whipped me head around, ready to strangle this kid if he didn't just let me leave.
'What could it possibly be this time?' I asked harshly, scowling at him as he punched at his phone screen with one hand and fiddled with his car keys with the other.
'I was supposed to meet Lydia at the Sheriff's station a half hour ago,' he said, eyes still fixed on his phone. I huffed in frustration for the kid before sighing and walking over to him. I snatched the keys from his hand, making his gaze snap from his phone to me.
'I'll drive,' I said, before stalking out of the room.
By the time we arrived at the station, Lydia was already there. As we pulled into a parking space she came over to the jeep.
'Sorry we're late,' Stiles said as he jumped out of the passenger seat.
'What's she doing here?' Lydia asked, peering past Stiles and into the jeep where I was still sat in the driver's seat.
'Nice to see you again too, Lydia,' I said, grinning at her with my best fake smile. It wasn't that I didn't like Lydia, we just didn't know each other, which meant she didn't trust me. I couldn't complain; if I was her I probably wouldn't trust me either, but it did make it a little difficult for us to get along. 'What are we doing here anyway?' I asked as I got out of the jeep, throwing the keys at Stiles who fumbled with them for a few seconds before slinging them into his pocket.
'We need to talk to Deputy Parrish,' Lydia said, and by we I could tell she meant just Stiles and herself.
'Probably best if I stay here then,' I said, glaring at Lydia, annoyed that the strawberry blonde was now telling me what to do, although, it was probably a good idea if I didn't go in with them – the last two encounters I'd had with the deputy involved me being injected with cyanide and him tackling me to the ground after I jumped out of a window. 'Why do you have to talk to him anyway?' I asked suspiciously, eyeing Stiles and avoiding the banshee's stare.
'We're gonna tell him about the deadpool,' Stiles blurted out like it was some big secret I wasn't meant to find out about.
'What? Why?' I asked, narrowing my eyes at the pair of teens.
'Because he's on it.' I turned to Lydia as she spoke, my eyes widening.
'Do you-.'
'No we don't know what he is,' Lydia interrupted, guessing my questions before the words had fully formed on my tongue.
'Well there's no way I'm missing this,' I said, chuckling coldly under my breath as I hopped off the bonnet of the jeep. Lydia was about to protest but I saw Stiles shoot her a look that told her to just let me come. I smiled to myself at how easily I could get my way sometimes.
'Your dad should be back within the hour,' Deputy Parrish told Stiles as we approached the front desk. He had yet to notice me as I was hidden by the bodies of the two teens in front of me. 'You want to wait in his office?'
'Actually, we want to talk to you,' Stiles said. The deputy looked up from his computer screen, his eyes widening when he caught sight of me, recognising my face instantly.
'Privately,' Lydia clarified, Parrish's gaze drifting to the strawberry blonde for a second before returning to me. I raised my eyebrows at him, daring him to pull his gun on me (something I could tell he wanted to do by the look on his face). I shook my head at him slowly, a smirk on my lips and I could almost hear his heart rate picking up in slight fear of me. He nodded wordlessly at us, leading us into the Sherriff's office where we could talk freely without the worry of prying ears.
He took a seat and I perched myself on the large desk. Stiles and Lydia stood in front of him, ready to deliver the news. Parrish continued to eye my suspiciously as I glared at him, before being distracted by the piece of paper being thrust into his hand by Stiles.
'This is a hit list?' he asked after examining the piece of paper.
'We call it a deadpool,' Stiles said. 'Recognize any of the names?'
'Yeah. The Sheriff had me run a bunch of these through the system last night. But we couldn't find any of them,' Parrish replied. 'What does she have to do with any of this?' he asked, nodding his head at me. I smirked at him and hopped off the desk. I could tell he was afraid of me. I didn't know how much he knew already, but everything he had seen of me so far didn't paint a pretty picture.
'This is the second part of the list,' I said before Stiles or Lydia had a chance to explain, 'I'm on the first part.' His eyes widened and I could tell he was still confused. He opened his mouth to speak but Stiles cut him off.
'That's not important right now,' he stated looked over to Lydia. 'Show him the other thing.' Lydia reached out and took the piece of paper from the deputy's hand, flipping it over to he could read what was on the other side. The paper had been folded, concealing the last name on the list: Jordan Parrish.
'Okay. That's kind of terrifying,' Parrish said as he stared at his own name. 'What's the number?' he asked, referring to the 5 placed next to his name.
'That's how much you're worth,' Lydia stated apprehensively.
'I'm worth five dollars?' Parrish said, and I smiled a little at his naivety.
'Five million,' Stiles interjected, holding up five fingers to show how much he meant.
'I only make 40,000 a year. Maybe I should kill myself,' Parrish said, causing me to snort in amusement before coughing loudly to mask my laughter. Stiles sent me an unimpressed look – he knew full well that I never got sick. 'I don't get it. Why... Why am I on this?' Parrish asked, tearing his eyes away from the paper to look at the teens, eyes shifting between Stiles and Lydia. I raised my eye brows at Stiles as he looked between Lydia and myself for help answering the awkward question.
'Honestly, that might be a question for another day. Right now, there's still another third of the list we gotta crack,' Stiles said urgently and my eyes lit up at his words. That's why they were here.
'We need the third cipher key. But we need help getting it,' Lydia explained.
'From who?' Parrish said, asking the question I also wanted to know the answer to.
'Meredith,' Lydia said, causing me to frown. Meredith Walker. I had heard her name before. Scott had mentioned it to me when he was filling me on all that had happened in the past year. She was a Banshee.
'The girl from Eichen? The last time you saw her, you almost gave her a nervous breakdown,' Parrish said, dismissing the idea.
'Uh... Almost,' Lydia argued, causing me to chuckle again, her remark reminded me of something I would say. The deputy sighed heavily, before finally nodding and agreeing to the request.
'Okay, we'll go talk to Meredith.'
AN: So Alex and Stiles finally had 'the talk' and she opened up to him a little bit. Although she had told him a lot about what happened to her this is far from the whole story. I'll develop this further in later chapters but for now, this is all Alex is letting on.
As a side note, having wanted to for ages I FINALLY watched the first episode of Supernatural and it's AMAZING! Dean, where have you been all my life? Hehe just thought I'd let you guys know, though if you are a fan of the show you probably are way ahead of me!
Anyway, let me know what you guys thought of this chapter and have a happy weekend :)
