HARSHER THAN THE BARK
A/N: Back so soon? I know, it's crazy, right? Anyway, I have decided to reward the cute comments I have received with another chapter!
Enjoy!
From the party, the three teens went straight to Stiles' house to find his dad and convince him that they had to lock Matt up for committing all those murders.
"So this kid's the real killer?" Sheriff Stilinski asked when Stiles showed him a year book with Matt's picture circled. The three nodded eagerly. "No." He said doubtfully.
The teens looked at him, dumbfounded. Sure it seemed a little odd that they were bringing some random kid into all of this and accusing him of murder but there wasn't any real reason for not believing them.
"Yes." Stiles protested.
"No." The Sheriff shook his head again. Scarlett sighed. They were going to need hard evidence to convince Stilinski, she knew that, but the longer they sat around not doing anything about arresting Matt, the more chance there was that he was going to kill someone else. Maybe even someone close to them now that they knew he was the one behind the kanima.
"Look, everyone knows that the police look for evidence to connect murders in a case so all he had to do was look through some transcripts and figure out which class they all had in common." Stiles tried to coax his dad into seeing how easy it would have been for Matt to frame Harris for all the murders.
"Yeah except the rave promoter, Kara, wasn't in Harris' class." Stilinski countered.
"Oh, so did they drop the charges on Harris then?" Stiles asked, knowing the answer already.
"No, they didn't drop the charges but that doesn't prove anything." Stilinski looked at the twins. "Scott, Scarlett, do you believe this?"
"I know it sounds a little hard to believe but you have to trust us. The person killing people is Matt." Scarlett said, determination in her voice. Matt had had one of her very best friends killed. She wanted nothing more than to see him locked up for the rest of his miserable little life.
"Yeah, he took Harris' car." Stiles went on to explain. "He knew that if the cops found tire tracks at one of the murders and if enough of the victims were in Harris' class that they would arrest him."
Stilinski nodded. "Okay, I'll allow the remote possibility but give me a motive. Why would this kid want most of the two thousand and six swim team, and its coach, dead?"
"Isn't it obvious?" Stiles exclaimed. "The swim team suck! They haven't won in like, six years…" Scarlett rolled her eyes. That was the worst motive ever. "Okay so we don't have a motive yet but, come on, does Harris?"
Sheriff Stilinski sighed. Scarlett smiled slightly. She knew that he would try his best to help them and that was a start. "What do you want me to do?"
"We need to look at the evidence." Scott said, stepping forward.
"Yeah that would be at the station, where I no longer work." Scarlett had forgotten that he had been excused from duty but she still saw him as the Sheriff.
"Trust me, they'll let you in." Stiles said, trying to sound convincing.
"Trust you?" Stilinski asked, astonished that Stiles would ask such a thing, especially when he was the reason he had to turn in his badge.
"Okay…trust Scott?" Stiles offered, earning another unconvincing look from his father.
"Trust me." Scarlett said.
"Yeah, trust Scarlett." Stiles nodded.
"Scarlett I trust." Stilinski said approvingly, earning a small smile of achievement from Scarlett.
With Sheriff Stilinski on their side, the group headed to the police station. When they walked they were greeted by the officer who had the unfortunate job of front desk duty.
"It's two in the morning." She said when she saw the group enter.
"Trust me, I wouldn't be here if it wasn't extremely important." Stilinski told her.
"We'll look at the hospital stuff first." Stiles whispered to Scott and Scarlett.
"Why?" Scott asked.
"Because all the murders were committed by Jackson, except one."
"The pregnant girl." Scarlett filled in. "Matt had to finish the job himself." The disgust was evident in her tone. He was pure evil. He had so much blood on his hands, despite only physically killing one person. He orphaned a child. He needed to be put away for good.
"Yeah so somebody from the hospital could have seen him." Stiles said.
"Come on." Stilinski said once he had clearance to go and look at the evidence. The trio followed him quietly.
Scarlett stood beside Scott while Stiles leaned over his father's shoulder as he pulled up the footage from the cameras in the hospital of the day Jessica died, or was murdered, rather.
"I don't know guys," Sheriff Stilinski started. "There was a six car pile-up that day, the hospital was jammed."
"He had to pass one of the cameras on this floor to get to Jessica." Stiles persisted.
They all watched on at the tape of various people walking past the cameras in the hospital until Scarlett noticed something.
"Wait, stop. Rewind…stop." The Sheriff stopped the tape just as someone in a leather jacket walked past the camera. Despite it being the back of his head, Scarlett knew that was Matt. "That's him."
"All I see is the back of someone's head." Stilinski said blatantly.
"Yeah, Matt's head." Stiles added. "I sit behind him in history. He's got a very distinct cranium."
"Are you crazy?" Stilinski asked with an obvious look of disbelief on his face. He was starting to think they were wasting their time with this.
"Okay, then look at his jacket. How many people wear a leather jacket?"
"Millions. Literally." The Sheriff said, his tone becoming agitated.
"Scroll forward. There's gotta be a shot of him coming towards one of the cameras." Scott said. Stilinski scrolled forward on the tape until Stiles stopped him.
"Right there. There he is again."
"You mean there's the back of his head again." The Sheriff rolled his eyes.
"He's talking to someone." Stiles said.
"Yeah, our mom." Scarlett pointed out, looking at Scott.
Without wasting any time Scarlett took out her phone and dialled their mother. She answered on the second ring and Scarlett put her on speaker phone.
"Scarlett do you know how many people I deal with in a day?" Melissa asked once they had explained that they were looking for Matt.
"This one's sixteen, dark hair and he looks like a normal teenager…" Scott tried to describe Matt but he wasn't doing very well.
"He looks evil." Stiles added in dramatically.
"I already talked to the police about this."
"Okay I'm gonna take a picture and send it to you." Scarlett said, hoping that it would jog Melissa's memory. "Did you get it?"
"Yeah."
"Do you recognise him? Do you remember him?" Scott asked.
"Yeah…I remember I stopped him because he was tracking mud in the hall. Scott, what's going on?" Melissa's tone was becoming more and more confused.
"We'll explain later. Gotta go." Scott told her
"We've got shoe prints alongside the tire tracks at the trailer site." Stilinski explained, quickly looking through some files about the murders.
"And if they match- "
"Then that puts Matt at the scene of three murders." Scarlett interrupted Stiles to finish what he was going to say.
Stiles nodded. "The trailer, the hospital and the rave."
"Actually four." Stilinski added in. "A receipt for an oil change was signed by Matt at the garage where the mechanic was killed."
"When?" Stiles asked as his dad stood up.
"Few hours before you got there." Stilinski confirmed with a nod.
"Alright dad, if one's an incident, two's a coincidence and three's a pattern…what's four?" Stiles asked eagerly.
"Four's enough for a warrant."
Scarlett couldn't hide her relief. They finally had what they needed to bring Matt in and she couldn't be more pleased. The sooner he was gone from their lives, the better.
"Alright, Scarlett, call your mom and see how fast she can get down here. If I can get an official ID, I can get a search warrant." Scarlett nodded and got to calling her mom back. "Stiles, go to the front desk and tell them to let Melissa in when she comes."
"She's on her way." Scarlett told Scott and the Sheriff when she was off the phone with Melissa.
"Sheriff?" Scott asked, wondering why Sheriff Stilinski was looking past him.
Scott and Scarlett both turned only to see Stiles get shoved into the room by Matt who was holding a gun to Stiles' head and then pointing it at all of them. Scarlett immediately moved behind Scott, her initial anger was taken over by the possibility that this crazy son of a bitch was going to shoot them all.
Being the reasonable Sheriff he is, Stilinski tried to talk to Matt.
"It's Matt, right?" He asked to which Matt nodded. "Whatever this is, I'm sure there's a solution that doesn't involve a gun."
"You know it's funny you say that because I don't think you know how right you are." Matt said darkly.
The Sheriff kept his hands up and his voice calm. "You don't want to hurt people."
"Actually I want to hurt a lot of people. You four weren't on my list…especially you, Scarlett," A cold chill was sent down Scarlett's back as she tried to not let her fear show by glaring the sharpest daggers imaginable at Matt. "But, I could be persuaded. Dialling someone on your cell like McCall is, is one way to do it. That…that could definitely get someone hurt. Everyone, phones." Matt demanded, waving the gun at them. "Now!"
All four of them unwillingly put their cells on the table and put their hands up. Matt then herded them out of the room, grabbing Scarlett forcefully and holding the gun to her head just to make sure the males cooperated. Scarlett struggled but found it useless and gave Scott a look that said 'don't try anything.'
They walked to the room with the cells in it and Matt forced Stiles to handcuff his dad to the wall.
"Tighter." Matt demanded, gesturing to the cuffs that he assumed Stiles would have tried to make loose enough for the Sheriff to get free. Stiles tightened the cuffs with a clenched jaw.
Matt then motioned for the other three to head out of the room and to the front of the police station. Scott stopped while passing a hallway. His jaw fell open. Three dead cops lay lifeless, covered in blood. Scarlett gasped and covered her mouth, wondering just how many more people Matt wanted to kill for no reason.
"What? Are you gonna kill everyone in here?" Scott asked desperately.
"No," Matt gave a small, sick smile. "That's what Jackson's for. I just think about killing them…and he does it."
Matt ushered them back into the Sheriff's office and forced Scott and Stiles to destroy all the evidence they had against him by shredding it or deleting it from computer files, while he sat with the gun still pointed at Scarlett who crossed her arms and stood defiantly and watched.
"And we're done." Stiles said as he deleted the last file. 'And, Matt, since all those people you brutally murdered deserved it because they killed you first, whatever that means, we're good here, right? I'll just get my dad and we'll go and you can continue on your whole vengeance thing. Enjoy the kanima."
Before Matt could reply, they all turned their heads to the window as a car pulled up in the parking lot.
"Looks like your mom's here, McCalls." Matt said, looking at both Scarlett and Scott. Scarlett's heart sank.
"Leave her out of it, Matt. She doesn't know anything. She's not a part of this and she's not a threat." Scarlett all but growled. She knew he wouldn't listen to her, Matt was crazy so Scarlett mentally prepared herself to do whatever it took to make sure her mother stayed alive, even if that meant getting hurt herself.
"I'll tell her to leave when she gets here. I'll tell her we didn't find anything, please." Scott pleaded but to no avail.
"Shut up. Both of you." Matt snapped, turning to Scott. "If you don't move now I'm gonna kill Stiles. And then I'm gonna kill Scarlett and your mom in front of you." The four of them walked through to the front desk. "Open the door."
"Please don't do this." Scott said.
"Open the door now." Matt demanded. Scott took a breath and twisted the handle.
When the door opened they saw Derek standing there and a rush of relief along with major panic went through Scarlett.
"Oh thank God." Scott sighed.
Derek didn't move. He just stood there, causing confusion until he fell on the floor in front of him, managing to land facing upwards. Scarlett gasped and fell down next to him, looking up to see Jackson, half kanima and half human.
"What the hell are you doing here?" Scarlett hissed at the paralyzed Derek.
He rolled his eyes, obviously this wasn't what he expected to happen.
"This is the one controlling him? This kid?" Derek asked with disbelief and disappointment.
Scarlett felt herself being roughly yanked to her feet by Matt, making Derek growl although it was useless as he couldn't move to defend her.
"Well, Derek, we can't all be a big, bad werewolf like you." Matt stood up with a short laugh. "Oh that's right, I've learned a few things lately…werewolves, hunters, kanimas. It's like a freakin' Halloween party every full moon. Except for you two," He said, turning his attention towards Stiles and Scarlett. "What do you turn into?"
"An even bigger bitch." Scarlett sneered.
"Abominable snowman. But it's more of a winter time thing, you know, seasonal." Stiles smart remark earned a small snigger from Scarlett. But unfortunately, Matt didn't find it as funny and gave Jackson a look that made Jackson immediately swipe the back of Stiles' neck, paralyzing him and making him fall on top of Derek.
"Bitch." Stiles mumbled once he had fallen.
"Get him off of me." Derek said tensely and uncomfortably. Scarlett quickly moved to roll Stiles off of Derek but was pulled back by Matt, yet again, making Scarlett want to kick his ass even more.
"I don't know, Derek, you two make a pretty good pair. No offence Scarlett." Matt winked at her making her feel sick. "It must suck though, having all that power taken away from you with just a cut to the back of the neck. I bet you're not used to feeling this helpless."
"Still got some teeth. Why don't you come a little closer and we'll see how helpless I am." Derek said making Scarlett grin.
"Yeah, bitch." Stiles said, his voice muffled by Derek's shoulder.
The sound of another car pulling into the lot sent Scarlett's heart racing again.
"Is that her?" Matt asked sarcastically. He stood up and grabbed Scarlett's arm again, pointing the gun to her head, again.
"You know I'm gonna shove this down your throat if you keep pointing at my head you bastard." Scarlett snarled.
Matt tightened his grip on her arm and directed his words towards Scott. "Do as I say and I won't touch her. I won't even let Jackson near her." He said, referring to Melissa. "I might even let this mouthy little tramp live." This time he was referring to Scarlett.
Scarlett struggled against his grip again. She knew that if she needed to she could get out of it. She had been through this kind of drill with Allison and those times she had made the grip and the type of hold she had her in a lot harder to get out of but, Scarlett had managed it each time. So in this situation, she just had to wait for the right moment.
A growl ripped through Derek at Matt's words. How dare he say anything like that to or about Scarlett. He was determined to rip the little bastard's throat out just for that comment alone.
"You," Matt nodded to Jackson. "Take them in there and you two, can stay with me."
Jackson dragged Stiles and Derek into the other room and Matt gestured for Scarlett and Scott to move further back from the door. As soon as they did that, Melissa entered the station.
"Mom." Scarlett's voice was shaky.
Melissa sighed and walked around to see Scarlett. "You scared me, where is everyone..." Melissa trailed off when she found Matt holding a gun to both of her children. Her heart started to race but Scott tried to keep her calm.
"Mom, just do what he says. He promised he wouldn't hurt you." Scott said calmly even though he was terrified inside.
"He's right." Matt nodded. Scott turned to face Matt only to be shot in the stomach out of nowhere making Melissa shriek and move backwards.
"No!" Scarlett turned on Matt and kicked the gun out of his hands, much to his surprise, before punching him square in the face and knocking him on the floor. As Scott stumbled towards Melissa, Matt kicked Scarlett's legs making her fall. They both locked eyes on the gun and scrambled to get to it first, ending up in a fist fight, rolling on the floor, clawing at each other to get to the gun. Scarlett got a few more punches in but when she had Matt pinned down, she reached for the gun only to be head-butted, allowing Matt to gain the upper hand in getting the gun which he then held to a bloodied, broken-nosed Scarlett while he wiped the blood away from his burst lip and touched his swollen eye.
"You bitch." He spat, putting his finger on the trigger as Scarlett glared at him defiantly.
"Stop!" Melissa shouted. Standing up from her position by Scott. She was already shocked and horrified at seeing one her of her children get shot and the other getting into a fight with a crazy guy. She wasn't about to see Scarlett die.
"Get back." Matt growled, pointing the gun at Melissa now. Neither Scarlett nor Scott had the strength to tackle him.
"Do what he says mom." Scarlett choked out, spitting up some blood.
In the background they could hear Sheriff Stilinski shouting and asking what had happened.
"Matt!" The Sheriff shouted. "You don't want to do this!"
"Shut up! Shut up! Shut up! Everybody just shut the hell up!" Matt screamed back. "Now get up! Both of you! Or I shoot her next." He said, keeping the gun pointed firmly at Melissa. Scarlett and Scott looked at each other, slowly rising to their feet at the same time despite their bodies desperate protests. "Now move."
Matt moved them all back into the room with Sheriff Stilinski, locking Melissa in a cell while she protested profusely.
"Please, he needs to see a doctor." Her tone was pleading and the tears streamed down her face. "They both do, please."
"Will you heal?" Scarlett whispered to Scott.
He nodded. "Is it bad?" He asked, referring to her wounds. She shook her head in return.
"You think so?" Matt asked Melissa, not hearing Scott and Scarlett.
"Hey you listen here-" Stilinski began to shout, pointing at Matt and trying to break free from the cuffs.
"It's okay! We're okay." Scott said, leaning against the wall for support.
"No honey, you're not okay. Neither are you Scarlett." Melissa cried, looking broken-heartedly at her bloodied kids.
"It doesn't hurt." Scott said. Scarlett nodded to back him up.
"That's the adrenaline. Please, please just let me take look at them. I can help stop the bleeding."
"They have no idea, do they?" Matt asked, the fact that no one knew about Scott and the fact that he would heal was really getting to him.
"Please just let me take a quick look- "
"Shut up!" Matt barked at Melissa, interrupting her and making her bow her head. "Lady, if you don't stop talking, I am going to kill you."
"You're not gonna touch her, you asshole." Scarlett sneered, stepping forward, ready to pounce again.
"You." Matt whipped his head around, coming face to face with Scarlett before Scott yanked her back. Matt kept coming towards her though with the gun pointed at her face. "You're about two seconds away from getting shot in the face so I suggest you stop with the brave act. It would be such a shame to see a beautiful face get ruined." Scarlett's blood boiled but she stayed quiet. "Back to the front, you two."
The twins took another glance at their desperate mother, a look that promised her everything would be okay although they all knew it probably wouldn't be.
Matt pushed them both into the Sheriff's office.
"Look, what more do you want? All the evidence is gone." Scott asked, wondering when this would all end.
"I want the book."
"What goddamn book?" Scarlett asked, becoming more and more pissed off by the second. They weren't all going to die for some book. She knew that for sure.
"The bestiary." Matt specified.
"Well tough shit you little fucking psycho." Scarlett spat. "We don't have it. Gerard does. So maybe you and your little kanima freak should go terrorise him instead."
"I've had enough of you." Matt nodded to Jackson who in the blink of an eye had Scarlett paralyzed on the floor right next to Derek.
"Fucking asshole." Scarlett seethed.
"What the hell happened to your face? Did he do that? I swear I'm gonna rip him apart." Derek stressed from his, still paralyzed, space beside her.
"Don't worry, he doesn't look so hot either." Scarlett replied blandly.
"What do you want it for anyway?" Scott asked, trying to ignore the fact that he was more or less the last man standing.
"I need answers."
"To what?"
"To this." Matt said, lifting up his shirt to reveal his side that was becoming scaly just like the kanima.
Scarlett shivered when she saw it. That was the last thing they needed. Another killing machine running around.
Matt and Scott left the room again, leaving Jackson to stand guard over the three paralyzed on the floor.
"Hey," Stiles whispered. "You know what's happening to Matt?"
"The book's not gonna help him." Derek replied in the same whisper. "You can't just break the rules and get away with it. Not like this. The universe balances things out. It always does."
"So this is happening to him because he's using Jackson to kill people who don't deserve it?" Scarlett asked, trying to fit the puzzle pieces together.
"And killing people himself." Derek added in.
"So, Matt breaks the rules of the kanima, he becomes the kanima?" Stiles asked.
"Balance." Derek answered simply.
"He's not gonna believe us if we tell him that." Scarlett confirmed.
"He's gonna kill us all when he gets that book, isn't he?" Stiles pondered.
"Yep." Derek and Scarlett both said in unison.
"So what do we do? Just sit here and wait to die?" Stiles didn't sound pleased at that idea.
"Unless I can find a way to push the toxin out of my body faster. Like triggering the healing process." Derek explained before digging his claws into his thigh.
"What're you- oh that's gross." Stiles said in disgust as he saw what Derek was doing.
"What? What're you doing? What is he doing?" Scarlett asked hastily, not receiving an answer but realising he must be hurting himself to trigger his healing.
They had been lying there in silence for the last ten minutes, hearing bits and pieces of what Matt was saying to Scott. Scarlett couldn't hear it all but she did hear something about Matt getting drowned when he was younger and Jackson being his 'fury' or some shit like that. She became more anxious by the second and apparently so did Stiles.
"So is that hypothetical situation we talked about getting any less hypothetical?" He asked.
"Yeah, can you move anything?" Scarlett asked Derek, hoping that he was close to maybe getting them out of this.
"I think so. I can move my toes." Scarlett sighed with relief. Maybe there was hope after all.
"Dude, I can move my toes." Or not.
"I can't move mine." Scarlett complained.
"We've been like this longer." Stiles told her.
"Yeah well how long does this usually take to wear off because Scott is out there alone with that maniac and-" The lights shutting off silenced Scarlett. Alarms started going off and the next thing she knew there was guns being fired and windows breaking. "What the hell is that?" She asked in a panic.
"I think I can move. I can move my legs." Derek announced trying to sit up.
Something landed near the door and exploded, filling the room with smoke making Scarlett cough and gag. She didn't see him come in but all of a sudden Scott was there next to her.
"You get Stiles." Derek directed Scott, getting to his feet and grabbing hold of Scarlett, lifting her in his arms and following after Scott.
"What is going on Derek?" Scarlett asked, her body still numb.
"I don't know for sure but I wouldn't doubt that the Argents are involved." Derek stopped abruptly and hid behind a wall. "Shit."
"What?" As Scarlett couldn't move her head, her sight was limited.
"Jackson is following Scott and Stiles." He told her, taking off in a different direction, away from Jackson and out of the smoke. They stopped in a small office and Derek set Scarlett down. "Stay here and I'll come back and get you once I know it's safe."
"What? No! Don't you dare leave me here." Scarlett protested.
"I'll be back soon." Before Scarlett could say anything else Derek pressed his lips to hers and gave her a quick kiss before disappearing.
Scarlett cursed Derek as she lay there not being able to move. She felt more helpless than ever. Any number of things could be going on out there and she couldn't do a thing. Although, she was proud of herself for roughing up Matt. That was a start and it showed that her lessons with Allison were paying off. It worried her slightly though. Allison was teaching her the tactics of a hunter. Something Scarlett definitely wasn't. She could never be a hunter, not with her boyfriend and her brother being werewolves but if she learned how to fight like one then she would be useful and powerful and that was all Scarlett wanted.
While she was waiting for the toxin to wear off, she began looking around the room for something she could use to defend herself. A gun would be preferable but as there didn't seem to be any of those lying around she would have to make do with something else. But after a while of not spotting anything, she gave up. It wasn't like she would be able to do anything should she be attacked. She was fucking paralyzed. She hadn't been like this since a party last summer where she drank just a little too much and couldn't remember how to move.
Her thoughts were interrupted by the door bursting open to reveal a pissed off Derek.
"Time to go." He said in a monotone voice, scooping her up once again and carrying her out of the police station without a word. When they reached his car, he sat her inside while he stood guard with the door opening.
"What happened Der?" Scarlett asked sympathetically, noticing the betrayed look on his face. Something had definitely gone wrong.
"Did you know about Scott?" He asked.
"What about him? Is he alright?" Scarlett was oblivious to the meaning of Derek's question.
"Did you know that he only joined my pack so that he could give any information he learned to Gerard?"
Scarlett was confused. Beyond confused. "No, of course I didn't. If I knew anything I would have told you. You know that."
Derek nodded, feeling stupid for even thinking she wouldn't have told him. "Yeah, I know that. Sorry I asked."
"You're hurt." Scarlett said obviously. Derek remained silent. "Whatever Scott did, he did to protect everyone. You must know that."
"Or maybe he did what he did to screw me over." Derek snapped.
"You know that's not true. Scott's not like that. He's just trying to do what he thinks is right. Like always." Scarlett reasoned.
"Your mom knows." Scarlett's eyes widened.
"What does she know?"
"She saw me and the kanima…and Scott." Derek explained.
"Oh God…could today get any worse?" Scarlett asked before rethinking. "Don't answer that." They were in silence for a while before Scarlett sensed feeling in her toes and began to wiggle them. "I can move my toes, finally."
"It shouldn't take much longer for the toxin to wear off. You should probably go to a hospital. Your nose is broken." Derek stated.
"Yeah no shit Sherlock. But I don't need a hospital, my mom can patch me up and I'll be good as new." As she said that she saw Scott and Stiles walking out of the station followed by a terrified looking Melissa and a tense look Sheriff Stilinski. "You should go Der."
Derek said nothing but nodded and gave her a light kiss before lifting her up and handing her to Scott who had come over to the car to get Scarlett. There was no exchange of words. Scott took Scarlett and Derek took off in his car.