Chapter 7-
It's Always Been You
"Lock it, lock it!" Scott shouted at Stiles as the three of them held the doors closed.
"Do I look like I have a key?" Stiles shouts back.
"Grab something!"
"What?"
"Anything!"
Penelope spots the pair of bolt cutters on the ground outside, and Stiles does as well. "Stiles, no," Penelope pleads. Scott does the same, but Stiles pushes the flashlight he was holding into Scott's chest, "Yes."
"Stiles, no, don't!" Scott tries again as the boy squeezes through the door, walking slowly towards the bolt cutters, keeping an eye out for the Alpha. As soon as he grabs them, she spots the Alpha creep out from behind Stiles' Jeep. Scott begins pounding on the door, yelling for Stiles to come back. The beast begins running at him, and Penelope feels the familiar feeling of dread sweep through her gut. Stiles burst through the doors, slamming the bolt cutters into place. After a moment of silence, the three lift their heads to peer back out into the parking lot.
"Where is it? Where'd it go?" Scott pants, as Stiles sweeps the flashlight through the window, trying to see more. Penelope backs up slightly, bringing her hand to her head as a stabbing pain shot through her temples.
"That won't hold will it?" Scott asks the other boy as they back up to join Penelope. "Probably not," Stiles says, sending a glance to her as she lowered her hand from her forehead. They hear howling coming from inside the building, and they run towards an open classroom. The boys begin pushing a desk in front of the door before Stiles motions for Scott to stop.
"The door's not gonna keep it out," Stiles points out, to which Scott responds, "I know."
"I hate your boss," Stiles continues. "It's not him," Penelope interjects.
"Yes. Deaton, the Alpha, your boss!" he points an accusing finger at Scott.
"No!"
"Yes," Stiles grits out, "murdering psycho werewolf."
"That can't be," Scott tries to reason.
"Oh come on, he disappears, and that thing shows up 10 seconds later to toss Derek 20 feet through the air? You don't think that's convenient timing?"
Penelope holds up a hand to stop him, "I would know if it was him. I can just feel that it's not. Deaton is too nice."
"She's right, it can't be him," Scott agrees.
"He killed Derek," Stiles reiterates, making Penelope nauseous.
"Derek's not dead. He can't be dead," Scott shakes his head in denial.
"Blood spurted out of his mouth! That doesn't exactly qualify as a minor injury. He's dead. We're next."
"Okay-just-what do we do?" Scott tries to calm himself.
"We get to my Jeep. We get out of here. You seriously think about quitting your job. Good?" Scott nods. They turn to the windows to view the parking lot. Quietly stepping to the furthest window, they spot Stiles's Jeep sitting in the lot about twenty yards away. Scott puts his hands on the window sill. "They don't open. The school's climate-controlled," Stiles explains.
"Then we break it," Scott says nonchalantly.
"That thing will hear us," Nelly whispers.
Scott sighs, "So then we run really fast." They glance back to the Jeep. Now seeming much further away. "Really fast." While Stiles starts looking for something to break one of the windows, Scott comes closer to the glass.
"Stiles, what's wrong with the hood of your Jeep?"
Stiles stops and turns back to the window, "What do you mean? Nothing's wrong."
"It's bent," Scott points out.
"You mean dented?" Stiles asks.
"Stiles, it looks like it's been torn open," Penelope breaths, leaning closer. Stiles cups his eyes to the window. Oddly, the Jeep's hood twists up toward the windshield like the top of a tin can. "What the hell happened to my-" Stiles starts before an explosion of glass by their heads sends them screaming and dropping to the floor. Scott's arms come out to cover her from the breaking glass. Ducked under the window, they look past raised arms to see something skidding across the tile and slamming to a stop on the opposite side of the room amid a shower of broken glass. It's the Jeep's battery, wires hanging off it. The trio sit frozen underneath the classroom window, staring at the battery in front of them.
"That's my battery," Stiles says, mouth hung open in shock, and Scott nods. Both of them gazed at it, stunned. Penelope goes to stand but Scott's hand shoots out and grabs her wrist, whispering, "Don't."
"We can't stay here," she whispers back, her hands shaking. "He could be right outside," Scott tells them.
"He is right outside," Stiles said, now trying to stand himself. Scott keeps him down, hand gripping his friend's shoulder.
"Just let me take a look." Craning his neck to see out the window, Scott glances around the empty and dark school lot.
"Anything?" Stiles asks and Scott shakes his head. "Move now?" Penelope asks hopefully, gazing up at him from the ground. Scott nods at her, "Move now."
They get up, scrambling across the tile floor. The classroom door cracks open. Scott and Stiles slip into the hall, motioning for Penelope to follow when they saw it was safe. They glance down the opposite ends of the corridor, nervously drifting forward.
"This way," Scott directs them, to which Stiles says, "No, no-somewhere without windows."
"Every single room in this building has windows," Scott says, frustrated.
"What about the locker rooms?" Penelope tries. "Yeah," Stiles pats her arm, the three of them rushing down the hall.
They open the door to the locker room, hurrying inside and shutting the door. Scott turns to Stiles, "Call your Dad."
"And tell him what?" Stiles questions.
Scott looks around, "Anything. There's a gas leak, a fire, whatever. If that thing sees the parking lot filled with cop cars it'll take off." Penelope looks at Scott, surprised, "Why would that thing be afraid of the cops?"
"Exactly what Nelly said. What if it doesn't? What if it goes completely Terminator and kills every cop in sight including my Dad?"
"They have guns!" Scott exclaims, to which Stiles points out, "And Derek had to be shot with a wolfsbane-laced bullet to even slow him down. Remember that?"
"Then we have to... We have to just find a way out and run for it."
"There's nothing near the school for half a mile," Stiles says.
"What about Derek's car?" Penelope asks, remembering that his car looked fine.
Stiles nods his head, "That could work. We go out. Grab the keys from his body," he shudders at this, as does Penelope, "Take his car-"
"And him," Scott glares at the boy.
"Fine, whatever," but as Stiles reaches for the door, Scott stops him."What?"
"I think I heard something," Scott says, listening closely.
"Like what?" she asks him. "Quiet," Scott commands. Still gripping Stiles's arm, Scott listens, nervous breath rising. A shadow passes by the mottled glass window of the door, mere inches from them. Scott eases off Stiles's arm, placing a hand on Penelope's as they slowly stepped back. "Hide," he whispers.
Stiles draws back into the darkness with him. They all glance around in terrified desperation. There is nowhere to hide. Stiles looks to Scott with pleading eyes. But Scott doesn't seem to know what to do either. So Stiles reaches for a locker door. And climbs right in. "No, Stiles-Stiles," he turns to Penelope in panic, before nodding, motioning for her to get into the locker beside him. "Hurry." Scott slips into the locker across from Stiles to hide as well. Penelope covers her mouth with her hands, trying to quiet the sound of her breathing. The locker room door opens, and through the slats in the locker, she can see a large, dark figure enter. There's an odd clicking sound on the concrete floor. She sees the shape pass her locker, stopping at Scott's. The locker is yanked open, and the man screams in surprise, staggering back. Before Scott can get a word out to explain, Stiles stumbles out of the opposite locker, Penelope following from beside him.
"Son of a bitch" The janitor yells, and Scott grabs him, trying to keep the terrified man on his feet.
"Quiet-quiet!" he tries. The janitor only scoffs, "Quiet, my ass. Are you two trying to kill me?" Gasping, the Janitor leans against the locker looking like he's on the verge of a heart attack. "All of you. Get out. I don't know what kind of messed up threeway this is but get out!"
"Just listen for half a second, okay?" they try to reason with him, ignoring his crass remark.
"No, not okay. Get the hell out of here. Right now!" the man shouts at them. The door slams open into the hallway, Scott and Stiles pushed out by the furious Janitor, Penelope in front of them. "Just one second to explain-" Stiles tries once again to stop him.
"Shut up and go," then, hand still on the door, the Janitor suddenly whips back into the locker room, swinging the door shut with him. The movement happens so quickly it leaves them staring in utter confusion at the closed door. Until the Janitor's face comes slamming back into the door window, his hands covered in blood. Scott and Stiles stagger away in shock as the body of the Janitor slams forward again, rattling the door in its frame, Penelope is stood in shock, unable to move. Scott grabs at the door, trying to get it open, trying to help the man as Stiles pulls him back. Both of them screaming, Scott and Stiles finally run for it, the former grabbing Penelope's arm again to force her to follow, racing down the corridor as the locker room door is wrenched off its hinges, bursting into the corridor and falling to the floor. The Janitor's dead body collapses down onto the door and then in one swift motion is dragged back into the darkness of the locker room.
They race down the hall, finally coming to the back exit doors. They all throw themselves against the doors, crying out when they're met with a barrier, Penelope's shoulder throbbing painfully. "What the hell? It's a dumpster," Scott tells them when he peeks his head out the door.
"He pushed it in front of the door," Stiles starts. Penelope finishes, "To block us in." She's trying to think of what they could possibly do, where they could possibly go. But her mind was too loud, filled with static, the pounding in her brain coming to a crescendo. She hears Stiles struggling with the door, until Scott forcefully pulls him away.
"I'm not dying here," Stiles says as the three of them walk away from the door, "I'm not dying at school." Penelope is on autopilot at this point, following the boys but feeling like she had no control over her body. Her thigh started to ache, the painful reminder of the bite still fresh on her mind and body.
"We're not going to die," Scott says, and Penelope feels a hand on her back, but doesn't look to see whose it is.
"Then what's it doing? What does it want?" Stiles asks.
"Me. Derek says it's stronger with a pack," Scott explained, to which Stiles scoffed, "Great. A psychotic werewolf who's into teamwork. That's beautiful."
They retreat from the doors again, looking down the other end of the hall. But their cautious progression comes to a halt when Scott pauses, stopping Penelope when she continues a step without them. He turns to the wall of windows at the side of the corridor looking out on the courtyard and opposite side of the school. On the roof a figure crouches in the darkness, red eyes gazing directly at them. The three teens start moving, running, nearly stumbling over each other as the Alpha bounds from one level of the roof to the next, landing and leaping in the same instant as they race ahead. Behind them, glass explodes into the hallway, the Alpha crashing back into the school. Scott grabs Stiles and Penelope, pulling them to the adjacent stairwell.
"Down, down!" They race into the lower level of the school, running for safety down the steps. Penelope feels some sense of urgency returned to her, her mind clearing as they were placed in yet another near death situation. They go into the basement of the school, slipping around corners. Fluorescent lights flicker above them with a faint electric hum.
"We have to do something," Stiles says.
"Like what?" Scott asks incredulously.
"Kill it. Hurt it. Inflict mental anguish on it. Something."
"The only thing that thing seemed to be afraid of was Penelope," Scott said.
"Clearly not anymore," she whispered, her arms coming to wrap around her torso.
Stiles glances at the doors with mesh cage windows in them, old and dirty lockers lying open inside. Trying to think fast, eyes darting as a door slams open behind them. The three of them pull back into the darkness, Scott grabbing her arm to direct her. Holding still, they hear a strange clicking on the floor, like claws tapping against the tile. Stiles's eyes move from the thin corridor to where several old desks lie stacked against the wall. Penelope catches his look, seeing an idea come to fruition. Stiles slowly moves his hand into his coat pocket to pull out his car keys and brings them up. They jangle softly, causing both boys to flinch, and Penelope to back up further against the wall and away from the door. Scott glares at Stiles, eyes nearly coming out of his head. Especially when his friend rears back and throws the keys. They land right in one of the cage rooms, clattering against the wall. Something blurs past, a massive shape in the darkness, soaring in after the keys. Without hesitating, Stiles jumps out of the shadows and slams the door shut behind it.
"Scott-get the desk-the desk!" Stiles shouts to the other boy. With barely a second to comprehend the plan, Scott rushes to one of the steel desks and rams it against the closed door. Stiles slips out of the way as the door jerks forward, hitting the side of the desk. The Alpha roars from inside the cage room, the sound reverberating in Penelope's chest, slamming into the door. But the desk wedges between it and the opposite wall. Scott and Stiles turn to each other in a moment of pure triumph. The Alpha can't get out. They trapped it.
Stiles stands on opposite sides of the desk from Penelope and Scott, now wedged between the cage door and the wall. Stiles slowly motions with his hand for them to climb over. But Penelope looks too scared to move. A breath comes from inside the cage room. Both boys turn back. They can't see it in the darkness, but the Alpha is there, trapped inside. With a far more emphatic look, Stiles twists his head at Scott, trying to get him to climb over the desk to him. Finally, Scott moves, grabbing Pnelope's shoulders and forcing her over the desk, before awkwardly sliding over the desk as the Alpha's hand slams against the mesh wire window of the door sending all three of them flinching back. They stare at the massive hand, clawed fingers like talons fitting through the openings. It slowly pulls back, disappearing again into the shadows. Incredibly, Stiles starts toward the cage room.
Scott whispers harshly to the boy, "What are you doing?"
"I just want to get a look at it," the boy replies. "Are you crazy?" Scott seethes.
"It's trapped. It can't get out," Stiles says, and then climbs on top of the desk to look inside the room. The cage rattles as if in response. "That's right. We got you."
"Stiles, please, let's go!" Penelope pleads, grabbing the boys sleeve and tugging gently.
"One second. I'm not scared of this thing," then he turns to the cage, "I'm not scared of you. Because you're not going any-" Suddenly the Alpha leaps up, shooting right into the ceiling. The ceiling tiles burst away, crashing and clattering to the floor. Scott and Stiles gaze up in horror as the ceiling panels above them shake, bending and popping up under the weight of the creature. No longer trapped at all. They turn to watch the panels rumble and shake above as the Alpha makes its retreat. Penelope pulls them out of their shock this time, grabbing both boys by the backs of their jackets, pulling them back. "Run!"
They're walking through the corridors breathlessly when Scott stops them, "Wait- do you hear that?
"Hear what?" Stiles asks impatiently.
"A phone ringing," and then the realization seems to dawn on him.
"What?" Penelope asks him.
"I know that ring. It's Allison's phone…"
"Of course, perfect timing," she says sardonically, knowing they would now need to rescue her and themselves.
"Stiles, give me your phone," Scott requests, dialing Allison's number as soon as it was given to him.
Allison picks up, explaining that she's at the swimming pool. Scott tells her to go to the lobby, and so that's where they begin heading.
The three push open the doors to the lobby, seeing Allison coming in from the opposite side. "What are you doing? Why'd you come here?" Scott asks her abruptly.
"Because you asked me to," she replied, eyebrows furrowing.
"I asked you to?" She shows him her cell phone and the message on it: Meet me at the school - Scott. Allison notes their reactions, and Penelope turns to check out the windows nervously.
"Why do I get the feeling you didn't send that message?" Allison shakes her head.
"Because I didn't," Scott confirms. Stiles turns to Allison, "Did you drive here?"
"Jackson did."
"Jackson's here too?" the shaggy haired boy asks her.
"Please tell me Lydia happened to stay at home," Penelope says hopefully, to which Allison shakes her head.
"What's going on? Who sent this text-" Allison's phone rings again. She picks up. "Where are you?" Jackson and Lydia hurry around the corner.
"Finally. Can we go now?" the strawberry blonde girl asks, noticing Penelope, "You broke into the school too?" But before any of them can speak they hear an odd rumbling above them. Penelope's eyes find Scott, him already looking at her. He takes her hand, looking to everyone else, and yells, "Run!" He spins, pushing them forward as something bursts out of the ceiling panels behind them.
The doors to the cafeteria slam open, the six frightened teenagers rushing in. "Scott, wait-not here-not here," Stiles tries to stop him. But he isn't listening. Swinging the doors closed, Scott spins back to search for a way to barricade them in. Penelope looks to Stiles as the rest of them help Scott barricade the door. He holds up a hand to the wall of windows and her eyes widen.
"Guys, hold on," he tries again. Even a frightened Lydia helps, pushing chairs forward, moving as fast as she can. "Guys, wait a second. Hello?" Jackson and Allison grab chairs, stacking them, everyone rushing to blockade the doors. Everyone except for Stiles and Penelope. Penelope picks up a chair, throwing it to the ground, causing everyone to turn to them.
"Thanks, Nelly. Okay, nice work. Beautiful job, guys. Now what do you think we should do about the twenty foot wall of windows!" Stiles shakes his hands at the field of glass to his right. Scott and the others look up.
Allison trembles, "Can someone please explain what's going on? I'm freaking out here and I'd at least like to know why." Scott doesn't respond, he doesn't even look at her.
"Someone killed the janitor," Stiles says beside her.
Lydia gasps, eyes unbelieving, "What?"
"The janitor's dead," Stiles reiterates. Allison looks to Scott, "What's he talking about? Is this a joke?" But Scott shakes his head.
"Who killed him?" Jackson speaks up. Lydia begins shaking her head, "No, no, no. This was supposed to be over. The mountain lion-"
"Don't you get it? That wasn't a mountain lion-" but Penelope cuts him off, "Leave her alone."
"Who is it? What does he want?" Allison asks weakly. Stiles looks to Scott for help. But his friend almost seems to be shutting down. Just shaking his head, no idea what to say while Allison and the others become more panicked. "What's happening? Scott?"
"I don't know-it's just-if we go out there, he's going to kill us," is all Scott gives in response.
"Us? Kill us?" Lydia exclaims. Allison turns to Stiles, pressing him. "Who? Who is it?" Stiles glances to Penelope, and she furrows her eyebrows, not knowing what to say. She didn't want any of them here right now, this was just making things way harder. They couldn't be expected to tell them the truth of the situation.
Scott speaks up, "Derek. It's Derek Hale." All eyes turn back to him in shock. Especially Stiles and Penelope, who mutters, "No," in shock. Scott looks almost surprised at saying it himself.
Jackson glared at Scott, "Derek killed the janitor?" And Allison questions, "You're sure?"
Scott nods, "I saw him." Lydia speaks again in shock, "The mountain lion-"
Scott shakes his head now, "No. Derek killed them."
"All of them?" Allison shudders.
"Starting with his own sister, then the bus driver, and then the guy in the video store. It's been Derek the whole time. He's in here with us. And if we don't get out... he's going to kill us too."
Jackson turns to Stiles and tells him to call the cops.
"No," is all Stiles says.
"What do you mean no?" the blonde boy retorts.
"I mean no. You wanna hear it in Spanish? No. Derek killed three people. We don't know what he's armed with."
"Your Dad is armed with an entire Sheriff's Department. Call him," Jackson tries to reason.
The strawberry blonde says, "I'm calling." Lydia puts her phone to her ear. "Hold on-Lydia, just wait-" Stiles starts forward, but Jackson shoves him back. Penelope grabs his upper arm, giving him an apologetic look as she rights his balance. "Thanks," he whispers, his eyes full of worry and his face crestfallen.
"I'm not going to let anything happen to your Dad, Stiles, I promise," the blonde girl assures him, and he nods, but she can tell he doesn't feel much better.
"She hung up on me," Lydia announces, causing the two of them to look back at her in shock.
"The police hung up on you?" Allison asks incredulously.
"She said they got a tip warning them there would be prank calls about a break in at the high school. She said if I called again they would trace it and have me arrested."
"Then call again," the brunette girl insists.
Penelope starts, "They won't trace a cell phone." Stiles nods and continues, "They'll send a car to your house before they send someone here."
Allison looks dumbfounded, "What the... What is this? Why does Derek want to kill us? Why's he killing anyone?" They all look to Scott for the answer.
"Why is everyone looking at me?" Scott questions.
"Is he the one who sent her the text?" Lydia asks. "No-I mean, I don't know," Scott stutters
"Is he the one who called the police?" Allison asks now.
"I don't know!" He snaps at her, causing Allison to flinch noticeably. Behind her, Jackson can't help but smile just a little bit. Stiles gets in between them to pull Scott aside, Penelope following.
"Okay, everybody just ease back on the throttle, all right?" Stiles says, and they take Scott over to the kitchen area of the cafeteria to talk to him privately.
Stiles begins, speaking under his breath so none of the other three would overhear, "First off. Throwing Derek under the bus? Nicely done."
"I didn't know what to say. I had to say something. And if he's dead, it doesn't matter. Except if he's not…" Scott says, falling apart, Penelope takes his hand and he smiles appreciatively, composing himself.
"We'll worry about if he's alive or not later. We've got bigger things to deal with. Like getting out of here alive," Stiles tells him.
"But we are alive. And it could have already killed us. It's like it's cornering us."
Penelope furrows her eyebrows, confused, "Like he's messing with us?"
"No. Derek said it wants revenge," Scott tells the girl, squeezing her hand slightly at her worried expression. "Against who?" Stiles asks.
"I don't know. Allison's family?" the shaggy haired boy says, unsure.
"Do you think the Alpha sent her the text?" she spoke up, and Stiles looked like he agreed, "Someone had to send it."
"So while loping through the woods he stops to take out his Blackberry?" Scott cocks his head to the side.
"Hey, hey, hey. I'm the sarcastic one in this friendship," Stiles grins slightly.
Jackson calls out, getting the three's attention, "Okay, assheads. New plan. Stiles calls his useless dad and tells him to send someone with a gun and decent aim. We good with that?" No one speaks up to disagree. Scott looks at Stiles, "He's right. Tell him the truth if you have to. Just call him."
"Scott you can't be serious," Nelly whispers, letting go of his hand to cross her arms over her chest. "You know what we're dealing with."
Stiles nods at her, "I'm not watching my dad get eaten alive." Jackson steps past the others, charging toward Stiles, "That's it. Give me your phone." He spins Stiles around, grabbing for the phone in his pocket. But in a moment of pure instinct, Stiles reels back and clocks Jackson, sending him sprawling to the floor. Strangely, Lydia isn't the one running to help him up. It's Allison.
"Are you okay? Jackson?" While he's turned around, she can't see the look on his face. But Penelope can, and despite being punched, he's smiling, silently pleased by the turn of events. He slowly gazes back, feigning shock and hurt. Seeing Allison covering her territory, Lydia seems to snap back to life and hurries over to help. Cradling his shaking hand, Stiles looks to Scott who is just as surprised. Then, with the hand not trembling in pain, Stiles reaches into his pocket and fishes out his cell phone. As the others watch, he dials.
"Dad? Hey, it's me... and it's your voicemail. Um... I need you to call me back. Like now. Like right now-" something slams against the doors, cutting Stiles off. Lydia screams, Allison retreating to her side. "We're at the school-Dad-we're at the school-" WHAM! A stack of chairs tumble down as the barricade against the doors begins to fall. Stiles lowers the phone, backing away with the others. Something hammers at the doors. Smashing at them, pounding, desperately trying to break through. The vending machine slides forward, and a chair whips past Allison as if thrown like a projectile. She screams, hands coming up.
Lydia hides behind Jackson, "Oh God, oh my God-" The hinges at the top of the doors begin coming out of the wall, metal seeming to bend and collapse inward.
"The kitchen. The door out of the kitchen leads to the stairwell," Stiles thinks. "Which only goes up," Scott replies.
"Up is better than here," Stiles says. Another boom and the decision is made, Penelope nodding, "Up. Now." They run for the kitchen. The stair well door slams open. Penelope and the others spill out into the second floor hallway. They try doors. All locked. Until Lydia and Penelope find one, the latter ushering the trembling girl inside. The others follow them, Stiles placing a stool under the door handle to try to lock the door. They hear growling from the hallway, and a shadow passes in front of the fuzzy window. The girls look to each other, covering their mouths to muffle their breathing. Then the figure passes and everything goes quiet.
"Jackson, how many people can fit in your car?" Scott asks the boy. "Five if somebody squeezes onto someone's lap," he answers.
"Five? I barely fit into the back," Allison bites out.
"It doesn't matter. There's no getting out without drawing attention," Stiles says cynically.
"What about this?" Scott's eyes go to the steel door past the teacher's desk. "It leads to the roof. We could go down the fire escape to the parking lot in seconds."
Stiles, pointing to the door, replies, "But that's a dead bolt."
"The Janitor has a key," Scott says.
"Scotty, no…" Penelope says, knowing what he was thinking.
He looks to the two of them, whispering now, "I can get it. I can find him by scent. By blood."
"Gee, that's an incredibly terrible idea. What else you got?" Stiles says to his friend.
Scott turns to the others, "I'm getting the key."
Allison gawks at him, "Are you serious?"
"It's the best plan. Someone has to get the key if we want to get out of here."
"You can't go out there unarmed," the brunette girl counters. Scott grabs the teacher's pointer stick from the chalkboard, gripping it like a baseball bat, then notices their looks.
"It's better than nothing."
"Scotty, please don't do this," Penelope grabs his arm, pulling him to the side and whispering.
"I have to," he tells her, "we don't have any other choice."
"There's got to be something else," Stiles says, and Lydia interrupts, "There is." Lydia nods to the cabinet full of chemicals.
"What? Like throw acid on him?" Stiles quips.
"No, like a firebomb. In there is everything you need to make a self-igniting Molotov Cocktail," the intelligent redhead responds.
"Self-igniting…" Stiles tries to repeat what the girl had just said. "Molotov Cocktail. What? I read it somewhere," she gives as an excuse.
"Well, we don't have the key to that either-" Jackson sends his foot smashing through the glass. Moments later several bottles line the teacher's desk. Lydia pours one bottle into a mixture already in a glass beaker.
Lydia motions to her boyfriend, "Jackson, hand me the sulfuric acid." He turns each bottle, looking for the right one, then carefully hands it to Lydia.
"No. No, this is insane. You can't do this. You can't go out there," Allison tries to reason with Scott.
"And we can't sit here waiting for Stiles's dad to check his messages," he snaps back.
Allison gets more upset, "You could die. Do you get that? He's killed three people."
"And we're next. Someone has to do something," turning, he eases the chair out from under the doorknob. Penelope puts a hand on his shoulder, stopping him, "I'm coming with you," she says indignantly. Scott's eyes widen, and he spits out an immediate, "Absolutely not."
"That thing left me alone, so I'm not letting you go by yourself. And we both know that I can apparently handle myself now," she whispers closely to him, referencing her weird episode with Derek earlier that afternoon.
"It's way too dangerous, I can't let anything happen to you," he pleads, his eyes in full puppy dog mode.
"And I'm not letting anything happen to you. You don't get to pull the stupid self-sacrificing hero move, not when we're here for you." He looked like he was about to say something else but closed his mouth, looking away from her, nodding hesitantly. "You stay behind me."
Stiles looks like he's going to protest, but stops when she gives him a determined look. "Please be careful," is all he says instead.
"We always are," she smiles slightly.
"Lock it behind us," Scott nods to Stiles, and Penelope glances at Allison to see her looking distraught, and she felt the overwhelming urge to comfort her. "Allison, I promise we're going to get out of here, please don't worry," she tells her new friend, getting a shaky nod but nothing else.
The two of them walk hand in hand to the stairs. Scott walks in front of her and the door to the darkened stairwell eases open. All too aware of her own frightened gasps, Penelope steps inside as Scott peers down... No sign of movement. He begins taking the steps one-by-one, motioning for her to follow, grabbing her hand again, inching their way back to the first floor. Scott steps around the corner, breathing the air in, cocking his head... and sniffs the air. He pushes open the two double doors quietly, allowing Scott to step into the school's cavernous gymnasium, Nelly almost pressed against his back from how close he's keeping her. A large wide-open space, it's lit only by the emergency lights mounted over the two exits. Clutching the molotov cocktail in his hand, Scott takes a breath of the air, his head turning toward the towering bleachers against the wall. They make their way over, but instead of climbing up, he steps around and underneath the bleachers. "Stay out here, just until I come back out," he says to her. She begins to open her mouth to protest but stops at his serious look, nodding.
Through the dark recesses Scott ventures deeper and deeper, until she can barely see him. She waits impatiently. She hears a few loud clunking noises, whispering under the bleachers, "Scott? Was that you?" but gets no response. Suddenly another loud bang echoes, and the bleachers seem to shake, before beginning to collapse. "Scott!" she yells louder, not caring about being heard. That thing was here already so it hardly mattered. She ran around to the other side as they closed, seeing Scott roll out right before they shut on him. He's crouched on the ground, and his eyes fixate on something past her. He shoots out an arm, pushing her behind him, and when she turns she sees the snarling, crouching Alpha sizing them up.
"Come on, come get me," Scott mutters, holding the molotov cocktail in his hand. Penelope watches as the thing draws closer, before beginning to run. Scott throws the beaker, but all it does is break and splash liquid all over the ground. It didn't ignite. She steps back in shock, pulling his arm, trying to get him to run. But the Alpha is too fast. He's on Scott in seconds, grabbing his ankle and pulling him to the floor before tossing him across the gym. "Scott!" she yells on instinct. The thing is crouched on top of him now, a hand pressing his face to the ground, before letting out a loud, viscous howl. Then, it just leaves.
Scott sits up, panting, and Penelope is over to him in seconds, but he is thrown back to the ground, writhing in pain. She puts her hands on his arms, trying to comfort him, but her eyes well up with tears when she realizes she has no idea what to do. "Scotty? Scotty, what's wrong? What did he do?"
He flips over onto his stomach, his screams getting louder. Penelope begins sobbing, sitting beside him feeling utterly useless. Then he stops, looking up, his face fully transformed. Penelope scoots back when she notices, standing up off the ground. "Scott?"
Scott turns to her like he's sizing her up, his head low, teeth bared. When he begins advancing towards her, she takes steps back. He hesitates, his next step catching, "Run," he grits out. She pauses for a few more seconds, before turning and booking it out of the gym. As the door swings shut behind her, she can hear it thrown open once more, hitting the wall with a loud bang that echoed down the hallway. She doesn't dare look back. She tries every door she passes, before finding one janitor's closet that was unlocked. She hurries inside, pulling the door shut, before attempting to push one of the shelves in front of the door, but it's too heavy. She settles for stacking buckets in front of it, and covers her mouth to muffle the sound of her breathing as she waits. But there was no sound, and she suddenly remembered their friends upstairs.
Unblocking the door, she quickly stepped out into the hallway. "Scott," she whispered, remembering that night at his lacrosse game. He said he could hear her. That she brought him back. "Scott, if you can hear me, please come back. Come back to me." After a minute, she hears sirens in the distance. Stiles' dad must've checked his messages.
She sees Scott come down the stairs, before collapsing on the ground on his hands and knees, panting. Penelope runs to him, dropping on her knees beside him. "You came back," she whispered, bringing up a hand to rest on his back as he sat back. "Thank you for bringing me back," he looked at her. His hand moves over hers, up her wrist, then her arm, until it's on her shoulder. He stops for a moment, watching her closely. Her heart is beating a mile a minute and she's sure he can hear it, but at this moment, all she wants is Scott McCall. Her best friend, her confidant, and the boy she'd apparently been in love with longer than she'd even known. His hand moved the rest of the way, following the curve of her neck, until it rested on her cheek. "Scott?" she whispered as he leaned in, their eyes meeting one another's. He watches her, and in an unusual show of confidence, she leans in the rest of the way, their lips connecting. It was soft and gentle, Scott cradling her face in his hands like she was the most precious thing in the world. When they pull away, he leans his forehead against hers.
"Thank you," Scott whispers, "for everything. And thank you for letting me kiss you." His goofy grin returned, and she laughed. "Come on, we better get up. I heard sirens, so Stiles' dad must be here."
"You're sure it was Derek Hale?" Sheriff Stilinski asks the three of them as they exit the school. Scott nods, and Stilinski turns to Stiles for confirmation.
"I saw him too," he confirms.
"What about the janitor?" Scott questions urgently.
"We're still looking for him."
"You looked under the bleachers? Under them?" Scott verifies.
"There was nothing there, Scott. We pulled out the bleachers just like you asked," The Sheriff answered.
"I'm not making this up," Scott said, getting upset and Penelope added, "I saw him under the bleachers too." Even though she really hadn't, she believed Scott and didn't want him defending himself.
"And I believe you. I do," Stiles' dad sighs.
Scott shakes his head. "No, you don't. You have that look. Like you feel bad for me. Like you want to believe me. But I know you don't."
"I hear you. And we're going to look over the whole school, I promise," he tells them, until a voice calls him over.
"Stay. All of you." Stiles turns to Scott. "We survived, dude. We outlasted the Alpha. That's still good, right? Being alive?" Scott shakes his head, sitting down on the school steps.
"We were in the Chemistry room and it walked right by us. You don't think it heard us? You don't think it knew exactly where we were?"
"Then why are we still alive?" Stiles questions.
"Because it wants me in its pack. But I think first I have to get rid of my old pack," Scott admitted.
"What? What old pack?" Stiles asks.
"You. Allison. Jackson. Lydia…. Penelope," He says, his eyes going to the blonde girl standing with them.
"The Alpha doesn't want to kill us…" Stiles starts, and Scott finishes for him, "He wants me to do it." And for once, Stiles doesn't know how to respond. "That's not the worst part."
"How the holy hell is that not the worst part?" their friend asks loudly.
"Because when he made me shift... I wanted to do it. I wanted to kill you. All of you." As the words sink in on Stiles and Penelope, Scott glances past them. A look of shock comes to his face. They follow Scott past officers and crime scene technicians to an ambulance where someone is being checked out by an EMT. Deaton looks up.
"There you are," he calls to Scott.
"How.. How did you…" Scott tries to think of the words.
"Get out? Not easily. And from what they've been telling me, I'm alive because of you. I think I owe you a raise."
Stilinski approaches, gently pressing Scott back. "We'll let you talk to him later. Give the EMT's a chance to check him out." Scott steps back with Stiles, both still looking at Deaton. But his attention is grabbed by someone else hurrying between police cars. "I have to go talk to her," he says, before racing over, calling her name. Penelope's face falls, her heart crumbling. Was that nothing? Was he still planning on being with Allison? She didn't have long to think before Stiles tapped her arm. "You okay?"
"I think so," she nods shakily, looking away from Scott now.
"What happened in there, Nelly?" he whispers so his dad wouldn't hear.
"Exactly what he said. He shifted, and… he told me to run, so I did. I hid, until I knew he had to be upstairs. So I talked to him, like at the lacrosse game, and he heard me. It must've helped him turn back," she explained shakily, remembering how scary Scott had been, when he wasn't in control of himself. When the Alpha forced the shift.
"You shouldn't have ever gone, you should've stayed with us," he shakes his head.
"Stiles, you're not mad at me are you?" she asks, she wouldn't be able to stand it if she was losing both her friends tonight.
"No. But I just wish you wouldn't do that. Don't throw yourself into mortal danger for him," he sighs.
"You would."
"I know," he says, pulling her into a hug.
She hears someone clear their throat, and she pulls away from Stiles, wiping the tears that had leaked from her eyes. Scott is standing there, smiling at the two of them. She can't bring herself to look at him, and turns away.
"I just wanna go home," she admits, feeling absolutely exhausted.
The Sheriff drives them home, dropping off first Scott, and then Penelope. When she unlocks her front door to go inside, she hears something upstairs crash and fall to the ground. "SHIT!" someone shouts. Except she knew that voice. She walked upstairs, finding Scott picking up her lamp, as well as the pile of books he had knocked off of her desk when climbing through her window.
"Scott? Could've just knocked, buddy," she sighed, leaning against the door frame.
"You seemed upset," he ignores her statement, walking towards her, concern in his eyes.
"I'm fine," she lies, looking down at the floor.
"You know I know you're lying. Is this about the kiss?" he asked, his voice sounding weak.
"No. I don't regret it, if that's what you're asking," she admits, looking back up at him.
"Then what's wrong?"
"It's just... you're with Allison! I don't know why you even kissed me," she shouts, venting her anger. "You turn our whole friendship on its head within a matter of weeks, and then you go and talk to her like nothing ever happened-"
"Wait, I went to talk to her to end things," Scott interrupts her.
"And I just don't know where I stand in this triangle, because I- wait, you ended things?" Penelope's eyes widened, mouth hanging open.
"Technically she ended things before I got the chance to, but yeah," he whispers, stroking her cheek.
Her eyes flutter shut at the contact, before breathing in a sharp intake of breath. "So, what are you saying?"
"I want to be with you, Nelly. I think it's always been you, I just didn't want to admit it to myself. But being with Allison, it didn't feel right. I found myself thinking about you more and more often, thoughts that I shouldn't be having about my best friend. I wish I had kissed you that night in the locker rooms. I should have," he tells her, pouring his heart and soul into every word.
Penelope can't help the wide grin that makes its way onto her face, and she throws her arms around his neck, hugging him tight. She ducks her face into the crook of his neck as he picks her up, spinning her around, laughing. "Will you kiss me again? So I know this is real?" she mumbles, and he pulls away so he can see her. He leans in, claiming her lips in a similar kiss to earlier. But the gentle display of affection quickly deepens, Scott placing one hand into her hair and the other on her neck. His tongue licks at her bottom lip, and she gasps, his tongue finding its way inside. This was her second kiss ever, and her first ever kiss with tongue, so she was nervous that she'd mess up. But as soon as the kiss began, she wasn't worried. Everything just seemed so natural and easy. And when they had to pull away for air, he pressed a kiss to her forehead, and then her nose, and her eyelids.
"Do you believe me now?" he grins, tucking her hair behind her ear.
"Uh, y-yeah, I do," she stutters, and she can feel how red her face is. "Scott," she realizes suddenly, "Stiles."
He grimaces, "I know. Well I know but I don't know what we should do about that. I don't think he would take this well," he gestured between the two of them.
"I think, out of respect for Allison, we should keep this between ourselves for now anyways. We can tell Stiles soon," she walked over to her bed, pulling Scott with her. "Will you stay? At least for a little bit?"
"Of course," he says, kissing her again. She changes into her pajamas in the bathroom, joining Scott on her bed. He pulls her into him, cuddling her back against his chest. She couldn't remember the last time she slept so well. When she wakes, Scott is gone thankfully, her mom had come home at some point early this morning, but her heart is so full it could burst.