Monstrous Part Two:

To say I got a few odd looks when I entered the sheriff's station looking like I had just been in a fight would be an understatement. Lydia had immediately wrapped me in a tight embrace, completely justifiable given that we had bother been nearly murdered the night before. John had demanded to know where the tear in my leather jacket had come from, a line of questioning that he began to regret once I explained I had just left a massive shoot out. Luckily, my black jacket hid the bloodstain I had gained when I was grazed by a bullet or he may have had a coronary.

Moments after I had finished being subject to interrogation, Peter arrived at the station and demanded to know why he had been called away from what he described as 'something much too convoluted for us to comprehend'.

Lydia, John, Peter and I stood behind the two-way mirror that looked into the interrogation room where Meredith was being held and Jordan was standing guard so that no one tried to question her without permission.

"Her? That's the girl that stole my money?" Peter asked dubiously with a frown as he crossed his arms over his chest and I rolled my head around to give him a pointed look.

"That girl is a Banshee. They're more dangerous than you think." Lydia reminded him drily, her voice vaguely laced with menace and I smirked proudly at her boldness as I turned my attention back to Meredith.

"Oh, I think that girl's pilot light went out a long time ago. Sheriff, not to question the unquestionably sterling reputation of your department, but are you absolutely sure you got the one?"

"How about you just go in there and see what she has to say?" John asked rhetorically as he gestured with his head towards the interrogation room and I wrapped an arm around my stomach as I leaned my side against the mirror.

The ex-Alpha shot him a glare as he exited the room and Lydia placed her hand on my back as she moved to stand next to me. The three of us waited in silence as Peter sauntered into the interrogation room and Meredith snapped her head up with wide eyes as he sat down on the opposite side of the table.

"Okay... Meredith, where's my money? Or more correctly, what's left of it." Peter asked her in annoyance as he folded his hands in front of him with a tight smile and Meredith breathed out in awe as she slowly reached up to touch his cheek with her fingertips. My eyes widened when I realised that she was touching the side of his face that was once burnt in the Hale House fire and an uncomfortable expression settled over his features as his hands shot up to grab her wrist.

"Let her go." Jordan ordered in a sharp voice as his hand immediately shot to his hip holster and when Peter did nothing, he withdrew his weapon with a harden expression. "Let her go."

"Why did you do that?" Peter asked her quietly as he loosened his hold on Meredith's wrist before dropping it completely and I pushed myself off of the glass with a frown on my lips.

"They're all gone." Meredith whispered in amazement as her gaze drifted over his unblemished cheek and my hand clenched into a fist at the thought of Peter actually being the one who tried to kill everyone.

"Oh, my God. They have met before." Lydia breathed out in realisation as her eyebrows drew together and I looked down at the ground as I blinked rapidly to stop tears from forming. Not because Peter might be a serial killer again, but because it didn't surprise me that Peter might be a serial killer again.

"The burns. They're all... gone."

"Meredith, you put everyone, including my nephew and my daughter on a death list. Don't you think you owe us the slightest explanation of why?" Peter asked impatiently as he changed the subject away from his healed wounds and I held my breath in anticipation as I narrowed my eyes at the pair on the other side of the mirror.

"You said it had to be kept secret."

"I said? I said that to you?"

"You said it."

"Meredith. Allow me to remind you, we have never met... Ever." Peter insisted firmly in a harsh tone as he narrowed his teal eyes at the banshee and I bit down on my lower lip as confusion settled in the pit of my stomach.

"You don't remember?" Meredith asked in an almost heartbroken tone as tears filled her eyes and I watched something in the ex-Alpha's expression change as an idea took form in his twisted mind. My eyes widened in horror as I quickly followed his thought path and I inhaled sharply as I pushed myself off of the window before rushing out of the room without saying a word.

"No. But maybe you do." I heard Peter murmured thoughtfully as he launched out of his seat and I hurried into the interrogation room just as he was knocking Jordan to the floor with a wave of his arm.

"No, don't!" I screamed in horror as Peter grabbed the brunette banshee by the throat and I gasped in horror as he sunk his sharpened werewolf claws into the base of her neck. Meredith's eyes flew open wide as they went out of focus, like she was seeing something in the past and her lips parted with an almost silent gasp.

Stilinski and Lydia rushed into the room behind me, both of them freezing when they saw what was happening. Jordan quickly climbed to his feet before positioning himself in front of me and withdrawing his gun from hip holster with blank expression. The sheriff followed his lead as he withdrew his own gun and they both aimed them at Peter's back.

"Don't!" I shouted in warning as I automatically reached out to place a restraining hand on Jordan's arm and he looked at me over his shoulder with a questioning expression. "Don't touch them. If you break the bond you could kill them. Both of them."

"What are we supposed to do?" John asked me in a demanding voice but I couldn't formulate any response other than a soft exhale as I shook my head.

"I, uh... I don't know."

"What the hell is he doing to her?" Jordan asked me in a mixture of curiosity and repulsion as he slowly lowered his gun to his side and I tightened my fingers on his bicep as I kept my eyes locked on the pair in front of me.

"He's getting inside her head." I whispered in a dismayed voice as Lydia wandered forward to stand next to me and I reached down to hold her hand with my free one.

A soft murmuring filled the room but I frowned in confusion as I looked around, trying to locate the source of the noise. I focused my hearing until I recognised the soft voice of Meredith and I tried to decipher the words but couldn't even with my supernatural hearing. "Do you hear that? She's saying something."

"Can you understand that?" Jordan asked me tentatively with a frown as he looked at me from the corner of his eye and I bit down on my lower lip as I slowly shook my head.

"I can. I can hear perfectly." Lydia announced in a faraway voice as she took a small step forward with a distant look in her eyes and we all turned our attention towards her as she tilted her head to the side. "She was in the hospital. The same hospital."

"Same as who?" I asked hesitantly in a quiet voice, not wanting to disturb her distracted state but needing to know exactly what she was hearing through the banshee connection.

"Peter." She breathed out in response as her lips parted and her forehead furrowed like she was concentrating on something difficult to understand. "It was right after the fire. Meredith could hear him."

"Hear what?"

"Everything. She was hearing every thought in his head, like they'd somehow found the same wavelength. And now everything going through his mind was also going right into hers."

"For how long?"

"Weeks. Maybe even months. It was almost like he was standing right over her bed talking about the fire. About getting revenge. Peter was thinking about taking out every supernatural in Beacon Hills and how he would hire people to kill them all. The whole idea for the dead pool was from Peter's subconscious, and he doesn't even remember it."

"Oh, my god." I murmured under my breath because I had visited him in the hospital every week and the entire time he was thinking about killing everyone supernatural in town.

"Your voice. It triggered something. Memories." Lydia stated in a tight voice as her face scrunched up like she was having a hard time figuring out what she was seeing. It was the same expression she got when she was having difficulty with a particularly hard algebra equation or chemical composition. "That's why Meredith's so obsessed with Sophie. She used to sit with him. Talk to him, read to him, sing to him. The one bright spot in a sea of dark."

"I'm sorry, what?" I asked incredulously with both of my eyebrows raised as I turned towards the strawberry blonde and she looked over at me with an almost sympathetic frown as her green eyes focused on my face. "Lydia?"

"She could hear you, when you spoke to him. You used to tell him everything. What you did at school, what you were learning in class, what you were reading at the time. Your voice made Peter happy, it soothed the violent and brutal fantasies of his mind. It was the only time Meredith could get a break from the torment. You were her saving grace."

I sucked in a startled breath as I looked at the brunette banshee in a new light. She had essentially been psychologically tortured by Peter subconscious and Lydia was telling me that I was the one who kept her together. It was a huge responsibility that had just fallen onto my shoulders.

A sharp gasp left Meredith's lips as Peter detached his claws from the nape of her neck and he stumbled backwards until he collapsed against the opposite wall breathlessly. Lydia gripped my arm tightly as we staggered backwards and Jordan caught Meredith before she could fall out onto the ground. I clung to my best friend's arm as we huddled against the side wall and I mentally scolded myself for acting so delicate but I wasn't prepared for a situation like this one.

"It was your idea and you don't even remember." Lydia murmured accusingly as she narrowed her eyes at the ex-Alpha current sprawled on the ground and I tightened my grip on her arm as I pursed my lips. I watched Sheriff Stilinski level his service weapon at Peter's head and my eyes widened slightly in panic as I went to step forward but then thought better of it.

"Are you kidding me?" Peter asked him incredulously as he pushed himself up on his elbows with a glower and Lydia wrapped an arm around my waist to keep my tethered to her side.

"Hands where I can see them." John ordered seriously with a frown as he took a step forward and Peter sat up against the wall behind him with a befuddled expression on his face.

"How the hell was I supposed to remember any of that?"

"She got it from you." Lydia pointed out harshly as her manicured nails dug into my skin and I wanted to argue with them, to defend Peter against them but what she said made sense, it was true and I couldn't fight that.

"I was out of my mind. Do you know what it's like for one of us to be in a coma? Paralysed but cognizant? You try not going crazy." The ex-Alpha claimed defensibly as he glared daggers towards the man pointing a gun at him and then he looked over in my direction with a pleading expression. "Come on, Sophie."

My lips trembled slightly as they parted in an attempt to speak but no sound came out and Jordan placed a supportive hand on the small of my back as he levelled Peter with a no-nonsense look. "She was listening to you."

"She was listening to the ranting and raving of a lunatic. A former lunatic. I'm much healthier now. I had nothing to do with this." Peter insisted firmly as he stared straight towards me with a beseeching expression and I swallowed thickly as I met his gaze evenly, trying to rearrange my thoughts.

"If she was following your lead on this, then how do we know there isn't more?" John asked dubiously like he couldn't believe Peter didn't have a hand in creating the Dead Pool and Peter shot him with most offended look I had ever seen grace his features.

"Stealing my own money? Really?"

"You were going to use it anyway."

"Stop. Stop it. This is what she wants. It's why she's here." I stated in a rush as I stepped forward with my hand raised and I knew that I was the only one able to defuse the situation before it could escalate. "Look around, Sheriff. There's three people in here right now. Three people still on the dead pool. Lydia, Parrish... And Meredith."

"But not him." Jordan reminded me drily without taking his eyes off of the ex-Alpha and I sighed loudly as I tried to supress an eye roll because I already knew that.

"Sophie's right. We don't want to kill each other." Peter said soothingly as he held up his hands in surrender and he slowly climbed to his feet while keeping his gaze trained on the gun.

"The only person I'm pointing a gun at is you." John said in a slightly amused tone as he quirked an eyebrow and Peter's expression morphed into one of defiance.

"Then you better make it a perfect shot, Sheriff, because I don't go down easy."

My hand flew up to cover my mouth to stifle the gasp that threatened to escape my lips and I watched John shift his arm slightly so that the barrel his gun was placed directly against Peter's forehead. "I'm willing to bet that a bullet between the eyes doesn't heal real fast... Not even for your kind."

"Stop. Please, stop." I whispered in a helpless voice that I didn't even recognise as my own and I frowned to myself in displeasure as my eyebrows scrunched together.

"This department's getting more corrupted by the second. What are you going to charge me with, Sheriff? How are you going to explain this to a judge? Telepathic girl overhears thoughts of comatose werewolf and decides to enact his plans for retribution? Hmm." Peter taunted the as he cocked his head to the side with a smirk on his lips and John's jaw clenched angrily as his hand wavered slightly but didn't drop. "They're gonna be pointing a gun at your head and asking you to go quietly."

"Let him go. You have to let him go." Lydia insisted in a strong voice as she wrapped her arm around me and I felt her gaze burning into the side of my face but I couldn't look away from the scene in front of me.

"I'd take the word of a Banshee, Sheriff. I leave. No triggers pulled. No blood shed."

There was a brief silence, a moment where nobody said anything, and then Peter started strolling towards the door to the interrogation room like he didn't have a care in the world. John lowered his arm down as he pursed his lips thoughtfully and he glanced at my stricken expression, lingering slightly before trying towards the ex-Alpha. "That's twice, Peter. There's not gonna be a third."

"No. It's not finished. No, it's not finished! No! It's not... It's not finished!" Meredith screeched in a panic as she tried to launch herself off of her chair when Peter exited the room without a backwards glance. My eyes widened in surprise as Jordan caught her around the waist and she clung to his arm for dear life with tears filling her eyes as he lowered her back into her chair.

I almost sighed in relief, happy that there was actually something I could help with and I hurried towards them as Meredith whimpered uncontrollably. I crouched down next to her with a concerned frown on my lips and I rested a hand on her shoulder as she lifted her head to look at me. I squeezed her shoulder comfortingly as I stood up from my crouch and Jordan draped his police issue parka over Meredith's shoulders with a compassionate expression.

I tightened my own leather jacket around myself even though I wasn't cold and I sat down on the opposite side of the table as I looked around to find Lydia and Jordan had exited the room at some point.

"Jordan, can you grab a wet cloth to get rid of the blood on the back of her neck?" I asked quietly so that I didn't disrupt the silence that had fallen over the room and he nodded sagely as he cast a worried glance towards Meredith, like he was concerned she might do something to me if he left us alone. "I'll be fine."

"I'll be right back." He assured me but I knew that it was also a warning for the other girl and she didn't even looked up from the tabletop as he reluctantly walked out of the room.

"Are you okay?" I asked her softly in concern before realising how stupid that question was and I shook my head to myself as she lifted her head to look at me seriously. "I guess you are, aren't you? For someone who'd put their own name on a hit list."

"I had to." Meredith murmured almost sheepishly but there was a hint of determination seeping into her tone and I was absolutely confused as to why she would do something like this to so many innocent people, why she thought it was the right thing to do, because there wasn't a doubt in my mind she believed it was the right thing to do.

"Why?"

"Because I heard Lydia. I heard Lydia scream in the tunnels at Oak Creek. That's why I knew it was the right time... To start over."

"But with Peter?" I asked her incredulously with a grimace as I tucked a stand of hair behind my ear and then folded my arms on the table in front of me because while I loved Peter, I wouldn't start an allegiance with him.

"He's the alpha. He's always been the alpha. He'll make it right." She told me in a firm voice with a small nod as she looked at me with a childlike naivety and I couldn't help feeling sorry for the poor misunderstood girl in front of me. "It never was with us. Too many people died because of us. We're the monsters. Even Banshees. Even me."

"I don't believe that. Not all monsters do monstrous things." I declared honestly in a strong voice as I reached out to grab her hand with a sincere expression and something flickered in the depths of her eyes as she searched my face for some answer to a question she hadn't asked.

"Like who?" she asked in a slightly confused voice as her eyebrows furrowed and I took a moment to think about my answer, to make sure that I wasn't being deceitful to someone who had only ever known deception.

"Like Scott." I professed in good conscience with a slight upturn of my lip and I knew that it was true, my brother was not monstrous or immoral despite being supernatural. It wasn't just my bias opinion based on blood relation, it was just a judgement on Scott's character. It was a declaration proven by his status as True Alpha.

Meredith stared at me for a moment, the words seeping into her slowly and she carefully reached her fingers to my cheek much like she had done to Peter earlier. A small smile spread across her lips as she ghosted her fingertips down my cheek and there was a hint of pride and adoration in her voice as she whispered, "Like you."

"Thank you." I whispered back to her with a grateful smile on my lips as my eyes filled with tears and I couldn't help but feel lighter, like my blackened heart had had some of the char scraped off.

A horrified gasp left Meredith's lips as her hand dropped from my face and her eyes widened in realisation as she turned her body to stare at the wall across from us with a sickened expression. "Oh, God. What have I done?"

There wasn't anything I could do for her as she collapsed into inconsolable sobs except for hold her hand tightly in my own and bear witness to her absolution.