Argent House

Chris' POV

"What you know makes you responsible."

I looked my one and only child in the eye and said those words to her a week ago before I showed her a body to pressure her into telling me what she knew.

As I ended the call from one of our guys at the Sheriff station, those very words echoed in my head while I processed what he just told me.

"What did he say?" Victoria asked.

"The Sheriff found a body in a walk-in freezer at the warehouse," I replied, and didn't miss how she tensed just a little with her fingers freezing over her laptop's keyboard for a moment.

"And?" Victoria followed up, reaching for a glass of water on the office table.

"And he positively identified it as Scott's," I said, and noticed the glass of water shake as Victoria took a sip. "He also said that Scott carved a message on the door and two deputies have been sent here."

Victoria choked on the water, and I felt my heart sink.

"What did you do?" I asked hesitantly accusing as she recovered.

"What did I do?" Victoria returned the question, adopting a confused look, composing herself.

"You haven't been sleeping well throughout the week."

"So?"

"And you haven't been able to look Allison in the eye for as long."

"Get to your point, Chris," Victoria said impatiently.

"I'm afraid to get to the point," I responded shakily. "I'm afraid to ask how one of our men saw your car drive away from the warehouse when you said that you were sitting out the hunt for the kanima.

I'm afraid to ask why you tensed and choked when I said that a body was found in a walk-in freezer at the warehouse, and it was Scott's. But I have to ask. What did you do?"

The office door opened before Victoria could reply, and in came my father.

"She did what she had to do to protect your daughter and our family's honor," He advocated for Victoria.

"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked, looking at the both of them.

"It means that you should be grateful to have a wife who can make the hard decisions and stop asking for answers that you are not going to like."

My heart sank even further as I turned my full attention to Victoria.

"What did you do, Victoria?" I asked once more.

She avoided my eyes and took another sip of water.

"I..." Victoria began to answer after a moment, fully composed.

But was once again saved from answering by a knock on the front door.

CUT

Victoria's POV

"Allison. Please, tell her I'm sorry."

Those where Scott's last words, last plea, before he lost consciousness due to the vaporized wolfsbane I used to weaken and kill him.

They were the words that haunted me every day and night since, and as Chris waited for my answer, they rang even louder than they ever have.

I thought that they were Scott's last words, but it seemed he regained consciousness and somehow managed to carve his last words on the door of the walk-in freezer that I left him in.

I knew that those words likely condemned me for what I did to him, and as Chris impatiently waited for me to say something, I prepared myself by compartmentalizing everything, from the unusual guilt I felt for killing a werewolf to the fear of Allison's reaction, before I stood up.

"Go upstairs and make sure that Allison doesn't come down," I instructed.

"Victoria," Chris began.

"I'll take care of this," I interrupted, passing by him on my way towards the office door. "Just do what I..."

"Have you found him? Have you found Scott?"

I heard Allison ask.

"Damn it, Allison," I muttered, and hurried to the front door.

"Uhh, are your parents home?" A woman's voice asked just as I turned a corner and came into view.

"Allison, go to your bedroom," I ordered as I walked towards them.

"She..."

"Go to your room, Allison," I repeated, this time with a commanding tone that left no room for back talk, when Allison didn't move.

I didn't want her to witness...

"She's the person that we came to see, ma'am," The female deputy surprised me. "I am Deputy Clarke and this is my partner Deputy Haigh. We were sent by the Sheriff to follow up on your daughter's statement regarding Scott McCall's disappearance."

"You haven't found him, then," Allison said numbly, but then she suddenly lashed out. "Are you even looking?!"

"Hey, listen here, little girl," Deputy Haigh responded, taking a step forward, his foot crossing the threshold.

"You're not going to speak to my daughter in that manner," I stepped between him and Allison.

"Or try to intimidate my family," Chris added, joining us. "If you don't want to lose that foot, get it out of my house."

"Wait for me in the car, Deputy Haigh," Deputy Clarke instructed with a look.

Embarrassed, Deputy Haigh angrily did as his partner said.

"I apologize for my partner's behavior," Deputy Clarke did damage control, and looked at Allison over my shoulder. "We've been looking for Scott all week long. We are only two of many working on this case, and Sheriff Stilinski is leading it, himself. We just need you to tell us what Scott could be sorry about."

I tensed at the last sentence.

"Allison. Please tell her I'm sorry."

Scott's voice and words rang loud my head as Deputy Clarke took out a notebook.

"In your statement, you (Allison) said that you had an argument with Scott the night that he disappeared. Could you tell me about the argument?" She asked. "What it was about?"

Allison looked at Chris accusingly, and he avoided her puffy eyes, before she side stepped and came in front of us, a tear falling down her cheek before she wiped it away.

"I told my dad something that I should have never told him," Allison said bitterly, and I moved to stop her, but Chris held my hand and shook his head. "Scott found out, and we argued before he left. He doesn't have anything to be sorry about, I do. I trusted the wrong person and everything fell apart, and now he's missing."

More tears came on, and she wiped them away in vain.

"You can't think of anything that he might have felt that he needed to apologize for?" Deputy Clarke inquired.

"No. Why?"

"Let me speak with your father first, and then I'll see about the answer. Mr Argent, could you please accompany me to the car."

Chris and I shared a look before he stepped forward and followed Deputy Clarke to her car.

"Why did you do that?!" I questioned Allison a moment after closing the front door and dragged her to my office before closing its door.

Allison flinched at my tone and took a few steps away from me.

"He killed Jackson," She said, like that justified what she did. "He literally decapitated Jackson with a sword. Do you have any idea how sick that is?!"

"Allison...!"

"And he threatened Scott," Allison continued, gaining a defiant look in her eyes and anger followed. "Repeatedly! What kind of man threatens a teenager with a gun to his head?!"

"The kind that wants the best for his daughter!"

"Scott...!"

"Is nowhere to be found!" I interjected, careful to not say that he was dead, and moved to grab Allison's arm so that I could drag her to her bedroom, but she was already out of my reach, having recoiled like I slapped her across the face.

"Maybe I should be nowhere to be found too," She said, catching me off guard.

It was my turn to recoil at her words.

"You may not care that Scott is missing, but I do!" Allison pressed on, taking advantage of my surprise, obviously upset, the most upset I've ever seen her because she was actually vocal. "And I swear, if dad has anything to do with Scott's disappearance..."

"You'll what? Send your own father to jail?" I questioned upon recomposing myself.

"You will feel what I am feeling," She said, and then promptly left me to analyze what she meant by that.

Usually, I wouldn't have let the argument end in this way, but this was the first time Allison was so openly defiant and rebellious, especially towards me.

It stunned me.

For the first time, in a long time, I felt true fear, for Scott McCall ruined my daughter in ways that I couldn't fathom, and it seemed she ruined him too, so much that his very last thought was of her.