Chapter 11: Party Guessed

So this chapter has some pretty intense foreshadowing in it so I'm hoping I don't scare the crap outta you guys too much. Thanks for all the lovely, lovely reviews. I appreciate every single one of them~

"Okay, now think. When was the last time you were murdered?"

"Stiles, for the umpteenth time, I was never murdered," I stressed. After the failed plan at the rave, I was stuck with Stiles as my ride home since I couldn't find Matt.

"Come on, Daehler. Think!"

"Stiles, I swear to god—" I huffed, but was cut off by Stiles's phone going off.

"I'm not dead. Stay safe, Scott," Stiles monotonously read. I took his phone to confirm the message myself and wasn't fazed when my own phone began vibrating, indicating a message. "Well, that's good to know. I'm glad were all close enough to tell each other that we're alive via text," Stiles sarcastically quipped.

We rode silently down a dark road as I bit my lip in thought. Honestly, the silence was highly appreciated at the moment and I couldn't be more thankful for Stiles not acting like a total weirdo over me kissing him. To be fair, he did retaliate by groping my face. Eh, whatever works for us.

"So, this murdering thing…" Stiles began, nervously tapping on his steering wheel. I sighed heavily and rolled my eyes.

"No, Stiles, I don't remember being murdered lately," I began in a know-it-all tone. "Why not?" I continued in a deep voice that was supposed to sound like Stiles's voice. Supposed being the operative word. "Because I think I would remember something like that. Exactly, this is why I need details, Charlie. Details!" I finished letting out a dramatic breath. Out of the corner of my eye, I could tell that Stiles did not appreciate my imitation of him.

"First of all, rude. Second, you really need to work on your impression of me, but don't worry you'll get there, and third—"

"The only thing I can think of is me even being close to murdered is when I almost drowned that night," I interrupted to avoid his inevitable next question. He was quiet for a beat after my loose theory.

"Well, you did die technically. Your heart stopped and you weren't breathing," he explained. "Obviously, since I had to give you CPR."

"I thought Derek gave me CPR?" I asked. "And we should really start going to the hospital more," I added with a cringe.

"Well, yes. But he just performed the chest compressions and I gave the quote really good mouth to mouth action unquote," he boasted. I blushed lightly and was so glad it was dark otherwise my stupid face would give myself away.

"Yes, good— meaning you helped save my life," I finally answered as he turned down my street.

"Yeah, that too," he shrugged lightly. "Speaking of my lip acti—"

"Stiles, look out!" I yelled as a swerving Allison had flown past us in her own car. Stiles slammed on the brakes in the middle of the road with one hand gripped firmly on the wheel and the other was slung across my torso. You know, the same way you catch your precious pizza. From the short distance, I could see Matt standing there with a very strange look upon his face. "Something isn't right," I whispered. Was it from nearly hitting Allison? Finding out I was murdered? Scott nearly dying? Someone actually dying at the rave? Kissing Stiles?

"What?" Stiles had used both hands to safely parked on the side of the road by my house and took a quick deep breath as Matt approached his car.

"I don't know," I admitted, watching Matt closely as he approached the Jeep on Stiles's side.

"Stiles, Charlie," he nodded. "You two have fun at the rave?"

Stiles looked over at me in which I nodded with a small smile. "We left early, but, yeah, it was decent."

"Decent if you mean ins—"

Too bad poor Stiles couldn't finish his complaint. I'd had enough from everyone tonight and now had some research and snooping to do. "Goodnight," I said firmly. I slid out of Stiles's Jeep and shut the door behind me. I made my way around the Jeep and began walking up the path to our door. Matt fell into step beside as we headed to the front door.

"Stay safe, Daehler!" Stiles called out from his window. Matt and I both turned around in sync. "N-no, not you. Her. I'm not s-saying don't not not be safe, but be safe," he poorly explained. Matt and I stayed silent as we exchanged glances. Mine was amused, Matt—thoroughly annoyed. "You know what, goodnight," Stiles concluded before he flew off, almost hitting a trash can on the way out.

"He never ceases to amaze me," Matt sighed while he dug around in his pockets for the house key.

"Agreed," I mused as I thought back to our warm kiss. I took Matt's bag and his camera as he continued struggling to look for the key. "But you better mean that in a good way."

"How do I say this diplomatically?" He began thoughtfully. "Stiles surprises me every day in a way that I expect someone like him to surprise me."

"That doesn't make any sense," I stated as he finally unlocked the door.

"It does to me."

"Whatever," I sighed, shutting and locking the door behind me. I handed him back his stuff as we both headed to the kitchen. "Take any good pictures tonight?"

"I got one good one," he said. I stood beside him silently while he flipped through them. I noticed a picture of a stranger with dark skin and brown, almost black hair. "But that's all you really need, right?"

"I guess," I shrugged, leaning on the kitchen counter. Fact: there's pizza in the fridge and steady yet I'm having a conversation about pictures of strangers. Matt continued clicking through pictures while I moved to the refrigerator in search of pizza. "I thought flash photography wasn't allowed in the club?" I asked through a mouthful of food.

"Just a rule," he shrugged. "Besides, anything can break if there's enough pressure applied."

I froze mid-bite with a mouth filled with cold pizza. Matt sent me a wink that was followed with a smirk and then he disappeared upstairs. "Matt!" I called after him. Inevitably, he was gone and his room doing whatever he does at night. "Matt!" I called out again. Personally, I always thought that Lydia was going crazy with all the walking around the woods in the freezing cold, but now here I was convinced that I was murdered and that my own twin brother was the Kanima master.

With Matt being the maybe, possible potential but not really Kanima, I had skipped out on sleeping and stayed up trying to put everything together. It just didn't make any sense unless Matt just played dumb all along. If that's the case then he's really good at playing dumb, or he really is an idiot.

Stiles would have been really useful to bounce this back on, but god, he asked too many questions.

Luckily, Spring Break started after the night of the rave which left me plenty of time to try to figure this out. But much to my distaste, Matt spent all of his time in his room. An elusive place I needed to snoop through ASAP.

With the use of a well-placed stethoscope, I managed to learn that Matt was going to Lydia's birthday party. I almost wanted to get more ketamine myself and get more answers. But that was a beyond stupid idea. Snooping was less stupid, but still never ended well for anyone. I eventually decided it would easier to keep an eye on Matt for the night instead of rummaging through his room for the evening.

Still, there's just a few I's to dot and T's to cross before I make any permanent accusations. Plus, I haven't even started a way to explain this to Scott, Derek, Isaac and Stiles in a way that Matt wouldn't end up dead. Even then, I hope they could figure it out themselves because I'd hate to wait and see what would happen to me if I were the one who spilled the beans.

With another sigh, I blinked the stinging from the tiredness out of my eyes until I could see my computer screen clearly again. I had spent most of my day cooped up in my room doing my own research and before I knew it was three hours before the party and I hadn't even looked toward my closet. My phone was filled with unread messages from Isaac, whom I was ignoring, as well as messages from Scott, Stiles, and Lydia. I actually called Allison a few times earlier today to see how everything went on her end last night. Obviously it was all a complete disaster, but I was also curious about how it went with Matt considering his recent behavior.

Begrudgingly, I lazily spun around in my desk chair to face my closet. There was no way in hell I could wear jeans without being ridiculed or even shunned the entire time at the party. So what the hell was I supposed to do now? As if by fate, there was a knock on my door quickly followed by Lydia who was carrying a single Macy's bag with a smug grin plastered on her face. "This is for you," she said, dropping the bag on my bed. "I figured you didn't own anything that wasn't jeans and a t-shirt. How come your parents didn't name you Jane? It would make a lot more sense with this vibe you have going. I'd say it's bad, but it works for you, but not tonight," she finished with the same smug look on her face.

I stayed seated in my desk chair with an evident frown on my face. "Hi, Lydia it's nice to see you too. I'm great thanks for asking."

She waved me off half-hardheartedly and began scanning my room as if she were looking for something. "Where's your make-up?" I pointed silently to the small bag sitting on my nightstand. Filled with the basic essentials; black eyeliner, foundation, and some mascara. "Is this it?" She asked incredulously. "Because you look like you haven't slept in days and we're gonna need a lot more than this."

I sighed softly as turned back to my computer. I began closing out of my leads and even was looking up for information about anything related to Kanima-like rash. I've never been directly attacked, let alone scratched by the thing, but steady yet, I was the one who was getting an unsightly growth on my waist and hip. "Yes, Lydia that's it," I confirmed. I shut my computer and turned back around to face Lydia whose arms were crossed in a disappointed fashion.

"Fortunately for you, I brought my own make-up kit. And this can be your birthday present from you to me; a makeover," she proposed.

"Fair enough," I agreed. Sort of. It seemed like I didn't have much say in the whole thing. Which was okay at the moment because I could really use the distraction. She nodded once in a satisfactory way before leaving my room to go to her car outside. Questioning how she even got into my house the first time was futile. Besides, I owed her this much since she's been ignored for the past two weeks.

An hour and a half filled with bickering, make-up, and lecture about how-heels-are-sensible-shoes-if-you-try-hard-enough later, I was ready for Lydia's party. Lydia left with an hour to spare to go get herself as well as her house ready for the party. Apparently I was her last stop before her own home because I was supposed to take the longest. Rude. But that's Lydia for you. For the sake of my sanity, she managed to find a simple sleeveless dress with pockets. I repeat pockets. Bless her.

Unfortunately for me, I have the tendency to become cold in 90°F weather and decided to steal Matt's leather jacket for the occasion considering I couldn't find my own. I swear if Matt stole it then he's an idiot because mine definitely had room for his boobs. A skip and a half later, I was about to knock on Matt's door, until everything that happened last night had come flooding back at once. Now I had to debate if I wanted to freeze all night or just face my possible homicidal brother.

Shit.

Eventually, I decided to go downstairs to check the car to stall a little more but was utterly confused when I couldn't find our keys. I knew my dad was gone for the night for work, but the car Matt and I share was also gone. I cursed to myself and headed back up the stairs. Once again, I hesitated before entering Matt's room.

Almost immediately, I saw his jacket lying on his bed. I walked over and tucked it under my arm. Scanning the rest of the room, I saw his laptop was open and unlocked. Which was fate if I've ever seen it. It almost seemed too good to be true. As if were a set up. When would I get this chance again?

I walked to his computer fully knowing that I wasn't going to snoop, steady yet here I was looking through his files and internet history. I found that he was looking up Kanima myths as well as any connections to the same rash he and I are developing on our midsections. I was biting my nails in anticipation as I read the information that wasn't leading to any significant answers that I already didn't know. I went to some documents on his desktop that included the bestiary and a few other things. The bestiary I know I can't read so I skipped over that and opened a file called 'Them.' There was a list of people I didn't recognize other than one. Henry Lahey. Isaac's dad.

I Google searched the other names to see if there were any significant connections. I recognized the mechanic that was crushed the night Stiles and I were confronted. I also vaguely recognized the picture of the girl that Matt had shown me late last night. I quickly scribbled down the names of the others that had yet to be a victim. I stuffed the paper in my pocket and continued scrolling.

I decided to move on and look through any pictures for more patterns. I found what I thought was a picture of Jackson lying down. The clock at the bottom right-hand of the screen began ticking as Jackson slowly sat up. I cringed as he began twitching and shifting into the Kanima until it finally disappeared off the screen.

"Find anything interesting?"

I jumped at the voice and banged my knee in the process. "Matt, you almost gave me a heart attack," I said through my teeth. Matt was leaning against the door-frame of his door with a broody look on his face. We both knew I was caught, but we both refused to acknowledge it. I clumsily got up and held his leather jacket in from of him. "I was j-just looking for this."

"You sure that was the only thing you were looking for?"

I cleared my throat and nodded silently in response and averted my eyes to a corner of his room. I would have totally left by now, but his body was blocking the only other exit that wasn't a window.

"What is taking you so long, Daehler?" A voice asked from behind Matt. I looked up and past Matt to see an annoyed Jackson. He eyed me up and down once before settling on my eyes. "You look nice, Marley."

"It's—thank you, Jackson," I said.

"Welcome," he said. He shifted his attention back to Matt who had yet to stop staring at me with that same creepy look on his face. "Now, come on before I leave you to find Lydia's house by yourself."

Matt stepped into his room with Jackson following behind. The air in the room suddenly became…off for lack of a better word. Jackson was completely silent and was now staring at me in the same manner as Matt.

"Jackso…" I began until his eyes shifted into slits. Matt took a confident step toward me and eyed me once up and down. "Weren't you leaving, sis?"

Without answering him, I brushed past Matt and Jackson and didn't even think to look back. That was single-handedly the weirdest, creepiest, scariest encounter I've ever had with Matt. All that was coming from the boy who was terrified of going down the drain when you let the water out of a bathtub.

I slid the jacket on to suppress my inevitable chills and swiped my phone off of my nightstand. I sent Stiles a quick text asking for a ride and decided to wait outside. But wanting to avoid any more homicidal confrontation, I scaled the tree outside my window and waited anxiously for Stiles to show.

About three splinters and a handful of bark later, Stiles had arrived. I carefully climbed down the tree and landed on the ground with an annoyed grunt. I rubbed my back tenderly and limped to Stiles's Jeep. "Sensible shoes, my ass." I swear I'm getting too old to hang out in trees. "Hey," I greeted once I got to his open window.

Stiles was silent for a few moments while the frown on my face deepened. "Wow, Charlie. You look..."

Chuckling softly, I lamely threw up my hands and formed finger guns and winked at him. "I try," I boasted. That successfully brought him out of his stupor. "I can't believe you just finger gunned me," he scoffed.

Without hesitating, I crossed my arms and smirked at him. "That what she said."

A blush crept its way on to his face. "Just get in the car," he demanded, staring out the front of his windshield. I smirked one last time and made my way over to the passenger's side. Once I was in and settled, he took off and headed to Lydia's.

"What's with the box?"

"It's Lydia's gift. Choice number five," he said as if that explained it all. I lifted my eyebrows silently and fiddled with the end of my dress. "Oh, Kanima update! Apparently the same car was parked outside the hospital when that couple was murdered and the same one showed up at the rave last night, remember?"

"Uh, no. Remind me," I egged on, playing along for the sake of my sanity.

"There's a bumper sticker on the back that says 'imagination is more important than knowledge'. Sound familiar?" I began biting the inside of cheek while I tried to remember what the hell Matt was doing the night that couple in woods was killed. "They think it's Harris."

"It's not Harris," I said a little too quickly. There's was literally no possible way unless I was carpooling with my Chemistry teacher every morning, noon, and night without noticing. Stiles didn't seem fazed by my defensive take toward the Chemistry teacher that seemed to hate Stiles and I more and more each time he saw us.

"I know," Stiles said. "But there's something about how the tire tracks match and all that good stuff so they brought him for questioning."

"Awesome," I sighed, sinking into my seat. I wanted to blurt that it was Matt. I was sure of it. In fact, the evidence was staring at me in the face not even 10 minutes ago. I was scared—terrified, of what would happen to Matt if I told. He's a monster. He's my brother. He's a monster. He's my brother. He's a monster. He's my twin.

Once we got to the party (and my god Stiles's gift was a freaking fire hazard considering he couldn't get through the door), it took approximately 2.5 seconds to find Scott. Allison took a little longer than that, but only by a few milliseconds due to the lack of people at the party. I greeted them both and shoved my hands my dress pockets and felt the list of names I wrote down earlier while snooping through Matt's room. My heart sped up just thinking about the situation. I definitely should not be here. I should call a taxi. I should steal a bike. A car. I could run. Not for very long, but I could.

"Charlie, you okay?" Scott asked, looking at me with concern. Everyone else followed his lead as if they expected an answer from me.

"Uh, yeah, Allison's right, we should just vote," I blurted. Honestly I had no idea what they were even talking about but Allison usually had the best, and safest, ideas but my impromptu sentence was a real shot in the dark.

"What?"

"What?"

"Are you okay?" Scott asked again, stepping closer to me.

No. Matt is making Jackson murder people and no one has any idea why.

"Yes, I'm fine." That answer seemed to satisfy him for the time being.

The party was now in full swing thanks to Stiles and Scott and all of their new friends. I was talking to one of Stiles's new friends who was giving me a crash course on winged liner and, boy, was I taking notes. It was a nice distraction from all the chaos going on in my head. Eventually they excused themselves to grab another drink while I helped myself to mine. I took another sip from the third (maybe fourth?) glass and bounced along to the beat of the music.

"Hey, Charlie," Jackson correctly greeted for the first time ever. "Enjoying the party?"

I nodded and gestured to my drink. "Punch is good."

"Yeah, this song is pretty catchy, right?" He asked, bouncing along like I was earlier. I nodded in agreement and took another sip. I did a quick scan of the party to see if there was anyone else to talk to. "You know what else is catchy?" He asked. Within a blink, his eyes turned into slits. I did a complete 360 of the area around me to look for Scott who was absolutely nowhere to be found. In fact, no one seemed to be paying attention. "Murder," he growled, finally shifting to his full Kanima form. The cup slipped through my fingers as the party continued as if no one was watching the matter at hand.

The Kanima lifted a claw and slashed my chest. And then again. And again. And again until I fell forward on my knees. The music from the party was still playing and people were passing by unconcerned. I felt more claws strike my back until something forced me up and into the air. "Hey, sis. How's it hanging?" My blurred vision showed that Matt was standing next to the Kanima who holding me by my neck with its tail. Matt laughed loudly before falling completely silent and serious as everyone stared silently with unmoving faces. The next thing I knew, I was in the air and flying into the deep end of the pool headfirst. Right before I hit the water my hearing went out and suddenly the normalcy of the party returned.

No blood, no water, no gashes, no Jackson, no Matt. Nothing.

"What the hell?" I managed to get out. A thin sheet of sweat covered my face as I retreated into the house to further calm myself down. I moved as swiftly as I possibly could through the crowd of people until I reached the bathroom upstairs. I brushed past a body and quickly excused myself by shutting the bathroom door behind me. Struggling to catch my breath, I dropped to my knees in front of the toilet as my mouth began to water in a repulsive manner.

There was a few quick knocks on the door. "Charlie? You okay?" Allison's voice asked. I nodded absentmindedly before remembering that people can indeed not hear nods. I opened my mouth to respond until the punch I had been drinking all night decided to make an impromptu appearance. Allison invited herself in and shut the door behind her with a soft click.

"What's in this punch?" I croaked while Allison sent me a sympathetic look. "Whatever it is, it's messing with me," I deduced. I flushed the toilet and stood up to begin rummaging through the cabinets and drawers.

"I got it," she offered. She found a clean washcloth and wet it with cool water. She handed it to me and sat on the edge of the bathtub. "Someone just probably spiked it is all," she shrugged.

I placed the folded cloth across my forehead and shut my eyes. But ended up opening then back up because of the images flashing behind my eyes from my recent hallucination. "Yeah," I sighed. "Probably."

"Charlie," she began slowly in a careful tone. "I think we need to have a talk about your brother."

Oh god, I hope I'm not imagining all of this. Maybe she knows. Maybe not. Maybe she's just creeped out by him. Well, that makes two of us.

I swallowed thickly and removed the washcloth from my face. "I already know what you're going to say and—"

Interrupting my pre-pre-pre-pre-pre-confession was Allison's phone. She gave me a sheepish smile before pointing to her phone. "Sorry, it's my dad," she explained before answering. "Hey, dad." Due to the complete quietness of the upstairs bathroom, I could hear every word that was being said from the other end. I watched Allison's face fall as she recognized her father's tone of voice. She looked over at me and quickly left the bathroom.

God, this snooping thing is really gonna get me killed. Seriously, I'm stalking almost as much as Matt now. Or even worse, I'm stalking as much as Derek.

I tried to silent my footsteps and followed Allison who was hiding around a corner. Between the muffled music and the general chatter of people downstairs, I craned my neck until I heard Mr. Argent's voice. I made out that something was very wrong with Mrs. Argent and that Allison should get to the hospital immediately. Hearing Allison sniff, I retreated back to the outside of the bathroom to make it look like I was coming out instead of becoming a modern day Sherlock Holmes.

Allison approached me with red, puffy eyes. "Um, I gotta go. Tell Scott that I'll talk to him later, okay?" She turned and quickly left without letting me respond, let alone comfort her. I turned back into the bathroom to double check my make-up. Fortunately, my eyeliner was the only thing suffering. I quickly fixed the smudges with make-up wipes I found and left the bathroom to return to the party. I scanned the area for Scott and was surprised when he popped up in my line of vision holding a bottle of water.

"Charlie, something's happening and we need to find Stiles," he explained quickly. He grabbed my wrist tightly and began leading us through crowds of people.

"I know, Scott," I said, ignoring the pain in my wrist. Between the punch and the full moon, I couldn't figure out what was putting him on the edge the most. "Listen, Allison—"

"Allison?" He asked, suddenly stopping. "What's wrong with Allison?"

I sighed heavily and tried to figure out the easiest way to explain the situation without him asking me a million and one questions. "She—"

"Hold that thought," he interrupted, placing his free hand in front of my face. I rolled my eyes and scoffed. "I found Stiles."

We took off once again and I decided that Scott can't hold a conversation if there's a full moon. Or he just found a new love of interrupting people. He let go of my wrist and kneeled down next to an out-of-it Stiles. "Stiles, look at me. Drink the water. Stiles, drink it. Something's happening, and I need you to sober up right now. Come on, Stiles," Scott egged, waving the bottle of water in Stiles' face.

A girl named Danielle was watching the scene with great disappointment until she interrupted. "What do you think you are doing? You want to sober him up fast, that's not the way to do it."

"You can do better?" Scott asked.

"I can do best, boy," she insisted. Without any hesitation, Danielle dunked Stiles's head into the pool for a few seconds and yanked him back up. My god that girl is genius. "Whoo! How do you feel?"

"Like I might have to revisit my policy on hitting a girl."

"He's sober," she and I said in unison.

A damp Stiles and I were searching for Lydia to figure what the hell she put in the punch. We looked in every nook and cranny of her house and searched every face at the party. We eventually met up with Scott who looked equally disappointed that there was no sign of Lydia. "Hey, we can't find her. And, dude, anyone who drank that crap, they're freaking out," Stiles informed.

"I can see that," Scott sighed.

"What the hell do we do?"

"I don't know, but we gotta—"

"I can't swim! No, no, no, no, stop, guys!" Someone yelled from the poolside. My stomach dropped when I realized it Matt and a bunch guys were about to toss him in the pool. "I can't swim! I can't swim! I can'—I can't—"

Shit.

My feet felt like they were glued to the ground. Under any other circumstances (i.e., non-homicidal twin brother), I would help (run), but there was nothing that I could do to help him as he drowned. Fact: drowning sucks and there's no way around that.

My eyes began stinging as the painfully slow drowning continued. I shut my eyes tightly in hopes that this was all a hallucination. My hopes were shattered as Jackson swiftly scooped Matt out of the pool. Jackson looked around as Matt stood there drenched from head to toe. "What are you looking at?" Matt yelled as he sauntered over toward Scott, Stiles, and I. He eyed each of us eerily and slowly until he brushed past us without another word. My face was beet red as Scott and Stiles turned to look down at me.

"Before you guys freak out, you need to kn—" The sounds of police sirens began to go off in the near distance. I curse under my breath at the horrible timing.

"The cops are here. Party's over!" Some kid yelled. Fortunately, everyone began taking off in different directions except the three of us. Scott and Stiles were still staring at me expectantly while my face was turning even redder. I squeezed my eyes shut again and slightly shook my head as if this was all a bad dream.

But sadly, it was all very, very real.

Eventually, they left without me. My first guess was that they were going to the police station to confirm that it was Matt and not Harris. With my amazing streak of luck tonight, I didn't have a ride to get to the station and if I walked, it would be too late to make a case for my brother. Not that I had one, but I needed to know he was going to be okay. I bit my lip anxiously and scanned the area until I saw a set of keys lying near the pool. I jogged over to pick them up and deduced that they were Jackson's and must have fallen out when he was saving Matt's ass for the umpteenth time.

Kicking off my heels and holding them, I jogged with a purpose through the house and out the front door. The house was now completely empty. The threat of blue and red lights were approaching. The feeling of impending doom continued to grow as I passed the gates where I saw Scott, Matt, and the Kanima in full form. Matt's chest was heaving and my god he was livid. Matt took the liberty of looking past Scott and directly at me. Scott turned around and made eye contact with me. Wide-eyed, I broke it and went off to find Jackson's Porsche in the array of red and blue police lights.

And that's Party Guessed, hope you guys liked it ;)

P.S. Charlie's face claim is *drumroll* Alexandra Daddario! Yay or nay? Review, please?