Chapter twelve: Code breaker
We protect those who can't protect themselves.
They hunt those who hunt them.
These are our codes. Sometimes, just sometimes, we break them.
~o~
All hell was breaking loose. Allison had seen Scott shift. Lydia got bit by Peter. Stiles was nowhere to be found. Derek was still missing. Both hunters and protectors were gathering men (as much as they could on such short notice, which wasn't much.)
And, with all that going on, I was sitting in a pet clinic with a migraine.
"Why can't I go out?" I moaned. I knew that I was acting like a child, something I usually didn't do, but I couldn't help it. If there was something going on, I wanted to be included.
"You know why." dad said. He was sitting next to me, on the workbench. "You can't go out there in your condition."
"Then why aren't you going?" I asked, looking up at him. "Someone has to help. Scott will end up getting killed by Kate. Or Peter will end up murdering everyone." Dad let out a chuckle at that.
"I don't think he's going to kill everyone." he said. Barely a second after, the banging in my head got even harder. I winced in pain and felt my muscles tense, then relax.
"There you go again." dad said, putting a hand behind my head to support me and let me fall down gently instead of banging my head against the metal.
~o~
When I woke up, dad was gone. But I wasn't alone. Deaton was standing in the corner of the room, filling up syringes.
"I hope those aren't for me." I said, pushing myself up from the workbench so I could sit. Deaton chuckled and shook his head.
"No, they're not."
"Where's my dad?"
"He went to do his job. You did ask him to go." I frowned at that bit.
"I did?"
Deaton shook his head again and turned around. "How many times do you think you've passed out? How long have you been here?" My mind got dizzy by just thinking about the questions, but I answered anyway.
"I don't know… passed out? Two times? How long…" I looked at the clock on the wall. It was almost ten o'clock, but it was dark outside, so it would have been… "A day?" I exclaimed, wincing at the volume of my own voice.
"Almost." Deaton added, the calmth in his voice annoyed me. I've been here for an entire day and he was just… just- argh, I don't know.
"What did I miss?" I asked.
"Well, the last time you father called me… he said that Stiles was okay, Lydia was managing just fine, Jackson was… well to quote: 'still a moron' -I managed to let out a scoff at that one-, Scott found Derek and they were heading to the Hale house."
"When was this?" I asked.
"About… twenty minutes ago?" he said, shrugging. Alright. That's it. I'm going out there. No way that shit it going down and I won't be there. Nope. So I pushed myself off the workbench and started walking towards the door.
"You wouldn't be able to even get there in time." Deaton reminded me, not even attempting to stop me. And he had a fair point. Problem: I didn't care. So I just kept walking, but this time Deaton followed me, stopping me just in front of the counter.
"Please, I want to go." I said, trying to pull myself loose from his grip, but I didn't have enough strength at that moment. "My friends are in danger." I said, a wave of energy surging through me at the realisation. They could be dying right now. And I wouldn't be there to help them. No, no way. I pulled myself loose, and when Deaton tried to grab me again, I hit his temple with my fist, somehow knocking him out. I hadn't thought I would manage. Sure, usually I could but… no time to think about it.
Feeling determined, I opened the counter's gate and walked out of the clinic, tripping over my own feet as I did. Maybe this "surge of energy" could've done a bit of a better job at fixing my coordination.
~o~
It didn't take long for the energy to wear off. Luckily, it also didn't take long for me to steal Deaton's car. (Don't worry, I was going to give it back) As the energy of which I supposed it was adrenaline wore off, my migraine came back. And I didn't have Deaton's painkillers with me. Great. Okay, think. What other symptoms did he say there would be?
Well, one was obviously the migraine. And then there was something about blacking out. I was reminded what the third symptom was by the sharp pain in my back returning. Guess the painkillers I'd taken before were really wearing off then.
Once I arrived at the Hale house, I realised I had no gun. Or other weapon. Well, in the scene that way playing in front of me, there definitely wasn't a lack of guns. There were five, actually. Kate's, Chris', dad's, and two protectors'. At least I thought they were as they were all pointing at Kate. Yes, including Chris. Maybe the other two weren't protectors after all. There was no way of telling, really.
"Put the gun down, Kate." he said. She didn't move. A loud gunshot echoed through the woods, making me wince. When I opened my eyes again, Kate was lying on the floor, grabbing her shoulder and wincing in pain. She then raised her gun again, this time pointing in a different direction. It all went so fast, within a second she'd raised her gun and fired it.
No.
Oh God no, please no.
I didn't move. I sat frozen in the car, but somehow this was the first time everyone at the scene noticed me. When Kate saw me, she smirked. Oh that was it.
Anger started boiling up inside of me. They say mourning comes in five stages: disbelief, bargaining, anger, depression, and acceptance. The first stage lasted about two seconds, but I was completely skipping the second one.
The migraine was gone, but the pain in my back was intensifying as I got out of the car and practically marched towards where his body was lying on the ground. I crouched down next to him and clutched his hand.
"Don't you dare die on me." I whispered, but as I looked at the bullet wound I knew he had no chance. It was a near clear shot, he'd have seconds.
"I love you." he said, his voice weak. Before I had a chance to answer, his eyes closed and his grip on my hand loosened.
"Love you too, dad." I said, letting him go. Then, I grabbed his gun and stood up, aiming it at Kate, whose gun had been taken by Chris.
"Lorraine, don't." one of the protectors (since they hadn't shot me I assumed they were) said, trying to get closer to me, but backing off when I lashed out at them.
"You bitch." I said,still dazed by shock and anger at first but soon raising my voice. "First you burn my mother, then you shoot my father. Anyone else you'd like to take?" Silence fell and everyone froze as the door to the Hale house creaked open. Everyone but me aimed their guns at the door.
"Wh- what's that?" Allison said out of nowhere. I frowned and looked at the place where she was standing, her bow in her hand. I hadn't even noticed her before. By the looks of it she'd come there with Kate. Also her father wouldn't have allowed her to come. Great.
Just in front of her, Scott stood up from the ground, his eyes glowing. "It's the Alpha."
He was running around, way too fast for someone to be able to hit him. But he was hitting us, tackling us to the ground one by one. After he tackled Allison, I knew I could well be next. Something told me not to lie on my back, so I slowly dropped down facing the earth. I watched as the Alpha tackled the others, but I was ready to jump up any time he'd try something. Eventually Kate was the only one left standing.
"Come on!" she yelled, picking up one of the protectors' guns from the floor and taking aim whenever she heard something. Of course, by the time she'd finished aiming, Peter had long gone to a different spot. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, he showed up next to her in human form and grabbed her wrist, making her fire her gun several times into the air before crushing the bones. He then grabbed her by the throat and threw her towards the house, which he dragged her into afterwards.
"No!" Allison yelled, pushing herself off the ground and running into the house. Funny, I was thinking the same thing. Well, the "no" part anyway.
Because if Kate Argent was going to die, I sure as hell was going to be the one to do it.
I slowly pushed myself of the ground, rage pumping through my veins. As I walked towards the house, it felt like my back burst open. I ignored it and kept walking, only to stop at the door when I pushed it open. I frowned as I looked at my hand. Or more specifically, my nails. Or should I say claws? I traced my finger around them. They weren't like a werewolf's claws, more like a long, pointed black human nail. What the hell?
I decided not to dwell on it too much and walked further into the house, glad now I knew that I had some weapon to tear her throat out with.
Allison was standing on one side of the room, whilst Peter and Kate were standing on the other side, Peter's claws placed on Kate's neck.
"Let her go." I said, walking past Allison. Peter's eyes widened as he saw me, and Kate looked terrified.
"Why?" Peter asked, recovering from his shock quickly. "What are you going to do, Lora?" I gritted my teeth as he used my nickname.
"You know what." I said, glaring at him. Even though I was angry, I wasn't stupid. Attacking Peter would only free Kate. And I wasn't killing him, not now I knew that he saved me. He smiled at me, probably thinking the same thing.
"Well, in that case…" he said, before swinging his arm through the air. Blood splattered against the window as Kate fell towards the floor, her throat slashed wide open. Before I could even say anything, he turned to Allison.
"Well, I was going to give her a chance to apologise…" he said, wiping the blood off his claws. "But then again, she never would've meant it." He started walking towards her, but stopped when Scott and Derek showed up, both shifted into werewolf form.
"Run." Scott said, and Allison did. I didn't.
"You've had your revenge Peter." I said, my voice strong. All the physical pain was gone now. "Leave it at that." Peter just smirked at me. No such luck.
"Hold him off." I said, running out of the house.
All the people lying on the ground were either knocked out or… dead. I ran towards my dad, hoping, just hoping that he'd brought wolfsbane bullets. When I put my hand on his right pocket I sighed in relief. He'd brought a second gun, undoubtedly fill with them.
"Lorraine?" Stiles yelled. I looked up and saw him and Jackson stepping out of Jackson's car. His mouth was hanging open and his eyes were wide. "What the hell happened to you?"
"I don't know!" I yelled back, cocking the gun and aiming it at the house. "Now get the hell out of here, Peter's gone apeshit!" As if on cue, Scott got thrown out of a window, and soon after the Alpha jumped out. I instantly fired a bullet, hitting him in his arm. He growled in pain, but didn't make a move to attack me.
From the corner of my eye, I saw Stiles throwing something at the Alpha, who caught it. It was a chemistry flask. No… it couldn't be. I almost let out a laugh when I realised: self-igniting molotov cocktail. Guess Lydia was the one to save the day.
If only the Alpha hadn't caught it.
"Oh." Stiles said, looking both terrified and disappointed. I rolled my eyes; it wasn't that hard. I aimed my gun at the flask, fired, and… well, fire. The Alpha's arm burst in flames, and Stiles let out a whoop in victory. Jackson then threw a second flask, which set the rest of his body aflame. Meanwhile, I kept shooting bullets, and Scott had thrown Allison her bow, so she was shooting arrows at him.
Soon, Peter lay on the ground, back in human form and covered in burns. Scott and Allison were kissing, Chris was back on his feet, and Derek walked out of the house. He looked at me with… well it was hard to tell, it was Derek. He was frowning, but he did that most of the time so who knows how he felt. He looked from me to Peter and raised an eyebrow.
"Just slash his throat already." I said. "Put him out of his misery." And so he did. Much to Scott's confusion.
"What did he do?" he asked. Derek turned around, his eyes glowing a bright red.
"I'm the alpha now." he said, his voice deep and powerful.
~o~
In the end, the two protectors (I was right) had woken up and they had returned Deaton's car. Chris had brought both Scott and Allison home, and Jackson had taken off. Which left just me, Stiles (who'd refused to leave), and what was left of my dad. Jason was coming to pick us up, but it would take fifteen more minutes. In which I didn't want to think about what had just happened, but Stiles had something to show me.
I'd noticed something heavy on my back, but…
"Wings?" I said, looking over my shoulder and indeed seeing black feathers. "Oh you've got to be kidding me." I looked back at the picture he'd taken. They were folded in, but they almost reached my ankles and each one was about as broad as my back.
"They do look pretty badass." Stiles said, managing to make me chuckle a bit. "You think you can fly?"
"I honestly have no idea, since the-" I froze as I heard twigs snapping somewhere behind us. "Did you…"
"Yeah." he said, pushing himself off the ground and turning around to look. "If there's some sort of weird supernatural coyote in there, I swear to God I'm done with this town." I smiled, but took out dad's gun nonetheless. "Stay here, I'm going to check it out."
"Stay here?" Stiles yelled after me as I walked into the woods. "You know this is how every single horror movie starts? And it always ends up with one of us dead? No?" His voice faded the further I walked, and eventually he stopped talking and it was completely silent and I was alone in a dark forest. Even though his voice had stopped, I was pretty sure Stiles was following me as I could hear twigs snapping behind me followed by soft curses. But as I said: Alone in a dark forest. Which means you can't judge me for nearly screaming when someone suddenly landed in front of me. Yes, that's right. Landed. Whoever he was, he had wings just like mine.
"Hello Lorraine." he said, smirking at me. "Glad you made it." I narrowed my eyes at him.
"I wasn't aware that we arranged a meetup."
He laughed at that. He was around his mid-twenties, and had dark hair and tanned skin. Or that might've been the fact that the only source of light was the moon, I don't know. "I meant that I'm glad you didn't die. Honestly, you'll be quite the adding to our little team."
"Are you going to explain anything to me or are you just going to act all suave and mysterious?"
"How about I just show you?" he asked, holding out his arm.
"How about no…" I said, stepping away from him and aiming my gun. "I'd really hate to shoot you, but you aren't taking me anywhere."
He laughed and looked at the gun as if it were a waterpistol. "I'd like to see you try. And, unfortunately for you, you're going to have to come with me." He then ran forwards and grabbed my wrist. As soon as his claws/nails/whatever dug into my skin, my vision started to blur. Crap. I wish I could've slapped him when he continued talking to me, the smugness dripping through his voice. "I'm Alex, by the way."
A/N: Whew… that was… quite something! Lorraine didn't die in the end but… her father did. Of course this isn't the end of the series, because this story will be continued in: The Protector: The Buildup And I hope I'll see all of you there! (Note: The Protector: The Buildup has now been uploaded and finished!)
Throughout the story, I tried to drop a few hints of what would happen with Lorraine, and I think a good part of you managed to at least suspect what was going to happen.
Speaking of what is going to happen: I've started writing the first few chapters of the next story, and you'll soon figure out that it'll be very different from this one. Especially Lorraine's behaviour: since she won't be dying, she might allow herself to show how she feels about Stiles. But hey, who knows? Well, I do.
The first real chapter of the next story will be uploaded one month, as I need time to write a few chapters ahead for when I get busy (and I tend to do that). And from then on there'll be weekly update unless stated otherwise.
Notice that I said "real chapter"? Well that's because just after updating this story, I'll make the next one. The "first" chapter will be slightly shorter than usual, around 1-1.5k I should think. I won't be giving away too much, but from the title (Meanwhile in Beacon Hills) you should be able to conclude a few things ;)
Thank you all so much for sticking with this story till the end, and I'll see you in the next one!
~Lilly
