DISCLAIMER: I do not own Teen Wolf or its characters. This is all for fun! Enjoy
When Kinley opened her eyes, she was no longer sitting but laying down in a room that she didn't recognize. It must have been someone's living room. She slowly sat up and looked around. It was a open room that also connected to the kitchen, and it only had enough room to fit the one couch and a recliner chair and a TV. The TV was located directly in front of her and many picture frames covered the wall behind it. She found herself on the grey couch which was fairly comfortable with a Mets baseball blanket over her. She sat up fully and the blanket fell off her shoulder and gathered around her waist. She noticed Stiles to her left laying in the recliner chair fast asleep. This must have been his living room. She now remember agreeing to stay here after he found her on the bench.
She stared at Stiles, who was snoring in the chair, and he didn't look very comfortable. He was laying on his stomach with his face turned sideways and his legs were partially off the chair. Why was he sleeping there when he had his bed only steps away? It's not like anything was going to happen to her in his house. He didn't even have a blanket. Kinley just shook her head. This boy was ridiculous.
She found a clock on the wall and saw it was about 7am. If she didn't get home soon, her uncle would be worried. It was completely like her to wander at all hours, but usually, she was home before sunrise. She knew she had to be heading home. Kinley didn't want to wake Stiles so, she slipped off the couch and placed the blanket that was on her onto him. Then she left a note for him on the table, saying thanks before she walked out the door.
She walked back into the motel room to her uncle who seemed way more furious than worried.
"Where the hell were you!?" He demanded as soon as she opened the door. He stood so close to the front door that Kinley barely had enough room to stand inside when she shut the door behind her.
"What?" She replied in her best rebellious teenage voice. "It's not like that is the first time I've been out all night? You've never cared before." Kinley looked for Penn, but she must have been out or in the other room.
"This is the first time you've been out all night when you've been that emotional. You know to never enter a fight with your emotions that high. It's the first thing that will get you killed." Sam told her.
"I wasn't going into a fight emotional, I was leaving one!" Kinley argued and moved him out of the way to get further into the motel room.
"You never know what you could have run into while you were out there." Sam replied angrily and turned to face her. "What did you do, just wander around all night?" He dropped the anger a little and showed some concern.
"No, I stayed at a friends place." She replied.
"The Argent's?" He asked, but it sounded more like an accusation.
"No, you made that pretty clear. I stayed with Stiles." Kinley said.
"What the hell is a Stiles?" Sam questioned.
"He's a friend from school. He was one of the people I went bowling with the other night." Sam stared at her confused. Then she remember that she never told Sam she went out with friends. "Oh right, I went bowling with kids from school the other night. Did I forgot to tell you that?" Kinley replied and made her way to her bed. She sat down fearing this was going to be a long talk.
"He? You stayed at a boy's place all night?" Now he had a whole new tone of anger. Kinley just rolled her eyes. He knew nothing happened. Kinley was not going to have this fake fight with him, but she did explain to ease his mind a bit.
"I was on the couch. Chill. He didn't want me to be out all night by myself, so he offered me a place to crash. He just happened to see me on his way home. That's all."
She could tell her uncle was unsure how to respond to this. She hadn't really done anything wrong. He threw up his hands and gave up. "Fine, but if you ever do this again, prepare for a much bigger punishment."
"Okay, I won't do it again." Kinley replied unconvincingly. Her uncle glared at her.
"You know what, we don't have time for this. I need to go and see a contact about some things that are happening. So, I need you to research into the Hale house."
"Research? Contact? We're not giving up on the case?" She asked trying not to get her hopes up.
"After you stormed out, Penn made a good point. We don't know the Argents are back for the same case, and there's no point in stopping until we're sure. We can't leave this town unprotected. So go research the Hale house." Kinley started to smile. "And don't be smug about it." He said and pointed at her as he saw her 'I told you so' face begin to appear. "Also, we are only looking into this case. If you find anything, you come to me first before running off, and If I find out you have been fishing for things on the Argents, we are out of here. Understand?"
Kinley nodded and set off to her computer.
Kinley spent the rest of that day researching into the Hale family. The family was a pretty big story in the town. One that ended in tragedy. Apparently, the Hale's had lived here for some time before a horrible fire took their house. The police declared it as an accident, but whole thing seemed off. Everyone, but three members of the family died in the fire. One was Derek Hale, who was only a few years older than Kinley, and the second was Peter Hale, who was basically a vegetable in the hospital. Kinley found pictures of Peter in old online newspaper articles. He was sitting in a wheelchair with half of his face was covered in gauze, concealing his burns. Kinley was glad there was gauze because those scars would be gruesome. The third to survive was Derek's Sister, Laura Hale who was now deceased.
It was Laura's death that brought Kinley and her family to Beacon Hills. It was yet another animal attack in the town, and the body was found on the Hale property. According to the article about Laura's death, it was Scott and Stiles who found the body. Scott was becoming too connected to all of these things. She also had to admit, so was Stiles. Of course, it seemed when one of the two of them were involved, the other was not too far behind. Everywhere she turned, one of their names would pop up.
Then there was Derek Hale's name as well. His name appeared just about as often as Scott and Stiles. He was a suspect in Laura's murder until the coroner determined Laura was killed by some sort of animal. Of course in Kinley's line of work it could still be Derek and look like an animal attack. Animal attacks popped up in other stories with the Hale family as well.
Kinley knew she would have to research further into Derek, especially since only Derek and Peter were the only ones left in the family. There had to be a reason that now only two were left. Those things don't just happen. Someone or something makes that happen. No family was that unlucky. The only thing that made sense to Kinley was someone was targeting this family. They were all slowly dying off. The main questions were who was targeting them and why.
When Kinley took a break from research, she realized it was Sunday, and it dawned on her that she still had not done any of her actual school work. So, she put on a pot of coffee and began Chemistry and all the other things she had neglected to do that weekend. By the time she was done, she needed to get out of the motel room. She had barely left her desk all day.
Kinley decided it was good time to patrol. Patrols were a normal thing growing up. It was only in the last year that her uncle allowed her to go on her own. It was basically walking the town and making sure no unfortunate people ran into what they may be hunting or what might just happen to be in town. Normally, nothing really appeared on these nights, but when something did, they were glad they instituted these nightly walk-abouts. She also hoped that she would run into whatever creature they were looking for. Penn offered to come along with her. Penn had come back halfway through the day. She said she was out with some new friends. Kinley declined the offer of having Penn tag alone. She wanted some alone time. She had been social all week and just needed some time in her own head.
Kinley headed up toward the area with some abandoned factories. The creatures they hunted tended to like places that were secluded but not too far from some town. It made it easy for them to stay hidden but still wreak havoc when they needed to. As Kinley walked around, she found it was pretty quiet, almost too quiet. As she crossed a road that led to an old distillery, she saw something out of the corner of her eye on the roof of the old factory. She turned and it was gone. She checked the other rooftops quickly, but it had vanished.
She began to try and track it and figure out which way it went. It looked like it was heading away from town. So she continued that way. She then heard screeching tires like a car suddenly slamming on their brakes. She ran toward where the sound came from. Before she got there, she heard something like glass shattering and then a scream. As she continued moving a gunshot rang out. She picked up her pace. Someone was frightened of something, frightened enough to kill. She then heard a woman shouting and a few more gunshots. She kept running.
She came upon a scene of a young woman with long wavy blonde hair, who was holding a shotgun. The woman yelled something discernible and then put the shotgun back in the car. However, the woman came out of the car with a much bigger gun. It looked like a sniper rifle and even had a scope on top of it. Kinley watcher her intently. The woman scanned the factory rooftops and then stopped. Kinley looked up to where she was pointing the gun. There Kinley saw a creature in shadow. The woman had a much better angle to see it clearly. Before Kinley could take a step to get a closer look at the creature, another gunshot sounded. This time it hit something. Kinley heard a howl and then saw the creature run further into the shadows and disappear.
The woman turned and had a wicked grin on her face. Kinley could tell she enjoyed what she just did. The woman glanced around once more before putting the sniper rifle back into her car. She then got in her car and headed off toward town.
Kinley then crept from her hiding place and checked the area to see if the creature left anything for her to track, but there was nothing. For tonight, it was gone and so was the mysterious hunter woman. The creature was wounded and would be hiding. So there was no way she would find it. Then the hunter seemed happy with her hit and would most likely not be coming back. Kinley's patrol was pretty much done for the night.
Kinley was about to turn around and go home when she stepped on something small, round, and thin. She bent down and picked it up. It was a casing to a bullet, but it was not a normal bullet. This one was treated with something and had intricate markings on the side. This was a hunter's bullet, Kinley realized. She picked it up and smelled it. It had a distinct smell that Kinley would notice anywhere. Her uncle made these special bullets as well. It had been filled with monkshood also known as a type wolfsbane. Kinley knew one thing very clearly at that moment. They were dealing with a werewolf. What she didn't know was who that woman was. She could be another Argent or she could be another hunter. Either way, her family was not the only one looking into this case in town.
Kinley told Penn everything that happened the night before on their ride to school.
"So do you think it was Scott who got shot?" Penn asked. "You said his name keeps popping up. Or is it this Derek Hale?"
"I don't know. Scott doesn't seem the killing type and there's not enough information on Derek yet. But I know there is something more to Scott, and Stiles knows something too. They're both connected to that Hale murder. I just don't how yet. But we will find out today if that was Scott on the roof last night. Wolfsbane in a bullet severely hurts werewolves. Even if he did figure out the antidote and got the bullet out, he would look pretty awful today. He may not even be here." Kinley told her cousin
"And if he's here and fine, then you know it's not him." Penn responded.
"Well, we know the wolf from last night is not him. I still think he's more involved in all of this than anyone else besides Derek Hale."
They arrived at school and went their separate ways, Penn rushing off as usual. Kinley headed to first period and would know by the start of class whether she would have to deal with Scott or not. Part of her was really hoping it was not him. The group outing may have been weird, but in general, the whole group was great. They were all good people and having to kill or harm one of them would hurt the others, and Kinley did not want to do that. The other part of her though wanted it to be him because then this case would be over, and she could focus on the Argents and what they knew. Also, she felt herself getting more attached to this place than any other for some reason. She had only been here a few days, and she could feel herself getting too close to these people, and she couldn't do that. No matter what, she was leaving this place when the case was over whether she could ask the Argents about her parents or not. It was always easier to leave when you had no attachments.
Kinley walked into her world history class as saw Stiles sitting alone. It was rare to see Stiles without Scott when they were at school. Looks like Scott stayed home from school today. It was not looking good for him. But he could just be running late, Kinley reminded herself. Kinley went and took her new usual seat next to Stiles.
Stiles leaned over when she sat down. "Hey, how's stuff with your family and everything at home? It turn out okay?" Stiles asked.
"Ah yeah, it was fine. Thanks again for letting me crash." She told him. "How did I get on your couch by the way? I don't even remember."
Stiles laughed. "Yeah, you instantly fell asleep in my car. So, I carried you inside and put you on the sofa. I was going to go to my room, but then I was scared if you woke up, you wouldn't know where you were and freak out. I didn't want you to throw my dad over your shoulder or anything." He told her and laughed.
"So that's why you were asleep on the chair." She figured out. Stiles nodded. "And sorry I didn't really say goodbye. I didn't want to wake you and I had to get home. I couldn't have my uncle worry that long."
"That's okay, just don't make it a habit." He replied.
"Don't worry I won't." She told him. That would be easy since she didn't plan on staying there ever again.
"Good." He sounded relieved. "How was the rest of your weekend?" He asked.
"Fine. The usual." Wandering upon a shooting, trying to find out how you and your best friend are connected to a murder, and researching mythical creatures. You know the usual. "Where's Scott?" She asked, seeing if Stiles would reveal anything.
Stiles shrugged. "Um, not sure. I talked to him last night. He said he would be here today."
"Hmm," Kinley replied.
The bell rang and the teacher called class to order. There was still no Scott. All hope was dwindling for him. Kinley was about to lean over and ask if Stiles talked to Scott late or early yesterday when Scott walked into class. Kinley looked him up and down. He seemed perfectly healthy. He didn't look tired or worn down. He wasn't pale or sweating. He was showing no signs of being infected with wolfsbane. Scott was not the werewolf Kinley saw last night.
Scott sat in his usual seat in front of Stiles and gave Kinley a confused look. He was probably wondering why she was staring at him. She quickly focused her attention to the front of the room.
The rest of the morning went by fairly quickly. She was looking out for missing students, but she really didn't know the student body that well to notice if someone in her classes was missing. Everyone from Friday's outing was at school that day. She was back to square one. She had no idea who might have been shot last night. She still thought that Scott and Stiles had to know something, but she did not know what. It was beginning to bother her.
At lunch, Stiles asked her if she wanted to come over to his place and study and hang out. He still seemed worried about her because of what happened on Saturday night. Kinley thought, getting into the Sheriffs house might prove to be useful, but she was also looking to find out who the blonde woman from last night was. She was thinking about doing research to find her tonight instead. At least, then she would know who else was in town, and what they knew about the werewolf or werewolves. They did tend to travel in packs. She told Stiles maybe and that she would find him after school.
At the end of the day, she decided finding the blonde woman was more important. She went to find Stiles to ask him if she could have a rain check on tonight. She walked out of school and saw his jeep speeding out of the parking lot. That behavior didn't seem like Stiles. Even from the little time she spent with him, he seemed like a reliable guy or at least the type that wouldn't just bail on someone. All day he kept reminding her of his mission to not have her leave without an actual friend. She ignored him of course, but his leaving like this, knowing that she was waiting to talk to him, was not very friend like to her.
As she stood there contemplating Stiles' actions and listening to the incessant honking of annoyed teenage drivers, she saw Allison get out of her car and head over to Scott who was standing in the middle of the parking lot. Kinley ran and caught up with her. Maybe they knew what Stiles was up to.
"What's going on?" Kinley asked Allison when she caught with her.
"I don't know." She replied and started to walk toward Scott, who was looking severely anxious about something.
"Hey, what's he doing here? " Allison asked Scott and pointed to where Stiles' jeep had just left the parking lot.
Who was she talking about? Was someone was in the car with Stiles? Who? Was that is why he sped off. Who was in the car with him? All the questions were buzzing in her head.
"Sitles, was just, um giving him a ride. Uh long story." Scott replied.
"But I thought you said you weren't friends with him." Allison pressed.
Scott looked from Kinley to Allison not sure what to say next. "No, uh, not really." He said and then quickly changed the subject. "Um, we're still studying together right? So I'll meet you back at your place?" Scott asked quickly. He seemed frantic like he couldn't get away from this spot fast enough.
What was going on? Kinley was definitely missing something.
"Yeah." Allison replied to Scott and seemed just as confused as Kinley.
"Great. See you later. Bye Kinley." Scott said and kissed Allison on the cheek before he ran off.
Kinley walked with a very confused Allison back to her car. "Who was in the car with Stiles?" Kinley asked.
"Oh, just this guy Scott knows. Well, I think he knows him. He says they're not friends but who knows. His name's Derek Hale."
"Huh." She tried to sound cool. "What do you know about him?" Kinley knew the question would sound a little off putting to Allison, but she needed information fast so she could try and figure out where Derek and Stiles were going.
Allison gave her a weird look, but answered her anyway. "Like I said I don't really know. He gave me a ride home from a party once. He seemed nice enough, but he was really quiet and Scott didn't like the idea I was with him. I told you, odd, but I have to go meet up with Scott. I'll see you later." She said and got in her car.
"Yeah, bye." Kinley replied and then ran to her car. She texted Penn and told her she needed the car and that she would be in touch soon. If Derek Hale was involved, she knew exactly where to go. The Hale house was not too far from the school.
She drove up to the wooded path that led to the Hale house began. She decided it was best to walk from here. This was all private property, and it was harder to hide a car than just herself. She walked a few minutes until she saw the house, which looked abandoned. The windows were broken, and the wood was rotting away. She guessed that before the fire it was a beautiful home. It had a large front porch that stretched across the entire front of the house. Large windows with detailed frames that hung three on each side of the door making the house look perfectly symmetrical. The house had the feel of an updated cabin with Victorian influences. However now, she feared for anyone who walked into that place because it might collapse on top of them. As she walked closer, she saw a car was already there. She hid herself behind a tree to see who it was.
She waited only a few minutes when the blonde from the other night walked out of the house and got into her car. Kinley took no time and ran to her car so she could tail the new hunter. Finally, a break that would actually lead her somewhere. She decided to follow the blonde until she stopped and then she would be able to question the woman about what she knew.
Kinley caught up with blonde hunter quickly. From the Hale house, there was only one way to really go. One way led deeper into the country and the other led you back into town. Kinley knew the woman would most likely be was heading back into town. There was no reason to head further into the forest. Kinley was right, and she ended up following the woman to a grocery store.
Kinley parked close and watched the blonde go in. After a few minutes, Kinley walked over to the woman's car and waited for her to come out. She wasn't going to miss her. Kinley also put the shotgun shell in her pocket in case she needed something to prove that she knew what was happening in this town. She only waited a little while longer before she saw the blonde walk out holding a few large bags. The blonde walked up to Kinley with full confidence.
"Can I help you?" She asked and stared Kinley down with her cold blues eyes.
Kinley took a good look at the other hunter. Even if she hadn't seen her the night before, Kinley would have guessed this woman was some kind of hunter or at least did martial arts. She had very good control of her body, and she had a very muscular build, but the muscles were long and thin which made her fast. She was taller than Kinley by a good few inches but that didn't intimidate her.
"Yes, I think you can. Who's the werewolf in this town?" Kinley asked and equaled the woman's confidence.
The woman looked Kinley up and down. "I am not sure what you're talking about." She replied and began putting groceries away in her car.
When Kinley didn't answer her, the woman turned to face her. Kinley just reached into her back pocket and took the shell out. "I was on patrol last night and found this." She tossed the shell to the hunter who caught it. "And since I saw you with the shotgun and the other rifle, I thought it might be yours."
The woman smiled at Kinley and threw the bullet up and caught it again in her hand. "You're pretty good. What's your name?"
"Kinley Wesson. I'm here trying to figure out what is terrorizing this town." Kinley told her.
"Wesson? Like Anne Wesson?" She questioned.
Kinley was taken aback. No one had ever mentioned her mother and now that was twice in just a few days. "Yes," Kinley replied hesitantly. "And you are?"
"Kate Argent. I knew your mother a long time ago."
Kinley's eyes went wide. The other Argent. If her uncle found out she was here, she would be dead.
Kate started circling Kinley, taking her completely in. "Wow, you're the spitting image of your mother. Did you know that? Ask my brother, he can tell you a lot more. They were, let's say, good friends a long ago. I was still pretty young when he knew her." Kate told her.
Kinley wasn't sure how to respond to this. So many questions were beginning to fill her head. There were many she wanted to ask, but she knew that might not be the best plan. Instead, she decided to verify who this woman was and gain her trust a little by mentioning her niece. "Argent as in Allison Argent?" Kinley asked.
"She's my niece. Do you know her?" Kate responded.
"Yeah, I go to school with her. Actually, we all went bowling last weekend."
"Well, isn't that nice. Small world, isn't it? I know your family and you know mine." There was an odd fake sincerity in her voice. Kinley wasn't sure if that was just how she sounded or if she was trying to play her. "How did you find me by the way? You said you saw me yesterday." Kate continued.
"I saw you at the Hale house. I had heard some rumors about the family and wanted to check it out. I saw you drive off. So I decided to tail your from there until you stopped."
"Wow, and you came after me all on your own. I bet your trainer won't be happy about that."
Trainer? Did she mean her Uncle Sam? Kinley guessed he was her trainer, but she would never refer to him like that. Her family had a somewhat military rule, but never that intense. How did this girl grow up? Kinley wondered.
"But it's nice to meet another female hunter who's got spunk." Kate said. "You don't meet many. Well, you don't meet many outside my family anyway." She told Kinley as she finished loading the last of the groceries into the SUV. "You know what? I am heading to dinner with with the family now, why don't you join us? We've always got enough. I would love to hear some of your stories."
Kinley was definitely surprised by the invitation. Hunters were never the most hospitable people in the world. Most were paranoid freaks, fearing everyone was out to get them, and a lot of times they were right. Kinley almost felt insulted because Kate obviously didn't think she was a threat. Kinley didn't want to be thought of as a threat to the Argents, but she was not innocent either. Kinley also wasn't sure of Kate's motives to invite her. So she didn't think this was the best idea, and the words of warning from her uncle were in her head as well. "I don't want to intrude and I know Allison has Scott over. I better just get home. Thank you though" Kinley responded politely.
"Nonsense." Kate replied. "And if Allison already has a friend over then there's definitely no reason for you not to come. Please." She begged.
Kinley couldn't think of a reason to deny the request that wouldn't lose Kate's trust. Hunters were trained lie detectors, and she didn't want to upset the, most likely trigger happy person, Kate was. "Okay, why not." Kinley replied only a little hesitantly. At least, she might be able to get some more intel, and she also wanted to learn from another female hunter. Kate was right. There were few of them.
"Great, why don't I drive you over and I can have Allison or her friend drive you back to your car. That way we can keep chatting." Kate said and clapped her hand on Kinley's back. She then steered Kinley toward her car. Kinley didn't really like the idea of being stranded at the Argents, but she didn't think Kate would take no for an answer. So she hopped in Kate's car and then left the parking lot.
"So how much do you know about what is happening here?" Kate asked as they began to drive toward the Argent's.
"Not too much yet. We just got here. What about you?" Kinley replied, careful not to reveal too much of her side of the case
"I've worked a case here before. This area is prone to supernatural happenings and the Hale family has lived here for generations. Our family pops in now and again to keep an eye on them. When the murders starting happening, I thought it was best to come back and investigate. They're usually pretty good for werewolves but you know how it goes." Kate told her.
So the Hale's were a werewolf family. One that had lived here for generations if she was taking what Kate said correctly. Werewolves and humans can coexist together. It is tension filled but possible. The Hales must have been living here with the Argents constantly watching their every move.
"So you think the Derek Hale's behind this?" Kinley inquired.
"Yes, we think there's another as well, an alpha and a beta. One pretty giant wolf attacked me, but the one I shot was lean and fast. So we know there's two. We think Derek was the one I might have shot last night. He is smaller than what an alpha would be. You know how packs work, right? This isn't your first werewolf?"
"Oh no, well this is my first solo case with wolves. My uncle is letting me handle a lot of it. But I know how it works. There's the alpha who runs the pack and then the betas who follow them and the only way to become an alpha is to kill your own alpha."
"Very good, you know your stuff."
"Thanks. So only one wolf attacked you last night or...?" She questioned.
"Well technically, the other was obviously coming to help though. Once the second one was there, I must have scared them off because the first one took off running."
"Oh." was all Kinley said. That behavior seemed odd to Kinley. Why would the first one run off the moment the second showed up? It was only Kate and a gun versus two werewolves. Most werewolves would have attacked if that was their goal. They obviously had the advantage. Something was not adding up. Also, not all werewolves were killers. And hunters only kill creatures that harm others. That was what she was taught anyway. Hunters have a very strict code about such things. They were not hear to play god. They were here to level the playing field between humans and the supernatural. They made sure that the creatures did not think they could run this world. Maybe her uncle was right about the lack of gray area in the Argent family.
Kinley however, kept her mouth shut. She wasn't ready to go accusing Kate of anything. She didn't know the whole story. But she knew something was missing.
They soon pulled into the Argent's driveway. "Mind helping with the groceries?" She asked as she parked in the driveway. Kinley nodded and went to the trunk to start helping her unload them. "Hey Chris, get your ass out of the 50s and come help us with the groceries." Kate yelled and then laughed.
"Be right there." She heard Allison's Dad yell.
In a few moments, Chris, Scott, and Allison came out. All of them began unloading the car. Allison looked shocked to see Kinley there with her Aunt.
"I ran into your friend at the store and invited her for dinner." Kate told Allison. "Hope you don't mind."
"No, not at all." Allison replied. Allison gave Kinley a confused look and Kinley just shrugged.
They were all about to head in for dinner when Kinley saw Allison's Dad hand Scott his bike and try to shoo Scott home. However, Kate was not having any of that. She really wanted Scott to stay.
"C'mon, they were making out in the garage not shooting amateur porn." Kate told Mr. Argent and then turned to Scott. "You, with the adorable brown eyes, drop the bike, you're staying for dinner. We already have a friend of Allison's here. It would be rude to exclude Scott."
Allison's Dad glared at Kate but relented to her request. Then Kate led the rest of them inside. Mr. Argent stopped Scott before he got to the door though. Kinley guessed he was giving Scott the threatening Dad speech.
Everyone sat down to dinner in the Argents well polished dining room. Even Mrs. Argent joined them, and this was the first time Kinley had even seen Allison's mother. She was a very severe looking woman. She had the same pale skin as Allison but instead of Allison's raven colored hair, she had bright red hair that was cut very short. It looked almost most militant. Kinley also wondered if the woman even stopped scowling. Mrs. Argent did give Kinley the same haunted look that Mr. Argent did. So that was one change of expression. Kinley guessed she must have known her parents too.
This whole thing with the Argents was really starting to freak her out. Kinley didn't say much during the meal because the Argents were having too much fun grilling Scott about his life and his intentions with Allison. Scott was answering fairly well and even got a laugh out of the family by the end. However, his mind seemed somewhere else. He kept checking his phone and sweating more than he should. Kinley wondered if this was about Derek leaving with Stiles.
As the people at the tables kept chatting, Kinley quietly excused herself to the bathroom. Kate told her to use the one in the guest bedroom up the hall. Kinley nodded and left.
As she walked out of the bathroom back into the bedroom, she overheard Scott on the phone with someone in the hallway. He sounded scared and upset about something. She walked toward Scott's voice but stayed hidden in the bedroom.
"Take Derek to the animal clinic... He's gone by now. There's a spare key in the box behind the dumpster... How am I supposed to find one bullet? They have a million. This house is like the freakin walmart of guns... I'm starting to think that wouldn't be such a bad thing." Scott stayed on the phone listening to the other person. She heard an annoyed groan and then Scott moving.
She left the guest room and went back into the attached bathroom, thinking he would come in the room, but then an alarm blared. He definitely was looking for something and was about to get caught. She then heard Kate talk to him and lead him back to the bathroom where Kinley was. Kinley hopped back in the bathroom as he walked into the bedroom. She was about to open the bathroom door and leave when she heard Scott shuffling through bags. She peeked out and saw him looking in Kate's bags. He looked like he took one of the bullets. His hand was holding something small but Kinley couldn't see it clearly. He put the object in his back pocket and then left the room.
Kinley left the bathroom and went over to the bag Scott was rifling through. She opened it and saw rows and rows of bullets. It seemed like none of the bullets were missing from the bag. There were no empty spaces. Then she saw a small wooden box with some french writing on it. She opened it and saw that there was an empty space. Kinley looked at the box again and read the french. These were the wolfsbane bullets. Scott had to have taken this for Derek. It's the only thing that made sense. Derek had to be the wolf that Kate hit last night.
She arrived back at the table not too long after Scott. Dessert was being served. Scott was still as distracted as before. She also came back to a very awkward discussion about the rabid dogs. Kate shot her a look that she didn't quite understand. Then Mr. Argent went into a speech that was quite eerie. During the entire speech, he kept his eyes on Scott the entire time. The speech ended with the idea that dangerous things were better dead before they got out of control. Did Mr. Argent know or think he knew something about Scott? The room began to feel heavy. The tension was thick like the family all knew something that the guests did not. Luckily, dessert didn't last too long and they began to head out.
Kinley gave Allison and Scott some space to say goodbye and went to the kitchen to talk to Kate.
"Sorry for the slight awkward tension there. My brother can be a bit...over-protective." Kate told Kinley as she washed the dinner dishes.
"Oh I've seen worse. My uncle can scare the best of them." She told Kate. "Thanks again for inviting me." Kinley picked up a plate and began placing them in the dishwasher.
"Thanks." Kate said to Kinley for helping with the dishes. "And It was no problem. I'm glad Allison is finding friends like you. Also, let's not mention the hunting thing to Allison just yet. She doesn't know what we do. We don't train until we believe they're ready, and that's if we decided they're ready at all. My brother is keeping Allison innocent as long as he can. I think she is tougher than he believes, but we'll see. Hopefully you and I can have some good influence on her." Katie nudged Kinley with her elbow.
"Yeah, maybe. Allison does seem to really look up to you." Kinley was not sure that was the best thing, but she understood it. Kinley could learn a lot from Kate and Kate was the first female hunter she had ever met. However, Kate seemed slightly crazy. "And don't worry about it, I won't say anything." Kinley added.
"Good, and she does really look up to me. I'm more of a sister than an aunt." Kate said as she finished cleaning the last plate. "Well, we better get you home before your uncle wonders if you're dead. You don't mind if Allison takes you home do you?" She asked.
"Actually, I think I'm going to patrol and I'll wind my way to my car." Kinley responded.
"Always working. A girl after my own heart. Please stop by anytime. Let me just see you guys out. I have to talk to Scott really quick." Kate told her.
They walked back out into the foyer and Scott and Allison suddenly sprang apart. Kinley went to stand next to Scott.
Kate took no time to start her discussion with Scott. "What'd you take out of my bag Scott?" She accused. Scott looked at her quizzically. "What'd you take from it?" Scott still continued to stare at her. "Do you need me to repeat the question, maybe enunciate more clearly?"
Just then Mr. Argent walked in. "What's going on here?" He asked.
Kinley took this moment of everyone paying attention to him and slipped her hand into Scott's pocket and fished out the bullet. She placed it into her own pocket.
"My bag was open in the guest room, and when I left it was shut. Scott comes in to use the bathroom, he leaves, my bag's open." Kate told Mr. Argent.
"He didn't take anything." Allison defended him.
"Kinley was in that room too." Scott accused and he seemed upset that he had to throw her to the wolves.
"True. Kinley you want to show me what's in your pockets?" Kate asked. Kinley could tell Kate was doing it just to appease Scott and not because she thought Kinley took something.
Kinley pulled the linings of her pockets out and kept the bullet hidden in her hand.
"There, now, something was taken." Kate said. "Now that we know it wasn't Kinley, we're back to Scott. Look I hate to be the accuser here, Scott because I really do love those adorable brown eyes, but I don't know if you're a klepto, if you're curious or if you're just stupid. But answer my question. What did you take?"
"Nothing. I swear." He persisted.
"You don't mind proving it do you?" She asked.
"Are you serious." Allison asked her Aunt.
"How about you show us what's in your pockets? Come on Scott, prove me wrong." Scott started to squirm. He knew he was done for. Kinley however knew he was fine. She wanted answers from Scott and that bullet was her bargaining chip. She knew that Derek was dangerous and most likely better off dead, but Kate's story didn't make sense, and she was not going to let anyone innocent die. She hoped Scott felt the same way.
Allison looked like she had had about enough. "I'll prove you wrong. It wasn't Scott that went through your bags, it was me." Allison said and stared her aunt down. She then pulled a condom out of her pocket and everyone in the room felt the most awkward tension. Scott even turned around to not have to face Mr. Argent, Kinley and Kate both tried not to laugh, and Allison's dad looked mortified.
The two guests were then pushed out the door by Mr. Argent. Scott checked his pockets and realized something was missing.
"Looking for this?" Kinley asked and held the bullet in her hand. "I saw you put the bullet in your pocket when I was in the bathroom. Is it for Derek?" She pressed.
Scott looked too shocked for words. "How do you...? Who are you?"
"I'm a hunter this is my job." Kinley stated "I came here to look into the recent deaths. Right now Derek is on my list of suspects and so are you."
"How old are you?" He inquired.
"I'm 16, like you. That doesn't matter, I have been doing this all my life." She answered.
"So you're here to kill Derek because he's a werewolf?" He asked.
"No, I'm not. I'm here to look into the deaths and Derek is a suspect, but nothing has connected him without a doubt to the murders yet." Kinley sighed and shook her head. If Scott was a werewolf, he was definitely was new to the whole thing. "We're not murderers. We only kill those who have killed others and I for some reason am not 100% sure this is Derek's doing. Granted i'm about 90% sure, but I don't like to take chances. So you need to convince me that he's worth saving or no bullet for you."
Scott didn't look please to be bartering with someone he barely knew. But he also knew this was his best option. "I need him. He is my only help right now."
Kinley was confused. "Why?"
"The alpha is controlling me!" He yelled and then spouted a lot of information very quickly. "I can barely fight him off. He already almost made me kill someone! I need Derek to teach me how to control this. I have no idea what I'm doing! I can't even make out with my girlfriend without sprouting claws!" He caught his breath and relaxed a little.
So Scott was another werewolf. Of course she made friends with the hunter and the werewolf within days of being here. Kinley was not meant to have any normal life. "Wait, so Derek's not killing anyone, another wolf is? And you trust Derek?" Kinley asked.
"No, I don't trust him, but I know he is not killing anyone. And if he dies, all my hope of controlling this and stopping the killer are gone. Stiles is with him now and I don't know how much longer he will last. We have to go!" Scott insisted.
"You left Stiles alone with a full grown werewolf? Are you insane!?" Kinley yelled this time.
"Derek's weak, Stiles will be fine. He knows he won't last if he hurts him."
"Yeah, and what about after he's healed, huh? What then? Humans who know too much die. That's how it goes." Kinley was getting more emotional over Stiles well-being than she should have. She knew no one innocent should have to die, but she was beginning to hyperventilate thinking of Stiles being clawed to death by a beta. She did owe him though for the other night. That was probably why she was freaking out, she told herself.
"You want me to convince you I need that bullet. Is Stiles' life worth it?" Scott said.
Scott had her there. He was perceptive. Stupid werewolf senses. He probably heard her heart rise when he mentioned Stiles was in danger. This was the other reason she shouldn't get attached to people. It makes her vulnerable.
"Fine. Here." She said and through the bullet to him. "I'm coming with you. Where are they? The animal clinic?"
"How do you- nevermind. Yes, they're there." He said.
"Okay, I'll meet you. My car is not too far."
"Take my bike, it will be faster to get to your car. I can get there quicker on foot anyway."
Kinley nodded and Scott sprinted off.
By the time she got to the animal clinic, Scott was on the floor reaching for the something and Stiles was over a large, muscular man that must have been Derek. Stiles seem to be trying to wake him up. Derek was tan with stubble across his face and even knocked out, he looked angry. He also looked terrible at the moment. He had sweat covering his entire body, and black lines coursed over through his veins. It was like all the blood in his veins had turned black. She really hoped saving his life was the right thing. Her gut was telling it was.
"What the hell's going on?" Kinley yelled.
"Kinley!" Stiles yelled. "What are you-? How did you-?"
"She'll explain later." Scott told her. "Help me over here." Scott said to Kinley. Kinley quickly moved to where Scott was on the ground. "The bullet fell and I can't get to it. Your arms are smaller." Kinley bent down to look, and she could still hear Stiles yelling at Derek to wake up. "Derek said he was going to do something and then fainted." Scott explained
She examined the small grate on the floor. Her hand would barely fit, but she was going to try anyway. She slid her arm under the table and then her hand into the grate in the floor. The bullet seemed just out of her reach, but she kept stretching until finally she felt it. It almost felt like it rolled slightly closer to her, but she didn't really pay any attention to that detail. She pulled it up out of the grate and stood back up with the bullet in her hand.
"Now what?" Stiles asked.
"Does anyone have a lighter?" She looked at the two boys. They looked at each other and neither had one. "Check Derek's pocket, if he was doing what I think he was, he would have had one."
Stiles reached into Derek's pocket and found the lighter. He handed it over to Kinley. Kinley then hit the bullet on the side of the table like a bottle of beer and opened the one end. She poured out the black dusty substance that was known as wolfsbane out of the bullet and proceeded to light it on fire. The smoke from it filled the room and made Derek flutter his eyes.
"Get him up to the smoke." Kinley demanded.
The two boys hoisted Derek up over the smoke. He took a deep breath, letting the smoke fill his lungs and then he became more alert. Kinley then took the residue from the burning black ash and shoved it into Derek's open wound on his upper arm. Derek roared in pain and collapsed again. He convulsed on the floor a few more times before the black lines on his arms began to fade away. He looked like he was in agony, but slowly his face became more relaxed and his pain began to subside.
"That. Was. Awesome! Yes!" Stiles shouted and punched the air in triumph.
Kinley was still catching her breath.
"You okay?" Scott asked Derek.
"Except for the agonizing pain, yes." Derek replied sarcastically with a scowl.
"I'm guessing the ability to use sarcasm is a good sign of health." Stiles chimed in. Derek just glared at Stiles who backed up a little.
"Okay, we saved your life which means you're going to leave us alone. You got that?" Scott told Derek with as much confidence as he could muster. "And if you don't, I'm gonna go back to Allison's Dad and I'm gonna tell him everything-"
Derek cut him off. "You're gonna trust those hunters? You think they can help you? And also...who the hell is she?" He asked and looked Kinley up and down.
"I'm Kinley, the hunter who just saved your ass." She replied. "You're welcome by the way." Derek just made a gruff noise and ignored what she said. "And why don't you think the Argent's can help Scott, huh?" She asked Derek.
"Yeah, why not? They're a lot freaking nicer than you are." Scott added.
"I can show you exactly how nice they are." Derek replied.
"What do you mean?" Scott questioned.
"Is this about the fire?" Kinley asked.
Then all three of them looked at her with that same "how do you know everything" stare. Kinley shrugged and then Derek led them outside to the car.
Once they left the clinic, Derek said he just wanted to take Scott to see his uncle, and that not all of them needed to see what the Argents were truly capable of. Kinley agreed quickly, knowing already what his uncle looked like. She didn't need to see it in person. The news photograph was enough. Stiles put up a fight, but gave up when Scott asked him to. Kinley offered to drive Stiles home since Stiles lent the two werewolves his jeep to go to the hospital. It was around midnight when Kinley finally started to take Stiles home.
"So is anyone going to explain to Stiles what is going on with the Argents and the Hales" Stiles asked as they drove.
Kinley was only barely starting to understand herself, but from her research and what both her uncle and Derek said, she explained to Stiles the best she could. "The Argents are hunters, werewolf hunters mostly."
"Like you?" He asked.
"Yeah, sort of. I tend to hunt more things than just werewolves. So do the Argents, but werewolves are their specialty or at least that is what I've been told."
"Right, okay, and what did they do to Derek's family?"
"A few years ago when Derek and his sister were at school, 11 members of his family were trapped in the house when allegedly one of the Argents set fire to it. Everyone pretty much knows it wasn't an accident, but they never actually found out who set fire to the house. Derek swears it was the Argents, but they deny it fully."
"Why do they think it's the Argents?" Stiles inquired.
"Because they were the only ones who knew about them. About what they were." Kinley replied.
"So they had a reason?" Stiles asked.
"No, they didn't." Kinley said seriously. "There were people in that house that had no record and some were barely 18. Hunters don't just see a supernatural creature and kill it. We follow a code. We only kill full grown-adults and only with absolute proof that they have done something harmful. Other than that we are more like watch dogs, making sure that they don't step out of line and keep balance between the natural and supernatural."
"Oh, okay that makes sense." Stiles replied.
"Really?" Kinley asked, not believing him.
"Well, kind of. Look, the past few weeks have just been a lot of information over a little amount of time. Processing is not that quick right now. I'm also still getting over almost chopping off Derek's arm." He took a deep breath and looked like he was trying to shake the memory away.
"You almost chopped off Derek's arm. Why?" Kinley asked horrified.
"I don't know. It was his backup plan if Scott didn't show up with the bullet. Seriously, you two showing up saved me from endless nightmares and therapy."
Kinley laughed at him.
"This is no laughing matter. I mean the bone, the blood, the chopped arm. Oh god!" He seemed to be freaking himself out more.
"Are you afraid of a little blood?" Kinley teased.
"What? hmph. No." He poorly tried to convince her. "And besides that would not have been a little blood. That would have been a LOT of blood and a chopped. off. arm." She just laughed at him again and he threw his hands up in defeat. "Okay, that's it turn left up here." He told her.
"Why," She asked.
"Because there's a 24hr place where I can get fries and a milkshake and I think that is the only thing that's going to help me right now. Now go!"
"Okay," Kinley replied and followed the rest of Stiles directions.
The two ended up sitting on the trunk of her car and ate french fries and drank milkshakes, oreo for Stiles and chocolate for Kinley. They sat there and talked about everything except the supernatural. Stiles asked her favorite hobbies, TV shows, movies. They talked about his time on the lacrosse team and how Kinley was never one for team sports. Kinley was kind of confused with the conversation. He had just found out that she hunted supernatural creatures and had been for a while. Who wouldn't want to know more about that? After a while Kinley couldn't take his silence on the subject.
"Okay so are we just going to ignore the elephant in the room?" Kinley asked.
"What elephant? Where?" Stiles joked and looked around.
"Seriously, you just found out my biggest secret after knowing me only a few days and you don't have any questions?" She asked.
"Of course I have questions, but I have been asking those. I've clarified you're not a homicidal murderer and I now know your favorite movie is one about an imaginary bunny."
"A pooka." Kinley corrected.
"You said imaginary bunny first and that's what I am gonna remember."
Kinley shook her head. "Whatever. I meant about my secret hunter life. Aren't you…. scared of me now or think I am some crazy freak?" She asked.
"You're talking to the guy whose best friend is now a werewolf." Stiles responded.
"Good point." Kinley replied. "I just...I've never told anyone this before and this is not how I imagined it going."
"Well, how did you imagine it going? Me running away screaming?" He asked.
"Kind of, or at least you calling either the cops or the people in the nice white coats to take me away."
"Well, I'm still not 100% cutting out calling the white coat people, but that's for many other reasons, and you've already met my dad, the Sheriff. So why would I call the cops?" He mocked her.
Kinley punched him in the arm and laughed. He winced at the punch "So really, you're not scared of me?" She asked.
"Am I scared of you? Do you really think that people would be scared of you?" He asked and seemed actually concerned this time.
"What else am I supposed to think? I take down people's nightmares as my job, and I've been doing since I could walk. That doesn't exactly make me cute or cuddly."
"Okay, 1, that's awesome and 2, you are cute and cuddly. Also, let's mention again that my best friend's a werewolf and is still my best friend even though he has tried to kill me multiple times, and I am not scared of him."
"Okay, I just don't like the thought of you being afraid of me." She told him. "Or anyone being afraid of me for that matter." She quickly added.
"You don't have to worry about that with me. I will give you one piece of advice though. When you playfully hit someone dial down the hulk strength." He said and rubbed his arm where she had recently hit him.
"Okay, deal." She laughed. She looked at her watch and saw it was almost 3am. "I better be getting home. I have a lot of explaining to do and it's not going to be a happy conversation I have with my uncle."
Stiles nodded in agreement. The two jumped back in her car and she dropped Stiles at his house. It took her only a few more minutes to get home after that. When she got out of the car, the exhaustion from the day hit her like a ton of bricks. Kinley walked terrified through the door. Everything she was about to tell her uncle was going to make him furious. She walked into the motel room and saw Sam in a chair, waiting, and Penn laying on her bed. The moment she walked in Penn sat up.
"You didn't have to wait up for me." She told them.
"Actually, we did. I saw Kate Argent today. There's only one reason she would come back to town and that means we're officially out of here once we get a new case." Her uncle explained.
"What? Why? How are you sure she is back for the case?" Kinley inquired, trying to figure out anything that could help them stay. She hadn't even began researching into her parents' deaths. She needed more time.
"I saw her go into the Hale house today. She was looking for Derek." Her uncle told her.
"Did you see anyone else with her?" Kinley asked and her heart started to race.
"No, I just saw her go in when I was doing some recon and then left. There was no reason for me to be there if the Argents were taking this on." He answered.
"Oh." Kinley replied and relaxed slightly. At least he had no idea she was there, then followed Kate, and well then the rest of the night that followed. "So how long do you think we have here?" Kinley asked.
"Maybe a few weeks. I've been looking into a couple things but nothing seems dire right now. So we can stay in town and lay low. I would prefer if you didn't see all that much of Allison at least not at her house. I don't want the family poking around and thinking we have anything to do with murders in town. Understand?" He asked both girls. Each girl nodded. "Good. So until we're gone, you two are just like every other teenager at Beacon Hills. No patrols, no following leads, nothing. Just homework and that's it." The girls nodded again. "Okay, I'm exhausted. I'm going to bed and Kinley if you could come home at more normal hours, that would be great."
"Yeah, sure." She replied and felt slightly stunned that he had no idea what she was up to tonight. And now that they were off the case, he would never know.
Sam left and Penn looked quizzically at Kinley. "Really, you're not going to fight him on this?" She asked.
"What's the point? You saw him before. He's not changing his mind. It just means my time to find answers has been severely shortened. Don't think because he told me to stay away from this that I'm going to." Kinley replied and walked over to her bed. She sat down and faced Penn who was still on her own bed.
Penn rolled her eyes. "Of course you are, but I kind of agree with dad. I don't think you should be getting mixed up with all of this. This might have been what killed your parents. It's more dangerous than we've ever seen."
"And that's exactly why I have to do it. Sam is never going to give me the answers about my mom and I can't live not knowing. This is my one shot to find out. I don't care how dangerous it is. I'm doing it." She replied.
"Okay, but don't say I didn't warn you and keep me out of it." She said.
"Okay," Kinley replied. Kinley was a little hurt by this. Normally even if Penn didn't agree, Kinley could always count on her for help. She was her one consistent friend, the one she relied on. Kinley was really alone this time. But she understood. She didn't want Penn to have to lie to her father or get hurt in this process. This was probably the best solution for everyone.
"Thanks, Kinley. I'll see you in the morning." Penn told her and turned off the lamp on her end table.