When she got into the clinic, she left Stiles in a waiting room chair and went to the back to look for Deaton. The entire place was dark. Deaton must have closed everything up already. She slowly moved into the back and saw Chris Argent leaning against the doorway into one of the exam rooms. There was something on the table, but Kinley couldn't see what it was. She moved closer but stuck close to the hallway wall. She didn't want to be turned away from this conversation. She wanted to know what the Argents were looking into. So she hid and listened to the two men talk.
"I was wondering if you could give me your medical opinion on what killed this man." Chris Argent said.
"I don't know if you saw the sign on the door, but this is just an animal clinic." Deaton replied convincingly. If Kinley didn't know better, she would've believe that Deaton had no idea what Chris Argent was talking about.
"I'm aware of that." Chris told Deaton and then lifted himself from the wall and moved further into the exam further.
Kinley took the opportunity to get closer as well. That's when she saw the ripped up body on the table. It was a man with claw marks across his chest. The wounds were deep and bloody. This man must have died in a gruesome way, Kinley thought. It was almost hard to look at.
"I'm also aware that you're not just a vet." Chris continued, and he got closer to Deaton.
Kinley saw Deaton's face change. Deaton knew that he couldn't lie to Chris Argent. They were in a stand-off. Kinley waited to see which one would fold. It looked like Chris won when Deaton took a step forward.
"Give me some time, and I will let you know. I need time to look over the body." Deaton responded.
"You have one hour." Chris told him and then turned to leave.
Kinley quickly moved and ducked into a closet next to her as Chris walked by. She held her breath, hoping that he didn't notice her. If he did notice her, he didn't seem to care. He walked right passed her in the closet and turned to leave out the back door without a pause. When she heard the back door close, she crept out of the closet.
"Kinley want to come here and help me," Deaton asked. She really wasn't surprised that Deaton knew she had been there the whole time.
"Sure." Kinley replied. "First though, can you help out Stiles," she asked. "We had a little scuffle today."
"Quickly, we don't have much time and I need to examine the body." He told her.
Deaton walked swiftly past her and headed toward the waiting room. He walked over to Stiles who was stirring at this time. Deaton walked up to him and looked at his head. He took a light out of his pocket and shined it in Stiles' eyes.
"He seems to be fine. I don't think he has a concussion, but when he wakes up completely, I will look at him closer. He will have a decent cut and bruise on his forehead but other than that, there should be no permanent damage."
"Great, thanks Deaton." Kinley replied.
Then without a word Deaton went back into the exam room. Kinley followed him leaving Stiles sleeping in the chair. Deaton ran around the room, taking samples from the body, looking it over, and writing rapid notes. Every once in awhile, he would ask her to grab something or mix something for him. She was not exactly sure what Deaton was doing, but he seemed to know, so she just did as she was told.
She also periodically checked on Stiles. About a half an hour into their time at the clinic, he woke up fully. Stiles was talking, but seemed a little out of it, but that was normal for a head injury. So Deaton told him to just head home and rest. Stiles did as he was told and didn't fight it for once. His head was probably pounding, and he knew he wouldn't be much help. Stiles also mentioned getting the jeep fixed before heading home. Stiles then left, and Kinley headed back into the exam room with Deaton for the rest of the night.
Deaton finally stopped moving and looked at Kinley.
"Do you have any ideas?" She asked him while looking over the mangled body.
"No, but the Argents will know and I wonder if you will too." He said. "Do you have your family's bestiary?" Deaton asked.
"No, it's been lost for ages. My uncle has been keeping a journal though. Why?" She asked.
"I have found a few oddities with the body and with the help of the bestiary, we might be able to figure out how to stop this creature." Deaton explained.
"Tell me what they are. Maybe, I've seen it in the journal." Kinley responded.
Before he could say anything in reponse, they heard the clinic door chime. She moved and looked into the hall to see who it was. It was Scott. He had his shirt lifted, revealing a horrible gash in his side, and was mumbling something.
"Why won't you heal?" She heard Scott say as he got closer.
"Did you get it from Derek?" She asked and Scott jumped.
"AH! What are you doing here?" He inquired.
"I was helping Deaton, but you didn't answer my question. Is the wound from Derek?" She asked again
"Yeah," Scott replied.
Just then Deaton stepped out. "It's not healing because it's from an Alpha," Deaton told Scott and then walked back into the exam room.
The two teenagers followed him into the room. Deaton was going for gauze to wrap up Scott's wound.
"What?" Scott asked. "How do you..." Scott trailed off.
"We should probably have that talk now." Deaton told Scott and walked over to the kid carrying bandages with him.
So Scott didn't know who or what Deaton was at all? Kinley thought they were so close that Scott would have to know who Deaton was. She assumed wrong. Now she understood why Scott thought it was really weird for her to want to talk to him the other day. Why didn't he ask her about it, she wondered, but then again, Scott hated asking questions, especially when he might not like the answers.
Deaton pulled out a brown bottle and poured the liquid on to some gauze.
"They're coming back fast. So we don't have much time to talk." Deaton told Scott and went to put the gauze with the liquid on Scott's injury.
"Uh, what is that?" Scott asked and moved slightly away from Deaton and the mysterious brown bottle. Scott seemed slightly wary of his boss.
"Rubbing alcohol." Deaton told him. "You don't want to get it infected, do you?" Deaton asked and gave Scott a look like Scott was being kind of an idiot.
Scott shook his head and let Deaton apply the rubbing alcohol.
"You'll heal the same, just not as quickly because of Derek." Deaton explained.
"Okay, how do you know all this?" Scott finally asked. "And you" He looked at Kinley. "Is this why you came here last week? Did you know he knew?" Scott added.
Kinley was about to say something, but Deaton cut her off. "It's a long story." Deaton told Scott. "What I can tell you is that I know about your kind. Your kind-I can help." Deaton explained and looked at Kinley to not explain any further. Deaton then turned to the body on the table. "This," Deaton gestured to the body, "is something different."
"Do you know what did it?" Scott inquired.
"No, but Argents will." Deaton answered. "And this is the crucial part. They'll have some kind of record, or book. It'll have descriptions, histories, notations of all the things they've discovered."
"Wha- all the things?" Scott asked and looked at from Deaton to Kinley. "How many different things are there?"
Before either Kinley or Deaton could tell Scott of the extent of supernatural creatures running around in this world, they heard tires on gravel. The Argents were back. Deaton told the two of them to hide and that he would take care of the Argents. Kinley pulled Scott into the closet she was in earlier. Scott seemed unhappy to be out of the fray. She shushed him, and they waited for the Argents to pass. She had the door open slightly to see the hunters as they walked by. It was not just Chris this time. It was Chris, someone Kinley didn't recognize, and Gerard. She then sneaked out of the closet and back to where she overheard the last Argent conversation. Scott followed behind her.
Deaton was in the exam room, pretending to still be looking over the body. Chris Argent cleared his throat and Deaton looked up and noticed he was there.
"I'm starting to think I need a more prominent 'closed' sign." Deaton said as he looked up from the body and faced the Argents.
Chris scoffed at his remark. Gerard then pushed himself into the room and revealed himself to Deaton. "Hello Alan," Gerard said to Deaton. "It's been a long time. Last time I heard, you had retired."
So Deaton knew Gerard back in the day when Deaton was doing whatever it was he doing. Questions began to fill Kinley's head. Did Deaton work with the Argents before? Had they met in passing? Did Deaton work with them like he did with her uncle? What was Deaton and how did he get involved with all of this. As far as Kinley knew, he was still a human with an enormous amount of werewolf knowledge.
"Last I heard, you followed a code of conduct." Deaton replied back.
Kinley at least knew that neither side trusted the other.
"If you hadn't noticed, the body is one of ours." Chris spoke up. Chris seemed to be trying to ease the tension between the two sides in the room. He wanted to stay on topic.
"I did. I also noticed the gunpowder residue on his fingertips. So don't assume I'll be swayed by your philosophy just 'cause I'll answer a few questions." Deaton replied.
"He was only 24." Chris said.
"Killers come in all ages." Deaton replied and then looked at Gerad.
That remark was meant for Gerard. Deaton knew more about him than he had told any of them yet.
Gerard didn't seemed bothered by Deaton's remark. "All ages, sizes, and shapes." Gerard responded. "It's the last one that concerns us."
"Why don't you tell us what you found." Chris said and again steered the conversation from past to the present.
Deaton walked over to the head of the body. He lifted the neck to show a scratch on the back. "See this cut? Precise. Almost surgical." He told them.
Gerard had put his glasses on and was looking closer at the neck of the dead man as Deaton spoke. Chris walked to the other side of Deaton to get a better look at the body.
"But this isn't the wound that killed him." Deaton explained. "This had a more...interesting purpose."
"Relating to the spine?" Gerard asked, but Kinley could tell Gerard knew the answer.
"That's right." Deaton answered. "Whatever made this cut was laced with paralytic toxin potent enough to disable all motor functions."
Deaton moved from the neck and to the side of the table. He now looked at the long claw marks along the man's chest. Gerard and Chris followed and went to the other side of the table to listen.
"These are the cause of death." Deaton told them. "Notice the patterns on either side." He said and indicated 10 marks across the man's chest.
"Five, one for each finger." Chris said.
"Each claw." Gerard corrected.
"As you can see, it slashed upward," Deaton said and moved his hands as if he was the monster killing the young man, "eviscerating the lungs and slicing through the bone and rib cage with ease." Deaton finished.
"Have you seen anything like this before?" Chris asked.
"No." Deaton replied.
"Any idea at all, what killed him?" Chris asked.
"No." Deaton said again. "But I can tell you: it's fast, remarkably strong, and has the capacity to render its victims essentially helpless within seconds."
"So you're saying we should be cautious. We get it." Chris replied.
"I'm saying you should be afraid." Deaton warned. "Be very afraid. Because in the natural world, predators with paralytic toxins use them to catch and eat their prey. This prey wasn't eaten.
That means whatever killed him, only wanted to kill him. In fact, killing may be its only purpose."
A flash of fear crossed Chris' face but only for a moment. He then just nodded and the Argents seemed satisfied with the information provided. They then left the clinic. Scott and Kinley got back in the closet before the family left the exam room. When Scott and Kinley heard them leave, they crept out of the closet and headed to the exam room..
"So Kinley," Deaton began. "With what I explained, any idea what this could be?" Deaton asked.
"Actually yes, but I just need to verify a few things. I don't quite remember what my uncle dealt with but this one seems similar. It was one of his cases in New Mexico. Did he ever talk about it to you?" She asked Deaton.
"No, he didn't talk to me about it." Deaton replied.
"So we still have no idea what we're dealing with?" Scott asked.
Deaton and Kinley looked at each other and had no answer for Scott. Since they were all stuck for the moment, they decided they would talk about it later when someone came up with more information. They also decided that, even though Kinley had an idea about the creature, that they needed the Argent bestiary just in case. So that plan needed to be put in motion. Scott said he would work on that and tell her what he came up with tomorrow.
As Kinley left the clinic, she felt her phone buzz in her pocket. She took it out and saw that it was Stiles calling.
"You're not near your car by any chance?" He asked when she answered the phone.
"I'm a few blocks away from school where I left it. Why?" She asked.
"I need you to come and get me from the garage where they towed my car. Something happened." He replied and his voice made it seem like something bad happened. He sounded seriously spooked.
Kinley told him, "yes" and then raced to her car.
She made it to the garage where Stiles' jeep was in minutes. When she got there, the scenes was full of cop cars, and there was a single ambulance. Even Stiles' dad was there. What happened, she thought as she pulled her car up to the scene. She parked the car and saw that Stiles was sitting in the back of the ambulance talking to his dad. She waved at him to let him know she was there. Stiles nodded back and then continued speaking with his dad for a few minutes. He then gave his dad a hug and walked over to her car.
"You okay." She asked as Stiles slammed the car door behind him.
"Yeah," He nodded but seemed unnerved. Something truly scared him that night and Kinley could tell. "Scott's right. It's not like him." He told her and it took Kinley a moment to realize that Stiles was talking about the creature from the other night. "It's eyes were almost like, reptilian. But there was something about 'em." He paused for a moment to think.
"What do you mean?" She asked.
"You know when you see, like, a friend in a halloween mask, but all you can actually see are their eyes and you feel like you know them, but you just can't figure out who it is?" He asked her.
"Are you saying you know who it is?" She asked him.
"No." He replied and then looked at her and his tone changed. It was no longer frightened but serious. "But I think it knew me." He stated.
Kinley put the car in drive and headed to take Stiles home. This was a lot of realizations in one night, and he needed rest. He already had been knocked out by a werewolf and now he thought the new creature was someone who definitely knew him.
On the drive, Stiles explained about the reptilian creature and how it attacked the mechanic and that he watched the mechanic get crushed by the car lift. Kinley cringed as he told the story especially because she knew Stiles just had to lay there and watch as the entire thing happened. He was unable to move or help in any way. Something had caused him to become paralyzed from the neck down when the attack began. Even now, Stiles was twitching his hand to make sure it kept moving.
"What's with your hand?" She finally asked.
"I'm still gaining sensation. It's where the paralytic sensation started" He explained.
"Do you have any idea why it left you alone?" She asked him.
"Not a clue. Maybe it was only after the mechanic. I also have no idea why it wanted to hurt him. Sure he was kind of an asshole who overcharged me, but that doesn't exactly warrant death." He answered.
"Are you sure you're okay?" She asked again when she pulled into his driveway.
"Yeah, I'll be fine. I just need to sleep. After being knocked out and then paralyzed in one day, I just want to pass out and forget this entire day ever happened." He replied. He got out of the car and then leaned onto the window to say goodbye. "I'll see you at school tomorrow." He told her and then went inside.
Kinley started driving back to the motel when she realized that none of her stuff would be there and that she couldn't even get in. She turned in her key that morning and was now officially staying at Lydia's. She altered her course and headed to the Martin house.
As she drove to her new place of residence, tears started to well in her eyes. She was not sure why. It must have been the stress of the night and everything that happened. Her thoughts wandered to the fact that Stiles had almost been killed twice in one day. She hit her hand on the steering wheel out of frustration. She was a danger to everyone around her all the time. She needed to gain control of her powers. It was the only way everyone would be safe. She pushed her foot harder on the pedal, just wanting to get to the Martin's as quickly as possible.
Kinley parked behind Lydia's car in the driveway. She heard the dog bark once. It must have saw her in the yard. However, the dog didn't seem too concerned with her as she walked up to the house. Kinley walked up to the door and unlocked it. She quietly went up to her room and as she passed Lydia's room, she heard a noise. Lydia's door was slightly opened and her curiosity made her look inside.
Lydia was sitting at her make up table, just staring at herself in the small round mirror, but then Kinley noticed her hands were moving. They were scratching at the desk with a pen. Was she sleeping drawing, Kinley asked herself. Even for this town that was a very odd thing for someone to do.
"Lydia? Are you okay?" She asked and stepped into Lydia's room.
Lydia remained frozen looking in the mirror with just her hands scribbling at the desk. Kinley looked at the notebook she was drawing in. It was just gibberish. It didn't even look like words. She grabbed Lydia's hand to make them stop, but she couldn't get them to. Lydia threw Kinley's hands off and continued drawing.
"Lydia." Kinley said again but nothing.
Kinley began to focus her energy. This was a perfect chance to test her empathic manipulation abilities. She focused on Lydia and tried to get her to wake up but each time she tried she felt a block like she was bouncing off something inside Lydia. She tried and tried again and nothing. Kinley was about to give up when Lydia of her own accord stopped drawing. She looked away from the large mirror and to the small round mirror off to the side. Lydia's eyes then went wide with fear as she stared into the mirror. Tears began streaming down her face, and before Kinley could stop her, she punched the mirror in the exact center and shattered it.
Kinley moved to see Lydia's hand. Lydia was bleeding, but she had no reaction to it. She was not crying out in pain or scared. Lydia just stood up and went into her bed. Kinley wasn't sure what to do. Kinley grabbed the make-up remover pads from the table and wiped up as much blood as she could. Lydia seemed peaceful in her sleep. She decided not to bandage her and just let her sleep. She was afraid she might cause Lydia to do something worse. As long as she stayed there, Kinley wouldn't worry. Kinley also placed her bag in front of Lydia's door. If Lydia tried to leave, Kinley would hear her hit the bag. It has charms on it that jingled when the bag moved.
Kinley fell asleep that night going through her index of creatures in her head hoping she would finally remember what it was they were dealing with. She knew she had heard of something like this, but the answer was not coming to her. Eventually, she drifted off and dreamed of strange creatures in the shadows appearing behind her, but the moment she turned they were gone.
Kinley woke up the next day to a high pitched scream. She rushed out of her room and to where the scream originated. Lydia was sitting with her mom in her room. There was blood all over her sheets and Lydia seemed to have no recollection of how it got there.
"What did you do? Oh, my god, what did you do to yourself?" Lydia's mom asked and then both Lydia and her mom noticed the broken mirror that Lydia had shattered last night. "Lydia, sweetheart, why did you do that?" Her mom asked.
Lydia looked like she was on the verge of tears and shook her head with no answer. She saw Kinley standing at the door. Kinley wasn't sure what to say. She didn't know why Lydia did it either, other than whatever she saw in that mirror last night scared the hell out of her. So Kinley, instead saying something, went to the bathroom to get bandages for Lydia and handed them to her mom to fix Lydia up.
Kinley got to school early that day since Lydia had an early appointment and she didn't feel like lounging around Lydia's house by herself for an extra half hour. When she got to school she found Scott and Stiles sitting on the stairs near their world history class.
"I'm sorry about the other day. I'm trying. We'll get through this. I know because I love you." She heard Stiles say as she walked up. "I love you more..." He started and then Kinley couldn't help but laugh. "Oh my god!" Stiles yelled when he heard her.
"I knew you guys were close, but this is just adorable." Kinley said and sat on the step above them.
"Okay, you and Allison need to find a better way to communicate." Stiles told Scott.
"Oh you don't have to make excuses. It's okay that you love him. I think that's great." Kinley teased. Stiles looked up at her with a very unamused face.
"Come on." Scott told Stiles. "You're the only one we can trust. Is she going to be at the game tonight?"
"Yes." Stiles answered. "Yes, okay, mission complete. Now tell me about your boss."
Scott just looked at Kinley to answer Stiles' question.
"What?" Kinley replied. "I really thought you both knew that he was in on the werewolf game."
"Why would you think that?" Scott asked and looked at her skeptically.
"Well, for one, he saw Derek wolfed out on the night the alpha trapped us in the school, and I've come to the clinic to talk to him several times, none of which either of you guys questioned. To me, that added up to you guys knowing that he was more than just Scott's boss." Kinley explained.
Both boys nodded as the information fit together.
"Yeah, how did we not know this?" Stiles asked.
"I don't know." Scott said slowly like he was still thinking about everything she just said.
"Okay moving on. To answer Stiles' question. He thinks that the Argents have a record of the things they've hunted. I will say most hunters do have that. My family's went missing after my mom died. All I have access to is my uncles very small one." Kinley told them.
"He probably means a bestiary." Stiles said.
"What?" Scott asked.
"A bestiary." Stiles replied and then Scott started to giggle. Kinley was not giggling. She was actually impressed by Stiles' correct knowledge.
"I think you mean," Scott said and then whispered, "bestiality." and giggled some more.
"Nope, pretty sure I don't." Stiles said very flatly and seemed slightly annoyed by Scott's childish mind.
"Yes, that's the proper term for it. It's kind of an encyclopedia of monsters." Kinley explained.
"How am I the only one that doesn't know anything about this stuff?" Scott asked in an agitated tone.
"Well, Kinley has been training with this since she could walk and you know, you're my best friend, you're a creature of the night, it's kinda like a priority of mine." Stiles answered.
"Okay, okay," Scott replied. "If we can find it, and it can tell us what this thing is-"
"And who." Stiles added.
"We need that book." Both of the boys said at the same time.
"You guys really are too close." Kinley commented at their synchronicity.
Both boys looked at each other and realized it was a little freaky they just read each other's minds. They shrugged because to be fair, they were very in sync all the time.
The bell was about to ring and so they headed off to class. The day went fairly normal except for Stiles running all over the school between Scott and Allison passing information back and forth. Every time Kinley saw him, he seemed to be out of breath. One time she swore she saw him with Scott's inhaler. At the end of the day, Stiles ran and nearly knocked her over.
"Ow! Stiles." She yelled.
"Sorry...sorry." He said out of breath. "Have...a... plan..." He said taking a deep breath between each word.
"Okay, take a breath and explain." She told him.
Stiles breathed in and out a few times and finally got back to his normal rhythm. Once he seemed okay, he started to talk.
"Allison has seen her grandfather with a book like a bestiary. It's big and bound in leather. Does that sound right?" He asked
"Yeah it does, but they can be anything. But if she thinks that's the one, it's worth a try." She told him.
"Good, okay, Allison doesn't think the book will be in the house. The security's not good enough. She thinks it's in his office. So tonight, he's going to go with her and she's somehow going to get his keys and then give them to you. Then while she keeps an eye on him at the game, we can sneak off to his office and look for the book."
"Sounds good." Kinley replied.
Stiles then leaned against the locker and slid to the floor. He looked exhausted.
Later that night at the Lacrosse game, Kinley found a place on the edge of the bleachers to wait for Allison to signal her to get the keys. As she waited, more people began gathering at the game, and she saw Mrs. McCall take a seat not too far from her, and then Allison and her grandfather appeared. They sat all the way at the end of one set of bleachers. Allison was next to the railing. It was perfect place for her to drop the keys to Kinley. Kinley shifted in her seat to keep Allison in her eye line and then watied there shivering because the night was a lot colder than she expected.
"Cold?" Someone asked her.
She looked up and the boy with camera from her history class and Kate's funeral was standing there. She had almost forgotten about the kid. He was dressed in a lacrosse jersey but was holding his camera and taking action shots of the game.
"Oh, I'm fine." She replied. "It's the sitting still that makes it difficult."
"Yeah, I know what you mean." He replied.
"How? Aren't you on the team?" She asked.
"I am, but as you can see by the camera, I don't play much. At least you get to wear a coat." He commented.
Kinley let out a small laugh. "That's true."
Kinley heard a whistle blow and the game started. Luckily, this made the camera boy have to leave. There was something about him that creeped Kinley out. She wasn't sure what it was.
The game commenced and Kinley waited, keeping an eye on Allison and the game. The game was particularly brutal. There was a very large kid on the field just knocking out every guy on the Beacon Hills team. If he kept it up Beacon Hills would be out of players.
Kinley looked over at Allison and Gerard about 30 minutes into the game and saw that Allison was wearing a different coat. It was her Gerard's coat, Kinley realized. Allison must have figured that his keys would be in his coat pocket. Kinley got up and looked for Stiles. She caught his eye, and he knew she was heading over to get the keys. She slowly walked past Allison gave her a nod hello. She said hi to Gerard as well. As this interaction took place, she felt keys fall into her hand. Allison had placed a hand behind her back and let the keys fall into Kinley's open hand. Kinley then waved goodbye and continued up to the school. As she approached the front doors, she saw Stiles waiting for her there.
"Got em?" He asked.
She lifted her hand and showed him the keys.
"Let's go." Stiles said and turned to go inside.
They walked the halls to Gerard's office and opened the door.
"Stay here and keep watch." Kinley told him.
"Why do I always have to keep watch?" He whined.
"Do you know how to pick a file drawer lock?" She asked.
He pursed his lips to say something and then stopped and slumped his shoulders.
"That's what I thought. Keep watch." Kinley said. Then as she headed into the office, she heard Stiles mutter something about always being Robin to someone's batman.
There wasn't much in the office file cabinets, just the usual student files, some administration files, budget pages, and things like that. She looked on the shelf and just saw education textbooks and some photos. She pulled open one drawer and found just some office supplies. She then noticed a trunk in the corner. She walked over and thought if the bestiary was anywhere, it would be in there. She opened it and just found a broad sword. This guy really was insane, she thought. She rifled through papers and moved things off the desk, but she didn't find anything resembling a bestiary.
"Anything?" Stiles asked from the hall.
"Nothing." She replied. She walked to the office doorway to Stiles. She texted Allison letting her know that they didn't find anything. "It must not be here. We're gonna have to think of somewhere else he might keep it." She told him.
As they started to leave, a figure appeared near the end of the hallway. They froze fearing it was Gerard or another Argent watching the door. The figure stepped out of the dark and revealed themselves.
"Hello, Stiles." Said Erica.
"Ah crap." Stiles moaned.
Erica lunged and grabbed Kinley by the neck before she could make a move.
"Try anything Stilinski and it will be a dead girlfriend," Erica threatened.
Kinley tried to make the humming in her veins start, but she couldn't summon it. Usually, this was the only time she could make her powers work. It always started when she or someone she cared for was in mortal danger. It had to do with the adrenaline. She knew it.
Erica began dragging her down the hallway, and Stiles followed with them. Erica brought her to the school's swimming pool. She shoved Kinley forward and Kinley saw why she was here. Derek was standing there, holding a basketball, waiting for them, and Erica had moved from behind them to his side.
"Kinley, Stiles." Derek said.
"Derek." Stiles and Kinley mumbled.
"What did you see in the mechanics garage?" He asked Stiles without missing a beat.
"Ah, several alarming EPA violations that I'm seriously thinking of reporting." Stiles responded sarcastically.
Derek let out a small chuckle and then revealed his wolf claws. He looked from the basketball to Stiles while letting his claws scratch at the balls surface. He then punctured the basketball and deflated it. He squeezed all the air of it like he was squeezing the life out of it.
"Holy god." Stiles said and began to nervously fidget.
Kinley wanted to do something, but her powers were still not working. She could fight a beta and most likely survive. However, she wasn't sure how she would fare against an alpha. She did pretty poorly against Peter last time and she had some use of her powers that time.
"Let's try that again." Derek told them and took a step closer.
"Alright." Stiles gave in and he looked at Kinley with a concerned look. She knew he was doing this more for her than for him. She would have done the same thing. "The thing was pretty slick looking. Um, skin was dark, kind of patterned. Uh, I think I saw scales. Is that enough?" Stiles asked and sounded agitated. "Okay, 'cause I have someone I really need to talk to."
Derek just looked up at Stiles with an expectant expression.
Stiles groaned. "Um, all right, fine. Eyes. Eyes are um...yellowish and slitted. It has a lot of teeth. Oh, and it's got a tail, too."
Stiles paused and looked at the two werewolves in front of him.
"Okay are we good?" Kinley asked. "Can we leave now. I think he said enough."
She went to grab Stiles' arms, but then noticed Erica and Derek both staring upwards. Erica looked frightened.
"What?" She asked with an annoyed tone. Neither werewolf spoke. They each just looked over Kinley's and Stiles' heads.
"What?"Stiles asked this time and he said it with more curiosity than anger unlike Kinley. "You have this look like you know exactly what I'm talking about." Stiles added.
Stiles and Kinley then heard hissing and turned around. And there it was, exactly as Stiles described it. It was a large lizard with yellow slitted eyes, slimy scales, and a large long tail. Kinley knew exactly what it was. Kanima. Her uncle faced one of these a when she was very young. She didn't remember a lot about the case, but she remember that there was no reasoning with the beast.
Stiles and Kinley backed up quickly and lined up with Erica and Derek. The monster let out a loud screech and pounced. It swiped at Erica and made her fly across the room and into the wall. She was knocked out cold. Derek crouched and clawed at its legs. He cause it to stumble back and then turned to push Stiles and Kinley out of the way. When he did that, the kanima turned and slashed its tail along the back of Derek's neck. Kinley knew what was about to happen. Derek collapsed from the paralytic venom and Stiles caught him. They all ran around the pool toward the exit.
"Call Scott!" Derek yelled.
Stiles tried to get his phone out of his pocket, but fumbled with it, and as he tried to catch the phone, he caused Derek to fall into the pool. The phone hit the cement floor and skidded a decent distance from them. Kinley and Stiles looked at each other for a brief moment and decided their next move without speaking. Kinley pulled out her phone to call Scott while Stiles dove into the pool for Derek.
The phone began to ring but there was no answer. As she waited for Scott to answer, Stiles came above the water with Derek.
"Where did it go?" Derek asked.
They all looked around and couldn't see it anywhere. The phone kept ringing and then went to voicemail. Scott wasn't picking up.
"Where is it? Do you see it?" Stiles asked.
"No." Both Kinley and Derek replied.
Kinley dialed Scott's number again, but again, it went to voicemail.
"Okay, maybe it took off." Stiles suggested, but that was not true. The moment after he said that, a loud screech filled the room. The creature was still there.
"Maybe not." Derek said. "Now will you get me out of here before I drown?" Derek demanded.
"You're worried about drowning?" Stiles asked him. "Did you notice the thing out there with multiple rows of razor-sharp teeth?"
Kinley was only half listening to the two idiots in the pool. She was still looking for the creature who seemed to have disappeared into the walls.
"Did you notice that I'm paralyzed from the neck down in 8 FEET OF WATER!" Derek shouted.
"Okay, I don't see it." she said. "Maybe we can get out of here." She suggested.
Stiles then began swimming toward the edge to get them out of the water.
"Wait, wait, wait, wait. Stop. Stop." Derek said and then they all stopped and looked where Derek's eyes were focused.
The kanima slowly moved around the pool. It was on the opposite end that Kinley was standing on. The kanima creeped up and got near the water, but kept its distance as well. Kinley inched closer to the pools edge. There was no where else for her to run.
"What's it waiting for?" Stiles asked.
The kanima then made it to the edge of the pool. It placed its hand in the water and then quickly took it out. The lizard shuttered and moved farther away from the edge of the pool.
"Wait, did you see that?" Stiles asked and looked at Kinley who was the only one on dry land.
"I don't think it can swim." She finished Stiles' thought.
The kanima began to make its way around the pool. Kinley dialed Scott's number one more time but again he did not answer. The kanima was getting closer, and Kinley was trapped. It was either dive into the 8 feet of water or face this thing with her powers still not working. She also had no weapons on her but a small pocket knife. If she jumped in though, she would be trapped in the water like Stiles and Derek, but if she stayed, she could die. Water beat death in her mind. The kanima got close enough and then Kinley dove into the water. She heard a screech as she came up. She swam over to Derek and put his arm around her shoulder. Stiles let out a sigh of relief from some of the weight being taken off him.
Then they waded in the water for hours hoping Scott would see her calls and come looking for them. During that time, the creature just circled them. They were alive as long as they could stay above the water.
"Okay, okay" Stiles said breathlessly. "I don't think I can do this much longer." Stiles then focused on his phone that was edge of the pool. Kinley's was now useless since it was soaked through in her pocket. He started to move them toward the phone, but Derek was against the idea.
"No, no, no. Don't even think about it." Derek told them.
"Could you just trust me this once?" Stiles argued with Derek.
"No!" Derek replied.
"I'm the one keeping you alive." Stiles reminded him. "Me and her. Have you noticed that?"
"Yeah, and when the paralysis wears off, who is gonna fight that thing, you, her or me?" Derek asked.
"Oh so that's why we've been holding you up the past two hours?" Stiles asked him.
"Yup, you don't trust me and I don't trust you." Derek replied. "But you need me to survive, which is why you're not letting me go. And hunter girl, I don't care what training you have without a crossbow or gun, there is no way you can take on that thing."
Kinley grumbled about her powers, but neither of them understood what she mumbled. It was along the lines of "if they were only working, I could do something." Also, Stiles still didn't know about her other talents, and she wanted to keep it that way.
"Stiles just go try and get your phone. I will hold him up." She told him.
Stiles nodded and let Derek go. He sunk a little but his head was still above water. Kinley didn't realize how much weight Stiles took as they floated in the water. Derek kept spitting out water as she watched Stiles swim to the edge, and as he swam, the kanima got closer. Stiles reached the edge of the pool and looked from the kanima to his phone. The kanima was close to his phone, but Stiles went for it anyway. Unfortunately, he wasn't quick enough. The kanima slammed it's clawed paw down onto Stiles hand. Stiles screamed and couldn't shake his hand loose.
Kinley looked at Derek and then back at Stiles.
"Don't you-" Derek started, but then couldn't finish the thought because she let Derek go and he sank into the water. She swam as quickly as she could over to Stiles.
She took the pocket knife out of her back pocket and stabbed it into the kamina's clawed paw. The kanima screamed with pain and release Stiles' hand. Stiles pulled his hand free and swam back to the middle of the pool. Kinley took her knife out of it's hand and started to swim back but not before the Kanima sliced her neck with it's tail. She put her hand on the back of her neck and felt blood. She only had a few seconds to stay above water.
She heard Stiles call Scott a final time and Scott answered. "Scott!" Stiles yelled into the phone. Then Kinley heard something and then a beep of an ended call. Stiles looked up at her and saw the blood around her in the water.
"Your neck." He stated and his voice was shaking from fear,
"I still have time, get Derek and then me. Go!" She yelled at Stiles. It looked almost like Stiles wasn't going to do as Kinley asked, but then he relented and dived for Derek.
Stiles dove into the water and pulled Derek back up. He then swam over to Kinley and put his other arm around her. It was weird though, Kinley could still move. The venom wasn't affecting her at all. She was able to keep swimming. She still feared that it was just going to take longer than expected.
"I can't stay up much longer. I need something to hold on to." Stiles said out of breath.
Kinley nodded, and they both started to move toward one of the diving platforms. Stiles reached up to grab the bar holding up the diving board but slipped and accidentally let Derek go. Kinley dropped and swam to get the sinking Derek. At this point, she knew that if she was going to be paralyzed that, she would have felt it by now. She pulled Derek up and then felt a hand on her shoulder throw her onto the cement floor. She landed on her shoulder and let out a groan of pain. As she lay there getting her bearings, she heard a loud howl. She looked up and saw Scott on the diving board howling at the kanima. She tried to stand up, but she fell. Her whole body was aching.
She saw the Kanima pounce on Scott, but he dodged it. He then squared off with it, and the kanima wrapped its tail around his ankle. Scott tried to shake it loose, but he couldn't. The kanima whipped him into a mirror hanging on the wall. Scott smashed into it causing it all to break. Scott grabbed one of the pieces of glass and looked like he was going to use it as a knife. The kanima stared at him and then caught its reflection in the glass. Scott looked at the creature perplexed by its obsession with its reflection. The kanima then quickly jump passed Scott and out of the building like it was scared of something.
Kinley finally pulled together enough strength to sit up. Scott ran over to check on the three of them. Stiles was out cold and Derek was up on his feet.
"Are you guys alright?" Scott asked,
"I'm doing swimmingly." Kinley replied. "Sorry bad pun, I'm a little exhausted." Kinley added.
Scott looked over at Derek for his answer.
"Yeah, fine." Derek told him and walked over to check on Erica.
Kinley and Scott went to check on Stiles. Scott slapped the side of Stiles' face lightly and Stiles began to wake up.
"Ooh, you're dirty...mwah." Stiles said and made a kissing sound and both Scott and Kinley laughed.
"Stiles," Scott said and hit him a little more. "Stiles." Scott said again, and this time, Stiles opened his eyes and was alert. He jumped a little and then realized it was just them.
"I got the bestiary." Scott told them and then showed Gerard's keys. "It's the flash drive." He informed them.
"Great, my laptop is in my car. Let's go." Kinley said and they all ran.
They placed the laptop on the hood of the car and plugged in the flash drive. They opened the files and began searching through them. The files were scanned pages out of a very old book. As they looked at the pages, they realized the the bestiary was almost useless to them since it was all in archaic Latin.
"Is this even a language?" Stiles asked rhetorically.
"How are we supposed to figure out what this thing is?" Scott asked, sounding frustrated.
"Oh, it's a kanima." Kinley stated. She forgot she hadn't told them of her realization. Granted, she was in mortal peril. When people are in that state they tend not to remember certain things.
Both boys looked at her with their mouths wide open. Neither one looked particularly please either.
"She's right." Derek said as he and Erica walked up.
"You both knew the whole time?" Stiles asked.
"I knew when I saw it tonight, but I still don't know that much about it. I had just seen a drawing of one in my uncles Journal. He faced one when I was about 8. He didn't tell me much about things back then." She explained.
Stiles then looked over at Derek for his explanation.
"No, not the whole time, only when it was confused by its own reflection." Derek answered.
"It doesn't know what it is." Scott realized and said aloud.
"Or who." Derek added.
"What else do you guys know?" Stiles asked Kinley and Derek.
"Just stories. Rumors." Derek answered.
"I just know what you know. It's a giant lizard who can paralyze you. I don't think it works alone either even though they are solitary creatures. I know I am forgetting something, but I'm not sure what. It was a long time ago, I saw anything like this." She explained.
"But it's like us?" Scott asked.
"A shape shifter, yes." Kinley answered.
"But it's- it's not right." Derek added. "It's like a…" Derek trailed off.
"An abomination." Stiles finished for him and Derek nodded yes.
Derek looked like he was about to leave, but then Scott spoke up.
"We need to work together on this. Maybe even tell the Argents." Scott Suggested.
"You trust them?" Derek asked angrily as if Scott was the disloyal friend.
"Nobody trusts anybody!" Scott yelled. It sounded like this speech was a lot of built up tension that he needed to get out. "That's the problem. While we're here arguing about who's on what side, there's something scarier, stronger, and faster than any of us, and it's killing people! And we still don't know anything about it!" Scott ranted.
Kinley felt guilty during his mini speech. She was the one who had the best chance of bridging the two sides together. She has been hunter her whole life and understood the Argents better than they did, but she was also something more than a hunter and understood the wariness of trusting anyone who's not like her. That information is powerful and could lead to awful things, especially where Gerard was concerned. She should have been trying harder to bridge the gap between the sides.
Derek didn't seem at all phased by what Scott said.
"I know one thing. When I find it, I'm gonna kill it." Derek said and then swiftly turned and walked away with Erica.
Scott left to pick up his mom from work and Kinley offered to drive Stiles home. His car was still in evidence from the mechanic attack.
"So I have a question," Stiles said as they drove.
"And what would that question be?" Kinley asked.
"I'm glad you asked. See, even Derek, the super scary powerful alpha, got paralyzed by the kanima, but then you end up with the same cut across your neck and nothing happens. Is there something you want to explain?" Stiles asked.
Kinley kept her eyes on the road and tried to keep voice even. "I don't know. Maybe I was too quick and the cut wasn't deep enough." She suggested.
"Hmm, maybe but I just got some venom on my hands and I went numb. Something had to have happened. But you were perfectly fine." He continued.
"I don't know what to tell you. I have no idea why I didn't get paralyzed too. Trust me, I wish I had an answer." She replied, and this time, she definitely sounded truthful because she was. She had no idea why the venom seemed to have no affect on her. She knows that a snake can't be poisoned by their own venom, but last time she checked, she never had scales or a tail at any time.
Stiles nodded accepting her answer.
"It's fine if you don't want to tell me." He said a few minutes later.
"What?" Kinley asked.
"You can tell me that you just don't want me to know why the venom didn't affect you. I don't need to know, but I wish you would tell me." He explained.
Kinley was completely taken off guard by his words. It scared her how well Stiles knew her, and she hated herself for how she answered him. She knew she could be honest, but something always held her back and she never knew what it was. Was is just habit or did she really have a reason to keep Stiles in the dark? Either way she just lied.
"Like I said I wish I knew." She replied.
"Okay, I just wanted to let you know. You can always trust me." He said and then put his hand on her leg for just a second.
"I know." She whispered back. She turned to face him for just a second. He was looking at her with his pleading eyes. As she looked at him, she wished she could just tell him everything and feel okay about it. She wanted so badly to lean on someone, but she could never let herself. She turned back to watching the road and tried to get Stiles' face out of her mind.
"Also second question." Stiles said and Kinley was frozen in fear. What could he want to know now? "Can you drive me to school tomorrow? My dad still refuses to get my car out of lock up."
Kinley let out her breathe. "Yeah, sure. I'll be here bright and early tomorrow morning." She answered.