A/N: Beta read by the awesome AWaywardHunter, big thanks to calrissian18 for a few very graphic suggestions ;)

Warning: some gory details ahead.

weregrrrl13 Glad you liked the chapter, I kind of like Ethan a lot, too - so getting him across likeable brought a smile to my face. I hope I keep doing a good job with my grammar - thankfully my new beta is pretty good with finding the parts where I'm not doing so well :D

As pleasant as falling asleep together with the twins had been, the awakening was rude. Struggling, thrashing and screaming Lydia shot up in the guest bed. Her feet kicked her fellow bedmates who lay beside her cringing in pain, hands over their ears, unable to stop her unintentional assault. It was over in less than a minute but Lydia was still feeling disoriented. The same seemed to go for Ethan and Aiden whose ears without doubt still rang.

Nonetheless, Aiden tried to pull her into his arms but she felt too restless. She needed to get up - needed to move. After a moment, he gave up and let her climb over him. Lydia saw that it was still very early in the morning; outside everything was still dark.

"Lydia what is it?" Aiden asked concerned.

She turned back to look at them; both moving somewhat sluggishly as if out of balance. It hadn't been the awful crypt dream but it had been awful. The pressing need to go out was evidence enough of that.

"There's been another murder," she explained.

Then Lydia slipped into her robe and headed towards her room to get dressed. She saw the two of them look at each other. Then, slowly and with sluggish movements but determination, they got out of the bed. Obviously intent on following her. What she had revealed was not surprising news. It had happened these past two nights from Wednesday to Thursday and now there was no doubt on her mind that this was the third one. Lydia remembered that she had hoped to persuade Peter somehow to stick around. Had he only showed up one day later.

'Maybe that's because he needed this night off,' a bitter voice rang through her head.

After all Allison could be right, they all could be right and Peter just played with her mind to get her to tell him what the others knew. Only he seemed to know so much more already than they did. She could not think about that. Behind her she heard Ethan offer to get their clothes from downstairs while Aiden followed her into her room.

"Is this one of your - go out and find dead bodies things? Like with that boy by the pool?"

Lydia nodded, she didn't know why the urge hadn't been there during the last two but she was sure this was one of those. Except this time there was something different about it. In the past she had needed to go out but she had been less aware of it. These dreams she had never been able to recall, yet they had been the worst. Now, as she went back to the dream and waking up, the memory came back.

Taking hold of the edge of her bed, she turned to Aiden. "I saw it - or at least what was left of it."

He stepped closer and, unlike before, when he began to pull her into his arms, Lydia did not struggle out of his embrace. "So you know where it is?" Aiden asked her.

Nodding she held onto him. She remembered how she tried to avoid the crypt; it was like something pulled her there but she had resisted. Then she was walking outside. There was barely any light and suddenly she hit something with her bare feet. Looking down her naked body she saw something unshapely and her toes being covered in a dark wet substance.

Even though her sense of smell was not as keen as that of the wolves, Lydia knew by now how blood smelled. Looking around she had seen the darkened lamp posts. While she did not want to see what exactly was out there, she forced herself to keep on walking. Then she saw the body parts. While she had seen some carnage this was the absolute worst.

A desperate sob escaped her as she recalled the sight of what had once been a head. Only this one was missing a jaw and the person's spine was twisted, pulled through the front of the chest cavity and not by human hands. There were nicks, like teeth marks, in the bone. Blood splattered the ground, the trees, every inch of the body. The body that had been torn apart with vicious skill, the vital organs missing as though someone - something - was looking for a feast. Lydia shuddered as she realised this was far worse than the previous ones. Limbs had been ripped from their sockets with superhuman strength, the skin ragged and flapping like something had been trying to make a meal of it. It was clearly an animal killing, that could no longer be denied; or a werewolf killing she added to her train of thoughts.

"It's by the old cemetery, the one with the mausoleums and old fashioned lamp posts," she explained.

During a class trip two years ago they had visited this particular cemetery. Nobody had been buried there for a while; it was where old families rested, people who had historic significance both in Beacon Hills and for the country. The last people buried there had been soldiers who had fallen in the second world war.

"How about we get dressed, you call your friend Stiles and then we drive out there and one of us takes a look?" Aiden suggested calmly. "No, need for you to see this twice."

Lydia liked that thought. While she still needed to get out there, somehow she wasn't as restless anymore. Almost on queue, Ethan brought Aiden's clothes into her room. He was already wearing his jeans, socks and shoes and was just slipping into his shirt. Lydia grabbed some underwear, headed into the bathroom and freshened herself up to try to get out of her nightmare trance. In her underwear she hurried back out, looking for something more practical to wear. A long pair of jeans, some hiking boots and three layers of tops did the trick.

The twins were already finished by the time she put on the white cardigan. Taking her cell phone out of her handbag, she made a mental note to recharge it soon. It was five am in the morning and she would bet that Stiles would not be pleased about the hour of day. Calling up his number from her speed dial button, she didn't have to wait long for his response.

"Lydia?" Stiles said, sleepy. A loud crash followed and then, in a more alert tone, "Is everything okay?"

"With me, I think so," she paused for a moment. "There's been another body. I think. The twins and I are heading to the old South Lane cemetery to look for it."

"Wow, wait - you're not there but you already know where the body is?" He said perplexed.

She wasn't sure what to say; she was sure that her dream had showed her the location of the actual killing site. It had probably always been this way but she hadn't been open or aware enough to recall, the dream leaving her with just the feeling to head to a certain place. Thinking about it that way made perfect sense. Whenever she'd found a body it had been at locations she had been familiar with. Except for the guard at the mall.

"You are making progress, young padawan."

"Are you going to wake your father and send him over or do you want to wait until we actually find something?" Lydia wanted to know.

"Nah, I've already woken our sleeping Alpha," he paused and she heard him argue something, "Yep, we'll drive down as well, take a look before the police."

"See you then."

With the twins being on bikes, they decided to take her car. When they headed to the backdoor to go to the back yard, where she had parked her car in front of the double garage doors. Aiden suddenly stopped and raised his nose.

"What is it?" Ethan asked.

"I just thought I smelled him," he replied.

"Peter?" Lydia said even though she knew that was whom he meant.

Aiden shook his head. "Maybe he was here earlier - maybe I'm just imagining things. But I don't think he's here right now." He snorted. "Probably needs a shower going by your account of the crime scene."

Not bothering with a reply, Lydia beeped the car open and climbed behind the wheel. After both of them had gotten in as well, she drove toward the gate which opened as her car approached. Then she headed down the street making a turn toward South Lane, which was probably twenty or thirty minutes from her house. It would still be dark by the time they arrived. Since she didn't plan to look at the body herself it didn't matter to her.

Despite the company, it was a gloomy ride knowing what they were looking for. At this hour the cemetery gates were of course locked. Lydia parked her car right in front of them. That way, when they all got out of the car, the parking light gave them a good view of the eloquent metal work used to build the eight-foot-tall gates firmly set in the six-foot-tall stone walls surrounding the place.

Ethan looked around and then jumped very gracefully from a lower metal bar in the gates over the spiky tops. "Which direction?" he asked but then paused. "Oh, wait I can already smell the blood."

"Me, too," Aiden said and walked around the car wrapping his arm around Lydia. "Make sure to check if the killer is really gone. If it is Peter and he is indeed an alpha ..."

"I can hold him off until you get there."

Ethan dismissed the concern with a very unconvincing smile and a handwave. Lydia watched him disappear into the semi darkness. Nearly a week after the new moon, the night was still too dark for her to make out more than shapes. If not for the car lights she'd really feel uncomfortable despite Aiden being close to her.

"You know, you shouldn't underestimate him," Lydia said, feeling she should warn him, even if he wasn't listening anyway. She could at least try to drive the point home. "Even if he isn't the killer - he's way smarter than you think. When the others went up against him the first time, they had the advantage that he'd had little time to properly plan. Now, he's had months - he knows all of us."

"Maybe - but we still outnumber him," Aiden sighed. "Although I admit, it worries me to think he might have Deucalion's powers absorbed. We might all have been Alphas but his power was unrivaled."

There was a new carefulness ever since their close encounter with death. If Jennifer had not been able to beat Deucalion, even with all her acquired powers, and yet had so easily disposed of the twins at the height of their power, the concern Aiden showed was more than justified. She had seen the worry in Ethan's face as well, even though he tried not to show it.

If she was honest, the thought of Peter having that much power did scare her, too. Even though he certainly was not intent upon causing her further physical harm, it meant that her friends might not be able to stop him. Worse they could get hurt if they tried to protect her. There was the distinct possibility she might need help. After all she had no idea what game he was playing.

Peter might already have restored his powers far beyond what they had been previously and still he showed up at her place, seemingly invested in her dreams. Even if he wasn't behind this murder or animal attack, he could still have his own dark agenda.

"Deaton told us that too much power corrupts, especially if a person is all on their own," Lydia said, needing to voice her thoughts and in hopes of maybe getting a thoughtful response for a change. "I think that's why he's so invested in Scott. He feels he's going to be a great alpha and because he has Stiles and us, that he won't be corrupted by the power inside him."

"And Peter has no one," Aiden concluded. "I guess the same was true for Deucalion. He never really trusted any of us. Being backstabbed by your own beta, having a bunch of powerful alphas around doesn't increase your willingness to let your guard down."

"At least you two had each other," Lydia looked up to him. "He couldn't take that away from you."

He nodded and then tensed up. "I hope this is Scott and Stiles, 'cause there's a car coming."

As Aiden pointed it out she saw the faint lights shining along the street and finally they were so bright that anyone could notice them even in the distance. While crap cars weren't her speciality, she did recognise the shape of the lights as those of Stiles' Jeep.

"Ethan's been gone awhile ..:" Lydia said as they waited for it to come closer.

"He's alright," Aiden replied knowingly.

She felt him relax, glad there wasn't more trouble on the way. After all it would have been awkward if someone heading out to work saw them standing in front of the newest crime scene. Especially after she had been finding dead bodies around school only a few months ago. Not that she gave much about her reputation at school anymore - but with Scott's father still hovering around, that might be a problem.

"Hey!" Stiles said after he parked the car by the side of the road. There was this weird look on his face when he looked over to her and Aiden. She kept thinking that seeing them so close together still bothered him. Which was strange, since he had never acted that obvious around Jackson.

"Where's Ethan?" Scott wanted to know. "Already looking?"

"Following the smell of the blood .." Aiden answered him.

Lydia saw Scott raising his nose sniffing before he sighed. "I'm going to take a look as well."

"Two noses smell more than one?" Stiles said taking out his cell phone. "I guess I can call my dad, can't I?"
"Might be best, by the time he brings out the cavalry we'll likely be done," Scott replied. "You better stay here with Lydia and Aiden."

"No complains, crime scene photos are enough for me," he kicked a stone with his feet which then clanked loudly against the metal gate. "Oops."

With a smile Scott looked at his friend and then in a show of acrobatic skill grabbed between the spikes on the top of the gate and lifted himself with a swift move over it. Leaning on the hood of his car, Stiles finally asked her. "So any other nighty disturbances?"

"No, until our wake up call, we had a very pleasant night."

Aiden's answer made her wonder just how jealous he truly was. Had noticing Peter's scent on her started something or had he always acted like this? Lydia did not recall too many occasions where the three had been in one room. It was far more often, that she was talking or sitting close to Ethan and Aiden never gave of any signs of jealousy. Which in light of last nights threesome probably meant absolutely nothing. In a way, Ethan was Aiden's other half. They could even literally form one person.

"Ah, well that's something, if you go out for a corpse hunt, you might as well get a good rest beforehand." Pulling out his cell phone he then began to make his call to tell his father where he was and why they were out here in the early morning hours.

Even Lydia could hear the Sheriff shouting, starting with a 'what - you are where?'.

"Relax dad, I am absolutely safe - got Scott with me and the Twins and Lydia." He gave Aiden a goofy smile and then listened for a moment to a reply Lydia could not make out.

"Yes, she found the body, hmm, well - not exactly - we lack the key master to open the gate. But it smells like blood according to them and Lydia is getting so much better at this …"

Then he hung up. "He is coming out here, to check things out before he brings in the brigade."

"Doesn't trust much in our senses, does he?" Aiden asked critically.

Lydia just thought that maybe it was a good thing to first have the sheriff come out and clear things up with them. She had no doubt anymore that the dead body was there, however she did wonder what it might look if the department would show up and find all of them there. Someone at the newspaper had already found out that she had been the one finding the one's last year.

"He's elected to the job, he just needs to make sure," Stiles defended his father.

At this point, Ethan and Scott came walking back into the light left by Lydia's car. They remained behind the gate but Ethan confirmed that it looked a lot like what she had described earlier. While they were not experts the killing could not have happened that long ago, given the blood was still somewhat fresh.

"Someone is really trying to hide their scent," Scott finally said. "Lydia, Peter looks really good for this. I mean none of us four noticed his scent on you at your party and he certainly has tricks up his sleeve."

"We certainly know that you all like him to be the killer. I'm not saying he isn't but what if he's not? What if he is trying to help us?" Lydia tried to calm herself down. It scared her what the others might do, because she had no idea what would happen if Peter ended up dead again. Maybe he would not be able to come back from the dead twice but if that thing in the crypt could haunt her her like that, she dreaded to think about what it might mean to have Peter in her head permanently.

"I really like this Mother Theresa-Jesus thing you got going on, I always knew you weren't as jaded and selfish as anyone said," Stiles began pointing his finger nervously at her. "But maybe you should save your concern for someone who didn't leave you for dead on the Lacrosse field after he slashed you up."

"He has a point," Ethan agreed from behind the gate.

Lydia wanted to say that she was thinking about herself and how little she appreciated the comparison to either figures but instead she said nothing on the matter. She dealt more in reason, which was one reason why Stiles' comment bugged her so much. "What we should do is consider all options, especially considering we do not have that many. Whatever happened to patrolling tonight? Weren't you all supposed to keep a wider area covered?"

Hearing Scott take a sharp breath. "Exactly, Lydia - Peter waited till last night and instead of doing our usual surveillance, we're focused on you. Allison and Isaac left to find out more, the Twins needed to watch out for you and Stiles and I have been trying to find Peter to talk with him."

There was little to say against that, Lydia decided to lean even closer against Aiden. It was a really good point, her mind could not deny that. Yet, it was so contrary to what her instincts kept telling her, that she felt this rift inside her, as doubt began to gnaw on her theory that Peter was not responsible for this.

"Look, Lydia - this is about you being afraid what happens if Peter goes beyond the veil again," Stiles pointed out, surprising her by being so observant. "But what if we find a way to protect you from him walking around in your dreams - then we can finally off him and make this world a better place."

"Protect me how?" It was not that she was not hoping for an answer but it was so obvious that nobody really knew. It was all just wishful thinking. If there was a way to get rid of Peter's influence she knew she would jump at it.

"You could ask, Deaton!" Scott said, "he gives good advice and he has been very helpful these past month."

"Yeah, Scott has spent a great deal of time there …" Stiles added. "But he needed more information - maybe you should see him, tell him about the dreams, your other thingie and discuss what Peter might be up to. If anyone knows a strange ritual to get the creeper out of your head for good, I would place my bet on our mystical druid friend."

The word ritual alone left a bitter taste in her mouth but she had to agree that asking could not hurt, after all she had given the same advice to the twins. Even if nothing came by it, she had at least tried. Even if he did not tell her anything that might give her some clues as well.

Then Stiles' father showed up, he parked the car with the flash lights on on the road and told them to park their cars a bit further away from the gates. After talking to Scott and Ethan about the body, they realised that they needed an explanation for why they had found the body and at this hour of the night.

Scott suggests that he might have had some business for the animal clinic looking for a supposedly injured animal. Given the exception to the curfew in light of job related matters and Ethan suggested that if the gates were open already, maybe slightly torn, them taking a look would make sense.

"Yeah, and since going alone is dangerous, I came with Scott, we had car problems and called in the twins who brought along Lydia …" Stiles added and nodded in agreement with his made up excuse. "Perfect and simple."

"Yeah and how are you going to open that sturdy old iron gate?" the Sheriff wanted to know.

Instead of a verbal reply, the three present alphas moved closer and tried to bend the gates open. There were not successful. Exchanging looks, Scott helped Ethan jump over to her side with a quick push. Lydia became honorary holder of the Twin's tops as they merged together before tackling the gate once more.

As always it was a spectacle. Lydia was not as bothered by the weird display of bones and skin growing into each other as she used to be. In the end, she was far more impressed by the the muscles on their naked back working as the iron gate screechingly tore apart. However, the Sheriff was staring with a blank face before Stiles' comment snapped him out of it.

Pointing at the combined twins, as he closed in on his father, he said. "See Dad, this is so much more effective than any speech you've ever given me about steroids."

"This town is really getting weirder each month …" The sheriff shook his head and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Not sure I like the thought that things like this keep you from doing whatever dumb things other teenagers do."
With the gate wide open, the sheriff pulled out a flashlight and walked past the twins who had separated again. They grinned amused at the reaction. Scott lead the way with Stiles and his dad following. Lydia and the twins followed after she handed them back their clothes.

"I hope you didn't disturb the scene too much," Stiles' dad lambasted.

"Took a wide step around the body parts." Ethan reassured them.

Scott who walked up front, explained that this time it looked even worse, that they need to watch out for the individual body parts. When they were close, they were asked to stay behind, while the Sheriff walked up the small hill. The light was not showing them much from the distance but Lydia knew what that first lump on the gravel path was: A torn off leg.

"Oh fuck." The sheriff yelled after the ray from his flashlight halted on top of it. To anyone else watching it might have seemed like he was inspecting a rubber boot. But she recalled the ragged edges of the splintered bone, the torn flesh and teeth marks on the boot.

"Got to wonder what pissed off the Lord of the creepers that he littered that poor schmuck all over the place."

Stiles looked at Aiden and her as a queasy feeling spread through her guts. Lydia didn't want to think about it but the comment got to her. What she had seen in her dream was an epic escalation compared to the crime scene pictures from the previous ones. Then there was the question why she had dreamt about it this time. Had Peter sent her the dream? Seen her with the Twins and somehow gotten into a jealous rage? It was not like her being with Aiden in some way was news and she doubted that Peter cared all that much about whom she slept with. After all he had made her have sex with Deucalion. Which didn't made Stiles' suggestion any less unpleasant.

The sheriff did not spend much time up ahead, he ushered them a bit backwards and then went back to his car to call in the location. Lydia knew they were in for some questions but hoped that they would get through all of it quickly. The waiting would be the most annoying part, standing around until everyone had arrived and then even more time would pass until their statements could be taken down.

Before anyone else arrived they straightened out their stories as to why they were out here and how they had discovered the body. Scott called his boss to have back him up. They were all set before the first deputy came by to roll out the crime tape. At this point it occurred to Lydia that she had seen way too many crime scenes being set up already in her seventeen years.

Despite the sun finally beginning to rise it was still too dark to see much, so they were treated to a bit of extra light from the lamp posts. Then a lone figure in a suit walked up to them: Agent McCall waltzed in like the coming of a bad storm. Scott's face darkened as he saw his father approach them with equally strained expression.

"A new body and my son and his clique right on scene," the agent shook his head. "I'm surprised - no sign of Isaac or Allison?"

Lydia wondered if he was deliberately trying to antagonize his son or if that came naturally to him. Everyone clearly felt the same about the manner in which Agent McCall approached them. Only that instead of words they used stares and void expressions that might have even been creepy if they all had the same blonde haircut. Irritated, Scott's father told them that they would have to wait and then he would talk to them at the station: since he now officially had taken over the investigation.

"But how could you let him take over?" Stiles asked his father as he passed them by after Agent McCall had gone to inspect the body or rather the individual parts.

The sheriff sighed. "It would seem that in our attempts to keep him occupied, he stumbled onto more killings with a similar MO and one of them was right over of the state line. This is now an official FBI investigation and in the next hour his team was going to arrive anyway."

Knowing they would have to humour Agent McCall instead of giving a simple statement to the police, they all made long faces. This would mean even more time wasted. While the boys observed the ongoing treatment of the crime scene, continuing with the photographers coming in and putting little shields everywhere. Then the forensic guys arrived to take the body parts away. During all of this Lydia found herself wandering off to a less busy part of the old South Lane cemetery.

Back on their school trip that place had seemed almost eerily beautiful, especially here in the oldest part. Instead of an identical line of gravestones they all were pieces of art. Some had statues with shields, others had carved in images from angels over grim reapers to stars. The buildings had always seemed more like little houses than resting places for the dead.

Given all the recent close up experience with death and her dream about something coming at her from inside a tomb, Lydia found little left here that she might call beautiful. Having the others barely in her sight anymore, she found herself in front of a mausoleum that was a bit apart from the others. A pair of grimreapers stood guard with their scythes arched and frozen in cold grey stone. The architecture was a mix of gothic elements with Roman pillars and medieval carvings. Most bizarre was that it seemed completely left alone by the touch of time, there was not even moss or weeds visible. As she looked up to read the name of the family, the name plate was empty.

Taking a step forward she felt compelled to see if it might have been removed for cleaning when she suddenly saw something over the top of the doors. Only that the closer she got she realised that the doors were fake: Chiseled into the wall like the carvings. Yet through invisible cracks something red began seeping through, running over them and then towards her.

Lydia did not even realise she had been screaming until she was shaken out of her trance by her friends. There was no real time to explain anything, by the time she had come around Scott's father had arrived to ask what the commotion was all about.

"Spider, there was a huge spider - like you wouldn't believe how big," Stiles helpfully explained.

Agent McCall's face darkened as he told them to get to the police station right now. Then he made a whole show about having police officers drive them down and then have someone else take their cars to the station as well. Lydia got the impression he did that mostly to show them that he could, that he had the power. As if that would persuade any of them to tell him something. It was a far cry from the powers they would have to deal with.

Not that she minded racking in the back of the police car in between the twins. With the police officer listening they were not asking any questions of her and she was able to follow her own train of thoughts. Despite the fact that it was getting lighter outside, her mood darkened as she remembered very well having episodes like this before. Situations where she would freak out as she was having visions in the middle of the day. Visions that all had a common origin and purpose: Peter showing her what he wanted her to do.

This time she was again absolutely clueless to what was going on. If he was behind it, what it was about that mausoleum and if it had anything to do with him or the torn up body. After all there still was this thing in the crypt and she just had found where it was? But the vision had felt different, not like anything she had encountered before. It was not even remotely like her previous ones. Without more visions or clues she was completely unable to make any sense of them. The only good thing was that while she doubted her reasoning, at least she did not believe herself to be a total nutjob anymore. Maybe just a little bit too much under the influence of psychotic killer from beyond the grave.

Scott's father kept them for hours at the police department, asking them the same questions all over again. At least he was given her the broken record treatment and Lydia assumed he was doing the same to her friends, whenever he walked out on her. It was tedious and by the time the Sheriff had convinced Agent McCall to let them go, it was past noon.

A/N: Also currently busy with Secret Santa stories but I do hope next year I'll update a bit quicker. Even though this becomes a bit AU given that the show clearly goes into a very different direction - but that is all good an well. Looks like we'll get at least a few more Pydia scenes :D