Chapter 17: Party Guessed

Lydia was off taking a warm shower as she felt an odd feeling of dejavu. It seemed like there was some kind of…chill coming from beyond the shower curtain. Lydia slowly opened it and suddenly found herself on the lacrosse field. She then looked down and found herself wearing the dress she had to Formal as she was walking to the center. The stands were full of screaming and cheering people who were clapping and cheering her name. Just then, they all went silent for a second. A second where she heard her name being shouted. She saw Stiles, in a white button shirt he was waving his arm at her, with a hard look on his face, as he waved at her furiously.

Lydia turned around and then found the sight of Peter Hale walking towards her. Lydia tried to run but she was grabbed as he tried to force her to the ground. She cried as she looked up at Stiles who was still running to her and she held her hand in desperation. But Peter grabbed her hand and then lowered his head to his torso to take a bite.

Lydia then let out a whimper as she found herself in her bed. "Leave me alone," she softly mumbled.

At her side was Peter Hale, calmly laying there as he was staring straight ahead. "Unfortunately I can't. At least not yet," he said with a slight shrug.

Lydia tried hard not to stiffen or flinch. "Are you real?" she asked not looking at him.

Peter sat up and got closer to her. "Interestingly…that question also can't be answered yet. But I promise that everything is going to be back to normal Lydia. All you have to do," he then went to grasp her face. His hand was sporting his claws. "Is every single thing that I ask." He then stuck her in the face before he started to lead her out of her room. He led her towards her back porch. "Timing is key here Lydia. It all needs to happen at the next full moon. Do you know what they call the full moon in March? The Worm Moon." It was then that Lydia started seeing her feet overcome with slimy worms to her horror but Peter kept on talking. "They call it that because it's the last full moon of the winter and the worms literally crawl out of the earth as they thaw." He then looked at her with his face dirty and bloody which further freaked her. "Kind of has the feeling of rebirth," he said indifferently. "Doesn't it?"

"But…the full moon is on Wednesday," she pointed out. "That's my birthday."

At that, Lydia looked out of her back porch windows to see that the place was full of people from school having a good time.

"That's right," he said happily. "Lydia's birthday is always the party of the year, isn't it? Well, if you could get an invite. Everyone wants to go to Lydia's party, especially a certain young go-getter with his eyes set on you and his lovesick best friend that I know…all too well," he said with some bite. "And they should come, because this one's going to be a very special party. They shouldn't miss this one, they have to be there. That's why you're going to personally invite the both of them."

"And what if I don't?" she asked weakly.

The next moment, the back porch was full of bloodied body and there was even some blood sprayed on the windows.

"I think it's best if you just stick to the plan, don't you Lydia? No one gets hurt that way."

The next moment, the people were there again but they weren't partying like before. They were staring at Lydia with blank looks in their eyes.

"Why me?"

"Because, I see that he was more than right about you. Lydia Martin is not only beautiful. Not only intelligent. She's immune," he said with joy.

"Immune to what?"

"Oh, that's right. They still haven't told you everything, have they? Bet you feel like you're the last to know for a long time. It doesn't feel good, does it? You deserve to know everything." His words made the scared look Lydia was wearing drop and get replaced with a stiff and bitter look as she visibly agreed with his words for the first time. "It's probably best if I just show you."

Lydia then saw that Peter had disappeared. She looked around and spotted a pair of red lights shining at her through a window. Lydia focused her vision and realized that they weren't lights, they were eyes. Animal eyes. She then let out a high pitch scream just before a giant alpha beast crashed through the window at her.

When Scott came to, he found that he was in Derek's lair, on a table. He started to rise up until he was sitting which drew Derek's attention.

"How are feeling?" he asked him.

Scott rubbed at his eyes but nodded. "I'm okay." He then looked to see that it was just the two of them.

"How did I get here? Is it just us?"

Derek nodded. "Stiles and I brought you to the clinic after we found you so that Deaton could help you. We were there for almost an hour when Deaton suggested to take you away. Stiles suggested I take you here to finish recovering before he took off."

Scott's face softened. "Thank you," he said soft and gratefully.

Derek just got up and headed off for the train car and Scott brought himself to his feet and walked off after him. "You should probably know, we failed. Jackson killed again tonight."

The back of Scott's throat went dry. "The girl?"

"Yes. And Boyd was shot with wolfsbane by the Argents."

"Is he alright?" Scott immediately asked him.

"He's okay. Better than you are at least," Derek said pointedly.

"What are you trying to say?" Scott asked Derek.

"I'm saying we need a new plan," he said as he stepped into the train car. "Because next time, one of us is going to be too hurt to heal." Derek's tone was that a scolding one.

Scott slowed down as he got into the car himself. All of this was Scott's plan; that he made to try and save Jackson. All of this was to save Jackson. But, none of it worked. Not only did he nearly get killed, but Boyd was injured, another innocent person was murdered by the Kanima, and they still have no idea who the master is. Scott was starting to wonder if he made the right choice after all. By doing it his way, the Kanima was still loose and in control of someone using it to kill whoever he wanted. Maybe…if Scott had listened to both Stiles and Derek when they argued about killing Jackson to stop the Kanima then there might be a good chance that those three newest victims would still be alive right now.

"I get it. We can't save Jackson," he audibly admitted.

Derek sat down. "Can't seem to kill him either," he said sounding a bit defeated. "I've seen a lot of things Scott but I've never seen anything like this. And every new moon is only going to make him stronger."

"Then how do we stop him?" Scott asked.

Derek just shook his head. "I don't know. I don't even know if we can."

Scott huffed. "Maybe we should just let the Argents handle it," he suggested.

But Derek shot that down. "I'm the one that turned him." He shook his head. "And the truth is that I didn't even want him. You were right about why I bit him. He came to me asking for the bite like a spoiled brat and I just gave it to him hoping that he would die from the bite and we would all be rid of him. When Stiles told me that Jackson wanted to be a werewolf I said that he was someone that no Alpha would want. I think, on some level, I felt what might happen. I should've just sent Jackson away. Now, everything that's happened…all of it…it's my fault."

"Derek…it's not all your fault." That made Derek just drop his head and Scott just realized how that sounded so he quickly set off to correct himself. "I mean, you biting him didn't turn him into this. It happened because of something in his past, right?"

"That's a legend in a book. It's not that simple," Derek snapped at him.

That made Scott narrow his eyes. "What do you mean? What are you not telling me?"

Derek got defensive. "Why do you think I'm always keeping something from you?"

"Because you always are keeping something from me," Scott argued.

"Well maybe I do it to protect you? Or others," he added.

"What are talking about?"

Derek just looked away. Derek hadn't told Scott or Deaton about what he witnessed. What he saw Stiles do to the mountain ash line. How he went and broke the line and took it down for Derek to go passed it and save Scott. When Stiles had told Derek to take Scott back to his place, Derek had told Stiles that it might be best to not tell anyone about what happened with him and the ash. Until they learned what it meant, it would probably be safer for everyone if only they knew what he did. Stiles had been silent for a while before he nodded in agreement and said that he wouldn't say anything. Not even to Scott.

Derek could feel Scott's desire to know more but he shook his head. "It's not for me say."

"Doesn't…being part of your pack mean no more secrets?"

Derek let his muscles loosen and his back slag a bit. "Go home Scott. Sleep. Heal. Make sure your friends are safe. The full moon's coming and with the way things are going I've got a feeling that it's going to be a rough one."

Victoria Argent was in the basement of their house being tended to by her husband who seemed to be trying not to lose what control and sanity he had at the sight of the bite on his wife's shoulder. He frantically took a bottle of rubbing alcohol and drenched a swab with it before he moved closer to his wife.

"It's not that deep," he said assuredly as he went to clean it. He looked down at Victoria's elevated foot that had a cold pack on it. "How's it feeling?"

"Better," she said softly to him.

"Oh…good," he said breathlessly.

Chris' hand was shaking as he cleaned it and Victoria's eyes went to the staircase. Gerard had walked halfway into the basement and stopped to give her a deep look.

Victoria held her hand to his to make him stop. "It's alright. I'll clean it myself."

She made a small gesture with her head as she took the swab from him. Chris gave her one last look before he went off for his waiting father. Gerard kept an eye on Victoria before he looked at his son when he got himself to the step just below him.

"It's not that bad," Chris said. "We can't know. Not for sure."

But Gerard hardly flinched at his son's desperation. "It's a bite from an Alpha," he simply said.

Chris tried to push down the discomfort from that statement. "She's my wife," he just said as if announcing that fact out loud would strengthen his case. "Allison's mother," he added in the same tone.

Gerard's face hardened. "And I'm the cold-hearted patriarch holding his family to its commitments. We all have our roles. Just don't expect me to play Poison King to your Hamlet of a son. Not with a full moon coming."

"And what about Allison?" Chris argued. "How am I supposed to get her through this? We just buried Kate."

"Well tell me, how long is long enough? When exactly do you think that Allison will be emotionally prepared enough to handle the death of her mother?"

That made Chris look away from his father and took off towards his wife who was still silently cleaning her bite wound before setting the swab on the table and moving to rub at her sore ankle.

"She can't lose her too," he whispered painfully.

Gerard gave him an amused smile. "You're getting your tenses mixed up. Your wife is already dead." That made Chris' face fall into despair. "That thing over there is just a cocoon waiting to hatch."

There was then the approaching sound of quick footsteps. For a horrible moment, Chris thought that it was Allison and she had heard about what had happened to her mother. But relief swept into him seeing that it was one of their men. But that relief faded just as fast when they got a good look at his shocked face.

"I'm sorry. I know this isn't a good time but…something's happened?" he said to them.

"What is it?" Gerard asked him.

"I just heard something over the police wire. A minivan was just run off the side of the road. Plate matches Jeb's van"

Chris looked over to his father who gave him a hard look. Jeb was one of the men that they had gone with to the raid at the warehouse. "How bad is it?"

"He's stable. Being brought to the hospital right now. They found him battered and bloodied right by his car. Broken arm, shattered foot and even a fractured rib."

"A rather unfortunate accident," Gerard said dismissively.

But the man shook his head. "No. The word over the wire is that it was ruled an animal attack. They found deep claw marks on his body. Especially a deep scratch at his face going over his right eye."

That made the Argent men tense. They were familiar with the M.O behind this attack.

Chris' jaw tightened. "Stiles," he said looking at his father.

Gerard nodded. "It would seem that the flailing son of the sheriff decided to add another notch onto his belt."

But their man shook his head furiously. "Not just one," he said drawing the Argent men's eyes back on him. "There's more."

The road was dark and mostly empty as a minivan drove on by. The man in the driver's seat had his eyes on the road as he was calmly driving on by when a shape suddenly ran across the road ahead. He immediately tensed and swerved the car to avoid as well as hit the brake but that only made the van head off to the side of the road and fell into the brush until it collided with a tree. The engine started to seep steam which started to fog up the windshield. The driver groaned as he moved to unbuckle his seat belt. The door then opened and he turned to look at the shape who ran him off the road. He tried to reach for his gun but arms reached for him and pulled him out of the car with a growl. Soon the area was filled with screams of pain and horror before the man was slammed against the body of his car and he fell to the ground in a slump. His arm was bent a certain way and he was softly whimpering as he shook slightly where he laid. A hand reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone and his wallet fell out onto the ground open to a picture of this guy with others posing with hunter rifles. The guy's attacker took the photo out and pocketed it before using his phone and dialed 911 before throwing it at the guy's head which was bleeding from the being clawed.

His assailant then started to run into the trees, darting and jumping wildly through the dark woods with the near full moon shining above him. He kept running and darting until he caught sight of his jeep that he left parked in a brush not too far from the road close by a motel in view. Stiles closed his eyes and started to breathe in and out like he learned to try and settle himself from blood rushing to his head. Stiles couldn't believe that he was able to get two in one night. Two of the Argents hunters so quickly being attacked was sure to shake them, and hopefully, get it through their heads that they couldn't hurt him or anyone he cared about and expect to just walk away. No doubt Allison's father will now believe that back when he had given him that warning in front of the Hale House those weeks ago he had been completely serious. He let his back lean against his jeep as his thoughts began to turn to the things that happened less than two hours ago.

He had been resting at the clinic for a bit before he woke when Deaton told them that they should get going. Derek took Scott off the table and Stiles moved to help carry him out of the clinic and into the backseat of Stiles' jeep. Derek climbed in and Stiles drove them out of the clinic and headed for Derek's place.

"Shouldn't we be taking him home?" Derek had asked as soon as he realized where Stiles was driving them.

"No," Stiles said shaking his head. "I don't want to risk his mom seeing him like this. She's been worried about him enough already. Besides, when he comes to, he'll need someone to tell him everything that's happened."

Derek nodded. "Speaking of what's happened-" He then looked over at Stiles. "How did you do that?"

Stiles narrowed his eyes as he spared Derek a look. "Do what?"

"Break the barrier down. That isn't supposed to be possible."

Stiles focused his eyes intently on the road ahead. "I don't know. I just…did."

"But you shouldn't have been able to," Derek pressed on.

"Well, somehow I did. I'm not complaining about it though. It helped us move in and save Scott tonight."

"I know…but it still doesn't change the fact that you did what was supposed to be impossible," he said softly. "It might be better if you don't say anything about it."

Stiles' eyes narrowed. "Why?"

"Like I said, it's supposed to be impossible. There are people out there that would want to know how and why you did it."

"Good, because I'm one of them." He spared Derek a look. "Don't you think we should ask Deaton about it?"

"No," Derek said immediately.

"Why not? He kind gives off that Obi-Wan vibe. He might know what it means."

"We don't know what he knows," Derek argued. "I'm not sure that he could be trusted."

"He just helped save Scott's life," Stiles pointed out.

"He did but that doesn't mean that he could be trusted completely. We don't know who he really is or what side he's even on. Or who he's connected to. After all, someone had to set that ash line tonight. Your friend's boss didn't feel the need to tell either of you who it was."

"He said it was complicated."

"Which usually means that he has something to hide. Like how he knows what he does. He doesn't seem to be too surprised about us or our powers which means that he has dealt with werewolves and perhaps other shapeshifters in the past. You don't know what he would do if he learns about what happened. But if you want to gamble your friends and father's safety then tell him everything."

Stiles suddenly heard Peter from when he tried to get him to join him and how he told him that he was someone that people, Alphas, would kill for. If that was true before this then he could only imagine what would be done to get to him if this spread. Derek might have a point.

"Alright, maybe you have a point."

Derek looked at him as he conceded to Derek's advice and saw Stiles check the mirror and look down at Scott's direction. "Maybe you shouldn't tell Scott either. At least not yet."

"Why shouldn't I tell Scott? I trust him."

"It might not be a good idea. At least not now."

"Oh? And what about you? You're telling me who I should or shouldn't be trusting. How do I know that I can trust you to keep this a secret?"

Derek was silent for a moment as he stared on ahead at the road. "You don't," he finally answered. "But you can at least trust that the last thing I want is for the wrong people to find out about this. Like the Argents. I've seen what they will do to get rid of regular werewolves. I don't want to see what they would do to get rid of one that isn't."

Stiles didn't either. Which is why he immediately set out to stop them for good. He thought it best to make a move fast to try and keep them from getting too prepared. He knew where to find the Argents but the real trouble were the men that they had working for them. Those were a more of a wild card that he had to fold. After dropping Derek and Scott off, he drove to the warehouse, avoided being spotted by the lingering police deputies as he went off to try and get the scents that were with the Argents in the area that Derek and Boyd had fought them in. When he got them, he zeroed in and followed one to a motel. He moved his jeep to be hidden away in the trees in case the hunter might recognize it. As Stiles moved into the motel's parking lot he saw one of those vans he typically noticed in the Argent's driveway when he staked the house. He saw one of the room's door starting to open and he quickly ducked beneath another car to see one of the men that had been in his photos from his evidence box step out as he still was looking into the room to talk to someone. Stiles' ears focused and heard that the one stepping out was heading to the Argent house. The other voice was another hunter who was going to stay to reload and take care of their weapons after the use they went through from the warehouse. Stiles saw an opportunity and he waited until the first guy pulled out of the parking lot before going to that room and knocking on the door.

The hunter quickly opened it. "Jeb?" he said as he did.

Stiles assumed that was the first one's name, as the hunter probably thought that he had come back for something and saw no one there. Stiles had jumped to be on the roof over the door and then pounced on the hunter before dragging him into the room before really laying it on him. After he was done, he called the front desk asking for someone to come to the room before he took off to try and catch the other guy.

Stiles let out a deep breath before he went into the driver's seat and started up his jeep so he could head for home. He didn't expect to take on two hunters tonight, but maybe that was a good thing. Now that he lost all his gathered evidence and that his father was dismissed as Sheriff, he, Scott and the others were virtually defenseless from the hunters. No doubt they felt that they had them all backed into a corner and where they wanted them but Stiles hoped this hit shook that idea out of them. They couldn't think that they were holding all of the cards just because they put cameras at the school where Gerard was principal and Mrs. Argent working at the school office. When he stopped at a red light, he let out a small yawn. All he wanted to do now was drop himself into his bed and rest as he was sure that the approaching night of the full moon would most likely trump this one, especially with how things were sure to go from here on out now.

Allison drove Matt home in her car after she found him again from the chaos of the rave. She pulled up in front of his home but he didn't leave right away.

"Uh," he started. "So about that…incredibly bad idea that I had."

"You mean the kiss," she said with it replaying in her mind.

He nodded quite quickly. "Yeah, that's the one."

"Don't worry about it," she said dismissively. She had other worries on her mind than that thing.

Matt widened his eyes. "For real?"

"Definitely," she nodded at him.

He nodded back. "Okay…hey, what's going on with you and Scott? I mean, I know you two were dating before that whole…thing with your aunt and his friend Stiles. Are you guys still together or…what?"

She looked away from him. "Not really."

That got Matt to let out a small laugh. "I hate 'not really's'. You never know what to do with 'not really'."

That got Allison to let out a small smile. "Would you understand if I said that it's just been really complicated?"

He shook his head. "Not really." That made the two of them laugh a bit. He then reached down and gave her hand a comforting squeeze. "But, I'll try."

He then stepped out and headed off for his house. Allison looked at her window and couldn't resist fogging it up a bit like she used to so she could see the secret messages that Scott used to leave her. But there was nothing there. She turned away from that window with a small huff before she noticed that Matt had left his bag with his camera in her car. She took it and couldn't resist taking a look. She found some pictures of the game with the lacrosse team and even found Scott in one of the pictures which she let a soft smile at. As she scrolled she eventually came upon a picture of herself. Then another. And another one. Then she saw some more that seemed to have been taken of her a few seconds apart of each other of her just reading or walking along at school and even from home. They looked like they were taken from angles that she was being spied from. She was so set at looking at them that she jumped when there was a knock at the window. It was Matt and he was staring directly at her. She put the camera back into the bag quickly and lowered the window.

"Forgot my bag," he said with a smile though his eyes seemed a little…hard.

Allison tried not to freak and just nodded. "Yeah."

He reached for it but Matt kept his eyes on her. "Some pretty good pictures in there, huh?"

"Yeah," she said a little too loudly. "The lacrosse ones are really good. You're really talented. I'm impressed."

Matt just kept staring at her. "Uh, there was a good candid of you in there too."

Allison tilted her head. "Really?" she said as if she hadn't seen them though her tone was a little too high-pitched even to her ears.

"You could see some of the others if you'd like," he said trying to flatter her. "This tiny little screen doesn't do it justice but…I could show you some on my computer."

That made a chill start to run down her spine. "Oh? I would totally like that but maybe another night."

"Well…maybe just for a few minutes?" he tried.

"It's getting kind of late," she politely refused.

But he smirked. "It's the weekend."

"I know-"

"And it's spring break," he cut her off. "You don't have a thing going on tomorrow, do you?"

She smiled. "I should get going," she said softly.

Matt didn't move. "You sure?" he said in the same soft tone.

Allison nodded. "I'm sure."

"Okay," Matt finally started to move away.

When he did, Allison quickly pulled her car out and drove off a little quickly leaving Matt to watch after her with a hard face.

Stiles was in his room, flipping through the 2006 Beacon Hills Yearbook to see if there was anything he missed. With the recent death of that ticket girl, Kara he learned her name was, his theory of the people only being in Harris' class was now out the window. He heard his dad walking by but stopped when he got to his door.

"Hey," his dad said.

"Homework," Stiles said without taking his eyes off the book.

That seemed to make the Sheriff decide to move on but he quickly headed back. "It's spring break." He then walked into his son's room. "What are you doing?"

Stiles shrugged. "Just satisfying my own curiosity."

His dad went and closed the yearbook on him. "We brought in Harris for questioning." But he cringed. "They…brought him in," he corrected.

Stiles eyes widened. "And?"

"And they're working on a warrant to arrest him for the murders."

"For all of them?"

"Enough of them," his dad said.

Stiles shook his head. "With what proof?"

"You remember the couple at the trailer? There were tire tracks nearby that match Harris' car."

Stiles went back to the yearbook. "That's not enough."

But his dad closed the yearbook on him again. "The same car was seen outside the hospital where the pregnant wife was killed. It's got some bumper sticker on it. A quote from Einstein."

Stiles settled back. "What quote?"

"Something about imagination and knowledge."

Stiles knew the car sticker he was talking about. It was the one that inspired him to somehow break the mountain ash line at the warehouse. "Imagination is more important than Knowledge. Yeah, I saw that same car parked outside the rave."

"That means you're a witness. You'll have to give a statement."

"Another one?" Stiles huffed out. He was sure that wouldn't help things for his dad with the police department. "I thought it looked bad on the town."

"Still, it has to be done." His dad ran a hand across the back of his head. "It's the right thing to do Stiles."

"But wait…what about the girl from the rave, Kara. She wasn't in Harris' class, right? And what does Mr. Lahey have to do with Harris?"

But the sheriff stopped his son there. "It doesn't matter. The tire tracks put Harris at the site of three murders. It's damning evidence."

"It's not enough," Stiles reached for the yearbook again.

"I thought you hated this guy?"

"I don't hate him. He hates me. And, you know, if he killed them all then, yeah, lock the psycho up but there's something missing." He didn't like the fact that he was vouching for his least favorite teacher but it was like he had told Derek when he went to help free Isaac. Harris may be a bitter wiseass but he might very well be an innocent one. The culprit behind all of this was the Kanima's master and Stiles seriously doubted that it was Adrian Harris.

"Hey…hey," his dad said stopping him in his tracks. "You don't have to solve this for me," he said softly to his son.

"Well, I have to do something." Stiles started turning the pages of the book when his nostrils flared. His dad's emotions went from concern to shock almost instantly. He turned his head to look at his dad who was staring down as if he saw a ghost. "What?"

"Look at the swim team," he said stiffly.

Stiles looked down to see that he had turned the yearbook to the teams and there was a photo of the swim team, that had all of the victims there together. Including Camden Lahey. And speaking of Lahey's.

"Dad, the coach. It's Isaac's dad," Stiles said pointing to the picture beneath it showing Mr. Lahey as the swim team's coach.

"I have to make a call at the station," his dad said before heading on out.

As soon as his dad left, Stiles looked down at the swim team's photo and thought that one person there looked familiar. It took him a moment before he snapped his fingers and then rushed over and pulled out the photo that he had took from the hunter he attacked. He held it close to the swim team's photo and saw that the youngest hunter in that photo was on the swim team one too. His name was Bennett. It was official. They had now had something that truly connected everyone.

Stiles had to make a call too.

Derek pulled out a chest and set it down in front of his three betas. He then opened it to reveal it full of chains and bonding cuffs. Isaac came over and noticed the symbol that was on carved on the lid.

"What's that?" he asked pointing at it.

It was Boyd who answered him. "It's a triskele," he said drawing all of their eyes on him. "Spirals mean different things. Past, Present, Future. Mother, Father, Child."

"You know what it means to me?" asked Derek.

"Alpha, Beta, Omega," he guessed.

He smiled and nodded. "That's right. It's a spiral. It reminds us that we can all rise to one or fall to another," he explained. "Betas can become Alphas but Alphas could fall to Betas or even Omegas."

"Like Scott and Stiles?" asked Isaac.

Derek gave him a look. "Scott and Stiles are with us now."

"Really?" He shrugged. "Then where are they? Shouldn't they be here with us?"

"They're both out there trying to find Jackson. Don't worry, they're not going to have it easy tonight either. None of us are," he said reaching in for a set of chains.

"Really? Because I remember that both you and Stiles had pretty good control during the last full moon."

"We had focus then. You," he pointed with his chain wrapped arm as he handed it to him. "However, it's not easy to maintain. And don't forget that I was born a werewolf and Stiles had been at this a little longer than you had. This is still quite new to you. To all of you. There's a price that you pay for this kind of power. You gain the ability to heal but tonight you three won't be able to resist wanting to kill everything around you."

"Oh? Well good thing I had my period last week," Erica joked.

Derek smiled as he held up a metal collar with spikes running through it. "Well, this one's for you."

Erica gave it a look while Isaac and Boyd jaws tightened. But then Derek's smile faded when his phone started ringing. He reached for it to find that it was Stiles that was calling him. "Stiles?" he asked answering the phone.

"Yeah, is Isaac with you?"

He turned to look at Isaac. "He is, why?"

"I need to talk to him. I tried calling him but I think his phone must be off and I guessed he might be with you. Could you put him on?"

"Now isn't a good time."

"It's important Derek," he argued back.

On any other day, Derek would've hung up, but considering the recent events, Stiles saying something was important might very well be. "Fine." Derek then held the phone over to Isaac. "It's for you."

Isaac gave him a look before he went over and took the phone. "Yeah?" he asked as he put it to his ear.

"Hey Isaac, good luck with the full moon tonight. And tell Erica and Boyd that I wish them luck with their first full moon. It's going to be tough, believe me, but try to find something good to focus on, despite what Derek may say. His gloom and doom tactics aren't for everyone. From what I've seen, maybe that's just him."

Derek rolled his eyes. He was listening in on their conversation. All of them were.

"Right," Isaac muttered. "So, why are you calling me?"

"Isaac, uh, did you know that your dad was the coach of the Beacon Hills Swim Team?"

Isaac nodded. "Yeah, I knew."

"And did you know that your brother was on the team back in 2006?"

Isaac's jaw tightened a bit at the mention of Camden. "Yeah," he huffed out. "He was. I remember that was the year that they had won State."

Derek was giving him a look. Why was Stiles calling to talk to him about this for?

"Do you know if anything had happened that year? Any big injuries or accidents involving the team or at the pool?"

"No," Isaac shook his head even though Stiles couldn't see him.

"Are you sure? Think Isaac," Stiles pressed.

"Yes, I'm sure."

"Nothing weird at all. With your brother or your dad around that time. They didn't act like they might've had something to hide?"

"No, I don't know," he said. "Why would I care anyway?"

"Well, you should. We all should because it turns out that all the people that the Kanima has been killing had been on the team that year."

At that, all four of them in the train depot stiffened.

Isaac turned away from looking at his pack. "What?" he asked softly into the phone.

"Yeah. My dad and I just found a connection with everyone including your dad. The hunter, the mechanic, the couple, and that ticket girl. They were all part of the swim team that year and your dad was their coach. Remember what the master told us? That they are being killed because they murdered him. It sounds like something might've happened that year and your dad and brother might've been a part of it."

Isaac shook his head. When Scott had asked him if his dad was a murderer, he had answered honestly. He wouldn't be surprised, especially with how his dad had turned out after they learned that Camden had been killed. But this was before then and he wouldn't have pegged the father he knew then. Or his brother either.

Derek reached over and grabbed his phone back from him. Isaac barely reacted to that as he seemed frozen in shock. "Stiles, is there anyone else that was on the team still in Beacon Hills?"

"Oh, back to you Derek," Stiles spurred out before getting serious again. "I'm not sure. I literally just found out about this. My dad is checking up on that right now."

"And Jackson?"

"Scott's looking for him but he hasn't found him."

"Well, call me as soon as you find anything."

He then hung up. Derek turned to look at Erica and Boyd but noticed that they were looking over his shoulder. He turned and saw that Isaac was still as a statue save for his hand that was shaking slightly.

"Hey," he said reaching for his shoulder. "You okay?" Isaac swallowed a bit and nodded. "Alright…then come on. Let's get you all ready."

Allison was in her room doing her homework when Lydia soon ran into her room with two Macy's shopping bags.

"Clear your schedule," she said holding them up at her before moving to unload them on her bed.

Allison got up and looked at all the clothes Lydia brought with an amused smile. It looked like she had brought enough for a handful of girls. "How many outfits do you plan on wearing tonight?"

"It's my birthday party." She then held up a striped blouse. "I'm thinking host dress." She then put it down and pointed to another. "Evening dress, and then after hours casual."

Allison was happy to see that Lydia was so excited. She seemed much happier than she had normally been though she thought that maybe that was because Lydia was trying extra hard to make her party sound exciting. Though, Allison didn't want to see her friend get false hope. "I noticed that you didn't send any invites."

Lydia hardly reacted. "Biggest party of the year Allison. Everyone knows."

Everyone might, but Allison had a feeling that not everyone would want to show up given all the recent things that seemed to have happened with Lydia lately.

"I was wondering if maybe…this year, things might be different," she tried to ease into her concern.

"Why would things be different?"

Okay, so Lydia wasn't making this easy. "Well, things have been off lately. Things and people…like Jackson."

Lydia then froze and gave her a look. "Why do you care about Jackson?"

She just shook her head. "Do you know if he's coming tonight?"

"Everyone's coming," she said unflinchingly. She then reached for a dress. "This one's American Mag. I love it, for me not you," she said holding it up at her before putting it back down. She picked up another good one. "This one's Material Girl. That's for you." The two of them were then interrupted by a knock at the door. It was Allison's mom. "Mrs. Argent, what do you think of this one?" Lydia asked her holding Allison's dress.

"It's lovely," she said softly even though she wasn't even looking at the dress but her daughter. "Allison, can I grab you for a moment, to talk. Just the two of us."

"Uh, can we do it later?" she asked. Allison didn't want to leave Lydia right now.

"Uh, sooner would be better," her mother tried to insist.

"Party's at ten," said Lydia.

"Oh, you'll be around before then?" she asked. She really wanted to have a final talk with Allison before she had to succumb to the hunter's tradition.

"I think so," said Allison.

"You think so," she repeated.

Allison shook her head. "I don't know." Her mother could see that Allison was clearly caught up with her friend and she then decided to leave them to it. She started to head out but Allison spared her a look as she noticed how she was leaving the room. "Mom, are you okay? You're walking funny."

"Oh, just small ankle sprain. It's nothing to worry about sweetheart."

Allison nodded and her mother left the room completely. As Allison turned to see another dress Lydia brought, her mother brought her head in to look at her perhaps one final time. She took note of her smile and happiness before she left completely.

Jackson was leaving the locker room after freshing himself up after working out at the weight room. He was leaving when he almost literally bumped into Lydia.

"Jackson," she said softly to him. "You're coming to my party, right?"

Jackson just stared at Lydia for a bit. It was like he was in a daze though Lydia didn't think too much on it. She saw that his right arm was raised a bit so she went to give him a gentle touch and Jackson seemed to shake him out of it.

Jackson suddenly had full sense of himself and he looked straight into Lydia's eyes. "You don't want me there, trust me," he found himself saying with concern in his voice.

Lydia stared back at him before her face softened up. "Don't worry about it. I'm over it," she said as she believed that this was about their previous fights. "Of course I want you to="

But Jackson reached out swiftly and took hold of her arm giving her a start. "You…do not want me there," he repeated to her but more sternly than before.

Lydia just looked at him with some tension on her face though it was more of concern than fear. She then slowly separated her arm from his and stepped back from him. "I'll see you there," she said before she turned and walked on off.

Jackson head bobbed down before he looked back up with his eyes flashing the slitted yellow eyes of the Kanima before going back to normal.

Allison parked her car down the street and then made her way to the front of her house. "For Lydia," she said to herself before tensely making her way for the house.

That tension continued until it rushed out of her when two classmates gave a celebratory yelp as they headed for the house in higher spirits.

At the house, the doorbell rang and Lydia answered it to see the sight of Stiles holding a giant wrapped gift.

"Happy Birthday!" he cried out.

Lydia just stared at him. "Oh," was roughly all she managed to say.

"Alright. I'm coming in," Stiles said as he tried to move but found the gift just a little bit bigger than the doorframe. "I'm going to have to force my way in. You might want to back on up a bit," he said to her.

Lydia just kept staring at him for a moment before she turned and walked off. "Don't forget to try the punch!" she called as she left.

When Stiles saw he was alone, he then went and pushed the box on through with some extra wolf strength thrown in. Stiles then went and left the gift out in a corner of the room where he was sure that Lydia would notice it every time she came to the door. Hopefully that would make her have him on his mind all of those times. He headed on in and quickly found Scott who seemed to be waiting for him. After Stiles had talked to Isaac and Derek, he then called Scott and told him of what he and his dad dug up.

"You seen Jackson anywhere?" Stiles asked him as they set off to talk in private.

"No," Scott answered. "Seen Al-" But Scott stopped right there when Stiles stiffened. Scott could sense the anger started to stir in his friend. "Forget it," he said quickly. "What exactly did you find again?"

Stiles pushed that bit of anger down and kept walking. "I think I found out why the Kanima is touchy around water. Now, we know that all the victims were on the swim team and Isaac's dad was their coach. The way the Kanima reacted when around the pool and how it freaked when I fought it with the pool's water and tried to get it to fall in."

"You think it's because it hates the swim team?"

"Hated the swim team?" Stiles corrected. "Specifically the 2006 swim team. Something had to have happened back then. The Kanima's master told me that they murdered him and that's why he was killing them off. So it could be another teacher or a student from back then." But Stiles stopped speaking when he noticed Allison coming for them. "What is she doing here?" he almost spat out.

"Stiles," Scott hissed as Allison came up to them.

She smiled a bit uncomfortably at Scott who smiled back with the same discomfort. Stiles just stared blankly at her as he put his hands in his pockets.

"Hi,' she said to them.

"Hi," Scott said back to her.

Stiles gave Scott a look as he let a frustrated puff of air out from his nose. "Bye," he said as he walked off to step around the length of the pool.

Scott saw Allison's face go into a small frown. "Don't worry about it. I think it's just the full moon."

Allison gave him a soft nod. "Right, of course. Uh, Jackson's not here."

"I know," Scott said as he scoped the place. "Actually, there's hardly anyone here. We're probably early."

"Or maybe no one feels like coming since Lydia turned into the town whackjob," Stiles called out from where he stood.

The three of them then turned to look over where Lydia was standing off by the door with a tray of cups.

"Well, we have to do something because we've been ignoring her for the past two weeks," Allison said unflinchingly.

Scott shrugged. "She has been completely ignoring Stiles for the past ten years."

Stiles made his way over him. "No. I actually prefer to think of it as not having been on her radar yet. I think I'm at the center of it now. Besides, it hasn't been a party kind of mood lately."

Scott just shook his head. "He has a point…and we don't owe her a party," he said looking back at Allison.

"What about the chance to get back to normal?" Allison asked them.

"Normal?" said Scott.

"Well, Lydia wouldn't be the town whack job if it wasn't for us. Right? Maybe we do owe her."

That got both Scott and Stiles to look back at Lydia looking like she was trying to stay poised even though there was no one to really see it and they both deflated.

"I…guess I could use my co-captain status to get the lacrosse team here." Scott then pulled out his phone.

"And," said Stiles. "I think I know some people that could get this thing going. Like, really going."

"Who?" asked Allison.

Stiles just moved his narrowed eyes at her. Scott subtly sent a small bump at the back of Stiles foot to make him stop. Stiles let out a small sigh. "Met them the other night. Let's just say that they know how to party." And he turned away so he didn't have to look at her as he made his call.

Allison looked over at Scott who just gave an uncomfortable shrug before he seemed to connect with someone on his phone. Allison thought that whatever was going on between the two of them wasn't just about the full moon. She guessed that Stiles was being bitter that Allison had told her dad and Gerard about Jackson being the Kanima and ruining their plan. Most likely, he blamed her for what happened to that poor ticket girl.

Isaac, Boyd and Erica were in the train car with Derek as he began to ready the chains to keep them tied in.

"What if we break free?" Boyd suddenly asked.

"Then you'll do everything you can to try and get out of here. Probably try to kill me, to kill each other and kill everything else with a heartbeat." Derek readied the metal collar and stood in front of Erica. "Hold her," he said to Isaac.

Isaac went behind Erica and held her by the arms as she stared straight ahead. "So, why does she get to wear the headband?" He asked.

"Because she'll be able to withstand more pain than the two of you," he answered to Isaac and Boyd's bewilderment and making Erica smirk. "I've got an extra one if you want it.

Isaac took a close look at it. "I'll pass."

Derek then looked down at Erica. "You ready?"

Erica nodded. "Yeah," she said in a small voice.

She braced herself but it did little to really get ready for the pain as the collar went on her head and the screws started to dig into her head. Her screams started to echo through the train.

Soon enough, there were some people from school that Scott had rung up and they were headed by the cross dressers that Stiles had run into at the club Jungle. They had rung the bell and Lydia answered and froze at the sight of them all.

"And you are?" she finally asked.

"We're here for the party," the crossdresser at the head of them said with a smile.

Lydia stared for a moment before she smiled. "Well come on in," she said stepping aside so they could start moving on in with excitement and cheers. "Don't touch anything," she warned.

The party started to soon become a real party but the two 'party animals' were off at a quiet corner.

"You want me to apologize?" Stiles slurred out as he took a drink from his cup of punch.

"Allison didn't deserve any of that," Scott argued.

"Oh? She went behind our backs and told her family everything, even though we decided that she shouldn't, and ruined our plan to stop Jackson."

Yes, Scott had been a little mad at her about that too but…looking back, he could somewhat understand why she did it. "She…only did what she thought was right."

"And how did that go Scott? Her family didn't do anything to try and stop Jackson that night. They only helped him in killing that girl. Half of us were left to focus on the plan and the other half had to deal with her family's interference. And were almost killed at that, with you being the closest," he added harshly. "After what her mom almost did to you…she has a lot of nerve trying to keep talking to us as if nothing even happened."

"Stiles," Scott tried.

But Stiles cut him off. "Still trying to defend her. I can't believe you Scott." But then Stiles caught Scott's eyes and something seemed to click in his mind. "She doesn't know, does she?" he realized.

"No." Scott turned his gaze away from him. "She doesn't need to," he said softly. He felt that Allison was going through enough already with her family. Her situation with her parents was strained enough. He didn't want to add this new bit with her mom on top of everything else.

But Stiles' eyes widened. "Doesn't need…Scott, you're my best friend and I love you but you need to seriously have your head whacked. Okay, look at what's happening. People are dying, Jackson has turned into a killer lizard, we have three new werewolves in town, I'm in love with a nutjob, I got my dad fired, you're going to be held back in school, our school is being lorded over by a geriatric psychopath, we both were attacked and almost killed by the hunters." Scott was looking away from him. "But even with all of that you still think that you and Allison are a good idea, why? Just in case, that was a rhetorical question and if you do try and answer it then I'm gonna stab myself in the face."

Scott suddenly stood up. "Don't stab yourself in the face."

Stiles saw that Scott looked freaked out for some reason. "Why not?"

"Because Jackson's here."

Stiles looked in the direction that Scott was and sure enough, Jackson had walked in. His face was blank as he took everything in.

Lydia came over to him and handed him some punch. "Glad you could make it," she said to him.

Jackson took a sip of it as his eyes went on the two werewolves across the pool. Lydia went back to the punch bowl to pour another glass and she stirred it with the ladle as some purple wolfsbane petals floated to the surface.