Chapter 15: Required Reading
Stiles was riding alongside his father as they headed off for the school where he spotted the flashing sirens of a pair of police vans off at a corner of the parking lot.
"That's the lacrosse field," Stiles pointed out as his father drove them closer. But his dad suddenly stopped the car before they got closer. "Wait, what's up?"
His dad moved to unbuckle his seat belt. "We better get off here. I don't want my deputies to see you. The last thing we need is word to spread that I'm actively bringing my son to crime scenes in the middle of the night."
Stiles figured that made sense. "Right."
"Stay close but out of sight," his father told him as he got out of the car.
Noah started to stomp on over to the field. He looked back to throw his son a final tip but found that Stiles was nowhere in sight. He shook his head in bemusement before he continued on. When he stepped onto the field, he found Clark was there with another one of his deputies. The lights had been switched on and he quickly saw that there were deep holes dug into the field.
"Sheriff," she called out as she headed for him. "Did Stiles make it back home?"
"Yes, he did. Thanks for the call," he told her gratefully.
"My pleasure."
"So, what have we got?"
"Far as I can tell, vandals. Half a dozen freshly dug holes, each one around six feet deep. Kids deciding to play some kind of a prank."
Noah sighed. If he didn't know about what was really going on in this town, he would probably have assumed the same thing about all this. "Who called it in?"
"Natalie Martin."
His face widened. "Natalie?"
Clark nodded. "She'd been here late grading papers and was on her way home when she stumbled across all this as she was heading for her car. Called us immediately."
"Where is she?"
"Talking with McKenzie." She pointed off to the side and Noah could dimly make her out as he was speaking with another one of his deputies.
"Did she happen to see anyone?"
"No, I don't think so."
Noah looked over the handful of holes spread out on the field before his eyes rose up a bit and saw that Stiles was standing off by the bleachers on the opposite side. He could make out a concerned look on his son's face even from this distance. It looked like there were more 'Chimeras' out there now.
Clark looked over and saw the expression on the Sheriff's face and looked over in the direction that he had been looking at but there was nothing there.
Oscar was standing in a small clearing in the woods with over a dozen other men and women scattered about. About five of them had their red eyes on display as a way to size each other up as even though they were all equal in rank, they were not equal in power. The hue of the red determined how strong the Alpha was and right now, the one who had the deepest shade of red and had it shining brightest seemed to be the Pawshroud Pack's Alpha. Who just happened to be the one to call for these alphas to all meet. They had also brought one or two betas with them for protection and/or experience. Oscar had brought his Second along as his only protection.
"Alright Oscar, why did you call us all here?" one of the alphas impatiently huffed.
"Yeah, it's not like we annual gatherings around here," said another.
"Well, perhaps that will be changing soon enough," Oscar said, making his poise be strong and firm as he turned to face them all confidently.
"What are you talking about Oscar?"
"I'm talking about the future. Our future." He then started pacing off a bit. "I've gotten word from some contacts of mine that recently, hunter activity has made a marked drop. It seems that many of the hunter families and clans have gone to ground."
A few of them did look surprised though a handful hardly reacted as some of them had already known that.
"Why?" asked one of the surprised ones.
"Apparently, a number of hunters have been getting detained and arrested by federal authorities. Somehow, the feds are being fed legal evidence, enough to have them be arrested. This is driving the bulk of them into hiding."
"Why? Who's doing it?"
"I haven't found out, yet."
One of the wolves moved to put his hands on his hips, confused. "Why do you make it sound like that's a concern? This means we don't have to be looking over our shoulders as often. Looks like a good thing to me."
"So does the sudden calm during a hurricane, until you realize you've only been caught in its eye. I don't think it's a coincidence that all this is happening with the Argents falling from grace after it was revealed that Kate Argent had become a Nagual jaguar and was locked up in Eichen House Mental Institution. There could be in-fighting between families or a rogue hunter to take the Argents' place. Or, this even could be all an elaborate setup to lead us into a false sense of security while they stock and reorganize out of prying eyes."
There was silence for a moment before one of the alphas spoke out, skeptically.
"So, you called all us here so you can share some conspiracy theories? What's next? UFO's?" one of the alphas teased, making a few snort and snicker.
But Oscar wasn't deterred. He kept his poise, even in the face of the mockery he was enduring. "That's only one concern. And it's not even the most pressing one." That made the laughing stop. "I'm sure that some of you have been hearing the same rumors that I have lately. About the events taking shape off on the west coast. Particularly around Beacon Hills.
One of the other alphas nodded. "Who hasn't? Boogeymen in masks going off and making genetic freaks."
"Yes," said another werewolf. "It's not exactly the first time this has happened. These stories pop up every other decade or so. The last time they were active was in Russia over about 16 or so years ago. They come in out of nowhere like ghosts, have their twisted fun with the locals, and then they vanish like ghosts when they're done."
"Not true," said another. A woman by the name of Gina Treiber with shoulder length dark hair, her red eyes shining somewhat brightly.
"Sorry Gina," said Oscar. "What do you mean? You don't believe in them?"
"Oh no, I believe in them alright. I just meant that I heard word from the mate of my alpha back when I first was brought into the Moon Beam Pack."
"Jason Conley? Oh god rest his soul. He was a mighty alpha. I wish I had met him."
The sentiment seemed shared by a few others in the group as well.
Gina cleared her throat as some grief passed through her. "Yes, well, anyway, I heard that they had actually were in Beacon Hills area before. About ten years ago. A whole mess of people disappeared, many of them teenagers, only for them to show up, dead. Their insides liquified."
"Well, it seems they stepped up and started releasing mix and match creatures."
"Or-" Gina stressed. "Maybe that's what they were trying to do all this time. Just so happens that they finally cracked the code."
"Actually," Oscar said, pointing over at Gina. "I've had that same thought."
"Yeah…well the heck does any of this have to do with us?" asked the impatient alpha from before. "This is all on the opposite side of the country. It sounds like the only ones this even affects would be the McCall and Satomi packs."
Gina actually rolled her eyes, with a few others. The Hale Pack. The Satomi Pack. The McCall Pack. Many of them felt it was pompous for alphas to name their packs after themselves. A sad common trend with packs west of the Rockies. Even from a True Alpha.
"I'm getting to that," Oscar told them. "Now, I'm also sure that some of you have started to sense the shift in energy recently. The feeling that something big is coming." He stayed silent for a moment and no one said anything to confirm or deny this. Not even the most impatient Alpha. "And I'm sure we're not the only ones. Other werewolves in other parts of the country, maybe even in other parts of the world can feel it. A power is rising. I think that these events in Beacon Hills might just be the catalyst for its arrival. All it needs is a trigger, and a powerful one is forthcoming. The upcoming full moon is no normal one as we all know."
Some of the wolves in the clearing were starting to get edgy. But some were getting irritable.
"Stop with suspenseful build-up and just get to the point Oscar," one of those wolves slurred out. "Just tell us why you called for us to meet?"
"So we could face the facts," he spat out. "In the last two years, too many things have happened all at once. They are either changing or being shaken up. It would be foolish to think that it will stay isolated to the west. Soon, they will spill their way to our neck of the woods, and when they do, I don't want to be caught unawares. For any of us to be," he barked out. He then looked over at Gina. "That's what happened to Jason Conley." That made her gaze drop. "That's what happened to the Hales. I'm not just going to avert my eyes and be caught with my tail between my legs when all this trouble comes barreling down my door like they all were. That is what's going to happen, to all of us. I can feel it, just as I'm sure some, if not all of you can but just don't want to admit it. This isn't a question of "if"…but "when". We have to be ready when it does."
Gina's red eyes narrowed up at him. The memory of her late Alpha on the forefront of her mind. "And just what exactly did you have in mind?"
Oscar's hard face broke slightly as the side of his lips curled a bit as his red eyes gleamed predatorily.
Malia was turning a bit in her sleep when a hand moved at her shoulder and started to shake her. She gasped and sat up quickly, startling her dad who jumped back a bit.
"Dad?" she breathed. "What is it?"
"You asked me to wake you up early today. Remember, you were going to go to meet with Stiles and the Sheriff at the station?"
She closed her eyes as it all came back to her. They were going to try and put some pieces together after everything that happened at Eichen and with all the new holes they found the other night.
"Thanks," she said gratefully, moving to pull the sheets away and get out of bed.
Henry was about to leave to let his daughter begin to get ready when he noticed the book in Malia's bed. "Still haven't finished that thing?"
She sighed as she stopped to pick up the Dread Doctors book. "No. I'm a bit passed halfway but I haven't been able to get much farther. It's harder to read as you go on. And dangerous."
"Dangerous?" Henry was getting worried. "Why? How?"
"Well, Lydia said that the book was written to awaken memories. It's supposed to trigger memories of people who've seen the Dread Doctors and then forgotten about them."
"Recover lost memories?" Henry mumbled. A far off look came over him.
Malia nodded as she moved to sit at the foot of her bed. "Yeah, and I think it might be working."
"What do you mean?"
"Uh, I saw something the other night."
"You mean, a memory?" Henry moved to go and sit beside her.
She nodded again. "Yeah, but it wasn't about the Dread Doctors. I saw…mom."
Henry straightened up a bit. "What?"
Her gaze fell a bit. "The night of the accident. I saw it."
He heard the pain in her voice. Neither one of them liked to think about that night let alone talk about it.
"Honey, it's okay. Sometimes, I see it too, even when I don't want to."
"No," she cut in. "I mean I remembered it. All of it. It was like…I was there as it was happening all over again. And I saw why it happened. Mom, she didn't crash the car because of me shifting into a coyote that night. It was because she was trying to make sure that none of us got shot."
"Shot?"
Malia nodded, a hard look coming over her eyes. "It was her. The Desert Wolf. She was there, on the road. Shooting at us. She forced us off the road and made us crash. She's why I lost control and shifted. The one that attacked us that night, was my mother."
Henry blinked a bit in shock as he tried to process all of this. They suspected that someone might have been responsible for the crash. But they never knew who it was. Now…they did.
"I saw something too," he mumbled.
"What?"
"The other day. I was doing some work out in front of the house and I saw something in the trees. Two glowing blue eyes. At first, I thought it was you, but then I saw you, and your sister, in the back seat of our old car. You were waving at me as your mother was driving you off. And I looked back and saw that those eyes seemed to be following after you. Then, all of a sudden, it all just disappeared. I-I thought I just daydreaming or something. But, it must've been a memory. Something that I repressed."
"A memory?"
"The last time I saw all three of you. The day of the crash."
"The Desert Wolf…it was her you saw."
"She must've been watching us, our family that day, before she…attacked you three. And with everything that happened after, I must've forgot I saw her."
"And you reading the book brought it back."
The two of them then moved to stare at the book uneasily.
In the Sheriff's station, Stiles was standing off with Malia beside him as his father was putting the finishing touches on their own crime board to try and make sense of what was going on so far. Currently, they had a few pictures of people that were crossed off like Tracy and Lucas.
As Malia was standing next to Stiles, she tried to push down the feelings of guilt she was getting whenever she got close to her boyfriend. Feelings she was having after that intense dream she had about Theo.
"You okay?" Stiles asked, as he thought she looked bothered by something.
"Yeah, fine," she said with a nod.
Noah shook his head at it all. "Chimeras," he said, drawing their attention to him and the photos.
"Two dead chimeras," Stiles slurred out. "Not to mention one that Wilson was tracking before-" He couldn't finish but they didn't need him to.
"And seven new ones," Malia added.
"So, that's 10 in all," finished Stiles.
"I'm thinking maybe 11," Noah said as he moved to stick a new picture onto the board.
Donovan's picture.
At the sight of it, Stiles bowed his head a bit to avoid looking at the eyes of that picture staring back at him. "11?" he coughed out.
"Some tech guy confirmed something for me. They said that both the holding cell lock and cameras could have malfunctioned because of something electromagnetic." He then moved to reach for the copy of Valack's book on his desk. "You said that these guys-"
"The Dread Doctors," Malia told him.
Noah shook his head. "Are we really going to call them that?"
Malia didn't answer that but got where Stiles' dad was going. "They broke Donovan out."
"It's how they got into Eichen, isn't it?"
Malia nodded. "Donovan's a chimera," she realized.
"The question is, is he a failure like Tracy and Lucas?"
"Well, if he is, he's probably dead." Malia then took the marker and moved to cross his picture out.
But Noah grabbed her hand to stop her. "Not until I've seen a body," he told her.
As the two of them were talking, Stiles had been steadily backing away to the corner of the room. He knew that his father wouldn't be able to see a body, because someone had stolen it already, just like they had with Tracy and Lucas. But, he knew that he couldn't tell anyone that Donovan was indeed dead because he had been the one to kill him. Stiles could feel his nerves starting to stiffen and tense up again.
"You're uncharacteristically quiet," his dad said.
Stiles turned around to see that both his dad and Malia were looking at him with some concern.
"You okay?" Malia asked him.
He nodded as he turned back around to face him. "Yeah," he said, clearing his throat. "Uh, sorry, I was just trying to think. These were all teenagers, right? Valack told Lydia that teenagers were who the Dread Doctors were after. So, shouldn't we be trying to figure out why these teenagers?" He felt his nerves start to loosen as his mind went to work. "If the Dread Doctors went through all of this, burying them, killing them, breaking one of them out of jail-"
Noah was starting to follow along. "They couldn't have been chosen at random," he finished for him.
Malia did too. "They had to have something in common."
"Something that made them right for this experiment."
Stiles nodded. "Something that made them special." He couldn't help but think of the bite. How not everyone was made to become a werewolf and teenagers were usually the preferred choice because they were more likely susceptible to the change. Something about these teenagers made them susceptible to become Chimeras.
"But what?" Malia said, asking Stiles unasked question as she looked off at the pictures of the three teens.
"And why?" he asked. "It's too bad that Valack couldn't have shared that before he went missing."
"Missing?" said Malia. "Valack is missing?"
"Yeah. Before he got Lydia out of there, Parrish went to check on Valack and he was missing from his cell. The glass had all been broken and there was no sign of him."
"Do you think they took him?" asked his dad.
Stiles shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know. But, there's something else I think we need to think about."
"What son?" asked Noah.
"How did the Dread Doctors even know to go there?"
"What do you mean?"
"Kira. The only reason that the Dread Doctors were even able to get into Eichen was because Kira was there and somehow disturbed the energies of the building. That's what Valack told Lydia. And they just happen to be in neighborhood when we decide to show up?"
Malia shrugged. "Maybe they've been watching the place. Waiting for a chance to get in."
"In between kidnapping teenagers, turning them into chimeras and burying them?" Stiles said doubtfully. "No, something just doesn't feel right about this."
At that, Noah moved to look back at the photos of the teenage chimeras. He couldn't help but immediately agree with his son's instincts on this one.
Scott went looking for Theo that morning at school and informed him of everything that happened at Eichen and what they learned from Valack. Theo made a show of reacting to all of it like it was news before he told him about Malia nearly getting hit by a car but had saved her by pulling her out of its way in time. Scott sighed as he moved to stare off at the school grounds, at all the teenagers around them. At all the potential victims for the Dread Doctors' experiments.
"Thanks for helping Malia," Scott said gratefully.
"Right place, right time," Theo shrugged off like it was nothing. "And everyone else? You? Stiles? Kira? Lydia? You're all alright after what happened at Eichen?"
"Yeah, we're okay. Parrish came by and got Lydia out of there. And Kira and I were a little messed up but we're better now."
"And Stiles?" he asked, trying not to sound eager. He wanted to know why the guy wasn't there and earned him a telling off from the doctors.
"Stiles is fine. He wasn't there. He left before things got crazy."
"What, why?"
Scott wondered the same thing himself. When Stiles called him, to tell him about him and his dad finding the new holes, he hadn't said anything about why he left flipped out or where he went. While he felt that Stiles was getting out of sorts for a while, it felt like it just getting worse. Scott was more worried about him, and maybe even a bit scared. But, he couldn't let himself worry about Stiles now. Not when there where probably over half a dozen new chimeras walking around.
"I don't know but right now, we have other problems," he said as his eyes wandered about from kid to kid.
Theo pushed down his annoyance at not getting any info and nodded. "So, we're basically looking for abnormal behavior?"
"Anyone acting a little off or a little weird."
"Isn't everyone a little weird in high school?"
Scott sighed. "Yeah, good point."
He then started to walk off, wrestling with his copy of the book in his hand. Theo moved to follow after him.
"You remember Tracy went on a killing spree after reading that?"
"You think it's a bad idea?"
"I think Malia almost getting run down by a car could've been bad. That's why you guys haven't finished it, right?"
"Well, we're going to." He and his friends had arranged to meet up after school so they could help each other read and watch out for one another to make sure an incident like Malia's happened again to any of them.
Theo sighed out in frustration. "Scott, I came here hoping to find a pack. I wasn't planning on watching one fall apart."
Scott could hear the disappointment in Theo's voice. He was sure that Theo had been expecting to finally relax and feel at ease about being a werewolf when he belonged to a pack that had some old friends in it. He felt bad that Theo was instead facing all this trouble that he didn't ask for. Scott couldn't help but relate.
"The book's all we got."
Theo nodded. "Then, I'll read it too," he shrugged. "If you really think this will work then I'll help you any way I can."
Scott found himself smiling a bit, grateful for the help. He nodded before they went off to go to their next class together. For a moment, Scott felt more assured and confident than he had felt in the longest time. A feeling that Theo quickly picked up on and inwardly smirked at.
Jordan threw a blow for Lydia but she avoided it and slapped his hand away before trying to throw her knee up at him. Jordan quickly blocked it and threw himself back.
"Arms up," he instructed. "This way you can block attacks to your face and your head while always keeping your eyes on your enemy. Ready?"
She nodded before they went at it again.
They were both currently at his place as he was making good on his promise to teach Lydia how to fight. She had gotten new determination to learn to defend herself after what happened to her at Eichen and hearing that her mother had been the one to find the holes the chimeras dug themselves out of at the school. For her, it was time to stop feeling and being so helpless.
He threw some punches at Lydia darted around to avoid and block each one. She was growing confident as she kept her hands up like he told her. But when Jordan threw his knee up, Lydia brought her hands down to stop it and he quickly sent a punch that got through and sent her back. She let out an aggravated huff while Jordan let a smile loose at her annoyance.
"You're not going to be perfect after a few tries," he told her humorously, trying to get her to settle down.
She let herself pace a bit, to vent her frustration loose before she let a deep breath loose. "Okay," she sighed before turning to get herself ready again. "Keep going."
"You sure? Maybe we should stop after a few-"
"Why?" Lydia cut in.
"I don't want your stitches to get un-stitched." Lydia had just gotten out of the hospital. He thought that she was lucky that nothing happened back at Eichen.
"They're fine," she assured him.
Lydia then moved to unzip her track shirt to expose her bandage. "See, no blood." Now unzipped, she felt her arms didn't feel as restricted so she decided to take it off and free her arms.
Jordan stared as Lydia had exposed herself in her sports bra. After a second, he moved to take off his own track shirt. He had a sleeveless shirt on underneath and Lydia let her eyes fall a bit on his exposed muscular arms. They then moved to throw their track shirts on the nearby couch before facing each other again.
"Ready when you are," Lydia said, raising her arms back up.
Jordan raised his up in kind and they started to circle around each other. After a moment, he threw a blow but Lydia instantly blocked and batted his hand away. They circled a bit more before he threw another, which she also blocked. Jordan went to throw a lower blow but Lydia moved to try and grab his wrist. She then moved to pull on it, to trap him so she could throw her own blow at him. He used his other hand to block it while he reversed her grip on his wrist and pulled her to him.
"What did you do wrong?" he asked her.
"Uh, I forgot to keep my arms up," she heaved.
He nodded. "But don't worry. Your muscles have memory. With enough practice, they'll remember for you."
Lydia started to settle her breathing and then let herself rest against him as he kept holding her. His skin felt quite warm as she felt his arms wrap around her and at her cheek as it began to touch against his. His grip began to get tighter and she began to feel his hard body lean closer into her. She felt him begin to breathe on her as her fell back against his shoulder.
Jordan felt himself leaning in closer to her, finding that he loved the touch of her soft skin. He felt Lydia leaning into him and he moved to wrap his arms fully around her and pulled her in closer to him. As she leant in, he began to smell her shampoo and perfume and felt himself heat up. Holding her like this felt different from the other night. Stronger.
Jordan's hand moved off to take hold of Lydia's and she moved to take it. Yet, when they squeezed their palms together, Lydia flinched as she got a strong mental image of the Dread Doctors flash in her head. She gasped and moved to pull herself away from him.
Jordan gasped. "What's wrong? What is it?" he asked, hoping that he hadn't done something to frighten or scare her.
Lydia stared off and looked down at her bag where her copy of the book was visible. Her eyes fell on the image of the Dread Doctors on the cover. "Muscle memory."
His eyes landed on the book cover and he couldn't help but narrow his eyes too.
In Scott's living room, there was a stack of copies of the Dread Doctors book, as well as the original, set up on the table with everyone staring down tensely at them. Stiles wasn't thrilled that Theo was there, or that Scott had invited him. Ever since tapping into that event scar the other night his feelings of suspicion towards the guy have only gotten higher but he couldn't raise a fuss as he knew all it would do is just lead to another fight with Scott. For now, he would have to bite his tongue and hope he didn't bring out his fangs as he did.
"My mom's book club usually has more wine," Lydia put out there, breaking the silence.
"Well, they also probably didn't read books that cause violent hallucinations," Stiles threw back.
"That's why Malia's here," Scott pointed out.
"So none of us go running into traffic?" asked Kira.
Scott nodded. "Or worse."
The plan was for all of them to read the book and have Malia on watch since the book already made her go crazed once. Malia had no problem with the plan as she was in no rush to go through what happened at the road again.
"Like what happened to Judy?" asked Malia.
"Judy?" said Stiles.
"Chapter 14," she explained.
Lydia let out a frustrated huff as she moved to pick the paperback copy up. "Maybe I should make my mother read it. She might go on and remember seeing a girl with a tail leaping off the ceiling and attacking everyone."
Her mother hadn't said anything about what had happened at the station with Tracy. She knew that her mother had seen the chimera but either she was letting herself be in denial or having selective memory. Lydia was starting to wonder if she should take a leaf out of Scott and Stiles' books and tell her mother the truth.
"Yeah, if it works," mumbled Stiles doubtfully.
"I saw something," Lydia threw out there.
"What?" asked Kira.
"The Dread Doctors. During my surgery…I think I saw them. When I look at the cover of the book, it's almost like-" She stopped as she was having trouble putting what she wanted to say to words.
"A memory trying to surface," said Theo, making everyone look up at him. Stiles let his eyes narrow a bit at him.
Lydia nodded. "Yeah."
Malia nodded herself. "Same thing happened with my dad."
"Your dad read the book?" asked Scott.
"Just two or three chapters."
"And he saw something?" Stiles asked, feeling worried and concerned. She nodded. "What was it?" he asked after she did.
"He saw…the day of the accident," she said with some hesitation. "The last time he saw me, my mom and sister all together."
Everyone seemed to get uncomfortable after that but Malia found herself a little thankful for that. It meant they wouldn't pry for more. She didn't want them to know that she and her father had seen the Desert Wolf stalking and then attacking her family the day they died.
Kira moved to wrap her hands around herself nervously as the events back at Eichen played back in her mind. "Isn't this what Valack said the book would do? Make people remember?"
"Remember seeing the Dread Doctors," Lydia said, eyeing the copies.
Stiles went to furiously rub his hand at the side of his head. "Okay, say they do really work and make people remember lost memories. How is that supposed help us?"
"If they did something to me," Lydia gave a hard but resolute look at the book's cover. "I want to know what it is." She then moved off to sit down in a nearby armchair with the book so she could start reading.
One by one, everyone moved to the table and grabbed a copy of the book. Scott and Kira moved to take spots on the couch next to Lydia while Theo sat down in a chair next to Lydia. Stiles had gone off with his copy and sat at Scott's kitchen table with Malia following after him. He didn't feel like being around Theo right now, especially if he wanted to focus. Each of them took a deep and braced themselves before they moved to begin reading.
It was a little over an hour after they started reading when the tension and anxiety that everyone had felt was now fully replaced with boredom. Everyone was finding the book bland and tasteless. Scott was finding that he had to take over a minute to read certain pages because his mind easily wandered because he couldn't keep focused on the story. Lydia liked to think that she was a pretty avid reader but she found reading the book to be a difficult and tiresome feat. Kira was having the worst trouble, as she couldn't really see words. The passages all looked blurred to her and it seemed like the letters were jumbling around.
As for Theo, he wasn't even reading anything. He just kept staring at the pages for what he thought seemed like a believable amount of time before he turned the page. In between page flips, he let his eyes wander to others, watching them try to focus on what they were reading. A few times, he cast looks over to the kitchen area where he could make out Malia pacing about and barely made out Stiles' hands tapping on the tabletop from the corner.
Scott looked over at Kira, to see her getting irritable and he found that he was too with this. "Anyone feel anything yet?" he asked out loud.
Kira shook her head. "Tired," she mumbled.
"Hungry," Lydia hissed out irritably.
"Uh, I think he meant the book," said Theo.
Lydia and Kira stared out at each other before they let out deep breaths. Nothing seemed to be happening. Scott was starting to hope that this all didn't end up being a waste of time. Still, he knew they couldn't give up yet. So, he forced himself to just keep reading.
Over in the kitchen, Stiles was working hard to try and absorb as much of the text as he could but he was finding it easier said than done. He found himself reading a bit slower than he was used to in order to try to make sense of this, lack of a better word, story. Valack clearly blamed the wrong thing for why this book never got a second edition. And he found a prickly and itchy heat rise from his right shoulder. He started to subconsciously rub at it and he could feel the residual scarring from Donovan's jawed palm. There was still a bit of skin to grow back.
Malia had moved to pour both of them a cup of coffee when she saw Stiles move to rub at it and sensed his discomfort. "What happened?"
Stiles sniffed as he looked up at her. "What?"
"Your shoulder?"
Stiles quickly tensed up. "What do you mean?"
"Did you hurt it? It's barely there but I can just smell a bit of blood."
"Uh yeah, my engine copped out again before I came here," he tried to shrug off. "The hood fell on me as I was trying to fix it."
It was faint but Malia heard the uptick in a heartbeat as he answered. Stiles had just lied to her about what happened to him. And she wasn't the only one to notice. Theo had been listening in and narrowed his eyes slightly as he looked over in their direction.
Stiles moved for a change in subject. "So, what about you?"
"Me?"
"The other night," he pressed her.
"Uh, yeah. I'm okay. Theo managed to pull me out of the way in time."
Stiles tried to fight the torn feeling of wanting to be thankful towards the guy for that. "No, I meant seeing the accident. Did you see anything else?"
"No," she said shaking her head. "Why?"
Stiles had heard the uptick in her heartbeat when she said No. Malia had just lied to him about seeing something. He figured she must have, as the book was supposed to show lost memories. She didn't want to tell him for some reason. "Just wondering," he shrugged as he moved to lightly rub at his shoulder again.
Neither one of them knew why the other was lying to them. Or why they were lying to the other. Stiles about Donovan and Malia about the Desert Wolf. They were sure the other would understand. Yet, both Stiles and Malia felt the need to keep quiet, as they were scared. Scared that if they said anything, then Scott would find out.
As Malia tried to push her nerves with another sip of coffee, she suddenly felt a small shift in the air and it made her narrow her eyes and turn to look over at the living room to see Theo was looking over at them. Namely her. As soon as she looked over though, he went and turned his head away. She kept staring as he moved to resume his reading.
Stiles removed his hand from rubbing at his shoulder and tried to get back to the book but felt a twinge. He looked up at Malia and saw that she was staring off. He followed her path of vision and it seemed to fall on Theo as he was sitting and reading his copy of the book. He narrowed his eyes as it looked like she was studying him but he didn't find any hint of suspicion in her scent. Instead there was…interest. He slowly began to clench right hand into a tight fist under the table.
Back at the living room, Kira suddenly just sighed and put away her copy before closing her eyes. It didn't seem like trying to read this book would get any easier for her and she was starting to get tired. Scott noticed her looking like she was getting ready to sleep.
"You're not giving up, are you?" he asked her.
"Just resting my eyes," she told him, while moving to make herself more comfortable. She then moved to turn off the lamp beside her before she started to make herself comfortable.
Scott sighed before he went back to reading. He had to shush Malia when she came in and asked a little loudly if anyone of them wanted a coffee before pointing over to Kira. He then moved and carried her off to his room so she could rest before he returned downstairs to everyone.
The rest of them kept reading and waiting for anything to happen to them. But after two more hours, the only thing that ended up happening to them was them all falling to sleep across the living room. Trying to read the book had become taxing to all of them and one by one decided to rest their eyes which turned into just nodding out. For the first time in a while, Stiles found himself not having to struggle to try and rest as he nodded off on his spot on the floor. Even Malia was finding herself wiped from watching over them trying to read and found herself needing to take a small nap herself.
The only one that wasn't sleeping was Theo. As he wasn't putting any real effort into reading the book, he didn't get affected like the others. He felt his phone vibrate and saw that he had gotten a text from Courtney. He had asked her to keep an eye on Satomi's pack while he stayed and watched over Scott's. He had to make the most out of her while she was still around. It was only a matter of time before the Doctors decided to deem her a lost cause and get rid of her. But, before he could open it, he heard some low mumbling.
As Theo walked off to follow the sound, he stepped passed Stiles, who slowly opened his eyes as he did. He saw Theo start creeping his way out of the room, and that creepy vibe he always got from the guy only got creepier. He narrowed his eyes a bit, but they were still heavy from trying to read that book and they closed shut again.
Theo made his way up the stairs and found that it was Kira, twisting and talking a bit in her sleep. He realized that she was repeating something, in Japanese. He took his phone and recorded it.
Hayden was at Sinema bartending when a guy came up to her to complain that his glow stick was broken. She pointed out that it wasn't broken but the glow had simply run out, he tried to get his money back from her. She just sighed and gave him a new one. He took it and went to go back to partying.
"God, I hate all-ages night," she huffed out.
She headed back out to the floor when she was suddenly approached by Liam.
After school, Liam had gone home to try and do some homework. Try being the key word. His mind however had wandered aimlessly and fell on multiple things. The first of which was on the Dread Doctors book. Scott said he didn't have to read it with everyone. Liam didn't really fight him on that. He didn't feel like he would have any forgotten memories about the Dread Doctors. Why would he?
Then his mind had fallen on the other night, with Lori. He still was having trouble believing that he actually kissed her. He never planned or expected to but it was nice, really nice. Liam sighed as he remembered the feel of her soft lips against his. He didn't know what to feel though. Lori was great, there was no denying that. He started to think that he might actually like her. He knew that she liked him thanks to Brett telling him back at Sinema.
But when the club got into his mind, he suddenly remembered Hayden. Specifically bumping into her and making her angry as she yelled that he spilled two hundred dollars worth of drinks. And he remembered hearing her huff that she wouldn't make enough money. He stopped what he was doing and went over to his bedside drawer to find the rest of the money that he still had on him and left for the club.
When he got there, he quickly spotted her and pulled out his money to give to her. "Forty-three dollars."
But Hayden glared at him. "I said I don't want your money."
He widened his eyes a bit. He didn't remember her ever saying that. "You said that I owe you 200," he reminded her.
"Liam, just forget it," she hissed, wanting to just get back to work.
But before anything more could be said, there was a high-pitched sound and the lights in the club just went out. Thankfully, there was still visibility due to everyone wearing glow rings and waving glow sticks. Everyone was cheering at the new atmosphere but Hayden wasn't. She would have to be the one to fix it. She moved to head for the breakers and Liam followed after her.
"Hayden," he cried, but she kept walking off to try and leave him behind. Liam didn't want to leave at least until she accepted the money. "Hayden," he tried again.
She finally stopped and turned to glare back at him. "Honestly Liam, if you're trying to be a good guy I really don't care."
"I'm just trying to make up for the sixth grade."
"Nothing will make up for the sixth grade," she snapped at him. She then tried to flip the lever on the fuse box but it was jammed. "Oh, come on," she hissed, getting more aggravated.
Liam then moved to grasp the handle, placing his hand over hers. When his fingers touched hers, Liam felt a small tingle fill up his hand and travel down his arm and spread through his body. Hayden stilled as the warmth from Liam's touch and found herself calming down a bit, even though she didn't want to. Liam let out a small breath before he moved to push the breaker lever free and the power and lights in the club all came back on. They stayed together for another moment before everything started rushing back for the both of them and Liam separated from her. Hayden turned around to glare at Liam again and he sighed out in frustration.
"You want to keep hating me, fine, go for it. You said that I owe you 200 dollars." He held up the money again. "So, here's 43 more."
She stared at him for a moment before turning to look down at the money he was patiently holding up to her. Letting out a resigned sigh she moved to lightly take it. Once she did, Liam moved to go and leave her alone. Hayden watched him leave, for some reason, not feeling as much hate for his as before. As for Liam, he rubbed his fingers at his side, where he could still feel the tingle from where he had touched her hand. Not too different from the one he got from Lori.
"What if we need some kind of trigger?" Scott suggested as he, Stiles and Kira walked through the front doors at the school. "I mean, wasn't Malia driving when she remembered the crash?"
"Yeah, but how are we supposed to trigger a memory that we don't remember?" Stiles pointed out with some frustration.
Everyone was feeling a little irritable at the fact that no good had come from their joint reading venture. Nothing had happened. No one had gone out of their mind, thankfully. But there also had been no sudden lost memories coming to any of them. Not even so much as a random flash.
"Maybe it's a delayed thing," Scott tried to throw out there. "Maybe you have to wait a couple of hours to see what happens."
But before Stiles could throw back that it might not even work if they didn't actually have forgotten memories, the lights along the hallway began to flicker. They stopped walking, in fact everyone in the hall stopped walking, to look up at them before they all slowly went back to normal. As everyone around them went on to carry on with what they were doing, Scott and Stiles took a look over at Kira. She knew what they were thinking.
"That wasn't me. I swear."
"Okay," Scott said, determined. "We keep an eye on each other today."
Stiles nodded. "Yeah, and also keep an eye out for eight other potentially homicidal Chimeras."
"And keep an eye out for the Dread Doctors," Kira finished up.
As Scott led Kira to follow him to their next class, Stiles let out a frustrated sigh. "Starting to see the appeal of a third eye," he said after them.
Scott and Kira went to their usual station at AP Biology, across from Lydia and Theo sitting two stations behind them. Ms Ramsey was giving a talk about invasive species and Scott was trying hard to follow every word she was saying but it wasn't easy as she was speaking quite fast. Kira was trying to make notes as she talked but she found it difficult to keep up herself.
Lydia was calmly letting her mind follow the lecture but her mind began to wander when she noticed the girl in front of her, Sydney, insistently scratching and twirling at her hair. The twirling seemed to turn into yanking.
Theo noticed Lydia staring at the girl and sent her a quick text asking if she thought the girl was a Chimera. He knew that she wasn't, as he could feel that she was simply overstressed, but it presented a good opportunity to try and appear to be helping out and build trust with another member of the pack. He then pointed out in another text that Sydney's hair was falling out.
Lydia looked over and saw that Theo had been right as a small clump of hair was in Sydney's hand. Suddenly, Sydney just got up, making everyone in the classroom look at her. Lydia became nervous as the girl quickly moved over to Ms. Ramsey. But all she did was hand the teacher a course drop form.
Ms. Ramsey nodded when she took it. "A wise decision Sydney." The girl nodded before she tearfully left the room. "Lydia," she spoke out as the girl got up to try and go after her. "You know it's for the best," she tried to reason.
Lydia just stared at her before she headed out the door after Sydney. Scott and Kira shared a concern look before they looked down at the filled out form that Scott himself had ready on his desk. Today was the last day that the drop forms could be submitted. And based on how he was doing in class today, it seemed there was only one choice he could make.
Sydney was sitting off in the guidance office, crying, when the door opened and Lydia peeked inside. She quickly moved to wipe her tears away. "I was just looking for your mom, I mean Mrs Martin."
"Are you okay?" Lydia asked her, concerned.
Sydney then tearfully showed her the lump of her hair that she had ripped off. "Does this look okay?"
Lydia eyed the hair with unease. "How long has it been happening?" she asked, hoping it definitely wasn't Chimera related.
"Three years," she told her.
Lydia's eyes widened. "Years?" she said, a bit shocked.
"It's stress. I've tried everything. Medication, acupuncture, hypnosis."
"Have you tried not taking the hardest classes in school?" she asked, dryly. That actually made a laugh come out from Sydney as she moved to dry the last bit of tears on her face. "Let me see it. Maybe, I can help cover it up."
Sydney looked up at Lydia gratefully before she moved to push her hair back and reveal the spot where she had pulled her hair out. Lydia looked and saw a small reddened bald spot just above Sydney's left ear. As she stared at it, Lydia gasped as the spot seemed to burst and fester right in front of her eyes. She began to back away a few steps before she lost her footing. She dimly heard Sydney shouting as she collapsed and fell to the floor.
Lydia then dimly heard her mother scolding her to have stayed in the car. The room around her faded away and Lydia found herself standing in what looked like the hallway she had visited at Eichen House. She walked through the gate and moved down the hall until she came upon a room that was open. She looked inside and saw that her mother was there with a woman in a tub. A familiar looking woman and she had a hole drilled into the side of her head, just above her ear.
'Grandma?' she thought hysterically.
Her mother turned and started shouting at her. "I told you to stay in the car!"
The other woman turned to stare right at her. "They're coming Lydia. They're coming for all of us. Lydia-"
"Lydia?!"
She gasped as she found herself looking right up at Scott's face. Her hand was shaking and he moved to hold it and steady her.
"I'm okay," she told him, before swallowing and trying to sit up.
Theo was standing behind him. "You remembered something?" he asked her.
"Not about the Dread Doctors. Nothing about them or the surgery."
"What was it?" Scott asked, before moving to help lift her to her feet with Theo rushing to help too.
Lydia got to her feet and moved over to sit at the closest chair. "My grandmother…at Eichen House."
Just then, her mother had run into the room with Sydney following right behind her. After Lydia had fainted, she had run back to the classroom to tell Ms. Ramsey what had happened. Scott and Theo had gone to help Lydia while Sydney was sent to find Natalie.
She gasped as she saw her daughter. "Lydia? Oh my god, what happened? Are you alright?"
"Mom, I'm fine," she said, trying to settle her down. She knew her mother would still be a little frantic seeing as she had been in the hospital barely a week before. "It was nothing."
"Was it a blackout? Did you faint?"
Lydia blinked before she nodded. "Yeah…it was. I fainted, but I'm fine. I promise."
Scott shared an uncomfortable look with Theo as they knew that Lydia was far from fine.
After class, Kira was sitting off in one of the bookshelf aisles in the library as she stared at her copy of the book. She was trying to read the book again but the words were as blurred and ineligible as they were last night. She couldn't read a thing. Kira got frustrated and just shut her copy shut.
"Not into sci-fi?"
She looked up and saw Mason standing there, a calm smile on his face.
"Hey Mason," she said, brushing a stray hair from her face.
"That's the book, isn't it?" Liam had told him all about it. "I thought you guys were supposed to finish reading it last night."
"Yeah, I kind of haven't yet. I…I don't know what wrong with me. I mean, I can't-. I can barely read it."
He moved over to sit next to her. "Okay, this is gonna sound weird. But do you speak Japanese?"
She narrowed her eyes at him. "No," she said. Just because she could swing a samurai sword didn't automatically mean she spoke the language. Though to be fair, she didn't know that she knew how to use a sword until over half a year ago. "I'm also half-Korean and I don't speak Korean. And I'm pushing a C average in English," she added.
"Okay, well I've been doing some reading on Kitsunes."
"How come?"
He let a breathless laugh loose. "Cause I've met one," he pointed out.
"Oh, right."
He continued on. "Do you know why people in Japan answer the phone 'Moshi Moshi'?"
Kira nodded. "Moshi means hello." Some of the only Japanese she actually did know.
"Yeah, but there's a reason why you have to say it twice on the phone. Because according to Japanese folklore, fox spirits have difficulty with language. And the way you prove you're not a fox when you answer the phone, say 'Moshi' twice. The important part is "Moshi Moshi" confuses Kitsunes because it's a language trick. So is the book. You know, it's just one long language trick."
"Whoa, really?"
The two of them turned around and spotted Stiles looking at them through the books through bookcase, behind them.
"Stiles?" Mason said backing away from the case to get a better look at him. "What's up?"
"Hey." He walked around and joined the two in their aisle. "I was just walking by when I heard you two talking as I was outside the library."
"You heard about Lydia?" Kira asked him.
"Yeah," he mumbled. "Is she okay?"
"Scott said that she told her mom she was going to go home and rest. She only has one class so-"
"Right," Stiles said, nodding. "I'll go check on her after my next class. I have a free period after that. He then looked over at Mason. "Mason, good research skills there. Over two weeks knowing this stuff and you found something that I didn't even know about kitsunes. I'm impressed."
"Thanks," Mason said, smiling and feeling proud of himself.
Kira looked down at the book. "So, that's why I can't read the book? It's tricking me?" she mused.
"The fox part of you," Mason nodded. "Confusing it so you can't make sense of it."
Stiles couldn't help but remember the language tricks he suffered when the Nogitsune was trying to get control of his body. He should've remembered. "Kira?" Stiles asked suddenly.
He was looking over at the wall and they turned over to see that the light was flickering like before. But it stopped after a couple of seconds.
"I swear it wasn't me," she told them. Her eyes went over to Stiles. "Again."
Stiles blinked but shrugged it away. "Uh, Kira, why don't you go and talk to your dad? Or better yet, your mom. I mean, one of them gotta know how you could get around this whole language trick thing, right?"
Her eyes widened. "Yeah, yeah you're right." She then moved to get back to her feet. "Thanks Stiles, Mason." She then took off to go and find her father.
Mason then moved to get to his feet himself. "I better go. I'm supposed to meet Liam on the field."
"Hey Mason," Stiles said suddenly, making him stop before he could leave. "Thanks for helping Kira back there."
"It was no big deal," he tried to shrug off. "I just wanted to know more about you guys. I mean, werewolves, kitsunes, werecoyotes, banshees. I've been studying all kinds of lore, stories, superstitions and movies for days. It's all just…wow," he finished, breathlessly.
Stiles broke into a small smile. Mason's scent was full of excitement and energy. Not just now either. Every time he'd seen Mason since Liam told him, the guy was full of such intrepid curiosity and wonder about all things supernatural. He remembered that was the way he felt about all of this after that first full moon. He sighed a bit sadly as he missed feeling that way.
"You okay?" Mason asked in concern.
Stiles blinked and nodded. "Yeah, just thinking. Um, so you've been studying up on werewolves huh?"
"Yeah," Mason nodded eagerly. "I mean, when your best friend is one, it should go without saying that you learn as much as you can, right?"
Stiles just found something else he liked about Liam, his taste in friends. He could easily see why Liam was so scared of losing Mason, but he had no reason to be as scared as he was. Mason was loyal, understanding and brave. He was going the extra mile to learn what he could, not to try to hurt or take advantage of Liam, but to better understand his new world. And Mason had been willing to go against Berserkers when his friends and good people were in trouble, despite how scared and confused he had been at the time. You don't find a lot of people like that every day, even around Beacon Hills.
And his instincts were telling him that Mason was someone that could be trusted.
"Mason, hey, do you think you might be able to help me with something?"
"Me?" he asked, a little surprised. How could he help Stiles? From what Liam said, the guy was pretty smart and capable on his own. Why would he need him?
"Look, honestly, I would handle it myself but with over a handful of new chimeras coming, and the Dread Doctors not too far away," 'Not to mention keeping an eye on Theo,' he silently added. "I don't have much time to spare. So I was wondering if you wouldn't mind looking into some…special lore for me."
"What?" asked Mason, a little eager. He really wanted to help.
And Stiles could feel that he genuinely did. He pushed Mason off into a corner and let his senses branch out to see that none of the others were around. Then he lowered his voice into a whisper. "Before I tell you, I need you to promise that you'll keep it a secret. You can't tell anyone. Not Scott. Not Malia. Lydia. Or even Liam. Can I trust you?"
Mason's face faltered a bit. "Wait, why can't I tell anyone?"
"Can I trust you or not Mason?" he said in a heated whisper.
He stared at Stiles for a few moments before he finally nodded his head.
Scott was heading over to Ms. Ramsey and he went and placed his Course Drop form in front of her. His teacher looked up at him and Scott sighed before he went to leave the room.
"You forgot to sign it," she said after him. He stopped and moved to head back over, pulling out a pen. "Are you going to tell me why you're dropping?"
"It's a schedule thing," he said simply.
Since the deadline was today, Scott had been resolved to try and stick out today's class to try and not force himself to drop it. Yet, when Lydia collapsed he had to leave and cut it short and when he came back, found that he was missing some of Ms. Ramsey's lecture for his notes and he could barely understand half of what he did have. Scott realized that he won't be able to take this class and pass, not with all this craziness going on. He wouldn't be able to devote enough time for it, and keep his grades up with his other classes when these supernatural issues kept popping up.
Ms. Ramsey could see the hesitation Scott had and knew he didn't want to give in that form. She knew of Scott's amazing potential, in more things than one, and didn't want to see him just let it go. "Why did you take this course to begin with?" she asked him as he was getting ready to sign. "Isn't it a prerequisite for the college you want?"
He shook his head. "It just doesn't matter. It's too much…time. Too much work."
"To become a veterinarian? Scott, I don't think you should drop."
Scott could see that Ms. Ramsey was trying to help but he didn't see any other way. He honestly wouldn't drop if he could. It is after all he had wanted. To be a veterinarian. He remembered when that girl Stephanie called him Dr. McCall. He had liked the sound of it. And he loved his work at the animal clinic. He loved the animals, working with them. Taking care of them. Ever since-
But his trail of thought went cold and he couldn't finish signing as he found his throat closing up. Breathing suddenly seemed hard for him to do. As he blinked rapidly, he found everything around him blurring. As he dropped the pen, he suddenly saw an image of a leash being dropped. He then saw and heard dogs barking and then saw flashes of them growling and barking at each other before they ran and attacked. Scott then started wheezing and his feet were starting to give out under him. This feeling he was experiencing. The pain in his chest, throat, and trouble breathing, he'd had it before but it'd been over a year and a half since he had.
"Scott? What wrong?" Ms. Ramsey asked, getting up.
"I…I think…I'm having an asthma attack,' he said in between wheezes.
Ms. Ramsey called out for someone to get a nurse as Scott fell to his knees, struggling to keep breathing.
A/N: I tried really hard to finish this one in time for the full moon. Some twists and new turns are already taking shape. More will come soon enough, I promise.
