Chapter 18: Strange Frequencies
Stiles didn't know how long he and Theo had stared at each other. Theo's face had shifted itself back to normal from his fight with the chimera whose body was still there, the blood around his torn out neck still oozing fresh blood. Theo eventually decided to break the silence.
"I know what happened to Donovan. I know everything."
Stiles didn't let him continue. He stomped over and grabbed at his shirt and then pushed him back into the fence of the backup generator, making a few sparks get set off.
"You don't know anything," he grunted at him.
Theo then surprised Stiles by grabbing him and pushing him against the fence, making more sparks fire off. "I was there!" he spat at him. "I was at the library. Malia had found the book. She was texting us to see where you were. She said she left you at the library. I told her I was close. When I got there, I heard the scaffolding come down."
Stiles took a moment to remember Donovan taunting him with Malia calling him that night. Theo was telling the truth about that. And, if he was telling the truth about that.
"You saw him?" Stiles said, realizing what Theo was saying.
"Just the body."
"Then why didn't you say or do anything?" Stiles then accused. If he was there then why didn't Stiles see or hear him.
"I was going to, but then I saw the cop car." That made Stiles deflate and then the two of them let go of each other. "And the body was gone."
Stiles narrowed his eyes. "Did you see who it was?"
"No. I only saw what you saw and I didn't say anything because you didn't." Suddenly they could hear the sounds of an approaching siren. "That's not an ambulance, is it?"
"No," he mumbled. "That's my dad." Stiles then moved towards the body.
"We should get out of here," Theo said suddenly.
He looked back at the still bleeding body. "We can't just leave him."
"Fine, all right, let's take him," Theo said, making Stiles look back at him. "Someone's stealing the bodies anyway, right? This could be our chance to find out who," he tried to argue.
Stiles couldn't believe what he was hearing. "You killed him."
"In self-defense," he argued back, making Stiles give him a bit of a glare. "He was going to kill you and me. If we stay, we're either going to have to tell the truth or we're going to need a pretty convincing story." That made Stiles look back at the body again. And they could hear the sirens getting closer. "It's your choice. I'm not going to ask you to lie to your dad."
Stiles tightened his jaw a bit. He knew that if his dad and Scott learned about what Theo just did, then Theo would very well turn around and tell them about Donovan. Theo wasn't asking him to lie, he could feel the guy was subtly telling him to lie. Stiles sighed out in defeat. "Don't worry. I've had plenty of practice."
Outside the hospital, Noah Stilinski stepped out of his van alongside Jordan Parrish and after they exchanged a tense look, they headed on inside. Someone called the station about seeing sparks shoot out from the roof and hearing loud crashing sounds inside. When the both of them had heard the call, they quickly left the station and headed straight there without delay. After all, when something like that happens either at the hospital or the high school, then that usually meant that some kind of supernatural scuffle just took place. They moved through the dimly lit halls and found Melissa McCall passing a light over Scott's eyes as he followed it.
"Mom, I'm fine," he tried to tell her.
Melissa narrowed her eyes at him and Noah could understand why. Scott was sweaty, pale and seemed a bit roughed up. He then saw Malia not too far away and it looked like she had been through something herself.
"What happened here?" Noah asked as he and Parrish got over to them.
"The Dread Doctors," Scott said simply.
That told them everything they had to know.
"Are the three of you okay?" he asked them.
"We'll heal," Malia muttered.
"Scott?"
They looked off to the side and saw Lydia approaching from down the hall, a worried look on her face. Parrish let off a sigh of relief and went over to her side.
"Are you okay?" he asked her.
She nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine. I was in the operating room when the lights started going crazy and then I heard a lot of noise in the halls." She then noticed the state that Scott and Malia seemed to be in. "It was them, wasn't it?"
Scott quickly went on to explain everything that had happened from he and Theo learning of the chimera causing the problems at the school to the Dread Doctor attacking them.
"Wait," Melissa suddenly cut in. "Where's Stiles?"
"Stiles?" Noah quickly asked.
"Yeah, he came in before the attack happened but then went off someplace. I thought it was to look for Lydia."
She shook her head. "No, I didn't see him. I'll try calling him," she said, reaching for her phone.
Lydia managed to reach Stiles and he quickly assured her that he was okay, and had left the hospital. Something she quickly relayed to his father and the others. She then handed the phone over to Scott so he could talk to him while Noah started to pace himself away a bit and Melissa quickly went over and placed a calming hand on his shoulder.
"Don't worry, Stiles is okay," she said, trying to reassure him.
"I seriously doubt that." He then sighed. "Something is going on with my son Melissa, I can feel it."
"You're worried, I get it. I am too. Something is happening to all of our kids."
"Yeah I know. First, Malia almost walks right into a speeding car on the road. Then Lydia has a fainting spell out of nowhere. Now Scott has an asthma attack both at school and then here. It's because of that book, isn't it?"
All of these scary things that were happening with his Scott and the others, it seemed to start when that book came into the picture. Right now, it seemed that Stiles wasn't affected but Noah knew his son had a habit of hiding things wrong with him. He would almost bet that whatever reason that Stiles had left the hospital, that book was at the center of it. Just more reason for him to keep Parrish away from trying to read it himself.
Melissa nodded. "Scott seems to think so."
Scott had just finished talking with Stiles. Apparently, he and Theo had come across another chimera. One that was dead and they were taking the body to the animal clinic. He quickly told him about what just happened and that he was on his way to meet them there. He then moved to find his mom and tell him that he had to go when he picked up his name coming from her. He then saw that she and the Sheriff were talking off by themselves and started listening in on them.
"You know, if I ever find that Valack I swear I'm going to beat the living hell out of him for putting our kids in danger like this," the Sheriff continued. Scott saw his mother look like she had a similar thought in mind. "The last thing I need is for my son to start getting panic attacks again or sleepwalking into traffic because of that man's damned book. Especially when he's trying to hide that's something bothering him already."
"What are you talking about?" Melissa asked, with her son sharpening his attention.
Noah sighed. "For the last few days, I've noticed that Stiles seems...distant. Sometimes I would catch him just deep in thought, with a troubled look on his face. As if there's something big on his mind and weighing him down."
"What do you think it is?"
"I have a good hunch. The other night, I went to check on some of my things and noticed that the Georgetown letter is missing. I'm sure Stiles found it."
Melissa widened her eyes but Scott just narrowed his down in confusion.
'What Georgetown letter?' Scott thought to himself.
Over at Sinema, Hayden was running out of the front door. After he had seen the glow, Liam had quickly flown into an explanation of the supernatural to Hayden. He remembered what happened to the other chimeras and he didn't want that to happen to Hayden. Needless to say, Hayden was both angry and freaked out as she tried to distance herself from him. Liam was running right behind her.
"Hayden, wait!" Liam cried off after her.
She just kept walking, not looking back. "Asking me to close my eyes was weird. Sticking a glow stick in my face, even weirder, but werewolves and dead doctors?!" she spat, turning back to glare at him.
"Actually it's Dread Doctors," he quickly corrected.
"Whatever. Get away from me."
She pushed herself away and tried to hop into her car but Liam couldn't let her go. He realized there was one way that would stop and make her listen for sure.
"What if I could prove it to you?"
"Prove what?" she spat at him.
"This," he sighed. Liam bent his head down, focused and then let himself shift, right in front of her.
"Ahh!" Hayden screamed as Liam let out a small growl at her and she quickly threw a punch right at Liam's nose.
It was so sudden and stronger than he expected that it made him shift back to normal as he landed on his back. As his nose bled, Hayden quickly hopped into her car and moved to drive away.
Hayden was feeling her heart beat hard against her chest. She had just seen Liam grow fangs and had glowing eyes. Hayden was scared and was just trying to get as far away as possible as she drove herself through the woods. She tightened her grip on the steering wheel and then felt a throbbing heat on her knuckles that seemed to spread to the rest of her hand and up her wrist. She moved to pull the car over in a wooded area and saw that her knuckles were bleeding. Punching Liam's face seemed to had cut them slightly. Yet, as she rubbed them, she then saw that the cuts were closing up. Her eyes widened when there was nothing but stained blood as the only traces of them left.
Suddenly the radio turned itself on and white noise started to sound into the car. Hayden squinted her eyes a bit from the sound before a distorted voice started speaking through it.
"Your condition improves."
Hayden was so freaked out that she moved to try to turn off the radio only it didn't turn off, but the car did. The engine just copped out and the lights blinked themselves off, making everything around her dark. She was starting to get freaked out again and tried to start the car over again but the engine didn't start, no matter how many times she turned the ignition key.
"Hayden," the radio went off again. "Hayden."
Hayden then looked up ahead and saw three figures walking slowly for her. The Dread Doctors. As they walked, the headlights over them started to explode and spark. Hayden started to cry in fright as she moved to try and get out of the car but the door locked on her. She tried to unlock it but it locked again the moment she did. She was stuck and she saw those three were still heading for her, getting closer with each step they take.
Suddenly, the roof above her opened as her skylight was torn off. She screamed but she stopped when she saw that it was Liam.
"Hayden, come on!" he screamed at her.
After he gotten back to his feet, Liam had taken off after her. He had managed to catch up to her car in time to see her in trouble. The Dread Doctors were steadily approaching and Liam knew that he would be no match for one let alone all three of them. Hayden seemed to snap out of her stupor and threw her hand out to him and he pulled her out of the car. They then moved to run, resolved to get as far away as they could.
As they ran, the three doctors stopped and watched them disappear down the road. The Surgeon tilted his head slightly before he moved to pull a small vial out from his jacket. A vial containing the small amount of Stiles' blood collected from the school.
"To another then," he said to the others, before tucking the vial away again.
Stiles and Theo had gotten the body out of the hospital and to the back of Stiles' jeep without anyone spotting them. Thankfully, the engine started without any hassle and they were soon off. Yet, after a few minutes, Stiles' phone began to ring and he saw that it was Lydia. He had forgotten that she had been in the hospital and quickly moved to put it on speaker phone. As soon as he did, Lydia's frantic voice quickly filled the jeep as she asked if he was alright. When he assured her it was, her voice was then replaced by Scott's. He then went and informed him that the Dread Doctors had attacked him and Malia.
"Is she alright?"
"Is she alright?"
Stiles and Theo had asked the question at the same time. In the same worried tone. That made Stiles narrow his eyes at him while Theo simply stared back. And they both breathed a sigh of relief when Scott quickly answered that she was fine.
"Good, she's okay," Theo muttered almost inaudibly under his breath.
Stiles heard it though. Trying to ignore an itch forming under his fingertips to bring out his claws, Stiles then went on to explain that he and Theo had found another chimera but he was already dead and they were bringing the body to the animal clinic.
"Alright, I'll be there as soon as I can. You remember where the spare key is?" Scott asked him.
"Where it always is," Stiles said back before he hung up.
"You didn't say anything to Scott about how he died," Theo said as soon as he did.
Stiles kept his narrowed eyes on the road ahead. He didn't answer him and just kept driving. It stayed that way until they eventually pulled up to the animal clinic. Theo moved off to the back of the jeep to pull the body out while Stiles moved to grab the hidden key behind a loose brick in the molding and opened the door. They made their way to Deaton's examination room and placed the body right on the table.
Theo went to stare off as they waited for Scott but Stiles let himself begin looking closer at the chimera now that he had a spare moment. The guy's fangs were peeking out from his closed lips a bit and Stiles could smell the faint scent of burnt rubber coming off them. No doubt from him chewing his way through power cables all day. His eyes then fell down to the guy's claws that were still on the ends of his fingers. A sudden tingle burned up from his ankle, and he looked down where there were holes that had been made when those claws had torn them. The chimera had used those claws to shock him. It had been more intense than getting zapped by one of Argent's shock sticks. Stiles still felt a bit buzzed from all that electricity pouring into his body. His best guess was that this guy must've somehow actually ate the electricity from the school and hospital, stored it into himself and then used some of it on him.
At that, Stiles moved to rub at his head in thought. What was the deal with these chimeras? First a werewolf that tried to drain Scott's power with talons, a girl with werewolf teeth and claws but a kanima tail and venom, a guy with werewolf claws but scorpion stingers on his arms, and now some kind of lupine electric eater. What are the Dread Doctors trying to do by making these things? What was the point to all this?
Theo noticed the look on Stiles' face as he stared at the body and he could see the gears turning behind his eyes. "What are you thinking?" he went and asked, trying to break their silence.
Stiles simply brought his eyes up to look at him but didn't say anything. Even if he was in the mood to share his thoughts, Theo would be the last person he would share them with. He didn't have to dwell on it long as his phone started ringing. Stiles looked at the caller id and was surprised to see that it was Satomi.
"Watch him," he told Theo as he moved to leave the clinic.
Theo resisted the urge to snort in indignation. But he did let his hearing expand out to try and catch who was calling Stiles.
"Satomi, what's up?" Stiles asked her as soon as he picked up.
"Stiles, something has happened," she told him. "Another chimera appeared tonight."
"Yeah, at the hospital. I was there."
"What? No, Stiles. I mean, here, at my home."
"Seriously?!" he gasped. "What happened?"
"It was a little over an hour after you left. It was a girl, maybe two or three years older, she was lurking around, watching my house. I'd never seen her before."
"Then how do you know she was a chimera?"
"She had foot long needle like claws and she bled mercury blood when I stabbed her."
Stiles nodded. "Yep, definitely a chimera. Did you catch her?"
"No, she escaped. But, afterwards I swept the area. I found lingering fragments of her scent in a few places. I'd say she's been watching us for a while."
"Yeah, Wilson did mention that he caught someone lurking around before he was killed. Do you think that you just found his killer?"
"No, I don't think so. Believe me, if she was the one who killed Wilson, I would known it. What I do know is this wasn't random. This girl seemed to know too much for it to be an accident or coincidence. I think that she was working for someone. Probably Wilson's real killer."
"The Dread Doctors?"
"Maybe, or it could be someone else. Someone who's using the chimeras they're making."
Suddenly, Stiles began hearing the hum from Scott's bike approaching. "Listen, I gotta go. But, if I hear more than I'll definitely let you know."
"Thank you. And if you or your friends need help, we'll be there. This chimera business has now officially become personal for my pack and I."
Back inside the clinic, Theo wanted to break something. Killing Wilson Grant was supposed to eliminate the threat from Satomi's pack. Now they were more dangerous to him than ever. If that alpha got herself involved and came upon him there was a chance that she could blow his cover. But, for now, he had to quell his anger. Scott's bike pulled in and he heard he and Stiles greet each other before heading on inside. Theo just let himself lean against the wall like he had been casually waiting the whole time.
When Scott got there, Stiles moved to pull the cover over the body back to show it to him.
"Do you know him?" asked Theo.
Scott gave a small nod. "It's Josh. He's a junior."
As Scott said that, Stiles narrowed his eyes a bit. Stiles did think he seemed vaguely familiar. One of the faces he was accustomed to passing down the halls at their school. Probably meant he was quiet and used to being invisible, at least until he became a chimera and let himself become intoxicated with his new power, literally, given how he seemed to have chewed his way through the power at the hospital and at the school. He could see that Scott was getting more anxious as he stared at Josh so Stiles moved to cover him up. Things were tensed up enough with the attack at the hospital.
"I guess this means that we owe Kira an apology," Stiles said, lightly trying to settle them.
Scott shook his head. "Which of them did it? The one with the cane?"
Scott naturally assumed that the chimera was killed the same way that Tracy and Lucas were. Stiles looked over at Theo, letting him handle this one.
"Yeah," Theo muttered.
Stiles narrowed his eyes for a second before he turned and looked over at Scott. "What are we going to do with him? We can't just set the alarm and leave. That didn't stop them from taking Tracy."
"And they had no problem taking Lucas from the hospital either," Theo put in.
'Or Donovan', Stiles silently added to himself.
"I know," Scott breathed out as he let his head hang down a bit. "So, what do we do?"
Stiles had a suggestion. "Okay, how about we have someone stay here with him? Keep watch and make sure no one takes him."
"And what if who or what is taking the bodies is too strong for them to stop?" Scott said.
"Then…at the very least, we actually find out who it is."
"I'll do it," Theo volunteered, making the two of them turn to look at him. He shrugged at them. "It's not like I had a big Saturday night planned."
Before anyone could say anything to that, Scott's phone started vibrating. He took it out and saw that Liam had just sent him a message. One that made Scott's eyes widen.
Stiles noticed Scott's heart start jumping and his anxiety shoot up again, making his own peak too. "What is it?"
"Another one. Another chimera."
"Who found them?"
"Liam. He says it's Hayden."
With that, the two of them rushed out with Theo watching them go. He turned to look back at the tarp covered body and kept his gaze on it as he heard Stiles' jeep and Scott's bike leave the lot. As soon as they did, he went to pull out his phone and quickly went to call Courtney. He waited only a few seconds before he heard Courtney's voice answer.
"Theo, I was actually about to call you?"
"Really? It wouldn't happen to be about you getting caught at Satomi's place, would it?" he said, his tone barely concealing anger and aggravation.
Ruben was laying on his bed, calmly playing some video games before he had to turn over for bed. His parents were 'working late' so he had the place to himself. So needless to say he nearly jumped out of his own skin when a person came into his room from his window.
"Whoa!" He held his chest and began to settle himself when he saw that it was Dean. "Geez, are werewolves allergic to using the front door? You nearly made me wet my own bed!" he spat out.
The werewolf hardly batted an eye. "There's been a development," he said simply.
Ruben narrowed his eyes. "What are you talking about?"
"My Alpha and I just came back from a meeting we had with the other alphas from the northeast. Most of them have started getting swayed to forming a region wide alliance."
"That's great, I guess."
"But, Oscar requires a greater show of power and capability before they could support him in his bid to be the one to lead the packs in this alliance. We need for you to get the confirmation for us about the identity of the father of the Hale baby. Oscar can't risk moving against them and creating an incident if it turns out to be a dead end."
Ruben sighed. "Hey, I've been trying. Cora is not an easy girl to get to open up. It's taken me weeks just for her to be comfortable to hang around with a few times away from school. And...she's actually pretty cool."
"So, I take it you don't care anymore for getting your reward then?"
That caused the teen to shrink a bit. "I didn't say that."
"Well, if you still want it then you do the damn job I gave you."
"Like I said, I've been trying."
"Then try harder," Dean spat. "And faster. You have until the night before the full moon. Get that information, and with one word from me, Oscar will gladly reward you in more ways than one. If not," He then shifted his claws out. "I rip your throat out and show it to you. Are we clear?"
Ruben swallowed nervously and gave Dean a nod. "Crystal."
When Scott and Stiles got to Scott's house, they didn't spare a moment going up to his room where they found Liam anxiously pacing around and his face filled with relief at the sight of them.
"Where is she?" Scott quickly asked Liam.
He simply pointed to the bathroom.
"She knows what's going on?" Stiles asked.
Liam ran his hand frustratingly through his hair as he let out a heated sigh. "I tried to tell her but she doesn't want to believe me," he muttered impatiently.
Stiles couldn't resist a snort. "Oh, and you were so ready and willing to listen when we tried to explain everything to you," he scoffed
Liam froze as he let himself remember what happened back when he was first bitten. He looked over at Scott who apparently agreed as he stared back at him with a condescending look on his face. "Alright, fine, you have a point," he surrendered. "Now, can you help her, please?" Liam said, sounding kind of desperate.
Scott and Stiles shared a look. If it was true, and Hayden was a chimera, it would be the first one they've managed to get before the Dread Doctors. Add in the fact that she wasn't going around and using her new powers to try to hurt people and drop bodies. They had to help Hayden. Not only for hers and Liam's sake but maybe for everyone's. This could be the break they were looking for to get real insight into the Dread Doctors and what they were doing to these people. And why. They gave Liam a nod.
Scott moved and gently gave a small knock on his door. "Hayden? It's Scott," he said in a calm, assuring tone. "I know that you're scared, but we just want to help." There was no response. Scott pressed his ear closer to the door and backed away after a moment. "Her heart's beating like crazy. She's completely freaked out."
Stiles nodded. "Yeah, I can practically choke on her anxiety from here. Liam, you said you tried to tell her. What exactly did you say?"
The young beta ducked his head a bit as he tried to avoid the eyes of his Alpha and Second. "Uh, well, I kind of…shifted in front of her."
"Oh my god," Stiles muttered, rolling his eyes as Scott stressfully rubbed his thumb and forefinger over his closed eyelids.
"I had to do something," he defended.
"And you're sure she's a chimera?" Scott cut in.
He quickly nodded. "She said that she heard a voice saying, 'Your condition improves'."
"Improves?" Scott said before sharing another look with Stiles.
They remembered that Malia had heard the Dread Doctor say back when Tracy had been killed, 'Her condition was terminal'. But Hayden's condition improves, what could that mean?
"Yeah, that's unsettling," Stiles said as he pushed his way to the door and gave it a knock. "Hayden, it's Stiles. Your sister Valerie works with my dad at the station." He hoped that throwing in that familial bond would calm her down a bit. "Please, just open the door, it's okay, you can trust us."
But there was no sign that Hayden would open the door. Stiles stepped away and Scott took over again.
"We just need to tell you the truth Hayden and that kind of thing is usually better face to face. Listen, either you're gonna unlock the door or I'm going to have to break it down. Look, it's okay if you're not ready to talk or you don't want to believe us. But I just…I gotta know that you're okay in there." One chimera was already lost tonight. He couldn't lose another, he just couldn't. Especially one that was right there with him.
After a few seconds, there was still no response from Hayden. Scott gave them both a look, silently telling them to take a step back. Before Scott could move to break it down, the door suddenly opened up for them. As the door slid itself slowly, they looked upon Hayden as she was looking at her hands, which were sporting claws. Her mouth was slightly open and her fangs were peering out at them and she moved her glowing yellow eyes at them. She looked like any other werewolf they had come across. Yet, she hadn't been bitten by an Alpha, the three of them knew that. She was definitely a chimera.
"I believe you," she peeped out at them, still looking at her raised clawed hands.
It was early in the morning as Kira was walking with her father as they were carrying boxes of supplies into the school. The hallways were empty and quiet being that it was Saturday.
"Thank you for your help Kira," her father said as they closed in on his classroom.
"Not like you gave me a choice," she sighed as he moved to open the door.
She waltzed in and went to place the box on his desk. He came up and put his next to her but stopped her before they could go.
"There's one more in the car. I'll be right back," he said before he left her there and closed the door behind him. As he did, stood off to the side and stood watch. "It's all on you now Noshiko," he mumbled to himself.
In the classroom, Kira began to shuffle through the contents of the boxes. Nothing in them seemed very important. It looked like basic supplies and junk. It didn't seem like it was worth the effort to come in early on a Saturday. She wanted to be off with Scott and help him with the new chimera that they had found. She was so consumed with the thought of it all that she almost didn't react in time to the battle yell behind her. Kira jumped out of the way just as a sword came down.
Kira's eyes widened at its wielder. "Mom?"
Her mom didn't spare a second to respond as she moved to try and strike at her again but Kira jumped back and moved to step on the blade's end to keep her mom from lifting it up again.
"Kira, where is your sword?" her mom panted at her.
"Uh, I didn't bring it," she sputtered out. The sword was pulled out from under her foot before her mother moved to throw it at her. Kira caught it and watched as her mom went to grab another sword strapped to her back. "Mom, this isn't what I would call quality mother-daughter time," she tried to reason with her.
But her mom wasn't deterred. "Kira, defend yourself," she said, leaving no room for debate.
Outside the door, her father was watching them. He wished that this wasn't happening but his wife insisted that it was necessary. When Kira came to him yesterday asking for his help in reading the Dread Doctors book, he had said that he would be happy to. Then she had told him that she was having trouble already as her friends were blaming her the shortages of power that had been happening around the school. She was hoping to find out if the book would help her find out what was up with her lately with her blackouts and her sudden fits of rage. At that, he had quickly gone to Noshiko and she told him that she had been sensing something off about Kira since they had come back to Beacon Hills from their trip. And she felt that Kira was having more problems than simply being unable to read the book. The incidents back at the station and the club were known to them and it looked like it was only getting worse. This wasn't like Kira that they needed to find out what was causing this sudden shift in her behavior. But to do that, they had to temper the fox within their daughter. As he watched Kira bring her sword up to answer her mother, he hoped that this helped them see what was wrong.
Kira moved throw a strike but Noshiko quickly blocked it. As they kept going, it became apparent that Noshiko was on the offensive and Kira was simply on defense. She was getting backed away into the corner until Noshiko went and knocked her down. Kira then found herself getting angry and when she got back to her feet, she angrily twirled her sword before she charged for her mother. Kira soon went on the offense, trying to re-gain some ground. After losing about five feet to her daughter, Noshiko met her blade and stood her ground.
"Who are you?" Noshiko grunted out in Japanese. Kira grunted out in response and she moved to try and strike at her again. Noshiko met her attack and moved to pin her down. "Show yourself Kitsune!" she shouted, again in Japanese.
Kira's eyes suddenly let out an orange glow and she moved to push her mom away. As she stood up to face her, her aura flared up and she leapt into the air, right for her. Noshiko brought her blade to intercept Kira's strike but her daughter went and broke the sword on contact. Her mother looked at her broken sword in horror before she fell back and silently pleaded to her daughter to stop. Kira just screamed and moved to continue her attack.
Seeing his daughter not stopping, Mr. Yukimura threw himself into the room and into her sight. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the obsidian star and threw it down to stick it into the table. "Kira, stop!" he screamed at her.
At the sight of her tail, Kira gasped and she seemed to snap out of whatever trance she seemed to have been in a moment ago. She stared at her sword, and then at her mother, horrified.
"I could've killed you!" she snapped.
"Not you," Noshiko gasped out. "The fox inside you."
Kira looked from her mother to her father, both of whom had frightened yet concerned looks on their faces. What was happening to her?
Stiles was sitting in his room, writing Hayden's name up on his board with all the other chimeras they had discovered. His father was in the room with him, solemnly staring at the girl's name with tired eyes.
"So, Hayden is a chimera. I can't believe it," Noah muttered.
"Yeah," Stiles sighed. "Neither did she at first."
"Is she okay?"
When his son turned to give him a look, Noah wanted to give himself a good slap up the head. Of course the girl wouldn't be okay.
"She's scared. Hayden stayed over at Scott's with Liam because she didn't want to be alone. And she didn't want to want to go home and risk her sister seeing her if she shifted," he finished, sympathetically.
Noah nodded. "Valerie," he said almost to himself.
Hayden's sister, well more accurately half-sister, Valerie Clark. The young woman had graduated from the academy and become a deputy not too long ago but had quickly become one of his most reliable and favorite officers next Parrish. She often spoke about her little sister fondly and Noah knew that Clark was now her legal guardian given that their mother had passed from a stroke over a year ago. Clark had been there when they had found the holes at the lacrosse field. Holes that the chimeras had dug themselves out of. One of them must've been Hayden. Noah could just imagine how Clark would feel if she were to find out that her sister had been buried and dug herself out from one of those holes. There was a part of him that felt that she should know and another praying she never found that out.
Stiles continued on. "From what we can tell, Hayden seems to be the closest to a werewolf we've seen out of all the others. Feels and smells a bit like one but there's a little of something else mixed in there too."
"What? Does she have a lizard's tail too?" Noah asked, inwardly cringing at the memory of Tracy's attack at the station.
"Oh no, thank god for that, but it still might not good."
"What? What else is she?"
"We think she might be part werewolf, part Nagual. Were-Jaguar," he said, seeing his dad's confused face.
"Jaguar? Wait, do you mean like-"
"Kate," Stiles cut in with a firm nod.
Last night, after the three managed help Hayden relax and shift back, Stiles had told them that he was picking something from Hayden that felt…familiar. Liam said that he felt that way too, like it was on the tip of his tongue. Both their wolves knew what it was, it just wasn't coming to them. Scott had been silent as they tried to put their finger on it before he suddenly told them that he recognized the feeling as the one he felt when he had been captured by Kate over six months ago. At that, it was like a switch went off for the both of them and they realized that Hayden must be a wolf/jaguar chimera.
Noah moved to stressfully rub at his left temple. "Does Hayden remember anything about when or how this happened to her?"
Stiles shook his head. "No. She doesn't remember a thing. Not about the Dread Doctors, what they did to her, or being buried. That's what they do. Make you forget."
"Any idea why they chose her?"
"None," Stiles slurred out.
Stiles went to grab his pen and moved to make some notes under Hayden's name on his board. His father moved to stand by him, looking at all the different photos before looking over at him.
"These mad scientists-"
"Dread Doctors," Stiles quickly corrected.
Noah rolled his eyes. "I'm not calling them that. Why would they be creating these things to begin with? What's the goal here? What do they even want?"
Stiles shrugged his shoulders. "Deaton says they're trying to change the rules. These chimeras have supernatural powers but they don't follow the supernatural rules. Mountain ash doesn't work on them and one of them nearly stole Scott's power."
"So...you think they're trying to make something better?"
"Or worse," Stiles muttered.
"Why?"
"I don't know." He suddenly thought of what Satomi told him last night. What if it wasn't even them this was all for, but someone else? Someone working for or with them.
Noah then looked over at the small stack of photos on Stiles' bed and noticed one of Josh Diaz. He quickly moved to scoop it up. "Stiles, why do you have this?" He turned and showed the picture to his son and watched his eyes avert away. "Stiles, this kid was reported missing last night. His father came to the station and told us he hadn't been seen in three days." Noah knew the look that came over Stiles' face. Something happened. "Stiles, talk to me. What's going on?"
Stiles didn't answer right away. He spent a moment, trying to think of what to do. Finally, he decided that he better bite the bullet and tell his dad. He then explained that Josh was a chimera and how he had found him. Stiles didn't explain everything, but enough. As much as he shared with Scott about what really happened on that roof. Needless to say, his dad wasn't happy.
"So that's why you disappeared last night?" Noah didn't know if he should be relieved or horrified that it wasn't for why he thought last night. "You found another body and didn't say anything? Stiles, you can't just find a body and not report it."
"Dad, the kid has fangs peeking out of his mouth and claws on his fingers. How are you supposed to explain that? After Tracy, I thought you would understand."
Noah's jaw tightened. He didn't like to think about that. There were still heavy raw feelings leftover from when he had to let Deaton and the kids remove Tracy's dead body from his own station. "And what am I supposed to say at the station? My deputies are looking for this kid right now."
"Dad, you can't say anything. Someone or something is taking the bodies. We have to find out who and why."
Noah quickly started to rub at his temple to relieve the stress. "Are you going to at least tell me where the body is?"
"We took it to the animal clinic. Theo is watching it now."
"Theo? I thought you didn't trust that guy?"
"Oh I don't trust him alright." 'Now more than ever,' he mentally added. "But with him there at least I know where he is and what he's doing." This would give Stiles a chance to really look into Theo, with no danger of that guy getting in his way or manipulating what he finds.
Noah could see that his son was up to something. Something that he felt would get him closer to finding out what he felt Theo was hiding. Yet, he was still worried about his son. He could see he wasn't getting much rest and that there was still much bothering him. "Stiles, is there anything else you want to tell me?"
The sudden question made Stiles stiffen up. "Uh, what?"
"Is there anything else that's happened that I should know about?" he asked, pointedly. "Now that we're on the subject, is there anything else that you want to tell me?"
For a moment, Stiles was afraid his dad was talking about Donovan. His dad was staring at him, patiently waiting, and Stiles realized that he wasn't. It seemed to be a general question and he let himself calmly shake his head.
"No, I don't think so."
Noah knew his son could smell his mood so he tried not to let his disappointment escape him as he nodded back. "Okay. So, what do you guys plan to do about Hayden?"
Stiles moved to check his watch. "I'm going to meet with Scott about that now."
"Okay. I'll keep quiet about Josh, for now," he tensely said. "But as soon as you stop this body snatcher, you're turning the body over, agreed?"
Stiles nodded. "Yeah, okay."
"Alright, go and help protect your friends."
Stiles gave him a small smile before he moved to leave the room. Noah then looked back at the faces of the chimeras on that board. The ones that were dead. He really hoped that the picture of Clark's sister didn't end up joining them. He just wished he could do more to help. He then moved to pick up a copy of the book that Stiles kept on his work desk. He ran his finger over the cover and it stopped right over the word Doctors on the title. His eyes then narrowed in thought.
Cora was busy working on a report in the living room with Jason's basket crib nearby. He was currently sleeping away. For the first time in days. Lately, Jason had been irritable, crying or fidgeting at long and sporadic times, but now Cora guessed that her son had used up all that infant energy and was now tuckered out. Derek was away at the moment and had told her that he would be gone for a good part of the day. When she tried asking what he was doing, he simply said that he had some personal stuff to see to. Cora couldn't help but wonder if Maggie was at the center of what that personal stuff was. Cora knew Derek and Maggie had history, an actual good history compared to most of her brother's other relationships. This time being close to each other was obviously rekindling some old feelings and Cora couldn't help but mentally root for them. She liked Maggie, and she knew that Jason did too. These past seven months, she was seeing a side to her brother that she hadn't seen for the longest time, and she knew that Maggie was a strong part of that.
She was pulled out of her thoughts when she heard the buzz from the doorbell. Cora got up and went over to the intercom.
"Hello?"
A familiar voice then started coming in from the speaker. "Oh Cora, you are home."
She widened her eyes. "Ruben?" This was a surprise.
"Yeah," his voice laughed out. "Uh, I was wondering if you wanted to hang out."
"I'm sorry, I can't. I'm busy working on my history report."
"Oh, well, I already finished mine. I could help you with yours if you want," he quickly offered.
"No, that's okay. You don't have to do that. I don't want you to waste your Saturday."
"It's fine Cora. Honestly, I don't really have anything to do right now. This might be the highlight of my weekend...and I'm going to pretend that sounded more cooler than it was," Ruben laughed out.
Cora couldn't resist a small giggle. Ruben sure was no comedian but he had his charms. Just like another guy she knew back home. She then looked over at the direction of her sleeping son. She was a little stuck on her work, but she wondered if seeing Jason might scare Ruben away. She was starting to like this guy. And he was the first real person she connected with since moving here.
"Cora?" she heard Ruben nervously call through the intercom. "If you don't want me to come up it's fine."
Cora quickly found herself hitting the talk button and then saying. "Come on up." She then hit the button for the door.
Stiles unfolded a map with Scott over at the school library. It was one of the town's telluric currents.
"Where's Hayden?" Stiles asked him.
"Liam's watching her at my house. I'm going to pick them up later."
"And why are you bringing her here?"
Scott pointed at the map where Eichen House was. "Valack said that Eichen House was protected by more than mountain ash. That's why the Dread Doctors couldn't just walk in whenever they wanted. That's because its on where the telluric currents cross. Well, Eichen House isn't the only place they cross. Look where else they do," he said dragging his finger down to the new spot.
"The high school," Stiles muttered. "That figures. But how are we supposed to stop them them from coming in anyway?"
"Well, the Dread Doctors move around in a different frequency, right? We just need to disrupt the frequency."
Stiles seriously doubted it could really be that simple. "And how are we supposed to disrupt a frequency?"
"Lydia and Parrish are on it. They're going to rig cell phone jammers and set them up to help keep them out."
"And what if they can't. What if the Dread Doctors still manage to get inside."
"Then we protect her," Scott told him. "Me, you, Liam, Kira, Malia."
But Stiles shook his head. "No Scott, you and Malia were almost killed last night and that was just against one of them. Besides, I can't be here tonight."
"What, why?"
"I'm going to the animal clinic to guard Josh's body."
"Theo's got that covered."
"Yeah, that doesn't exactly fill me with confidence."
It was plain to see that Stiles still was having problems trusting Theo. Scott didn't see why. Theo wasn't in their pack. He didn't have to do anything to help but he's been doing it anyway. It seems that all he wants to do is just prove himself but it seems that Stiles doesn't want to give him any chance at all.
"Stiles," he started.
Stiles cut him off before he could say a word more. "Scott, please, just don't. Okay? I'm going to go and guard the body, end of story."
Scott didn't want to fight again, not now. "Alright, fine," he sighed out heavily. "We'll still have four shapeshifters against three Dread Doctors."
"Well, not just four," Stiles said with a bit of a mischievous smile.
Scott rose his eyebrows in confusion.
"This all sounds like a long shot to me," said Kira.
"It's a long shot but it's the only one we got," Scott sighed.
The two of them were overlooking a map of the town's telluric currents in his kitchen. Scott had asked her to come over and he quickly explained the plan to her. Hayden was being brought to the school where Scott, Liam, Lydia, Parrish, along with Satomi and some of her betas would be keeping watch. Stiles was going to be with watching over Josh's body with Theo.
"What about me?" she asked.
"Well, you'll be with us. We're going to need all the help that we can get, so bring your belt."
"Actually," she said dropping her gaze a bit. "I think I lost it again."
"Uh, well I'll help you find it. Do you think you left it here?" he asked, ready to start searching his house.
"Scott," she said, stopping him. "It's okay."
Though her tone suggested that it was nowhere near okay. Scott could feel where Kira might be going with this.
"You're not coming," he realized.
She shook her head. "The last time I was around telluric currents, things didn't go so well."
He remembered what happened. How Kira had collapsed and her body had fired off electricity everywhere and he was barely able to carry her outside. He could feel how nervous and scared she was that this could happen again.
"This is the school. You're there every day. It's not the same," he tried to reason.
"I made it worse by being at Eichen. They used me to get inside. I don't want the same thing to happen again." She then went to take a deep calming breath. "I think I need to figure out what's going on with me before I try helping anyone else."
"Kira-" Scott muttered.
He moved to take hold of her hand and the two of them moved to gently catch each other's eyes. After a moment, the two moved to give each other a soft, comforting kiss. Quickly, the nerves on both of them relaxed and, for the moment, they forgot about everything else going on. Right now, it was just them. Just like their times they shared at Lydia's boathouse and at Derek's loft. But soon, the kiss ended and they had to break away from each other. Kira started to head on for Scott's back door but she stopped and looked back at him.
"If this works tonight, what happens tomorrow?" she asked. "Are we just gonna keep finding places to hide her?"
His eyes narrowed and his expression hardened into one of determination. "No, if this works tonight, we're gonna catch one of them."
Stiles stopped his jeep and let himself take the house in. It was a nice looking place, for a lying and potentially homicidal lunatic to hang out. He looked and saw that there was a car in the driveway so he knew that they were home. Stiles checked himself in the mirror and he nodded at his reflection before he sighed heavily and then got out of the jeep. He braced himself and could feel that his instincts telling him he wasn't being watched or threatened as he moved to ring the doorbell. He heard the footsteps and he made sure that he had a calm and pleasant look on his face as the door began to swing open.
"Hello?" the woman said as soon as she saw him.
"Hi Mrs Raeken. I'm Stiles."
"Stiles?" she repeated before taking a moment and then her eyes widened and she smiled at him. "Oh, Stiles. Yes, of course. Theo told us about you."
Though her tone was happy and she seemed at ease, her scent told Stiles otherwise. She was full of anxiety and was deathly nervous.
"Who is it?" they heard from inside.
"It's Stiles," Mrs. Raeken called out. "You know, one of Theo's new friends. Remember, he told us about them." She had said that last bit with some bite.
At that, Mr. Raeken almost ran for the front door. As soon as Stiles saw him, he quickly slipped passed Mrs. Raeken and moved to extend his hand to Theo's dad. "Nice to meet you Mr. Raeken." When Stiles looked down to see the man extend his hand back, he saw that there was a woven cast over his hand. "Whoa, what happened to you?"
"Oh, it's okay," he tried to shrug but Stiles could see the man was nervous. "I just sort of broke it when we were moving in."
"Right," Stiles said politely with a nod. "Well I'm sorry. I was coming over to meet Theo."
Mrs Raeken moved on over to them. " Oh, I'm sorry Stiles but Theo isn't here right now."
"Really?" he said, pretending to be surprised to hear that. "Well, I can stay and wait for him for a bit. It's no problem."
"Yes, of course," Mrs. Raeken said with a smile. "Is it Raymond?"
"What? Oh, no. Of course not."
It was clear to Stiles that they wanted him to leave but they seemed scared to say anything about it. The two of them were just smiling at him and, to be honest, Stiles was getting a creepy Pleasantville vibe from being there. As Stiles moved to sit and wait in their living room, he noticed some pictures. He saw one of Mr and Mrs. Raeken together, some with Theo with one or both of them, and even one of him alone. Yet, Stiles noticed that all of them seemed pretty recent.
"So, how are you settling back in town?" he asked, trying to settle them down with small talk. "I'm sure it's way different from Detroit."
Mason was at the school library where there were a handful of other people there. It was always a good idea to study and do research there on Saturday because it was always nice and quiet. Right now, he was at the printer, watching as it printed up the stuff that he had found online. When it was done, he turned to the front paper which was a printout of an old newsletter from the 1300's. It was a victim of an animal attack, found outside a village in the Baltic. It was all part of the research that Stiles asked for him to do. Mason still didn't know why Stiles wanted him to look into arcane werewolf lore, but he still found himself excited to do it. All this supernatural stuff was just so...surreal. And if it somehow helps to stop these Dread Doctors from making more of these chimeras then he would be happy to help. Especially after Liam had called him and told him about Hayden. He'd known her for years and the last thing he wanted was for her to end up dead like Tracy or Lucas.
And speaking of Lucas, Mason stopped in his tracks as he noticed the guy's ex, Corey, curled up in one of the shelves. The guy was reading and Mason couldn't help but think Corey looked kind of peaceful and cute reading there. As he stared, Corey looked up and Mason tried to avert his eyes and look like he hadn't been staring.
"Mason?" Corey called out to him before he could leave. "You're Mason, right?"
Mason cleared his throat and walked on over. "Yeah, and you're Corey," he said awkwardly.
Corey nodded. "You saw Lucas that night. My friend said that he saw you talking to him."
"Yeah," Mason muttered. "I met him, that night. He was really...cool." He wanted to slap himself as he kept talking. Mason could see Corey was upset as Lucas had died that night. "Listen, uh, I'm sorry about what happened."
"Did he say anything? About me? About what happened?" he asked nervously.
Mason guessed that Corey was looking for answers. About why Lucas attacked him and how he ended up in the hospital suffering from scorpion venom. He knew that he couldn't tell Corey the truth and just shook his head. "Sorry. I mean, I already told the cops everything that I know. Which wasn't much. I'm really sorry," he said, honestly feeling the last part.
Corey averted his eyes, feeling disappointment but nodded just the same. He then went to put the book he was reading back on the shelf and moved to leave. Mason watched him go a bit sadly before he turned and saw the book that Corey had been reading. It was one about miracle healing. Why was Corey reading about that?
Theo was pacing furiously in the empty animal shelter. The sun was starting to go down and there was still no sign of the body snatcher. He was agitated from the waiting all while reeling from the call he had gotten from his "parents" over an hour ago. They had informed him that Stiles had dropped by the house. Theo guessed that Stiles was looking for proof against him now that he revealed that he knew about Donovan on top of whatever he had gone to Satomi about last night. According to his parents, Stiles had made small talk asked simple and random questions about what happened with them after they left Beacon Hills eight years ago. They told him that they answered just like he had taught them and it seemed that Stiles left none the wiser. But Theo was sure that what Stiles asked was far from simple and random, and he somehow left with more things to try and use against him. He could feel it.
Things were starting to get out of his control. Stiles was closing in on the truth about him. Add in the fact that Courtney had been discovered by Satomi, who was now getting personally involved with helping in Scott's hunt for the Dread Doctors. Scott had called him a few minutes ago to give him a heads up. And to tell him that Stiles was on his way to help with watching the body. A body that was probably being targeted by some mysterious thief that wanted the chimeras' bodies for some reason. If Theo stood any hope of getting what he ultimately wanted, he was going to have to work fast and kick things up a notch, before it was too late.
As he paced, he felt a familiar tingle in his spine and he turned to glare at where the Surgeon had appeared.
"Checking up on me?" he asked the masked man.
"Courtney," he said in that distorted voice of his.
"What about her?" The Surgeon just stared and Theo then realized what was going to happen. "No, you can't do anything to her yet."
"Her condition reaches terminal."
"Yeah, I know but hold off for a bit, okay? I still could use her," he tried to argue but the Surgeon cut him off.
"Inconsequential," he simply said in response.
Theo could see that his mind was made up. When Courtney told him that she was bleeding mercury, he figured it was just a matter of time.
"Just a little longer. Two more days at least."
The Surgeon let his head drop a bit. "Termination."
"Fine," Theo sighed, knowing that he wasn't going to sway the guy. The Dread Doctor then looked to give Josh's body a side-glance. Theo looked too and couldn't help but feel that the doctor was silently scolding him. "You can't tell me that you're not interested to know who's taking the bodies?"
"Inconsequential," he repeated in his simple tone.
"Why? You don't care that someone's running off with your little failed science experiments?" The Surgeon just stared at him and Theo's eyes widened. "You already know who's taking them," he realized. He then glared at the Surgeon again. He had been here all night, trying to find out who was doing this and the Surgeon knew who it was, probably the whole time. "Did you forget that you were supposed to be keeping me in the loop on everything?!"
"Inconsequential," he repeated, not at all phased with the boy's rising temper.
"Not to me!"
But before anything else could be said, a car was approaching from outside. Theo turned to look off and he realized that it was Stiles. He turned to tell the Surgeon that he had to leave but he looked to find that the guy had already disappeared. As the clinic door opened, Theo made sure to ready himself as Stiles let himself in.
"What's going on?" Theo asked him as Stiles stepped passed him. Yet before Stiles could say something, he suddenly stopped and his eyes started to scan the area. Theo could see that Stiles must sense something had just happened, somehow. But he tried to maintain his composure. "Is something wrong?" he asked in the same tone.
Stiles took in what he was feeling as he stepped deeper into the clinic. There were fresh feelings of anxiousness, and anger about. And…something else that Stiles couldn't place. "Don't you think I should be asking you that?"
"What are you talking about?"
Stiles then moved to stare directly at him. "It's just, I thought I heard some yelling as I was pulling in."
'Damn you Doctor,' Theo thought to himself. The man had gotten him agitated and Stiles was trying to poke holes in everything relating to him right now. Theo moved to try and shrug it off. "Just felt kind of startled when I heard you coming. Being here, knowing that whoever is taking the bodies could show up at any time, it's got me a little jumpy."
"Right," Stiles slowly, clearly not buying it. He then moved over to the shelves in the office.
"What are you doing?"
"Look, whoever is taking the bodies probably isn't just going to show up if there are guys standing guard over one of them."
"So, what? You have a better plan?"
Stiles took that as his cue to pull out his phone and start up the camera as he went to put it into position. "Maybe."
Theo sighed as that was actually a good idea. One he wished he had thought of doing earlier himself. Soon, the two of them were sitting off in Stiles' jeep as he set up a small monitor to watch the body away from the clinic.
"What happens now?" he asked as Stiles settled back in his chair but had his eyes to the monitor.
"We wait," Stiles said, not taking his eyes off it.
"You want to take shifts watching?"
"No, no. I want to spend some quality time with you," he answered, sarcasm plainly evident in his tone.
But Theo just shook his head and shrugged it off. "Sounds good to me."
Stiles took a moment to roll his eyes at him before turning to look back at the image of the body on the monitor. "If you're bored with keeping watch then I can turn on the radio. I think the 49ers/Lions game is on right now."
But Theo shrugged. "No thanks, I don't really care for football."
Stiles' eyebrows rose a bit. "Really? That's funny. Your dad said that you love the Lions. Took you to a game last year."
It was for a moment, but Stiles saw a nervous jolt pass over Theo's face. But the guy moved to just smile and shake his head. "Yeah, well to be honest, I stopped liking football a while ago and got in skateboarding. I just hadn't told my dad because he's still a big fan."
But, Stiles moved his gaze away to not show that his eyes brightening a bit. He remembered Wilson's last bit of advice to him: Focus on the little things. Call him up on it as many times as possible and put on the spot they would never be able to keep track and slip up. Stiles was telling the truth. Mr. Raeken had told him that he took Theo to a game last year, but the guy said that he honestly preferred baseball over football. Theo's heart had been steady but Stiles now knew he had lied. It wasn't much, but it was a start.
Across the road, stood the Surgeon and he was regarding the jeep with interest. Stiles was showing progress though it was slow. He wondered if the key to success lied with using the boy as the base behind their subjects instead of the one they had tucked in the lab. His thoughts were soon interrupted when the Geneticist and Pathologist arrived.
"Zack, his condition worsens," the Pathologist said.
The Surgeon looked down at the sample of blood he collected back at the school that he still carried. "Perhaps its time to test it," he told them.
"But before that," said the Geneticist.
"Hayden," the Surgeon finished.
The three of them then turned and began to walk off.
A/N: I hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving holiday. I was busy getting ready for mine so I didn't have much time for writing lately. Things are heating up now, and not just for our pack in Beacon Hills.
Also, I couldn't resist putting in an inside joke on Theo with this chapter. Him not liking football. Unless you watch All American, you won't get it.
