Chapter 21: Ouroboros part 2

Scott gave Kira a last long look before he went out to the parking lot to find Stiles hard at work, trying to get his jeep to start. Scott let himself take a look at it to see that it looked in even more bad shape than he remembered. There were dents and scratches spread about the hood and doors and he saw a spot of black soot on the passenger door. He knew that something had flipped over Stiles' jeep, but seeing all this new damage, his nerves couldn't help but get even more tense.

"Stiles," he said, coming over to the door and seeing Stiles impatiently trying to getting the car to start. "We better get to my house."

Stiles moved to give the key another turn but the engine still just coughed without starting. "I'm not going," he said, keeping his eye on the dash.

Scott blinked. "What?" he puffed out.

He then turned the key again, and the engine suddenly roared to life, making Stiles give off a heated sigh before looking over at him. "Malia's dad is watching over Satomi and her pack, helping them heal at their place. I'm heading over there."

"Stiles, we don't have time for that. Corey's at my house. We need him to tell us where he was. That's where Liam and Hayden will be."

"How? Malia told me that she, Lydia and Mason gave him the Dread Doctors' book because he doesn't remember anything."

"Yeah, so we have to be there so we can move when we find them."

"Scott, when we read that book it took a good part of a day before anything started happening. And we don't even know if what he'll remember is where he was."

"Then we help him remember it," said Scott sternly.

"How?" Stiles said back. "We can't magically help someone remember something they don't remember. Besides, even if we do find where they are, to get Liam and Hayden back from the Doctors, we can't do it ourselves. They're too strong for us, Scott. We're going to need more help."

"They couldn't help us before," Scott argued. "They still took Liam and Hayden even when they were there with us."

"Yeah, and they got hurt because they were there. And that's on me."

Stiles didn't spare another word after that, as he put his jeep in drive and then started to drive on out of there, leaving Scott narrowing his eyes after him. Scott didn't understand. Stiles had asked for Satomi and her pack's help. He was why they were there at the school. What happened to all of them was his fault and he had to help them.

Scott stood there, watching the jeep leave the lot and then ran an angry hand through his hair. He had to admit, that Stiles had a point. The book may get Corey to remember where the Dread Doctors had him, but by the time he did, it might be too late. He made a tight in aggravation and he quickly smelled the scent of blood as his nails had dug into his palm. Scott then looked at his bloodied fingernails and a light went on. He then wasted no more time in hopping onto his bike and setting for his house.


The hospital's morgue was getting secured. Police led by Jordan Parrish were moving about as Parrish gave orders and had his fellow deputies cover different parts of the floor. Parrish moved down the halls to make sure that every possible way onto the level and the morgue were covered. He put a man in front of the emergency exits as well as in front of the elevator. He also arranged for a man to be on guard at the hospital's front entrance, garage and the main reception desk. Most of them had shotguns on hand and he set up for check ins to be made every half hour from each officer.

"Parrish, don't you think this is a bit too much?" one of them asked him. "I mean, I know Stilinski made you in charge here but this feels like overkill for a body snatcher."

Jordan narrowed his eyes. "Just keep watch Duncan," he grunted at him.

The deputy named Duncan sighed but nodded. "Yes sir," he muttered out, but Jordan caught the roll of his eyes as he was turning to go to his station.

Jordan headed to go and check that everything and everyone else was secure. Duncan wasn't the only one. Jordan could read the apprehension and discomfort on the others as they stood at their posts, as well as the doctors, nurses and patients who caught sight of them with the weapons they were carrying. He could understand why they would all be feeling some sort aversion to all this. At first glance, this all would seem a little too much. But none of them knew who they were really up against, or what. And neither did he or anyone else, which is why Stilinski made him in charge. He just hoped he was ready to handle this.

He had run into Stiles when he came to the station and he had told him of how whoever was taking the bodies had enough strength to flip his jeep over and made things catch fire and burn around it. He had even found ash like footprints from where the body was taken. Jordan found himself blinking a bit at the thought but quickly shook it off. He couldn't lose his head now.

Though, right now, he was happy to be here, away from the station. It was a little too hard being around Deputy Clark right now. Not only had they failed to keep the Dread Doctors from taking her sister Hayden, but Liam had also been kidnapped. Her calm and smiling face only added to his discomfort. She didn't even know that her little sister was even in trouble. He sincerely hoped Lydia and her friends could at least get two of them back. He did not want the next body he guarded to be hers.

He then made his way into the morgue, to see that it was empty. Jordan cocked his shotgun and let his eyes fall down to the handgun holstered on his belt before standing directly in front of the locker holding the chimera, his eyes trained on the door.


Corey was being handed a copy of the Dread Doctors book by Lydia and his forefinger went over the illustration. He eyed it with quite a bit of apprehension.

"So…you're saying that these guys did something to me? The same way they did something to Lucas?"

Lydia nodded. "They're called the Dread Doctors. And they're taking people and are changing them using some kind of pseudo-science."

"Changing them into monsters." He then looked away from the cover to eye her and Mason who was standing at his side.

"Chimeras," said Lydia. "A creature made from composite parts of other creatures."

"Like Lucas? Is that what's happening to me? Am I going to hurt people?"

"No," Mason quickly said. "You won't. We're not going to let that happen."

Corey let out a deep breath before away from him and back to the book. "And, you want to read this to try to find where they took your friends?"

Lydia crossed her arms. "This book is supposed to help people recover lost memories. The Dread Doctors make people forget about seeing them. And what they do to them. But, if you could remember when and where they took you-"

"Then we'll know where they might've taken Liam and Hayden," Mason finished for her. "It's okay Corey," he said, just before he put a comforting hand on his shoulder. "I trust these guys. They'll help you."

They all heard some thumping and looked to the door to see Malia coming in, Theo right behind her, holding her phone out. "Stiles just called."

Mason stayed with Corey while the three of them went downstairs to talk.

Lydia shook her head. "So, what's going to happen to Kira?" she asked after Malia was done explaining.

"Well, her dad is claiming that the sword is his and is making a full confession. She's free to go. Can they really arrest her dad for this?"

"Unless there is evidence or a witness that proves he's lying, they have to. Parrish, he sent me a text. He's at the hospital. The Sheriff made him in charge of guarding the body."

"Why?"

"It's the only evidence they have. Without it, there's no case."

"So, then are we hoping that the thief does or doesn't take this body too?" Theo asked them a little hesitantly.

Lydia and Malia shared a small look. Neither of them really knew the answer to that one.

"And, how did you say Stiles knows what happened?" said Theo after a moment.

"Uh, he said that he was able to see the fight between Kira and the chimera when he touched one of the scratches they left behind."

"It must've been an Event Scar?"

"A what?" asked Malia.

"An Event Scar," she repeated. "From what we can tell it's some kind of werewolf version of Psychometry." That made Theo and Malia look at her blankly. "The ability to ascertain an event or person through physical contact with associated inanimate objects," she further explained.

Theo blinked. "Wait, so you're saying that Stiles could see and find out the truth about anything or anyone by touching something connected with them?"

Lydia shook her head. "No, not exactly. This ability apparently only works if there were strong enough emotions felt while something happened to leave of an imprint for him to tap into and see it."

"Imprint?" repeated Theo.

"A scar."

"Like that one left by the chimera's claws?"

"Yes, but it doesn't always have to be something physical, it could be metaphysical. For the last year, it was happening at random. Stiles would suddenly just touch something and it would trigger it. He could see an event play out like a memory and learn things that he couldn't possibly have known."

"Wow, that's…quite an ability."

And one that Theo had no idea about. This was a wild card and he could feel that it would throw a wrench in everything. But, he tried not to panic, and pushed his feelings down to make sure that Malia didn't pick anything off.

Lydia kept talking through his thoughts. "Yeah, apparently its one that not a lot of werewolves can get. I've spent some time helping him with researching everything that might relate to what he can do. He's also spent a good part of the summer working on developing it with Satomi trying to help him. He's gotten better, but from what we can tell he can't really tap into scars unless they were made by strong and the most intense of emotions."

"Uh, Stiles said that he felt both rage and desperation from the chimera when he saw what happened," Malia mumbled, almost to herself.

"Yeah, that would do it." She then folded her arms. "You know, I can understand the rage, but what could've made this chimera so desperate to come here and try to kill Kira, or Scott or his mom?"

Theo's jaw tightened a bit. He was realizing that his last, dismissive conversation with Courtney set off those emotions, rushing here to try and please him but had gone and left one of these 'scars' for Stiles.

"Hey," he suddenly asked. "Um, can Stiles somehow use these Scars to find where Liam and Hayden are? You know, by touching Corey and see if his capture left one on him to see?"

"I…I'm not sure," she mumbled. "It's not really an exact science. The fact that Corey doesn't remember what happened or what he was feeling might play a factor it or might not. I guess Stiles can give it a try when he and Scott arrive."

Lydia then went off to go back to Scott's room and help with Corey, leaving Malia and Theo downstairs. Theo took a look around where there was still some damage from the fight with Kira and Courtney to see that there were some claw marks on the walls. Scars left behind. Theo couldn't help but feel that this could be trouble. With everything going on, there was a chance that Stiles could run into a 'scar' that showed him something about himself. He'd been so careful with everything but this could change it all. There had to be a way passed this, or at least work around it until he could get what he wanted.

But his nose twitched when he felt a wave of anxiety and looked over to see Malia sitting on the couch in the living room, looking glum as she played with a mug of coffee. He couldn't resist a bit of a grin creeping on him at the sight of her.

"You okay?" he asked as he walked to her.

She rose her head up to look up at Theo. "You seriously need to ask me that?" she slurred out.

He let a small smirk loose as he nodded his head a bit. "Right, stupid question. You're upset. You want to tell me why?"

She shrugged. "No, not really."

"Okay," Theo nodded before he moved closer. "It's just, uh, I couldn't help but notice you were kind of quiet when Lydia was telling us about Stiles' new trick with Event Scars. Your boyfriend's really something."

"Yeah, he is," she said slowly, almost to herself.

Theo's face fell a bit. "Why does it sound like that bothers you?" he asked, in a concerned tone.

"It doesn't." That made Theo tilt his head slightly at her. "It's just…he never told me. Me and Stiles spoke so much during the summer…and he never told me. At all." She leaned back a bit. "But he told Lydia."

"Well, she is pretty smart."

"Yeah, I know. Stiles calls her a genius every time."

"Wait." Theo then moved to sit down next to her. "Are you jealous? I mean, I know Stiles had a crush on Lydia since like the third grade."

"No," she quickly said at him, cutting him off there. "I mean, yeah, he did. He actually told me about that. But it's okay, I mean, I know they're just friends now."

Theo could hear the lack of doubt in her voice about that. "Okay, so what's wrong then?"

"It's just…maybe Stiles didn't tell me because he knew I couldn't help." She then let her eyes lower down to look into her mug.

"What? No, I'm sure that's not it."

Malia cut him off. "It is." She then took a sip from her cup. "When I told him that I wanted to find my mother, he ended being the one that did most of the work. I couldn't help him with any of it all. I don't know how. It's probably why he didn't tell me about him trying to learn how to use these Event Scars. I mean I'm not smart like him. I'm not Lydia. They're taking AP classes and getting A's. Most of the time, I don't know what either of them are even talking about."

"Hey, don't start thinking that means you're dumb," he said softly, making her look up at his concerned face. "It's okay. I mean, I have AP classes and I'm doing pretty good and still, sometimes I don't even know what they're talking about," he tried to joke.

Malia smiled for a moment before it fell flat. "Stiles is going off to college. He keeps talking about where he's going. Where everyone is going when we finish our senior year."

"But you don't think you can go," he said softly.

"Not to ones that he's looking at." She sighed. "He keeps showing me some brochures and sites for community colleges, you know, so we can all still be together."

"Oh? Well, that sounds nice."

"Yeah, but…I don't think I even want to go. To college I mean."

"Well, what do you want to do?"

She shook her head. "I…I don't know."

Theo moved to slowly move his hand over so that it softly brushed over her wrist and gave it a comforting squeeze. Malia rose her gaze up to catch his eyes. She felt her heart starting to pick up a small pace and heating up a bit, a heat that went down for her stomach causing it to knot up slightly. It was like what happened when she confronted him at the school's weight room, but she found herself not wanting to turn away. Theo wasn't turning away either, and started to let his thumb start moving and rubbing circles over her hand.

It only lasted for half a minute though as they suddenly heard an engine incoming and stopping right outside, making them look towards the door and breaking the moment.

Theo cleared his throat. "Uh, that must be Scott and Stiles." He couldn't help but be a little annoyed at their timing.

Malia let out a deep breath. "Yeah," she said, right before setting her mug down on the nearby coffee table and moving for the door.

Scott entered his home and saw that Malia and Theo were there, waiting for him. "Where's Corey?"

"He's in your room with Lydia and Mason," Theo told him.

"Scott," Malia said, looking at the door behind him. "Where's Stiles? Wasn't he with you?"

"Yeah, but he went off to your dad's place to check Satomi and the others." Without another word, he moved for the stairs, heading for his room without looking back.

Mason and Lydia were in his room, standing off to the side, watching Corey as he was sitting and reading the book. Corey looked up and saw that they were patient but eager.

"Sorry," Corey apologized. "I'm still only at Chapter 2. I'm kind of a slow reader."

"Don't worry, it's okay Corey," Mason said

But then Scott entered the room. "He's right," he said, making them all look up at him. "We don't have time for that anyway." He then stomped his way for Corey, shifting the claws out in his right hand.

Lydia noticed and realized what he was about to do. "No, Scott don't!" she yelled just before he went and jammed his claws right into Corey, his eyes glowing bright red.

Scott saw Corey gasped as soon as his claws connected with his spine and then suddenly saw the young kid being dragged off by the Dread Doctors. He was in a darkly lit corridor with pipes surrounding the walls and ceiling. He was then dragged into a space where there were metal tables and instruments scattered around. Dragging him to a table, Corey screamed and fought before freezing when he looked in horror as he saw what seemed like a monstrous looking…man in a glass tube filled with green liquid. He only screamed louder, scared that would be him.

Theo and Malia came rushing in and stopped at the seeing Scott with his claws in Corey.

"What's happening?" Theo asked.

"Scott, he's tapping into Corey's memories," answered Lydia. "It's usually something only Alphas can do."

"Is it as dangerous as it looks?" he asked her.

"Very," Lydia said, numbly staring at some blood dripping down Corey's neck. She then saw Mason going over but Lydia moved to grab him. "No," she said, pulling him back. "We shouldn't touch them."

As they went through over a minute of watching them, Mason was getting more and more worried. "How much longer is this going to be?" he anxiously asked the room.

But the next moment, Scott and Corey gasped as they moved to separate from each other. Scott stomped back a few steps where Theo moved to steady him while Mason moved off to Corey as he held his bleeding neck.

"Is he okay?" Scott coughed out.

"What the hell did you do to me?!" Corey cried out, reaching for his neck and feeling the fresh blood from the wound.

"You'll be alright," Scott said back to him.

But Corey pulled his hand away and saw his fingers completely coated in fresh blood. His blood. He held it out for everyone to see. "There's blood," he cried out.

"You'll heal," Scott disregarded.

That made Lydia widen her eyes. She'd never thought she would ever hear Scott blow off someone in pain, especially one he personally hurt.

Mason was shocked as well. "Scott…you just jammed your claws into his neck."

"He'll be fine!" Scott spat, making Mason take a small step back. But Scott just shook his head. "Look, I think it worked. I saw something." He then went over and reached for a nearby book and started drawing. "There were tunnels. Pipes on the walls. Huge pipes at the entrance, two on both sides. Water was dripping everywhere."

"Wait, I know that place," Lydia said as she came over and looked at what Scott just drew. "Yeah, that sounds just like where Jordan found Argent when he went to look for Kate. Those are the tunnels for the town's purification system. The water treatment plant."

"That's it," Scott said, his breathing starting to ease up. "That's where we'll find Liam and Hayden."

Scott then took off and headed down the stairs with everyone trailing behind him.

"I'm coming with you," Malia said to him. She then turned to Theo. "You too?"

"Yeah, we could use the help," said Scott. If they ran into the Dread Doctors, Theo could come in handy.

"Uh, maybe I should stay here. You know, in case the Dread Doctors decide to pay Corey a house call."

Scott felt Theo had a point, Corey shouldn't be left alone now. They couldn't lose another one.

"Yeah, okay," he nodded.

"Wait, I'm going too," said Mason.

"No," Corey shouted. "You can't go."

Mason stopped and looked back over at Corey. "Liam's my best friend. He needs me, and so does Hayden. I'm going."

"No, I meant you can't go, with him," he said, pointedly glaring at Scott.

Scott let out an impatient huff. "We don't have time for this." He then looked over at Mason. "You have your car?"

"Yeah." Mason nodded.

"Okay, then let's go."

"Scott," Lydia said, making them stop and turn to look back at her. "You could've really hurt him."

He looked over at her and then at everyone else, seeing them all looking at him a little uncomfortably. But Scott just shook his head as he looked back at Lydia. "I have to find Liam."

"Then maybe we should call Stiles. Tell him what you just saw and he can come help."

"No!" Scott said, making her jump. "Stiles is off checking on Satomi and her pack. That's at the other end of town. We can't waste time waiting for him. It's only fifteen minutes away from here. Okay, we have to go and get to Liam now."

He then moved to head out the door. Malia and Mason looked back over at Theo and Corey respectively. They stared at them for a moment, in hesitation, before they moved to follow after him.

After they left out the door, Theo turned and noticed that Lydia was looking at him, and she didn't seem happy. It was only for a moment before she went off to grab her phone, probably to call Stiles. That left him and Corey alone there. He then went to the chimera and brought him over to rest and relax on the couch in Scott's living room.


When he heard the knocking on his door, Henry Tate moved off quickly for it with his shotgun ready at his side. Though he settled when he heard Stiles' voice begin calling out from the other side.

"Mr. Tate, please don't shoot. It's me." The man sighed as he moved to open the door the door, a little more relaxed as he looked upon the face of his daughter's boyfriend. "Smelled your anxiety as soon as I got to the front porch, and the gunpowder."

"Sorry Stiles," he said as he let him in. "After last night-"

"Yeah," Stiles nodded. "I know." Mr. Tate would have a right to be anxious. "How are they?"

"Well, most of them have fully healed by now. Some just really needed to have some rest. When they woke up, most of them left. Their Alpha," he said, testing the word. Even after all these months, he was still lost on some of this stuff. "Satomi, she was hit the worst of them. She's in the kitchen with some that stayed."

Stiles then headed off for the kitchen with Tate trailing right behind him. Sitting down beside the table was Satomi and she had Brett, Lori, as well as three other betas standing about in the kitchen. Stiles let his eyes go to the table where there were a few blood-stained bandages about. He then saw that Satomi had a big blood stain on her shirt, right over left collarbone.

"Are you alright?" he quickly asked.

She solemnly looked over at him. "Yes, it's not as bad as it looks. Believe me, I've had worse."

"What happened?"

"She was stabbed," said one of her betas angrily. Trey, Stiles believed his name was. He was one of her older ones. In his mind to late 20's. "They got her with one of her own knives and pinned her up on the wall."

"It sounds worse than it was," Satomi said, quickly sensing arising Stiles guilt.

"Any luck finding Liam and Hayden?" asked Lori.

Stiles shook his head. "No, not yet. But don't worry, Liam's tough and he knows we're looking for him. He'll hang in there and get word to us when he can. When he does, we'll be ready."

"We?" Trey spoke out again. "I know you're not including all of us in that again."

"Trey," Lori started.

"No Lori. Satomi could've been killed. All of us could've. If they had wanted to, then we'd all be dead right now," Trey spat, before looking almost accusingly at Stiles. "He and his Alpha treated us like cannon fodder, all because they wanted a Frankenstein for a pet."

"Hey," Brett said, moving to get in Trey's face. "Cool it Trey."

"What, trying to be a tough guy now?" he said before giving him a shove. "Wilson's not here to cover your smug wise ass anymore Talbot." That earned him a shove from Brett.

"Enough!" Satomi said, rising to her feet and glaring at them, red eyes and fangs in sight. "Both of you!" The two of them let out a deep huff as they glared at one another but they backed down.

"What's he talking about?" Stiles asked, once he was sure they were settled down enough. "What did Scott do?"

That made Brett and Lori share a small look while Satomi drop her gaze a bit. They all then went and told them exactly what happened at the school, especially the parts that Scott seemed to omit when they had met at the station.

"He had his own little secret plan to catch one of these guys and got angry when he was found out?"

"Sure sounded like it," said Brett. "Liam was really pissed when it came out, even for him."

"Oh, that doesn't surprise me. Dangling a girl you like can do that to a guy." He then saw Lori hang her head down and felt a wave a sadness leave her. "Uh, a girl he kind of likes," he quickly said.

"It's alright Stiles. I get it," she said to him.

He then shook his head. "And Lydia knew about this too?" His phone then started ringing and he reached for it to see that it was Lydia calling. "Speak of the she-devil," he muttered to himself as he answered. "Lydia, what's up?" he said to her.

"Stiles, Scott found where Liam is," she said through the phone.

That made him straighten up. "He did, where?"

"At the water treatment plant."

"How does Scott knows that's where they are?"

"The Dread Doctors took Corey into tunnels with pipes all around the walls. I recognized it as a purification system."

He nodded. "Yeah, I've been to those tunnels before. I used to skateboard there as a kid. My dad caught me once and made swear not to go back there. Wow, I can't believe the book made Corey remember that so quickly."

"Yeah," she said, dropping her voice a bit. "That's the thing Stiles, he didn't. Scott didn't even let him try. He just went and forcefully looked into his memories."

"What? You mean, connecting with his spine?"

"When he got to the house, he just went right up to Corey and jammed his claws right into the kid's neck."

Stiles' eyes widened, as did Satomi, who was listening in, along with everyone else in the room save for Henry Tate. "Lydia, do you know how dangerous that was?"

"Of course I do," she almost spat at him. Lydia was there when he was warned by both Derek and Peter before he had done it to try and save Stiles from the Nogitsune. There was a real chance that he might've paralyzed Corey, or even killed him. "But Scott just did it, and he went and blew it all off."

He narrowed his eyes and tightened his grip on the phone slightly. Stiles couldn't believe Scott. Especially given what happened between him and Kira at the station earlier. No, maybe he should believe it. After all, this wasn't the first time he's done something like this.

"Is he there now?" he asked, in suppressed anger.

"No, it's just me and Theo here, watching Corey. He took Malia and Mason with him a little while ago. I said we should call and wait for you but he didn't want to wait."

"Alright, thanks for the head's up." He then looked up to see that everyone was staring at him.

"What is Scott thinking?" Lori asked.

But Stiles wouldn't stay here and debate. "I got to go."

"Stiles, wait," Satomi said before he could make more than one step. "Now's not the time to be reckless."

"What? No, I have to go and help."

"And how is running around like a headless chicken helping? Those tunnels run for miles underneath the town. And, the heavy water and purifying agents make it hard for werewolves to track. Scott's charging in blind, with no sense of direction, all he's going to wind up doing is getting lost and waste time. Also, just because that's where Scott saw the Dread Doctors take Corey, doesn't mean that your friends were taken there, or are even still there."

"But Liam-"

"Is a tough kid and knows you're all looking for him and Hayden," she said, cutting in. "When he can, he'll send word to you and your friends. Your words, remember?" That made Stiles freeze and he found himself unable to say anything in response. "Scott risked making a boy collateral damage, for a lead. He's being impatient and irrational. We can't afford you being the same."

Stiles took a moment to close his eyes and take deep breaths. "Okay," he sighed out.

"You alright?" Henry asked him.

He took a few more seconds to show that he was calm and settled. "Yeah," he nodded. "Still, we can't just sit around here and wait. Until we get a better read on where Liam is, there's something we should take care of."

"What do you want to do?" Satomi asked him.

"The hospital. My dad brought the last body there. The chimera that Kira fought. Parrish sent me a message before I got here. My dad wants it to be watched. He's worried that whoever's taking the bodies will come for this one too. It's evidence so he can't have it taken. I'm going to head over there, and I think you should come to."

"Why?" she asked.

"Because, I'm pretty sure it's one you recognize."


Melissa McCall was in the Sheriff's station, writing a full witness statement for discovering the body in her house. She let herself give Kira a long, but soft look as she went to the Sheriff's office to hand it over to him. Noah spent a good five minutes going over it, his eyes re-reading it a half dozen times, and getting more agitated with each reading. He looked up from the form to see that Melissa was calmly staring back at him, like nothing was wrong which only incensed him more.

"This is your official statement?" he asked, trying not to lose his temper and stay professional.

"Something wrong?" she asked calmly, but clearly mocking.

"The part about finding the body in your kitchen works fine. But then it gets a little confusing when you start describing the body as a monstrous Chimera. And then you go on about werewolves, banshees, kanimas..."

She nodded. "You're right. I forgot about the Dread Doctors."

That made his stance fall from being professional to just being pissed off. A feeling that Melissa shared when she moved to snatch the form and pull out a pen to write more. Noah seriously wanted to throw something. The Yukimuras, his son, and now Melissa. It seemed like everyone was trying to make him out to be the bad guy here when he was just trying to do what his badge demanded he do. Enforce the law.

Yet before anything else could be said or done, Clark came into the room.

"Sheriff, I got the report in about the prank call the other night, the one from the school library. I was gonna file it when I saw the names."

Noah let out a deep breath and looked over at his deputy. "Clark, what do you need?" he asked impatiently.

"I-I checked on the key cards for the library. They're for…after hour's use," she said, dropping in tone. Her eyes went from the Sheriff to Ms. McCall and she seemed to finally notice the apparent tension that was in the room. "Uh, should I come back later?"

"Why are you telling me about library key cards?"

It was something so small and trivial. Noah figured that Clark wouldn't come to him over something like that.

"Uh, well, the system logged two names right around the time of the 911 call."

"What names?" he asked her.

"Theo Raeken…and your son, Stiles."

He narrowed his eyes before reaching out. "Let me see that file."

Noah looked and saw that the school computer had logged them being at the library that night, after hours. First Stiles, and then Theo roughly a minute later. What were they doing there? Together? It couldn't just be to make a prank call. At his most silliness, he knew that his son would never make prank calls to the police. Much less with Theo Raeken, whom Stiles made it no secret that he doesn't trust.

As the Sheriff read the file, Melissa narrowed her eyes a bit in thought. This somehow had tie in with what Stiles asked of her last night.

Clark spoke again as he kept reading. "I mean, obviously, Stiles isn't making prank calls to the station."

"Maybe he had a reason," Melissa slurred out.

Noah looked up from the file to stare at her for a moment before turning back to Clark. "I deal with it. No more bending the rules, for anyone," he said, pointedly looking at Melissa for the last part.

At that, Melissa picked herself up and stood in front of him. "Maybe you should learn to bend a little, before someone breaks." She then thrust her witness testimony at his chest before she moved to leave the office, taking care to slam the door a bit harder than necessary as she did. She then made to head to her car. She was heading to hospital to do some bending for a certain teen werewolf.

As soon as the door slammed, Noah moved to gaze at the form with a sullen look on his face. The next moment, his phone started ringing and he swiftly moved to answer it. Yanking it off the hook a little harder than necessary.

"Sheriff Stilinski," he answered stiffly. He settled a bit as he heard who was on the other line and what he had to say. He then nodded. "Alright, I'm on my way."

"Sir?" said Clark in a careful tone. "Are you alright?"

"I'll be fine Clark," he answered, before clearing his throat. "Uh, where is Yukimura?"

"I put him in the interrogation room. He's still waiting for his lawyer."

"Okay, then, when he arrives take him straight to him." He then moved to go for his jacket. "And let Kira go home."

"Where are you going sir?" she asked him.

"The hospital. Parrish just called. He's secured the morgue."

Stiles had told him that the body of Josh Diaz had been taken. This girl's body was the only one left, and it was officially evidence. He couldn't let this one be taken too. Not again.


Liam groaned a bit as he started to blink himself back to consciousness. He immediately detected a mild scent of rot and mildew in the air. The demented lab that he and Hayden were in was gone and now they were in some kind of dark space. But there was bright light coming from up ahead. As he let his eyes focus, he saw that there was a fence, blocking what seemed to be a way out. He pulled himself to his feet, just as Hayden was coming to herself. He slowly made his way over to it and saw that it looked like an ordinary gated door. One he might be able to break through so they could escape.

"Careful," Hayden said, as he got closer.

Liam took a deep breath and moved to grab it but the moment he touched it, jolts of electricity shot out and threw him on his back. Hayden moved to grab him, trying to see if he was alright. They then heard giggling from behind him.

"Sorry, I probably should've warned you."

Liam and Hayden that they were not alone. There was a guy, a bit older, and dressed in somewhat dirty clothes.

"You," Liam said, recognizing him from the lab. "Who are you?"

"My name's Zach. And, I think the better question is, what am I? It's okay, I'm just like you. One of the experiments."

"Yeah, I saw you get taken to the table. How long have you been here?"

Zach shook his head. "I don't know. Days I think." He then pulled himself up, moved over and kneeled down in front of them. In the light, they saw he was a bit pale and his face was just as dirty as his clothes. "But maybe you guys can help me. The guys in the masks…they did something. Shot me with something at my back. And…ever since I've been feeling better. But, I think they cut or pulled something out. I can still feel something there and this itching coming from it, and it feels like it's spreading."

Liam narrowed his eyes. "You want us to look?"

"Is that okay?" he asked them.

Liam and Hayden shared a look. As odd a request as that was, it wasn't exactly the strangest thing to happen in the last couple of days. And it wasn't like they were going anywhere. Liam nodded, telling him okay. Zack nodded back before turning around and then lifting his shirt. They looked over to see two stubs past his shoulder blades, and they wiggled a bit as if flapping wings that would be there if they weren't cut off. But, below each of them, there seemed to be some kind of…humps, growing and buried just beneath the skin.

"Well?" Zach asked, breaking the silence.

Liam looked over to see that Hayden looked she wanted to scream but was too scared to While he was…semi-experienced, some of this stuff still made him uneasy. But Hayden was thrown into this just two days ago. She would be freaking out.

"Uh, yeah they cut something out of you," Liam said, after clearing his throat. "But, I think something new is growing in its place."

Zach pulled his shirt down and turned to look squarely at him. "What?"

Liam blinked a bit, trying to not look away from him. "Well, it kind of looks like…wings," he said, trying to not sound as uncomfortable as he felt.

Making a chimera that could fly. The Dread Doctors were only getting more frightening every moment. Hayden tried to back away from Zach until she hissed out in pain.

"Ow," he muttered, as she moved to lift her shirt.

Liam looked over and found that there was a wound at her side, and it was bleeding black. She quickly moved to cover it up with her hand.

"Black," he muttered. Liam vaguely recalled hearing that black blood meant that a werewolf was rejecting the bite and could die. Was Hayden rejecting her…change? He had to get her help. "We have to get out of here."

He got up and went over to the gate again and moved his hand slowly to it but quickly retracted his hand when a spark went out as his hand got close enough.

Zach let out another small laugh. "What, fourth time's the charm. You're just wasting your time, there's no leaving this place."

"Shut up," he said, not in the mood for the guy's criticism. Liam then went and tried again. "Ahh," he cried out when he had to pull his hand back after receiving another shock.

"Why do you keep doing that?" Hayden asked.

Liam rubbed at his hands. "Whatever those doctors hit me with, it's keeping me using my powers. If I could just trigger my healing, I can push it out of my system. Then I can howl."

"Howl?" Zach asked amusingly. "What like a dog?"

"Like a wolf," he hissed back at him. "It's how they signal their location to the members of their pack when they're separated."

"You mean, Scott and the others will be able to find us?" she asked, a bit eagerly.

He nodded with a hopeful smile creeping up as they made eye contact. He then moved and tried putting his whole hand this time but Liam was zapped and thrown off his feet. Hayden moved to go and wrap him in her arms.

"Yeah, good luck with that," Zach said, with a roll of his eyes.

"You know," Hayden said, getting fed up listening to him. "You could be a little optimistic."

"It's kinda hard when you watch three people dragged away, screaming."

"Do you know what happened to them?" Liam asked, barely able to turn his head to look at him through the jolt.

Zach's smug look seemed to quell down a bit as the memories came back to him. "Those guys in the masks, doctors or whatever, they said they were failures. You see, first you forget. Who you are and what you're doing. Then, you get violent. I watched two of them almost kill each other. One of them, had gotten a nasty cut, like yours," he said, looking at where Hayden was bleeding. That made her pull her shirt over it, feeling self conscious all of a sudden. "Whoa, don't worry. Black is actually good. It's when you start bleeding other stuff that you should be scared about. When it turns silver."

"Mercury," Liam put in.

Zach nodded. "That when they know you're a failure."

"How many more are there going to be?" he asked.

There have been near a dozen already. How many more people are they going to take? When will they be done?

Zach shrugged. "Who knows, but doesn't it make you wonder, what is a success going to be like? I mean, what do they want? What are we turning into? Something with claws and fangs?"

"Or wings?" Liam asked him, pointedly. That made Zach shrink back a little and swallow nervously.

"Something worse," Hayden said in a small voice.

They took a moment to let their imaginations think of every horrifying outcome when Zach started to suddenly feel a little uncomfortable. He felt some kind of pressure in his back and moved to start to rub his back against the wall, like he had a bad itch he couldn't reach.

"What are you doing?" Hayden asked him.

"My back," he grunted as he kept rubbing before he froze when he noticed sparks firing off from the fences. He quickly pulled himself away and turned to face the entrance.

"What is it?" asked Liam.

"It's them," Zach gasped. "They're here."

Liam and Hayden then started hearing the echo of heavy steps approaching, and they looked over to see the Geneticist approaching. He let himself into the room, his body seeming to vibrate as he walked. Liam quickly pulled himself to try and cover Hayden from his sight but the doctor wasn't looking at her. He was looking right at Zach.

"Zach," he said as he started to step towards him.

Zach backed up and held his hand out. "No, no, no, please!" he cried. "I'm alright. I'm not bleeding silver or anything. I'm not a failure!"

"Unknown," the Geneticist muttered as he moved closer until he was right in front of him. "Further study needed." With that, he grabbed Zach and started to drag him out.

"Leave him alone!" Liam yelled, but still couldn't get to his feet.

Zach was screaming all the way out the door, which slammed shut after them, and was pulled out towards the light. Liam and Hayden could still hear his screaming, but it was getting fainter every passing second, until they couldn't hear it anymore.

Zach was taken out and saw that he was in some kind of abandoned or condemned building. He was dragged up some stairs and taken to a room where the other two were waiting.

The Surgeon tilted his head as he regarded him. "Your condition is in flux. Need a better analysis."

"What? What are you talking about?" he coughed out.

The Pathologist then wheeled over a small work tray, loaded with knives, scalpels and other sharp cutting tools. Zach's shot open as the sight of them freaked him to his core. He realized they were about to kill him and he tried to yank harder against the Geneticist's grip with renewed vigor.

"Let me go!" he said trying to pull away. "No!"

The Pathologist moved to help the Geneticist subdue him while the Surgeon moved to grab a bone saw from the tray and approach Zach as he was held.

"No! No! No!" Zach screamed out as the Surgeon got closer.

The irises of his eyes then glowed golden yellow and Zach felt a surge of pain that surged all throughout his back. As he did, the Geneticist and Pathologist where flung out in opposite directions as two giant wings erupted out from his back and tossed them away. The wings were majestic, like an eagle's and were as long as himself, with feathers each as big as his hand. Zach let out a roar before he ran and threw himself out the nearby window. The Surgeon moved over to it and saw the boy flying up into the sky.

"As predicted," he muttered through his mask. "Massive Epinephrine release triggers response."

The other two got to their feet and joined him.

"Will it succeed?" asked the Geneticist.

"Unknown. Probability of success, not high," the Pathologist answered.

"He's only a test. Zach's fate…inconsequential," said the Surgeon."We have others."


When the car pulled up to the water treatment plant, Scott, Mason and Malia practically hopped out of the car and bolted into the complex. They made their way down into the purification system and Scott led the way down into the tunnels.

"Liam!" Malia quickly called out, hearing her voice echo down one of the tunnels.

"Can you catch a scent?" Mason asked them.

Scott shook his head. "They're too many chemicals."

"So, this might take a while then?"

Scott didn't answer. He just kept moving and Mason and Malia followed after him.

They started to go down the tunnels, calling for Liam and Hayden. Soon, it was suggested that they try splitting up. They could hear each other's voices, calling out for their friends, but the lack of response only started to make the three of them feel more desperate. Scott then started running as fast as he could but unexpectedly found himself bumping into Malia.

"Anything?" he asked her.

"Nothing," she told him.

Suddenly, they looked over and saw Mason coming out of an intersection.

"Okay, We need to make sure that we're not covering the same area," he said, breathing a little hard.

"Uh, do you need your inhaler?" Mason asked him, concerned that Scott might suffer an asthma attack down here.

He shook his head before he stilled as he heard some buzzing sounds. "Quiet. I think I hear something."

Malia looked out and heard the buzzing too. "It's just the lights, isn't it?"

Scott blinked. It couldn't be the lights. It had to be the Dread Doctors. "This way," he said, leading them off.

Yet, Scott soon came upon a faulty looking overhead light that was blinking and making somewhat loud buzzing sounds every time it flickered. He bit back his frustration and directed down a different tunnel. They then spent almost two more hours, calling for Liam and Hayden again, but after a while, the strain was starting to get to them. They were running out of energy, and hope. Mason felt he had to stop and leaned against one of the pipes.

"I'm telling you guys," he said to Scott and Malia as they went to him. "We've been down this one before."

Scott realized that Mason was right. They were starting to go around in circles.

He shook his head as he was panting for breath. "What the hell are we doing? We're running up and down this place. Up and down tunnels. There's no way…there's no way, no way, we're going to find." He started breathing even harder.

"Scott, you need your inhaler." But Scott shook his head at her. "Scott, use it. You have to use your inhaler."

Scott then fell onto his knees and realized that he couldn't avoid it anymore. He went to his pocket and pulled it up and began pumping the medicinal air into his lungs. It took a moment, but he found himself able to breathe again, just like he used to, before he was a werewolf.

"This is all my fault." He had promised that he would protect Hayden, and he hadn't even been around to keep her and Liam from being taken. Now, he was running them down a wild goose chase, while who knew what was happening to them. "We're never going to find them and it's all my fault."

Mason went and held his hand out to him. "Scott," he muttered, offering to help him up.

Scott took it and he got to his feet. "We should keep looking."

"We should keep trying," Mason told him.

The three of them took a different direction, unknowingly passing by a carving of an Ouroboros.


After she was freed to go, Kira's mother thought it was best that she not be seen wandering around town so callously for a day or so. At least until the mess with her father was sorted out. To try and not feel completely useless, she tried again to read the book. Yet, just like before, none of the words seemed to be sticking for her. She couldn't even read a full sentence without suffering a migraine. Her friends were all out, trying to help everyone and stop the Dread Doctors and she was here, barely able to get passed a few pages in a book. She was completely useless.

She just let out a great big huff and threw the book across the room in frustration. Just barely missing her mother as she was walking in. Kira bit back some humiliation she felt at her mother catching her like this.

Noshiko went to pick up the book. "I can't help but notice your frustration," she said to her, simply.

"I'm the only one who still hasn't finished reading it. And everything that started going wrong with me started with them."

Kira's mom took her hand and led her to sit with her on the bed. "It's the language that's confusing the fox."

"A language trick," Kira nodded. "Yeah, my friend Mason said it was tricking the fox part of me, making it so I couldn't understand what it was saying."

Noshiko started to flip through the pages of the book. "Then stop trying to understand it."

"Huh?" Kira asked, confused.

"It's not the words, it's the story. The story itself is confusing the fox. Try not reading the story."

"How do I do that?"

"Read it backwards."

With that, Kira's mother then left her to try this new method. Kira started with the last page of the book and started reading the story in reverse. Kira found that the words weren't affecting her like they were before. Before she knew it, she was passed over thirty pages when she felt something stirring within her. Before she knew it, she found herself not sitting in her room, but in the back seat of her family's car. She was on Route 115, and there was traffic as far as the eye could see.

This was the night of Senior Scribe. When she had come back to Beacon Hills.

Suddenly, three figures passed by the front of her car. They moved over and opened her door and Kira saw that it was the Dread Doctors. No one else saw though. Not her parents, or the people in the cars next to them, as they grabbed her and threw her on the hood of her car. Kira gasped as they went and jammed a needle into her eye and started pumping something into her.

She then gasped and found herself back in her room. She remembered.


Lydia was wiping a wet rag over Corey's neck, cleaning the blood, and found the wound was gone.

"It healed, didn't it?" he asked them.

"Yeah, it did," said Theo.

"Great," Corey said, getting up. "Okay, then. It's been fun. Especially the part where a werewolf forced his way into my brain, with his claws."

He then started to leave but Theo moved to stop him.

"Leaving's not a good idea Corey. You know, Lydia's a Banshee. It means she can tell when someone's close to death. Lydia, what happens if he walks out that door?" he said, turning over to her and giving her a pointed look, telling her to play along.

"It's bad," she said. "Very bad."

Corey rolled his eyes. "I'll take my chances," he said, heading for the door.

But Theo couldn't let him leave. Corey was the best way for him to get what he needed to earn his place in the pack. Besides, maybe Liam and Hayden have been gone long enough. Not to mention that he couldn't let this go on too much longer. If Stiles was keeping Satomi and her pack involved, he couldn't risk crossing paths with them in the search, not before he got everything he'd been wanting.

"Please, give us another chance to find our friends," he told him, making him stop. "What else did you see? Come on Corey, there had to be something else." Something he could believably spin to get everyone's trust.

"There was, the hospital. And, they took me out of my room."

"To where?" Lydia asked.

"I don't know. I told you, that's it."

"Yeah, nothing after that?" Theo pressed.

"No."

"No, there has to be more," Theo said, raising his voice when he saw that Corey was trying to leave again. "Think. Corey, for one minute, just…just think."

Corey shook his head, getting annoyed with being kept here, before he suddenly stopped. "There, there was a basement."

"Where? Like in a building?" Lydia quickly asked.

"A house. It was old, covered in dust. And…there was a broken stone wall with a large hole in it. Like a bomb went off."

That was what Theo needed. He looked over at Lydia as her mind was spinning a mile a minute. "Lydia, the werewolf with the talons, the one that attacked Scott, didn't Parrish say that he smashed through the wall of a basement? Wasn't it something like that?"

"No, it was exactly that."


Melissa flagged down one of her fellow nurses to hold her place at the front desk while she ran a small errand. She made her way to the elevator and headed up to the level where the hospital's record room was. Twice, in two days, she was coming in here at the request of a Stilinski. To do something less than ethical. But, she could only hope this time, it won't be thrown back in her face.

Had she stayed at the desk for another two minutes, she would've seen the small group of werewolves enter the building.

Stiles and Satomi led the way into the hospital with Brett, Lori, and her betas following after them. Stiles was giving Satomi a run down of what had happened during his and Theo's watch of Josh's body.

Satomi shook her head. "Sorry, I have no clue."

"You mean to tell me that you never once come across something with enough strength to flip jeeps and make everything around itself spontaneously burst in flames?"

Satomi couldn't resist a small chuckle. "Stiles, as old as I am, there are many things out there that still remain a mystery to me."

"Terrific," he sighed, but jumped back before he bumped into his father.

"What are you doing here?" the Sheriff asked before looking at everyone else. "What are you all doing here?"

"Dad, you gotta leave the body, okay?" Stiles said to him. "Leave it and let whoever wants to take it just take it. Okay, trust me."

"I'm doing my job Stiles."

He then started to walk away but Stiles moved after him.

"Yeah, you've been real busy. Arresting people you know are innocent."

"Go home, now. All of you," he said, pointedly at the people behind his son.

He then stepped into the elevator but Satomi moved her hand and grabbed at the door, to keep it from closing.

"Sheriff," she said calmly. "I'm afraid I must insist that I see that body."

"Why?" he asked her.

"Because dad, there's a good chance that the girl up there is the one that had been stalking Satomi's home. And probably had something to do with the death of the Second of her pack, Wilson Grant."

"Yes, I believe I made a report to your station last week. Isn't it part of your job to pursue all leads?" Satomi pressed.

The Sheriff was silently looking at the two of them for a moment before he huffed and took a step back. "Fine, five minutes."

"I'm going too," Stiles said, stepping into the elevator.

"Stiles-" Noah started.

"Your son should come. I will need his help with verifying something," Satomi said, insistent.

Noah let his head droop a bit but found himself conceding. "Okay, but that's it. Just you two."

Satomi looked back at Brett, Lori and the others. "Keep an eye out, but don't do anything reckless," she instructed them.

They nodded and moved off to wait in the lobby's reception area. As the doors closed, Noah looked at a passing nurse's key card hanging off a lanyard.

"Hey Stiles, Clark, she mentioned something about, uh, key cards for the library. Do you all have after hours access?"

Stiles looked over at his father a little nervously. He can think of only one reason why his father might be asking about that. "Yeah," he quickly shrugged. "Yeah, we do. I'd show you mine, but, I lost it a couple of weeks ago."

Stiles then dropped his gaze from his father to look over at Satomi, who was looking right at him. That made him move and look away. Both Noah and Satomi knew, in their own special ways, that Stiles had just lied.

The Sheriff escorted them in the morgue, where Parrish was still on guard inside. He told them which one was the body and wheeled it out.

"Could you give us a few minutes alone Parrish?" Noah asked his deputy.

"Of course." He then moved to leave without another word.

Stiles looked over at her face and saw that it was exactly like what he had seen in the Event Scar. He looked over and saw that Satomi was staring down at it, stone faced. "Is she the one?"

She nodded, not taking her eyes off the girl's face. "Yes. She's definitely the one I saw staking out my house. I remember her scent."

"Can you tell if she killed Wilson?" he asked her a little hesitantly.

"Wait," Noah suddenly said. "You can actually tell something like that?"

"An Alpha has an instinctual link to their betas," she started explaining. "Especially to ones we've bitten and turned. Not only did I turn Wilson but I made him my Second, the next in line to receive my power should I die or decide to give up my position. The bond would be exceptionally strong. I would feel if I was staring down his killer. I don't feel that I am right now. But, I'm still picking up a bad vibe off of her."

"What does that mean?" asked the Sheriff.

She sighed. "It means that while I'm sure she is not directly responsible, she is connected. And there is a way to find out how. Stiles," she said turning to him. "I need you to try and feel for any scars on her."

"What? How? Where?"

Satomi moved to pull on the drape and expose the girl's right clawed hand. "Right here. At her claws."

"Why there?"

"Because, if she had managed to claw anyone who was fighting for their life, the feelings of self-preservation, rage, desperation and fear, would have left a scar on her claws. Not just from her intended victims, but from herself as well. Her emotions would've been great in those situations, especially given her age. Emotions are always higher and purer with youths, especially children. So please, try."

Stiles let out a deep breath. "Okay."

Satomi moved Stiles over and began directing him with his father, silently but tensely watching from the side.

"Keep calm and concentrate. Focus on looking for the scars made by the emotions like you would focus on the chemo signals off a person or area."

Stiles ran his hand over the girl's cold skin of her hand, slowly moving his fingers over hers and then starting to go down on her long, thin claws. Suddenly, Stiles' eyes widened as he saw the girl in a dark lit school hallway. And he saw her make a swipe and slightly graze her target in the arm. Wilson. Stiles could feel the desperation and rage in the air. As well as a good bit of fear from this girl at fighting against a strong werewolf. He saw Wilson give the girl a kick to stomach, making her tumble and move to intercept another attacker. Donovan. Who was as full as rage and desperation as them. And hunger.

The dark hallway faded and he found himself in Scott's kitchen, watching this girl's claws meet Kira's sword as they fought. The air was thick with rage, desperation, fear and determination. It lasted for only a moment, because then house faded and Stiles was out in the woods. He watched as this girl raise her clawed hands up to shield herself from a wolf pouncing at her and biting down on her claws with its fangs. Desperation and…lust abound.

Stiles then gasped as he was snapped out of it and back in the morgue. He pulled his hand away and tried to catch his breath.

"Stiles? You okay?" his father asked.

"What did you see?" Satomi asked, right after.

Stiles shook his head as he straightened himself up. "Uh, I saw…fragments. There was more than one scar. But, I did see one left by Wilson. She was attacking him at Devenford."

"Did you feel anyone else there?" she asked.

Not trusting himself to say anything, he shook his head.

The Sheriff then told them that their time was up and they had to leave. After securing the body, Satomi thanked Stiles for his help and told him to immediately notify her if they found any sign of Liam and Hayden and she would do the same. As she was heading for the elevator, she was passing by the deputy from before. Parrish. He seemed to be heading back for the morgue. Yet, as she passed him, she felt a rush of hot and humid air. She stopped and looked back at him as he kept on his way.

After excusing himself, Stiles went to go sit on a bench in the hallway. Stiles had seen Donovan. He had been attacking Wilson with this other chimera. He started to recall what he had said when he was taunting him at the library. About having already eaten another werewolf. Had he been Wilson's killer?

At that, he reached into his pocket and pulled out his school ID card. His father had asked about it. The school's computer would've registered him using it that night. Was he already looking into it? Well, he knew he could've have this on him so he went and just threw it into the nearby trash can. He let out a huff as he ran a hand across his sweaty brow. After a moment, he realized he was sweating not from nerves but because he felt hot. Very hot. And as a nurse passed by, fanning herself with a clipboard, saw that he wasn't the only one. Then he heard a scream.

Noah was still a little thrown by everything that had happened. He wasn't sure if he understood everything that happened with his son moments ago, but he couldn't help but start feeling that something quite serious was happening with his son. Even by werewolf standards, if Satomi's reactions were anything to go by. It looked like Stiles had been spacing out when he'd been looking for those…scars, or whatever. But the Alpha seemed almost mystified and, awed at him. Noah then found himself moving to open his shirt a bit and fan himself.

"Hey Clark," he said flagging his deputy down "Can you check to see what's wrong with the air conditioning? I'm pretty sure a morgue is supposed to be cold."

"Right Sheriff," she said heading off.

He let out a deep heated breath before he reached for his radio and started to do his check ins. However, none of his deputies seemed to be reporting in. Then, there was a scream just before the lights went out.

The deputies all started getting struck or tossed against the walls, all being rendered unconscious. Clark was grabbed and screamed before she was thrown down the hallway, knocked out. She skidded to a halt, just before Stiles. He reached down, felt that she had a pulse and then ran off for the morgue. He could see a bright light coming from the door's windows. Just like the one on the video. He moved to pull the door open and suddenly a wave of heat and fire went and struck him at the chest, sending him flying down the opposite hall.

Through the pain, Stiles blinked and lifted his head to look down the hall but could barely make it out. His vision was a little out of focus but he could still just make out a figure, shrouded in...flames. It was carrying a bundle in its arms, the body. It was the body snatcher. It had come and gotten what it was after. Within the fire, there were two glowing pairs of light, fiery orange eyes, and they seemed to be looking down at him. It lasted only for a moment before the body snatcher kept heading off. Stiles blinked, gaining focus just a second before the snatcher left his sight, but a second was enough for him to see. See who was stealing the bodies. Stiles then sighed as he let his head fall flat to the floor, hissing as he felt the burnt cuts on his face starting to quickly close themselves up.

Noah was panicking as he headed for the morgue. He was yelling desperately into his walkie, trying to get anyone to answer.

"Clark? Parrish? Anyone?"

There was nothing but static. He came across one of his deputies lying on the floor, knocked out, and he rose his shotgun, pointing it down the hall as he moved towards the morgue.

"Sheriff," he heard, suddenly behind him. He turned around and saw that it was Parrish.

"Parrish, what the hell is going on?"

"I think I saw the suspect," he said to him.

Noah couldn't help but think that Parrish was sounding off. Something was wrong with him. But he couldn't think too much on it as he began to hear his son calling out for him.

"Dad?" Stiles called out. "Dad!"

"Go get your son Sheriff," Parrish told him. "You're going to need him. Just as much as he is going to need you. And soon," he said, cryptically with a blank expression on his face. With that, Parrish began walking off, leaving the Sheriff there.

Noah stared after him for a moment before he turned around when Stiles staggered in from around the corner. There was soot on his face along with some red spots, and a big black burnt spot on the chest area of his shirt, like it had been caught on fire but quickly put out.

"Oh my god, Stiles, you okay?" he said, rushing over for him.

Stiles nodded. "I'm fine. But dad, the body. It's gone."

The two Stilinski's rushed into the morgue and their eyes fell to the open locker. The metal slab was out but the body wasn't on it. Just like at the animal clinic, there was black soot and ash everywhere around where the body had been placed. Another chimera's body had been stolen.


Seeing Zach get taken like that had really spooked Liam and Hayden into silence. They didn't know what had happened to him, but they could guess that it wasn't anything good. And they had to wonder if either of them would be next. They don't know how long they sat there like that, but they then heard noises coming from the entrance.

"They're coming back," Liam gasped out.

They moved to get to their feet, but it wasn't easy. Hayden was still hurting from her wound and Liam still felt a little fatigue in his body from getting zapped earlier. He knew that he wouldn't be able to put up any real fight against the Dread Doctors but he would fight. To keep Hayden safe. Their hands met each other, and they quickly moved to take hold on to the other. Liam moved to try and shield her as the noise got louder, and they began hearing footsteps.

"Liam? Hayden?"

It was Theo. And he was heading straight for the door. The still electrified door.

"Theo! Wait, don't!" Liam shouted, trying to warn him.

But Theo grabbed the door and got shocked and pushed away. He seemed to be knocked out. Liam shouted out at him, desperate for a reaction, any reaction, and after a moment, Theo started to stir.

"Theo, you okay?" he asked.

"Uh, yeah," he grunted out. "I'm okay." He then moved to try and pull himself to his feet.

"You bring help?" Liam then looked over, hoping to see a sign Scott or Stiles coming too.

"I am the help," Theo told him.

He then moved for the door again and fought through the electricity shocking him to try and pry it open. His eyes shifted out, along with his fangs, as his body was flooded with electric power. Sparks were flying off everywhere but Theo did not let go. With a final hard roar, he got the door open, freeing them.

After a moment of getting to collect himself, Theo led the two of them out of the basement and through the abandoned house, until they got outside with no further problems. It seemed the Dread Doctors had already left, probably when they had taken Zach. They got outside to see that the sun had gone down and night was starting to fall. Liam and Hayden got themselves into the back seat of Theo's truck as he started to drive them over to Scott's house. He left Scott a message, saying that he had found them and they were all safe.

"Theo," Liam suddenly said. "Thanks," he said, almost tirelessly.

Theo could see that Liam was very grateful for what he had done. So grateful, that any mistrust that he had about him before was all but gone. Just as he had hoped.

"Hey," he shrugged like it was no big deal. "You would've done the same for me."

Liam leaned back into the seat, feeling more settled and calm than he'd been feeling for over a day. He can already feel his strength and power starting to come back more the further away from that place they got. Hayden, however, was grunting and shifting about a bit as she looked back at her wound, still wet with black blood.

"Still hurts?" Liam asked her.

"Everywhere," she hissed. "I'm not healing. Not like I did before. That means, I'm a failure, doesn't it?"

Liam quickly moved to grab a hold of her hand. He started to focus and the veins in his hand started to run black as he felt a sting of pain. Hayden's face softened a bit and the two of them caught each other's eye. Suddenly, before either knew it, they started leaning closer until they found themselves catching each other's lips in a soft kiss. As soon as they touched, the veins in his cheeks also started running black. It lasted for a moment but Hayden then pulled away, her face free from pain. She then lifted her shirt and found that the wound had closed itself up.

"It's gone. The pain, my wound, it's all gone," she panted out joyously. "How did you do that?"

"I…I don't know," he shrugged, but was smiling.

He then started to lean in to try and kiss her again but Hayden leaned back a bit.

"Maybe…we shouldn't. At least, not yet," she said softly to him.

Liam blinked his eyes in confusion for a moment, before a certain blonde girl's face came back to him. Lori. "Sorry," he said, nodding his head in embarrassment. "I…maybe I shouldn't have done that."

"No, no, it's okay. Just, can hold me for now, please?"

Liam moved to pull her into him, letting her rest up against his chest, while he moved to plant a soft kiss on top of her head, and then moved to stare out the window. The whole thing was being watched by Theo. He let himself smile a little bit but it wasn't because he was happy for those two. It was because, tonight had yielded a very intriguing, unexpected benefit that he hadn't been counting on.

It wasn't long before they made it to Scott's place and Theo helped Liam and Hayden inside, where they quickly moved to rest on Scott's couch. That was the way Scott, Malia, and Mason found them when they had walked inside when they returned after getting Theo's message.

Scott felt the weight on his chest leaving him completely as he saw them there, safe and sound. Theo was standing off to the side, watching them, and Scott quickly moved over and wrapped him up into a grateful hug.

Mason then went over and gave Theo a hug as soon as he and Scott separated. He had his best friend back and he was ever so grateful to the guy for getting them back.

As soon as they separated, Theo looked over at Malia. She was smiling softly at him and moved over to into his waiting arms. Malia felt her nerves starting to settle as his arms started tightening around her, making her better feel his warmth, body and better breathing in his scent.

Lydia put a blanket over the two sleeping sophomores, before she looked up in time to see Theo and Malia's hug. The nagging feeling from before, when she had caught the two staring at each other before they all left, came back.

Stiles had gotten the message that Liam and Hayden had been found, by Theo. Despite everything that had just happened at the hospital, he rushed over to see if they were alright. As soon as he got to Scott's street, he noticed Scott, Malia and Mason heading inside the house. He parked his jeep, but left the engine on, afraid he wouldn't get it to start again, and ran for the front door. As he crossed the window, he looked inside, just in time to see Malia rush over and pull Theo into a hug. For a moment, Stiles could swear, Theo noticed him watching and started smiling smugly and squeezing Malia more possessively when he did, but for a moment before they pulled away. Stiles found himself stepping away and going back to his jeep, not wanting to go in there right now.


It had gotten completely dark by the time Virgil made a turn and caught sight of his apartment building from his Sudan. Well, his grandmother's Sudan. Although he loved taking his new bike out every chance he got, he still took his gran's car out from time to time. That and he had just been on a grocery run and his bike wasn't the best choice for that. He pulled into the apartment building's outdoor private parking lot and took a minute after he parked the car to lay her back into the seat and rub at his eyes.

Virgil could barely sleep after he got home from the garage last night. He kept hearing the sound of the gun firing off and that screaming echoing in his ears. And it came from the tarot cards. Specifically, the Five of Swords card, which hadn't been the first time that card freaked him out. It was the same card that came out as the soul card from that guy he saw near the cemetery two weeks back. He remembered being freaked out then too. Not the soul card of a good and safe person to be around. Yeah, sure, his gran's deck sometimes tended to be weirdly accurate on a couple of things ever since he was a kid but it was always in an amusing and fun kind of way. Like a game of pretend that never seemed to get old. But, lately, it's been making him get a weird feeling. And he didn't like it. Well, he just hoped a night binge watching Game of Thrones while chowing down on his favorite snack combo of grapes and cheese balls would help him feel better.

Suddenly, some feathers went and landed on his front window, making him blink out of his thoughts. He leaned forward, but didn't see any birds. Then he shrugged and decided that he should get his things and get inside already. Just as he moved to open the back door of the car to start grabbing the grocery bags, there was a loud bang followed by low chimes of glass hitting the floor and loud alarms sounded. Virgil jumped back and looked over to see that it had come from the car parked right next to him. There was a body on the top of its hood, stirring in a small impact crater dented into it.

It was Zach.

After he had escaped from the Dread Doctors and flown off, he freaked. He didn't know what was happening or what he was doing. He just kept climbing higher into the air, flapping his new wings, freaking out. After some time, he managed to get some handle on how to use them and found himself heading home. The sun had fully set when he began hovering over his apartment building. Seeing something safe and familiar, he let out a sigh of relief. For the first time since he'd been captured, he let himself smile. But it quickly fell when he noticed that feathers were starting to fall as he let himself descend. His wings were starting to…molt. Its feathers started falling away and then a hard wind blew right at him. Zach found himself starting to jolt about and was losing control. He began spinning in the air as he was heading down to the ground, fast. As Zach's panic rose, his wings started to shrink and shift away into his back. He shot passed the roof and was going for the ground. There was barely time to let out a scream before he just managed to maneuver himself to crash onto a car instead of the pavement in the building's parking lot. When he crashed, the impact went and shattered the car's windows and started to set off the alarm. As he groaned in pain, what was left of the wings on his back vanished and he turned over to fall off the hood and landed back first onto the pavement.

Moving to look down at him was Virgil, panicked and freaked out about what just happened.


With Liam now safe, Scott got on his bike and moved to go and visit Kira, so he could give her the news. But, when he got there, he found that she was in the process of packing up her stuff. Her family was leaving Beacon Hills. She then started to explain what happened to her when she had finally read the book.

"I remembered. It was the night of the traffic jam. I don't know what they did, but they did something."

"Then, it's not your fault," he said, letting a little relief set in.

If the Dread Doctors did something to her way back then, it explains why Kira had been starting to act this way. It was because of them that she was getting driven to kill.

Kira didn't look at him. She kept on packing up her stuff. "We still need to fix it. And I don't think the solution is here."

"What about your dad?"

She finally turned to look at him. "There's no body. They had to let him go."

"Kira, I don't want you to leave."

"And, I don't want to hurt anyone. Especially you."

"You're not going to hurt anyone," he told her. He wouldn't allow it.

She shook her head. "Scott, look at me. Look at me with your other eyes. Tell me what you see."

Scott blinked for a moment before he moved to stand closer to her. He then shifted his eyes, letting his crimson eyes show, and they widened. Kira's aura was different. The fox inside her seemed…wilder. And more menacing then he remembered seeing it. Despite himself, Scott couldn't help but feel a little scared of it.

When she had everything, Kira moved to head outside where her parents were already waiting for her in their car. It was pouring hard but both Scott and Kira weren't bothered by it. They took a moment to stare longingly at each other before they moved to give each other a kiss. A kiss goodbye. Despite not wanting to, they then separated and Kira got into the car and the Yukimuras started driving away. As they left, the lights around Scott started to short out and explode, sending sparks everywhere, but Scott hardly flinched. He just watched the car drive further and further away.


Deaton had been knocked out but he came too and found himself tied and bound to a chair with a flashlight shining down on him. He spotted his captor behind the light, staring down at him, with her rifle hanging lazily around her shoulder, fully loaded and ready. Though Deaton kept his composure and remained calm, despite the grim circumstances. That seemed only to amuse Corrine.

"I see that you do your reputation justice Alan. Always stoic and firm in any crisis."

He calmly rose his gaze to catch her eye. "I do what I can," he said calmly.

"They also say you're out of retirement."

"Semi-retired," he said, again with the same calm.

"Hmm, well you probably should've gone all the way."

She then went to bring out a small bag. Deaton recognized it as his. The one he left in the truck. That was being watched by the others.

He sighed as he realized what had happened. "You didn't have to kill them."

Corrine tilted her head slightly "No," she admitted before she shrugged and moved to pull out a small box from the bag. It had an eagle carved onto the lid. "And just where were you taking these?"

"Just to where they belong," he calmly answered.

She then smirked before she stuffed the box into her own duffel, making his gaze drop a bit. She moved to step a bit closer to Deaton. "Now then, I have it on good authority that you happen to have strong ties to the young man looking into me. Tell me, why does he seem to find me so fascinating?"

"I don't know. You'll have to ask him."

Corrine let out a small chuckle in response. "You know, there have been many rumors pouring out from that little hometown of yours the last two years. And one of them I've heard say that my daughter is still alive. You wouldn't happen to know anything about that, would you?"

"A daughter? I don't know anything about a daughter," he said in feigned confusion.

She moved to take her gun and bring it down to point directly at him. "Oh, I hope not. Because then I would have to kill her again. Her, and anyone that gets in my way."


A/N: Things are getting to the inevitable climatic meltdown. The next chapter will be an original and have some old faces returning. I can't wait for you all to see it.