Chapter 25: Lies of Omission part 2
"Almost there," Stiles mumbled to himself as he let his back settle further into car seat. Then he detected a small grinding noise coming from his jeep's engine and he tightened his grip on the steering wheel some. "C'mon Roscoe, hang in there a little longer buddy," Stiles prayed off.
His jeep's condition was starting to get on its last legs. He was sure that getting flipped over by Parrish back at the animal clinic didn't help. More and more, Stiles' nose picked up a stronger smell of burnt glue and plastic as he drove. The tape on his engine was burning through and as much as Stiles tried to replace it, it seemed the engine only burned through it more, and faster. Not only that, his jeep was taking longer to start up every time. While he was doing his best to try to hold it together, he knew it was only a matter of time before it burnt out completely.
But the concerned thoughts on his car left him when his phone started ringing. He reached for it and saw that it was Scott. Stiles just sighed and made it go to voicemail. His depressed face immediately went to an annoyed one as he cancelled and silenced his phone. It hadn't been too long since he left the school and he could only guess that the pack's newest beta didn't waste any time running to Scott and tell him that Stiles wasn't coming.
"You're not the alpha, I am. The true alpha," Stiles screeched out, bitterly repeating what Scott had said to him last night. "What's with him?"
Lately, Stiles had been growing more aggravated with Scott. He went and hurt Corey, a chimera who actually seemed to need their help and who Mason convinced to try and help them, just because he became impatient and claimed he had no choice. Yet, everything Kira did to try and protect and save them, probably because some part of her felt there was no choice, and Scott makes her feel the need to leave. Satomi and her pack go out of their way to try and help them, putting themselves in danger, and Scott brushes what they're going through off to the side, like they're useless. Now Scott goes and criticizes his plan for dealing with the Dread Doctors when he doesn't have one of his own. They've killed so many innocent people already and it doesn't look like they're planning to slow down. Scott just wants to stop them, from what they've seen in their encounters with them, it looked like the only way the stop the Dread Doctors was to kill them. Otherwise, they will kill Corey, Hayden, Zach, and who knows how many more people through either them or their chimeras. Scott doesn't seem to know what he's doing anymore, and yet he goes and pulls the Alpha card at him...like a snob. Probably doesn't help that he now seems to have his own personal bootlicker.
Which brought his train of thought to Theo. Ever since he first got here, he's been saying that he came here looking for a pack. Now that Scott's taken him on, he starts trying to suck up to him? And Scott wasn't the only one in the pack he's been cozying up to. The image of Malia rushing to hug him, or how tightly and affectionately he hugged back, not to mention that look Theo threw over to the window at him, Stiles couldn't control the small growl that erupted from his throat. He then brought his vision down to his steering wheel and saw that his claws were out on his left hand, his more…bestial claws. Stiles went and heaved a deep, hard breath out. He had to remain calm. The last thing he needed was to shift while he was driving. With the new Supermoon only one day away it was important to put more effort to keep himself in check than he was used to. There would be time to let his aggression and issues out later, he was sure.
Not too long, Stiles found himself pulling up to Devenford Prep. He had to admit, this private school seemed pretty fancy. As he walked down the hall with Satomi and her beta Trey, he thought they were more fancy than the ones at Beacon Hills High with their marble looking floors and decorative moldings.
"Nice place," he said letting his eyes wander. "But, are you sure it's okay for us to just come in like this?"
Satomi let a small chuckle loose. "Don't worry. If anyone asks, I'll claim to have come to make a surprise inspection."
"Satomi's on the school's Board of Trustees," Trey explained. "She helps with the running of the school, screening of teachers and staff and has a strong say with how its funds are used."
"Really?" Though, now that Stiles thought about it, he never did think to ask what Satomi did for a living. Being Alpha of a werewolf pack wasn't exactly a day job. "That's great."
"I do what I can," she tried to wave off. "I'm just glad you could come by at such short notice."
"Yeah, but I can't stay long. Hey, where are Brett and Lori?"
"They're in class right now. I didn't want to pull them out. Besides, they've done enough. Now follow us, there's not much time."
"Huh?" But the two of them stayed silent and Stiles just trailed after them. A moment later, Satomi and Trey just stopped. "What is it?"
Satomi turned to face him. "Ever since you helped me learn that Wilson had been killed in the school, every inch of it was combed for a trace of the struggle. Brett and Lori then found that there was a hint of his blood around here."
"Any sign of Wilson anywhere?"
She shook her head. "No, no sign of his body could be found anywhere around here. This is all we have." Satomi then narrowed her eyes suggestively.
"So, you're hoping an event scar was left behind," Stiles said, catching on.
Stiles was then on his hands and knees, crawling about as he ran his hands about, feeling around the walls and along the floor. Satomi and Trey were on opposite ends of the corridor, looking out for anyone. Now he knew what he meant about not being a lot of time. It would be hard to do this when the halls were filled with students. Stiles then noticed what seemed like thin little scratches in the floor. His four long fingertips touched them and Stiles felt like he was pushed back and he found himself looking at quite the scene.
He saw Wilson striking a young girl, the chimera from the morgue. She had her claws in his stomach but he managed to pull them out after he hit her. She then fell to her knees and her bloodied nails scratched into the floor slightly. He then saw Wilson lift her up and then throw her off into the air, where she collided with-"
"Donovan," he muttered, as Wilson then moved to run.
Stiles then blinked and saw that he was back on the floor, where Satomi and Trey were hovering over him.
"What did you see?" asked Satomi.
Stiles moved to stand back up. "Wilson, he was here. Fighting against that chimera from the morgue."
"But, she wasn't alone, was she?" said Satomi, looking straight at him. "There was another. A young man, with dark hair."
Stiles widened his eyes. "How did you-"
He was cut off by the sound of a bell.
"Come with me," Satomi said, just before the sound of dozens of voices began filling the halls as the students began filing out of the classrooms.
Stiles was brought into an office that had the plaque of Vice Principal on the door and Satomi moved to open it.
"Uh," he started.
"Don't worry," she said as she opened it. "He's out this week." She brought him inside and she moved to go for the computer. "This computer is connected to the security system in the school, including the surveillance cameras."
"The school has cameras?"
"Only at the entrances and the field. But, I began checking the footage timestamped for that particular night." She selected the file and then started to wind up the footage's speed to sometime a little before 7:30. "And I found this."
Stiles looked and saw that same girl, the chimera from the morgue with the long needle nails. And walking behind her was Donovan. He was a Wendigo. They were cannibalistic, ate human flesh. That's why there had been no trace of a body. He must've eaten Wilson after he had been killed. Just the thought made Stiles more sick to his stomach at the thought of him.
"Stiles," Satomi said, snapping him out of his thoughts and making him look up at her. "I think you owe me an explanation."
Her tone hadn't been pressing, angered, or accusing. It was patient, calm and knowing. Stiles found himself deflating right there. Soon enough, he had told Satomi everything about Donovan and what happened at the school. Throughout his explanation, Satomi hadn't said anything. She just listened which Stiles was secretly grateful for. He didn't know if he could start up again if he was forced to stop.
"I see," she said as soon as he was done.
Stiles moved and wiped the traces of unfallen tears that had gathered up in his eyes with his thumb and forefinger. A sudden pressure seemed to have built in his chest after all of that.
"But, I still don't understand why. Me, I can see why Donovan came after me but why would he, or that other girl, have gone after Wilson?"
"Maybe it wasn't their idea." Satomi then moved back for the computer. "Brett and Lori mentioned something to me a while ago. Something about Liam running into a wolf at the high school?"
Stiles nodded. "Yeah, almost a month ago. Why? What does that have to do with anything?"
Satomi sped up some footage and then leaned back. "Look at this."
Stiles saw the sight of Donovan and the girl chimera leaving the school almost an hour after they had arrived. But there was something following after them. It was a wolf. A black haired wolf, just like Liam and Mason had described the one that had tried to attack them at the school.
"That was no wolf," Stiles muttered.
Satomi nodded. "That is Wilson's killer."
It was the end of the school day and most of the halls were filled with students high in relief at the long day being over. Though there was one that was anything but.
Ruben was at his locker, throwing his books in there before letting out a deep breath and then closing it. He then headed off and out the front entrance, trying to walk off the anxiety he was feeling about later tonight. But, his anxiety wasn't just from apprehension. There was a bit of excitement mixed in there as well. Ruben had managed to smooth the tensions between him and Cora earlier that day and got himself invited over to her house to study later. Her brother wouldn't be home so it would be just the two of them. And her baby boy too, of course. This is what the break he needed.
"Not much longer now, he muttered to himself as he moved to turn a corner. But he stopped when he bumped into someone. "Hey, watch it," he muttered.
"No, you really don't have long, do you?"
Ruben was startled and took a step back. "Who are you?"
"You're Ruben, right? I'm Oscar."
"Oscar? As in Dean's alpha Oscar?" he gasped.
"That's right." Oscar then let his eyes glow their Alpha red hue for a moment before they faded back to normal. "I thought it high time to meet this one that Dean said could get me the answers I've been looking for. I have to say, I expected…more."
As freaked as Ruben was, he couldn't help but also be a little ticked about the obvious jab. "I have a plan. I'm close, I just need one more day."
"You only have one more day," Oscar stressed, holding up his forefinger up, showing the sharp claw up at the end of it. He then took that clawed finger and ran it across his own neck, lightly letting some blood drip free before his skin started knitting itself back closed. "I'm not sure if Dean told you, but I'm not known for my patience."
"I get it," Ruben sighed, mildly freaked by what Oscar just did.
Oscar then headed off, leaving Ruben standing there for a moment, trying to steady himself before resuming his trek to Cora's.
Unnoticed by both of them, Charlie Harris was looking on, his eyes narrowed.
When Scott and Theo reached the hospital wing where Corey was placed, they found the place was in chaos. People around were panicked and even saw a woman in a wheelchair fallen over on the floor.
"They're already here," Scott gasped as he took in everything.
But, as they kept looking, they saw that no one was seriously hurt. Just confused and disoriented at worse.
"This wasn't them," Theo said, realizing that the Dread Doctors couldn't have done this. And wouldn't. He knew the Surgeon and the others wouldn't just flaunt their presence so outward and callously.
Scott knew he was right. "It was Corey."
As the two tried to run off to find his room, around the corner, out of nowhere, Corey suddenly appeared. He had taken down his camouflage. He could make himself blend in with his surroundings and become virtually invisible, just like a chameleon. He found out that he could do this over a day after he was brought to Scott's house. However, he didn't tell anyone about it. Not even Mason during their time in the weight room. He couldn't be sure that Mason wouldn't have said something to Scott or the others. Clearly, it was a wise move. He couldn't stay here. He had to leave before he was found out. If he wasn't a success then he knew that he was in danger.
Scott and Theo got to his room but found no sign of Corey anywhere. They split off to try and look for him but quickly met up with each other a few minutes later.
"Security is still looking," Scott told him.
"I didn't see anything either," said Theo.
But then, close by, the elevator doors started to open and shut with the lights beginning to flicker. It was like it was suffering a power surge. This was too familiar to Scott.
"Now they're here," he gasped.
Corey was slipping through the hospital, quietly trying not to be seen, or bump into anyone when he went invisible. That would only announce to the werewolves where he was and he couldn't let Scott find him. Despite everything that Mason had said about Scott only wanting to help, Corey thought his best chance was to look after himself. When he got to the hospital's parking garage, he noticed that it was empty. He let himself relax a bit as he was almost out of there. He moved through the ambulances, out towards the daylight, but froze when he started hearing a strange crackling sound. He looked back as he started to then hear heavy sounding footsteps. Corey quickly backed up and moved to camouflage himself. Soon enough, one of the Dread Doctors started to walk into view and Corey tried very hard to not let out any sound or sign that he was there. He'd never seen them before but heard enough about them from Mason and the others to know he was there to kill him.
The Surgeon was walking through the space between ambulances, slowly and alone. This failure wouldn't be a problem and didn't require the Geneticist or Pathologist to be with him. He was more than sufficient to deal with this one. He walked down the path and then drew the blade out from his cane. The failure thought that he was hiding, placing himself out of a visible spectrum, but he could see him plain as day through his lens. If that was the height of this subject's capability then it would be no loss. He went and stuck it straight into the boy's chest and brought him out of his camouflage. He then pulled back and continued walking off, disappearing from the visible frequency, ready to re-join the others and go oversee the next subject.
Corey was left there, slowly sliding down to the ground as he felt the pressure building in his chest from having his heart pierced. He tried to let out a cry for help but his voice was stuck in his throat and soon found everything around himself going dark.
It wasn't long after that he was found by Scott and Theo. Scott kneeled down as he looked at the wound in Corey's chest with fresh blood and mercury spilling out. He was too late, again.
"We better go," Theo gently said to him, dragging him out of his thoughts.
Scott started to straighten himself up. "We have to find Hayden."
He then took off with Theo hot on his heels. Scott quickly pulled out his phone and started sending out a text.
"What are you doing?" Theo said as he followed right after him.
"Telling my mom where to find Corey," he muttered.
"Oh…uh, Scott, what are we going to tell Mason?"
Scott let out a troubled breath as he thought of Liam's best friend. He and Corey had clearly been getting closer over the last few days. This was going to crush him.
But he shook his head. "We can't think about that now. Hayden and Zach are the only chimeras we know that are left. Lydia said she and Parrish were going to see Zach." He could only hope they convinced him to let them protect him. "Liam should be with Hayden now. We have to get to them."
Scott had promised Liam that he would save Hayden. And he saw that Liam was already losing faith. He can't have another of his friends do that.
Theo nodded. "Yeah, you're right."
As Scott worked on finishing getting word to his mom, Theo let himself give a smirk at his back.
Lydia was staring out the window with a bummed out look as Jordan was driving through the tree surrounded road. They were driving their way up the preserve, for the woods. They had driven here straight after their visit to Zach. It had been…interesting to say the least.
After flashing his badge, Zach moved to let Jordan and Lydia into his place. Sitting down, Lydia led off with revealing that they knew about Zach and what he had gone through. He realized that they were with Scott, as he had tried to visit and talk to him a few times before but had sent him out. The two had managed to calm Zach down and patiently explain everything that was currently happening. About werewolves, the Dread Doctors, the chimeras they were making, and what was happening to them. Needless to say, Zach got freaked when he learned that the doctors were killing the chimeras that were 'failures', afraid that he might be next. Zach tried to argue that he felt fine. Better than fine even.
He then went and explained what happened after Liam and Hayden had seen him get taken away. That the doctors injected him with something and he went to sprout wings and managed to escape them by flying away. The two were surprised and asked if he could control his shift. He nodded and then demonstrated by discarding his shirt and then bringing them out of his back in the middle of the room. Lydia thought they seemed like some the wings of a giant preying bird, like a vulture or condor. They also noticed that he had claws on his hands, just like a werewolf's, and his eyes glowed yellow, also like a werewolf.
And because of that, Zach refused to come with them or accept theirs or Scott's help or protection.
"You've been quiet," Jordan suddenly said.
"Huh?" she said, snapping out of her thoughts. "What?"
"Since we left Zach's apartment," he continued. "Are you worried?"
"It was a mistake to just leave him on his own. We should've taken him with us."
"He didn't want to. What were we supposed to do, kidnap him" Jordan said to her gently as he put his eyes back on the road.
'Yeah, that didn't work so well with Liam,' she thought to herself, remembering Scott and Stiles' attempt seven months ago when they first met him. "He isn't safe."
"With the Dread Doctors around, who is? But, Zach managed to escape the Dread Doctors on his own, by flying away. Which I gotta admit, I thought was pretty awesome," he said with a bit of a chuckle. "And he did say that he would be leaving town."
"It's not going to be enough," she muttered out.
"You saying that as a cynic or as a banshee?" he said, trying to be funny and lighten the mood.
That made Lydia curve her lips up slightly and look over at him which made his own lips curve a bit.
"Honestly, I don't know. Lately, they're starting to feel like the same thing. Besides, it's not just that." She paused for a moment to stare out into the trees in the distance. "It's Stiles."
"Oh? Is something wrong?"
"Something's happening with him…and it's making Scott worried."
Lydia let herself remember her meeting earlier this morning with Scott at school, before she left to go with Jordan. He told her what seemed to be happening to Stiles, and what he seemed to be planning to do.
"Is he okay?" Jordan asked, concerned. He knew how much the Sheriff cared for his son, and he had gotten somewhat fond of eccentric young man himself in the last year.
"To be honest, I'm not sure. I just hope finding the Nemeton can do something to help. If you've really been dreaming about it more, than it could hold a clue."
"Yeah, speaking of which, if this thing is so important, how come you didn't want to show it to me before?"
"Well, the problem is it's not easy to find."
"Should we put it in the GPS?"
"Not exactly. Stiles and I have been trying to find it the last few days. So far, nothing."
"So, then how are we supposed to find it?" he asked right as he made a turn. "Because, I don't remember ever being anywhere near a giant tree stump."
"I think you're already starting to remember."
"Yeah, how would know that?"
"You just took a right turn."
At that, Jordan looked over at her, and she was staring at him with a strong intense look. Jordan couldn't remember even making a turn. Could…whatever he was, could it be leading them to it?
When Noah heard the call about Corey being picked up by paramedics at the school, he had gone off to go to the hospital himself. He knew that the boy was one of these 'chimeras' and if he was in danger than this body snatcher would no doubt be close. But on his way, another call came in. A body had been found at the school, a girl, and he quickly turned around and headed for the school instead. The girl's body had been lain out by one of the doors into the building and Noah spotted a spot of blood and quickly found spots of gray mixed about. Mercury. It was obvious that she was another chimera. Though, Noah found it odd that his son wasn't around for something like this or was coming over to find him like he usually did. As the M.E arrived, he went off and found that Stiles wasn't in his assigned class. He then looked over at the parking lot and noticed that his jeep was also gone. He had left the school, possibly because of Corey.
Then he remembered what Deputy Clark told him before. She had been looking into the 911 call that had come through at the school that night last week. She told him about the school's system logging in the library being accessed just a few minutes before the call through key cards. Clark said that two names had been logged in. One was Theo Raeken. The other was his son. When he brought up the key card with Stiles at the hospital, Stiles told him that he had lost it. But, he seemed a little bothered by the matter. Looking back, the way Stiles had acted then was like how he did before Noah had learned the truth behind him and his friends. Stiles had acted guilty, and Noah had told Stiles that when someone was guilty, they always made a mistake.
The library was practically empty when he got there, understandable as no one would be here in light of what was now happening. He spotted the card reader at the side of the door and stepped in as it was still wide open at this time. Something wasn't right. The report said that the deputy responding to the call had checked the library but had found nothing out of the ordinary. But, Noah knew by now that when searching in this town, especially at the high school, that things weren't what they seemed at first glance. He brought out his UV light and started to shine it around on the floor. He stopped next to a scaffolding when he spotted a small dark cloud of mercury on the floor. A chimera had been there.
And Stiles and Theo are somehow at the center of it.
"Come on," Stiles breathed as he turned the key for what seemed like the hundredth time.
He was in the Devenford Preparatory parking lot, half inside his car turning the key and half outside looking over at his open hood. After Satomi had shown him the security footage, he made his way for his jeep but it was refusing to start. He had been alternating between putting tape over his engine and turning on the ignition for the last hour and a half. Even if he left now, he wouldn't make it back in time for his last class.
"Please, work," he begged.
He then turned the key again and the car seemed to let out a sputtering cough like sound but it did start up. Stiles sighed in relief before he went off and closed the hood of his car. Stiles then threw himself into his car and his wrist ended up hitting his phone where it rested.
"Oh," he muttered as he picked it up.
Stiles had forgotten that he had silenced his phone. He had even forgotten to take it in with him when he went into the school. He then looked and saw that not only had Scott left him a few more messages, but there were even messages from Lydia, Mason, Liam and his father. He then moved to listen to them all.
Ten minutes later, his jeep was almost burning rubber as he tried to race himself back.
Virgil stepped out of the garage's office with an ugly and pissed expression was on his face as he moved to head for his locker. He was starting to button up his work overalls when he felt a tap on his shoulder. He looked over and saw that it was Eric, the guy who drove the garage's tow. Virgil let his face go blank as he stared expectantly at the guy.
"Boss said that I'm to take you out and train you on the tow."
"Yeah," Virgil grumbled out.
"Alright, come and find me when you're finished."
"Sure," he muttered back.
As soon as Eric left, the pissed expression was back. Virgil was one of the garage's mechanics, not a tow operator. As soon as he got in today, his boss called him into the office. Virgil quickly explained what happened with Zach and at the hospital. After he was done, his boss nodded and said he understood. For a moment, Virgil thought his boss would just leave it at that, but then went and told him that starting today, he would be starting to train on the tow, so he could add it with his other skills at the garage. He made it sound innocent enough but Virgil knew what his boss was scheming. He was trying to add to Virgil's work load so he could do more for the same money. No doubt he would begin asking him to do more overtime without pay, again,
He couldn't help but feel this was some kind of payback for having an iron clad excuse to skip work. Still, what could he do? It wasn't like there was any other place he could work in this town. Not with his…record. He was stuck, in more ways than one.
Virgil finished buttoning himself up and went to grab his pouch hanging from one of his locker hooks and noticed his grandmother's tarot cards. He grabbed the deck, shuffled and closed his eyes.
"Well grandma, how are things going to shape up now?"
He then went and drew a card and held hit in front of his face and opened his eyes. He flipped it and saw that it was The Tower.
"Of course," he sighed.
"Edelman!" His boss shouted, making him drop his tarot deck. Virgil looked over to see him peeking his head into the locker room. "Stop daydreaming and get to work. You wasted enough time."
Virgil thrust his locker shut before he bent down to start picking up the cards. He froze though when he noticed that The Tower card had fallen right top of two familiar looking cards. The Fool in the reversed position and The Magician.
"The Fool, reversed," he muttered.
That had been the soul card he picked out back at the hospital when he ran into Scott McCall. Was it about him? If it was, then who was The Magician? Because, if he was reading this right, then The Tower was telling him that something terrible and disastrous was about to come between the two.
But then he shook his head and moved to pick the cards all up. What did this matter to him anyway? If what happened because he tried to help Zach was any clue, he was better off just looking out for himself. No one else was going to.
Scott and Theo had returned to the school to see that not only was there another ambulance, but there was a slew of deputy cruisers and a coroner's van as well. It didn't take them long to find out what had happened. It seemed that school was being called off for the rest of the day. Theo quickly volunteered himself to try to find Stiles and Malia. Scott thought it was a good idea and he went off to try to find Liam and Hayden. They needed to keep an eye on her now more than ever. It didn't take too long for Theo to track her down. She was overlooking as the coroners were taking away Beth's body bag in a stretcher.
"Malia?" he called out when he got close enough. She turned to look over at him and then made her way over. He noticed her distress. "Are you okay?"
She shook her head. "I saw it. They came and…I wanted to help her but, she attacked me. And, I couldn't make it in time to even help her."
The distress she felt was flowing out like a flood to him and he felt the predatorial need to pounce. He went and placed his hands on her shoulders to make her directly face him "Hey," he said in a gentle, soft tone. "Listen, there is nothing more you could've done. And, if you had been with her, who knows what would've happened. They might've killed you too. I'm just happy that they didn't. All of us would be, okay?"
Malia stared deep in Theo's deep caring eyes and she felt how he was truly relieved and thankful that she was alright. She then went and wrapped her arms around him, tightly. She let some of her anxiety release from herself as she had a tight grip on him. As he moved to return her hug, she couldn't help but start feeling how hard and firm his body was, or how strongly he held her. And, as she felt his hands lower down her back, she was feeling an urge to nuzzle and relax her face in his warm, toned chest.
Noah had returned to the scene of the crime and was approached by one of the coroners, asking if they should remove the body now, as there was quite an assembled crowd of kids now.
"Give the M.E. five more minutes, alright?" he told them before he turned his head and found Malia, talking with Theo nearby. "Excuse me," he said as he moved over towards them. As he did, he saw Malia move to hug Theo. He slowed a bit as he saw how Theo was responding, a tad intimately by how his hands were moving down. "Malia?" he perked up, making the two separate. "You okay?"
She moved to clear her throat. "Yeah," she nodded.
"She was the one who-" Theo then looked over in the direction of the body to silently fill in the rest.
"Oh," he nodded. "Uh, have you either of you seen Stiles anywhere? I can't find him."
"No," they both said, shaking their heads.
"I can try calling him again," Malia suggested.
"Thanks," Noah said, smiling at her. She then pulled out her phone and headed off for a more quiet place. He then turned to Theo. "And Scott?"
"He's out looking for Liam. Thinks he's with Hayden."
"All right," he nodded. "Well, I need a word. Alone."
"Uh, yeah, okay," he said, allowing the Sheriff to pull him away.
Theo let the man lead him off, towards the locker room, where there was no one in at the moment. He could see that Stiles' father was pretty anxious about something. He guessed it was from what he just saw between him and his son's girlfriend.
"Sheriff, about what just happened, Malia was just upset that she couldn't save Beth from the Dread Doctors. I was just trying to help her, as her friend." His tone was calm and polite.
"Oh, that's good to hear. But, that's not what I want to talk about."
"Oh, then what is it?" he asked, still sounding calm and polite.
"Your school card. Do you have it?"
Theo then went to pull it out and give it to him. "What's going on?"
"Over a week ago, there was a call made about an incident at the school library. It was ruled as a prank because the responding deputy didn't find anything. But, the school computer logged your keycard for library access a little before that."
Theo heart jumped a tick but he instinctively brought it back down, even though the Sheriff couldn't hear it. He could see where this was going and turned his back to the Sheriff. "Am I going to a need a lawyer?" he asked, quickly trying to think.
"You tell me," Noah said, turning the card over and over in his hand.
Theo swallowed and just slowly started talking. "Stiles wasn't there," he said.
"But Donovan was," said Noah. "He was a chimera, wasn't he?"
"A Wendigo," answered with a nod. "He was looking for Stiles. He was going to kill him." He then moved to look back at him, his face softening up a bit and he scrunched his eyes to begin making tears form. "Donovan said that, he wanted to kill Stiles in front of you. When he saw me there instead, he tried to get me to tell him where Stiles was."
"What did you tell him?"
"Nothing," Theo gasped. "So he came at me. I, I tried to fight him off but…all I can think was that I couldn't let him kill me," he said, his voice starting to break. "And I can't let him kill Stiles. I climbed up the scaffolding, but he started to drag me down." At this point, he could feel the tears building up in both of his eyes. "Then, these support beams, they slid off the top. When I looked back, one of them had gone right through him. I…I didn't know what to do. I dialed 911 but when the deputy got there, the body was gone. Even the blood, everything was just…it was gone. I didn't know what to do. So, I didn't do anything."
The entire story, Theo had taken what happened more or less what actually happened between Stiles and Donovan and just replaced Stiles with himself. Though, he figured making it seem like he tried to escape and Donovan got hurt would garner enough sympathy to have the Sheriff keep quiet, at least for a while. It seemed to work, as he then found himself being embraced by the man. Theo couldn't help but think this was too close.
After they separated, Noah softly told him it would be okay and then moved to follow Theo out. Yet, as soon as Theo turned his back to the man, Noah narrowed his eyes at him.
Lydia and Parrish had kept driving until Jordan suddenly pulled them out of the road and kept going a bit further until the woods were too thick with trees for them to keep going. They then got out of the car and moved out on foot. Though, after ten minutes of walking, he stopped and started looking about, seemingly lost in thought.
"Anything look familiar?" she asked.
He shook his head. "Nothing. I'm trying but it all looks like woods to me."
"Well, maybe you're thinking about it too much. Sometimes, it's about what you feel." That's how it was for her. On two separate occasions, when she felt like she needed to scream, those times Stiles and Malia had told her to do it and things seem to clear up for her. Maybe the same was true with Parrish? "What do you feel right now?"
"Annoyed," he huffed. "And frustrated. With myself. I want to help…and I can't." Barely a moment later, he moved to block a fist heading for his face. Jordan quickly thrust Lydia's fist down. "What was that for?" he grunted at her.
She smirked at him. "To get you to stop thinking," she said, right before she threw another punch.
The frustration that Jordan had quickly vanished and was replaced with a smirk of his own. "What, is this supposed to motivate me?" he asked, slightly amused.
"No," she said, shaking her head. "It's supposed to get you-" She then went to throw another punch but he blocked it again. "Stop" Another punch but he moved to avoid it. "Thinking," she finished before she threw a kick this time.
The kick managed to connect with his torso and got him to lose two steps. He then rose up to look at her. The smirk on Lydia was gone and she looked at him with a determined, challenging glint in her eye. Jordan straightened himself out and goaded her with come hither waves of his hands right before he moved into a defensive stance. A smile was stuck on his face but Lydia grunted at the sight as she charged.
Quickly, Lydia began throwing punch after punch. Jordan moved to duck from the first two blows before she made her third one connect as she drove herself forward at his chest. He lost a step and quickly moved to throw one of his own. Lydia rose her hands to block it like he had shown her and made a quick retaliating hand thrust at his shoulder. Jordan lost another step but managed to calmly straighten up and block the side kick Lydia quickly threw next. Jordan then moved to throw a kick of his own but pulled it back before Lydia could block it, revealing it a fake before he moved in. She tried to throw a punch but he caught her wrist. Lydia then tried to punch him with the other but he caught that one as well and cuffed them together as he went and pulled her right to him. They were then staring at each other, panting hard from both excitement and exhilaration. As they did, Jordan's eyes then began to glow their fiery orange hue. Lydia stared, her breath starting to slow a bit but Jordan quickly turned his head and looked off to his left, the glow fading away after a moment as he stared off. Lydia turned to look over herself and her breath got caught in her throat.
There was the Nemeton. The giant tree stump, plain as day. And all around it…corpses. Corpses of the bodies that had disappeared. The chimeras.
At the sight, Lydia figured that this was a good a time as any to tell Jordan the truth, and she did. After she was finished, Jordan began to freak as he moved to head back for his car, with Lydia right behind him.
"I need to call it in," he muttered frantically. "No, I need to turn myself in."
"I don't think that's a good idea," she said, moving to walk in step with him.
"You just told me that I'm the one taking the bodies. I've attacked other law enforcement officers. That's a criminal offense. Not to mention I could've killed the Sheriff's son, twice."
"It's okay, Stiles is actually more upset about what you did to his jeep over him," she said, trying to lighten the mood.
"This isn't funny. I shouldn't even be near you."
"I'm not afraid of you," she told him.
"I'm afraid of me."
"Look, whatever's happening, it seems to only happen when there's a body. Other than that, you're still a pretty nice guy." On that, she didn't have a doubt. Here he was, after hearing the truth, and his overall concern wasn't about him, but about those he had hurt and who could hurt. "And a good deputy," she added.
"I'm a very good deputy. And I'd like to stay that way. Flipping over jeeps and attacking colleagues doesn't exactly fit with 'protect and serve'. I'm covering up the bodies of murdered teenagers."
"You're not covering them up." But then, she stopped walking, making him stop as well, as a thought suddenly came to her. "Actually…maybe you are."
"What?"
"It's the same thing that we asked Stilinski to do with Tracy. You're not covering up bodies, you're covering up the supernatural."
"What's the difference?"
"Maybe you're keeping the secret safe. Maybe, that's part of what you do. What you are."
"I'm a deputy," he cried out.
But she shook her head. "You're not just a deputy. And you aren't one of the bad guys."
"Lydia, you just showed me that my dream was real. But, you haven't heard the rest of it." That made her look him square in the eyes, and he found that he couldn't look back, and brought his gaze down. "Every time I carry a body to the Nemeton, I put it down and…add to the ones that are already there."
"How many?"
Jordan then moved to look back in her eyes. "Hundreds Lydia," he gasped. "Hundreds of them."
After they left the school, Liam and Hayden headed off towards Sinema. When they reached the door, Hayden got out her keys but looked back to see that Liam was checking his phone, again.
"Still no answer?' she asked, moving to unlock the door.
He let out a huff in aggravation. "No. I still can't reach Stiles."
"You think he can do something?"
Liam didn't know if Stiles could make a difference but, from how it sounded last night, he seemed to have some kind of a plan. Scott didn't seem to want to do it, whatever it was, but, Hayden was running out of time. If what Stiles had in mind could work, stop the Dread Doctors and save Hayden, then he would take Stiles' side. After all, Stiles had saved him and Scott before over six months ago. He might just be able to save Hayden too.
"Yeah," he nodded.
"Well, we can't just wait for him to call you back." Hayden then got the door open. "Right now, our best bet is just to leave town. The evening bus leaves in two hours, we can catch it."
"But we need money."
Hayden rolled her eyes. "Why do you think we're here?" she said, before pulling him inside.
The club was empty and Hayden led them off to behind the bar, where she removed the safety covering for the safe.
"You know the combination?" he asked as he watched her crutch down to the dial.
If she didn't, Liam could always use his wolf hearing to get it open like he saw Scott and Stiles do to Garrett's locker.
"12, 34, 56," she told him as she moved to open it.
Liam narrowed his eyes. 1-2-3-4-5-6? "But that's-"
"Yeah," she snorted. "Phil's an idiot." Hayden then flipped through the envelopes inside before she found her pay cut. "My sister's going to go out of her mind worrying about me." Her sister didn't know what was going on and if she just took off, she knew that she would freak.
"We'll come up with something to tell her," he said, consoling.
"How far do we have to go?"
"As far as it takes."
Hayden then stood up and faced him. "What if I turn out like Tracy? What if I hurt you?"
He just smiled. "I'm tougher than I look. I'll get over it. Besides, it's not like you haven't done that before."
That actually made Hayden break into a smile. Memories of their past came back. Of sixth grade, and recently when she punched him square in the face.
They stared at each other for a moment and, in the moment, moved to go and kiss. Their lips slowly rubbed against each other before it started to get a little deeper. Yet, Liam suddenly pulled back as soon as he heard himself let a moan loose.
"I'm sorry," he apologized as he quickly took a step back from her.
"No," Hayden said, shaking her head. "Is it Lori?"
"No," he quickly said. But then he deflated. "Yes?" he said, uncertain. Then he shook his head. "I don't know," he huffed irritably.
Honestly, Liam didn't know what was going on. He cared for Lori, and he liked her. But, he found that he liked Hayden a lot too. Maybe a part of him always had. He wondered if Mason might've had a point about him unable to resist falling for the girl he was trying to be the hero for.
But before either could get more lost in the awkwardness, the lights around them began to buzz and flicker. Then, the movie projector turned on, by itself, and began to stream a movie out in front of them.
"Oh god," Hayden gasped. "They're here.
Before they knew it, they began hearing the sound of heavy footsteps. Liam moved to pull Hayden close and they dove behind the bar. They stayed quiet as the sound was growing louder.
Soon enough, the Surgeon stepped out into sight and began to walk down the floor, scanning the room. His eyes fell to the bar and he moved towards it. For a moment, it seemed like he was going to leave but then he moved to whack at the bottles laid on top. He moved over to look behind the bar but saw that there was no one there.
Liam and Hayden had managed to sneak away and now were running for the exit but the way was blocked by the Geneticist. Before they could react, the doctor moved and threw a hard back hand at Liam, sending him flying to the floor. Hayden then turned to find herself being looked upon by the Surgeon. Quickly Liam got up and moved to attack the Surgeon, to get him away from her but the doctor thrust him arm out and hit him square in the chest, making him back up into the grasp of the Geneticist. The Geneticist then went and yanked Liam up from his jacket and threw him off to the other side of the room, landing on the hard stage floor.
"Run Hayden! Run!" he managed to yell out as he struggled to get back to his feet.
But Hayden was frozen in fear as now both the Surgeon and Geneticist were looking at her. The Geneticist started to close in for her, until a hard roar moved to stop him in his tracks. Everyone looked over and saw Scott standing to the side, fully shifted, letting his roar echo through the club. He quickly moved to leap and struck his claws out at the Geneticist but the doctor stepped back and completely avoided his attack. However, Scott used that moment to get to Hayden.
"Get back," he told her as he moved to face the doctor in front of him.
Liam grunted as he managed to get back to his feet, shifting himself, before he moved to attack the Surgeon, who had his back to him. He was a moment away of getting his claws into him, when the doctor's hand suddenly shot out and grabbed Liam's wrist, stopping him cold. Liam was then yanked forward and thrown off to the ground.
Scott readied himself to face the Geneticist. He had to do this. Show that the Dread Doctors could be stopped without having to resort to Stiles' insane plan. His plan to tap into the power of the Beast. They never needed it before, and Scott would prove that they didn't need it now. He charged and threw a hard punch at the Geneticist's masked head, but it barely shook the tower of a man. Scott then quickly sent a series of jabs at the man's chest, but they did nothing. He then went to try another jab at the man's head but the Geneticist caught Scott's wrist and sent his own jab right into Scott's torso. As he recoiled in pain, the doctor went and flipped him into the air and made him crash into the floor. Scott painfully grunted as his red eyes stared up into the man's mask, looking down at him with mild interest, as if he was barely worth his notice.
Hayden moved off to a corner, watching as Liam tried to attack the Surgeon again but not one blow was getting through. The Surgeon then grabbed Liam's head and started to bang him against one of the dancing poles set up nearby. After a handful of hits, Liam managed to slip away and tried to throw another hit but the Surgeon again caught him. He then went and threw Liam again but, this time, Liam managed to land on his feet. He tried to claw at the Surgeon's face mask but the doctor drew himself back and the claws barely missed touching him. The Surgeon then moved to thrust his metal gloved hand right into Liam's chest and the young werewolf flew off his feet and his back and head collided with another of the dancer poles and he slid down into the floor, spitting up some blood. Hayden was growing more afraid, seeing both werewolves flat on their backs, recoiling in pain. She quickly moved to run away.
The Geneticist then moved to try and strike at Scott but he moved to roll away and dodge them. When he moved to grab him, Scott brought his hands up to resist him. The Geneticist pushed, seeming to be reaching for Scott's neck, but Scott managed to pull his feet up and send a kick at the doctor's chest. It made him fall back a step but quickly recovered. Scott flipped himself to his feet and tried to go on the attack again. He landed two more blows but they seemed to have little effect. He then moved to throw a kick but the doctor moved to catch his ankle with both his hands. The Geneticist then pulled Scott forward and moved to flip him up into the air, making Scott land back into the ground, flat on his back with a painful howl.
Liam then felt hands grab him from behind and pull him up but he looked up to see that it wasn't a Dread Doctor, but a shifted Theo.
"Get Hayden out of here," he told him. "Go."
Liam watched for a moment as Theo moved to challenge the Surgeon and started sending some blows before he was pushed down to the ground. "Hayden!" he cried as he ran off, behind the screen. He then froze as he saw that Hayden was being held by the Pathologist, and he was injecting something into her neck. "No!" he roared out as the doctor then let her go, to fall limply down her knees.
The Pathologist then moved to make his leave and Liam moved right for Hayden. She was holding her neck, where the syringe had pierced her
Theo was still throwing some blows at the Surgeon, when the doctor caught his wrist and pulled him close.
"I need more time," Theo softly grunted to him.
"The Perigee-Syzygy, until then," he responded.
Scott, dazed on the ground, barely made out the words. 'Perigee-Syzygy' distantly echoed in his ears as he blinked over to see Theo down on the ground. But he didn't see the others.
"Where's Liam?" he cried out.
The two of them pulled themselves to their feet and ran off to the back room where they found Liam kneeling at Hayden's side. They both seemed okay.
"I'm okay," she said to them, with a nod. She then looked over at Liam. "Really, I think I'm okay," she repeated for him.
Liam was still hysterically looking her over. He then turned and stood up to walk over to them. "I saw a needle go in. They injected her with something and, her eyes, they just filled up with mercury. They turned completely silver."
Theo moved his gaze over to her. "She looks okay. Maybe she'll heal."
"Or maybe she won't," Scott muttered.
That made both Theo and especially Liam look at him uncomfortably.
"What if something's happening to her, on the inside?" asked Liam.
Scott looked over and saw that Hayden was looking like she was getting more worried and scared. "Get them to the animal clinic," he said to Theo.
"Okay, but why?" he asked.
"I'll meet you there," he just said, before he moved to leave.
Scott passed by some of the damage left behind by the fight. They weren't able to stop them. He couldn't stop them. And he had no idea what to do. He needed time to think, and he knew that he wouldn't be able to with Liam's desperate eyes looking at him. There had to be something.
After the visit from Lydia Martin and the deputy, Zach had moved to start preparing to leave Beacon Hills. He packed up some clothes and a few other things he needed but saw that he needed some money.
He drove for the bank and headed off for the ATM close to the main entrance. The bank had closed roughly an hour ago so the parking lot was empty. Zach noticed that it now dark and there seemed to be no one around. He quickly pulled out his card and inserted it into the machine's slot. However, the machine went and sent it back out. He narrowed his eyes in confusion tried again. But the ATM sent it back out. He moved to try it a third time but it then spat it violently out, right to the floor. Zach then saw the ATM screen started to blink itself on and off repeatedly. It was starting to freak him out. Then there seemed to be some kind of crackling sound echoing in the air.
Just a few yards away, the three Dread Doctors were staring at him.
A/N: I hoped you liked this new chapter. I've decided that the fallout scene deserved to be in a very special chapter. One that revolves everything that will happen that night. The night before the day and night of the Supermoon. I'll try to have it up sooner than usual.
And remember, stay safe out there.
