Chapter 27: Status Asthmaticus part 2
Derek was leaning against his minivan with Maggie sitting inside, feeding some formula to Jason. They were at a corner facing the local high school which was now littered with teenagers heading out to enjoy their weekend. When he spotted his sister, Derek gave the windshield a tap to signal Maggie and she came out, with Jason in her arms, just as she came over.
"Well?" Derek asked her.
Cora sighed and shook her head. "Ruben didn't show up today."
"Oh, well that would be quite a coincidence," he muttered. "The little twerp taking off before I can find him and ring his damn neck."
"Nice, that's very nice Derek."
He rested his hands on his hips as Cora moved to take her son from Maggie. Derek couldn't believe it. She still wanted to try and give Ruben the benefit of some doubt. Even with all the evidence against him. Why? Is it because she had actually come to like the twerp? He'd been there before, and look where that got everyone. Hell, look where Cora's trust got her already.
Yet, as he moved to send a small glare at the baby in her arms, he seemed to turn his head and look straight up at him. Jason, his nephew, his brown eyes, Hale eyes, were staring hard into his own. And Derek seemed to deflate right there. He hated himself for having that last thought. Jason was his family. His pack. He was probably the only real good thing to happen to their family in years.
Maggie moved and laid a hand on Derek's shoulder. "Hey, calm down," she steadily told him. "Going off at each other is not going to get us anywhere."
Derek let out a deep sigh as he moved to try and pace off some of his tension. "Okay, okay," he said to himself. He then stopped and looked over at Cora. "Have you tried calling him?"
She nodded. "Yeah, twice. He's not picking up. Not answering to any of my texts either."
"Then we try his house," Maggie put in. "You have his address?" she asked Cora.
"Yeah," she said.
Derek then moved for the driver's seat. "Alright, then let's go."
They went and pulled up to a high end suburban neighborhood that reminded the Hale siblings a bit of home. It closely resembled where Scott and Stiles lived.
"That's it," Cora said, pointing the house out.
Derek went and pulled the car in about two houses down. "Okay, now what?"
Maggie cleared her throat. "Leave this one to me."
She then got out without another word and started to walk up to the house. Derek and Cora spared each other a small look before they let their senses hone in just as Maggie moved to knock on the door. A moment later, a woman with long, curly auburn hair answered the door.
"Hello, I'm Ms. Carson. I'm with the school's guidance office. I was wondering if I could speak with Ruben."
"Oh, he's not here right now. He never got back home from school."
"Well, actually mam, your son didn't show up for school today."
"Ruben's not our son actually. He's our foster son. And whatever he's done, I'll be sure to have me and my husband give him a talking to when he gets back home."
Maggie blinked at her tone. "Actually, as far as I know he hasn't done anything, I was coming here out of concern."
"Oh, concern. I have to admit, that's a change in shift from last year."
"Uh, would you mind if we talked inside for a bit. I feel I might be missing something."
From inside the mini-van, a teen wolf agreed with her.
Zach was moving about, with a slight limp in his step, as he tried to find his way back to his car. The last night had been a blur. He could remember getting jumped by those three freakish guys in masks before he got away by bringing out his new wings and flying off. That part still is hard for him to wrap his head around. He could fly now! It would be cool if he didn't crash every single time he did. First time he had flown, he ended up falling out of the sky and crashing on top of a car on the ground. Last night, he crashed just under a highway. When he managed to come to, he first thought it had all been some crazy nightmare, until he found himself laying over the edge of a pillar, high above the ground. It startled him out and he rolled off and then quickly fell over a dozen feet to the ground. He got a heavy scrape on the side and his leg, but his skin seemed to have stitched themselves back up a while ago. Yet, even though he was now longer bleeding, he could still feel his whole left leg burn with every step he took. He stuck to the shadows and alleys. The last thing he wanted was to hulk out and bring out the claws, or wings, and have people scream and point at him as he walked the streets. Zach must've walked, limped for hours. But, he saw that he was now just two blocks away from where he left his car and let himself start to relax a little. But Zach then took a step into some discarded grease food and slipped, falling down face flat into the pavement. Next thing he knew, he was being shaken awake by someone.
"Hey, wake up," he distantly heard.
"Huh?" he muttered.
He opened his eyes and it took him a moment for his vision to become un-blurred, before he saw a pair of honey brown eyes staring back at him. He then heard snaps as the guy moved to snap his fingers in front of his face.
"Zach? Hey, you okay?" he asked.
"Uh, you know me?"
He smiled. "Yeah, kinda. I'm Stiles and-"
Zach snorted. "Stiles? Really?"
Stiles resisted rolling his eyes and acted like he hadn't been cut off. "I definitely know who and what you are. I'm part of-" But he suddenly stopped talking as a somewhat pained and dark look came over his face. It lasted a moment before he shook it away. "I know Scott, and the others who went to see you. Okay, the Dread Doctors, you sprouting wings like Marvel's Angel, I know about all of that."
"You do? Wait," he said trying to back up but finding he was already up against a brick wall. "How'd you find me?"
"Tracked you down," he said, pointing to his nose.
After cleaning himself up and changing into new clothes, Stiles got himself to the overpass, which he had remembered was the place where Tracy had attacked Donovan's prison transport. It was where the Event Scar from the feather had led him. When he got there, he quickly picked up the smell of blood coming from near the top of one of the support pillars but Stiles didn't feel anyone up there. He looked around and saw that there was some more blood leading off, like a trail. Stiles guessed that Zach must've hurt himself when he landed or crashed here. Which made it easy to chase his trail and quickly catch up to him.
"You're one of them," he grunted as he tried to stand up but quickly went back down as his leg burned again in pain. "Ahh," he said, gripping it.
"You're still hurt?" Stiles bend down and moved to try and lift up the pant leg of the guy's jeans to take a better look.
"It stopped bleeding a while ago but it still hurts."
Stiles quickly saw that Zach's leg had dried blood but there was no wound. He remembered something similar happening with Isaac before. He had been wounded his body healed on the outside, but the inside was still damaged. He started to feel around and felt something pressing against the skin on the inside.
"Okay, look," Stiles said before he moved to take his belt off and fold it before holding it up to Zach's mouth. "I need you to bite down on this."
"What?"
"Your leg, its not healing right because I think something is stuck in there. I have to get it out and its going to hurt and I'd rather not have half the block hearing you scream and come on over here."
"Why, what are you going to do?"
"I think I'm going to have to dig it out of you."
"You what?" Zach gasped.
"Listen," Stiles barked out at him. "Okay, you're just going to have to trust me. What I'm going to do, it's going to hurt a little but it's the only way to help you. So, if you want this pain to stop and get better, you'll shut up and bite down on this. Please."
That last part sounded pleading, but sure. As did Stiles' eyes as Zach looked up at him. He took a deep breath before he moved to grab the belt and bite down on it, hard.
"Okay," Stiles breathed out. "You probably might also want to look away and close your eyes."
Zach moved on to do just that as Stiles moved to bring out the claws in his right hand. He then moved the claw of his thumb and pointer finger into where he felt the pressure at Zach's leg and started to cut into him. Zach let out a deeply pained but muffled groan as his eyes burst open and a bright hue of golden yellow burned out in his irises. Stiles cut further into his leg and started to cringe a bit as he began fumbling his fingers about a bit. Zach's eyes began to tear and he spat the leather belt out before moving to try and push one hurting him away. He moved a clawed hand at the guy's shoulder, but almost instantaneously, the guy's own clawed left hand shot up and grasped him at the wrist before pushing it back into his chest and then lifted his head and had his blue eyes flash out at him. Immediately, Zach gasped and stilled as he stared right back at the glowing sapphire orbs glaring at him. Stiles' unease seem to fade, staring at Zach's yellow eyes and his fingers managed to take hold of something. He quickly yanked it out and the two of them looked over to see that it was a thin splinter of stone, almost an inch long. Zach guessed it must've gotten lodged in his leg when he fell either last night or this morning.
Stiles flung the bloody stone away, before rubbing his now blood stained fingers together. He looked down at Zach's freshly cut leg and saw that there was a fresh line of blood starting to run down to his foot. While something like that might take a moment or two for a werewolf to heal, he didn't know the waiting time for a chimera. But, he did know of something that helped with the healing process. Having pain get siphoned off by another shifter. Stiles breath got caught in his throat at the thought. He hadn't really done this since-.
Zach narrowed his eyes as he picked up a weird smell coming off Stiles. It smelled almost like...struggle. "Stiles?" he muttered.
Stiles blinked after hearing Zach's voice and he let himself take a deep breath. He reached for Zach's leg and then gulped before he reached out. The veins around Zach's leg and Stiles' hand went black as the feeling of pain being pulled out of Zach and traveling into him through his fingers, straight into him. Stiles sucked a bit on his teeth as the feeling started to flow up into him and go to his stomach. His breathing started to quicken, as he heard a distant echo of a memory. One of screaming people and the sound of himself laughing, a mental picture of his own face smirking devilishly flashed before him. Bile seemed to travel up his stomach and go for his throat but, Stiles forced himself to keep going.
Zach sighed as he felt a cool wave of relief travel through his leg. The pain he was feeling before seemed to seep on out of him. He looked down and his eyes widened as he saw the veins around his wound go black, and seemed to run right up into Stiles' hand. The yellow glow in his eyes faded and he saw that newly cut leg was stitching itself up.
"My leg," he managed to breathe out in awe. But as soon as it healed fully, Stiles pulled his hand away and he turned away to begin barfing to the side. Zach quickly pulled the leg of his jean down and moved over to him. "Hey, you alright man?" he asked in concern, patting Stiles in the back a bit.
Stiles hacked up a little bit more before he started to wipe at his lips and nod after a few test breaths. "Yeah," he grunted. "But I'm the one who's supposed to be asking that to you, don't you think?"
Zach moved to fully stand up straight and let himself hop a bit in place. "Yeah, I feel pretty okay." He even moved to give his hurt leg a shake. "I don't know what you did, but thanks," he said with a smile.
Stiles stopped as he looked at Zach's smiling face. He could smell the happiness and gratitude Zach had, at himself, and Stiles found himself nodding. "Sure, it's no problem," he muttered. He then moved to grab his discarded belt and put it back on.
A sort of awkward silence seemed to descend upon them and Zach cleared out his throat to break it.
"Uh, listen, my car's about a block away, over in the bank parking lot. I think the least I can do is-"
He didn't finish as Stiles grabbed him.
"Your car's near here?" Zach quickly nodded. "Good."
Virgil had decided on grilling himself up a nice fillet of steak for dinner that night. As he sat down at his dinner table, he let himself look out the window to see that it was starting to get dark. He poured himself some juice before he grabbed the remote and turned on his tv and began to dig in. The evening news appeared as soon as he did.
"This is footage taken right outside Beacon Hills High School earlier today. Before sunrise, the Sheriff and deputies had found what appears to be the school's front stone sign thrown right into the wall and into the hallway within the building. School had been called off today for students and we've been assured that a work crew will be arriving tomorrow to try and remove the debris. The school principal made an official statement that he hopes that normal school activity can resume soon though it will likely be the week after next at the earliest."
Virgil looked over at the image of a hole at the wall of the school. To him, it looked like the school sign was lifted and hurled right into it, Incredible Hulk style.
"Weird," he muttered before he let himself chomp down on a piece of steak.
The news anchor continued. "Sheriff Stilinski has yet to give us a comment on the incident yet one Deputy Clarke has confirmed that last night she and other deputies had been chasing what they believed to be a rogue animal, perhaps a bear or mountain lion to the school before discovering the scene."
At that, Virgil then let himself remember seeing a dark shape running out in the streets. On all fours. He then moved to turn the tv off. Virgil shook his head. No, that didn't seem like any bear or mountain lion he'd ever seen before. Well, not that he'd ever seen a mountain lion or bear before, but still.
He chomped down the rest of his steak before he moved to clean up and then settle in before he began moving to watch Game of Thrones on demand. As he got to the scene where he was seeing the young character Bran Stark get visions of the future, he moved to pause it. He then looked over to where he left his pouch hanging off the hook by his door. Where his grandmother's tarot deck was. He quickly got up and then laid the deck out in front of him, picking out The Fool card, moving it upside down and then The Magician card. These cards he'd seen pop up a lot recently. And it turned out they happened to be soul cards of two people in this town. Kids who go to that very same high school. And one of them, The Magician, he just happened to meet that very morning. The morning that something crazy like this happened. And before that, he met The Fool, in the hospital, right after taking someone there who had practically fallen in front of him from the sky. Crazy coincidence on both parts.
He moved to look over at the hanging picture of his grandmother on the wall. "Coincidences always mean something, right gran?"
She said that to him so many times he took it as being practically a mantra. But, what did this mean? As he looked out at the window, he saw that it was dark now. He could see the full moon shining up in the night sky.
"A full moon," he muttered to himself. That was right. This was the time that his gran would always say that the reader could ask this deck any one personal question and get an accurate answer. Last month, he had tried asking a question but made it to general. This time, he would have to be careful to make it simple, and specific.
Yet before he could think of what to ask, his phone starting ringing. He went over and picked it up to see the caller ID The Douche flashing.
"Oh great," he muttered as he moved to pick up. "Virgil here," he answered.
"Virgil, come over to the garage, right now," his boss' screechy voice sounded off.
He checked his watch. "My shift doesn't start for over another hour."
"I said now." And he then hung up without another word.
Virgil let out a heated huff. He then looked at the deck. He knew what question to ask now. He moved to sit in front of them and began shuffling them. As soon as he was finished, he closed his eyes and focused.
"How will tonight end for me?"
He then moved to draw the top card and held it up. He opened his eyes and then flipped it over.
The Death Card.
In his cell, Jordan had been lying down and letting himself take a small nap ever since Lydia had left. As he slept, he found himself back in the woods, carrying a faceless body as he was engulfed in flames. He walked until he came upon a familiar stump and then set the body down in the midst of a pile of corpses that seemed to extend passed it. He sat down as he stared off, his eyes glowing orange as he stared in the distant darkness, where two bright points of blue light shined through. Lights that resembled eyes, and they seemed to be staring right at him.
On the floor of the cell, Jordan opened up his eyes to reveal their orange glow, his face impassive but resolute. He then picked himself up from the floor and headed off for the bars. He gripped them and a red hot heat burned into his palms and began to melt into and weaken the steel of the cell.
Outside the station, a car began to pull in and then both Stiles and Zach stepped on out.
"Alright, c'mon," Stiles told him as he led the way inside. He walked on in and but stopped when he saw that his dad's office was empty. Stiles then went over to a nearby deputy. "Hey, have you seen my dad?"
"Oh, hey Stiles. Uh, your dad isn't here right now."
"Did he say where he was going or when he'll be back?"
"Sorry, no," the man answered before he moved to wipe some sweat on his brow. "With how crazy things have gotten lately, with Parrish and what happened at the school, he might just be a while."
Stiles narrowed his eyes. "What things? What are you talking about?"
The deputy widened his eyes at him. "Wait, you don't know?" he asked, surprised.
Soon enough, Stiles led Zach into his dad's office. Once he closed the door behind them, he began pacing the room as he thought about what he had just heard. An attack at the school and Parrish voluntarily locking himself up in the holding cells.
"One damn day," he muttered to himself.
He'd been out of touch for barely one day and it seemed like everything around here went to hell.
Stiles quickly went to sit over at his dad's desk and saw that there were files opened and scattered around. Zach stood off to the side, looking a little uncomfortable and out of place.
"Hey, do you usually get to just…come on in, and go straight into the Sheriff's office?" he asked, giving the office another once over.
"Huh?" Stiles muttered as he looked up at him for a moment. He then shrugged. "Yeah, well, growing up I've spent almost as much time here as I have at home." He then huffed as he threw himself into his dad's chair. The Supermoon, he could feel it closing in as it got darker.
"So, what happens now?" Zach asked, stepping on over to the desk.
Stiles let himself lean back into the chair and have his neck rest on the top, letting his head dangle over. "I don't know," he said, gazing up at the ceiling. He then started to fan his face. "But I will open a window. It's kind of hot in here."
Zach let his gaze drop from Stiles down to the desk, littered with files and pictures. One open file caught his eye though. "Hey," he muttered. "These people…"
Stiles looked and saw that he was looking at the pile of photos with all the people turned to chimeras. "Oh, yeah, those are the other people the Dread Doctors took." His father must've been looking over them before he left.
"Yeah, Lydia Martin and that deputy told me that there were others. But, this guy." Zach then moved to point at Donovan's picture. "I've seen him before."
"Donovan?"
"Yeah, um, for the last few nights, I've been having these nightmares. Seeing when they had me strapped to a table in some basement or something."
"Wait, you remember where the Dread Doctors had you?"
He shook his head. "No, not really. It's all just...flashes. Pictures, sounds. I don't understand why I can't remember. I don't know how to explain it."
Stiles could. That was the Dread Doctors power. To make people forget. Though, from what Stiles has seen so far, there were times that those memories could find their way back.
"And you remember Donovan?"
"I've seen him a few times in my nightmares. Strapped to a table close to me, screaming, cussing and thrashing around with a mouth full of...teeth. Like, shark teeth."
Stiles shrugged. "Yeah, sounds like him."
"All the time, well, save when that guy was with him."
That made Stiles narrow his eyes. "What guy?"
"I don't know. He was talking with him, a kind of creepy smirk on his face."
"What did he look like?"
"Uh, I only caught a glimpse of him. But, he was about our age. Had brown, gelled and spiked hair."
Stiles then moved to pull out his phone and went through his photos of his crime board. He found the file he had on Theo and zoomed in on his image. "Did he look like this?" he said, showing it to him.
Zach looked at the phone and then looked back over at him before nodding. "Yeah, I think that was him."
Stiles then went into a full glare as suddenly all the pieces began to fit. Everything, from the night of Senior Scribe to last night, began to make perfect sense. But he didn't have time to dwell on it as suddenly alarms started blaring.
"What the hell?" he muttered.
"What's going on?" Zach gasped. "And do you smell smoke?"
There was suddenly shouting outside. Stiles moved to open the door and saw that everyone seemed to be in a frenzy. But then some deputies started shouting, and one of them even pulled out a gun.
"Stop right there!" he shouted.
Stiles then saw that it was Parrish. There was a wave of heat leaving him, as well as a hint of smoke surrounding him. His face was in a daze and he wasn't stopping was he walked off for the front door.
Then the deputy Stiles talked to earlier pulled out his gun too. "We said stop Parrish!"
He moved to try and cut him off but Stiles beat him to it. "No!" he shouted out at them. "Don't move!" he shouted at them. "Let him go!"
Parrish kept walking but then stopped to look right at him. The two of them kept stern eye contact with one another before he turned away and moved to head out of the precinct. No doubt he was heading to claim another body. Stiles guessed it might be Corey, seeing as Liam told him on the phone last night that he was dead. He hoped that Parrish wasn't being this way now because Hayden was joining him.
As soon as he was gone, Zach then came over and tugged at his arm. "What the hell is going on?" he hissed at him.
"I have an idea. Hey, let me see your keys."
Zach pulled them out. "Why?"
Stiles quickly snatched them up. "Stay here."
"What, hey!" he shouted after him.
"Stay!" Stiles shouted back as he ran out the door.
The sky was pitch black. Night had fallen. And the Supermoon was shining bright.
Liam was standing guard over Hayden as she sat down against the back of Ms. McCall's car. They were parked outside of the side entrance, waiting for Scott's mom to come back. About half an hour after Scott left, Hayden had started to get worse. They had found some kind of dark grey spots all over the skin of her arm and even on her neck. When she saw it, Scott's mom told him that they had to take Hayden to the hospital as they needed better equipment to treat her than what they had at the clinic. Of course, they had to sneak in as they couldn't just go and bring a sick chimera in through the main entrance in front of everyone. After waiting for about three minutes, Liam sighed as Ms. McCall came out with a wheelchair.
It took some dodging but they were able to make it to an elevator without anyone seeing or stopping them. Hayden was barely conscious and her breathing had gotten even more ragged.
"My…my sister," she coughed out.
Melissa then heard Liam gasp and followed his line of vision to Hayden's IV bag. There was something black in there that seemed to have been pumped in from her body.
Liam could understand what Scott's mom didn't want to tell him. Whatever she was doing just wasn't working. Hayden was going to die. He could feel it. He brought out his phone and quickly went to call Scott. He knew that he had gone to get Hayden's sister but he guessed that they might've gone back to the animal clinic.
"C'mon, c'mon. Pick up," he muttered as the phone just kept on ringing.
But Scott wasn't answering. He couldn't understand why he wasn't answering his phone. Scott couldn't keep holding out anymore. He was Hayden's only chance now. But Liam froze. No, that wasn't right. Not Scott's bite. An alpha's bite. That was Hayden's only chance now. He can't believe he didn't think of it sooner. Liam then desperately moved down his contact list for his last hope. His breathing quickened as there were two dial tones before it finally picked up.
"Hello?" a soft voice said on the other end.
"Lori?" he panted out.
"Liam?"
"Lori, I need to talk to Satomi, it's an emergency."
"Uh, you can't. Satomi isn't here."
"What, where is she?"
"What, you mean you don't know? Stiles, didn't tell you last night?"
"Stiles? No, he never got the chance to tell us anything. Scott kicked him out of the pack."
"He did what?!" she shrieked.
"What with him and Satomi?" Liam cut in.
Lori then quickly told Liam everything that Satomi and Stiles discovered yesterday about the identity of Wilson's killer. And their possible connection to the Dread Doctors. And likewise, Liam filled Lori in on what happened with the Dread Doctors killing Corey and then attacking and poisoning Lori.
"The way I see it, the bite is the only way. Scott won't do it so it has to be Satomi."
"Liam, Satomi is out there, deep in the woods with Brett, Trey and a few others who could handle the Supermoon, trying to track down that shapeshifting chimera. Me and the rest of the pack are here waiting to try to wait out the night. Where they are, they wouldn't be able to get a signal. And, even if we did get through to them now, Satomi might not be able to make it back in time."
"There's got to be some way," Liam muttered out desperately. "You've got to find her and tell her what's going on. Hayden is almost out of time Lori."
"Liam, I don't know. If we had more time, yeah maybe, but now it might be too late."
"Well don't sound too broken up about it," he growled out.
"What is that supposed to mean?" she said, slightly offended.
"Hayden is dying and you're don't even care enough to try to help her."
"That's not true Liam. There's just nothing I can do. That we can do."
"The hell there isn't," he spat back.
With that, he hung up. On the other end, Lori glared out at the receiver before she growled and ripped the landline phone off the wall and threw it to the floor.
Liam began pacing. He knew Scott had gone to the school. He was probably still there. If he left now...he just might make it in time. He then moved to call Mason.
After bolting from the station, Stiles had gone to the animal clinic but found that the place was empty. Yet, he found Scott's scent. Easily, along with Liam, Hayden, Melissa...and Theo. They might be a couple of hours old but they seemed so fresh to him. Stiles could only guess it was the work of the Supermoon. If a normal full moon turned their senses up to 10, the Supermoon could probably take all of them up to 25 or something. He picked up Scott's scent and sniffed out what direction he seemed to be heading. He climbed back into Zach's car and headed off for their immediately. When he started to pull into the empty school parking lot, he let a small growl loose as he saw Theo approaching him.
"Stiles," Theo said approaching, his hands out in a calming like gesture. "You shouldn't be here."
Theo had just let Liam in to begin the last part of his plan. He couldn't have Stiles here now.
"Out of my way," he said, not faltering.
"Scott doesn't want to see you."
"Oh really, too bad, I'm going to see him anyway." He moved to head on inside but Theo moved to block him. Stiles let out a huff and glared at him. "I'm only going to tell you this once, get out of my way Theo."
"I can't do that."
Stiles shrugged. "That's fine. You can come on with me. We can talk to him together. Like about the fact that you're not even a werewolf. You're a chimera. One who could fully shapeshift into a wolf. And who killed Josh, after you killed Wilson Grant."
Theo's calm face quickly faded away and was replaced by a smarmy smirk. He then moved to clap his hands. "Bravo. I mean that Stiles. You don't disappoint. Even from the beginning, I had a feeling it would only be a matter of time before you went and figured it all out."
He shrugged. "Yeah well, that's your own fault. That night at the bridge, when you were leaving those flowers, you wanted me see you. Clever move, trying to guilt me into feeling sorry for you and backing off. Truth is, it actually would've worked, but you ruined it when you went and "caught" me and Liam spying. You smiled and laughed it away like it was no big deal." Stiles narrowed his eyes. "That was stupid. No one who was really grieving their family can just do that."
"Yeah, I guess you know, wouldn't you? But would you rather have me go with you and talk chimeras with Scott, or stay out here and talk about your dad?" He then moved to pull out Stiles' school ID card. "You know he came over to my house earlier. Got there after he had finished having a talk with my "parents"," he said making air quotes with his fingers. "Just like you did. Like father, like son, huh?"
He then began to pace off but Stiles stomped on after him.
"Where is he?" Stiles hissed at him.
"You know, I tried to cover for you. See your dad, he found out that something happened to Donovan at the school. He confronted me about it. So I told him that it was me that Donovan fought at the school. I thought I took care of it, but then came this," he said, holding up the card. "Apparently, Melissa found it at the hospital, where you threw it away after he talked to you about it. And then, our dear Sheriff went and got a call from Scott's dad. Apparently, he had done some checking on me because you asked him to, and decided to call him, not you, to talk about and boy did they talk. Thanks to all that, your dad put together that I moved to set his own son up to kill or be killed that night. Who would've thought a small town sheriff could put it all together so well. I can see where you get it from now."
"What did you do to him?" Stiles barked out.
Theo stopped and turned to look back at him. "You know, I lied about a lot things but, not about why I came to Beacon Hills. I'm here for a pack. I came for the werecoyote, the one whose first instinct is to kill, and instinctively drawn to another of her kind."
At the mention of Malia, Stiles' nostrils flared as he smelled lust coming out from him. Lust that seemed to be mixed in with some of Malia's scent. That made his breathing increase.
Seeing Stiles' reaction, Theo let his smirk deepen as he kept going. "I came for the Banshee, the girl surrounded by death. I came for the dark kitsune, the beta with anger issues, I came for Void/Beast Stiles! That's the pack I want!" he ranted, angry and hungry. "But, unfortunately, that doesn't include Scott."
At that, there was an echo of a roar from the school which had them both looking towards it.
"Liam," Stiles muttered.
"Sounds like it's starting." He turned back barely in time to see the fist coming at him. Theo flinched back and moved to spit up some blood but turned to look back at the fuming Stiles with the smirk still on him. "The ever loyal Stiles. Even when his best friend tosses him away, he still won't stop defending him."
"Damn right," he huffed out.
Theo then looked down to see that there was dried blood on Stiles' hand. Blood that didn't belong to either of them. "You know, you try to stand there, looking all noble, but we both know, even without the nogitsune, you have more blood on your hands than any of us."
Stiles just stared on ahead for a bit before he let himself nod. "Yeah, I'm not going to argue with you there. So, what's a little more?"
He then jackknifed into Theo, hurling them into the pavement, and then went over him before moving to begin punching at his face. Theo tried to throw him off but found Stiles too strong. The Supermoon was enhancing his strength. He couldn't get away or stop Stiles from attacking him, physically.
Theo felt Stiles fist connect with his left cheek. "You think Scott cares about you?" Punch. "You think he'll take you back?" Another punch. "Like magically if he knows the truth?" Another punch. "Or that he even wants you back?"
But before Stiles could throw another punch, there was another roar from the school. From a different werewolf. "Scott," he growled to himself. At the sound of it, Theo started laughing. "What's so damn funny?!" Stiles roared at him.
"Why would you want to go back?" he said, through his blood stained teeth. "Think Stiles. You've been friends for what, since you were 8? It didn't even take 8 minutes after Scott hearing you killing Donovan before he was ready to get rid of you. You don't want to lose Scott, even though we both know, that you never really needed him!" With that Stiles brought his hand out and shifted out his claws. His newer claws. Theo saw them and his bravado washed away. He could actually be killed within the next few seconds. "Whoa, have you forgotten about your dad?" he said quickly.
"What?"
"I can tell you where your dad is, but you'll be able to save him if you leave right now. Do you really want to waste time fighting me? Or trying to save Scott? Or do you want to save the only person left that still cares about you?"
Stiles moved to clench his clawed hand into a fist, the claws cutting right into his palm.
Melissa could see that her treatments weren't working. Hayden's body was breaking down and the heart monitor she was hooked to was showing that her heart was weakening. Melissa grabbed onto the girl's hand, her freezing cold hand and squeezed it. There was a twitch in response before Hayden let out long breath out at her. There were then two streams of mercury leaking out of her eyes, falling like tears, and Hayden's head lulled over as the heart monitor flatlined. The long beep, the one she had been trained to bear through, made a tear escape from her own eye. She knew that Scott, Liam and the others were going to be crushed. She was their last hope and she couldn't save her. She then heard footsteps and thought it was Liam coming but was surprised to see that it was his friend instead.
"Mason? Wait, where's Liam?"
"He left. He said that he was going to go and get something to help Hayden."
She shook her head. "It's too late for that."
Mason moved over to her, looking over at the flatlined monitor. "No," he breathed out.
Melissa then moved to unplug it. "Where did he go?"
"To the school."
Melissa nodded. Yes, Scott had said that he would be there as well. "Okay, well, that's we're going to. Help me take by the back entrance and get her to my car."
Just one minute after they had left the hospital did Malia start walking in through the main entrance. She began wandering the halls, trying to pick up any sign or scent of Scott, his mom, Liam or Hayden. They had to be here because Theo had told her that they had taken Hayden to the hospital.
Theo. Malia took a moment to stop and let herself think back to what had happened earlier. She could remember the heat that she felt as he had her in his hold. More intense and hot than anything she ever had with Stiles before. But...she moved to touch her face where Theo had scratched her. It felt ice cold. Every part of her felt cold, so much she was starting to resist the urge to shiver. The fiery heat from their make out in her old den didn't leave any trace, almost feeling like a distant memory even if it had to just be about an hour ago. With Stiles, while it didn't leave her as heated, his warmth always seemed to stay. Lingering for hours on end.
But all thought of Theo or Stiles left her when she started to smell the scent of blood. It was heavy, and not just from one person. She made her way up and found herself in a wing of the hospital that was under renovation, after what happened during the last chimera body snatching. Malia carefully made her way down the hall until she found a blood bag on the floor. It had been drained. And she saw that there was another one just a few feet away from it, also sucked dry. Malia followed this trail of bloody breadcrumbs until she found a sealed off room. Inside, she gasped as she saw a guy kneeling inside, drinking from another blood bag as if it were a juice box, his mouth stained red with blood. He then turned to face her and she saw that there seemed to be a spike poking out of his right arm, one that looked like a bone. Malia had seen a spike like that one before. He was a chimera. The guy got straight up and threw the half-empty bag to the side as he went for her. Malia growled, shifting and then charging back at him.
The chimera went and pushed her into the wall, hard, before turning them around and throwing her right into the opposite one. Malia grit her fanged teeth as she felt the back of her head hit against the cement right before the chimera started to claw at her. Malia quickly moved to try to claw at him but he brought his hand up to grab her wrist and then push her right into the wall. She let out a cry as she felt her back slam hard against the concrete and his hold on her wrist began to tighten and she closed her eyes as she felt the bones start to break under his grip. She moved her free hand to try to pound at wrist and let her go but he just went and took his own free hand and grip her throat. Her free hand tried to go for her throat as he brought his face in closer, huffing and growling right at her.
Malia grit her as she made her hand move from trying to free her throat and yanked at the guy's collar, bringing his face even closer. Not a second later, Malia then thrust her head right into the guy's nose. The shock of it made him stumble back letting her neck and wrist go. As Malia straightened herself up, she let herself remember that Stiles had taught her that move during one of their playful spars before she left the summer with her dad. The chimera brought his hand to his nose to wipe away some blood that had started to spill. The sight made him growl and reveal his fangs at her. He barely got one step at her when a shot sounded off and forced him back. At the end of the hall stood Braeden, and she had a rifle out, pointing right at the chimera. She pumped her gun before firing off another shot which hit the wall next to his head, sending a shower of plaster and concrete at his face. She moved to pump her gun again and the chimera quickly moved to retreat before she could fire off another shot at him. Once he was gone, Malia leaned back into the wall and Braeden made her way over to her.
"You okay?" she asked.
Malia shook her head. "No, not so much."
Braeden then took her outside to where her van was waiting for her. "I don't exactly know what's going on but I'm guessing things are bad here again, aren't they?"
"Very," Malia said with a nod.
"Oh, well then this is going to sound worse. Cause your plan, yeah, she knows. And she's coming. The Desert Wolf, she knows you're still alive and she's coming back to Beacon Hills. To finish what she started."
Malia glared down to the pavement for a moment before she looked back up at her. "Good."
Charlie was staring down at a new beta that Oscar had found as she was tied and bound in thick steel chains. The pack was all out in the woods further upstate, over a hundred miles away from the town for this full moon. Apparently, it was supposed to be special. From what Charlie could see about the new face, she seemed to be just as old as he was. He heard that she had been taken because she had been in the navy, stationed on a submarine before she was discharged. She lived about two counties over but Oscar had turned and brought her to be with the rest of them a few days ago. This was her first full moon. Charlie remembered how that was and she was growling and fidgeting about where she was tied down, pain clear in her glowing yellow eyes. The other betas were surrounding her, making sure she didn't break free and run away. Oscar himself now felt this tingling sensation spreading around him as he felt the full moon shining down on him overhead, but he pushed all that aside and kept his breathing steady. His control seemed sufficient enough that Oscar felt he didn't need any kind of binding any longer. One of the older betas was keeping watch over him but didn't seem on alert with him as the others were. As for the other newer betas turned after him, they were on watch as well, but they weren't chained down as extensively as the girl was. With the new recruit, the pack was officially at 13, not counting Oscar himself.
He detected movement and saw that their Second Dean was coming in, and he wasn't alone.
"Who's the kid?" Charlie asked the guy watching him.
"I don't know, dessert," the guy shrugged. That made Charlie's eyes widen at him. He then rolled his eyes. "Relax, sheesh, some people can't take a joke."
Oscar was leaning against a tree, gazing up at the moon, but finally looked away as Dean and Ruben started approaching.
"Welcome to our little neck of the woods," he said amusingly to the kid.
Ruben was looking about at the dark surroundings. "Why all the way out here?"
"It's quiet, secluded. Not a soul for miles. Be sure to keep that mind." Ruben paled a bit at that. "Now, do you have something for me?"
"Yeah," he sighed out. "But I need to know that I'll get what I was promised."
Oscar shrugged. "That depends."
"Depends on what?"
Oscar then moved and brought out his claws. "On if I either lose my patience or am unsatisfied with what you have. Because if it is either, then that means that this was all a waste of time. That you were a waste. And I hate being wasteful." Ruben began to tremble and his fear and panic began to be easily sensed and picked up by the entire pack. "Now, what do you have to tell me?"
Ruben felt Dean roughly push him forward, closer to Oscar, as he tried to step back. "I know who is the father of Cora's child."
Oscar could hear the boy's heartbeat. He was telling the truth. "You do?" he gasped.
Ruben saw the Alpha's reaction and it allowed some confidence to brew up in him. He knew, without a doubt, that he had what Oscar wanted. "Yeah, I do."
He let his mind go back to yesterday, when he had gone to see Cora and was alone in her loft with her son Jason. As he heard his name, he had casually asked if Jason had been named after his father. He made himself not seem eager or prodding, just simply curious. He then asked if he should be on the lookout for an ex that might be angry he was around her or his kid. Cora told him that he didn't have anything to worry about any kind of jealous ex trouble as he didn't even know.
"Besides, I don't even think Stiles would even feel jealous," her voice echoed in his memory.
"I have a name," said Ruben. "Well, a nickname I guess. I really doubt parents would really ever name their kid that."
"What? What name?"
"If I tell you, you're not going to hurt Cora or her son, are you?"
Oscar moved to shift his claws away. "Believe me Ruben, the last thing I want is something to happen to either of them."
Scott went and pushed against the barrier, trying to get out but it didn't budge in the slightest. He felt himself get thrust back but managed to stay on his feet. He straightened himself up and get himself ready again.
"C'mon, you could do this," he said to himself. "You've done it before."
Scott then charged for the barrier again but it quickly launched him back to the ground upon impact. The sun had long set and he could already feel the effects of the Supermoon hit him as it shined through the library's giant window, it's light illuminating the room. He had been trying for the last few hours to get through the barrier to no avail. Scott let out a growl of irritation as he tried to pick himself up. He then went and slammed his fist down at a nearby table in frustration, breaking a chunk of it clean off.
He was livid. When Theo had said those last words to him, they were a twisted version of the words that Stiles had said to him last night. And Theo had been listening in. Scott realized that Theo had set that whole thing up. And not just that, but everything. Everything since the night of Senior Scribe, it had all been just one big set up. Stiles, Kira, Lydia, Liam, Malia…they all hate him or are all alone. Just like him. Scott still doesn't even know what Theo even wants but he wants him trapped here, and he couldn't stay.
He headed up to the second floor, trying to find another way to bypass the mountain ash, and found the passage leading up to the roof. Scott got on top and hoped he could now leave from here. Yet, when he tried to head for the fire escape, he hit the edge of the barrier. It seemed to extend up to the roof of the building as well. Scott then started to feel his lungs tightening up and was short of breath. He pulled out the inhaler but his thumb accidentally hit the pump button and Scott saw a purple mist escape the nozzle in the moonlight. He narrowed his eyes and then moved to crush inhaler to pieces to find a familiar purple powder inside.
"Wolfsbane," he coughed out.
Scott then remembered that this inhaler wasn't his. Theo had given this to him last night when his other had been broken. He had been poisoning himself every time he had taken a breath from it. Theo had tricked him…again. This had been another one of his setups. As Scott let himself try to get his breathing back under control, he heard footsteps from behind him. He turned around and was surprised at who he saw.
"Liam?!" He would've been relieved to see him but Liam was standing there, glaring at him with his face fully shifted, and his glowing yellow eyes glaring hard at him. Now he was starting to see what Theo had planned. "Theo let you in, passed the mountain ash." Liam had to have thought something wasn't right
"Did you lie to me?" he said instead, not caring about Theo right now.
"I've never lied to you."
"But you won't save her. You promised!"
Scott had to make Liam see reason. "I can't save her. At least not with a bite. If you'd just stop and think about that for a second Liam, you'd know that I'm right."
Liam let a low growl escape him at that. Excuses. Hayden is dying and Scott is still trying to make excuses. The bite was the only chance she has now but Scott was just giving up on her because he was scared. Scared that Hayden would reject the bite and die but she was dying anyway.
"I am thinking," he spat out. "I'm thinking about alternatives!"
If Liam wanted to save Hayden, he would have to do it himself. And there was only one way he could do that. He then flexed out his claws out as he started to close in on him.
Scott held his hands out at him, trying to settle him down. "Liam, it's the Supermoon. Its feeding your anger. Its making you more aggressive."
"Its making me stronger!" He then took another step for him and Scott continued to back away. "Now, you're gonna keep your promise Scott. Even, if it kills you!"
With that, Liam then roared out and ran for Scott. Liam swiped his claws for his neck but Scott quickly ducked to avoid it. Yet, as soon as he did, Liam quickly rose his leg and his knee struck Scott square in the chest. Scott staggered back until he found himself up against one of the library's skylights. Liam bared his teeth as he started to leer towards him like a predator waiting to pounce.
"Liam, stop!" Scott shouted at him. "You're not going to save Hayden by killing me!"
Liam straightened himself up. "The only way I can save Hayden is by killing you!"
With that Liam threw himself into the air and moved to tightened his clawed hand into a hard fist but just missed Scott's head. He had just rolled off to the side a second before Liam's hand punched through the glass of the skylight. The glass of the skylight began cracking apart and the two werewolves soon found themselves falling down into the library. Scott fell and landed on a table where it then went and broke apart right from under him. He barely had time to groan from the shock when he threw himself to the side to avoid a set of claws going for his throat. Liam left deep claw marks into the wood before lifting his head up in time see Scott get back to his feet. He ripped his claws out of the table and let out a hard snarl before charging at his Alpha. Scott started getting tossed around like a ragdoll. First he was thrown over the librarian's desk where Liam moved to slam his head into the desk and then the wall before throwing him off over the desk again. Before he could even get up, Liam took a chair and then slammed it down on his back, having it shatter to splinters on impact. Scott tried to get away but Liam easily caught him before he could move more than a few feet, each time.
As Scott was hurled off to the steps by the back of the library, he growled out in frustration. He didn't want to hurt Liam but the guy was not giving him much choice. Liam jumped onto the table in front of him and stared him down, ready to pounce when Scott moved to try and swipe at his legs. Liam stepped around, avoiding each attack and Scott then just grabbed the table and moved to flip it over. Liam quickly jumped back, landing almost gracefully on the the next table further down. He didn't seem the least bit faltered by the move. His face was still focused as he stared down at Scott. Focused on killing him.
Scott shook his head. "I don't want to hurt you Liam, but, I can't just let you kill me."
"And how are you going to do that?" Liam snarled out.
Scott narrowed his eyes before he moved to look out the window. Out towards the bright full moon shining outside. The Supermoon. Suddenly, a feet burned in his eyes and he felt it start to flow and travel to every fiber of his being. He then turned to look back at Liam, fully shifted and his red eyes glowing.
"By stopping you," he snared back. He then roared out at him.
Scott moved to try and beat Liam down. His only hope to stopping him. Yet, that was easier said than done. Scott's strength and speed, while feeling enhanced by the Supermoon, they didn't seem to be too much more greater than he usually was. Scott's blows, Liam was easily brushing them off. Scott moved to have a punch at the side of Liam's head but it made him flinch for a fraction of a second before he tried to claw at him. And every one of Liam's blows to him, Scott felt he was being hit with concrete. Scott's attacks hardly seemed to faze him. Well, when they did connect. Either ducking away from punches and side stepping away from kicks that he sent at him, Liam seemed untouchable. Scott then climbed up to a table and jumped as high as he could, getting up to the second floor landing. He was breathing hard, feeling sore and getting tired. Yet, as he looked down at Liam who almost seemed like he hadn't even started fighting yet in comparison.
Scott guessed that he was tired from breathing in wolfsbane from Theo's poisoned inhaler all day. It was weakening him, so much that the Supermoon was barely making a difference. But Liam seemed to have fully given himself to it. And...Scott then remembered that Stiles and Liam had spent a good part of the last couple of months with Satomi and her pack. Training and sparring together. Scott couldn't beat him, not like this. He would have to try reasoning with him again.
"Liam, listen to me. This is all Theo. Don't you see, this is his plan. He's using you Liam. He wants you to kill me and take my power because he can't do it himself. And once you do, he'll kill you and take it for himself." Liam didn't seem to be listening. He was just calmly making his way up the stairs to get to him. "That's why he let you in here, why he wants you to kill me."
"That's what you don't get Scott, I want to kill you. I want to!"
With that, Liam charged for him and Scott moved to try to try and jump out of the way. But Liam grabbed him and moved to slam him into the nearest shelf. After he hit it, Scott twisted to slip out of his hold and grab him from behind. Liam tried to shake him off but Scott wouldn't let go. So Liam moved and threw himself back, making the back of Scott's head collide into the nearest shelf. Scott got stunned and loosened his grip and Liam moved to grab him and then throw him over to the stairs, where he began falling down them, bumping against every other step. Scott grunted as he hit the bottom but moved to crawl away as Liam pounced down at him. Liam moved to grab at his leg but Scott moved to try and kick him back. On managed to hit him in the nose but that only made Liam growl out in anger. He threw himself down at him and the two began to roll around on the floor, trying to overpower the other. Liam managed to get himself on top and he grabbed at Scott's shoulders and pulled him up before slamming him back down, making Scott's head slam against the floor. Scott became dazed, coughing up in pain as Liam stood up and started to circle him. Scott started to roll about a bit until he was laid out in front of the stairs and Liam moved to stand directly in front of him. The beta took a moment to glare down at him before he looked down to his claws. He gave a roar and then moved to begin to maul Scott apart.
As they got to the school, Melissa pulled her car right to the front of the school. Mason told her that he would go and find Liam to bring him just before he went and raced on inside. He let himself take a moment to gaze out at the site of the carnage of the school sign in the hallway, both scared and amazed at what could've been able to do that. Yet, he then heard the sound of roaring and then ran off to where it had fired off from, the library. He ran inside in time to see Liam starting to maul at Scott, who was vainly trying to protect himself with his arms.
"Liam! Liam, stop!" he cried as he got over to him. "Liam!" At that, Liam seemed to snap out of it and look over at him. "Liam, what are you doing?!" He saw Liam look to his bloodied claws and then over to Scott who was covered in wounds. Wounds that were all at his own hands. Tears then began to spill from Mason's eyes. "Liam, it's Hayden. She's...she's gone."
"What?" he gasped out.
Mason moved to wipe at his nose before pointing out. "We brought her. She's here, outside."
He couldn't get another word in as Liam then leapt up and headed out of the room. As he ran, his eyes, his claws, his face, all shifted out back to normal. He got to the front door and practically threw himself into them as he got out of the building. He found Melissa's car waiting for him and he ran over to the back where Hayden's body was laying.
"Liam," Melissa cried, taking in the blood on him. "What happened?"
Liam took Hayden in her arms and started to cry. "Scott...Scott."
That was all he could bring himself to say but it was enough for Melissa to leave the car and run into the school herself. As Liam cradled Hayden in his arms, he cried into her hair, sorry for not being there for her like she had wanted. But, he then felt a presence and looked over to see someone standing there. It was Deputy Parrish, and he was covered in ash, with his clothes half-burned away. He was staring down at him, his eyes burning with an orange glow. He was there for Hayden. Liam took a moment to push some stray hairs out of Hayden's face before he gestured her out to him. Parrish then bent down and scooped the girl into her arms and moved to take her away to his van. Putting her alongside the body of Corey.
Back in the library, Mason moved to try and help get Scott to his feet and slung his arm over his shoulder to help him move.
"What happened?" Mason asked him.
"The Supermoon," Scott coughed out. "It's just-"
"Bad Timing."
The two of them looked up to see Theo standing there. There was blood around his lips as well as some bruises like he had just been attacked.
"Theo?" Mason gasped.
He glared at him as he stomped on over. "Seriously, you couldn't have waited five minutes?!" He then grabbed at Mason's head and slammed him down into the nearest table, making him collapse onto the floor. That left him standing there with Scott. "You know, it's my fault. I shouldn't have stayed away. I should've made sure, but now, it's all ruined."
Scott didn't have any strength left to walk let alone fight. But, even so, he found he wasn't afraid. He just smirked off at him. "Because you now have to kill me yourself?"
"They're still mine," he angrily spat at him. "Not yet but they'll come around."
"Yeah? Then what's with the face?" Scott let himself give out a chuckle. "Stiles, I'm guessing."
"Yeah, he might not be in the cards, but he was always going to be a long shot if I'm being honest with myself. At least I'll still have the others."
"No, you won't." With that, Theo moved to drive his claws directly into Scott, pushing right into his gut. Scott could feel the blood and life start to seep away through the seams. "They, will never, let you have them. They're not like you," he gasped out, painfully.
"Why? Because I'm a chimera?" Theo hissed at him. "Because I'm not a real werewolf."
Scott managed to turn his head to look at him. "Because you're barely even human."
Theo then pushed Scott down to the steps and then drove his claws even deeper into Scott before moving to pull out and rip some of Scott's insides out. He looked down at the fallen Alpha, breathing heated and hard, watching as the red in his eyes dimmed out and his heart give away. Theo then moved to leave the library. The True Alpha was dead.
Melissa ran through the halls of the school until she found herself in the library and gasped as she saw the sight of her son, lying dead on the floor. Mason was coming to and starting to try and push his way over to him. Melissa ran over to Scott and moved to lie him flat on the ground. She pressed her ear to his chest and then moved to apply pressure to his chest.
"What are you doing?" Mason said to her. "Just, what are you doing?" he said, in a defeated tone.
"Bringing him back!" she said, not stopping. She lost one kid already tonight. She would not lose another, especially her son.
"But his heart. He's been gone, for...it's got be 15 minutes. You can't just bring someone back that's-"
"He's not just someone, he's my son," she said to him. "And he's an Alpha and he's too damn strong to die like this!" She then started applying pressure faster. "Come on, breathe baby, breathe."
She kept trying to revive him but it didn't have any effect.
"Melissa...please, it's-"
"Shut up!" she spat at him. Melissa than stared down at her son's face. His still shifted face. "Scott, come on, you're an Alpha. An alpha. Roar. Come on, Scott, roar! Roar Scott!"
Just then Scott's body jumped and a roar moved to escape him. One that made both Melissa and Mason jump back. Scott's eyes burned red again as he kept roaring out until he couldn't anymore. Then he let himself collapse down to the floor, to the relief of the two people crutched down next to him.
Stiles pulled the car up to the house where Theo said his father was. It was the same place that the chimera with the talons was buried and where Liam and Hayden had been kept after they were taken. He quickly sniffed around and picked up his father's scent. He was really there. A moment later, the front door was thrown off its hinges as Stiles threw himself inside.
"Dad!" he yelled out, his voice echoing through the barren house. "Dad, where are you?!"
There wasn't a peep in response and Stiles felt his heart begin pounding faster and harder in his chest. He then brought his nose up and started to deeply sniff in the air. Sifting through the smells of mold and urban decay, his eyes widened as he picked up the scent of fresh blood. It seemed to be coming from the basement. He took a second to think that it would've been the obvious place before he started charging down the stairs. As he got down the landing, there were were streams of moonlight shining through and it allowed him to make out a dark room at the very end. The smell of blood was coming from there, along with his father's scent.
"Dad!"
Stiles ran for the room but he hit something at the doorway and was flung down to his back. He let out a growl as he threw himself back up. He stepped up to the edge of the doorway and his eyes widened at the black line just on the inside.
"Mountain ash!" he growled.
Tracy was able to pass the mountain ash line because she was a chimera. It hadn't kept her back because she was not a true supernatural, and Theo was just like her. Deaton had once told them that a mountain ash line could only be drawn by someone that it didn't effect. He had drawn this line, to keep him busy and away from whatever scheme he was cooking up. But his eyes looked up and he could see his father lying out in the middle of the floor. He wasn't moving and he was wounded. The scent of his blood was filling the air and Stiles' eyes flashed bright blue as he moved to push against the barrier again.
Stiles didn't know how long he spent trying to force his way into the room but his every attempt met with failure. He had been pushed or thrown back every single time. Yet, he didn't care about how much it hurt or how taxing it was. All he knew was that he had to get to his father. So he just kept getting back on his feet and rush at the barrier again and again. He was fully shifted as cried and growled against it.
"Come on!" he growled out right before he slammed his shoulder into the barrier but was repelled back a step.
His father was only four feet away but he might as well have been on the other side of the world thanks to the mountain ash line. Stiles didn't get it. He had one of these lines before. Back at the club when he and Derek needed to go and save Scott. Deaton guessed that the power of his mind must've been strong enough to have done it. So, why couldn't he do this for his father? He never imagined doing something stronger than he had right now. His ears then stiffened up as they started to pick up his father's heart beat. It was starting to slow and falter. He looked up but didn't see his father. He saw his mother in a hospital bed, hearing the monitor next to her starting to falter with its beeps.
"No!" he yelled as he charged forward.
But the barrier flared up and violently flung him off to the other end of the corridor, making him crash into a wooden support beam. It snapped apart and the ceiling above started to crack and then collapse right down around him. Light, moonlight, started to pour down and better illuminate the basement. Stiles groaned as he tried to push away the debris that was now all around him. Stiles coughed through the dust as he tried to get back up but his knees gave out and he fell down to all fours. His nose was starting to smell it. The smell of impending death. His forehead grinding against the concrete floor, as he began to silently weep into it. It was happening, again. He was going to have to watch another parent die in front of him, again. His father was all he had left and he was going to lose him, just like he'd lost everyone else, and there was nothing he could do about it.
The moonlight was shining down onto him and Stiles managed to look teary eyed up at it. His wolf blue eyes met the light and he immediately began to feel this pressure in his head. He squinted and grunted out through his fanged teeth as he started to feel it start to spread throughout his body. Stiles quickly moved to curl up on the floor as his insides started to twist and burn, just like earlier today. Stiles pleadingly moved his hand up to the moonlight as his hand started to grow and thicken in mass. He thrust his hand down as his whole body began to expand and thicken up. Tears began to erupt all over his clothes, from top the bottom. As they shed away, they revealed not pale skin underneath, but dark brown fur. Stiles tried to let out a shout but his mouth had started to elongate into jaws. His teeth began to shift into hard fangs and his present fangs began to thicken and grow out to be as big as switchblades. A low snarl erupted from the back of his throat as the fangs started to shine with drool in the moonlight.
A hard howl sounded out from that basement, shaking its foundations. A moment later, another howl sounded out in response, just as earth shattering. These howls sent waves through the air, supernatural waves.
Theo was pissed. Weeks of planning and maneuvering…wasted. He was so close. So close to getting the power of the True Alpha and it slipped passed his fingers. Still, even though Scott won't be a problem anymore, there were still everyone else. His secret was all but out now and once they were done with mourning, Theo and Malia would all be gunning for him. Add to that, Stiles would be coming for him to pay him back for his father and Scott. Not to mention, when word got back to Satomi and her pack about him and Wilson Grant, they would be right behind them. A lot of pissed off werewolves were going to be on his ass and he was going to need protection. He couldn't count on the Dread Doctors. They wouldn't help protect him, but, their discarded research might. But to use it, he needed some things. Two actually, and they were both over at the lab.
Lydia was on the hard, damp floor of the underground lab where Theo had left her unconscious before he had gone to his house to get confronted by the Sheriff. When death came for Hayden, it started to make her stir up from her slumber. But Scott's death, that started to fidget in place. What finally woke her was Scott's life returning to him. It snapped her eyes wide open and made her gasp for air like she had been underwater this whole time. She barely had time to get her bearings in as their was somebody aggressively stomping for her. Lydia started to crawl away but he quickly moved and angrily yanked her up by her hair.
"No!" she painfully screamed as she tried to fight Theo's iron grip.
"I've never done this before Lydia. I know how dangerous it is but I don't have a lot of time so it's a risk we're going to have to take."
He then brought out his claws and Lydia knew what he was about to do.
"Stop, no!"
Theo didn't pay her pleas any heed. He just moved and his hand over to the back of her neck and then jammed them in. "What do you think Lydia? Am I doing it right?!" he spat out at her.
He started digging in deeper until the tips of his claws made contact with Lydia's spine and he stiffened as images started flooding into his head. He could see it. The Nemeton. The old, sacred remains of a power that gave Beacon Hills its name. Then he saw the bodies. All the bodies of the chimeras that Parrish had taken there.
"I saw it," he gasped out as he snapped out of it and he released Lydia, who fell down to her knees, stuck in some kind of paralytic shock but he paid her no mind. "I know where it is. I know where I have to go."
He then made his way over to a workbench and started shifting around until he found The Surgeon's syringe and moved over to the vat where the body was. The doctors' 'catalyst' for their chimeras. He jammed the syringe into one of the pumps and extracted as much of the fluid as he could to fill it. It wasn't a lot. From what Theo could see, it would probably be enough for only four. He then pocketed the syringe and then stomped back over for Lydia, who was still fidgeting where he had left her.
"Let's go," he said, grabbing onto her hair again.
Theo carried her out to his truck where he threw her in and quickly drove off for the preserve. He knew exactly where he was going thanks to Lydia, who still seemed to be in some kind of paralysis. Her eyes were darting around, but she couldn't move. And all that seemed to come out of her mouth were gurgles and gasps. When he made it to the Nemeton's general location, he moved to drag Lydia along. She seemed to be able to start using her feet but her sense of direction seemed to be off so Theo had to aggressively push her to make her go in the direction he wanted.
"C'mon Lydia," he hissed out as he tried to steer her.
A moment later, Theo just let her go as they reached the desired sight of the stump and all the bodies surrounding it. He barely registered Lydia's knees giving out from under her as she fell down to the ground. Theo gave out a hungry gasp as he gazed upon the collection of bodies. Chimeras. Discarded rejects of the Dread Doctors. Just like him.
Theo looked over and saw that Lydia's gaze was stuck and fixated on the bodies. "Shocked Lydia? Well, just wait and watch this," he said, right before pulling out the syringe. He then began to wade through the bodies. "Where are they?" he muttered to himself.
The serum, there wasn't a lot. He couldn't waste it on anyone who would be worthless. His eyes caught sight of Donovan. No, not him. While he knew the guy would listen to him, Donovan was more useful to him dead than alive in the long run. He barely spared a glimpse at Courtney as he walked by her. Fun to fool around with but more trouble than she was worth.
He then found Tracy, the one who was part kanima. Yes, a good start. He quickly injected her neck and released a pump of the serum before yanking it out. A moment later, she gasped out as her body healed itself and her life was restored. He then found Corey. Yes, he would be useful too, for both his ability and as collateral due to his connection to Mason. He injected and then made him come back as well. He then stumbled on Josh. Raw electrical power. Yes, that would be quite useful in fending off his enemies, as well as have other fun and unexpected uses. He injected him and brought him back. There was only enough for one more and he knew which that had to be. You could never have too much collateral. He found and then injected Hayden.
The four of them were disoriented and confused as they tried to steady themselves and make sense of what had happened to them. Being the one who had been dead for the least amount of time, Hayden managed to speak first.
"What's happening?" she gasped out. She then moved to look at her hands, which she was flexing and turning about. "How am I-?" She couldn't say it. Alive. She was certain she was dead.
Theo smiled at her. "I brought you back. I brought you all back."
Tracy blinked. "And who are you?!"
His smile became more savage and hungry. "I'm your Alpha. And all of you, you belong to me."
Suddenly, there was a wolf howl sounding through the night sky. It made all five of them stiffen up as they then heard another, a harder howl sound off after it. Both of them made their hairs stand on end.
"What was that?" Corey gasped out.
Theo's smile faded and his face was all determination. "That, is why you're all here." He then turned to face away from them. "It's time to move."
With that, Theo began to walk off. Tracy was the first to follow after him. Then Josh. Corey slowly started to move on and Hayden found herself bringing up the rear. Lydia was left staring off at the Nemeton, unmoving and unblinking as the five chimeras disappeared into the night together.
Liam was sitting, hurdled up in a corner of his room. His eyes were raw and red from the tears he had been shedding. Hayden was dead, he couldn't save her. And he had tried to kill Scott. He knew that his friends, especially Stiles, weren't going to forgive him for this. Liam didn't know what he was going to do.
But he lifted his head up as he heard a distant howling from the corner of his ears. His eyes glowed golden yellow behind the tears.
In the Sheriff's station, Zach was freaking out. He was in the holding cell area, looking at the bars of one of the cells. The smell of molted steel was still thick in this room as the bars were bent apart. Done by a deputy who he had let into his apartment only the day before. Zach just wanted leave except couldn't seeing as his car was swiped by a werewolf, who was part of a werewolf pack at the high school. Oh, and he was now some kind of freak with claws and wings who was experimented on by 3 demented mad scientists. Mad scientists that now apparently wanted him dead.
What had he gotten himself into?
"Hey," he heard call out.
"Yeah?" he muttered. But he saw there was no one there. He was completely alone in the holding cell area.
"What's wrong?" he heard another voice say.
The first voice spoke again. "We just got a call from the hospital. Some kind of disturbance."
"Again? That's twice in two days."
"Yeah, we have to call in Sheriff Stilinski."
"I've been trying. Ever since Parrish left. I haven't been able to reach him."
Zach blinked. He realized that he was hearing a conversation being held in another room, as clearly as if these people were talking right in front of him. This was getting too much for him. He moved to leave but froze when he heard a howl sound off in the back of his mind. A hard, wolfish howl. At the sound of it, his face fell blank but his eyes did glow golden yellow.
Parrish was making his way out of the forest after he had come to drop of Hayden and Corey's bodies at the Nemeton. He was still in his daze, half naked with his body covered up in ash. He made it to his van just as a howl sounded out through the night sky. He stopped and turned to look up just as another identical howl went off. His eyes burned bright orange as flames lit up all around him.
Braeden went and then took out a semi-automatic and then placed it down on the kitchen table where there were already an extensive array of high-end, military grade weapons scattered about. Henry Tate's eyes widened as he took them all. To him it seemed like enough to arm a small squadron.
"And people say I'm gun crazy with my double-barrel, .38 and 9mm," he muttered. "Is all this really necessary?"
"Against the Desert Wolf, the dead men in those photos you saw would probably insist we don't have enough."
There was a sudden shattering of glass as Malia had gasped and dropped a cup onto the tiled floor. She was breathing hard, staring out at the window.
"Malia?" her father said, running over to her. "What's wrong?"
She just kept gazing out, her eyes letting out a blue glow as she heard the sounds of hard howling echoing out through the night sky.
Scott was lying in his bed as his mom moved to wrap gauze over his wounds. It was quiet between them which gave Scott time to focus on everything that had happened. When it got to be too much, he broke the silence.
"I lost mom," he said, saying it more to himself than to her.
His mom sighed at hearing her son's defeated tone. "Every leader suffers loss. Sometimes, more than you think is bearable."
"But, I'm all alone. I lost everyone. Stiles, Liam, Kira, Lydia, Malia," he muttered as he listed everyone of them. "They hate me."
"You'll get them back," she said, resolutely.
"Why would they come back?" he scoffed out. Scott didn't even want to come back right now.
"Because, you're their leader. And even when a leader thinks they have nothing left to give, there's still one thing." That made Scott finally look up at her, waiting for the answer. "Hope. Give them hope."
Scott just stared at her. "Hope," he muttered. How was he supposed to give anyone hope? He didn't have any for himself.
Melissa could hear the doubt in her son's voice as he said that. She was sure that it might seem impossible right now, but if there was one thing the last two years had taught her, nothing was impossible. Yet, her face fell when she saw Scott stiffen up suddenly, his eyes flashing a dim red.
"Scott?" She then saw him look over at the window. "What's wrong?"
Scott just looked out at towards the night sky. At the distant corner of his eardrums, he just picked up a distant howl. One that made his blood run a bit cold. And a moment later, he heard another one, this one making his heart drop to his stomach.
All the way across to the other side of the country, a pair of siblings had their eyes let out a momentary glow of blue and yellow. And a baby boy began to stir in a woman's arms. His brown eyes moving about, seeking the full moon shining above.
And a pack feeling an unnerving tingle going right up their spines. Their eyes all momentarily glowing in response. The teen boy with them quickly noticing it.
"What's wrong?" Ruben asked Oscar, whose red eyes moved up to seek the full moon.
The Alpha didn't answer him. He just stared up at the moon with a somewhat hungry twinkle in his eye.
Everything was in infrared as the beast ran through the dark roads, softly snarling as it felt the pavement beneath its paws. It soon saw a pair of bright lights shining up on ahead and then jumped up into the dark brush of the trees on the opposite side of the road. It watched as the car went and turned into a car auto garage. The driver then opened the door and its nostrils flared as it detected a heavy smell of apprehension coming off him.
Virgil squinted as he got out of his car and felt the hard wind hit him in his face. It was a good thing he decided to use his grandmother's car instead of his bike. He moved to start closing the door when he stiffened. He blinked as he looked out towards the treeline on the other side of the road. He could've sworn he just saw two glowing lights in the dark...almost like eyes.
"Get a grip Virgil," he said to himself, shrugging it off. He then looked over to the garage where he saw that there were already people moving about inside. "Time to get this over with."
As Virgil moved to head on in, two glowing eyes shined through dark, locked on him.
The Dread Doctors stood up before a wall off at a corner of their lab. The Surgeon moved to take his cane and then started striking at it. Every blow he made stripped off chunks of tiles and plaster, sending them everywhere.
"Le Bete. Le Bete," he kept chanting with every strike.
Soon enough, he stopped as he revealed an image etched in stone that had been hidden behind the wall. It depicted two monstrous figures facing each other in combat. The Surgeon stepped back to take it in with The Pathologist and Geneticist. The inspiration behind all of their work and research.
"Success," he muttered out.
"Success," the other two said after him.
A/N: This is the end of Part 1. It's been a long time incoming but we've finally seen Stiles turn into the Beast. Though, it wasn't exactly a moment he will look back on fondly, is it? But still, I hope you all enjoyed it. The hardest scene for me to write was the one between Stiles and Zach, in the alley. Took a whole week before I finally got a version that seemed to fit. Part 2 of the story will be under this same title but I won't start posting any new chapters until sometime early 2021. Just remember to stay safe during these trying times.
