Chapter 32: Damnatio Memoriae
Hayden was sitting beside her sister Valerie as she drove down the road to respond to a call of a tech worker at the communication tower that hadn't responded for over an hour. She was annoyed as Valerie had kept her on a short leash lately. As soon as her sister was done talking over the police radio that she would handle it, she sighed heatedly.
"Are you just going to drag me with me with you to work everyday now?" Hayden asked annoyingly.
"I will if I have to."
Hayden bit back her frustration. Valerie had recently gotten her big sister protective streak into overdrive, determined not to let Hayden be out of her sight especially when Hayden really wanted some time to still process everything that had happened to her. And still was happening. Like Theo. He had been silent for a while and wouldn't tell her, Tracey, Corey or Josh anything about what had happened to them or what was happening now. All he said was to act normal and keep away from Scott, Stiles, Malia and Liam as much as possible. Not exactly easy as Liam had taken to text her non-stop since they'd seen each other and dodging Stiles when he was at the station yesterday as he tried to get her alone but she stuck with her sister, not hard when she was insistent on her being consistently in her sights. Hayden was feeling herself reaching wits end.
"You can't keep an eye on me 24/7, you know."
Valerie looked at her stone-faced. "You vanished for three days only to turn up and lead us to a field full of bodies, I'm keeping an eye on you for the rest of your natural born life."
She sighed as she resisted flinching at those last words. "I told you that I was with Liam."
"Which doesn't improve your argument. Maybe you think you can do your own thing now. I don't care, you still need me. We look out for each other, remember?" She watched Hayden turn away at those words. "For all I knew, you could've been dead."
Hayden felt herself deflate. She caught her reflection in the mirror. A reflection that a few days ago, she was sure that she might not ever see stare back at her again. Valerie kept talking though.
"Sorry Hayden, I know you're annoyed with all of this overprotection but things are just really hectic right now. I mean, with whatever issue Deputy Parrish was dealing with last week, Sheriff Stilinski getting attacked, the thing that happened with the sign at the high school, and then the other night with the horror found at the auto shop that Stiles and that mechanic reported in, I think I have a right to be a little overprotective right now."
But Hayden was too lost in her thoughts of her own death and return to have registered anything her sister had just said.
They eventually made it to the communications tower where they could see a truck pulled up to the front entrance with the front lights still on. Valerie then told Hayden to sit tight as he left to go and check it out. She made it to the car and switched the engine off before she went over to the gate and saw that it was still unlocked. Valerie brought out her gun and moved steadily inside as she began crying out for anyone.
Though Valerie couldn't hear anything in response, Hayden's ears picked up someone calling out for help in a weak, frail voice. Hayden then moved to step outside and get ready to follow after her sister. As she closed the door, she caught a reflection of someone behind her and moved to swipe out on impulse and just missed Liam as he ducked out of the way.
"What are you doing here?!" she shrieked at him.
"I sent you like 100 texts!" he shouted back.
She breathed out and nodded. "I saw."
Liam stuttered in response. "You saw? That's it?" That's all Hayden had to say to him. He didn't know whether he wanted to be worried for her or angry with her. "How could you not tell me that you were still alive? Why?"
"I don't know, maybe because you left me for dead."
"You were dead," he stressed out.
Yet, as the two teens were going back and forth outside, Valerie was climbing deeper into the tower and she found the tech on the floor. She moved over for him but she gasped as she saw that he had deep gashes on his front like he had been attacked by an animal. He seemed to be trying to tell her something but he didn't have the strength to even utter the words. Whatever strength, and life, was left in this man was used to point off ahead before it all gave out. Valerie looked at where he pointed with his dying breath and she gasped again as she saw something in the shadows. A big and dark figure with a giant clawed hand reaching out and squeezing a pipe which quickly began to release steam at the seams. Valerie quickly dropped her light in shock as she broke into a run and the creature started to move for her when it stopped as it detected voices shouting out from the door up the stairs.
Hayden was through with this arguing. "Liam, you need to go!"
"No, I'm not going until you-"
But they stopped when they heard something stomping from up ahead. From where Valerie had walked in, they saw two bright lights, eyes, looking upon them from the darkness. As their owner came closer into the light, Liam and Hayden's faces paled in terror as they saw a monster move to rip the gate off its hinges and then throw it over towards them. It stopped just short of their feet as the monster began to step over to them and roar at them with a deep, spine-chilling howl.
Quickly, Liam grabbed Hayden and they broke into a hard run as the monster moved after them in pursuit. They ran off in the woods but they could hear the monster gaining ground on them every second. It would catch them any second now. They desperately kept running until they came upon a chasm.
"Jump!" Hayden cried.
Liam's eyes popped up. "Are you kidding?"
They turned as they heard that the beast was almost on them.
"We can make it!" Hayden said as she grabbed Liam and backed up a few paces.
Liam bit it and he then moved as she did and the ran and leapt as hard and far as they could. Hayden managed to land solidly about two feet from the opposite edge though Liam only managed to be able hit the edge, having his hands graze the top of the edge as he tried to keep himself from falling over. Hayden moved to grab him and help pull him up when there was a crash behind her. She turned and saw that the creature had jumped the chasm as well but had landed a few yards from the edge. It then turned and it bared out its fangs at her as it stomped over for them. Liam had been pulled high enough to see it too and he only saw one way out.
"Do you trust me?" he gasped at her.
Hayden turned to him and shook her head. "No!"
Liam didn't care as he pulled her and they fell down the chasm just a second before the monster made it there. It roared out in anger as its prey slipped away from its clutches. The next thing he knew was a sharp pain burning at his cheek as something hit him. It stirred him up and he was just able to make out Hayden standing above him, as she moved to slap him, again.
"What are you doing?" he groaned out.
"Making sure you're alive."
Liam tried to get up but he found himself completely numb from his waist. "I can't move my legs. I…I think my back is broken."
Hayden started to feel a bit of panic swelling up. "Will it heal?"
"Eventually, I think." He had never been injured this badly before so he couldn't be sure.
But Hayden nodded. "Good," she said before she moved to leave.
"Whoa, wait, where are you going?" he cried out, making her stop to look back down at him.
"To find my sister and make sure she's okay."
"You're going to just leave me here?"
"You pulled me off a cliff. I'm lucky I healed," she scoffed.
"I saved your life," Liam spat.
"This time."
"Who saved it last time?"
Hayden took a deep breath before answering him. "Theo."
At the sound of his name Liam froze and fell quiet. He just laid there, listening as Hayden went off to head back for the communications tower. Theo had brought Hayden back. Did that mean he had brought them all back?
Stiles was sitting on a wooden stool as he scrolled down a news alert of a death reported over at the communications tower as the hood of his jeep was open with Virgil hovering over the engine and aggressively digging around. He gave out a deep satisfied breath as he yanked out a slab of duct tape.
"I think this is the last of it." He then went to stick it on an already giant ball of duct tape sitting on the nearby work bench. Virgil shook his head as he took it all in. "Geez, that's got to be what, almost three whole rolls?"
"More or less," Stiles mumbled as he went and grabbed the wad of tape in his hand.
"You do get this is a car, not a toy, right?"
Stiles rolled his eyes. "Really, wow, I never would've guessed that." That made Virgil glare at him. Stiles was starting to think he wasn't one that really appreciated the Stiles brand of sarcasm. "I just really needed a quick fix."
"Well, it didn't fix anything. Just made it fall apart all the more slowly."
"So," he said soberly. "Then what's the word? Can it be fixed?"
"Well, now that the whole engine isn't covered with layer upon layer of duct tape, I can see that the damage isn't as bad as you would think. The fan belt and a few other parts look like they've melted though due to extra heat and need to be replaced but the engine thankfully still seems salvageable."
"Yeah?" Stiles said, his spirit feeling higher than its been in days. "So, you can fix it?"
Virgil nodded. "If I can't then no one can. It'll definitely take some work but I can get this jeep running again."
"And is this the best place to do that?" he said, taking in the scenery.
They were in the workshop of the auto shop that the massacre had happened. There was police tape now around the place after they had gone to the Sheriff's station and reported this place for the record.
"All the tools and equipment that we could ever need are still here. Not to mention that no one will be coming by here any time soon. I work better alone and with quiet."
"Good to know."
"Yeah, and you should also know that it goes without saying that you are definitely going to need a new windshield as well," he said, pointing to where there was a giant break at the center of the glass. "What the heck happened there?"
"Oh, I kinda...threw a wrench at it."
"A wrench? On top of ducting the hell out of this thing, you went and threw a wrench at your windshield?"
"I was having a bad night, okay." Stiles bit out.
Virgil quickly lifted his hands up. "Relax, I'm just messing with you."
Stiles went and took a deep breath as he let his mind be filled with thoughts of his father to anchor him down. "Yeah, sorry. It's just, I don't like to think about it."
Virgil felt his jaw tighten a bit at the look in Stiles' eyes. "Yeah, I've had a few times like that," he said empathically. "Where you just want to just take a bat or sledgehammer and just let loose. Though, I guess in your case you can use your bare hands, huh?"
"How long do you think you'll need to fix Roscoe up?"
It was clear to Virgil that Stiles was done with this topic. "Uh, well, I think I could be done...hmm, maybe in about a week."
Stiles eyes could've popped out of their skull. "Really, that fast?"
"Well, you'd be surprised how fast things around here could get done without my cheap skate boss trimming wherever he could. I could be done even more faster if I didn't, you know, have to eat, sleep, and all that other time consuming crap."
Maybe Stiles was wrong. Maybe Virgil could appreciate his brand of sarcasm after all. "Wow, great." Stiles then went to take a look at the time. "Whoa, visiting hours started up over an hour ago. I better head on to the hospital."
"Oh, before I forget," Virgil said before Stiles could get more a few feet away. "Zach, he's still feeling kind of jumpy. He wonders when it'll be okay for him to try and skip town again without being jumped by those three Frankenstein rejects."
Stiles shook his head. "He'll have to bare it a little longer. After what happened to Noah, its a good bet they're still keeping an eye out for their remaining chimeras. Running now might force their hand and until I can find out what their next play is, its not safe for him to try to leave again."
"How's he going to know when its safe?"
Stiles sighed. "When people around here stop dying."
With that, he turned and headed off for his dad's van.
After the attack on the transport of the prisoner Donovan Donati, there had only been one survivor left after that night, the driver. He had been paralyzed by Tracy's kanima venom and left for dead but he had been slowly recovering over the last few weeks. That was an oversight that Tracy wanted to fix.
He was currently in his hospital, still hooked to a respirator and had been randomly slipping in and out of consciousness over the last week or so. Now was one such time and he noticed that there was a shadow moving from right outside his cover tarp. His eyes widened as he saw that it was Tracy. He gasped as he set his eyes on her face, seeing the one that attacked the night of the transport and almost killed him.
"Looks like he remembers you," Theo said, stepping around from behind her. He noticed that the guy was trying to reach for the help button and he went and moved it right out of the guy's grasp. "I can take care of it for you. All you have to do is ask."
Tracy just stared at the man, stone faced. "My father defended a someone on death row once. You know how lethal injection works?" She then looked over at his IV bags and then brought out the claw in her pointer finger and stabbed it into the solution. "One of the drugs they use paralyzes your diaphragm. Makes it impossible to breathe."
Her venom quickly began to spread into the bag and worked its way into the IV tubes, right into his chest. His eyes were shaking in fear as he felt his body going numb and began to have trouble breathing. Theo and Tracy's eyes went over to the EKG as it started to beep furiously before settling into a flatlining tone. Tracy had a calm and relaxed expression on her face while Theo's cracked into his signature smirk.
Jordan Parrish was standing outside the communication tower, waiting, but perked up as Scott came rolling in on his bike. Scott look off his helmet and quickly spotted the front gate's door bent and laid out on the ground several feet from where it looked like it had been ripped off its hinges.
"What happened here?" he asked Parrish.
"Take a look." Jordan then took out his phone to access the video file. "This was taken from the relay station's security camera."
Scott then watched as a huge, dark figure ran out of the station's entrance, on all fours and was gone in less than three seconds.
"That looked big," he gasped.
"And way too fast for anyone to get a good look at it," Parrish added. "But you already know what it is, don't you?"
Scott moved and gazed over at the place that the creature came out from. "The last chimera."
Jordan then narrowed his eyes. "You sure about that?" he asked a little doubtfully.
"Let's find out." Scott then went on inside and Jordan followed after him and they quickly came upon the place where the tech's body had already been taken out but there was a big spot of his blood left from where he had been laid. "Do you have a black light?"
"Yeah." Jordan pulled out his miniature black light and handed it to him.
Scott then shined it over the floor and they soon saw the dark afterglow of mercury.
"Mercury means chimera."
"Why? What was it doing here? Why come and kill some random communications tech?"
Scott let his eyes look over at the carnage that this thing had left in its wake. It was just random and chaotic. No rhyme or reason behind any of it. "Maybe it just likes to kill. Maybe that's what it does."
"That's terrifying." Jordan could already feel himself paling at the thought.
"Parrish, how many bodies do you actually see when you dream about the Nemeton?"
Jordan's eyes fell on some claw marks that were cut into a sheet of broken steel nearby. "Everyone," he answered.
Now it was Scott's turn to go pale. "Theo had told me that the Dread Doctors had a dream. He and the other chimeras failed to realize that dream for them."
"Until now," said Parrish.
"I think they just got their success. Their dream to make a living nightmare."
"That's both terrifying and disturbing," Parrish said before sighing. "Hey Scott, I think there's something else you should know."
"What?"
"Well, I was combing through the security feeds over at the hospital and I found something. Its the footage that shows how Sheriff Stilinski was brought in."
He pulled up the file he saved to his phone and it showed the hospital's ambulance loading dock. At the right, leading to the outside, a giant shape came into the area, on all fours, with a bundle on its back. Scott's eyes widened when he saw that it was the Sheriff. The thing kept to the darker area as it walked to the ramp where it went and gently set Stilinski down. It seemed to look at him for a while before it suddenly turned and darted on out of there just moments before some EMT's came in and noticed Stilinski lying on the ground.
"That...what was that? That can't be the last chimera again, is it?"
Jordan shook his head. "Its similar but no, I don't think so. For one thing, while its big it's clearly not as large as the one here was. And look-" Jordan then replayed the last few seconds of footage. "It ran off just before it could be found by those EMTs."
"It didn't want to hurt anyone," breathed Scott.
"Not to mention, it was carrying Stilinski," he said pointedly.
Scott deflated. He knew what Parrish was trying to say. "That was Stiles. That was the Beast."
This new 'successful' chimera, Theo and his new pack of chimeras, the Dread Doctors and Stiles' recent ascension into a Beast. There was so much going on that Scott wasn't sure how he was going to keep track of everything. He found himself missing Stiles' crime boards as they always seemed to help him keep track and understand everything better. Scott still had some of the pictures and notes from Stiles' old crime boards, well what wasn't shredded and ripped up at least.
He quickly started to pin them up on the wall of his room and connect them with some string but he eventually found some yarn caught in the button on his sleeve. When he tried to pull it free, everything unraveled and it all came tumbling apart. Scott sighed out in frustration as he saw everything scattered about in a big mess. Stiles always made these things seem so easy. He needed his help. Besides, he also wanted to talk to him about the footage but he had no clue where to even begin looking for him and he knew that Stiles wouldn't answer any of his calls. But, Scott did know where Stiles would eventually end up.
Stiles made his way through the entrance of the hospital, as he headed over for the elevator so he could go to visit his father. As it climbed, his ears suddenly picked up a load of commotion and he moved to stop the elevator and stepped out. There were some nurses up ahead that were anxiously talking to each other. Stiles focused and listened in on them from where he was standing.
"I don't understand what happened," said one of them. "I thought they said he was stable."
"I guess he wasn't then. Stable people don't just flatline out of nowhere," said her friend.
The two of them then went off as the orderly started to wheel out a gurney with the body of a man that Stiles quickly recognized as the driver from Donovan's prison transport. The sole survivor from Tracy's attack, well former survivor.
"No way," he muttered to himself.
He knew that this couldn't be a coincidence. As everyone followed after the body, Stiles quickly moved over for the now empty hospital room and stepped inside. Nothing seemed out of place and he didn't see or smell any scent of blood. But, he did pick up a familiar scent.
"No," he muttered to himself.
Stiles quickly darted out of the room and headed on up to go to make sure his father was still okay. He got to the room but found that the bed was empty. He let himself panic for a moment before he shook it off and started to track his father's scent. He followed it downstairs and it soon brought him to the morgue. As he peeked into the room, he saw that his father was inside, leaning slightly on a support cane as he was looking down at a body on one of their holding slabs. Stiles breathed some relief as he stepped inside but his father didn't seem to notice as he kept staring down at the tarped body. He let his vision zoom in on the toe tag to see that it was Donovan's body. The relief deflated out of him immediately and he suddenly felt himself fill right back up with anxiety.
Noah had woken up over an hour ago to find himself alone in his room. He called for a nurse and she along with a doctor had come along to answer some questions for him. Apparently, he had been in and out of consciousness for the last few days. The doctor quickly informed him that he was through the worse and should be fully recovered within a few weeks. Noah didn't care for that and quickly asked if his son was around and they informed him that Stiles had been in and out of the hospital, visiting him a couple of times. He asked if his son could be called because he wanted to see him. They assured him that they would contact him as soon as possible but their time was cut short when there was a Code Blue alert and they ran out. Noah wondered what was going on and he moved to pick himself out of bed and he barely left the room when he managed to come across one of his deputies. He had heard that he was awake and had been coming to fill him in on the recent discovery of the missing bodies. After hearing that, he headed off to the morgue to see them for himself. The chimeras that had been missing had all been brought there, including Donovan Donati. The one that had used by Theo to try to kill and set up his son. As he stood there, stewing in that fact, he heard his son's voice suddenly call out.
"Dad?" Stiles said lightly.
Noah turned and looked over at his son, who was stepping over to him, alternating his eyes to move between him and Donovan's body tensely. As he approached, Noah couldn't help but feel that something felt different about his son, a change though one he couldn't exactly put into words.
"Hey son," Noah said looking back over at Donovan's body.
Stiles made his way to the other side of the slab. "You shouldn't be here. You should still be in bed."
He shook his head. "I've slept enough."
"That wasn't what I meant."
Noah then nodded. "I know." He then turned and looked across the room to the new body just left there a couple of minutes ago. "Looks like we just lost another one."
Stiles nodded. "Yeah, the driver from Donovan's prison transport. I just came from his room. Theo's scent was around there."
"Why would he want to kill the prison transport driver?"
"I'm not sure it was actually him." He looked back down at Donovan's body. "They didn't find all the dead chimeras at the nemeton. Hayden, Corey, Josh and Tracy's bodies weren't there because they're all still alive. I think Theo had something to do with it because Josh was with him when he came to see me at the house the other day. If he's working with him-"
"Then they all could," his dad finished for him.
"Yeah," nodded Stiles. "Tracy doesn't really have a scent and she's the only one I can think of that would want to hurt the guy as he had been attacked by her before. I think Theo was just there to watch. He likes doing that," he spat out a little bitterly.
Noah's jaw tightened a bit as he looked back over at Donovan's body. "You know, when I learned that Theo's card had been logged in on the night that there had been a prank call made at the school, he went and told me a little story about what happened with Donovan. How he had been attacked by Donovan at the school and was forced to kill him at the library. Of course, I acted like I believed him, but I could quickly tell it wasn't true. Except, now I know that it was true, but not for him…was it?" Noah finally looked up from the body and into his son's eyes as he did the same. "That all really happened to you, didn't it?" he asked lightly.
Stiles let out a sigh as he nodded. "Yeah."
"You could've told me." That made Stiles avert his eyes and look back down at his shoes. "Stiles, I can't protect you if I don't know the truth. I thought I made that clear to you already."
"Well, you also made something else clear dad."
Noah deflated as he let himself look down at his own feet. "Kira," he sighed out.
"When I saw how you were with her...I just knew that I couldn't."
Noah's mind was quickly assaulted with the memories of his words and actions following discovering Courtney's body and how he was quick to condemn the young fox child. Stiles must've been seeing himself in the exact same spot, afraid that he would do to him what he had tried to do with Kira.
"Did I...did I really make you think that you couldn't tell me?"
"I couldn't tell anyone."
"Stiles, did you honestly think I wouldn't believe that it was self-defense?"
"Yeah, well what if it wasn't? What if I told you that I wanted him dead?"
"Then I'd believe you," he calmly answered. "I also believe that wanting someone dead and murdering them in cold blood are two very different things."
"Yeah, but what if the judge didn't think so?" Stiles spouted off.
"Then to hell with the judge," Noah bitterly scoffed. "Stiles, Theo set you up. You were trying to protect yourself. It was self-defense and I would destroy every shred of evidence to protect you if I had to. I would burn the whole sheriff's station to the ground if that's what it took."
"But Kira-"
"Kira was a mistake. I think I'm still learning how to bend when it comes to all of this." Melissa's words to him at the station were coming back to him. "And now that I look at it, I'm sure Theo had his hands in that one too. Kira couldn't help what happened with that Courtney girl any more then you could with Donovan."
Stiles just silently stared back at his father. His tone was resolute and hadn't faltered once as he said that. As his father moved to push Donovan's slab back in, Stiles moved and gave it a good shove that sent it sailing effortlessly in. Though the force was so quick and sudden that his dad lost his footing and started to fall.
He quickly moved his arm up and caught him. "Whoa, dad."
He could see his dad was still recovering from the chimera Noah's attack. As his dad moved to grab his hand and straighten himself back up, Stiles couldn't help but get a very warm feeling of dejavu. One that left his side stinging a bit though it passed a second after his father let him go.
"Sorry," he grunted as Stiles quickly bent down and got his cane back for him. "Thanks," he said as he accepted back the cane. "I guess I still have some healing to do. And I might not be the only one."
Stiles narrowed his eyes in confusion as he gave himself a once over. "Dad, I'm fine."
He just sighed. "That's not what I meant. You're not hurt on the outside Stiles, but you're still hurt on the inside. You can heal fast but I don't think your werewolf healing extends to those type of wounds. Only time can help you there. I know this may sound a bit cliché but time does heal all wounds."
"So what, you're saying all this is eventually just going to go away?" Stiles asked, doubtfully.
But his dad shook his head. "No, not go away. Heal. But the burden will always be there. You will learn how to bear and carry it a little better every day. Though there will be days where it will feel harder and heavier than others. This kind of thing is not all uncommon in law enforcement. A fatal mistake. A partner who dies, or one who gets paralyzed."
At that, they look over at Donovan's closed slab.
"Like Mr. Donati," Stiles mumbled, referring to his dad's old partner.
His dad nodded. "Stiles, sometimes it doesn't truly feel okay until there is some kind of counter-balance."
"Like what?"
"Well, like instead taking a life, you manage to save one. Something like that can help," he pressed when he saw doubt forming on Stiles' face. "If maybe only for a moment."
Stiles narrowed his eyes as suddenly Virgil's face came back to him. His voice telling him that he had saved him. "It does?"
Noah noticed Stiles loosening a bit in his tension. "You've already saved someone, haven't you?"
Stiles nodded. "Yeah, I did."
"That's good Stiles. It can help a little bit and little can go a long way. And it is going to be a long way. This conflict you're having, it's really between your head and your heart. Your head, your head knows that the only crime you committing was protecting and defending yourself. Your heart though, your heart still thinks that what you did was murder. So, I think you just gotta give your heart time to catch up with your head. Time for it to heal."
"I just feel like I lost something that night and...it's like I'm not ever going to get it back."
"You won't," Noah calmly told his son. "Not entirely. But you get a little bit back by forgiving yourself. And since that's not always the easiest thing then maybe you could start by forgiving someone else. Someone who might really need it."
"You mean someone like Scott?" He sighed as his gaze fell a bit. "What if I can't? It's just, it's starting to feel like I'm always forgiving Scott for something. After everything...I don't know if I can do it again." Stiles then shook his head and his voice starting cracking a bit.
Noah reached over and pulled Stiles into a hard hug as his son began to weep into his shoulder. He couldn't help but get a dark case of dejavu right now. Neither of them knew that Scott was down the hall and had been listening in on them for a few minutes. He had come here hoping to eventually run into Stiles and get his help but he just turned and headed right on out without anyone being the wiser.
"Maybe not right now," Noah said, tightening the hold on his son. "But, in the meantime, maybe you can find it in yourself to finally let yourself forgive someone else."
Chris Argent made it to his lock up where he moved in for the small incubation machine that was running off to the side. Locked in a clear, plastic safe was a small plant with yellow thriving blossoms. It was a very rare plant and had powerful supernatural properties attached to it. As he grabbed it and held it up to his face, he frowned deeply at it.
With everything that he had heard about the Dread Doctors and their recent activities in Beacon Hills, he knew that the worse was yet to come, if it hadn't already started. They had to be stopped but it might not be soon enough with Scott in his weakened state and his pack fractured and divided. Chris was resolved to step in but he knew that it was going to take more than just him. He was going to need help and there was only one man that would give him the help he would need, but he knew that it would take a lot to get him to help. This plant was the only surefire way to get it. He didn't want to but these were desperate times.
Chris knew he might come to regret this, but if he didn't do it, what would happen in this town and the people here, he would regret that even more.
Theo was calmly lounging about outside Sinema as the lights surrounding him began to dim and blink themselves on and off. Soon enough, the front door crashed open as Josh threw himself outside with an air of strength and anger. He had been in there feeding on the electricity of the club's generator which would've fried a normal person on contact but there was not a mark on him.
"How much did you take Josh?"
"A lot," he said stomping over for him. "I don't feel a thing."
"You won't. Your body heals too fast."
"Yeah? Then maybe you should've left me dead," he said a little bitterly.
"Well maybe you just need to feel something else." Theo then brought out a pair of jumper cables. "Something better." He then gave the clamps to him as Josh held them in either hand while Theo took the other end and attached them to a mini-van's car battery and electricity began to crackle at Josh's hands. "How does that feel?" he amusingly asked him.
Josh growled as he felt himself flooded with more power. His jaw shifted and revealed large fangs and his eyes burned a bright shade of violet at his irises. Theo's face was lit in amusement until it fell when he detected someone nearby. He turned and saw that Liam was across the lot, spying on them. As soon as he saw Theo catch him, he then turned and stomped off.
Theo shrugged it off. It wasn't important. There wasn't much that Liam could do anyway. Not with his pack broken and divided. Everything was going well. Tracy was thriving into her new powers. Josh was acclimating to his and charging himself up. Corey and Hayden were coming along nicely though he could see some hesitation though they still were heeding his words and why wouldn't they? After all, they owed him their lives. Any reluctance they had would dwindle with a bit more time. Though, he knew there wouldn't be much with what Hayden had called and told him about last night. He had to be ready. And, if the final body count from the Nemeton's group was right, he might still have one more asset waiting in the wings, literally. After that setback with Noah, Zach would be some good compensation, though this one may prove tricky.
Scott needed help and right now, and he could think of only one friend left right now that could still give him some kind of help. As soon as he pulled his bike in front of the Tate house and was yanking his helmet off, Malia was stepping out of the front door.
"Scott, you didn't have to come all the way out here."
"You weren't answering your phone."
Malia cast a nervous look back inside her house and she shook her head. "I can't help you. Not right now."
"What if I told you that you're the only one I have left."
It was true. Malia seemed to be the only member of the pack left that he hadn't gotten hurt or tried to hurt him.
"You're not going to want my help," she said stiffly.
Scott was wondering if maybe he had spoke too soon. Was Malia angry about what happened between him and Stiles? He knew that Lydia and Liam had been.
"Look, anything that's happened with us-"
"I'm not talking about something that happened," Malia cut him off. "I'm talking about something that's going to happen. Something I'm going to do and you're not going to like me very much after I do it."
What she was going to do? He then saw her cast another nervous look back into her house. He focused and heard something off.
"Does this have to do with why there are three heartbeats in there?"
But Malia didn't get to answer as her father opened the door and took a step outside.
"Malia, come inside," he sternly said to his daughter.
"I'm sorry Scott," she said before she moved on inside.
Scott was left with Mr. Tate who was staring blankly at him.
"Mr. Tate?"
"Scott, you should go on home."
"Mr. Tate, what's going on?"
"It's a family matter," he cut in. "And you need to leave."
"If you two need help-" he started but was cut off by the man again.
"The only way you can help is by going home. You're a nice boy Scott, but nice boys are no help to us right now. So, please, just go," he ordered stiffly.
Scott's face fell but he then went to back away and head off for his bike. As he sat down, he noticed that Malia was pushing back the nearby window curtain and watching him with a sad look on her face. As both Tates watched on, Scott threw his helmet back on, started up his bike and then rode away. Henry Tate then stepped on inside where he caught his daughter still looking out the window. She then straightened herself and gave a sad and solemn look to him which he mirrored right back at her. It lasted for a moment before Malia narrowed her eyes and then turned to look back into the room.
"Did you get anything out of him?" she said in a hard and impatient tone.
Henry went to reach back over for his rifle before looking back at the sight of Braeden struggling against a thick set man with a knife.
"Not yet," she grunted as he tried to get free from her grip.
Henry went and cocked his rifle as Malia jumped forward and grabbed the guy before she and Braeden moved to shove him hard against the opposite wall.
"You think you can make me talk?" he spat at them.
"We have nothing but time," Henry growled at him.
"You waste it. I am Spetsnaz. Soviet Special Forces. In battle, we kill our own wounded." That made Braeden add pressure to her elbow as it pushed against his neck. He didn't even flinch. "You can tear out my fingernails, cut my lips with razors, I still say nothing," he said smugly.
Braeden pushed him harder into the wall. "Correct me if I'm wrong but your section is out of work and broke, right?"
"You won't get a word out of me."
"What if we paid you $10,000?" she growled.
Soon enough, the Spetsnaz was sitting down as he calmly was counting the wad of cash in his hand. Henry was still glaring at the man as he held his rifle tightly. He couldn't help but be reminded of the people that had come to town to try and cash in on the life of his daughter and her friends during that Deadpool.
"Guess the surefire way to any scumbag's heart is through his wallet," he muttered to the girls.
The Russian didn't seem fazed though for as soon as he finished counting, he began to talk, while fondling his newly acquired cash. "The Desert Wolf was last seen close to the Canadian border. She won't travel by plane. She'll stay away from surveillance cameras when she can."
"So she can't have gotten too far then," said Henry.
Braeden nodded. She could see that Henry realized that keeping off the grid like that would be very restricting. "We still have time."
"There is another reason she won't fly," continued the Spetsnaz. "She isn't traveling alone."
Braeden was surprised. The Desert Wolf always traveled alone.
"What do you mean?" asked Malia.
"She has a hostage," he answered. "An animal doctor."
"Deaton," Malia realized.
"Virgil? Virgil Edelman?" asked Noah.
He and Stiles were back in his room, with him lying back in his bed as Stiles was sitting close by and updating him on everything that had happened since the night before the Supermoon. As hard as it was to relive some of the more painful parts of the story, Stiles found himself feeling a little lighter as he went on. Right now, they were up to the part where he and Virgil had met.
"Yeah," Stiles nodded. "Apparently, the night of the Supermoon, after I transformed I somehow managed to make my way to the auto shop right as a...well, for lack of a better term, monster, was literally tearing its way through everything and everyone there. I think it might be the same one that went and relocated the school sign to the hallway. He told me how I managed to drive it away just before it could get to him."
"And wait, so he knows your secret now?" Noah mumbled.
"Well, it couldn't be avoided since he went and saw me shift back after I was knocked out. He seems to have worked out a bit of what's going on though he did want me to fill in some blanks for him."
"Do you trust him?"
Stiles leaned back a little in his chair. "I don't know. I mean, I made sure to not tell him too much. He just knows about me and about the Dread Doctors making chimeras. I couldn't exactly hide that especially after I learned he knew and lived two floors above Zach. Virgil seems okay, I guess. I'm not picking up any real creepy vibes off him. And he was definitely worried about you when he heard about what happened. But after everything, I don't know."
Noah nodded. He could understand. Stiles hadn't been a very trusting person these near two years and with what's happened this last week wouldn't have made him get any better. "Well, personally, I've never really found anything wrong with Virgil in all the time I've spent with him. He's been through quite a lot and it's left him a little rough around the edges but I think deep down he's a good kid. Still, what do your instincts tell you?"
"My instincts? Didn't you say that facts always trumps instinct?"
"I did, but like I said, I'm still learning how to bend. But maybe, you should find a way to bend a little too. And while you're thinking on that, do you mind going and grabbing me a small snack? I'm starving."
Stiles headed for the vending machine and he quickly found some Reese's Peanut Butter Cups and moved to slip a dollar into the slot. He just managed to get the code in when two orderlies came by, wheeling a body bag on a gurney. Stiles' nose stiffened as he caught the heavy smell of blood...and mercury. He made his way back to his dad's room and threw him his peanut butter cups.
"Thanks," Noah grunted as he moved to start opening them. Yet before could move to take his first bite he looked over and saw Stiles with a familiar look of focus that was aimed on the computer screen in front of him. "Is that my laptop?"
"Yeah," he mumbled, still focused on what he was doing.
"Do you have my password?"
"I have all your passwords."
Noah sighed. "Right." That was a stupid question.
"Hey, did you know that they went and brought in another body last night? A tech killed at the communication array."
"Yeah, I was hoping you wouldn't find out about that." He grunted a bit in discomfort as he adjusted himself. "Now give my damn computer back."
"Whoa, Hang on. As they were taking him away, I caught a scent on the body. Mercury."
"Mercury," Noah repeated.
That could only mean one thing.
"I'm trying to access the security feed from last night but there's a piece of footage missing."
"Look Stiles, just give the computer back."
But Stiles turned away to put it out of his dad's reach. "You need your rest."
Stiles then managed to pull up the camera feed of the array's entrance and started to go through the footage until a dark shape started moving on passed. He then went back and played it at normal speed and both he and his dad saw the shape of a large quadrupedal figure running out of the entrance. He played it back and froze it.
"What the hell is that?" Noah gasped.
Stiles didn't answer. He just narrowed his eyes at the image and a blue tinted glow started to come over his irises.
A/N: Both Scott and Stiles are starting to feel the division they have towards their pack as well though it looks like Stiles is starting to get some help to get through that. Wonder if Scott will get some similar help. Theo is starting to get his hooks into the other chimeras and Zach may soon be making his way into his sights as well. He is a chimera too and still alive here.
