Out of The Shadows (Shadow Series #3)

11- End

        Parrish presses a button on the weapon, the end stabbing the air as it springs into place. His eyes widen as he look into my dad's eyes. "Sorry, but I can't let you walk out with this. It's way above the legal voltage limit."

        Dad slyly glances at Derek and I beside him. "I only use it for hunting."

        "Yeah, well, I'm pretty sure you could use it to jump start a seven forty seven." Parrish doesn't back down. 

        I look from the two of them. We don't have time to argue over the choice of weapons we have. The Nogistune is still out there and I want to save my best friend. 

        Dad narrows his eyes. "This property belongs to me."

        "And the charges were dropped." I remind Parrish. I look from my dad to Derek on my other side. "Although, I'm not exactly sure who's responsible for that."

        "I am." Sheriff Stilinski steps up to the four of us, leaning against the counter beside my dad. His eyes dart to the weapon on the counter, separating us from Parrish. "I'll take care of this, Parrish."

        Parrish shakes his head, glancing down at the weapon. "Sheriff, I'm not kidding. This thing's a few watts from being a lightsaber."

        Mr. Stilinski grabs the weapon from the deputy's hand. "I said I'll take care of it." He waves the three of us forward to head towards his office on the other side of the room. 

        I half smile at Parrish before following behind Derek. I left the hospital this morning to bail these two from jail with the help of Mr. Stilinski. I don't really know what everyone else had planned for today. We kind of all broke off to do our own things. I file into the office and just the door right behind me. Mr. Stilinski walks around his desk. I step up to the other side of the desk, squeezing between Derek and my father.

        "The specialist I saw in LA told me the thing that every doctor says when he's trying to avoid a lawsuit. 'We can't say for sure.' And then I spoke with Melissa." Mr. Stilinski begins to tell the three of us. He grabs some scans of brains out from under some papers. "These are brain scans. My wife's and Stiles'." He hands them over to my dad.

        I look down at the scans. 

        "I knew they were similar, but those are the same. Exactly the same."

        Dad slides the scans over each other. Everything lines into the same place, looking as if it was one brain scan. 

        Derek leans forward a little to get a better look. His arm brushes against my back and I resist the urge to lean closer to him. "I'm guessing this isn't possible?"

        "Not even remotely."

        "So, the trickster is still playing tricks." Dad drops the brain scans on the desk. 

        I sigh. "But why this trick?"

        Mr. Stilinski shifts on his feet. "When I was in the army, an officer told me, 'If you want to defeat your enemy, you don't take away their courage, you take away their hope.'"

          "You don't look like a man who gives up hope easily." Dad responds.

        I bite my bottom lip, understanding where this is going. "But Stiles might." 

        Mr. Stilinski nods at me. "If this thing inside him- if it's using his mother's disease as some sort of psychological trick, then this isn't just a fight for his body. It's also a fight for his mind, right?"