BLUNT. | Liam Dunbar

Family Bonds - Chapter Twenty-Nine

A N N I E

I sat watching the cameras next to Stiles, when suddenly the lights flickered all around us, and then shut off completely. I was back on my feet, reaching for my bow and arrow. Stiles tapped frantically on the computers, and then he huffed, turning to me as I threw my sack of arrows over my shoulder.

My phone started to ring and I quickly pulled it out, answering it without hesitation, knowing who it was going to be. "Hey, Dad."

Stiles took the phone from me, "Argent, the power's out in the whole building... I lost all the cameras."

My dad sighed, "Alright, come stay with Scott, text me if you hear anything."

"Hey, dad!" I yelled before he hung up. "Liam and Kira went up to the roof to check something out and they're not back yet... So if you happen to have a chance to run up there, will--"

"You know I will," he interrupted me.

I nodded, "Okay, bye." I turned to Stiles, "We need to get down there... now."

Stiles nodded and shut all of the laptops, throwing them into his book bag, and then turning back to the door and opening it for me. Just in case, I armed an arrow, letting my fingers ease the string back only a few centimeters, and letting my bow hang by my thighs.

Stiles followed close behind me with a flashlight as we sprinted down the dark stairs and into the basement where the morgue is. I ran down the hallway and almost fell as my feet slid around the corner. I immediately rushed over to Scott's body and checked on him, he looked pale... he looked dead.

I looked up and Stiles and nodded, feeling that he still had a faint and slow heartbeat. "He's still th--"

A crashing sound came from the door and I quickly spun and hid myself behind the large metal bunker containing dead bodies... weird to think about. Stiles immediately put his hands up, shaking his head.

"I was right, Stiles..." it was my dad's voice. "Get out of here."

Footsteps trailed towards us, and then someone sighed, "Get out of the way, Stiles. I'm taking the body."

It was my aunt Kate. I shook my head, how does she always know how to ruin everything? She just doesn't understand that we're trying to help everyone on that list, not just us.

"Why?" Stiles huffed, "Visual confirmation?"

I could hear the smile in Kate's voice, "Don't worry, handsome. I'm not The Benefactor."

My dad huffed, "Then what do you want with the body?"

There was that evil smile again, "I wish I could tell you."

Then next thing I heard was Stiles's grunting, and my dad yelling something, and I found myself pumping with adrenaline as I turned around the bunker and shot my arrow directly into Kate's stomach. As soon as the arrow hit her, I loaded another onto my bow, and pulled the weight of my string back so that the butt of the arrow scraped against my face.

Kate grunted, pulling the arrow free of her stomach. "I always knew you'd be an amazing shot, which you are... you never miss... but I never thought you'd be stupid enough to not know where to shoot me to kill me." Kate smiled, "Sorry, but you didn't hit an organ, Annie."

I huffed, "Who said I didn't know where to shoot to kill you?" Kate raised her eyebrows, and I nodded towards the arrow in her hands. "The tip is laced with Brodifacoum, I assume that you've already heard of it, but I'll give you a brief back story. It's a poison, when injected into the body... is can do one of two things... it can put boils on your skin that slowly rot off, leaving you in raw bone. Or, it can work from the inside-out, by this acid that eats your intestines until they're literally gone. Did I mention it's toxic to both animals and humans, just so that I'd be prepared for anything coming my way.. So I don't think I'm the stupid one here, Aunt Kate."

Kate growled, taking a step forward towards Scott, and I tightened the grip around my bow, pointing the arrow at her head this time. "Back off!" I screamed.

Kate stopped in her tracks, "Are you sure you can shoot fast enough?"

I raised my eyebrows, "I don't want to... and I don't have to." I looked back at Stiles, who reached into his pocket and held up a syringe full of the antidote. "That poison will kill you in a half-hour if you leave here without that antidote."

Kate scoffed, "You're not going to kill me."

I tilted my head, "I'm not going to let you take this body."

"Okay, well, obviously you guys have a lot to talk about," Stiles said sarcastically. "Maybe I saw some coffee, a vending machine outside.. We can sit down and settle this?"

I ignored Stiles and turned back to Kate. "Listen to me, Kate, we have a plan."

Kate scoffed, "If killing Scott was part of it, you're worse than me."

"She's telling the truth," Stiles spoke up behind me. "We're trying to get to The Benefactor."

"If you didn't notice," my dad spoke up as a Berserker held his arms back, "you're on that list, too."

I nodded, "And you're worth more than most."

Kate smiled, "That's why I'm here."

I sighed, "Then back off and let us do what we planned. Take the Berserkers, and go." I looked back at my father who had blood trailing from his forehead down to his jaw.

At that moment, I swore to myself that if I ever got the chance to kill any Berserker... I would. They cause death, harm, suffering... and that's all they do. They beat me, crushed me, slit me open, and I'm fine with that... but when you mess with the only family I have left, that's a different story.

I gulped, looking back at Kate, "Aunt Kate, please, we have a plan." I pleaded.

Kate sighed, looking from me, back to Scott, and then back to me. "Let him go," she said, and without hesitation, they dropped my dad to the ground, and when I looked back up, Kate was gone, and the Berserkers had left too.