Gut Instinct (Teen Wolf)

2:16 Oh, We're All Dead

Warning: alcohol, needles, injuries, nearly dying, poisoning, mentions of dead people and past trauma, Spanish, bad translations, I'm sorry

"Okay, so how long has it been?" Stiles asked.

"Weeks," Scott answered. He opened one of the cabinates that lined the walls of the examination room. "He hasn't responded to any of my texts."

"Has he ever returned your texts?" Stiles asked.

"No," Vic said. "I've actually gotten used to it."

"Once, definitely once," Scott answered. He closed the cupboard and faced the three of them: Stiles, Vic and Lydia. He set a metal cylinder on the examination table. "But this time it felt different. So I went to the loft. The alarm was on. Everything looked okay. But I found these." He opened the metal container and pushed it across the table for the others to see.

Vic looked inside and saw bullet casings. There had to be maybe fifty in there, like someone had used a machine gun in the loft. She could tell that the metal was fake gold however. Stiles reached his hand into the bin and pulled out one of the casings. Marked on the one side of the casing was a skull.

Vic sighed. "Calaveras," she muttered. "Oh this is not good."

"Calawhatas?" Stiles asked, confused.

"Calaveras," Vic clarified. She took the casing from her brother and studied the design. "They're a hunter family based out of Mexico. I've never had a run in with them but I've heard the stories. They're determinded and really strict about the Code. The reason they use a skull is because in Spanish, 'calavera' means 'skull.'"

"What would they want with Derek?" Lydia asked.

Vic dropped the casing back into the container. She looked at Scott with an uncertain expression. The same one was mirrored in his eyes.

"You don't think they killed him do you?" Stiles asked no one in particular.

"I don't know," Scott admitted. He looked at Lydia tentatively. "That's why you're here." He pushed the container to the girl.

Lydia looked at him annoyed before she took it. She circled the rim with her fingertips. She stuck her hand in, her eyes closed. She pulled her hand out, rolled the casings around on her palm. She opened and closed her eyes. She tipped her hand to the side, the casings fell onto the table. Sounds of gunshots filled her ears, accompanied by growls and roars of pain.

The others waited in silence as the banshee did her thing. Vic wondered vaguely if this was what she looked like when she listened to the voices in her head.

Stiles looked at the other two before he turned to Lydia. "What? Lydia, is he dead?"

"No," she whispered. She paused, her eyes a million miles away. "But I'm not sure he's alive either."

"What does that mean?" Scott asked.

"I don't know." Lydia turned back to the others. "There's something not right. I...I just don't know."

"It's okay you don't," Vic said, offering the girl a small smile. "These things are hard to understand until they slap you right in the face."

"So if the Calaveras have him how do we find him?" Stiles asked.

Scott picked up one of the bullet casings. He stared at the decorative skull stamped on the (fake) golden material.

"Mexico."

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