t h i r t e e n
i n f e c t e d
THEY WERE ALL IN THE LOCKER ROOMS, WATCHING HOW SCOTT'S EYES KEPT TURNING ON AND OFF, LIKE A LIGHT BULB.
"Still happening," told him Yukimura before they all looked towards Malia.
"I can't make them grow back," she mentioned, referring to her nails.
Amelia glanced towards Isaac and the guy showed them his smile, showing the fangs.
"Same," he whispered before closing his mouth again.
"Obviously the virus is affecting the three of you in a way it won't hit any human big," said Yukimura and Stiles intervened.
"You guys have to stay out of sight. We have to quarantine you... from the quarantine."
Dahlia nodded. "Yeah but where? I mean, what if they get violent? Like on a full moon. I didn't bring my sword."
Scott spoke as he stared to the ground. "We shouldn't stay in here. Not in the locker room."
"A classroom is not going to hold us," mentioned Isaac as he tried to keep his mouth opened. "It hurts..." he whispered.
"What about the basement?" Offered Kira.
"Too many ways out," said Scott. "We need something secure. Somewhere nobody can find us."
Stiles looked up. "The vault." Amelia glanced towards him. "The Hale vault."
"The Hales always have an escape route," told Amelia. "Like their house... there has to be another way in."
• • •
Stiles opened the plans of the school on Coach's desk.
"This is where the school sign is, so the vault's should be right about here." He pointed with his finger somewhere else in the map.
"I suppose if there's a second entrance, it would probably be accessible from the basement."
Amelia looked up from the plans towards the door, noticing a figure standing there. She blinked a few times, but it was gone.
Gone...
"It's probably somewhere in this hallway," said Stiles, pointing at one of the aisles of the basement. "West corridor."
He went to point at something when he tripped, almost passing out.
Amelia quickly grabbed him, making him stand up as he blinked quickly, looking at Amelia.
"Whoa," he whispered.
Amelia lifted the sleeve of her boyfriend's jacket, gasping when she saw the red marks.
"It's happening to you too," she whispered.
"You're getting sick." Amelia looked up from her boyfriend to glance towards Yukimura. "You all are."
He looked towards Kira and she shook her head. "I don't feel sick."
"I think it's affecting you differently, neurologically," mentioned the man. "I found your test answers sheet in a pile with the others," he said, taking out the sheet.
Amelia looked towards it, noticing how she had painted the circles of the answers too far from the actual circles.
"And Amelia," he called her and she looked up. "Yours... are more alarming."
Amelia grabbed the sheet carefully before she and Stiles looked at it.
"Oh my God," whispered Malia.
She had written I'M COMING FOR YOU AMY several times, in all different directions, in different fonts, with different tones.
"Who's coming for you?" Stiles asked his girlfriend and she shook her head.
"I don't know..."
• • •
They all quickly ran downstairs to the basement. She was holding on to Stiles's arm firmly, breathing heavily as she blinked several times.
"Are you okay?" He asked her while they were walking and she nodded.
"I'm okay," she told him with a little smile before looking in front of her.
As they arrived to the corridor, they all started looking for the door or a way to show it. They started moving things, lifting objects, touching walls.
"Hey, guys," called them Stiles and Amelia looked up from one of the boxes to glance towards him. "Over here."
They all approached Stiles, and Amelia helped him move the shelves to the side, just to step back and see the gigantic triskele on the wall with a small circular gate on it.
Like the one on the school sign.
"Look at all the cracks in the wall," pointed out Amelia before looking at the little gate. "It's like the entrance outside, it only opens with claws."
Stiles interrupted. "Anyone's claws, right?"
Amelia frowned. Of course not, only Hales can—
Right, Malia's biological father was Peter.
Lizzie had to caught her up to that since apparently Amelia is always the last one to find out about anything.
Amelia turned around to look at the girl. "Malia, can you try?"
"Why me?" The werecoyote asked and Dahlia looked away.
Scott raised his eyebrows. "I don't have control."
Malia looked towards Isaac, and he shrugged. "You already have the claws out."
"Okay, I'll do it," said Malia. "But first tell me what you've been hiding from me."
Amelia, Stiles and Scott looked at each other before looking at the girl again, not knowing how to answer to that demand.
"I know you think you're trying to protect me, but I can handle it," assured the Malia.
They all remained in silence, trying to say to her the truth when the girl interrupted again.
"I know I'm on the list," she told them.
Dahlia looked towards her. "Yes," her protector affirmed.
Malia nodded a bit before looking towards Scott and Stiles. "So how much?"
"How much what?" Asked Amelia.
"How much am I worth?"
"Four million," replied Scott and the girl frown a bit before looking down, making Dahlia step towards her.
"Are you okay?"
She looked up. "Yeah. Scott's worth twenty-five, Amelia's twenty-three, Isaac's seven, Kira's six. They'll take you guys out way before me."
The girl walked towards the entrance and Isaac looked at Stiles.
"Let me guess," he started, "that's progress?"
Stiles nodded. "It's progress..."
They all stepped back, looking at how Malia was opening the gate. When she pushed circular gate, the wall started moving to the side, opening the entrance to the Hale Vault.
After they all walked in, the wall closed behind them, leaving them locked inside the vault.
"Hey..." whispered Isaac before showing them his teeth, as they were normal again. "What the..."
Malia looked at her claws, but they were still out.
"Hey, I can control my shifting," mentioned Scott as he took out his claws and them pulled the back inside. "Why can I control my shifting?"
"Because..." started Amelia as she slowly turned around to look at them, making all of them open their eyes.
There was black liquid coming out from her nose, and she smiled at them a bit.
"I'm getting worse..."
• • •
She was laying her head on Stiles thigh as he pulled out the hair from her face. He cleaned her nose with his sleeve, but the liquid was still coming out.
Dahlia touched underneath her nose and then looked at her finger, but nothing. "Why am I not healing you?" Asked Dahlia to Malia as the werecoyote had her head on the hunters's chest. Dahlia looked up towards Amelia. "Why she can and I can't?"
"Because," started Isaac as he crossed his arms in front of his chest, "Amelia has it controlled. She has practiced it before."
"She can do it easier," added Scott. "And she can also stop doing it, right?"
Stiles looked down to Amelia, but the girl didn't reply.
"You know," started Stiles before looking towards the group, "this is where it all started." Amelia slowly felt asleep in his arms. "That's where the money was."
They turned around to look at the safe.
"A hundred-and-sixty eight million in bearer bonds."
"How do you change bearer bonds into cash?" Asked Kira as she was looking around the objects in the vault.
"The bank, I guess," replied Stiles.
Scott approached Amelia, looking at her before grabbing her hand.
"Please, stop," he asked her softly. "I can take it..."
But Amelia didn't reply. She was asleep.
Scott walked away from her, slowly, sitting down next to a column, still staring at his protector.
And Dahlia kept staring at Malia's hands. "How do I heal you?"
"Wait..." Isaac interrupted. "They just let all that money sit here the whole time collecting dust."
"You know bearer bonds are basically extinct?" Talked Stiles.
"Why does it matter?" Asked to him Dahlia.
"You know how many problems that money could solve?" Stiles questioned.
"For you?" Kira asked him.
"For Amelia..." he looked down towards the girl as she was sleeping.
"Amelia?" Isaac doubted.
Stiles looked up towards Isaac. "You don't know?" He shook his head. "She's trying to sell her car and the old Sealgair house so that she can afford school for Lizzie and her. She doesn't talk about it much, but if it wasn't because Scott... she and Lizzie would have no place to live. Her parents want her dead... so I don't think they would be paying for her support."
Stiles caressed the girl's cheek before looking up again.
"It could help my dad," he continued. "The Eichen House and MRI bills are crushing him."
"Mom does this thing," talked Scott, "she writes down all the items in our budget, and how much they cost, then she adds them all up and figures out how long we have until... we lose the house." He looked towards Amelia. "She pays rent, you know?"
Stiles chuckled. "Sounds like her."
"Every week, she comes home with a bit of cash she gets from the animal clinic and gives it to my mom. She doesn't spend it, though. She saves it in a little black metal box with Amy's name on it... I don't know." Scott looked towards Isaac. "And Isaac pays for his own food, and cleans." Isaac chuckled. "You should see him. It's hilarious."
They all laughed a bit.
Stiles looked down to Amelia, kissing her forehead softly.
• • •
"Anything?" Stiles asked Scott as them and Dahlia were laying their ears on the wall.
"They're looking for us," replied the werewolf. "Someone's going to have to go out there."
Stiles looked towards Amelia as she was cleaning her nose, again and again, before looking towards Malia, who was wearing Dahlia's jacket and laying her head on Kira's shoulder
"We need to tell her the truth about Peter," whispered Scott to Stiles and Dahlia. "She's going to see the rest of the dead pool eventually."
Dahlia approached him. "Try to remember that Peter is the one name missing on that list. Which either makes him incredibly lucky or The Benefactor. She finds out about him, she's going to go to him, you know she is. And then he's gonna twist his way into her head like he does with everyone," Dahlia said to Scott.
"Including us," said Stiles. "We let him walk around like nothing ever happened, like he's one of the good guys. He's not one of the good guys."
"If Malia finds out about him," whispered Dahlia, "she's gone. That's probably what he's waiting for. And then he wins, we lose."
"We're already losing," whispered Scott before he looked towards Amelia.
She wasn't getting any better, and he was starting to feel bad too.
"Wait... if you're feeling bad," Stiles started before they looked at Amelia. "That means..."
"She's dying..."
• • •
"Amelia," called her Stiles softly, and the girl slowly opened her eyes. "Ames..."
She looked at him as she slowly sat down, looking at him.
"I gotta leave for a few, okay?" Amelia frowned a bit.
"Where are you going?" She asked him softly.
"Whatever's happening, it's worse for you guys. Especially... for you. That means it's not just people getting sick, it's another assassin."
Amelia panted slowly before she looked over to him, noticing how Isaac was standing behind him, looking at the girl with a worried look.
Stiles looked up before looking at her. "Isaac here is going to keep you company while I'm gone, okay?" Amelia placed her hand on Stiles's cheek, and he smiled at her.
"You're coming back, right?" She questioned softly.
Stiles chuckled before wiping off a bit of the black liquid from her mouth.
"Yeah," he whispered. "I'd never leave you behind."
Amelia smiled at him before Isaac placed himself on the floor, letting her lean on his arms.
The werewolf looked up towards Stiles, as he was looking at him. "I'll take care of her..."
"You should..." Stiles told him a she saw Amelia closing her eyes. "Because it's your fault," he whispered, making Isaac stare at him, without any idea what to say. "She's using the last bit of her energy to save you..."
After they both looked at each other angrily, Stiles leaned in towards Amelia and placed a kiss on her forehead before standing up, looking at her with a smile before walking away.
As soon as Stiles left the vault, Scott stood up from where he was sitting, walking towards Isaac and Amelia.
"I'm getting worse," he said and Isaac nodded.
"Me too... does that mean?"
Scott exhaled. "We need to make her stop."
Isaac tried to wake her up, and she opened her eyes softly, looking at the werewolf.
"Amelia... we need you to stop," he told her. "Okay? Stop... Let us give you your energy back."
"I can't," she whispered. "I've just taken away energy once... And I don't know how I did it..." Isaac and Scott looked at each other. "I'm sorry," she mumbled before looking at the two. "Please... tell Stiles..."
The girl closed her eyes, making Scott and Isaac look at her.
"Lia, Lia, wake up..."
"Amy," Scott called her. "Amy, wake up, Amy..."
"Guys," called her Dahlia. "She's not dead." Scott and Isaac looked at her. "If she was... you'd be crying so loudly that someone would come and find us. You'd be feeling like someone cut out every arm and leg you have and then, took your intestines out."
Isaac scoffed. "Thanks for the vivid picture."
"Then," Dahlia continued, "you'd be out of here running and jumping because she would have gave you the last tiny spark that gives her life. If you don't believe me... listen to her heartbeat."
Scott and Isaac focused, getting to hear Amelia's slowly, but steady heartbeat.
"Then what is she doing?" Isaac asked.
"She's holding on," replied Dahlia before looking at Malia as she was laying against her chest. "She's protecting you."
• • •
After a while, Isaac and Scott were still holding on to Amelia, and Dahlia looked towards them, her purple eyes glowing as she smiled.
"What?" Scott asked her.
"Your archers," she whispered. "They're beautiful..."
She felt how Malia placed her hands inside of Dahlia's jacket pocket before taking out something form it.
A folded paper.
She slowly started to sit down, making Dahlia frown before continuing to look at the Archers next to Scott and Isaac.
"Malia," called her Scott when he noticed what she was holding.
She opened the paper on the floor, making Dahlia quickly turn around to look at her.
"Malia?" Called her Scott before she looked up.
"I can't see," said the werecoyote and Dahlia quickly grabbed her, pulling her against her chest again. "I can't see anything."
Dahlia started caressing the girl's face while Scott and Isaac looked at each other before looking at Amelia.
"Lia," called her Isaac. "Lia, open your eyes for me, please."
The girl gently opened them, looking around before starting to panic.
She hold on to Isaac's arm, still trying to look around.
"I can't see. Isaac... Isaac I can't see."
Then, was Kira, only leaving Scott, Isaac and Dahlia.
Dahlia quickly grabbed Malia's hand, closing her eyes.
"Let me heal you, let me heal you, please," she cried, begging. "Let me heal you please, please."
• • •
Amelia inhaled deeply and Isaac turned around to look at her with a smile.
"You're okay," he whispered. "You're okay."
"What happened?" She asked. "How did we..."
"There was a jar with some mushrooms in it. You're inhaling it now. It's the antidote." Amelia nodded.
"So that's what... so that's what smells so terrible."
Isaac chuckled, a tear leaving his eye as he caressed her face, smiling.
"Don't do that again," he mumbled. "Don't do that... ever again."
"Ames!" Stiles called her as he walked into the vault, making Isaac raise his eyes from her to look at him.
The werewolf slowly helped Amelia sit down, letting Stiles hug her in his arms, tightly.
But Dahlia broke apart their hug, pushing Stiles aside before looking at her cousin, grabbing her by the shoulders.
"Woah, Dahlia," tried to stop her Stiles when she saw the girl's eyes glowing.
"Dahlia what?" Started Amelia, but she interrupted her.
"How did you do it?" She snapped at her. "How did you heal them? Tell me!"
"Dahlia..."
"Tell me!" She growled at her, her voice sounding like an echo through the vault. "How did you do it? Tell me!"
Scott tried to push Dahlia away, but she fought didn't let him, continuing to look at her cousin.
"Amelia, tell me!"
"I don't know!" The girl yelled, and Dahlia slowly let her go. "Dahlia... what's wrong?"
"She was dying in my arms," she whispered before looking at her. "She was dying in my arms while Isaac and Scott were completely and utterly fine. So tell me how did you do it... teach me how to do it."
"Dahlia," called her Malia and the girl turned around, noticing the piece of paper Malia was holding.
They all turned around to look at the werecoyote as she was showing her protector the list.
"Malia," whispered Dahlia, approaching her, but Malia pushed her away before standing up. "Malia wait!"
But she was already outside the vault.
For the first time in all of their lives, they saw Dahlia crumble on the floor, crying.
It was probably the most heartbreaking sound she had ever heard.