It took longer than I would have liked to get to the clinic, but thankfully when I got there Deaton was there to greet me.
“Hello, Anna. I thought Derek would havve you under lock and key tonight.”
“He did, but I got out and then found an anchor and right now I’m a little preoccupied to think about the full moon.” I explained what had happened and the purple wolfs-bane powder I found.
“Okay, I have a hunch where he may be, but I could be wrong so you go out and keep looking and I’ll let you know if I find him.”
“Okay.” With that we left in opposite directions. I decided to walk and try to see if I could pick up a scent, but whatever that purple dust was it had blocked any chance of that. I was walking for about 5 minutes until Matt pulled up beside me and got out of his car.
“Anna? What are you doing out here?”
“I was… Matt you’re drenched! What happened?” I asked noticing his wet clothes.
“Some idiot threw me in the pool at Lydia’s party.”
“Oh my god, are you okay?”
“Yeah, Jackson pulled me out.”
“Jackson?” My heart stopped, but as I’d been doing for days I ignored it.
“Yeah. I was actually looking for you.” He said taking a step closer.
“You were? Why?”
Without any warning he kissed me. Sure I had kissed him before; we were together for months, but something was different. He was different. I kissed him back and didn’t pull away, he did. “I’m sorry.” He said.
I opened my eyes to ask what for, but he was gone, so was his car. I had no idea what just happened, but I couldn’t think about it until I found Derek. Another 15 minutes past until finally I got a text from Deaton.
He’s fine. You’re going to have to ask him about it, it’s not my place to say –Deaton
I felt a wave of relief wash over me, but before I could ask where he was so I could meet him I got a call from Scott’s mum.
“Hello?”
“Hi Anna, its Melissa McCall. I can’t seem to get a hold of Scott, Stiles or Mr Stilinski and I have to meet them at the police station, but my car has broken down, so…”
I let out a little laugh “I’ll take you if you like.”
“Thank-you sweetie. I’m still at the hospital.”
“Okay, I’ll be there in 10 minutes.” I ran to my car and drove off to pick her up. It wasn’t the first time she’d asked me to take her somewhere after Scott had taken the car or it broke down. Once I got there she instantly got in the passenger’s seat.
“So why are Scott and Stiles at the police station? They didn’t get another restraining order did they?” I asked thinking back to when they kidnapped Jackson for a day.
“No, I hope not. They need me to identify someone who was in the hospital the night the wife died.”
“They know who it is?” I asked, my heart pounding.
“Aah, yeah.” She said nervously. It didn’t comfort me. If it was Matt it would explain why she was nervous, she knew we dated.
I pulled up outside the station. “I’ll just park the car.”
“I’m sure Stiles will give me a ride back to the hospital so Scott can fix the car.”
“No it’s fine I have to talk to those two anyway.” Melissa got out and walked up the stairs as I drove off a bit down the road to find a car park. Once I did I heard a gunshot and a scream. I sprinted up the stairs of the station and into the front room. “Mrs McCall! Scott!” I yelled, but I had a feeling I wouldn’t get an answer. I walked down the hallway and looked into one of the rooms to find Derek and Stiles paralysed on the floor and Jackson standing a few feet away. He hadn’t completely transformed, but he was half covered in scales.
Before I had time to do anything he had me pinned to a wall with his forearm. Next thing that happened was Scott being pushed into the room by Matt.
“No. It was you.” I breathed.
“What are you doing here?” he yelled at me. “No, no, no, this is all wrong!”
“Look the evidence is all gone why don’t you just go.” Scott cut in before he could start punching walls and believe me he looked like he wanted to.
“Do you think the evidence matters that much?” Matt asked “No, no I want the book.”
“What book?” I asked, still pinned down by Jackson.
“The beastiary and not just a few pages, I want the whole thing.”
“We don’t have it.” Scott said, “It’s Gerard’s. What do you want it for anyway?”
“I need answers.”
“Answers to what?” Scott said his voice raising.
Matt looked at me like he was hesitating, but then said, “Answers to this.” He pulled up the side of his shirt revealing scales on the right side of his stomach – just like the Kanima’s. He pulled down his shirt and then led Scott and me into another room, leaving Jackson to guard Stiles and Derek. When we got into the room Scott straight away went to lean against a desk. He’d been shot in the abdomen. That was the gun shot I’d heard earlier. I moved closer to Scott and indicated for him to lift his shirt up so I could get the bullet out.
“Don’t.” Matt cut me off.
“What? You gonna shoot me too, huh?” I asked a little snappy. I saw his jaw clench and took that as a no. I let my nails grow in my right hand and dug them into the wound, making Scott wince, and grabbed the bullet.
“You know I feel sorry for you McCall, because right now you’re thinking ‘how am I meant to explain this when it heals’ and the sad bit is that you don’t even realise how incredible it is that you actually are healing, ‘cuz you know what happens to everyone else when they get shot? They die!”
“Is that what happened to you?” Scott asked.
“You drowned, didn’t you?” I asked Matt.
Matt didn’t answer straight away. He looked at the ground and finally said, “He shouldn’t have let them drink.”
“Who?” Scott asked.
“Lahey! He shouldn’t have let them drink.”
“Wait who was drinking?” Scott asked.
“The swim team you idiot. I didn’t know what was happening. I didn’t know that they had just won state. Lahey is letting a couple of his favourites come over to celebrate, who cares if they’re only 17 right?”
“Were you at Isaac’s?
“He had a first addition Spiderman or was it Batman and we were gonna make a trade, but when I’m over there I hear music and everyone is having I good time. I see Sean, he throws Jessica in the pool then Bennett goes in.”
“Bennet? The hunter?”
“And then Camden, Isaac’s jarhead brother, grabs me. He thinks it’s funny.”
“They threw you in.”
“I yell that I can’t swim, but nobody listens. I go under and I swallow water and nobody cares… I see these bodies under water. I see Jessica has her hands down Sean’s board shorts, Tucker’s grabbing Cara, and I’m drowning. I’m dying and they’re laughing. Then all of a sudden I’m lying by the pool and Lahey is right there above me and he says ‘you tell no-one, this… this is your fault. You don’t know how to swim? What little bastard doesn’t know how to swim? You say nothing, you tell no-one. No-one!’ And I didn’t. I didn’t tell anyone, and I would see them at school and they wouldn’t even look at me. I would wake up in the middle of the night and I would gasp for breath and my parents would think that I was asthmatic – they even gave me an inhaler. They didn’t know that every time I closed my eyes, I was drowning... You know about that little white light that they talk about that you see when you die. Well I didn’t see anything. It was darkness, everything was dark, but then… then came the Argent’s funeral and everything changed. I was taking some photos and then purely by accident Lahey gets in one of the shots. I had this unbelievable rage inside of me. I look at him and I wanna see him dead... and then the next day… he actually was.
“You know Einstein was right. Imagination is more important than knowledge. It was like something out of Greek mythology like the Fury’s coming down to punish Oristies... The furies are the deities of vengeance. Their tears ran of blood and they had snakes for hair. If there was a crime that had gone unpunished the furies would do the punishing… Jackson is my Fury.” Matt turned to look out the door and at Jackson. “When I saw him the next night it was like a bond had been cemented between the two of us. I knew he’d killed Lahey for me and I knew he would do it again. So I went to Tucker’s garage. I even payed for an oil change and guess what – he didn’t even recognise me! So when he wasn’t looking I took a shot of him with my camera, and in a few hours he was dead. So I took more pictures. All I had to do was take their picture and Jackson took their life.”
“Were you at all of the attacks when they happened?” I asked Matt.
“From a distance… yes. I had to wait for you to leave Tucker’s and then at the pool you weren’t meant to be there, that’s why I was talking to you. You weren’t meant to go in. When you heard Derek I knew you were like Scott.” Suddenly the light went out and the alarms went off. “What is this?” Matt asked “What is it? What’s happening? What’s going on?” He yelled.
There were gunshots and the bullets shattered the glass windows next to us. Scott dropped to the ground and without thinking I grabbed Matt and pulled him down. The next thing that happened was smoke bombs being thrown through the window. Scott and I exchanged a glance and he nodded for the door and took off.
“Stay down!” I yelled at Matt and took off after Scott into the room containing a paralysed Stiles and Derek.
Scott grabbed Stiles and took him into another room while I helped Derek slowly sit up and eventually stand. Next thing I knew, Derek shifted into his alpha self. Red eyes, pointy ears, long nails and let’s not forget the canines. He took off down the hall after Jackson without saying a word.
“Seriously?” I said to myself. I ran back into the smoke filled room, but Matt wasn’t there. I ran into another hallway to see Stiles dragging himself along the floor. I quickly helped him stand up and dragged him back around the corner trying to find an exit.
“No my dad, Matt is in there.” Stiles said, not wanting to leave his dad with the supernatural.
“If Matt is there than Jackson can’t be too far behind and Derek can’t be too far behind him. I’ll go back as soon as I get you out of here. You can’t do anything when you can’t walk.” I finally found an exit. I looked to each side for hunters, but saw none so I quickly ran to Stiles’ Jeep and chucked him in the back. “If I come back and you’re not here I will trash your car. Is that clear?”
“Cristal.” Stiles replied.
I ran back and almost made it back inside. I ran straight into Derek.
“Turn around, go! Get in my car.”
“What happened? Where’s Scott and Matt?”
“Scott is fine and the hunters should find Matt. Let’s go.”
“What? They’ll kill him!”
“So will I!” he yelled. I ignored his protests and ran past him and into the station looking for Matt.
I had no idea what I was doing. He was the murderer, but he was also my friend. I finally found him in one of the many hallways. He looked panicked. A hunter came out in front of him and was about to shoot. Just as he pulled the trigger I ran out and jumped in front of him taking the bullet in my stomach. I soon as it hit my skin I felt the burn from the wolfs-bane. I grabbed the gun from the hunter and before he had time to fight back I hit him hard over the head with it. I than started to feel dizzy and Matt grabbed my arm before I toppled over.
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah. Come on.” I said and dragged him to the exit. I practically fell through the door and Matt, again, grabbed my arm.
“Why aren’t you healing?”
“The bullet’s laced with wolfs-bane. I have to get to Derek and you have to run.” I kicked down the gate and pushed him through it. “Run!” he did as he was told and ran off. I was soon joined by Derek who dragged me too his car and took off down the road.
“You’re insane. He’s a murderer and you helped him. He was going to kill all of us!”
“I know.” I said wincing at the pain in my stomach.
“I have to get you to Deaton.”
“No. I have the gun with the bullets in it.” I said holding up the gun I used to knock the hunter out. This caused Derek to slam on the breaks and pull up on the side of the road. He grabbed out a lighter from the glove box and the gun. He came back in a minute with burnt ash from one of the bullets. The bullet had gone straight through so there was no need to dig it out, but the burnt wolfs-bane hurt even more when he rubbed it into the wound. I screamed as my body writhed with pain and then stopped. The wound healed and like before I felt better, but still weak. “I have to go back.”
“You what?”
“My car. If my dad sees it there he’ll freak.” I explained.
“Okay, you take mine. I’ll go back and get yours and I’ll meet you at my place.”
“As in the apartment or the house?”
“House, the Argents have cleared out.”
“Okay.” I said grabbing Derek’s keys off him and driving down the road to Derek’s burnt down mansion.