"Why is it that all of your fireproof options only include leather?" Stiles asked Lizzie, while looking down at his jacket, belt, and shoes that happen to be completely made of leather, so far the only thing that wasn't was the jeans and red compression shirt.
"Give us a turn," Lizzie said, twirling her finger around.
Stiles let out an annoyed sigh, as he lifted his arms and turned, showing off his black leather jacket.
Hope passed by Lizzie's room, and she had to keep herself from drooling at the sight of Stiles in his new fashion.
"Now ignite," Lizzie said.
WIth a growl Stiles caught fire, the fire still went through his clothes but they didn't burn.
Hope forcibly drew her eyes away from the Hellhound and walked away, the sound of his fire crackling still echoing in her ears.
Stiles and Hope walked down to the assembly hall separately, and sat a good distance from each other so they wouldn't raise suspicion.
Hope stood beside Alaric as he started to speak, and Stiles sat in the very back row.
"I know a lot of things have changed around here lately, but in my opinion, that's a sign of growth. And despite our growing pains, I like to think our student body has never been more... united," Alaric said, looking at the very small number of people there.
"There's like nine of us here," Hope reminded him.
"Which means your voice carries, Hope," Alaric said, a fake smile plastered on his face,"But despite our spotty assembly attendance, which I will address, we now have students enrolled. Which officially... makes us a school in the Commonwealth of Virginia. And, more than that, a home! And-and more to that, uh, sense of community... I give you Elizabeth Saltzman."
There was scattered clapping and Lizzie approached the stand, clearing her throat.
"I know I'm not the only one who misses the way things used to be around here. That doesn't mean that our way of life needs to change. The simple math is fewer students equals less tuition. Which is why... the smoothie bar has been shuttered, the pool closed, and all of our dances and trips have been canceled. But... I have a way to turn that all around, with your help. Our first... hopefully last... Salvatore School Fundraiser Month," She said almost painfully.
Alaric clapped ecstatically.
Stiles remembered the one time Beacon Hills had a fundraiser, it was a car wash and he remembered how Lydia and Jackson drooled at the sight of Stiles' bare chest, that was the only time they had seen his muscles without his baggy clothes.
"Over the next four weeks, we will be hosting a series of events. A car wash, a bake sale. And I am well aware that that is only two ideas, so any recommendations are welcome," Lizzie said practically begging for help, and Cleo stood up,"That's the spirit, Cleo."
"Hope and I can make art and host an auction," Cleo said, and Stiles' brows raised in surprise, he didn't know Hope did anything close to art.
"I would like to retract that offer," Hope said immediately.
"Too late. Art auction approved," Lizzie said,"Now, if some of our more tenured students could follow your example, we'll have this place back to normal in no time."
"I'm pretty good with barbeque," Stiles offered standing up,"If this town has any decent meat I could make something up."
"Now we're getting somewhere," Lizzie said.
A dark haired girl walked in,"Sorry to interrupt. I was on my way to school and you need to sign for this."
Stiles' eyes narrowed on the letter.
Alaric, Lizzie, and Hope had a hushed conversation that ended with,"SCREW FUNDRAISER MONTH! WELCOME TO FUNDRAISER DAY!" Lizzie yelled.
Time Skip
Stiles stood at a grill flipping the burgers, wearing only a tank top and swimsuit.
Stiles glanced around to make sure no one was looking, then he put the spatula down, grabbed the burger right off the grill placing two hands on either side of it, his eyes started to glow and the burger sizzled.
"I'm not sure you're supposed to be doing that," Somebody said, Stiles turned around and saw Wade.
"Hellfire gives it an extra zing," Stiles told him, putting the cooked burger in a tin.
"I happen to be a proud owner of a Hellhound," Wade said.
"Really?" Stiles said, looking Wade up and down.
"Yes, and we have killed many dragons and berbalangs," Wade said.
"Wait, hang on," Stiles said,"Are you talking about D&D?"
"Yes," Wade said confused.
Stiles walked up to him, and stuck his hand out,"Nice to meet you, Tinkerbell."
Wade hesitantly shook his hand,"Nice to meet you too... Fire Pup."
Stiles snorted, and he turned back to the grill, just as a rainbow spread across the sky.
Stiles' eyes narrowed at the sight of it,"That's not normal, right?"
Wade shook his head, wide eyed.
"Huh," Stiles said, and he could hear several cars approaching,"Do you hear that?"
Wade sighed, annoyed,"Like I've been telling all the vampires and werewolves at this school, I don't have supernatural hearing because I'm a freaking fairy."
"No, I mean that," Stiles said, pointing toward the road entrance to the school as several cars pulled up.
There were about a hundred people there, weirdly eager to spend all of their money.
Stiles went as fast as he could flipping the burgers and handing them out to people, while collecting money.
Stiles leaned down, inhaling deeply and he blew hellfire across the burgers, hotdogs, and chicken making them cook instantly.
"I'll give you five hundred dollars for the next one!" One of them shouted.
That caused Stiles to stop,"OKAY, EVERYONE BARBEQUE IS NOW CLOSED!" Stiles roared, and they started to rage.
Stiles grabbed the last plate and took off running.
He entered the art studio holding the plate,"You would not believe what is going on here today," Stiles said to Hope and Cleo,"I brought the last of the food if you guys are hungry."
"Thanks," Hope said, immediately grabbing a burger that Stiles had made.
Stiles looked to the middle of the room where a clay statue was,"Nice," Stiles complimented looking over it.
"I'll warm up the kiln," Cleo said.
"No, I got it," Stiles said, conjuring up fire and blasting the statue with a jet of flame, making the clay harden.
"He is beautiful," Cleo said.
Hope remained silent, looking at the statue.
"'Luctus,' What does it mean?" Cleo asked.
"It's a period of mourning," Stiles informed her,"Of sorrow and grief."
"It means that it's time to let him go," Hope said.
The door opened, and a woman walked in,"I'll take it. He looks absolutely delicious," She said, approaching the statue.
"How did you get in here?" Hope asked, defensively.
"Who is he?" She asked.
"Somebody that I miss," Hope said, glancing at Stiles,"But I'm trying to move on."
"He'll be right in my foyer if you ever want to come visit," The woman said,"How much?"
"It's not for sale," Hope said,"This is happening really fast."
"Everything has its price," The woman said confidently.
"It is ninety thousand dollars," Cleo said.
"Done!" She shouted.
Hope stepped forward to protest.
"This money will save the school, Hope," Cleo reminded her,"This is good. This is letting go."
"Sorry, I can't," Hope said.
"I won't take no for an answer," The woman replied harshly,"I simply have to have it."
"Look, lady, she said no," Stiles said, stepping forward,"So, how about you leave."
The woman saw a knife, and she grabbed it, she screamed in rage, and stabbed Stiles in the chest.
Stiles stumbled back and pulled the knife out of his chest,"Hope..." He said his voice was changing.
Hope just looked at him wide eyed, and she started to back away when he started to smoke.
"Get that lady out of here before I KILL HER!" Stiles roared and he charged forward, towards the woman as she was trying to run away with the statue of Landon.
Hope blocked his path, with a barrier, and she knocked out the woman before she could get too far.
Stiles roared and burst into flames, his claws burned right through the barrier and he started to walk forward like a beast stalking its prey.
"Stiles, calm down," Hope said, stepping in front of him.
Stiles' stopped walking as soon as Hope stepped in front of him, he cocked his head to the side, looking curiously at her.
A clawed flaming hand reached up and brushed Hope's hair out of her face.
The fire went out and Stiles turned back to normal, he grunted as he leaned on the table for support,"Sorry," He apologized.
"It's fine," Hope reassured him.
"Anybody else think it's weird that she stabbed me over a clay statue?" Stiles asked.
Time Skip
"That... is the ugliest thing I have ever seen in my entire life," Stiles said, crouching down so he was eye level with the leprechaun,"Is it weird that I want to pet it."
"Yep, it's a leprechaun all right," Hope said.
"Don't worry, he's harmless. Though he does make people act a little wacky," Lizzie said.
"That's not what I mean, it's a monster," Hope said,"A Malivore monster."
"Oh, cool," Stiles said,"Then all I have to do is blast it then no more crazy ladies trying to shank me."
Stiles' hand burst into flames, and the leprechaun screeched at the sight of the fire.
Hope slapped his hand hard making the fire go out.
"Ow," Stiles cried out.
"It's making us rich," Lizzie told them,"What's the problem?"
Stiles rubbed the sore spot on his hand,"Do I have to repeat the crazy lady with knife story."
"The problem is that it's here, which means a portal to the prison world must be open," Hope said.
The leprechaun cackled, making Stiles glare at it and point a finger in warning.
"How could you? How could you keep a Malivore monster a secret from me? I'm sorry. Did I miss that wee-little badge he's wearing that says, 'Hi, Malivore sent me'?" Lizzie mocked
"I'm serious, Lizzie," Hope warned, her rage starting to grow.
"So, am I, Hope," Lizzie retorted,"Our school is in trouble. So forgive me for prioritizing that over your emotional needs for once."
"My emotional needs?" Hope repeated,"MY EMOTIONAL NEEDS?"
Stiles rolled his eyes as the girls continued to argue, and he just left, the two enraged witches not even noticing.
Somehow he found himself in the garden, where he found MG and the same brunette girl from that morning.
"What's going on here?" Stiles asked.
"Oh, hey man," MG said,"You're the Hellhound?"
"Yep," Stiles said, as the brunette girl stopped ruffling through the variety of plants to look at Stiles.
"Hellhound?" She questioned.
"Harbinger of death, guardian of the supernatural, blah, blah, blah," Stiles said.
"Oh, I'm Josie," The witch said before looking back at the plants,"Bingo!" She said, pulling out two clover leaf plants,"I think this is it."
"Do I want to know what that is?" Stiles asked,"Because they look the exact same."
"My Botanical Arcanum's rusty, but I know the one that we want tastes like cinnamon and the lower school has access to this part of the garden, which means nothing's dangerous, so... pick one," Josie said.
Stiles and MG looked at the two plants intently,"This one," MG said pointing at one.
Josie split it in half and stuck it in her mouth.
"Oh cool, drugs," Stiles said, snatching the other half from Josie and sticking it in his mouth and a minty taste filled his mouth.
"No," Josie shouted, but it was too late.
"Ugh, that stuff is gross," Stiles said,"And honestly it's better than being in there constantly listening to the arguing of Hope and Lizzie. Some sounds Hope makes are kind of fun and a turn on. Especially when we're in bed but right now it's just giving me a migraine."
Both of their jaws dropped.
"Y-You and H-Hope," MG stuttered.
"Yeah, we've been having sex for the past few weeks, we always stayed over at my place till now because she never would take me here because she didn't know I was supernatural yet, but now that she does it's only got more wild," Stiles said in a rush, and he glared at Josie,"What the hell did you do to me?"
"It's blue Calamus," Josie said,"Truth weed."
"Oh, shit," Stiles said.
Time Skip
Stiles stood in the middle of the garden wrapped in hellfire.
"What are you doing?" MG asked, a good distance away from Stiles.
"I'm trying to burn this damn plant out of my system," Stiles growled,"But it doesn't seem to be working since I feel like telling you every secret I have. Like that one time I was nine years old, and to help me through the grief of my mom's sickness I did a lot of pranks. The worst one I ever did was when I made this fake vomit at home, and I went to the movies with the fake vomit in a bottle. I got to the top row and made a lot of gagging noises and dumped it over the side of a bunch of people, then everybody else started throwing up all over the place. It was one of the worst things I've ever done."
MG tried to keep his own vomit down when he heard that.
Josie just laid on a rocking bench waiting for something,"That's gross."
"We should, um... we should get going. I thought we both had places to be," MG said.
"There's no point," Josie said sadly,"I'm already late, and even entertaining the thought of dating Finch is just... it's a bad idea."
"Why would you say that?" MG asked.
"I mean, besides being hopped up on truth weed," Josie said, lifting her head,"Because the people I love always leave me... or hurt me... or both."
Stiles sighed, his fire going out, and he approached the bench,"I'm gonna sit here so can you please move your legs?"
Josie nodded, scooting her legs closer to her.
"This might be bad advice coming from a guy who had a crush on the same girl since third grade, and hasn't officially broken up with his werecoyote girlfriend," Stiles said, internally hating the truth weed,"You can't let that stop you."
"Believe me, I don't want to. 'Cause repressing things has taken me to a super dark place. And here's the truth: I'm scared," Josie said.
"And that's totally understandable," Stiles said,"But like seventy percent of love involves being scared of it. You have to be more honest with the people you care about."
"Damn," MG said.
"What?" Stiles and Josie said in unison.
MG chuckled softly,"I gotta go," He said, having a smile like he knew he was about to get into trouble.
"Why?" Josie asked,"Where?"
"To take Stiles' advice," MG said before running away in a blur.
Josie looked to Stiles,"You and Hope?"
"It's complicated," Stiles said,"You and... Finch?"
"Probably even more complicated," Josie sighed.
"Doubtful," Stiles said.
"I came into contact with dark magic, and it turned me into this really bad person, I killed people," Josie said,"After we beat 'Dark Josie' I gave up my magic because I didn't want to hurt anybody else. I'm going to Mystic Falls High to stay away from any sort of magic or supernatural stuff."
"I was once possessed by a demonic fox spirit," Stiles said,"I became a Hellhound just a few hours previously but I didn't know it yet. I shot my Lacrosse coach with a crossbow, he may have deserved it a little bit, but I still got him sent to the hospital for a few months. Allison, one of best and most loyal friends I've ever had was stabbed by an oni that was under his control. She died, and I felt it. That was the first time I've ever felt someone's death. Void Stiles we called him. But I am not him, and you are not Dark Josie."
"How did you know that you were a Hellhound?" Josie asked.
"I woke up the morning after her funeral covered in fire, I was carrying her body to the nemeton, a magic tree stump," Stiles explained,"A druid named Deaton found me, told me what I was and helped me learn control."
"What happened to her body?" Josie asked.
"She's still there," Stiles said,"She wanted to have her final rest there."
"How do you know?"
"Harbinger of Death, remember?" Stiles said.
Josie nodded.
"Now go talk to Finch," Stiles said.
"What about you and Hope?" Josie asked hesitantly.
"We have sex, there's nothing more to talk about," Stiles said.
"Her first time was with Landon about four weeks ago," Josie said, and his eyes widened,"Everyone thought Hope would close herself off for good once she accepted Landon died, but instead she went to you."
"I'm distracting her from her grief," Stiles said,"I'm pretty sure that still doesn't mean anything for us."
Josie refused to let it go that easily.
"If Hope does end up caring for you," Josie said,"Don't hurt her. I don't think she'd be able to handle it."
"I'll keep that in mind," Stiles said, standing up and walking away,"But if history has proven anything she'll be the one breaking my heart. Now go talk to Finch!"
Josie couldn't help but smile.
Time Skip
Stiles ran through the woods, trying to clear his head. He changed out of his swimsuit and tank top, and into shorts and a sweatshirt, and running shoes.
Keeping his breathing even as Stiles continued to run.
The rainbow had disappeared along with the leprechaun, and Stiles ignored it as he continued to run.
He suddenly stopped, and he turned his head to the left, and his eyes glowed with fire.
Stiles took off running again, cracks spread across his skin, and they glowed with fire.
With a flick of his wrist his claws had grown, each step he took left a small trail of fire.
A ferocious growl rumbled through his chest and his fangs grew.
Stiles roared as his fire came to life, he approached a parking garage. He jumped immediately going to the second level.
His eyes darted around looking for any sign of the monster.
"Stiles?" Hope said incredulously,"What are you doing here?"
"To prevent death," Stiles said, his fiery eyes not ceasing their search.
Hope paled,"Who's?"
There was a scream, a male scream.
"Dr. Saltzman," She realized with horror.
Stiles roared and took off running again.
The Hellhound's fire raged, making several car alarms go off as they started to melt.
Stiles snarled, as he took in the sight before him.
Alaric struggled against the leprechaun that was strangling him with a necktie.
Stiles grabbed the leprechaun by the back of the neck, and threw him away.
The monster screeched, and Stiles growled in response.
A circle of hellfire conjured around the leprechaun and him. When Stiles roared the circle burned brighter.
The monster scrambled around, looking for any opening in the fire. Then something unexpected happened, it started to float up, swelling till vaguely resembling a beach ball.
Then it blew, sending green slime everywhere.
Stiles half covered in slime looked at Cleo and her hand was still extended.
"That's really gross," Stiles said.
Time Skip
Stiles took what felt like the fourth shower, and he was surprised to see Hope when he came out of the bathroom, sitting on his bed... wearing nothing but a bathrobe.
"MG had the ascendant," Hope said.
"And that is..." Stiles said, trying to avert his gaze from Hope's beautiful, long, pale, bare legs.
"The key to getting in and out of a prison world," Hope said.
"So, you get your boyfriend back then," Stiles said bitterly,"Congratulations."
Hope looked down,"I'm still not sure if he is still alive."
"I'm surprised you're not doing everything in your power to get him back right now," Stiles said.
"I've had a long day," Hope said.
Stiles walked up to her, putting his hands on either side of the bed beside her, their lips were only inches apart.
"And what... Do you want me to do about that?" Stiles asked slowly, scanning her face for any form of hesitancy.
Hope grabbed Stiles and pulled him down on top of her,"I want you to help me relax."