party guessed
Once Scott had come to his senses and was able to stand on his two feet again Deaton had allowed him to home. Kinsey had hoped that she'd find out what had happened to him while he was still weak enough but that hadn't panned out the way she expected, neither of the wolves was willing to tell her who had almost killed Scott tonight. Maybe it was to protect her, but she would have been grateful to know if she had to watch her back for yet another murderer in this town. Derek had imagined that he'd be going home alone tonight while Kinsey took the weak wolf home so he could heal, but that wasn't what he got. Instead, the two took him back to his current place of living, it couldn't quite be called a home when it was an abandoned railroad depot with a rusting subway train car placed right in the center as if it were a living room. But still, it seemed fitting for Derek, clearly, he didn't care about material things after he had spent months living in his burnt and derelict childhood home.
Kinsey wasn't willing to leave just yet, frankly, she wanted to annoy the Alpha until she got the answers she wanted from him, but while they were here she could try to convince them to make a new plan. She couldn't help but feel guilty for the part she had played in the plan failing tonight, if only she hadn't told her uncle about Jackson maybe things wouldn't have gone as bad as they had. Another person wouldn't be dead. They could have even had their annoying, obnoxious Jackson Whittemore back, which Kinsey never thought she would want until now.
"I'm saying we need a new plan," Kinsey told the two wolves as she followed them through to Derek's subway train, she'd spent the entire drive over trying to beat around the bush, hinting that they needed to try tonight over again. "Because next time one of us is gonna be too hurt to heal." She added, nodding her head towards the wolf who'd gotten hurt tonight. Well, just one of them, Issac and Erica had been stabbed by Jackson's claws too, luckily not the venomous ones.
"She's right." Derek agreed, shocking.
"I get it. I get it." Scott sighed, leaning against one of the steel poles that held up the rusting metal of the subway train. "We can't save Jackson."
"We can't seem to kill him either." The Alpha mumbled under his breath. "I've seen a lot of things. But I've never seen anything like this. Every new moon's just gonna make him stronger."
"So how do we stop him?" Kinsey asked.
Derek shrugged as he looked down at his feet for a moment, sighing loudly. "I don't know." He admitted as he looked back up at her. "I don't know even know if we can."
"Yeah, maybe we should just let the Argent's handle this," Scott suggested as he looked at an Argent themself, hinting that she should be the one to tell her uncle and grandfather that they would be backing down from the fight so that they could handle the Kanima. The Argent wasn't sure whether that was a good idea, but she had a feeling it wouldn't be her choice.
"I'm the one who turned him. It's my fault."
"Not into this." Kinsey shook her head. "This is because of something that happened in his past, something that none of us could control, his past isn't our fault."
"That's a legend in a book. It's not that simple."
"What do you mean? What are you not telling us?" Scott asked, he couldn't help but believe Derek knew more after he was the first to figure out what Jackson was, he was much more experienced in all of this than them. It was possible that wasn't all he knew.
"Why do you think I'm always keeping something from you?"
"Because you always are keeping something from us." Kinsey practically shouted at the wolf, to which Scott couldn't disagree, he thought the same thing.
"Well, maybe I do it to protect you."
Kinsey pulled a mocking face to the wolf, how was she supposed to argue with that point, so she sat back in the uncomfortable metal seat with folded arms leaving Scott to argue with it instead. After agreeing to be part of Derek's pack in order to beat the Kanima the beta was left to believe that they were a team now, the two of them as well as everyone else who comes under being in the Hale and McCall pack. Like Kinsey herself, or Isaac, Stiles, Erica, Allison, Lydia, Boyd. They were all supposed to be a team now and yet it hadn't quite appeared like that. Kinsey was lucky she was able to get Stiles and Isaac in a room together tonight. Despite the valid point that Scott had made in mentioning how they weren't supposed to be keeping secrets anymore it wasn't one that Derek cared about, at least not enough.
He was a firm believer that honesty wasn't the best policy. Sometimes secrets were necessary, he'd raised that argument with the wolf, they didn't need an example. Scott knew it was best that some things were a secret, like the fact he was a werewolf that he hid from most of the people he knew, including his own mom who was yet to find out. But Scott's werewolf secret wasn't the one Derek was referencing, he'd looked at Kinsey for a moment, he remembered what had happened earlier, that was one of the secrets she was keeping.
"Go home, Scott. Sleep. Heal. Make sure your friends are safe." The Alpha advised. "Cause the full moon's coming. And the way things are going, I've got a feeling it's gonna be a rough one."
Allison Argent stood on the doorstep of the Stilinski house, her arms wrapping the fabric of her yellow cardigan tighter around her body, desperate for warmth as she bounced up and down. Both because of the cold chill brushing past her as she stood in her dungarees and the growing feeling of anxiety as she waited for either Stiles or his father to answer the door. After seeing what she had a few minutes ago when taking Matt Daehler back home she didn't know where else to go, there was nobody else she could talk to about what she had just seen. Of course, she would have preferred if she could talk to her own boyfriend about it but he wasn't an option. Firstly, because he wasn't even supposed to be her boyfriend so the two weren't allowed to talk unless it was secretly in an empty classroom or out somewhere deep in the preserve. Secondly, after the look of anger, she'd seen in his eyes at the warehouse when he'd found out she and Kinsey had unintentionally pulled apart their plan she wasn't sure the wolf would even want to talk to her tonight. Maybe even ever again, everything that everyone had planned tonight, not just Scott or even the hunters she and Kinsey associated themselves with, had fallen apart.
She could still feel the churning in her stomach that had risen when she'd seen it, making her more and more nauseous by the second, adding to the feeling that she felt, not only for herself but for Kinsey whose life was bound to change when she found out. If she found out. That was just one of the things she needed Stiles's advice on.
Was she supposed to tell Kinsey?
Everything the girl had ever said to her ran through Allison's mind as she stood waiting, every time Kinsey had been paranoid that someone was watching her. Every time she'd asked to shut the curtains so that if anyone were, they'd struggle. Or when she'd be adamant that someone was following them, to the point where she would stand and wait for them to show their face, sometimes even creating the visual in her mind just to satisfy that paranoia.
A specific night came to mind, in fact, it was the night they'd come to Beacon Hills. She could remember the two of them being in the middle of the woods, she couldn't quite remember why anymore, but she knew they were there, and that Victoria had dragged them out of the woods by the collar of their jackets. Allison could remember clearly as Kinsey told her that there had been someone in those woods, hiding in the darkness created by all of the greenery, watching them. Back then, she had shrugged it off as another one of Kinsey's bad feelings, nothing more than that. Now, when she knew what she knew, she couldn't help but wonder if she'd been right all this time. Her paranoia wasn't just a bad feeling but a reality.
If she were to tell Kinsey, how? How does one bring that up?
After a few minutes of waiting at the door it had finally opened, Sheriff Stilinski standing in the doorway, surprised to see the girl in front of him. He was used to seeing the other Argent girl lurking around his house and son, but Allison wasn't the typical Argent he'd find on his doorstep at this time of night. The two shared a small conversation, as acquaintances did before the man directed her to Stiles's room where he was apparently studying, that seemed odd to Allison but she didn't comment. At least one of them had time to study in this hectic life of theirs.
Stiles's door was already cracked open when she walked upstairs, she could see the boy at his desk frantically typing away on his computer with papers circling the chair he sat on, not a single free space on the desk. She knocked on the door lightly, careful not to startle him, at least not too much, but her being in his house alone had been the thing to startle the boy, not that he hadn't heard her coming up the stairs.
"Allison." The boy mumbled, rushing to gather all of the papers around him as quickly as he could, he promised that this would be kept between him and Kinsey, he couldn't break that, especially not with Allison. "What- Uh, what are you doing here?" He asked, trying to act as natural as possible, but the girl had learned to never question his behavior, not anymore.
The brunette sat down on the edge of his bed, resting her head in her hands as she tried to think how she was going to explain what she had just seen, it still didn't feel real. She didn't want to ever believe that it was real, but it had to be. It wasn't the kind of thing she could make up in her mind, Kinsey yes, but she couldn't she believed herself to be much more of a realist. When she had somewhat gathered an idea of what had happened and how to explain it, she began, of course, Stiles couldn't just let the girl explain, he had to interrupt every few words to make sure he was comprehending everything Allison told him. Because even he had trouble believing that this was real, no matter how much he hated Matt, he didn't think that he was capable of this.
After hearing what the girl had had to say he could only say one thing, she'd asked for his advice and there was only one piece of it he had to give. "We have to tell her." Stiles deadpanned.
"We can't." Allison shook her head.
"What? What do you mean we can't? Allison, she needs to know about this freak."
"Stiles, we're talking about Kinsey here. The girl whose scared to sleep with the bedroom window open at night in case someone climbs through it. When we were kids most people used to have nightmares about the bogey monster, Kinsey used to have nightmares about someone watching her while she slept. How are we supposed to tell her that all of these "irrational" fears people tell her she has aren't so irrational after all?" Allison blurted out, once she began she couldn't stop, the words poured out of her as she become more consumed by the fear that her cousin wasn't safe anymore. "What if we tell her and... And it pushes her over the edge. I don't know how much more she cant take before she cracks, Stiles." The girl sighed, running her hands through her hair as the boy sat stunned, now he wasn't so sure they should tell her.
Allison had spent a long two hours at the Stilinski house, trying to figure out what they were going to do before she returned home. As it edged on 1:00 a.m. the girl intended to head straight to bed as she tiptoed through the halls of the house, careful not to wake anyone. It was much later than she'd expected to come back tonight, but of course, she hadn't expected most of what had happened tonight either. She hadn't expected Scott to be mad at her for trying to help, even if she knew she was in the wrong. She hadn't expected that another person would be killed by Jackson tonight. And she certainly hadn't expected to find photos of her cousin on the camera of Matt Daehler which dated back months. Pictures of her in the halls at school. In class. Lacrosse games. Or even, the most horrifying, pictures of her at home in her bedroom, or even Allison's bedroom. It had been going on for months. Months. Months of the girl being followed and none of them had noticed, none of them had questioned the way Matt was with her after she had quite literally ditched him after asking him on a date seconds prior. For months Kinsey told her that she felt like she was being watched, and for months she'd brushed it off. They all had.
When the brunette had walked past Kinsey's bedroom door she had been stopped by the door still being open, a slice of light seeping out into the hallway from the lamp on Kinsey's desk. She couldn't help but enter the room, ready to question why Kinsey was awake after the night that they'd all had, surely she was worn out, especially after dealing with two beta wolves all night.
Kinsey lay sprawled across Allison's bed with her chemistry textbook in hand, scanning through all of the words that didn't make sense to her. Probably because she rarely managed to attend her classes anymore, and when she did, it wasn't often she paid attention to what she was being taught. Especially if it was being taught by Harris. Kinsey still wasn't quite sure why she had even agreed to study with Allison, who was sitting at her desk when it was the first day of spring break. They had a million better things that they could be doing. A large one of those things was finding something that they could wear to Lydia's 17th birthday party tonight because if either of their outfits were anything less than perfection Kinsey was sure they'd both hear about it.
One of Lydia's infamous parties was exactly what the girl needed right now, it was the perfect distraction from her life that seemed to be falling apart at the seams, more and more so by the day. It was the perfect distraction from murderous lacrosse co-captains, a dead mother to grieve over, the discovery that you may not be as human as you'd been lead to believe. What better way to cope than drinking away every single one of those problems in a pretty pink drink concocted by your redhead best friend?
As if the mere thought of their redhead best friend had summoned her Lydia had skipped into Allison's room with her bouncy curls flowing in the air, two Macy bags that were larger than life in her hands as she smiled widely at them. It was safe to say neither of the Argent girls had been expecting her company quite so soon today, they hadn't intended to see her until tonight when they turned up at her party, a party that Allison continued to believe was a bad idea. Kinsey and Allison looked at the redhead stood smiling at them with a confused look as she held up the two bags, shimmying them proudly.
"Clear your schedules. This could take a while."
Kinsey wasn't going to argue with the excuse to stop studying, she quickly closed her book and jumped up from the bed, the two large bags replacing her spot as Lydia placed them down, even Allison had moved quite quickly towards the bags for someone who had suggested the small study session in the first place.
"How many outfits do you plan on wearing tonight?" Allison laughed softly as she watched Lydia search through her two bags. Frankly, she was just glad they hadn't been on the shopping trip where the redhead had chosen all of these outfits to change into.
"It's my birthday party." Lydia deadpanned, pulling out a grey striped dress, holding it against her body. "I'm thinking host dress, evening dress, then, mmm, after-hours casual."
As soon as Lydia had looked away again to file through her selection of dresses Allison had looked up at Kinsey giving her an uneasy look, the kind of look someone who was about to dump a brutal truth bomb on their best friend would give. Kinsey recognized that look. Maybe because for days now Allison had kept talking about her concern that this party wasn't going to live up to the expectation that Lydia had created in her head based on past parties. But things had changed since then. She wasn't the most popular girl in school with the lacrosse captain on her arm, she'd been given a much different title, frankly, one that they tried not to tell her about. They hoped that people around the school wouldn't care about who was throwing a party as long as it provided alcohol, they hoped this town was that shallow. Otherwise, Lydia would be facing the embarrassment of nobody showing up to her party. At this rate, there would only be five people at the party and three of them were standing in this room.
Kinsey shook her head at Allison as a warning, Lydia was in too good of a mood. How she looked right now was the happiest she'd looked in a long time, it wasn't a secret she hadn't been so happy since her break-up with Jackson. They couldn't ruin that now. Especially not on the day she had been talking about since the day that they'd met her. Her birthday.
"I noticed that you didn't send out any invites." Allison blurted out leaving Kinsey to roll her eyes as she waited for the aftermath that was surely not going to be pretty. If there was one thing in this world that Lydia would never admit it was that she'd lost her title of the queen bee, after Jackson had broken up with her it was all that she had left of the life she lived before them.
"It's the biggest party of the year, Allison. Everyone knows." Lydia insisted, laying out a series of dresses across the bed. Flowery. Stripey. Plain. Laced. Everything a girl could imagine. That was how determined the redhead was to follow through on the title of the biggest party of the year.
"I was wondering if, you know, maybe things would be a little different this year."
"Allison," Kinsey warned her, the looks clearly weren't enough.
"Why would anything be different?"
"Just because things have been off lately. Things and people. Like Jackson."
The younger brunette sat down on the bed with a huff, running her hands through her hair. Clearly, today was one of those days that Allison didn't take hints, she got like this sometimes, it was one of her less favorable moods. Kinsey knew that the girl had good intentions, much like herself she didn't want to see Lydia get hurt or embarrassed, they wanted to remain hopeful that things hadn't changed for the redhead's sake, but they couldn't deny what was right in front of them. When they had moved to Beacon Hills they'd sit at the lunch table with half a dozen Lydia Martin wannabe's surrounding them, desperate to be just like her. People followed her down the halls, strutting behind her hoping to be her friend. She was the pinnacle of popularity when they moved here. Things had changed now. They'd sit at a lunch table and it would just be their small group of friends, Kinsey and Allison didn't mind that, but for a girl who had become so accustomed to having a bunch of people gushing over her for the hour, it wasn't so enjoyable.
People didn't see her as the girl they wanted to be. They saw her as the girl who almost died at formal, who had done it to her still one of the town's mysteries. The girl disappeared from the hospital, naked, and was gone for two days only to be found on the border of the woods. She was the girl who cried in class with trauma. The girl who needed counseling. Someone who wrote things like "someone help me" backward on a chalkboard during class. It was safe to say that none of those were as desirable as the life that she used to lead.
Kinsey believed there were much better routes to take than the one Allison was taking now, the messy but honest one. Right now it didn't seem like Lydia needed honesty. She just wanted her two best friends to give their opinions on all of the dresses she'd chosen so she could ignore it and do what she liked anyway. That was normality, at least the closest she'd get to it anymore.
"What do you care about Jackson?" Lydia asked, hostility in her tone.
Maybe this was a messier route than Kinsey had once assumed. She hadn't forgotten how Jackson and Allison looked on the night they had been, how the two had seemed too close for comfort even while he was still in a relationship with the redhead, and Allison with Scott. Of course, Kinsey knew that was the jackass's attempt to piss off everyone else in the room, which he had succeeded in, but Lydia still didn't know just how bad he could be. All she had seen was her now ex-boyfriend and best friend getting closer than she liked.
Allison didn't answer the question, she laughed it off softly, implying that she didn't care about the boy while Lydia stared at her with a piercing stare and raised brow.
"Is he coming tonight?"
Kinsey looked at her cousin with a raised brow, wondering why she'd ask that question. Had she planned something with her father and their grandfather to get Jackson again after their plans at the warehouse had been foiled?
"Everyone's coming." Lydia insisted.
"Anyway." Kinsey finally spoke up, choosing that it was time to end the conversation there before it got even more unbearable than it had already been. She gestured to the bags sat down beside her ready for Lydia to show them everything she'd brought.
Lydia didn't hesitate to move onto the subject of dresses, first picking up a pale pink dress to hold against her explaining that it was for her, just one of the many outfit changes they'd be seeing from her tonight. Then moved to pick up another dress she'd laid out on the bed, black with flower details, flowy, just like the pink one she'd held up moments ago. Unlike the pink one, she'd picked out the black flowery dress for Allison who she held it up for with a smile, not even allowing the older brunette a chance to argue against her buying yet another dress for her. The redhead had already turned around pulling out yet another dress, this one she held up to Kinsey. It was a soft pink dress, detailed with rose pink and gold leaves, glimmering under the light that hung above their heads. She didn't give Kinsey a chance to argue against it either, it was what she did. She loved styling the two Argent's as though they were her favorite dolls, it was one of the best birthday gifts they could ever give her.
Victoria walked into the room as the three girls talked amongst themselves about the final dress that Lydia had pulled out of her bags, a strapless blue dress which she claimed to be her main dress for the upcoming event tonight. The redhead woman knocked lightly on the wall to get the attention of the three girls as she smiled at them, Lydia, remembering that Allison's mother once worked in a boutique in San Francisco before moving here, asked the woman's opinion of her dress as she held it up against her fair complexion. Victoria complimented the dress, giving Lydia a much-needed confidence boost as she turned back to Kinsey, another person who she trusted to tell her if the dress wasn't suitable, though Allison's style had improved, she could quite trust her judgment yet, but she was working on it.
The woman cleared her throat. "Girls, uh, can I grab a moment to talk. Just the three of us." Victoria asked as she looked between her daughter and niece, trying to be polite.
"Can we do it later?" Allison asked, glancing down at the dress she still held against her.
"Actually, uh, to be honest, sooner would be... would be better." Victoria tried to convince her daughter as she rubbed her shoulder, Allison didn't seem to notice what her mother was doing, she was too busy trying to get away from the woman. But Kinsey had, she furrowed an eyebrow as she watched her aunt rub her shoulder as if it were causing her pain, the woman didn't do any strenuous activities to pull it, not unless carrying grocery bags from the car classed as one.
"Party's at 10:00." Lydia informed the woman with a smile.
"Will you be around before then?"
"I think so." Kinsey nodded, choosing to ignore what she had seen, brushing it off as nothing.
"You think so?"
"We don't know." Allison snapped at the woman.
Before her mother could speak again Allison had turned back to Lydia, suggesting what she could pair with her blue dress, even if it was likely that the redhead wouldn't take her advice it at least took her away from the conversation with her mother. Frankly, she had been trying to avoid the woman since finding out she had asked Scott if the two of them were still sleeping together, she hoped to avoid mentioning the topic of the wolf, and somehow she believed that could only be done through ignoring her. It seemed to work with Kinsey and Chris, so why not her and her mother?
Victoria knew her place, she walked out of the room without another word. Stopping in the doorway to admire her daughter and niece before she left, capturing this moment in case she didn't manage to catch up with them later. She cherished the sound of their laughter as they laughed alongside Lydia, the bright smiles on their faces as they talked. How they looked like both of them held up the dresses they'd be wearing tonight while Lydia held up accessories to match them. She'd remember how happy the two were when they were together, and she'd try to remember that when she was gone, the two would have each other, and hopefully, that would make it easier on both of them. All she could hope for was that the two would be each other's shoulders to cry on when that time came. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad if she didn't get to speak to them before, at least then she'd be remembering them how they were now, happy and full of life, rather than crying and falling apart at the seams when they found out the truth.
-☽○☾-
Kinsey stood in front of her dresser, looking in the mirror as she took a deep breath to prepare herself for tonight, she needed to mentally prepare herself, especially when nobody knew what was going to happen. Who knew if people would actually come to the party of the supposed town wacko? Kinsey had straightened her hair, clipping half of it back with an orange clip that Lydia had given her with two pieces hanging down to frame her face. The girl placed a hand on her bare neck as she looked in the mirror knowing that she needed some kind of necklace to pair with her outfit, she scoured her dresser for one that matched. Her head turned to look at her bedside table where the necklace her mother had given her lay, she hadn't worn it for a few days, after visiting the woman's grave she thought that maybe taking it off would be the first step in moving on. That explained the anger she'd been feeling later, Allison's theory about her being feral without it must be true. The brunette took a moment of consideration before releasing a large sigh, walking towards the bedside table to retrieve the necklace. One night wouldn't hurt. She could continue her process of moving on tomorrow when the party was over and she didn't desperately need an accessory to pair with her dress.
Allison walked into the room just as Kinsey was attempting to clasp the necklace around her neck, quickly offering a helping hand as she walked behind her. She was surprised that she had chosen to wear the necklace, she'd noticed her neck had been bare, missing the necklace that was rarely away from her. Allison had assumed that after Chris had told her she was just like Kate she couldn't bear to wear it any longer with the fear that wearing something that her mother had given her would only make that statement true.
The older girl paused for a moment, smiling at Kinsey through the reflection of the mirror in front of them. She thought about telling her then, about Matt, despite what she and Stiles had decided. But it didn't seem appropriate right before a party. Maybe on her death bed would be more appropriate. Then her mind shifted back to the necklace, she was tempted to ask her why the sudden change of heart, she felt as though she might just be the only one Kinsey wouldn't try to murder for asking about the necklace.
"Would you mind closing the window for me?" Kinsey asked, taking away the chance for Allison to mention either the necklace or Matt. "I just need to find some shoes that Lydia will approve of and then we can go." The girl continued with humor in her voice as she walked to her wardrobe.
Allison nodded with a smile as she walked towards the open window, stopping when she reached it. She looked out into the dark street, dimly lit by the streetlights as she thought about all of the times that Matt Daehler had been out there, taking pictures of Kinsey while she went about her day innocently. All of the times he'd been out there and they hadn't known. He could have been out there now, now of them would know, clearly, after months of watching Kinsey and hiding he was no stranger to sneaking around, he knew what he was doing.
The two girls walked up to the Martin house, the long driveway leading up to the grand house was empty, not a single car in sight. A hopeful Kinsey had parked down the street in case there hadn't been a spot to park in, she'd remembered how the street looked at Lydia's last party. But now she could see that wasn't so much of a problem. Either they were really early, or Allison had been right in assuming nobody would be coming to the "biggest party of the year."
"For Lydia," Allison said with a deep breath, looking at the girl who stood beside her.
"For Lydia,"
Walking through the Martin house the brunette held a glass of pink punch handed to her by her redhead best friend the moment that she had stepped through the door, she swirled it around in its glass, staring down at it as she did so. That was what her life had come to, taking interest in a pink liquid hoping it would distract her from everything else happening in her life. She listened to the sound of her heels clicking against the marble floor of the foyer as she thought about the first time she had walked through this house at one of Lydia's parties. It was so different back then. Not just for the party itself, but everything that happened around it, and she was sure she wasn't the only one to feel that everything had changed.
She could remember the night of the party like it was yesterday.
Allison had spent hours getting ready in preparation for her date with Scott, their first date, now they were months into their relationship. She and Stiles had considered it a "friend date" since then they'd been on a real date, a beautiful one at that. Lydia was the most popular girl in school while still dating Jackson. The party had been nothing more than a celebration for the lacrosse team, back then that was all that the pack had to worry about. Not Kanima's, not Alpha's, not why they weren't able to cross over a barrier of mountain ash when they believed they were as human as humans could be. Sometimes she missed that life.
Kinsey walked into the party behind Scott and Allison who had been less unbearable during the car ride over than she expected, so far it hadn't felt as though she was the third wheel to a first date but rather getting to know yet another person in Beacon Hills. It was obvious that Scott was trying to make sure that Kinsey didn't feel uncomfortable as he talked about things either girl could answer like how they were finding Beacon Hills and the people so far, saving the typical date talk for when he and Allison were alone. It had helped Allison's nerves settle and saved Kinsey from being traumatized from being a third wheeler to their blossoming relationship. The music beat loudly in their ears as they made their way through Lydia's large and luxurious house, people already dancing in every free space, if not dancing then making out with people they probably knew little to nothing about. Every corner was filled with a keg surrounded by the jocks as they showed off their muscles to one another. Everyone in the house apart from the three who'd just walked in seemed to be intoxicated to the point that they'd be waking up in the morning with a hangover and regret if they remembered the events of tonight. Kinsey planned to be one of those people as a smile grew across her face as she walked through the house, the occasional drunken girl that she recognized giving her and Allison a quick hug as they walked through the house and into the kitchen. The couple in front of her had started to head towards the backyard that seemed to have fewer people and more air, but even outside looked like a place where Allison would have to face her least favorite parts of a party.
The brunette leaned against the door frame that lead to the kitchen, she could remember standing just a few feet away from where she was now taking shots with Jackson in a large crowd of dancing teenagers, barely able to see across the room. Now she could see straight through to the backyard that Lydia had decorated especially for her birthday. The house was empty, the music still playing quiet enough that the girl could still hear her thoughts. This seemed a lot more like Allison's kind of party than the one that they had attended all those months ago. But it acted as a reminder that too many things had changed since then, for the worse rather than for the better. She couldn't be a normal teenager looking forward to a party at her best friend's house any longer, she had to keep a lookout for a homicidal lizard.
While Kinsey had a moment of peace she considered telling Allison tonight about what had happened outside of the warehouse, hopefully after she had some alcohol in her system, which with the night they were bound to have ahead of them seemed inevitable. Maybe if Allison was drunk she wouldn't remember being told that her cousin might not be as human as they'd all been lead to believe, so if Kinsey woke up tomorrow with any regrets she could take it back. If Allison happened to remember, well, that was something she could deal with if it came to it.
If there was anyone she could trust to tell it was Allison, right? The two of them told each other everything, it was what they did, they weren't practically sisters for nothing. Their whole sister like relationship had been built on being each others confidants, she was confident that Allison told her everything, surely she should return the favour.
When Allison had returned sporting a new pair of heels the two girls moved out to the empty backyard, the only other people who had turned up were stood around in the kitchen by the supply of booze, the only reason they were truly here. Not because they were supporting Lydia like Kinsey and Allison. The two girls sat around drinking their punch as they waited for more people to show up, which took a while, they waited for Jackson to turn up, whether it was in his Kanima form or just his jackass human self, but even he hadn't showed. Not even Scott and Stiles had managed to show their faces yet, and much to Kinsey's surprise Allison didn't seem too bothered by that. Since the night at the warehouse the two had barely spoken, he had taken his anger out on his girlfriend a lot more than he had Kinsey, he'd practically forgiven her for her part in telling the hunters about Jackson. Allison on the other hand, was still waiting for him to forgive her for what she had done, but she wasn't quite making the effort to retrieve it from the wolf. In fact, it didn't seem as if she cared what he did, something was distracting her too much.
"Finally." Kinsey mumbled, jumping up from her seat as soon as she saw Scott and Stiles walk out into the garden with their hands filled with a glass of punch, clearly, Lydia had found them first. A reluctant Allison followed her cousin, providing her boyfriend with an awkward smile as they all stood around one another, adding to a painfully silent tension. Even Stiles seemed to pick up on the awkwardness but unlike usual he wasn't trying to ease it, but adding to it. "Uh, Jackson's not here." The younger brunette spoke up, it didn't seem as if any of her friends were going to be the first to speak, she'd have to do it herself.
"Yeah, nobody's here." Stiles deadpanned as he and the wolf looked around the empty yard that they'd found the two girls in, it was just them and Lydia over by the fountain filling up every empty glass that she had been able to find in her cupboards, she had no guests to entertain yet. Scott tried to be optimistic about it, suggesting that maybe they had come too early, that in due time more people would come, but even her own bestest friends struggled to believe it. "Or maybe noboys' coming because Lydia has turned into the town wack job." Stiles added as his argument, receiving himself a sharp stare from Kinsey, though she knew it was the reputation her best friend had gained herself it was something the four had vowed not to mention, whether she was present in the conversation or not. They were supposed to be the only people who didn't think of her like that, she deserved to have friends who didn't think that about her.
"Well, we have to do something, because we've completely ignored her for the past two weeks." Allison added with a sigh, she couldn't believe she had just admitted that. She felt bad that she had ignored Lydia for these past two weeks, though she tried to convince herself that it was just another attempt at keeping their best friend safe there was only a certain extent that she could use that excuse to, and they'd passed it. Now they were just bad best friends.
"She completely ignored Stiles for the past ten years." Scott deadpanned.
"I prefer to think of it as me not being on her radar yet." He corrected.
"We don't owe her a party."
"What about the chance to get back to normal?" Allison asked. "She wouldn't be the town wack job if it wasn't for us." Kinsey stared at her cousin for doing exactly what Stiles had done, calling Lydia the town wack job when they agreed that they wouldn't do it. It seemed as if she was the only one who didn't believe the redhead was a wack job, but then who was she to judge when her mother had been the town arsonist? Or when she had written the same backwards message as Lydia had, only hers hadn't been so public. Kinsey couldn't judge Lydia for what she had been through these past few months, her experiences were no better, she was just as much of a wack job as the redhead.
Scott sighed at Allison's comment, unable to deny that she was right. Lydia was in all of this because of them, arguably all of them were. Of course, the two girls would have ended up in all of this mess no matter what, they were born into a family of hunters, even if they hadn't moved to Beacon Hills or befriended him they would have found out about the supernatural one way or another. But Lydia, that could be blamed on all of them. The wolf suggested using his title of co-captain to get the lacrosse to attend the party. Stiles had his own group of people who he claimed could get the party started, like really started, he didn't quite tell them who, only that he had met them the other night. Kinsey refused to ask any more details, she already dreaded it from what he had told them. Instead, she suggested that she would try to get some people here too by texting everyone in her contacts from the short amount of time she could be considered a popular new girl in Beacon Hills High.
Within half an hour the once empty Martin house had been filled, back to the way Lydia liked it, full of drunk and dancing teenagers. Like the very first party Kinsey had attended there wasn't room to move around, every space filled by someone taking a shot, dancing or committing a serious case of PDA. Scott's lacross contacts had arrived, never being able to say no to a party, even if they were hesitant after hearing Lydia's name. Stiles's group had arrived, it turned out that his party starters were just that, they were some of the drag queens that he had met at the gay bar from the night they followed Danny. Kinsey couldn't deny they were great fun, she had ended up spending most of her time with them as they complimented her and Allison on their outfits and shoes. Everyone who the four had called out for had came, making it the kind of 17th birthday that Lydia had expected and deserved, the redhead was in her element as she walked around the party filling up any empty glasses with her pink concoction.
"Are you gonna apologize to Allison or what?" Stiles asked as he leaned against a column, Scott sat down beside him looking across the garden to his brunette girlfriend who stood with Kinsey and Lydia talking over their drinks.
"Why should I apologize?"
"Because you're the guy. It's what we do." Stiles shrugged, sipping his drink.
"But I didn't do anything wrong."
"Then you should definitely apologize. See, anytime a guy thinks he hasn't done anything wrong it means he's definitely done something wrong."
"I'm not apologizing." Scott insisted, he was adamant on his decision. He truly believed his words, he hadn't done anything wrong. All he had done was stick to the plan he and Stiles had created, maybe he hadn't informed Allison of the plan, but that gave her no reason to tell her father and grandfather all the things that she did know.
"Is the full moon talking, buddy?" Stiles asked as he looked up at the large full moon that shined down on them, he used to admire the sight of a full moon until it began having an affect on his best friend, now the mere sight of it sent a chill down his spine as he dreaed the kind of night ahead of them. Especially when it turned Scott into a completely unrecongisable person who made out with a girl he used to have a crush on, or try to make out with a girl he still did have a crush on, who just so happened to be his girlfriend's cousin.
"Probably." The wolf admitted with a nod. "Why do you care, anyway? Shouldn't you be worrying about how Kinsey's going to react when she finds out about Matt? Or how you and Allison have known about it for days now and haven't warned her?"
Stiles tried to ignore his friends comment, or at least delay answering it, telling Kinsey had been the very think keeping him up at night along with the fact he had gotten his dad fired which hadn't been helping his stress levels. But he couldn't ignore it, he knew one of them would have to tell Kinsey before it became dangerous, more so than it already was, after all she did have a literal stalker. A stalker she shared classes with, talked to in the halls, and she didn't see him as anything more than someone who had an undying crush on her. Like Isaac. That was another thought that didn't settle well with him, he was gaining more and more competition by the day, and the worst part was that he couldn't blame them. It was Kinsey they were talking about.
He looked back across the garden to where Kinsey still stood, smiling and laughing with Lydia and Allison, he had to admire her, he couldn't help it. That beautiful smile of hers, he loved how often she was able to wear it despite everything she had been through. That was just one of the things he admired about her, just one in a long list of things, somehow she remained so strong. Even in the moments where she had cracked she was still the strongest person he had known. As he looked over at the girl Kinsey peered over to where he and Scott were, flashing them a smile and a slight nod before being whisked back into a conversation by her best friends.
The boy sighed, finally ready to answer Scott's question.
"Because, Scott, somethings gotta go right here. I mean, we're getting our asses royally kicked, if you haven't noticed. People are dying. I got my dad fired. You're gonna be held back in school. I'm in love with a freaking werewolf huntress who I'm losing to Isaac freaking Lahey. Lahey. And if on top of that I have to watch you lose Allison I'm gonna stab myself in the face."
Derek stood in his rusting subway car preparing his betas for the full moon above them tonight, though none of them could see it or feel it's shine caressing their skin all the way down here that didn't change the affect it had on all of them, even him. The only difference; he had control over himself during a full moon, something he planned to teach his beta's tonight. Erica was chained up using manacles and a circular clamp that placed sharp screws into her head, between the three of them she was more equipped to handle the pain, his two male betas on the other hand had a good old set of chains. While Boyd was chained up a few feet away from Erica, Derek had moved Isaac over to one of the empty seats of the rusting subway car, chaining him to one of the chairs. Though he didn't say it, Isaac was his least reliable beta. He was much more of a slave to the moon than the others, he didn't handle it as well, at least not from the small amount of experience they'd all had with the full moon since they received their bite.
The whole full moon was still fairly new to them all, Derek knew it wasn't going to be easy, not when all three of them would want to rip his throat out at once but creating three betas was a choice he had made. Maybe looking back it wasn't the smartest idea, but back then he felt as thought it was necessary, he needed someone beside him when Scott had claimed a pack of his own, leaving him as an omega.
He had been tempted for a moment to ask for some help tonight from one of the only people he knew could handle a group of three betas on a full moon, and surprisingly, it wasn't a beta who had been through the transformation first hand. Derek was confident that the person he had in his mind was fierce enough to put three transitioning beta's in their place, and from what he'd been told she was receiving training to know exactly what to do with them. He had even dialed Kinsey's phone number, staring down at his phone for a few moments as he considered asking for her help, of course, there were plenty of benefits to having her here to help. But there was a specific negative that stood out to the Alpha, Kinsey would never let him live it down if he asked her for help. He could already hear her condescending comment of "you need me." in his head.
Derek knew that all he would have to do to get Kinsey here would be to mention the name of a particular one of his betas and she'd be here, his plan on getting the girl and Isaac closer so that they could get information had worked a lot better than he imagined, but he didn't need that information anymore. Yet his beta still lingered around the girl, he was no stranger to the look of love, especially in two sixteen year olds in sophomore year. His phone lingered over the girls name in his phone until Erica had butted into his thoughts, peering over his shoulder to see the name, reminding him that tonight was Lydia's 17th birthday party and Kinsey was never going to miss that. Not even if it were an empty party like the blonde anticipated.
"How do you not feel this?" Isaac asked as he allowed himself to be chained to the chair.
"I feel every second of it." Derek reassured him.
"And how do you control it?"
"Find an anchor. Something meaningful to you. Bind yourself to it. Keep the human side in control."
"What is it for you?"
"Anger." Derek bluntly retorted. "But it doesn't have to be that for everybody. It can be a person, like Scott, someone that means a lot to you. Someone who can help you control yourself." The Alpha continued to explain, dropping one of the biggest hints of his life, hinting wasn't his usual style, but he wanted information out of his beta, wondering whether Kinsey would be the one to come to Isaac's mind when he talked about that. But Isaac didn't show anything. Not a thing.
Kinsey was on her third or fourth drink of punch, maybe more. After seeing Jackson show up at the party her nerves had kicked in, and so had her instincts to drink everything in sight. When the Kanima had stepped out into the backyard she had thrown back the drink that was in her hand, one that had been dumped on a table, and one that she had stolen from two people who were too busy making out to pay any attention. Yes, she was definitely on more than her third or fourth, it was possible she'd even reached double digits now.
She and Allison had split up, taking different areas of the party, though her cousin tried to justify it was watching Jackson from afar, prepared for if anything happened Kinsey doubted that that was the real reason. Her suspicions were that she wanted to gain more distance between herself and Scott, other than the group conversation the two of them had had earlier the two of them hadn't talked. Instead, both would continue to look at one another from afar, holding their gazes for a few moments before turning away as if they weren't already dating.
Other than that single conversation where the four of them had suggested texting everyone they knew to bring them to the party, the pack hadn't spoken, at least hardly. Kinsey and Allison had been talking to one another as had Scott and Stiles, but those two pairs hadn't mixed. There was something in the air tonight, a lot more than just a full glimmering moon.
The brunette had been sitting on the side of the pool, her feet dipped into the water while her heels sat beside her, she stared up at that bright full moon as she took a sip from her punch that seemed to be tasting stronger with every glass that she had. Of course, as she looked at it she wondered whether that was something that would have an affect on her, so far tonight she felt fine, but she had to wonder after the night of the rave where she couldn't pass the mountain ash until Stiles had broken the barrier. Deaton's words remained in her head, not to pressure what ever it was inside of her, it would show itself when it wanted to, until then all she could do was wait and act as if she was still normal. Maybe use the time to think about how she would tell her family that something had happened, she still wasn't sure how she'd came to be something that couldn't pass through mountain ash. It didn't make sense, which had become a recurring theme in her life, nothing ever made sense to her, it was painfully annoying.
When Kinsey had felt a cold hand on her shoulder she turned to see Matt Daehler stood over her with a nervous smile, he'd barely been able to spit out his words as he asked if he could pull her aside for a conversation for a moment, somewhere quieter than in the centre of the party. Though the girl was hesitant Kinsey agreed as she pulled herself off of the edge of the pool to follow him into the house with her heels and punch in hand. Usually, she wouldn't have agreed after finding out he had been the one leaving all of the notes in her locker, she hadn't had the chance to talk to him about it yet, which was exactly why she agreed now. It was the first chance she'd get to ask him about the notes and why he'd been leaving them.
The two passed Allison as they walked into the house, the other brunette had an uneasy look on her face as she watched both of them disappear into the house, her stomach churning. Allison questioned whether to follow her cousin and Matt, but she wanted to believe that the girl was strong enough to handle herself, and in such a fully party Matt surely wouldn't try anything with the girl. After that thought Allison quickly drank what remained in her glass, her way of coping.
Kinsey followed Matt into one of the empty downstairs rooms of Lydia's house, the boy was about to close the doors to block out the noise from the party until he saw the look that Kinsey had thrown him, a strong look of disapproval as she insisted that he only had two minutes to talk to her. She couldn't deal with anymore than that, not when all of the messages he had left in her locker continued to sound through her head like someone was reading a big creepy book.
"Look, Matt, I know that you-"
Before the girl could finish Matt began speaking himself.
"So I know I took some pictures of you that I should have told you about." He started, stepping closer to Kinsey as she looked at him with a furrowed brow. Pictures? She began growing more concerned about being alone with the boy as she took a step back from him, allowing him to continue with his explanation. "But is it really that bad that... That I think you're beautiful... And I think you should be the subject of a perfect photograph?" The brunette had never been more confused, she wasn't sure what pictures that the boy was referring to, and her face had failed to hide that as she stood with a raised brow, looking at Matt up and down trying to figure out what the hell was going on. She had every intention of asking him about the notes, but after finding out that there were now pictures too, and that for some reason he believed she knew about them, she found herself speechless. Unable to mutter a single word, let alone an accusation of him being a psychotic freak with a crush that had gone much too far. It took Matt a few seconds to realise where he had gone wrong. "Allison never told you about the photos, did she?"
Kinsey shook her head with growing fear, as well as anger. It turned out that she and Allison didn't tell each other everything, apparently stalkers didn't qualify as something to share in their relationship. After all the times she had told her cousin that she felt as though she was being watched, all the times she had shared her fear about someone following them or the idea of having someone who took photos of her that she didn't know about. All of the things that had apparently been happening to her, that Allison had known about and still, she hadn't said a word. She didn't think it was the kind of thing to mention to someone whose biggest fear was something like this. The brunette could feel as the fear inside of her began to melt away, quickly being replaced by anger, maybe even fury until she wasn't struggling for words anymore.
"No. She didn't." Kinsey bluntly replied. "But, look, all the notes and the photos-"
"They're called candids."
"It's called stalking." She corrected him.
Her attention had been taken away from Matt for a moment as she looked straight past him and into the crowded hallway, she squinted her eyes questioning whether she had just seen what she thought she had. She could have sworn she saw a familiar person, a dirty-blonde haired woman who stood out in any crowd, making her way through it confidently, not having to worry about squeezing through people because people parted to the side to allow her through.
"Stalking. So I'm..." Matt paused to chuckle in disbelief. "I'm a stalker now. That's... is that it? You think, uh, my bedroom is wallpapered with your photos?" He continued, even he was seemingly getting angrier by the second, clearly offended by the title that Kinsey had given him, but she still believed it was a fitting title for someone who had been writing notes and leaving them in her locker for months and who had been taking pictures of her. This was much more than just an innocent high school crush. "You think I'm the kind of guy that's gonna say something like, "Well, if I can't have her, no one can?" Well, you know what? Get over yourself, because there's another pretty girl walking through the room every five minutes."
Kinsey looked at him in shock after listening to his ranting, or at least the part where she hadn't been distracted by the person she thought she had seen in the hallway behind him. Even Matt seemed surprised by himself as his jaw dropped after taking a sharp breath. The boy sighed, clearly, he was prepared to apologize for his outburst, ready to tell her that everything he said he didn't mean, he had just gotten mad. But Kinsey didn't give him the chance to apologize.
"Well, then Matt, all you have to do is wait for another three. Good luck."
As the brunette stepped forward prepared to leave the conversation there as she headed back towards the party Matt had grabbed the girl by her arm, pleading for her to wait a moment so he could talk to her, perhaps try to reason with her. But with anger fuelling her, manipulating every move she made and every word that came out of her mouth Kinsey grabbed the boy's shoulder, throwing him onto the ground until he was at her feet looking up at her, distraught. Her violent outburst had caught the attention of those in the hallway who quickly laughed at the exchange while Matt questioned what the hell was wrong with her. That was an answer she'd like to have for herself. A flustered Kinsey quickly apologized as she looked down at Matt before excusing herself, rushing out into the corridor, shoving those who had taken enjoyment in watching her tackle someone to the floor.
She headed straight for the nearest bathroom where she knew she could give herself a chance to cool off before heading back to the party, and possibly to confront her beloved cousin about her stalker. Kinsey slammed the bathroom door behind her as she fell against it taking a deep breath to try and gather her thoughts. Her mind didn't know where to begin. Did she start with the fact a group of people had just watched her lose her temper and tackle Matt? Or that Matt had been stalking her? Or that Allison had known about Matt stalking her and decided it wasn't something to mention? There were a million places for her mind to go, and it couldn't choose a single one.
Kinsey moved over to the sink running the cold tap, she watched it run for a few minutes before cupping her hands together, filling it up with the cold water. She splashed her face, cooling her down. She didn't quite care about the chance of her make-up running, she needed to calm down and fast, Lydia was sure to fix any running mascara if she made it back to the party tonight, but with her anger, she was doubting it. Kinsey ran her wet hands over her face, wiping off the small drops of water as she looked into the mirror, immediately jumping out of her skin when she saw what was behind her. Or more so who was behind her.
The brunette whipped her head around to face the woman, her heart beating in her ears as she looked straight into the blue eyes that had raised her, lost for words as she tried to process what she was seeing. It was impossible. She was dead. She watched her throat get ripped out with her own eyes, feet away from her. Her mother smiled at her, not speaking a word, which didn't help Kinsey to figure out if what she was seeing was real or just her being delusional after too many sips of alcohol. Whether it was real or not, Kinsey couldn't deny she was happy to see the sight of her mother again and in a much better state than the last time the two had been in front of one another. Right now she needed motherly advice, if not from her own mother than the only other mother figure she had left in her life- her aunt Victoria.
"Mom?" Kinsey finally mumbled with a sharp breath, tears streaming down her face.
She watched as the face of her mother dropped at that word, almost disgusted by it. "I'm not your mother." Kate laughed in the girl's face. "My daughter was kind, strong. You... you are nothing more than a monster. Like the rest of them. You deserve to be exactly where they are."
"Who?" Kinsey mumbled in confusion. "Where who is?" Her voice croaked.
Kate didn't answer her daughter's question though the smirk continued to grow across her face as she stepped closer to Kinsey until she was pushed against the sink, her hands gripping onto the counter as she desperately tried to gain more space between herself and the terrifying woman in front of her. But she couldn't move any further back than she already had. Kate bent down, reaching into the side of her brown boots, pulling out a sharp blade, an image of the person that her daughter had become since her death. It was hard to tell the difference between the two, the lines had been blurred.
Kinsey's breath became shakier, her tears less joyful as she looked at the sharp blade that her mother's grip tightened around, she shook her head rapidly in disbelief that this was happening. She closed her eyes trying to remove the image out of her head. Though it killed her to think of that night she tried to remember as Peter ripped out Kate's throat right in front of her as he looked straight into her tearful eyes. She tried to remember watching her mother's coffin be dropped in the ground, six feet under where she belonged. Her mother was dead. Kinsey kept telling herself that as she mumbled that none of this was real, that Kate had died that night, she had to believe it.
The girl opened her eyes hoping that her mother would be gone. That her hallucination of her mother would be gone but Kate was still there with the blade she'd pulled from her boot, that same smirk across her face that she had been wearing when the girl closed her eyes tightly. In a desperate attempt to escape her mother Kinsey quickly moved to the side, sliding herself away from the counter that had blocked her from moving away from Kate. Her mother turned to follow her without a single word, slowly raising the blade in her hand.
"Mom, please." Kinsey pleaded as tears streamed down her face. "Please, don't do this. Don't hurt me. Mom, please." She sobbed as she tried to move further from the woman again, the blade becoming closer to her stomach. "I'm your daughter, please. It's me. It's Kinsey."
Kate continued her silence until her daughter was pushed against another wall, no longer did she have an escape route, not even to her side like she had managed to escape being pressed against the countertop of the sink. She was stuck. About to die at the hands of her own mother.
The woman looked straight into Kinsey's chocolate brown tearful eyes, the smirk finally dropping from her face as she held the blade inches from the girl's stomach. Kinsey continued to sob as she looked at her mother, but in death, the woman still lacked maternal instincts, she lacked a heart that would stop her from taking another life. Her mother was a monster. And she was too. The two of them both deserved a painful death.
A sharp gasp came from the girl's mouth as she felt the blade tear through her skin, her eyes closing as she clutched onto her stomach where her mother's silver blade still remained. Kinsey dropped to the floor, sliding down against the wall as she wept in pain. The pain was too much to open her eyes. Her sobs were the only thing she could hear as she felt herself slowly become overwhelmed by the pain. She hadn't ever given too much thought as to what death would feel like, but this wasn't what she had imagined.
Kinsey heard footsteps approach her, in the midst of everything happening inside of her head she wasn't able to make out the shoes that had made the sound, whether it was the brown boots of her mother. Her murderer. Her sobs continued as she felt the person come closer to her, just inches away from her face, but she couldn't bear to open her eyes out of fear that her mother was there, prepared to make sure her death was fulfilled. Maybe even sped up.
"Kins. Kinsey, hey." Scott muttered, cupping the girl's face in his hands. "Kinsey. It's me. It's Scott. Hey, open your eyes. Kinsey." He repeated as the girl shook her head, fighting to get him off of her. She refused to believe that it was Scott in front of her, it was just another one of the games that her mind loved to play on her. "Kinsey!" The wolf yelled, losing the softness that he had originally spoken to her with.
The brunette opened her eyes, though her vision was blurry she was able to make out Scott's chiseled face in front of her. Her eyes moved from the wolf to her stomach where the blade had been, where her hands still lingered. There was nothing there. No blood. No blade. Nothing.
"She... She was here, Scott." The girl sobbed. "My mom was here."
Scott pulled the girl off of the floor pulling her into a tight hug, clearly, she had been through the same kind of thing he had been through. For some reason, the two of them were hallucinating, but while his hallucination had been fueled by jealousy, the thought of Allison and Jackson with one another Kinsey's had been fueled by her grief. He wrapped his arms tightly around Kinsey while her own arms wrapped around his neck as she sobbed into the wolf's shoulder, unable to calm herself. Maybe her mom hadn't been here, but that sight and her words would never be forgotten by the girl. Because maybe some part of that was true. She was a monster. Whatever it was she was, it was a monstrous thing. Maybe she did deserve nothing but death.
The wolf didn't ask any questions, he was sure that whatever Kinsey had just been through she wasn't going to be ready to talk about anytime soon, but that didn't change the fact he needed to figure out what had caused not one, but both of them to hallucinate something. And whether it was happening to anyone else too. Both of their silence that had been somewhat comforting had been broken by the sound of a cellphone vibrating on the marble countertop beside them. Kinsey pulled away from Scott as she looked to her ringing phone with her uncle's caller ID, this had been the first time he'd called her in a while, usually, it was regarding hunter business which tonight she was certainly not in the mood for. But right now she needed the familiar voice of someone in her family who was actually alive and hadn't been lying to her like Allison had been, for how long she wasn't sure. All she knew was that her uncle was probably her most favorable person between the two of them right now.
With a sigh, Kinsey picked up the phone, barely able to mutter a hello before her uncle began talking on the other side. Scott listened in on the phone call as he looked at Kinsey, watching as her face slowly dropped, her heart skipping a beat or two. Her hand began shaking around her cellphone until she moved it away from her ear, holding it tightly in her hands as she tried to figure out what she was supposed to do after finding out that news. And there was only one answer that was reasonable, she didn't have to speak it for Scott to nod in agreement, telling her to go, and quickly.
Kinsey and Allison's eyes were swollen and puffy as they stood in the elevator. From the moment that the younger brunette had told her cousin what Chris had informed her own, it felt as if time were in slow-motion as if they were in a movie. The car ride to the hospital felt like it had taken hours, in reality, it was shorter than ten minutes with the speed that Allison had been driving. The two found themselves crying quietly as they sat and stood beside each other, unable to speak a word to each other. Allison didn't need any confirmation from her cousin, but she knew that something had happened, she was smart enough to piece together the puzzle. There was no denying that she'd found out about Matt, the boy had probably dropped himself into that mess believing that the two girls were so close that Allison would have gone home and told her younger cousin straight away. She should have. But she had been scared. And now, now as her mother was dying she didn't have the comfort of the person she loved the most. She didn't deserve the comfort, at least that was what she told herself.
The elevator doors opened revealing Chris as he stood solemnly talking to a deputy, his face dropping when he had seen his daughter and niece stumble out of the elevator. He couldn't speak those words again, he couldn't find the words to confirm that what he had told his niece on the phone was true. Chris turned around to the room that stood behind him, through its window the two girls were able to see a body covered in a blue cloth, beneath it- Victoria. The man had turned back to them with teary eyes as he watched their eyes swell up more than they already were. The realization had set within them all at the same time.
Victoria Argent was dead.
"No." Allison shook her head. "No. No, Dad. No, Dad! If this is some kind of sick training session, you had... You better tell me! You better tell me!" Allison broke down in the middle of the hospital floor, sobbing, she refused to believe her mother had died.
"No. I'm sorry." Chris shook his head, speaking softly. "I'm sorry." He repeated as he wrapped his sobbing daughter into his arms as she tried to fight off the thought, still unable to allow that thought into her mind. She refused to lose her mother. She couldn't.
Kinsey stood back with her hand covering her mouth as she felt her stomach churn. She could feel as her heart shattered into a million pieces, as another person was stripped away from her life once again. The only mother figure she had left. Yet another Argent.
Chris looked over his daughter's shoulder as she sobbed into his chest, looking at Kinsey as she stood alone, slowly breaking apart as she was relieved the moment she watched her own mother die and now her aunt. He opened his arm out to the girl, and for the first time in a while, she didn't hesitate to trust in her uncle as she rushed into his arms. Sobbing into his other shoulder. It was just the three of them now. They were all they had left.