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Chapter Sixty-Five
🌒 A Credible Threat 🌘
"What are you reading?" Jordan asked as he walked up to Aurora who was sitting on her couch reading something. "One of my witch books." She mumbled, not looking up from the book making him furrow his brows as he glanced at the time. "It's almost midnight and you're reading one of your witch books?" He said and she sighed softly while looking up at him.
"My necklace is on the painting of you and the Beast fighting. I would like to know why." She said and he nodded and sat down next to her, putting his arm on the back of the couch, "Find anything yet?" He asked and she shook her head.
"Nope. Not a thing." Aurora said as she set the book on the coffee table before turning to Jordan. He stared at her with a small smile for a moment before leaning in, connecting their lips. After a moment, Aurora hummed slightly before pulling back. "Do remember that my kids and Leah are asleep down the hall." Aurora said in a low whispered and he chuckled.
"Then be quiet." He said making Aurora chuckle quietly before gently grabbing his face and pulling him back into a kiss. Their lips moved in sync until he slowly pulled away. Aurora furrowed her brows before looking at him to see his eyes turn a fiery orange making her sigh and roll her eyes slightly.
"You can go." She said and almost instantly, he got up and started walking towards the door. Aurora sighed softly, grabbing her phone and dialing a number as she watched Jordan walk out.
"It happening?" Argent asked the second he answered the call, "Yep, he just left."
Minutes later Scott, Liam, Aurora and Stiles are driving down a dark road in the jeep when Aurora got the text message from Argent, "He's headed to the school." She said making Liam look at her confused. "Why's Parrish headed to the school?" Liam asked and Aurora shook her head, "It's not Jordan right now." She said.
"Okay, why's a Hellhound going to the school?" Liam asked, "Cause he's got a yearning for higher education?" Stiles said sarcastically making Liam give him a look. "Liam, the Hellhound's at the school, so we're going to the school. Okay?" Stiles said before pressing down on the gas.
A few minutes later they pulled up to the school. Liam climbed out after Aurora and slammed the door shut making them all turn to him. Scott and Aurora simply looks exasperated, while Stiles is giving Liam a dirty look, "Sorry." Liam said, looking at them sheepishly.
They quickly catch him to Argent who had his gun at hand, "Where's Jordan?" Aurora asked and Argent sighed. "I lost him. He's moving too fast." Argent said and Aurora glanced around for Jordan but something else caught her eye. None of the guys noticed as she slowly started walking away from the group to get a better look.
"Guys!" Aurora called out once she realized what it was. The guys all looked over at her to see her standing a few feet away from a body lying in the middle of the ground in a puddle of blood. Aurora slowly walked up to it as the guys start walking over to her. "They had some bad luck." She mumbled when she saw the guys chest and abdomen has been completely torn to shreds.
She slowly looked up right as the guys walked up to her and then walked around the body and sighed, "There's another." She said before walking over to it. They follow her towards the second body to see it was just as bad as the first one. Aurora glanced away from the body to look and her eyes widen, "The bus." She said in a slight whisper making them all look over at a bus that had it's back door wide open.
Inside the bus was dozens of mauled people inside, brutally ripped to shreds and sprawled across the floor and hanging over the seats. To all of their surprise, one of the people in the bus, a young blond man, is still alive, and coughs before reaching out toward them as he weakly pleads for help. "Help... me..."
Scott moved to go help but man but Aurora grabbed his arm making him look at her as she looked off in a direction. "Found Jordan." She said making them all loon over to see Jordan whose eyes are glowing with fire, his fangs and claws out, and the veins of what looks like magma crackling through the soot-covered skin on his chest and back, making it obvious that the Hellhound is currently in charge. "It's a trap." The Hellhound says and the guy in the bus let's out a small plead again, "Please..."
Scott goes to step forward again but stopped with Jordan looked back at them, "You can't help him." He said and Aurora was about to walk over to him but froze slightly when they all heard a loud snarl. All of the sudden the body of the victim got ripped in half and thrown onto the ground in front of the bus, his internal organs spilling out onto the pavement, which makes the everyone stare in disgust and horror.
A shadowy figure leans over the pile of bodies, revealing that the Beast is in the bus. Scott's eyes widen as he gulps nervously, and Stiles, who hasn't seen the Beast in person before, looks absolutely terrified. "That's big... No one said it was that big!" Stiles said panicky, "I did." Liam said. Aurora's eyes widened as she stared at the thing her boyfriend is apparently supposed to fight and that her necklace had something to do with.
The Beast roared menacingly at the group making Jordan/the Hellhound flick out his claws and bursts into flames before roaring back. The Beast then stomps down the aisle of the bus, leaping through the windshield and running into the woods at high-speed while the Hellhound chases after him; they run so quickly that they quickly vanish into the tree line before the others can even process what has happened.
Scott and the others look completely overwhelmed, "What the hell is happening?" Scott asked and Argent sighed, "It's getting smarter."
🌒
"Mason said it's not just to transmit frequency. It's high-powered- like, it has to be a really strong signal." Liam said as he, Scott, Stiles, Aurora and Lydia sit around in the library. "And that's causing it to shift?" Lydia asked and Scott shook his head slightly, "No, I don't think it's just that. Last night, Argent said that it's getting smarter. What if the Dread Doctors are trying to make the Beast grow faster?" Scott suggested.
"With frequencies?"
"No, by shifting. The frequency is just the trigger. The important part is when it shifts into the werewolf." Scott says and realization crossed over Lydia's features, "Like Peter." She said and Scott nodded. "Yeah, when Peter was an Alpha, he got stronger every full moon. Eventually, the burns healed, and he was back to normal."
"So, the Dread Doctors don't want to wait for the full moon." Liam said and Scott nodded, "They want want the Beast to be as strong as possible, as fast as possible." He said. "Because of Parrish." Liam said making Aurora sigh softly.
"So, if this is happening tonight, what are we going to do?" Lydia asked, "Uh, we've got one clue to go on." Stiles says before pulling a crime scene photo out of his backpack. "This came from the hospital- whoever's lurking inside the Beast is wearing a size-10 of indeterminate make." He said making Lydia raise her eyebrows at him, "Indeterminate?"
"It means it's a partial print. Basically, it was all we were able to get considering all the fire, blood, and carnage." Aurora explained and Stiles nodded while Scott sighed softly, "How many size-10s are out there?" He asked and Stiles shrugged. "Only one with Parrish's blood on the sole."
Liam looks anxious as he glances back and forth between Scott, Lydia, Aurora and Stiles, "So, are we going to try to get the game cancelled?" Liam asked. "No. No, we're going to play, but we're just going to hope really hard that it doesn't turn into a blood-soaked massacre." Stiles said sarcastically.
"Okay, but, umm... Aren't we kind of missing out on a chance to catch this thing? We don't have the "who," but we have the "where" and the "when."" Liam said and Aurora sighed and shook her head, "Too many people, we might as well just be handing victims over to the Beast." She said.
"And we still don't actually know if it's going to happen. It just might end up being a regular lacrosse game. It's possible... right?" Lydia asked and Aurora shrugged slightly and nodded, "That's totally a possibility... But given our track record of never actually having a normal lacrosse game where nothing supernatural happened... Doubtful." She asked and Stiles nodded in agreement.
"So, we're still getting the game cancelled?" Liam asked and Scott nodded, "We're getting the game canceled." Scott said and the all get up to leave.
As they were walking to the door Aurora and Lydia both slow to a stop. "You feel that too, right?" Lydia asked as they both subconsciously look at the other side of the room, "Uh-huh." Aurora said as they glanced at each other. Aurora's necklace dimly flicked for a moment before Aurora followed some energy pull she felt.
Lydia followed as they walk over to an aisle and saw a book lying on the ground. Aurora furrowed her brows and walk over and crouched down to look at it until someone said her name making them look up to see Jordan on the other side of the bookcase. Aurora quickly got up and ran over to the other side to see Jordan covered in slash marks, "Oh my god..." Aurora muttered as she dropped down next to him.
🌘
Aurora and Lydia had taken Jordan to Argent's bunker, where they met with Argent and Gerard. Argent had just finished examining the now-scabby claw gashes across Jordan's face and chest. "He's healing. Slowly." Argent said before walking away making Aurora instantly walk up to Jordan who grabbed her hand.
"Can you tell us what you remember?" Gerard asked, looking at Jordan in curiosity while Jordan looked dazed as he thinks about it for a moment. "Just bits and pieces. Moments when I caught up with it." He said and Aurora raised her eyebrows, "What else do you remember?" She asked and glanced at her before sighing softly.
"I was losing..." He said and Argent and Gerard share a concerned look while Lydia turned to them with her arms crossed. "You said you could help him." She said and Argent took a deep breath, sighing as he shrugged while Gerard smirked, "We have an idea or two." He said making Aurora cock an eyebrow.
"We've been wondering if resolving this internal conflict you're having could help resolve the external one you're losing against the Beast." Argent said making Aurora and Jordan glance at each other while Gerard's smirk only becomes more smug as he looks at Jordan with interest.
"Deputy-" Gerard said before gesturing toward the back room of the armory before heading back there himself, continuing to talk while Argent, Lydia, Aurora and Jordan follow him. "It's time you and your alter-ego had a proper introduction." Gerard said making Aurora raised her eyebrows, "How are you going to do that?" She asked.
"With this." Argent said before pushing
open a wrought-iron screen door, revealing a large, matte-gray-colored machine with a small glass window in the front. There was a large amount of wires twisting from the outside to the inside, and it looks somewhat like a weirdly-shaped freezer. Jordan sucked in a deep breath as he squeezed Aurora's hand making her glance at him, the both of them obviously wary about all of this.
"It'll bring your body temperature down to a level that would kill a normal human being." Argent explained and Jordan looked at him confused, "Why down and not up?" He asked. "Something happens to someone like you when the body cools to extreme temperatures. Everything slows down... the heart, the mind... It lets you consciously access a part of you that's usually unconscious." Argent explained and Gerard nodded.
"The supernatural part." He said and Aurora rolled her eyes at Gerard's remark and gives him an unimpressed look, "Isn't that dangerous?" She asked and Gerard gives her a look in return. "Well, it's far less dangerous than if the Deputy can't evolve to face the Beast." He said making Jordan look at him, "Evolve?" He asked.
"Well, the Beast is not just getting smarter. Imagine it this way: each night, the teenage Chimera-" Argent said and Lydia cut him off, "The success..." She said and Argent nodded. "This teenager goes out into the night and transforms. Whether it's a young man or young woman, they become a werewolf- a very large, very powerful werewolf the people of Gévaudan called The Beast. Every night it transforms, it remembers a little more of who it used to be."
"It yearns for its identity. Its name. Not just the Beast of Gévaudan, but the Man." Gerard said and Jordan looks extremely concerned as he glances over at Aurora, who seems equally concerned by this theory. "The Man of Gévaudan... Who wants to live, too. He wants to exist. So, imagine that one night, the teenager goes out and transforms again. But, when the Beast transforms back, the Man of Gévaudan stands there instead."
"Fully realized. Alive once again." Gerard said and Lydia eyes widen in shock when realization crossed over her features, "That's what Valack meant. He said when the Beast remembers, the teenager would be gone." She said and Jordan raised his eyebrows.
"Gone? Like, no longer exists? How is that even possible?" He asked ans the four of them all give Jordan the same look making him rolls his eyes in exasperation with a sigh, "Forget I asked." He said making Aurora chuckled quietly.
Argent sighed before walking over to the machine and opening the door, revealing that there is a metal bench built into the back wall, leaving just enough space for a grown man to sit inside. Jordan glanced at Aurora for a moment, who nodded slightly making Jordan take a deep breath and walking inside before Argent shuts it.
Aurora walked over and stands in front of the glass window, and watches anxiously as Jordan stood inside, staring at her while Argent turns a dial on the outside of the machine. Jordan glanced around the inside of the machine as it begins to fill with a freezing-cold fog.
They all continue to watch as the fog fills the space, obscuring Jordan from being seen as his body temperature starts to drop. A beeping noise is heard as the machine hits its peak low temperature, and once it stops, Jordan's hand smack against the glass window in panic.
Aurora went to move toward the machine, but Gerard grabbed her by the elbow to stop her making her glare at him. Finally, Jordan's hand is slowly pulled back, and the fog clears enough to see his shadowy face as his eyes glow reddish-orange with flames, indicating that the Hellhound is now in control.
"Is he okay?" Aurora asked and Argent gestures toward the machine with a jerk of his head, "Talk to him. This part is for you, Aurora. You'll be able to reach him..." He said and Aurora glanced at him before stepping forward.
"Jordan?" Aurora asked and there was a long pause before Jordan replies in a deep, inhuman voice, "No." He said making her raise her eyebrows. "Then who am I talking to?" She asked as he just stared back at her, "Cerberus. Garmr. Black Shuck. I've had many names." He said and she nodded slowly, unnerved by the almost robotic tone of Jordan's voice. "What about Jordan Parrish?" Gerard asked but he didn't answer, "Do you know who I am?" Aurora asked.
"Aurora. The one who wears the magic necklace." He said and Aurora nodded slightly, "What about Jordan Parrish? Why is it you and not him?" She asked and once again he remains silent. "What happened to Jordan?" Aurora asked louder this time and he paused before answering, "Jordan Parrish died. There is no Jordan Parrish." He said making Aurora suck in a deep breath.
"What do you mean?" She asked and this time he didnt pause, "He's a body. A means to an end. I am beyond life and death- I am infinite. I have no use for your Deputy." He said and she sighed. "But we do. We need him." She said, "Your Deputy won't kill the Beast." He said and she squinted slightly.
"Neither will you. I don't have to be a banshee to know people are going to die. And if you dont let Jordan in, he will die too." She said and when he doesn't respond to her, Aurora's voice becomes slightly more angrier. "You'll die!" She said and he continued to remain silent making her sigh.
"You have a chance with Jordan. You need him as much as we all do." She said and Argent got an idea before turning to her, "Aurora, tell him to remember." He said making her look at him confused, "Tell him to remember the moment Parrish died." Gerard said making her look back at Jordan.
"When did he die?" Aurora asked, "When I was born." He said before letting out a loud roar that shook the cooling chamber. Argent grabbed Aurora's arm and pulled her back just as Jordan stops screaming and manages to open the door of the machine from the inside.
He's weak from the freezing conditions and slumps onto the floor as Aurora rushed over to him. "Are you all right?" She asked and Jordan pants for breath for a long moment before he finally responds, looking up at her.
"I know who I am. I know what I have to do. I have to leave."