"An eye for an eye
a leg for a leg."
word count: 4.0k
Jade stopped what she was doing, emerald eyes narrowing as she listened to the running footsteps in school. She had just picked up the work that Lydia had missed from class today, ready to drop the books and sheets of paper over to the hospital before school the next morning. She took her time walking the corridors, not in any rush to get home. Lilith had been forced to cancel their night in, heading over to Tracy Stewart's house with Malia. Max had cancelled too, not giving her any more information other than saying that an emergency had popped up. So, she was relishing in how calm the building was. Was, being the keyword.
It hadn't been hard to get inside the school; one flick of her wrist had overridden the security system. It was odd that someone else was inside though, given that it was eleven o'clock in the evening.
Muttering an incantation that turned her invisible, she followed the sound of running footsteps. It led her to the top floor of the school, indistinct voices coming from inside the library, which was under construction. Teleporting inside to avoid opening the doors and making her presence known, her mouth fell slightly agape at what was happening.
Donovan— the guy she had spoken to after he had escaped his prison transport van— was standing in the middle of the room, circling the floor, an animal stalking its prey. She scrambled to open her pocket when a phone vibrated, feeling her heart rate slow down again when Donovan picked up a phone that had fallen onto the ground.
"You dropped your phone," he observed, spinning on his heels, hoping to find some movement that would help him find Stiles. "It's Max. Do you think I should text him back?" he paused, depositing the phone in his back pocket. "You don't know who I am, do you, Stiles?"
That perked Jade's interest, eyebrows in danger of disappearing as she listened. She didn't care about Donovan's paralysed father, or how the sheriff was sitting in the car, calling for backup while the incident happened. No, what she really wanted to know was what was going to occur next. It was clear that Donovan was trying to get a rise out of Stiles by calling Noah a bitch, using the words to get under his skin and make him squirm.
Donovan moved up the stairs to the upper floor of the library, Jade following close behind him, not caring if he heard her footsteps. It was clear by now that he was a supernatural— he had blood all over his face and the closer she walked behind him, the more she saw mini-mouths with sharp teeth pushing through his skin. Not to mention, he had a similar aura to Tracy, half one colour and half another. She could take him down without having to do so much as move. Although, she was always up for challenges if he wanted to put up a fight.
Donovan pulled his target backwards through a bookcase, metal hitting metal as Stiles drops the wrench, his only weapon. He was pushed into the scaffolding, hands shaking as he elbowed Donovan in the face. He was running out of options and places to go, up being the only way out of this mess, scrambling the scaffolding while he had the chance.
He wasn't even halfway up the structure, Donovon grabbing his legs and pulling him down, Stiles' hands working overtime as he struggled to hold up his body weight.
"Don't worry. I'm not gonna kill you. I'm just gonna eat your legs," Donovan snarled, baring his teeth as he prepared to bite into flesh. His eyes had turned a vividly intense yellow, but not like anything that resembled a werewolf— the entire eye changed colour.
Jade would have made a witty comment about how he was taking the phrase 'an eye for an eye' to a new level, but couldn't pull herself away from what was happening. Despite the voice inside of her screaming to help, to stop the creature from killing Stiles, she couldn't listen to it. From her point of view, this was simply karma. What goes around comes around, as they said.
Stiles had destroyed countless lives— Allison's, Aiden's, Lydia's, hers— and not once had he even attempted to apologise for it. Alright, logically speaking, some of that hadn't been his fault. Okay, and maybe she couldn't talk about karma, because if that was the case, she should be well below ground by now. Look, we're getting off track here. She was talking about Stiles, not her.
A crash split through the air. Slicing through flesh followed, the noise finally settling.
Stiles had pulled the pin at the top of the scaffolding, causing the pipes and construction materials to fall. He must have realised, to some degree, what had happened, realised why the weight had disappeared from his legs. Otherwise, he wouldn't have taken so long to glance down. He seemed to think that not looking would make it less real, that maybe if he hadn't seen it, it hadn't happened.
A pole had sliced straight through Donovan, blood spluttering down the front of his shirt as he choked. Yet he was still breathing, his chest heaving wheezy, deep breaths.
Jade watched as Stiles climbed down the scaffolding, ready to reveal herself, to walk down the steps and try to corrupt him, the same way she had almost successfully corrupted Malia. She paused, an idea striking her. What use was there in corrupting him when she had leverage on him? Oh, she was still planning his downfall, but this was an opportunity too good to miss. Now, she wasn't one to resort to blackmail— no, she had a much better idea.
There was no use in her corrupting him, not when he was doing a fine job of that himself. He had his hand on the pole, with every intention to pull it out, to try and get Donovan to a hospital before he lost too much blood. That was, until Donovan growled lowly, almost a warning that he would finish what he had started. Stiles faltered, suddenly debating whether it was a good idea to help or not.
The ethical question of what would happen to his dad if he brought Donovan to safety, that moment of hesitation, had paved the path for everything that happened next. Donovan's whole body shuddered as he took a final breath, head lolling backwards, eyes fluttering closed. Mercury and more blood spilt from the stab wound in his stomach, confirming the belief that he had been made, just like Tracy. A chimera.
Jade watched curiously as Stiles panicked silently, wondering what his next move was going to be. She raised a brow when he finally shuffled on his feet, typing a number into the phone on the receptionist's desk. He was hardly going to ring Scott, right? She started to get confused when his mouth stayed firmly shut, a faint female voice on the opposite end of the line.
For someone who had just murdered someone, she thought he seemed relatively calm. Stiles had always been a nervous person, barely able to go into a shop on his own without having a panic attack. So, in her opinion, it was odd that he wasn't flustered by what had happened. He was being calculative, thinking of anything that could tie him back to the scene. She had to hand it to him; he had done enough research into crime cases to know how to cover up a murder of his own creation.
He propped the door open with a book, ready to run for his life before his phone vibrated, blood running as cold as ice. God, he was going to be sick. His hand shook as he pulled his phone from Donovan's jacket, declining the seventeenth call from Max. With one final look at the body, he left.
Jade waltzed out of the doors, heading home. It seemed like her revenge board needed updating! Well, wasn't it funny how quickly the tables turned?
She wasn't the only one with blood on her hands now.
⌜ • ° + ° • ⌝
"The Dread Doctors, by T.R McCammon," Lydia furrowed her brows, reading the front cover of a novel that Malia was showing her.
Things were weird before chimeras started turning up around every new corner, but last night had made everything ten times stranger. With their friendship group spread out all over town last night, everything somehow kept on tying in together.
Lydia had been discharged from the hospital late in the evening, practically having to beg her mother to let her go back to school in the morning. Jade was still AWOL, which wasn't anything usual, since she had to be dragged against her will to social settings that involved the pack.
Liam, Brett, Mason and Nathan had been attacked by some sort of scorpion chimera while they were at Sinema, and Kira, Max and Scott had been forced to come to their rescue. To top matters off, some type of surgeons had killed the chimera, leaving them with more questions than ever.
It was safe to say that Nathan Lawless would not be going out with his friends any time soon. After sprouting wings at the club and getting the longest lecture of his life from his sisters, he had been forced to stay at home. Blair was nearing her wit's end, becoming closer by the day to having a nervous breakdown. She couldn't afford to take any more time off work— between finances and her colleagues turning their noses down at her, it wasn't possible. Liberty couldn't miss time from school, either, between bad episodes where her OCD got triggered and her grades slipping. Begrudgingly, and with a lot of anxiety, Blair had left her brother at home, praying that she would have a house to come back to.
The cherry on top was when the alarm at the animal clinic was tripped last night, only for Tracy's body to be gone! So, with everything that was going on, they needed to now find out who was taking the bodies and why. Amongst all of the chaos, Malia and Lilith had found the time to venture to Tracy Stewart's house, finding a book about doctors and bringing it to school. Hell, last night was one eventful evening, even for the supernaturals in Beacon Hills.
"What?" Malia pressed, exchanging a small worried glance with the redhead beside her. She had noticed the change in Lydia's heartbeat, the perplexed look on the girl's face being enough for Lilith to work out that something was wrong.
Lydia pursed her lips, narrowing her green eyes at the small drawing on the cover of the book. It almost looked familiar, yet she was certain she had never seen the doctors on the front. It was impossible because it was fictional, right? "I don't know. There's something about it. Has anyone actually read it yet?"
"Just me. And I didn't understand any of it. Stiles couldn't find anything about the author, either. He was in the library last night, studying, 'cause I asked," Malia sighed, following quickly behind Lydia, desperate for someone to know what was happening.
"What?" Lilith arched a brow at the amused look on Lydia's face, tugging at the hem of their dress to give her hands something to do. "Oh. Reading isn't my thing. There's no chance I'll be reading that. If you can get it in French, count me in," they flipped her braided hair over her shoulder, waving at someone that passed by. "Hey, stranger! Where the fuck have you been?" Lilith exclaimed, nearly knocking Max off his feet, placing a chaste kiss on either side of his face.
Max laughed lightly, ignoring the fact that he most definitely had two cherry red lipstick marks on his cheeks, wrapping an arm around the girl. "Lily! Haven't been anywhere, what would give you that impression?"
The wind was nearly knocked out of him for the second time this morning, Malia burying her face in his sweater. He was taken aback, reciprocating the hug when he eventually came to his senses. It was out of character for her, given that she wasn't a big fan of physical contact, finding it to be repulsing, in her own words. His mouth hung agape when he got a slap across the face, a stinging sensation making him dizzy. Now that was more like Malia. "What was that for!"
"Where the fuck have you been?" she fumed, folding her arms across her chest. "We thought you were dead! I had no one to buy me cookies!"
He stifled a laugh, not wanting to earn another slap. "Relapsed. Forgot where I lived. But I'm sober now," he quickly added, noticing the panic on all three girls' faces. "Anyways, I'm back. And guess what I have?" he mused, producing a packet of chocolate chip cookies from his school bag.
Malia hesitated, snatching the bag and ripping into them. "You're forgiven," she mumbled through a mouthful, mood instantly improving at the presence of food.
"I didn't forget about you, don't worry," he rooted around in his jeans pocket, finally producing the only mascara that Lilith would wear and a palette of blush that he thought would suit Lydia. To say that he was praying Jade wouldn't realise her makeup was gone was an understatement. "So, what are we talking about?"
"'Dread Doctors.' 'In a small New England town, teenagers are taken in the night and buried alive. Days later, they emerge transformed, wreaking havoc and spreading terror, commanded by an ancient order of parascientists known only as The Dread Doctors." Lydia turned the cover around, prancing to her next class. "We all need to read this by the way."
"Kira's working on that," Malia rolled her shoulders back, feeling on edge with the number of different emotions pulsing through her body right now. She was honestly hoping to catch up with Jade at some point, requiring confirmation to solidify her theory that these Dread Doctors were the people that killed Tracy in the sheriff's station. It was still playing on repeat in her head, like a record that she couldn't turn off. She gave Max a once-over, waving Lilith into the classroom, unable to hide her confusion any longer. "What's up?"
"Hm?"
"Your heart is beating like crazy. And you're scared. What's happened? Did someone say something? Did they hurt you? Tell me who it was because I can kill them if you want me to, just say the word and it's done," she demanded, sticking her middle finger up at a group of juniors that stopped to stare at the pair.
Max shuffled awkwardly on his feet, trying to keep his heartbeat as steady as possible— which was quite hard when he felt as though he was going into a cardiac arrest. The name, the drawing, all of it had almost made him sick.
He had never been good at concealing his emotions, but ever since the incident six months ago, he was an emotional wreck. The littlest thing set him off, making it hard to decipher what was real. Was it a memory or was he just overthinking it and creating it up as he went along? "I'm fine. Honestly, just exhausted."
"Okay. I'll explain it to you in more detail soon, but Kira's printing out copies of the book thing. We're gonna have to read it, probably today or tomorrow, not sure. That means you, too. Don't think that just because you were gone, you can get out of it," she joked, elbowing him in the ribs.
He forced out a laugh, not able to mask the horror coursing through his veins.
⌜ • ° + ° • ⌝
"Are you okay?" Scott asked, placing a hand on the door to the boys' locker room, not entering yet. There was something important he needed to do first. "You just... I don't know. You seem anxious. Like you're afraid of something. Is it the chimeras?"
"Yeah," Max swallowed, taking deep breaths to stop his heart from betraying him. It was at times like this that he wished he'd invested the time into becoming a better liar when he was younger. All he had to do was rub the back of his neck and everyone knew he was lying. Maybe decapitating himself would keep it at bay for now. Hm. Something to think about, anyway. "The chimeras, that's all. It's just weird. Weirder than anything else we've faced, anyway."
Scott chuckled, the corner of his lips tugging into a small smile. It was nice to have him back. It had been eating his mom alive ever since he had gone missing. Max was right; the chimeras were certainly high on the list when you ranked them on a scare factor. Not to mention that he had been gone for six months, drunk to the point where he couldn't even remember his own name or where he lived. It was bound to make him a bit anxious, especially when people kept on approaching him in the corridors to question where he had been. "Yeah, tell me about it."
The smell of sweat and dirty gym clothes lingered in the locker room, hitting them full blast when the door swung open.
Theo Raeken was leaning against a bench, standing at the sight of the two boys. They ran a hand through their unkempt hair, taking the photocopied papers from Scott. They started skimming the pages for anything that stood out, eyes flickering back up at the stranger. "Don't think we've met. Theo."
"Max," he smiled, shaking the teenager's hand. His first three classes had gone by in a blur, bringing the time to lunch. He had been called into Blair's office, Melissa after organising appointments until he felt better. So long as he kept track of the lies he told, it would all go smoothly.
Theo clicked their tongue against the roof of their mouth, shaking their head. "Sorry, but I'd never even heard of the kanima until a few days ago. You want me to read this?" they raised a brow, wondering how Scott expected them to read a full book when Scott himself was only on chapter one. They were running out of ideas, rubbing their eyes. According to Max, the author had been a dead end, too. "What about this guy?"
Scott tilted his head, reading the acknowledgements section that Theo was pointing to. "For providing scientific perspective and invaluable insight, this book is dedicated to Dr Gabriel Valack," he read aloud, eyes widening. "I know where we can find him." Muttering a quiet thanks, he rushed out of the locker room, phone already up to his ear as he tried to fill the others in on what he had learnt.
Silence enveloped the locker room, Max not daring to breathe in case they could see through his lies. "Is he far enough away yet?"
"Come on," Theo led the way out, jumping into the driver's seat of their car. Max took the passenger seat, feeling a lot more comfortable now that there were no werewolves to listen to his heartbeat. The uneasiness started to creep back in when the car stopped. It slid under his skin uncomfortably as he walked, deep in conversation, deep into the tunnels. "Wait," he whispered, holding out a hand to stop Theo from walking inside. "Are you—" he wet his lips, trying not to panic. "Are you sure this is a good idea? They're not gonna hurt any of them, are they?"
Theo waggled their eyebrows, hazel eyes flashing with the smallest hint of mischief. "Max. You worry too much! All we have to do is stick with the plan, remember? The Dread Doctors said that as long as we help them, you and Phoenix are free to go. I got them to let you go home, didn't I? I know they kept you longer than her, but you know why. Just trust me. We do this and then we make our own pack; you, me and Phoenix. I can't guarantee that no one will get hurt. But it's either this or they experiment on you and her again. And if that happens, they're not gonna let you go. You're both too valuable to them. So, believe it or not, I don't wanna watch two of my best friends be lab rats. Okay? We just— we need to trust the process."
"Trust the process. And then we can save the others, yeah? I don't wanna leave them here. And I don't want my friends to get hurt, either. My sister," he expressed nervously, rolling his shoulders. Theo was right. They needed to stick to the plan. It wasn't just his life on the line, his future. He had to think about Phoenix, too. The Doctors let her go but all of them were running on borrowed time. Time that wasn't their own. Maybe that meant he had to learn how to bend, to twist his morals slightly.
Maybe— just maybe— it meant someone had to get hurt. Maybe it meant he had to be a secret spy or whatever. Maybe that meant passing information on or leading them into a trap. He didn't want his friends to get hurt but— but they didn't understand what was on the line. Once the Dread Doctors finally let both him and Phoenix out of their grasp, then he could explain it to them. He could make them see that it was a necessary evil, that if he didn't do it, he wouldn't be the only one going through torture. She had become a sister over the last six months, trauma bonding would be a better term, yet he wouldn't sit there and let her be burdened with similar abilities to his own. Not when he has seen how traumatising the scientific extent to get those powers had been.
Theo nodded, opening the door and stepping past the threshold. Did they want power? Yeah. Was that all this boiled down to? No. Phoenix and Max were the only friends they had made in years and seeing what they had gone through was hard to watch. They didn't want it to happen again. They wanted to keep their friends safe.
Max closed his eyes, knuckles turning white from holding onto the banister so tightly. There was no chance he was going in any further. It was... green. He used to love the colour, reminding him of nature. It gave him a headache now.
He didn't even have to go around the corner to see the Doctors, the hiss of their masks being enough. It was a horrid sight, one that he didn't wish to see for any longer than he had to.
Keeping his eyes averted from the containers was a lot easier said than done. The water sloshed inside of them, experiments rising to the top before sinking to the bottom again. Needles were carelessly thrown everywhere, some still full to the brim with liquids. It made his wrist ache when he looked at them.
"The book worked. They're going tonight, they're going to see Valack," Theo announced, casting a glance at the boy who was walking on eggshells.
"To Eichen."
A/N
and all is revealed... some of this won't make sense right now, but as you see more flashbacks, it'll slowly make more sense
theo was painted out to be the villain in the show, but theres a really complex dynamic between them, phoenix and max, and they really do care for each other which will be shown more throughout :)
i wanted to say that i will not be accepting any criticism on max. after what he's been through in the last six months, he's bound to do anything to make sure he's not taken and experimented on again. just wanted to clear that up <3