|| Simon Says
Jacy held Stiles' hand, her eyes wide as she watched a team in yellow hazmat suits come through the doors of their school. "You jinxed it, Yukimura."
An entire quarantine was set up, it straight out of a movie. Tubes and tarps, every single piece sterile enough to set a germaphobe at ease.
When it was all set, Scott found Lydia's mother as everyone tried to remain calm. In Sydney's makeshift room, he stood at the edge of her bed. "What do we do?"
"We isolate the sick and then we wait for instructions," Natalie told him as she set out a blanket over Sydney's legs. "If I'm wrong, they'll be out of here pretty quickly, and then I'm the crazy biology teacher who panicked for nothing."
Scott stayed, Natalie leaving. He looked to Sydney, able to sense her worry. "Hey," he said. "You're gonna be okay."
Sydney lightly shook her head, "It's not that. The PSAT is the qualifying test for the National Merit Scholarship. My parents can't afford to send me to college without it."
Scott put a hand on her comfortingly, "Well, I'm sure they'll let you take it again."
Sydney smiled, giving a soft nod.
Scott left her quarantine room, going out into the hall. He tensed, his heart rate quickening. He passed Natalie, ducking into the locker room.
And as Scott was beginning to lose control, Jacy was getting jittery in the classroom.
The clairvoyant sat on a desk, facing towards Stiles who mirrored her. Next to her was Kira, the three concerned.
"Bet they're thinking smallpox," Stiles said in thought to the girls.
"Not likely."
Jacy, Stiles and Kira looked over, Mr. Simon eavesdropping with a bored expression.
"Smallpox was eradicated worldwide in 1979," Simon told them. "We've only managed to completely eradicate two viruses in history. The other was rinderpest."
"It killed cows," Jacy finished.
"Indeed," replied Simon with his eyes on Jacy.
Stiles slightly angled towards Simon, "So we should be comforted by that?"
"Unless it's something worse," he said with a flat expression.
Jacy turned her attention from Simon, listening to the outside. "They're taking it pretty seriously, whatever it is. There's a lot of cars and trucks out there."
"We're doing our best."
"Your dad's with them," Jacy said to Stiles.
"Hey, I should probably call him." Stiles climbed off the desk and reached for his cell.
"Don't bother," Simon announced to him. "They would have shut off any access to all outside communication by now. No cell service, no wifi. No one starting a panic. Looks like we're all just going to have to wait here and see what happens."
Jacy felt chills run along her skin at his words, it making her nearly nauseous. She looked to the side, getting an idea. "Mr. Simon?"
He tilted his chin, "Yes, Miss Parrish?"
"May I be excused to the rest room?" Jacy asked as she noted Stiles scratching himself on the neck.
Although hesitating, Simon agreed. "Be quick, please."
Stiles gave her a look as she got down from the desk, "Jace?"
"I need Allison," she whispered before slipping out of the classroom. Jacy glanced around the hallway, quickly crossing and going into the women's locker room. She shut the door before scanning for anyone else. "Al?"
Silence met Jacy as she checked around, the locker room consisting of only her.
"Allison? Al, I could really use your help." Jacy couldn't feel where the huntress was, leaving her with the last option. "Al, I'll say the thing you don't like if you don't get your ass over here."
But still, Jacy looked like she was talking to the air.
Jacy sighed, "Ally A, come out and play."
"You know I hate that."
Letting out a relieved breath, Jacy turned to find Allison's pale figure leaning on one of the sinks. "Finally. Where were you?"
"I was with Lydia," she replied. "She's at the lake house with Meredith's things. She's trying to talk to her." The brunette furrowed her eyebrows, "Did something happen?"
"The CDC is here, Al. They've quarantined the school."
"The CDC?" Allison eyes widened, "As in the CDC?"
"Yeah, the yellow hazmat suits and all." Jacy lifted her head, hearing a roar echo.
"Scott," Allison said with no doubt in her mind.
"Come on," Jacy told her as she motioned for the ghost to follow. Keeping her ears tuned, she stopped outside of the men's locker room before going in. "Scott? It's Jacy."
Scott was leaned against a string of lockers, sweating with teeth bared. "Get Stiles."
Jacy glanced to Allison, giving her a nod. As Allison left to grab Stiles, Jacy went around to the front of Scott. "What's going on?"
Scott looked up, breathing heavily. His eyes flashed red, reverting to brown. "I don't know."
"You can't control it, can you?" A wave of heat hit Jacy, making it harder for her to breathe.
Mr. Yukimura went through the door, concerned as he found the two wolves. "This is more than just smallpox, isn't it?"
"Definitely not smallpox," Jacy told him as she felt her body heat up like a fever. "He can't control his shift, Mr. Y."
Stiles and Kira came in only minutes later, Allison leading them.
"Show me, Scott," Ken directed as he stood in front of the true alpha.
Scott looked up, his eyes flickering.
"It's still happening," Mr. Yukimura said.
Everyong looked over to Jacy, the wolf sweating with solid glowing eyes. Blue and purple were evident, it not fading or flickering at all.
"I- I don't know how to make it stop," Jacy said with sweat on her brow.
"Obviously the virus is effecting the two of you in a way it won't hit any human being." Mr Yukimura looked between Scott and Jacy, concerned for their safety.
"You guys have to stay out of sight," Stiles said to them. "We have to quarantine you from the quarantine."
"Yeah, but where?" Kira asked. "I mean, what if they get violent? Like on a full moon."
"We shouldn't stay in here," suggested Scott. "Not in the locker room."
Jacy shook her head, "A classroom is definitely not going to hold us."
"What about the basement?" questioned Kira.
"Too many ways out," Scott said. "We need something secure. Somewhere nobody can find us."
Jacy saw her boyfriend's expression change, "Stiles?"
"The vault," he told them. "The Hale Vault."
"The Hales always have an escape route," Jacy said through a short pant. She discarded her jacket, her maroon top sticking to her. "Like at their house."
"We can't go outside to it, so there has to be another way in," said Scott.
"Every teacher has a map," Mr. Yukimura suddenly said. He darted to Coach's office, the teens following him in. "Here!"
As Yukimura rolled out the school map, Stiles pointed. "This is where the school sign is." Ken said, "it would probably be accessible from the basement."
"It's probably somewhere in this hallway. West corridor," Stiles' voice grew quieter, his body falling into his history teacher.
Jacy worriedly grabbed his arm, helping him stand. "Stiles?"
Mr. Yukimura pulled up Stiles' sleeve, the same raised red patches on him as the other human infected. "It's happening to you too. You're getting sick. You all are."
Kira looked to her father, "I don't feel sick."
"I think it's affecting you differently, neurologically. I found your test answers here in a pile with the others." He spread it out flat, showing it to Kira.
Allison leaned in next to Kira, tucking a wave of hair behind her ear. "This is getting weird."
Not a single one of Kira's answers were in the spaces.
"Basement," Mr. Yukimura said. "Go, now."
The five teens, Allison included, rushed downstairs in hopes of finding the Hale Vault.
They began trying doors and walls, Stiles soon finding a pattern in concrete behind a shelf.
"Hey, guys...over here." Moving the shelf out of the way with Scott's help, Stiles went up to the circle in the wall in the middle of the triskelion. "Look at the cracks in the wall. It's like the entrance outside, it only opens with claws."
"Only Hale claws, though," Jacy said.
"This could be a problem." Allison clicked her tongue, running a hand along her hair.
"No kidding," Stiles uttered in response to Allison.
"No kidding, what?" Scott asked as he blinked profusely with sweat on his brow.
"Nevermind, um," Stiles looked to Jacy. "Can you go through. Teleport over, I mean."
Jacy wiped sweat from her face, giving a nod. "Yeah."
"I'll go with," Allison offered. Walking through the stone, she got to the other side just as quickly as Jacy.
"Perfect," the wolf said to Allison as she practically panted. "Help me." Gripping a handle on the wall, she and the huntress pulled the door free.
Scott, Stiles and Kira let go of relieved breaths, heading into the dimly lit vault.
Sliding without the touch of another, the stone door sealed them in.
Hours passed, nothing to do but wait. Wait for death, wait for a cure.
As Kira paced, Scott sat and Allison had gone to check on Lydia, and Stiles held Jacy, who was curled against him.
Stiles softly touched Jacy's hair, the wolf in a near fever sleep. He had her cradled in one arm and set his other hand on her comfortingly. "You know," he said, "this is where it all started. That's where the money was."
Scott and Kira looked to the vault as Stiles motioned to it.
"117 million in bearer bonds," said Jacy softly with half open eyes.
Kira picked up a jar on a shelf, "How do you even change bearer bonds into cash?"
"The bank, I guess," said Stiles. "They just let it sit here the whole time collecting dust. You know bearer bonds are basically extinct?"
Kira had sat down beside Scott, folding her hands together. "Why does it matter?"
"You know how many problems that money could solve?" Stiles asked.
"For you?" Kira replied in question.
"Me, my dad..." Stiles softly ran his hand along Jacy's arm. "The Eichen House and MRI bills are crushing him."
Scott touched his jaw, "Mom does this thing, she writes down all the items in our budget, and how much they cost, then she adds them all up and fugures out how long we have until... we - we lose the house."
"Are we going to die down here?"
Stiles looked down to Jacy, stroking hair from her face. "No, we're not."
Scott stood up, going over to the door. He focused his hearing, listening to the chatter above.
Stiles kissed Jacy's forehead, carefully moving her. He joined Scott by the door, "Anything?"
"They're looking for us," Scott said.
"Someone's going to have to go out there." Stiles looked back to Jacy, who was leaned forward with glowing eyes and a drowsy persona. "I'll go."
Scott looked to his fingers, black seeling from the roots of his nails. "Whatever this is, we need to figure something out soon."
"Really soon," Jacy said as she looked towards the boys with black dripping from her eyes. "I can't see anything."
||
Wrapped in Stiles' jacket, Jacy was blinded to the world and terrified of never seeing her dorky boy in plaid again.
It had been 20 minutes and the three supernaturals were laced with worry and death.
"He's been gone a l-long time," Jacy said in a stutter, laid on the ground at a freezing temperature that burned her at the same time. Time was dragging on endlessly, a minute feeling like an hour.
"He'll be okay," Scott said as his vision started to blur. He collapsed to the ground, panting.
"What's happening to us?" Jacy loudly asked as she heard another thud.
"Scott?" Kira scrawled on the floor, feeling her way around. "I can't...I can't see."
Scott's vision was fading fast as he tried to get up, using a shelf to stand.
"S-something's wrong." Jacy flinched, hearing a gunshot above her. "No, no-"
"Jacy!" Allison came out of their air, her spirit instantly kneeling next to Jacy. "Oh, oh my god."
A tear fell from Jacy's eyes as she felt Allison. "We're all going to die."
"Hey Scott!" Stiles' voice echoed outside of the vault, panicked. "Scotty? In the vault, in there with you. It's called reishi mushrooms. Scott!"
Allison immediately stood up, searching the racks like a woman gone mad. "I got it!" she yelled, lifting the jar she recognized. Raising it above her head, she slammed the jar into the ground.
And as Scott scanned with infrared vision, glass hit the ground and released the reishi into the air.
The only thing more confusing was that he could've sworn he'd seen the figure of his first love in the midst of the flecks of the cure.