"Mason said it's not just a transmitted frequency. It's high powered. Like, it has to be a really strong signal." Liam stated, glancing around the wooden table in the library between, Stiles, Scott, Lydia and myself.
We had all gathered in the library after receiving a text message from Liam, saying that he had a theory from Mason about where the Beast travels to and why it picks certain locations. Obviously, with us knowing next to nothing about the Beast, this information was desperately needed in order to find a way to at least figure out who the poor teenager trapped underneath the Beast is... once we figure that out, then we need to work on trying to change them back or make the Beast just disappear.
Lydia quirked one of her perfectly plucked eyebrows, "And that's causing it to shift?"
"No," Scott said, butting into the conversation, "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?"
"With frequencies?" Stiles asked in confusion.
Scott shook his head from side to side, "No, by shifting. The frequency is just the trigger. The important part is when it shifts into the werewolf."
"Like Peter." Lydia stated.
I rolled my eyes at the mere mention of that douchbag's name.
Scott nodded, "Right. 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 added his conclusion into the mix.
I chose to remain silent and just listen to what everyone was all saying. I have my own theories about the Dread Doctors and what they're doing with the Beast. I have my own theories about how I'm connected in all of this mess and what my involvement can mean. I'm just choosing to keep those theories to myself at the moment because for once the topic of conversation isn't about me and I'd like to keep it that way.
"They want the beast to be as strong as possible, as fast as possible." Scott nodded along to Liam's statement.
Lydia sighed, "So, if this is happening tonight, what are we going to do?"
"Uh, we've got one clue to go on..." Stiles said as he began digging through his backpack, pulling out a photo of a bloody footprint that had been taken from the hospital the other day. He handed the image over to my brother and said, "This came from the hospital. Whoever's lurking inside the Beast is wearing a size ten of indeterminate make."
"Indeterminate?" Lydia repeated, for once not knowing what a word meant.
Stiles glanced up from the photo to meet her gaze, "It means it's a partial print. Basically, it was all we were able to get considering all the fire, blood and carnage."
"How many size ten's are out there?" Scott asked.
I rolled my eyes once again, because leave it to my brother to ask the most stupid question out of the entire conversation. There are tons of guys who wear a size ten, it's a pretty common shoe size if you were to check every boy in the school.
"Only one with Parrish's blood on the sole." Stiles responded, slightly answering my brothers question.
I sighed, finally deciding to break my silence, "So are we going to try and get the game canceled?"
"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." my boyfriend responded.
Liam nodded slowly, "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'."
"There's too many people," Scott sighed.
Lydia glanced around the table, "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?"
"Oh, it's absolutely possible." Stiles responded quickly.
Liam bit at his lip, "So, we're getting the game canceled?"
"We're getting the game canceled." Scott nodded in agreement.
⬘ ⬘ ⬘
"Your dad suggested to bring Coach out of retirement?" I asked Stiles in confusion as he parked the jeep outside of the building where Coach was currently residing. It was called Stepping Stones Rehabilitation center, and Coach has been here for seven months. I'm pretty sure he's been here since he was shot in the stomach with the arrow from the trap that the Nogitsune had set up in the woods.
Stiles nodded as he climbed out of the jeep, "He said a Coach had forfeit the game and the substitute Coach that we have right now is strictly by the book so he's not going to do it, so we need actual Coach to come back and do it."
"But hasn't he been in here for seven months? Why do you think you can change his mind?" I persisted, because honestly this whole plan was relying on Coach Finstock deciding that he was able to handle leaving a rehab facility... and honestly, if he hasn't been able to handle it up to this point I don't think the odds of him coming out today are going to be any better than the previous months.
Scott shrugged, "We are going to have to try to convince him."
"Great plan," I muttered as we approached the glass doors of the building.
Scott and Stiles peeked inside, looking for Coach's brown hair. Stiles then smacked Scott's shoulder and pointed in the direction of a couch. The top of someones head could vaguely be seen, but I'm assuming Stiles' recognized it to be Coach's head. Stiles pulled open the door and we all made our way into the building. It was quiet and Coach was the only one seated int his room currently.
As we approached him, I noticed he had his eyes wide open and his head leaning against the back of the couch as he stared off into space. I quirked an eyebrow at his position, "What's he doing?"
"Coach, it's Scott, Stiles and Kasey." Scott said, sitting down beside him on the couch.
Stiles took the other side, while I chose to stand in front of him, and he began waving his hand in front of Coach's face, trying to get him to blink. After a moment of silence Stiles finally said, "Coach, you're in rehab. You didn't have a lobotomy."
I sighed, "Coach?"
My boyfriend went to touch the checkerboard that was laying on the coffee table in front of the couch, but just as the tips of his fingers were about to graze the wooden board, Coach's arm shot out and latched around Stiles' wrist-- preventing him from touching the board. Stiles' head spastically shot to the side, to see that Coach had lifted his head from the back of the couch and was staring at him with wide eyes, "Don't you touch it. I've got Nurse Gonzalez by the balls of the last three moves and she knows it."
"Let it go. You're checking out of this place. Now." Stiles said in annoyance, ripping his hand away from Coach's grip.
Coach shook his head from side to side, "Not a chance."
"Okay, Coach, we know you're fine." Scott stated blatantly.
At the mere mention of him being 'fine' Coach began to make a hissing sound, telling my brother to shut his mouth. He glanced around the room before saying, "I have a debilitating disease. It's called I'm not going to take another arrow to the stomach-phobia. Look it up!"
"Nobody's shooting arrows at anyone, okay? We just need you to coach the charity game." Scott said quickly, trying to calm Coach down.
Coach scoffed, "Charity? Not a chance."
"How exactly have you been conning them into letting you stay here?" Stiles demanded, because it was obvious from this conversation that Coach was completely one hundred percent back to his old self.
I'm sure after the incident happened, he was actually stressed and having episodes of PTSD, because getting shot with an arrow when you're supposed to be running around the trails in the woods is definitely something to leave a lasting impression... but it's not something that major to where he needed to spend seven months in rehab like he has been doing.
"I, uh... I have relapses. It's serious. I've had seven of them." Coach explained.
My eyebrows raised suspiciously, "So, once a month?"
He nodded, "Yeah, you see, uh every time they are just about to discharge me, I relapse."
"And no one's noticed that pattern?" Stiles responded sarcastically.
Coach looked to him with wide eyes, "I have phenomenal health insurance. So, why don't you guys get the hell out of here. I hate Charity games. They're meaningless."
"I don't think the charities would agree..." Stiles said slowly, obviously taken aback by Coach's attitude.
He rolled his eyes, "What's it for this year?"
"Cancer." Scott supplied.
Coach folded his arms over his chest, "For or against?"
"Against, Coach. Deeply against." Stiles responded with a look of bewilderment plastered on his face.
Coach once again rolled his eyes, "Well, I'm deeply not interested."
"Coach, we need you." Scott pleaded, praying that he would be able to get him to see the light of day and just agree to come back to be there for this one game.
Obviously, Scott's comment didn't work because Coach responded with, "I will never coach there again."
"That's okay. Because we don't actually need you to coach the game." Stiles began to explain.
I nodded, "We need you to forfeit."
⬘ ⬘ ⬘
"You okay?"
I glanced up from the thread in the carpet that I had been mindlessly analyzing when Stiles entered the room, adjusting his lacrosse jersey with one hand and towel drying his hair with the other. After we had left Coach, the two of us headed back to his place so he could get a shower and change before the game... we were then told to meet up with Scott, Kira, Liam, and Mason at the school so we had time to go over our plan before the game started.
"Not really," I responded flatly.
I was far from okay. I was the polar opposite of okay. I'm scared to death because we were supposed to try and catch the Beast tonight and honestly I don't think this is going to go smoothly. Not only because we have the worst luck when trying to save this town, but also because I'm a total wildcard in this entire situation. We still don't know exactly what I am and what my connection to the Beast and the Dread Doctors is... we know that I'm somehow a part of this tangled mess, but that's about it.
Once again I'm unwillingly putting the people I love in danger.
In the tornado of emotions I'm feeling, anger is near the forefront. I'm so sick of being such a danger to Scott and Stiles. It doesn't matter what the situation is... I'm somehow tied into making things a million times worse for everyone. It never fails, I'm always deemed as the bad guy because I'm hurting the ones I love.
Stiles sighed as he hesitantly took the spot next to me on the bed, "Everything is going to be fine, Kase."
"You don't know that." I stated, not pulling my eyes from the carpet.
He gently placed his hand on my thigh, causing a familiar spark to ignite beneath my skin. Without my consent, my eyes tore from the carpet and bore into his. He smiled faintly as he gave my leg a gentle squeeze, "I'll do whatever it takes to keep you safe."
"That's the problem, Stiles." I sighed in defeat, "I can't make that same promise to you. In fact, I may be the one that puts you in danger."
Stiles frowned as he shook his head from side to side, "Kasey, I'm not scared of you... I know that you won't hurt me."
"How can you possibly know that, Stiles? You don't know what I'm capable of... you don't know what's going on inside of me." My voice was faint because I felt like danger was eminent and I knew that someone was going to get hurt... I was praying to God that it wouldn't be Stiles or Scott.
He shrugged, "I love you, Kasey. I love you more than anything and I know that you aren't going to hurt me because you love me, too. We've gone up against so much, and you always do whatever you can to keep me safe, no matter what. So, I know that this time isn't going to be any different. I trust you with my life, and if I die... I'm okay with that, as long as it means that you're okay."
That phrase, 'as long as it means that you're okay' triggered something inside of me. I hated that he thought it was okay for himself to be put at risk as long as I was okay. He can't heal like I can. He isn't as strong as I am. He's fragile, extremely so, and he is constantly willing to let himself get hurt to protect me when he isn't the one that should be. Why would I want to use a human shield, when I'm a supernatural shield myself? On top of that, the human shield happens to be the love of my life and he can get hurt at any moment.
It honestly doesn't make any sense to me and it infuriates me that he doesn't see that by him putting himself in danger, it only makes things a thousand times worse for Scott and myself because at least we both know that our chances of survival and healing from the danger is a hell of a lot better than his.
I narrowed my eyes slightly as I took in his handsome face, "You may not care about getting hurt, but Stiles, I care more than you can even comprehend. I know that you just want to protect me and do what's best for me but have you ever thought that maybe what's best for me is you staying away from all the danger? I know I can protect myself, but I'm not sure if I can protect you at the same time and it scares me. You mean so much to not just me, but so many other people and if something happened to you-- and I wasn't able to protect you from it... Stiles, can you please just promise me that you will be careful, especially around me. At least until we know what the hell is going on with the beast and my connection to it."
Stiles sighed in annoyance but nodded his head in agreement, "I'll be careful."
⬘ ⬘ ⬘
My knee was anxiously bouncing up and down as Stiles and I drove to the school. My teeth were gripping the inside of my cheek as I bit down mercifully, knowing that it would heal in a matter of seconds. I was a giant ball of anxiety and stress at the moment and anyone who could see me, would definitely be able to see just that. Stiles had remained silent pretty much the entire drive here, judging my the chemosignals he's giving off, I can easily assume he's just as nervous as I am.
Now, we have done some stupid shit in the past, do not get me wrong, but this could be the stupidest plan we've had yet. This entire night is going to be a disaster from start to finish, and I don't need to be a psychic to tell you that. The Beast is extremely unpredictable and powerful and a lot of innocent lives are gonna be put at stake tonight. We should have just canceled the entire game by calling in a fake bomb threat or something, but Scott thought better of that plan. So, here we are, driving to the game... that shouldn't be happening because everyone could end up dead.
Stiles sighed loudly and glanced at me out of the corner of his eye, "We're gonna get through this."
"Don't be so sure," I muttered negatively.
I know that I have been Queen Pessimistic lately, but honestly can you blame me? With our track record and my terrible luck, it's hard to be anything but pessimistic.
"You're not gonna kill anyone, if that's what you're afraid of." Stiles said matter of factly, sounding so confident in his words.
I wanted to scream because for all we know, I've killed a bunch of people because of my connection to this thing and we don't even know how to stop me. I black out and end up random places with blood all over me and then we find out that dead bodies turn up in the exact location where I was... it doesn't take a rocket scientist to put the pieces together. Not only that, but I tend to be a magnet for darkness and look at all of the awful things I've done in the past because of it. I have killed so many innocent people and I don't want to keep adding to that list.
My eyes closed briefly as I attempted to take a calming breath, "You don't know that for sure."
"I know you aren't going to hurt anyone, because I'm not going to let you." he breathed out as he flipped on his turn signal and pulled into the school parking lot.
The amount of cars in the lot made my stomach churn, nearly every spot was filled up and there were tons of students and parents making their way to the lacrosse field at this very moment. The lights on the field seemed to light up the entire school and I could see hundreds of sitting ducks in the stands, just waiting for the Beast to rip them to shreds. I swallowed nervously as Stiles haphazardly parked his jeep. He reached into the backseat and grabbed his bag before pulling the keys out of the ignition and hopping out.
I adjusted the sleeves of my jacket before following his lead and sliding out of the jeep, just as I pressed the door shut he was right next to me grabbing my hand and lacing his fingers between the spaces of mine. He gave me a reassuring squeeze and smiled faintly at me, "I got you, babe."
"You're making me feel even worse," I sighed as I leaned into him, resting my head on his shoulder.
He gently pressed his lips to the top of my head and then squeezed my hand again, "We can do this. I promise."
"I'm glad that you have faith in me, because you seem to be the only one anymore." I chuckled as we started to walk towards the school.
Stiles smirked, "Well, I've learned that when you have a lot of faith in some things, they may just happen after all."
When we got into the school, a very uneasy feeling coursed through my veins. I couldn't say what caused it, but it wasn't just a normal feeling... it was an Admonere feeling. I bit down on my lips and squeezed Stiles' hand tighter in anticipation of meeting up with everyone and discussing the plan of action for tonight.
As Stiles and I entered the classroom where Scott had decided to meet, all eyes fell on the two of us. Scott, Malia, Kira, Liam and Mason were already sitting on tables and chairs waiting for us. Stiles gently tugged me towards a table and patted the top, motioning for me to sit on it while he took the seat right beside it. I eased my way onto the tabletop and glanced at Scott who was watching us both, "You guys get lost? You're like ten minutes late."
"Parking was a nightmare," Stiles responded quickly.
My brother nodded and then glanced at Mason, "Mason, you know your part?"
"Corey and I break into the Devenford Bus and search their shoes.
Malia then stepped forward, "I take out the TV vans."
"Right before the whistle, Coach forfeits the game." Scott said.
Liam nodded, "And the rest of us are looking for a size ten with a bloody sole."
I raised my hand slightly, "Just out of curiosity, what if this doesn't work?"
"Yeah, what if we have to go up against this thing?" Malia added, "I hate to bring up bad memories but Scott's still healing from what Theo did to him."
Kira shook her head from side to side, "No he's not."
"She's right," Scott said as he lifted up his shirt to reveal his wound free stomach, "It happened the night we got Lydia and Kasey out of Eichen house. I healed. When we were all together again, when we were a pack."
I honestly had no idea that Scott had healed, but then again I couldn't really tell you much of what's going on with anyone anymore. I've been so wrapped up in my own head about all of this nonsense going on with me and the Beast I can't keep anything straight anymore.
"The Beast doesn't have a pack." Liam stated.
My brother shook his head from side to side, "Not like us. We can do this, guys. No one dies tonight."
⬘ ⬘ ⬘
After the meeting in the classroom, we all made our way out to the field. I can only assume that there were like 500 people either sitting in the stands or crowding around the bleachers. The TV vans were lined up by the parking lot and the loud chatter from the crowd was nearly overwhelming. I was busying myself with scanning the bleachers for a bloody size ten shoe, like I was instructed to do, when I heard the shrill sound of Coach's beloved whistle being blown.
My head snapped up and I saw people from Devenford and our school rushing onto the field, whooping and yelling in excitement for the game. I then saw my boyfriend standing next to Coach with his jaw dropped before he quickly turned around and booked it over to the bench where Scott was located. What is going on? Coach was supposed to forfeit the game.
I booked it down the bleachers and nearly stumbled over the bags of the lacrosse players as I managed to make my way towards Coach, Scott and Liam had just placed their helmets on and were walking on the field, I have no idea where Stiles went. I skidded to a halt right beside Coach and noticed he was smirking at the field, "What is going on? Why did you blow your whistle? Didn't you forfeit? Like you were supposed to?"
Coach glanced at me and and rolled his eyes, "McCall, I've never forfeited a game and I never will."
My jaw dropped, much like Stiles' had moments before, and I just gaped at him in bewilderment. The only reason why he agreed to get off his ass was to forfeit the game because he was so traumatized to return to work! Oh my god!
If I wasn't panicked before, I was definitely panicked now. My eyes started scanning the area for Stiles immediately, because we were gonna have to get his dad to cancel the game now, what other option do we have? My eyes locked in on him, and sure enough he was already off to the side of the field talking to his dad. The fact that we have the same thought process makes me insanely happy. I quickly made my way over to them and just as I arrived I heard Stiles say, "What about a bomb threat? Like Kasey suggested?"
His dad sighed, "You remember the bomb threat at the airport three weeks ago?"
"Yeah? Of course I do, it was all over the news." Stiles responded quickly.
After a moment of silence he sighed and nodded his head, "Okay, I see your point."
My eyes widened, "What are we gonna do? We have to cancel this game."
"STILINSKI!"
All three of us jumped at the sound of Coach screaming for Stiles, as we all turned to face him we saw he was gesturing to the field wildly, "GET YOUR ASS ON THE FIELD! NOW!"
Stiles groaned and ran his hands through his hair, "We'll think of something, just keep thinking, brainstorm, be creative, I don't know."
With that said he jogged over to the bench and placed his helmet over his head, grabbed his stick and rushed onto the field, nearly tripping and falling a total of three times.
I sighed and glanced at his father, "Got any bright ideas?"
⬘ ⬘ ⬘
The game had been going for all of five minutes and Kira had already knocked down every Devenford player at least twice. I'm not exactly sure what is up with her, but as far as I'm concerned that's the least of our problems right now. Brett Talbot's little sister was currently checking every shoe of every person in the bleachers, and I was scanning the perimeter of the field, making sure that if I did happen to see a giant black and blue creature with smoke emitting from it's body, I'd be able to start getting people out of here.
My eyes drifted to the field for a mere moment and in that moment I saw Kira whack Brett upside the head with her stick, knocking his helmet straight off his head. His body hit the ground at the same time that the referee blew his whistle. My jaw dropped as he kicked Kira off the field, and she was storming away. She shoved past me and I noticed Scott followed her over to the sideline.
"What's up with her?" I asked in confusion.
He shrugged, "Go follow her."
"Okay, watch the sidelines." I nodded before jogging after Kira, I noticed that Brett's younger sister was trailing behind her as well.
Kira was practically running she was walking so fast and from this distance I could see that Brett's sister was a lot smaller than Kira was, so if a fight were to break out, it wouldn't be very good. They both entered the building and as soon as those double doors closed, that uneasy feeling washed over me once again.
My feet began to move faster as I ran towards the school, my heart racing and mind buzzing with what was going on. There was so much going on and I can't process any of it because for some reason this stupid static sound is filling my ears and I don't know what it means or how it's happening. I hit the metal doors so hard my wrists would have snapped had I not been a supernatural creature and my converse squeaked against the tile floor as I ran down the hallway, not knowing where I was even going. Where the hell would Kira go?
I heard a loud banging and screaming coming from the hallway here the locker rome were located. One of the screams I didn't recognize so it had to have been Brett's sister. My shoes squeaked loudly as I sprinted towards the locker room, as I rounded the corner to the locker room hallway, I saw the trophy case was busted and there was glass all over the floor.
"What the hell--"
The door to my right was ripped open and Kira came sprinted out, knocking me to the floor. I gasped as my back slammed against the tile with a hell of a lot of force. Brett's sister came flying out of the room and jumped on Kira and they busted the door of the boy's locker room open and tumbled onto the floor.
I groaned as I pushed myself off the floor and went after them, not knowing what the hell was happening or why Kira was acting like a damn tasmanian devil. Kira snatched a lacrosse stick off the ground and started swinging it at Brett's sister. I jumped in between them and grabbed the lacrosse stick tightly, knowing that I was probably a hell of a lot stronger than Kira, due to the fact I was a god damn science experiment.
Kira's eyes flashed orange and in a very distorted voice she said, "Let go."
"Not a chance," I stated, feeling my jaw clench and knowing my eyes were flashing their brilliant shade of violet in response.
Brett's sister was coughing behind me due to Kira knocking the wind out of her and in that split second I took to listen to her, Kira jerked the lacrosse stick from my grasp and then kicked me in the stomach. I fell backwards, landing on Brett's sister and we both hit the floor. My eyes widened when I saw Kira over top of us, preparing to impale both of us with the damn lacrosse stick. I rolled right and she rolled left and the metal end of the stick slammed to the floor. Brett's sister booked it for the hallway and Kira went straight for her.
I sighed as I once again pushed myself off the floor, "This is getting a bit ridiculous."
Once I was out in the hallway, I saw that Brett's sister had managed to snatch a lacrosse stick as well and now she and Kira were battling it out in the hallway. Kira was obviously winning this makeshift sword fight, as I would assume she would due to the fact that she uses a damn Katana for Christ's sake!
"Kira!" I shouted as I stepped closer.
She grabbed a hold of Brett's sister by the collar of her shirt and threw her down the hallway towards me. She slid across the floor and stopped nearly an inch away from me. I then felt a presence beside me and glanced over to see Scott standing there with wide eyes, "What is she doing?"
"Is she a friend of yours?" Brett's sister asked breathlessly.
Scott nodded, "Girlfriend."
"She's lost it," I muttered, running my hand through my now tangled hair, thanks to being airborne due to Kira throwing me twice now.
Kira then lunged at Scott and they went at it, grabbing each other's wrists and stumbling into a classroom. Brett's sister and I watched with wide eyes as Kira then engulfed herself in what looked like flames as Scott yelled her name, then moments later the orange aura disappeared and she blinked rapidly as she looked between the three of us fearfully.
I sighed in relief, "Thank god."
"What happened? What did I do?" Kira asked, pulling her hands to her mouth in fear.
Not wanting to miss the opportunity for a trademark Kasey McCall sarcastic remark, I opened my mouth to do just that... but before I could get a single word out, a very loud shrill screeching sound filled my ears. I'm not sure what it was, but my hands flew to my ears in response and I wasn't the only one who heard it because I saw Scott and Kira do the same. As the sound continued my heart began to race and before I could realize what was happening my mouth went dry and my vision began to blur. I could feel my body losing it's center of gravity as I began to collapse but before I hit the ground everything just stopped.
_____________________________________________________________
Well well well.... guess who's back?
I know it's been AGES since I've updated and to be honest, I can't really remember what the hell I was doing with this story so give me some time to figure it back out before I start cranking out all the updates, lol. I've been so busy with so many things lately and it's crazy to think about coming back and writing again but I have missed it so incredibly dearly. Some changes in my life are that the guy I was with for three years (and who I was planning on marrying some day) ended up breaking up with me three weeks ago, turns out he was cheating on me for awhile and it was just a very bad situation, on top of that I have a new job... I'm a preschool teacher now. So, I'm currently single and am teaching a class of amazing 3 year olds. This last month has been insane and so many changes in my life have occurred but overall I think it was for the best and I'm a lot happier than I was before. Thank you all so much for being so patient and continuing to support Kasey and give her the love and attention she needs, since I've been severely lacking, lol. I hope you can all forgive me for my hiatus and are ready for me to come back and continue Kasey's story! I love you all so damn much it's unreal! xxx