+++
"You ready?"
I hesitated, just for a split second, before nodding my head.
Stiles then clicked the old cassette player as Malia, Stiles, and I leaned in closely to listen.
"Let's go, Abigail." Brunski's voice was heard, sending chills down my spine.
"Listen to me, please listen." Mrs. Martin's voice was soft as she begged, "There's something I have to do, something I have to stop."
"I have to take you back to Eichen, Abigail."
"No. No! I don't think you're going to be taking me anywhere. I can hear the recorder in your pocket. It's on now, isn't it. You're making a tape. Just like you taped the others."
I gasped silently, as Stiles stopped the tape before looking over at Malia and I.
"This didn't happen at Eichen House." He stated.
"Where could they be then?" I asked.
"I guess that's what we need to find out."
We continued to listen to that section of the tape on repeat as I leaned in closely. I carefully listened to any background noise to which I could make out where they were. After the fifth time listening to the tape, I noticed a fault in the exact same spot at the exact same time.
"Wait," I whispered reaching for the volume and turning it up, "Listen...it's the record player."
Stiles turned off the tape and looked at me, "What record player?"
"Wait, Lainy...are you talking about the one at Lydia's lake house?" Malia asked me, recognizing the sound as well.
I nodded my head.
"So she escaped from Eichen House to go back to listen to a record player?" Stiles asked for clarification.
"Well, she was like Lydia, right? She was a Banshee?" Malia inquired.
"Yeah, but only once. She predicted Maddy's death and then just spent decades trying to predict something else." Stiles answered.
"Well maybe she did. And what if this time, it was just one death, it was a lot of deaths?" I questioned, "Just like the dead pool?"
"Then Lorraine predicted it? All those years ago?" Malia processed, "And she knew there was something in the study that could stop it?"
"Then we're going to the lake house." Stiles announced reaching for his keys on the table.
+++
We all sat on the ground around this record player and just listened. It seemed like forever as we sat in silence, with nothing but this record player filling up the room. But none of us heard anything.
Stiles let out a heavy sigh, "What are we doing? This room wasn't even made for us. No, we need someone like Lydia or Meredith, and we're just sitting here listening to a stupid record player play a record that doesn't pay anything. Come on. There's plenty of other things we can be totally useless doing." Stiles said standing up and walking toward the door.
Malia frowned before turning off the record player and following Stiles toward the door.
But I heard something. Although we already turned the record player off, I could still hear it...somewhere in this room.
"Guys..." I said slowly standing up.
"What?" Stiles asked.
"I can still hear it."
"But it's not on."
"No..." Malia said concentrating on the sound, "I can hear it too. Something's spinning."
We stood in silence and I watched Stiles eyes search the entire room. Stiles furrowed his eyebrows as he leaned down toward a black cord going right into the wall behind the record player.
Stiles looked up at me and I told him, "Pull it."
"Pull it?" He repeated, "What if I put a hole in the wall or damage the room, Lainy?"
"Pull it!" I repeated this time louder and more demanding.
Stiles bent down toward the cord and begin pulling, he mumbled a quiet, "Fine, fine" under his breathe.
The wall immediately began cracking, making a line along the ceiling the more Stiles continued to pull.
"It's getting louder. It has to be behind this wall." Malia said observing the wall.
All three of us then began tearing at the dry wall to uncover whatever was behind it.
It was revealed a machine, something that I have never seen as I stared at it with wide eyes. Whatever was inside it was spinning like crazy and I wasn't even sure what was running, or how long it was.
"What is it?" Malia asked.
"It's the dead pool." Stiles responded.
Malia took no time to lunge her fist toward it, ready to smash it to pieces.
Stiles and I quickly acted and gripped her hand to stop her.
"We are not going to do that," I told her. "If this thing's being used to disseminate the list, then it's probably going to keep going until everyone's dead."
"Then what do we do?" Malia asked.
"It needs some kind of prompt or command or something right?"
Malia started walking toward it, and Stiles tried pulling her back, "No, no no."
"What about a key?" Malia asked pointing at the top of the machine.
Stiles immediately whipped out his phone to FaceTime Lydia. Almost instantly her face popped up on the screen.
"Lydia!" He exclaimed.
"Yeah, what is it?" She asked.
"Look don't get mad, but-" he flipped the screen over to show Lydia the wall.
"Stiles!" She screamed, "What the hell did you do to the wall?"
"I said don't get mad!" Stiles stated, "This is where the dead pool is coming from, there's gotta be a way to turn it off, right?" Stiles asked.
"How should I know? I don't know anything about computers from the 1970s?"
I leaned into Stiles, making sure Lydia saw me as well, "Yeah? Well neither do we."
She let out a sigh, "Okay, where's the monitor?"
"There is no monitor! There's buttons, knobs, spindles, no monitor."
"Wait, turn the phone back. Point it at the carpet." Lydia ordered.
"The what?"
"The floors! Just show me the floor." Lydia paused while she looked at the floors through her screen. She whispered, "Where's the stain? There should be red blotches, a wine stain."
"There's nothing." Stiles told her.
"That doesn't make sense. I gave the $500 I was supposed to use to hire cleaners to Brunski."
"Lydia, what the hell does wine have to do with anything?" Stiles questioned, clearly stressed and panicked.
"Red wine doesn't just disappear. Unless it wasn't wine."
"What? What do you mean?
"The ashes weren't just ashes. The study isn't a study. The record player is a record player," Lydia began, "So maybe the wine wasn't wine... Stiles you need to find the wine. Find the bottle, there could be something about it."
"What kind? What's it called?"
"It's a 1982 Cotes du Rhone."
Stiles immediately hung up and rushed out of the room to go find it.
Meanwhile, Malia was looking at me with a curious gaze.
"What's wrong with you?" She asked.
"What do you mean?" I inquired shaking my head lightly.
"You reek of heart ache," she told me.
I bit down at my lip and looked at the ground, "Scott and I broke up."
Malia opened her mouth in shock and was about to say something until I quickly interrupted her.
"But I'm fine." I reassured her and nodded my head.
"There's something in it," Stiles said rushing back into the room and rattling the wine bottle, "Do you have, like, a wine opener or-"
I rolled my eyes and took the bottle from his hand and smashed it onto the ground. I wasn't going to waste anymore time.
"Oh my god," Stiles whispered looking at the shattered wine bottle.
I bent down at reached for the key that was inside of it. We all nodded as I walked over to the machine and stuck the key inside. It fit like a glove.
I looked back at Malia and Stiles before twisting the key.
The machine immediately slowed down, and we knew that we had done it. We ended the dead pool.
I sighed in relief and looked back at Malia and Stiles with a smile.
It was over... for now at least. Because Friday was only two days away. I had two days until I had to face my pack again. So the dead pool was over, but I had an even bigger battle waiting for me.
+++
"You have some anger issues," Stiles chuckled referring to what had previously just happened when it came to me smashing the wine bottle.
He was driving me home after dropping off Malia, once we had ended the dead pool.
"I do not have-" I stopped myself from blowing up on Stiles, pressing my lips tightly together. I then open my mouth again to reply in a much calmer voice, "I don't have anger issues, Stiles."
"Must get it from your dad," Stiles shrugged mockingly and I immediately hit his chest. "Ow! Okay too soon! I get it." He exclaimed, "Look I don't mind you hitting me but can you not use your werewolf strength?"
"Sorry," I shrugged, smirking to myself.
"You are so much like Malia, it's unreal."
"Well she is my half-sister," I sighed.
Stiles chuckled, and then concentrating back on the road.
Then the words rolled of tongue before I even realized what the consequences would be.
"Is that why you fell in love with her?" I asked quickly, "Because she reminds you of me."
Stiles grip on the wheel tightened and he remained silent. I could hear his heart beating fast while his breathing became more heavy.
We sat in silence for a while. But silence is sometimes violent.
"I love Malia," he finally spoke pulling up to my house and then looking over at me, "Yeah, you two are similar, but you're still two different people."
I nodded my head slowly, embarrassed of myself for even bringing it up.
"Why are you even bringing that up?" He asked, with a soft but questioning tone.
"I-I don't know why I said that, it shouldn't even matter. It doesn't." I stated opening the car door and walking out.
"Lainy, wait!" Stiles called after me but in response I just shut the door.
I walked up to my house steps, my cheeks were a beating red color and my mind a tangled web of thoughts.
Why did it matter so much?
a/n: guys i don't think u understand how badly i want to keep updating, like I'm as impatient as you are, but i don't want to rush anything if that makes sense. i got a lot of things planned as the story begins to wrap up, and i can't wait to see your reaction. there will be another update tomorrow, and then again on wednesday, maybe a surprise one before then i'm not sure yet! you'll just have to wait and see
Im so glad you all are enjoying it so far, the reactions i'm receiving are amazing. I want to give all of you so many hugs!! <3