"Who has a cassette player?" the young huntress asked, her voice low as her mouth was covered by the sleeve of her sweatshirt. There was a pause, seemingly where everyone in the room began to think of a way to play the cassette before Scott stood from his spot and grabbed an old black boom box. "Well, that's old as shit."
"Does it still work?" Stiles inquired as Scott plugged the small boom box into an extention cord. The human boy placed the cassette into the tape deck of the black radio and hit play. Static was heard for a few moments. "Maybe it doesn't."
Then a distorted voice was heard through the speakers.
After entering the IP address, you will be connected through a Darknet portal to an untraceable bank. Once logged in, enter your account number to receive wire transfers. The IP address will deactivate with each transfer. You will be assigned a new IP address if you choose to continue down the list. Remember, visual confirmation is always required for payment.
Stiles hit 'STOP' on the cassette and sighed. "You ever made a wire transfer?"
"Never had enough money" Scott replied, still in some state of shock over the amount of money in front of him.
"So you didn't understand a word of that either?" Stiles asked, Eden nudged his shoulder to stop him from making fun of Scott for not understanding anything that was said on the cassette tape.
Scott shook his head. "I don't understand any of this. Why would someone use all this money, just to kill us?"
"Someone wants you dead, dude. Badly." Stiles retorted.
Eden sighed. "You suck at this comforting people and trying to make things not as bad as they seem thing, Stilinski."
Scott shook his head from side to side, although he already knew that he was the most wanted supernatural with the highest amount for his death at twenty-five million dollars. Scott snapped back to reality and started picking up the stacks of money, throwing it back into the bag. Both Stiles and Eden moved, shaking their heads.
"Whoa, whoa what are you doing?" Stiles asked his best friend.
"Its late. We have the PSATs in the morning." Scott reminded his friends, Eden groaned.
Stiles shook his head and pointed at the bag. "No, I meant the money. Five hundred thousand dollars. You know how much money that is?"
Scott squinted his eyes. "Its five hundred thousand dollars."
"Its half a million dollars, Scott. What are you going to do with it, just slide it under your mattress?" Stiles rationed.
The Latina scrunched her nose. "I hate to admit it, but he's got a point Scott. You can't leave that money just lying around under your mattress..." she started before leaning down lower, ignoring the pain in her ribs to speak in a more hushed tone. "What if your mom finds it, how do you explain five hundred thousand dollars in a gym bag under your bed?"
"I have to talk to Derek, the money is his." There was noble Scott talking again, the piece of him that wanted to do the right thing no matter how sure he was that him and his family would be better off with the money.
"You mean his and Peter's." After the time at Deaton's with Brett and the night she spent texting Stiles, he informed her that the man was Peter Hale, Derek's uncle. A homicidal maniac hell bent on his former alpha power status and the man who turned Scott into a werewolf.
Scott squinted his eyes. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"It means maybe we should proceed with caution." Stiles answered. Scott raised an eyebrow, looking at Eden who just bit down on her lip before his eyes moved back to Stiles.
"You don't think we should tell Derek?"
"No." Stiles replied quickly before standing up from his spot. "No." Then there was the nagging at his brain, the one that was the completely good side of Stiles that he often more times than not listened to. God, this was not the time to be the good sidekick. With a sigh, Stiles began to speak again. "No, of course we have to tell him I'm just..." he trailed. "I'm just saying, some of that money is Peter's, right?"
"Yeah." Scott answered.
"We established that, Stiles." Eden added.
"Right? Peter. Homicidal killer? Remember? You want to give five hundred thousand dollars to him?" The human was trying so hard to ration, trying so hard not to give anything to Peter and Eden could see that.
Scott shook his head. "So we should give Derek his money back, but not Peter?"
"I didn't say that."
"You kind of implied it, Stiles..." Eden whispered.
The young alpha was at a loss for words. "Stiles, what are you saying?"
Stiles stood still, unsure of the wording he was trying to think of. What was he trying to say? Keep half the money so maybe he can help his father pay off the ridiculous amount of bills he racked up while possessed by the Nogitsune and Scott can help his mother with the bills? How selfish would he sound? That money came from people's lives being taken away, yet he wanted to be selfish and keep the money so they can be fine. Before Stiles had a moment to speak a knock was heard on the door. All three teens jumbled in their spots, Scott pushing the bag of money underneath his bed, Eden grabbing at a book at his bed side, which thankfully was a text book before the door opened and Malia emerged. Malia's eyes met Eden's for a moment as the Latina took in her appearance. It was probably the first time she realized it was raining outside thanks to the other girl's wet appearance. "We found Satomi's pack, Derek and I. But they're dead" Malia informed.
"All of them?" Scott asked a bit incredulously. Eden lifted her eyes from the book once again, this time way more intrigued and not having to hide it. Stiles on the other hand panicked on the inside and couldn't exactly tell you why. Eden was just a friend and Malia was his girlfriend. Nothing was happening with them, so why was he afraid of them both being in the same room?
Malia sighed. "All the ones we found."
"Then where's Derek?" Stiles asked, stepping closer to Malia. Eden now moved her eyes to the back of his figure and then back to the book.
Malia shrugged. "He found someone he knew, took her to the hospital. She didn't smell like a wolf, so I'm guessing she was human."
Eden closed the book at the same time as thunder crashing, standing slowly and holding her ribs before placing the text book she grabbed out of panic down on the bed. "Well, its been swell doing this little study buddy thing, but I should get going. PSATs are in the morning. I need sleep. Stilinski, work on your vocabulary, its a killer on the test..." the brunette spoke trying to cover their tracks of the previous conversation before Malia came in. "Scott? Math. Remember to work on that tonight. And get some sleep, we had a hell of a day. Night. Whatever." Grabbing her ribs once more with a light laugh, her gaze turned to Malia. "Are you taking the test?"
"I have no choice." Malia replied. The young brunette smiled sweetly at Malia, who actually didn't show any kind of malice to her. That was surprising to Eden.
Eden chuckled as the words she spoke earlier in Deaton's office echoed from her lips. "There's always a choice." Rocking on her heels, the huntress pulled out her phone. "I should call Chris, see if he can pick me up—"
"I can drop you off home" Stiles quickly interjected. Eden shook her head no while Malia placed her hands on Eden's shoulders, pushing her toward Stiles. "What, you were going to make Argent come and pick you up in the rain?"
The Latina scoffed and shook her head. "And having you drive in it is any safer? I'll be fine. I can't ask you to do that."
"But he should. Maybe on the way you can help him with his vocabulary like you told him to." Malia's innocence was going to be the death of Eden. "Besides, I have to talk to Scott anyway. Its totally cool." Eden's eyes caught Stiles' with a small smile and then a glance at her feet. The two shuffled down the stairs in a quiet cloud srrounding them, as if they were completely terrified to make a sound or a noise to each other. Grabbing at the end of her sleeves, Eden tugged and raised her hands over her head to cover her head.
"What the hell are you doing?" Stiles asked once he turned around and glanced at Eden. With a roll of her eyes and a sigh, she motioned toward the door and the rain. "Its only water."
"You have no idea how long it takes to straighten my hair. Just...can we please just go to the car before the rain gets any worse?" Eden was slightly annoyed for numerous reasons. The rain was a damper on her mood, she never liked the rain. Rain storms terrified her while hunting when she was younger and it kept her from going places when she wasn't huning. Add on whatever weirdness her and Stiles had, this protectiveness that lingered into this weird kind of closeness and then he can manage to make her want to bash his head in with things he'd say.
Stiles reached over to the coat rack and grabbed a gray colored jacket he wore to Scott's place and handed it to Eden. Her brown eyes met his, squinting in confusion. "Take the jacket, put it over your head. I can't have you messing up your hair or whatever you're worried about..." There was that moment where Eden wanted to bash his head in, but he was being nice.
"Thanks" Eden mumbled before placing the jacket over her head. There was a scent wafting from the fabric, she couldn't pin point it. All she knew was it was his scent, the one that could be associated with Stiles. Scent of fresh soap and a hint of mint and this weird manly smell that wasn't cologne but it also didn't smell bad. It fit him, as if it were essentially him. The two walked out the door and into the rain, walking fast which lead to a sprint to the powder blue jeep with small laughs. As the two climbed into the jeep, Eden removed the jacket from over her head and sighed softly, ignoring the dull throb in her side. "I never thought I'd be happy to just go home. Get sleep. Go to school and have my head hurt over PSATs and not other things."
Stiles laughed softly as he turned the key in the ignition. "Yeah, its a twisted world when you want school." His eyes of whiskey and honey looked at Eden for what felt like the millionth time today, but the first time he had paid attention to her fully. He took in the way her sweatshirt hung off her right shoulder, the way the straight locks of brown covered her face if she leaned her head down. Shaking his head slightly, Stiles cleared his throat. "How's the ribs holding up?"
"They're still there I think? I mean the pain is telling me they are." Eden folded Stiles' jacket over her lap and folded her hands over the jacket. "How did the third key go? I mean I know what happened after and uh..." she trailed before looking down at her own nails. "...I just wanted to know if you got the last third."
Stiles cleared his throat. "Its in my jacket pocket." The words echoed through the jeep, soft sounds playing from the radio. He couldn't tell what song was playing, maybe Foster by Terminal, but he couldn't tell. Eden fished through the pockets before the realization that she was going to see the list hit him. He didn't have anything to hide. Well, except that his current girlfriend was on the list with her birth given name.
"Stiles..." Eden spoke softly. There were the names she expected, especially Liam Dunbar but one name struck her with a bit of confusion. "Malia's name is Malia Tate, right?" Stiles nodded and Eden proceeded to squint. "So do you mind telling me why on this list, it says she's Malia Hale. As in related to the Hale family?"
There was silence.
"Because she's Peter's daughter..." The realization hit both of them like a ton of bricks. Stiles had said it plenty of times before but this time, in the rain with the last third of the list in his possession, it was more than real. "Lydia and Allison found out and it got to Scott and Kira and I was pretty much the last one to know. Well, besides Peter, Derek and well...Malia—"
"So you've been hiding this from your own girlfriend?!" Eden asked, shifting in her seat, voice raising just a bit. "The girl you've been dating for who knows how long, you've been hiding from her that the life she thought she had since she was a kid, the reason why she's a were-coyote and not her biological family that she thinks she has, isn't exactly her family but a homicidal, power hungry former alpha in a v-neck is her father?"
Stiles chewed on his bottom lip before quickly looking over at Eden. "Pretty much. You make it sound a lot worse than it is."
Eden's mouth opened agape with a small squeak following after. "It is! She trusts you and you're not telling her the truth about who she is!"
"That's grand coming from the girl we know barely anything about!" Stiles shouted before sighing and shaking his head. He knew he was wrong for that. The two stopped at a red light. "I'm sorry, I didn't—"
"I'll just walk the rest of the way, take your jacket. God forbid my secrets intertwine with yours" Eden huffed, aggressively putting his jacket between them as she reached for the handle to the door. If her ribs were in prime and good condition, she'd move quicker than Stiles. His long arm outstretched and blocked the handle. "Move—"
"No. I'm sorry, okay? I said that in anger and I shouldn't have said it, okay? I'm seriously and truly sorry for what I said." Stiles didn't even see the light turn green, if the car behind him didn't honk, he wouldn't have known it was their time to go. Eden just folded her arms, Stiles sighed in content. At least he wasn't going to let her walk in this rain by herself. "Its a lot harder than you think. I don't know how to tell her that the life she's known is a lie. She's still adjusting to being a human."
Eden shuffled in her seat, arms still folded. "Malia still deserves to know the truth. You hiding it from her is the ultimate betrayal. She'll get over everyone else knowing, she probably won't even care that I know. But you? The guy she's dating? That's what will kill her." The Latina wasn't so sure on why all of a sudden she cared about Stiles lying to Malia, after all she was lying to him on a daily basis when it came to where her parents were. All Eden had ever told them was that Chris Argent was her guardian. "Just tell her before you can't anymore." With that, Eden slipped the third of the dead pool list back into his pocket and trained her eyes on the passing scenery. The rain trickled down the wndow, before Eden knew it, she was home. "Thanks for the ride—"
"Do you need one in the morning?" The word shocked both Eden and Stiles the second they left his lips. Was he offering? "I-I-mean if you needed one, I could stop by and come and pick you up since I have to leave earlier to pick up Malia and—"
"You're rambling, Stilinski." Eden shook her head with a light laugh. "It'd be nice to have a ride. That way, I don't have to wake up Chris nor walk with banged up ribs. If its not out of your way and Malia doesn't care, I'd appreciate the ride." There was a comfortable silence between Stiles and Eden before she gently leaned over and placed a soft kiss against Stiles' warm cheek. "Good night Stilinski, be safe in this rain."
The action kind of surprised both of them. Stiles more than Eden, if he were to be honest.
The brunette climbed out of his car, arms over her head and ran into the apartment complex. Tomorrow was hopefully going to be a somwhat normal day.
- - -
Eden fell asleep in the back of Stiles' car when he picked her up that morning, Malia just laughed at the young girl. She took note of her hand still resting against her ribs. Malia didn't pry.
As the three piled out of the car, they were joined by Scott and Kira and walked into the school, standing on a line together as they waited to take the PSATs. Grey baby doll tank top with the Captain America shield in the front, black jeans, flat boots that came mid calf and her infamous leather jacket, her hair was in natural waves. Stiles noted that and laughed to himself when he saw her. Poor thing was so tired she didn't straighten her hair.
Kira looked around, looking both ends of the line before speaking. "Where's Lydia?"
"Yeah, where is she?" Eden added, she was currently standing between Malia and Scott, her head against the lockers. All Eden knew was she needed coffee after this test. She cursed herself for not making Stiles stop off and get some.
Stiles sighed "She took it her freshman year." Was Lydia really that much of a genius?
Malia looked over at Stiles. "Does that mean I could have taken it some other time?" There was a sense of nervousness in her voice, it didn't take the supernatural hearing senses to pick up on that.
"Malia, you studied harder for this than any of us" Scott spoke.
Malia shook her head. "Doesn't mean I'm gonna do good."
"Well." Stiles chimed.
The young were-coyote looked at Stiles as if she were waiting for him to finish his sentence. "Well, what?"
"Its do well, not good" Stiles corrected.
"Oh god!" Malia whispered in an exasperated tone.
"Okay, okay!" Stiles quickly backtracked before Eden hit his arm. "What?!"
"Did I ever tell you how much you suck at helping people?" the brunette whispered with tired eyes.
Scott shook his head. "You're doing this, because while we're trying not to die, we still need to live. If I survive high school, I'd like to go to college. A good college."
"Its only three hours. We can survive three hours..." Kira added. At this point, Eden lifted her head to look at Kira with an expression that mirrored Stiles, which was one of shock and disbelief. Three hours? Eden barely wanted to last three minutes with this test.
As the students began to pile in, finger printing was done as the teens quickly quizzed each other on vocabulary words, math formulas and such before grabbing their test booklets and pencils. They were to put their cell phones in manila envelopes, they were going to get them at the end of the day. Eden took a seat next to Malia, before sighing. Her leg moved up and down at a rapid speed. She normally did this when she was nervous, these days she couldn't tell you what she was more nervous about. Was she nervous about school, about her parents looking down at their daughter—the one who just let them die—and be even more disappointed that she was helping werewolves rather than killing them like she had been trained to do or did it have to do now-a-days with the boy with a pencil between his lips as he opened the booklet when he probably shouldn't have. Could they open their test booklets? Eden's fingers played with the corner of the booklet, gently lifting the page.
"Please do not open the test booklet until you are instructed to do so" the test proctor spoke. Stiles quickly closed his booklet and Eden shook her head with a smile. "This test is two hours and ten minutes, there will be two twenty-five minute critical reading sections, two twenty-five minute math sections and an essay writing portion that will last thirty minutes..." Eden took the moment to look over at Malia and offer a quick and small smile with a head nod, hopefully the girl understood that Eden was wishing her good luck. Malia returned the favor. "There are supposed to be two teachers monitoring this exam..."
"I know, its Coach" Ms. Martin chimed. "He's not exactly punctual. Um, let me just try him again..." With that, Ms. Martin stepped outside for a few moments in time. Eden's leg moved faster, her heart racing a bit. Why in the hell was she nervous? The brunette wasn't sure how long she had spaced out for the time being, but all she heard was the door open and close shut, Ms. Martin appearing again, sans Coach Finstock. "I can't find him, but Mr. Yukimura is upstairs grading papers, do you want me to try him?"
"We have to start, we can ask for his assitance during the first break." Eden didn't like this guy at all. He gave her the creeps. The man pressed the stopwatch on the desk before standing straight. "You may now open your test booklets and begin."
The words seemed like they were flying at Eden at a rapid rate but she caught every single word, the questions feeling easier and easier as time ticked on. She wasn't sure what she was nervous about at all anymore, this test wasn't so hard. The Latina spent her time learning and prepping for the PSATs back home before all this craziness happened and she had been preparing on time she had to herself here in Beacon Hills, which truth be told, wasn't much time to herself these days. Everything flew by.
And then Eden heard a thud.
"Sydney!" Ms. Martin called out. Eden didn't know the girl, in reality she barely knew anyone in this room who wasn't the main set of people she had found herself aligned with. Mrs. Martin leaned down and helped the young girl from the ground. "Are you alright?"
With a sigh, Sydney spoke. "I'm okay. I just got kind of dizzy."
Ms. Martin's eyes drifted down to Sydney's arm. "Sydney, how long have you had this?"
Sydney's eyes widened as brown locks of hair moved with her head shaking. "I don't know."
"Ms. Martin, do I need to stop the test?" the proctor asked.
She quickly shook her head no. "No, uh. Its fine." Eden and Stiles didn't sound so convinced. "Everyone stay in your seats. I'll um, I'll be back in a minute." Ms. Martin grabbed her phone, Eden, Stiles and Scott all watched her closely. "Nobody leaves the room" she told the proctor before leaving out. There was Eden's leg again, just as it stopped, it started moving in nervousness again. Eden desperately needed to calm down, after all nothing could be happening.
"Get back! No! Do not come in here! Get back outside!"
Now Eden was terrified. Sprinting out of her seat with the rest of her classmates, Scott and Stiles not too far behind her, she stepped out into the hallway.
"Back to your seats, now" Ms. Martin demanded. "Please."
Stiles and Scott looked at each other, and then over to Eden who was on their left. Stiles led Eden back into the room, Scott the last one in, closing the door. Scott slowed down his walk to his seat, listening to Ms. Martin.
"I need the number to the CDC. Yes, the Center for Disease Control"
- - -
So much for normal. So much for the PSATs. So much for surviving three hours.
"Stop moving your leg, you're making me nervous" Malia whispered to Eden, which made her stop moving. Scott had gone off with Ms. Martin and the Sydney girl who passed out. Eden was stuck with Malia, Kira and Stiles. "We should all be fine—"
"They don't even know what it is, that's what's making me nervous." Eden lied. She was nervous all day when she wasn't asleep. "First the test scared the living daylights out of me, now this? Does anyone even know what is going on?"
Stiles shrugged before leaning in closer. "Bet they're thinking smallpox."
"Not likely..." the proctor guy spoke. Eden felt her breath hitch in her throat. He had been listening to them? "Smallpox was eradicated worldwide in 1979. We've only managed to eradicate two viruses in history. The other was rinderpest. It killed cows."
Stiles didn't tear his eyes away from the guy. "So we should be comforted by that, right?"
"Unless it's something worse" the man spoke.
"I take back what I said about you Stiles. He takes the cake on not helping." Eden rested her forehead against Kira's shoulder. Eden just wanted this day over.
Malia shifted a bit in her spot before speaking. "Whatever it is, they're taking it pretty seriously. There's a lot of cars and trucks out there..." A small pause before her eyes slide to Stiles' frame. "Your dad's with them."
"Hey, I should probably call him." Stiles stood from his spot and began looking through the envelopes for his phone.
"Don't bother. They would have shut off any access to all outside communication by now. No cell service, no WIFI, no one starting a panic." The man's voice was eerie, it was enough to make Eden look over in that direction from where she was with her head on Kira's shoulder. "Looks like we're all just going to hae to wait and see what happens."
Eden sighed. "...great." Suddenly everything felt like it was spinning, closing her eyes tightly, Eden sighed before opening them again and shaking her head. Was it a lack of sleep making her feel like hell? "Where's Scott? I feel like he's been gone for a ridiculous amount of time."
"I don't know, I'm starting to get worried myself..." Kira spoke softly with a sigh. "Maybe I should find my dad, tell him to go look for Scott?"
"You think Bill Nye the Science Guy is going to let you out?" Stiles asked with a hint of sarcasm in his voice. Eden chuckled softly while looking down at her own feet. She figured if she kept her attention on something, anything that would keep her awake, she wouldn't feel dizzy. "Worth a shot, see if your dad can find him." Eyes of honey brown looked over at the Latina sitting on top of the desk across from him. "Eden?"
Nothing.
"Earth to Flores?" He spoke softly before gently shaking her shoulder. Her eyes fluttered open and she inhaled quickly before exhaling. "Did you just fall asleep sitting up?"
Eden chuckled. "I'm multi-talented, Stilinski, didn't you know that already?" Her eyes seemed glossed over as she blinked away the dizzy feeling. "I really should have pestered you into buying coffee, I'm so exhausted."
This time, Malia looked over at the young girl. "You should have stayed home since apparently you can take the PSATs whenever you want—which I don't understand why you were even nervous for this test, you have AP classes—and this was happening. At least you'd be safe from mental lockdown." Her eyes raked the Latina's body with a small sigh. "Stay awake, we need you."
With a nod and smile, Eden stood from her spot and stretched a bit, her tank top and jacket riding up her torso and exposing skin. Stiles kept his eyes adverted and his heart rate calm. "I'm awake. I'm fine. Just need to move to stay awake."
Men in yellow hazmat suits came into the classroom, speaking that they needed to take blood samples from everyone to make sure they weren't infected and the ones who were had to be quarantined. With a sigh, a yawn and one last stretch, Malia, Stiles and Eden left the classroom. Just as they rounded the corner, Mr. Yukimura and Kira had shown up, dragging Stiles saying he was needed and where to find him after they were done getting blood taken from them. The three girls stood in line, rocking on their heels.
Blood?
Two of them were supernatural, the blood test would prove that. This was not the best idea for these girls. Well, at least for two out of the three.
Malia's eyes widened at the sight of the needle. Thankfully Kira and Eden were in front of her, being they would be first to get their blood taken. Malia never did good with needles, not even as a kid and well, being a were-coyote, the needles she knew were tranquilzer darts that missed her. "Kira. Eden..." Malia started, "do you ever get the feeling that Scott and Stiles aren't telling you everything?"
"What do you mean?" Kira asked.
Malia had a smile on her face, she was around the female population for too long if she knew cheeriness and kindness was the best way to get things out of another female. "Like they hide stuff."
Kira's face visibly blanched, Eden's mouth went dry. "I'm uh, I'm new. I expect a lot to be withheld from me. Can't exactly answer that question." The Latina answered. In reality, Eden knew what Scott and Stiles were hiding from Malia, and it wasn't her place to say anything. Was it? "Kira...?"
The Asian woman blinked slow. "I think if they did, they probably have a pretty good reason." A nervous smile followed Kira's speech, Eden smiled simply and kept her cool.
The were-coyote had enough of the games. With a sigh, Malia spoke. "Do you know what they're hiding in the bag under Scott's bed?"
Oh Eden knew alright. This time she coughed. "Dirty gym clothes? I don't know, I don't question boys, they confuse me enough." Maybe she meant Stiles more than anything in that statement, but who cares.
"What? No, I've never been under Scott's bed. Or in it. Just on it...wearing clothes." Kira rambled when she was nervous and Eden couldn't help but laugh.
"Entirely too much information but this is the perfect opportunity to go 'you fox, you' and it'd be completely and literally correct." Eden sighed and brushed the waves from her face and stood forward and straight.
'Kira Yukimura'
She was saved by the bell. Kira moved forward and Eden sighed, rocking on her heels as she waited for her name to be called after Kira's. Malia tapped the Latina on the shoulder, making her turn around. It was at this time she got to study Malia, the way her hair went from a beautiful medium brown to blonde ends that were an effortless curl and wave. The brown of her eyes, slope of her nose. Malia was beautiful and now she could definitely see why Stiles would choose her. "Sup Malia?"
"Look, I know you were there with them and I know you know what's in the bag..." Malia commented, her voice calm and it made Eden a tad scared. "I know you have a loyalty to Scott, I get it. Trust me, I get it. Whatever is in the bag...is it harmful to me?"
Eden sighed and looked down at her feet before speaking the God to honest truth—yet withholding information as she should. "No, Malia. Its not harmful to you. I can't really talk about what's in the bag, because its not my bag and we're not sure what to do with it. All I can say for right now is...trust Scott and Stiles." Saying Stiles' name with the word trust felt like alcohol burning a cut on her tongue.
The sound of the needle clattering to the ground, the smell of faint burnt rubber in the air and Kira standing at a stand still broke the girls from their conversation. Eden pieced it together as Malia called Kira's name to snap her out of her haze. "The needle. Its made of metal. The electricity Kira has—it treated the needle like a conduit, like a lightning rod. She almost electrocuted her" Eden whispered.
"Kira, let's go. Let's get to Stiles and Scott. Eden, let's go." Malia felt powerful, the one between the females who was calling the shots for the moment. The three women raced down the hall to the boys locker room before Eden felt a wave of dizziness, but fought through it.
Eden grabbed at Malia's hand and jolted back with a hiss. "Ah, Malia!" she harshly whispered before the were-coyote looked down at her own hands. "Put them away!"
"I never meant to take them out!" The three girls skidded to a halt with hushed silence when they reached the boys locker room, opening the door slowly and stepping inside. Scott's eyes were closed, his forehead drenched with sweat. "What's going on with Scott?"
Kira covered her mouth for a moment before sighing and stepping closer to Eden. "Is he okay, dad?"
Scott opened his eyes, the irises flashing from its dark brown to alpha red as if he were shifting. Hs breathing was jagged, everything just seemed off with Scott. Eden had never seen him like this before. Here she stood in the boys locker room, Kira next to Scott—both directly across from her, Stiles, Malia and Mr. Yukimura directly to her right. "He lost control of his shifting ablities, its like he can't stop it." His eyes continued to flash from brown to alpha red, Eden bit down on her bottom lip. "It's still happening" Mr. Yukimura added with a sigh.
Malia shook her head before opening her hands, claws still tracted out. "I can't make them go back..."
"Obviously the virus is affecting the two of you in a way it won't hit any human being." The words struck fear in Eden's heart.
Shaking her head slightly—albeit to shake away some of the haze she blamed on sleep because there was no way a virus was going to hit her—the Latina scoffed. "So, what are we supposed to do?"
"You guys have to stay out of sight. We have to quarantine you...from the quarantine" Stiles spoke. His voice sounded deeper, huskier in Eden's cloudy mind.
"I have to be insanely tired to actually understand and think its a good idea" the brunette mumbled.
Kira looked away from Scott and over to the humans in the room. "Yeah but where? I mean, what if they get violent? Like on a full moon."
"We shouldn't stay in here, not in the locker room" Scott's voice sounded laced with pain, confusion and defeat. No one knew what to do, how to help. In this case, humans could be infected and die as well, there was no saving the supernatural. In Scott's mind, it was save everyone.
"A classroom is not going to hold us" Malia chimed in.
"What about the basement?" Kira questioned.
"Too many ways out..." Scott remarked. "We need something secure. Somewhere nobody can find us."
Stiles began to think of a million places, unforunately they were all off the school campus where they were currently confined. Then it hit him. "The vault."
"What?" Eden asked. Another thing she knew nothing about. Scott and Stiles shared a knowing look with each other.
"The Hale vault."
"The Hales always have an escape route, like their house" Scott added. "There has to be another way in."
"Yeah well, where are we going to find it?" Eden asked a bit fed up with things she didn't know. "Is there blueprints somewhere?" All six beings in the locker room made their way to Coach's office, looking for something, anything that could resemble blueprints. "Found them!" Eden exclaimed, handing them off to Mr. Yukimura and standing on the opposite side of the desk as Malia.
Stiles quickly observed the blueprint, knowing time was ticking and not on their side if they wanted to save the damn day. "Okay, this is where the school sign is, so the vault's got to be right around here..."
"I suppose if there's a second entrance, it would probably be accessible from the basement" Mr. Yukimura concluded. Eden watched Malia, her face and skin layered with a sheen layer of sweat. The virus was making her hot, like a fever. Just as quickly as she observed the young woman, the dizziness returned. With a few rapid blinks, the dizzy haze was gone and Eden kept her attention to the blueprint.
Stiles pointed at the blueprint. "Its probably somewhere in this hallway. West corridor." Eden saw it happen with a blink of an eye, the young Stilnski boy lurched forward, balance uneven, eyes closed as if he were fainting. The Latina was too far away to help him, Malia helped hin stand. "Whoa." Lifting his sleeve, red marks and hive like blisters appeared on his wrist.
"Its happening to you too. You're getting sick. You all are." Mr. Yukimura commented.
Eden shook her head. "I feel fine. I'm a bit tired, but I also didn't sleep. No marks on me...see?" she replied, lifting her sleeves and her shirt to show her stomach and back to be free of the marking on Stiles' wrist.
"Yet" Mr. Yukimura added before looking over at his own daughter.
Kira looked up at her father. "I don't feel sick."
"I think its affecting you differently. Neurologically..." the teacher spoke to his daughter. Kira just looked over at Scott, then to Eden before back to her own father. "I found your test answers here in a pile with the others..."
Eden and Kira both leaned down to look at the test sheet, all her answers were marked outside the bubbles, not one in its proper place. Kira sighed. "What do we do?"
"We have to move, fast." Eden replied, blinking away the haze. She wasn't going to let Mr. Yukimura be right. "West corridor, we get there, we find the entrance to the Hale vault. We get you guys inside and away from everyone else if you decide to lose control."
"What about you?" Malia asked. This startled the teens. "What about you in the room with us if that were to happen?"
Eden smiled softly. "I'm a former hunter, I can hold my own. But beyond that, I know you guys won't hurt me. If you did, then that was meant to happen." Every single teenager looked at each other with a nod before thanking Mr. Yukimura and bolting in the direction of the West corridor. Clattering footsteps down the stairwell, Scott, Kira, Stiles, Malia and Eden turning the corner and found themselves in the basement. Hands on walls, feet tapping against corners and moving shelves. They needed to find this entrance, everyone's lives depended on it.
"Hey, guys..." Stiles said out loud, backing away from the metal shelf. "Over here." The two boys moved the shelf from its spot, backing away to look at what they believed could be the entrance to the vault. There was a circle in the middle of the wall, how they had passed this all the time and never known, blew the teenagers minds. Well, all but Eden. "Look at the cracks in the wall." Stiles stepped forward, looking at the small circle in the middle of the intricate cracked pattern. "Its like the entrance outside, it only opens with claws. Anyone's claws, right?"
The thought echoed through Eden's mind, why would the Hale's build a vault if anyone's claws can open them. Then she saw the look between Scott and Stiles. "Um..." Scott started. "Malia, can you try?"
"Why me?" Malia asked.
Scott swallowed and kept his eyes on Malia. "I don't have control..." he stated simply while raising his hand to show his claws were retracted and not out like hers were. Malia looked over at Eden.
"Don't look at me, I have long natural nails, yes. But they are not claws..." she mumbled, folding her arms and looking at the floor.
After her gaze shifted from Scott to Stiles a few times, Malia lightly shrugged. "Okay. I'll do it." Walking forward to the circle in the wall, Stiles and Scott backed up toward Eden. Eden just rolled her eyes and moved away from the boys and over to Kira. It killed Eden to lie to Malia and she had just found out the night before. These people were lying to her for more than a day, weeks or months even. Malia's claws fit into the circle, moving it left and then right as if it were a combination lock. The wall began to grind and slide open before all five teens walked into the Hale vault, the wall sliding closed behind them.
- - -
Being locked away, no one knew how long they were in the vault. It felt like being confined to a cell. Kira began to pace back and forth while Scott sat on a box against a wall. Stiles and Malia were off toward a corner. Malia's head in Stiles' lap as his fingers ran through her hair. Eden sat across from Scott, her head against the cold, hard, cement wall.
"You know, this is where it all started..." Stiles began. His finger pointing over toward a black safe. "That's where the money was. 117 million in bearer bonds."
Kira's eyes jumped all over the place, looking at the boxes on the shelves and the color of the walls before settling on a jar filled with something. To her it looked like dirt. "How do you even change bearer bonds into cash?"
Stiles lifted his head a little. "The bank, I guess. They just let it sit here the whole time collecting dust." Kira took a seat next to Scott as Stiles continued speaking. Eden barely listened, all she wanted was sleep. "You know bearer bonds are basically extinct?"
"Why does it matter?" Kira asked.
"You know how many problems that money could solve?" Stiles retorted.
"For you?" Kira was full of questions. The right questions.
"Me. My dad..." Stiles paused his speech, Eden's eyes opened up to listen on. "The Eichen House and MRI bills are crushing him."
Scott's hand ran along his arm before he sighed to speak. "Mom does this thing, where she writes down all the items in our budget and how much they cost, then she adds them all up and figures out how long we have until...we lose the house."
"There's a bill in the drawer of Chris' desk. Its on the left hand side, top drawer..." Eden started. She began to sit upright, her back against the wall. Its like she could hear that conversation over the phone when she was being sent to look for menus. "Its underneath a stack of take out menus. It was a letter from Beacon Hills Funeral Parlor and Burial Services. The letter had that really big red stamp that said 'FINAL NOTICE' on top. He has to pay $25,000 for Allison's services..." Eden felt her throat tighten up at the utter of Allison's name. "I know I'm not easy to care for either, constant trips to the East Coast to handle paper work, clothing, feeding me, making sure I have enough to take care of myself while I'm in school. Chris thinks I don't know he needs that money. He thinks I don't know I'm a burden..." she continued with a small break in her voice, a sniffle following and her eyes glossy with water. "but I know everything."
Stiles sighed. "You're not a burden, Eden. You're one of us."
Silence took over the vault for a matter of time before Scott and Stiles stood from their spots, walking over toward the wall. "Anything?" Stiles asked.
"They're looking for us" Scott replied. "Someone's going to have to go out there." The two males looked back behind them, Malia's breathing jagged, her skin pale as Kira and Eden sat by her sides. Malia didn't look good at all. Scott looked over to his best friend and spoke in a whispered, hushed tone. "We need to tell her the truth about Peter. She's going to see the rest of the dead pool eventually."
Stiles took a step forward. "Try to remember that Peter's name is the one name missing on that list, which either makes him incredibly lucky with a benefactor. She finds out about him, she's going to go to him, you know she is. And then he's going to twist his way into her head like he does everyone. Including us." There was an slight anger and annoyance when it came to the topic of Peter Hale in Stiles' voice. "We let him walk around like nothing ever happened, like he's one of the good guys. Scott, he's not one of the good guys. If she finds out about him, she's gone. That's probably what he's waiting for and if he wins, we lose."
"We're already losing." Scott held his hand up to show his fingers oozing something that resembled black blood. Stiles sighed and ran his fingers through his hair before walking over toward Malia who had seemingly fallen asleep.
"Malia..." he whispered. As Malia sat up, her eyes met Stiles' worried features. "I gotta leave for a few, okay?"
Malia sighed, blinking her eyes. "Where are you going?"
"Whatever's happening, it's worse for you guys. That means its not just people getting sick, its another assassin." Stiles felt his heart hurt watching Malia, Kira and Scott suffer in whatever this virus was doing to them. Malia's skin felt cold, something he wasn't used to since her body temperature was always a bit higher than his. Peeling off his jacket, he handed it to the young were-coyote and wrapped it around her shoulders.
"You're coming back, right?" Malia asked.
Stiles chuckled softly. "Yeah. Yeah, I'd never leave you behind." The two smiled at each other before Stiles kissed the top of Malia's head. Malia held Stiles' hand, refusing to let go as if she knew this was it. This was the end.
Kira looked over at Eden, noticing how pale she was beginning to look herself. A lack of sleep wouldn't do that to a person. Her eyes took in the appearance of the young huntress before seeing it starting to become more prominent. Red markings along the right side of her neck, the same one just like on Stiles. "Stiles?" Kira spoke moving closer to Eden who had opened her eyes a bit. "Take Eden with you... she's not doing too well."
"Stop over reacting, I just need sleep" the Latina spoke, standing up from her spot against the wall before Stiles walked toward her. His hand brushed away her hair, looking down at her neck. "What?"
"Its like my wrist..." he whispered. "Come on, we're getting out of here. We have to end this, now." Eden felt wide awake now. She couldn't let her friends die. With one final look back at the three who would be left in the vault, Eden and Stiles sighed as the wall closed behind them.
"What do we do?" Eden's voice cracked once more, this time tears fell from her eyes. Stiles wasn't good with women crying, never has been and in his mind he probably never will be. The pads of his thumb wiped away the tears that fell from her eyes. "We have to save them—"
Stiles let out a soft shhh and wiped away the falling tears. "And we will. We need a plan and we need one fast." He wasn't sure if it was her getting sicker by the moment from whatever virus floating in the air or if it was sheer fear of losing people that got to her, but he felt her emotion. In the same fashion as he did Malia, Stiles pressed a soft kiss to her forehead. "We're going to be fine."
Eden nodded her head, feeling safer with Stiles. Maybe everything was going to be okay. "We should find Mr. Yukimura. Maybe he'll have some kind of answer?" Eden suggested before Stiles nodded. His eyes bore deep into hers, his hand holding hers as they both ran up the stairs to the quarantine. The two slid into the quarantine, finding Ms. Martin still there. The two approached the teacher, pale and slightly sweaty.
"Stiles. Eden. You two aren't looking so good. Maybe both of you ought to lie down" Ms. Martin suggested.
The young man quickly shook his head. "It's okay, have you seen Mr. Yukimura?"
"It's kind of important that we find him, Ms. Martin" Eden chimed in.
Natalie Martin blinked and nodded. "Yeah, he's fine, he's helping the other students."
Eden and Stiles nodded, turning to head back out of the quarantine when their eyes both caught sight of the figure sleeping in one of the quarantine tents. Stiles stepped back toward Ms. Martin. "Is Coach the only adult who got sick today?"
"As far as I know" Ms. Martin replied. Stiles began to let his mind try to figure out the puzzle, words mumbled from his lips as both Eden and Natalie Martin had their attention on the young human boy. "Stiles...?" Ms. Martin asked. "I think you should lie down."
"Yeah, no. It's okay. I'll be back. I'll be right back..." the words were jumbled before he grabbed a hold of Eden's wrist. "Coach is the only adult who got sick."
Eden shook her head, she didn't get what Stiles was putting out there. "What are you getting at?"
"We have to get to Coach's office. Now!" Stiles commanded, bringing the Latina in a sprint with him. The two slid to the office, opened the door and closed it. Stiles began moving at the speed of light, ransacking through papers, file cabinets, drawers, lockers and Coach's desk before slamming the last drawer shut and making Eden flinch. Stiles sat down at the desk, his eyes looking over the desk one more time for any kind of clue, the one clue he knew if he saw it, he knew it'd be what he needed. Permission slips on Coach's desk caught Stiles' eye. The ink changed from an annoying red, to an alarming black. "Eden..." Stiles began. "do you see what I see?"
Eden's eyes looked over the permission slips. "He ran out of red ink?" Stiles' eyes moved toward the orange mug that Coach drank from, black ink on the orange tint in the shape of Coach's finger print. "Wait a minute..." Eden spoke, seeing the same finge print. "We all had to get finger printed to take our PSATs."
"Yeah but that leaves Ms. Martin who probably wouldn't hurt a fly and..." his speech stopped to a complete halt. Eden covered her mouth in realization.
The creepy teacher Eden didn't know the name of.
"I was wondering how that idiot got sick." The voice boomed loudly in the silence that lingered between Stiles and Eden previously. There he stood, his body against the door frame that blocked the locker room. Eden backed up closer to Stiles who had a protective hold on Eden's wrist. "I'm also wondering where your friends are." In his hand was a gun, a silencer being screwed on top. This was how it was all going to end. "Since in order to get paid by the benefactor, I need to have proof they're dead."
"Visual confirmation..." Stiles whispered, Eden swallowed back her tears and began to stand up straighter.
The man pointed the gun in Eden an Stiles' direction. "Exactly. You two, move it." Stiles held onto Eden's wrist, moving her with him in the direction away from the barrel of the gun before the man pushed them both toward the locker room. "Still a bit feverish Mr. Stilinski and Ms. Flores, but you should know something. The virus doesn't kill humans, you'll both get better. So don't you think one of you should tell me where they are? Shouldn't... one of you get to live?"
Stiles blinked, looking down at Eden and keeping his eyes on her. "I think I saw them in the library. Or it might have been the cafeteria. It was definitely one of those two."
"Are you sure, Stiles? I swore they were over by the pool" Eden chimed in, her voice not waivering or faltering.
The man raised his gun to the back of Stiles' head. "I'm going to count to three and then I'm going to kill you. If the bullet doesn't get both of you, I'll kill the girl after your dead."
Stiles never let his eyes leave Eden's until he spoke of harming her. There was this overwhelming need to keep her safe, keep her out of harms way. The young Stilsinki man turned around in his position. "Think you can scare me?"
"No, I think I can kill you. I just thought the countdown would make it more exciting."
"Stiles, stop. Please" Eden pleaded from behind the taller human boy. The brunette watched as the man raised the gun barrel, the tip of the silencer barely touching his forehead.
"One."
"Stop this, please. Don't kill Stiles, okay?" Eden pleaded. Stiles still hadn't given up where everyone was.
"Two"
Eden felt herself begin to cry, closing her eyes the same time as Stiles did. Stiles didn't deserve to die, not like this. The Latina gripped at the back of Stiles' hoodie, pulling him backward before the man got to three.
BANG.
Blood splattered on their faces and clothing. Did he pull the trigger? Eden opened the one eye not covered in blood to see a hole in the middle of the gunman's head. As the creepy man fell to the ground, both teens looked up to find yellow hazmat suit aproaching them. Removing the helmet, he revealed himself to be Scott's dad.
"Where the hell did you come from?" Stiles asked as Eden tried to wipe away the blood splattered on her face. Stiles got most of it, but the fact that blood was on them, was disgusting.
"Stiles listen, I got a call from Melissa. I don't know what it means, she said there's an antidote. It's in a vault, reishi mushrooms" Agent McCall reported.
Stiles still couldn't grasp what happened. "Wait, what in a vault?"
"It's in a jar on one of the shelves. She said to tell Scott it's in the vault."
Eden grabbed at Stiles' clothes. "I know what he's talking about. We have to get to the damn vault. Let's go." The two ran down the corridor, down the same steps they ran down earlier with more urgency than ever.
"Hey, Scott? Scotty?!" Stiles called out into the basement.
"Scott!!! Answer us please!" Eden yelled out after.
"In the vault, in there with you, it's called reishi mushrooms" Stiles shouted.
There was no response from Scott.
"Scott? Its the antidote, it can save you guys. We need you to find it! Answer us please!" Eden shouted from the other side of the wall. "He's not answering, Stiles..."
Stiles began to bang on the concrete wall, hitting it as if it were going to open up again just for him. He needed to get inside there. Malia, his girlfriend was in there. Kira, his friend and most of all, Scott, his best friend. "Scott, open the door! It's in there with you. It's a jar, it's on one of the shelves. Scott!" The impatience in Stiles Stilinski showing clear as day. His hand hit against the wall, Eden starting to hit the wall with him. "Scott, can you hear me?!"
"Scott, please!" Eden begged. "Please let us know you can hear us, get the reishi mushroom. It's in a jar. Please!"
The banging went on for minutes with them before they both stopped, collapsing on the floor. Eden's head landing on Stiles' chest as they both sat against the wall of the vault. It felt like they failed, it was up to them to figure it out and they did. But they couldn't save their friends.
Kira heard everything, lying against the floor and fighting to live. "Reishi... Scott, I saw it. In a jar on one of the shelves..."
Scott began fading out. He couldn't let this be the end for all of them. He made a promise, no one else dies. Scott was going to keep with that word, it didn't matter if it was a human or a supernatural. Everyone was going to live. His strength was barely there, but the young alpha found a way to stand. Closing his eyes as he gained composure to stand, Scott inhaled and centered himself before opening his eyes to the alpha red glow. The alpha red acted as infared, no longer blinded, he could see inside the vault. Looking for a jar, he saw a glow. A purple glow inside something that definitely looked like the jar he might have been told to look for. Willing himself to move felt like torture; Scott's legs felt weak, his body numb and full of pain. It was like slowly dying. Reaching up to the shelf, seeing the jar glow bright purple with this cure Eden, Stiles and Kira said was in the vault his fingers grazed the jar before accidentally pushing it off the shelf and watching the glass shatter. The reishi mushroom scattered through the air, Scott took the moment in inhale deeply, hoping if he inhaled the antidote and if Malia and Kira did the same, it'd be enough to save everyone.
- - -
Eden had fallen asleep, color coming back to her a bit. Her head was still on Stiles' chest, his white t-shirt blood soaked. Stiles couldn't believe this was the end of it all. The sound of the stone scraping alerted Stiles. "Eden..." he spoke, gently shaking the Latina awake as the wall began to slide open, the two humans stood and backed away from the vault as Scott emerged, panting and his head down. Once he lifted his head, Stiles and Eden sighed in relief. Scott was okay. Eden took the moment to stand up and walk into the vault, looking over Kira who gave her a meek and weak smile to signal she was okay as well. Eden took Kira into her arms with a tight hug and a sigh.
The brunette took the time to look over at Malia who just stared at a spot on the floor, anything that wasn't anyone else in the vault. Eden was terrified and confused. Did the antidote not work on Malia?
Stiles ran into the vault where his girlfriend was as Eden helped Scott with helping Kira up and out of the vault. "Hey, you all right?" Stiles asked as he kneeled down to Malia's eye level. Nothing. No movement, no expression. "Malia?" Still nothing. "Malia..." the young human spoke as he placed his hand on her shoulder like he always did. Malia grabbed his arm and looked up at him with disbelief in her eyes before taking his hand off her shoulder and walking away from him. Eden, Scot and Kira just watched her leave before looking over at Stiles. Stiles couldn't understand why Malia would walk away from him like that, what did he do?
Then he saw the paper. The paper he left in that jacket pocket. The paper he left in that jacket pocket with the last third of the dead pool, with her real name as Malia Hale.
The lie he protected her from, blew up in his face just like Eden said it would.