Chapter 30 - "Fireflies"
✧"It hurts, doesn't it?"✧
I'm in the jeep with Stiles. He's just driving around because we have no idea what to do or where to go. Scott texted me a while ago telling me that they're okay. I had to call him because a text wasn't enough. After asking over and over again if he's okay, and him starting to get irritated with me, I hung up. It still isn't enough for me. I'll believe that he's okay when I see that he is. I slump in the leather seat before turning down the heat.
"Sorry, is it too hot?" Stiles asks while taking a quick glance at me.
"Well, only slightly." I answer. Then we both go silent. I keep thinking back to the other night at the party, did Stiles sleep with Heather? I feel like a terrible person for thinking about that right now but, I can't get it out of my head.
"Stiles did-- did you and Heather..." I trail off knowing that he'll catch on.
"No." He answers after a couple seconds of silence. I sit back up in the seat and look down at my lap. I just made this awkward.
"I went back down to the basement to tell her that I'd rather keep an eye on you, but she wasn't there." Stiles adds on. I lightly smile before turning my head to look at him.
"The condom in your pocket says otherwise." I tell him.
"Yes, I grabbed one when you left, but then I realized how much I..." He trails off and I look at him questioningly.
"I was gonna put it back after I told her but I forgot." He finishes before taking a quick glance at me. I can't believe he would rather watch over me then lose his virginity. I like him more everyday, every moment, every second.
"So you're still a virgin?" I ask while a small smile forms on my lips.
"Sadly, yes." He answers. I laugh and he looks over at me with a smile.
∞
Lydia steps out of her car while texting, when she looks up she becomes confused. She thought she was driving to the store...turns out she drove to a public pool instead. When she stops at the entrance of the area she turns around to make sure she's alone. Out of the corner of her eye she sees something in the pool, a look of fear and worry takes over her face, she slowly walks towards the pool. Before Lydia is even standing over the water she notices that the something was actually a body. Lydia puts a hand to her mouth.
"Oh, God." She says through her hand. Fear washes over her, she starts to pant and she turns around to see if anyone else is around. No one. When she turns back around she drops her hand and tears start to cloud her vision. She walks closer towards the pool.
"Oh, my God. Please don't be dead." She whispers while she continues walking towards the water.
"Please don't be dead." Lydia repeats over and over to the body that is lying in the water on their stomach. When she reaches the side of the pool she slowly falls to her knees.
"Oh, my God." She says through a gasp as her knees touch the concrete. Lydia slowly leans over the water to flip over the body. When she does she realizes that it's just a dummy. Lydia breathes a sigh of relief.
"Are you kidding me?" She asks to no one in particular. Lydia puts her hands on the rough ground and looks up at the sky as if thanking God. She looks down at her hands and sees blood covering her palms and fingers. Lydia gasps.
She looks beside her to see a pool of blood, she starts to hyperventilate. Lydia looks up at the lifeguard chair to see a dead body, blood spilling out of the lifeless human being. Lydia screams: a wail.
∞
Allison sits in her car underneath the moonlight. She thinks back to what Scott had told her.
FLASHBACK TO A FEW HOURS AGO
"She tried killing you." Allison repeats.
"Uh, yeah, yeah." Scott whispers.
"Why didn't you tell me?" Allison asks.
"I'll tell you everything, okay? I'll tell you a-anything that you want to know, but right now--" Allison cuts Scott off.
"Just tell me why." Allison says with a look of sympathy and sadness.
"I-I couldn't." Scott starts. Allison has tears in her eyes and Scott can tell she's trying to fight them off.
"Allison, I couldn't let that be the last memory that you had of her." Scott finishes. Blood runs down his chin. Allison turns around when she senses someone behind her. It's Derek...holding a lifeless Erica.
END OF FLASHBACK
Allison reaches to the glove department on the passenger side of her car and opens it. She pulls out a silver arrowhead and starts to twirl it around in her fingers.
∞
As Stiles finishes saying his last joke, I get a call from Lydia. I answer it while laughing at Stiles' stupid yet hilarious humor.
"Hey, Lydia." I answer while finishing up my laughing fit.
"Katherine, you need to come to the public pool now." Lydia answers, almost rambles. My smile fades and I become concerned.
"Why what's wrong?" I ask. Stiles looks at me with a concerned look.
"I just found a dead body." She answers. My lips part in shock.
"Okay um...I'll be right there." I answer before hanging up.
"What's wrong?" Stiles asks.
"We need to go to the public pool...Lydia found a dead body." I answer and with that Stiles makes a quick u-turn, the tires squeal on the pavement as he drives to the pool.
As soon as Stiles stops the car, we both jump out of the jeep.
"Lydia?" Stiles asks aloud. I spot Lydia and run towards her.
"Lydia, are you okay?" I ask once I'm next to her. I put my hand on her arm.
"I'm okay. That, over there...not okay." She answers while staring at the ground in front of her. Stiles and I look over at the lifeguard stand to see blood dripping out of the body. Lydia grabs my hand.
"Yeah, all right. I'm gonna call my dad." Stiles says while looking at me. I nod and give Lydia's hand a squeeze.
"I already called nine-one-one." Lydia says.
"You called the police before you called us?" Stiles asks.
"I'm supposed to call you guys first when I find a dead body?" Lydia asks back.
"Yes!" Stiles exclaims. I roll my eyes before using my free hand to pull out my phone to call Scott.
"Katherine? What's wrong?" Scott asks immediately. I put the call on speaker.
"Well, Brother, Lydia found a dead body. It could've been Boyd and or the other girl you were telling me about...Cora was it?" I say.
"Are you sure?" He asks.
"Um, yeah. The throat is ripped up and blood is...everywhere." I answer while looking over the body from afar.
"It's like the frickin' shining over here. If two little twin girls come out of the woods, start asking me to play with them forever and ever, I'm not gonna be surprised." Stiles says into the phone.
"Can you get a little closer to make sure it was them?" Scott asks. I look over at the body.
"Make sure it was them? Scott, who else is going around ripping throats out?" Stiles asks.
"Please just do it." Scott asks and I hand Stiles my phone.
"What are you doing?" Stiles asks.
"Getting a closer look at the body. Don't be such a baby, I'll be fine." I answer while letting go of Lydia's hand. I walk closer towards the dead body. Throat slashed, arms scratched, and a ring on his finger that seems to be untouched that says 'purity'.
"Stiles." I say while motioning for him to come over by me, he does.
"Look at the ring." I say while keeping my stare on the jewelry.
"'Purity'." Stiles reads.
"He's a virgin." I state.
"So?" Stiles asks.
"Heather's a virgin too, right?" I ask.
"Yeah..." Stiles trails off. I look at him and see him put the pieces together.
"No. Heather isn't dead." Stiles says.
"I'm not saying she is. But she is missing." I respond. It has to add on to something...it has too.
"I have no clue how I ended up finding that body." Lydia says, breaking up me and Stiles' conversation. We both turn to her and watch her zone out.
"I didn't even know where I was until I got out of the car." She finishes.
"Yeah, but the last time something like this happened--" Stiles gets cut off.
"I know. Derek's uncle." Lydia says.
"Peter." I say.
After giving Lydia a quick hug and making sure she's okay, Stiles and I left and made our way to the hospital. My mom called us and told us something about the body we saw.
When we walked inside the hospital I instantly saw my mom at the front desk filling out forms. I gently pulled on Stiles' arm and he followed me towards my mom.
"Hey." She says when she notices us.
"Hey." Stiles says back.
"Over here. And if you two tell anyone that I showed you this, I swear to God I will kill both of you painfully and slowly." My mom tell us as we follow her to the morgue. I chuckle at her threat.
"Why do you want to show us a body we've already seen?" Stiles asks.
"Because you guys haven't seen everything." She answers before she opens the door to the silent and cold room.
My mom puts on her gloves and pulls out the body from the slot it was in. Stiles and I stand side by side and we look over the body. Half of the body since the rest of it is covered.
"See this around his neck?" My mom asks.
"Yeah, that's a ligature mark." I answer.
"Yep, that means that he was strangled with something like a cord, rope--" My mom cuts herself off.
"Ah, okay, wait a second. What kind of werewolf strangles someone? You know, that's not very werewolf-y." Stiles says. My mom and I stare at him.
"My thoughts exactly." My mom says before rounding the table to where the guys head is.
"And then there's this." She says while slightly moving the head to the side. On the side of the guys' head there's a chunk of it missing. Stiles shudders whereas I look at it curiously.
"Oh...God, man, what is that? Is that brain matter? Yeah, it's brain matter, of course." Stiles says while he slightly clenches his eyes. I gently move him aside so I can get a better look.
"See the indentation? He was hit in the back of the head, hard enough to kill him." My mom starts. 'Hit in the head...hard enough to kill him'. Christine.
"In fact, any one of these things could have killed him. I mean, someone seriously wanted this poor kid dead." My mom says, whisper yelling. I snap out of the flashback from the hospital.
"All right, so then this couldn't have been Boyd or Cora, you know? They wouldn't have done all that. So maybe this is just one murder. I mean, maybe it's just a random coincidence." Stiles explains.
"I don't think it was just one." My mom says.
"How come?" I ask while straightening my position.
"Because that girl over there, she's got the exact same injuries." Mom answers while directing towards a covered body that is behind us lying on a table.
I walk over to the table and pull back the cover, I pull it back and stop before uncovering her breasts. The dead girl in front of me is Heather. I put a hand over my mouth before my mom and Stiles stand on either side of me. I bring my hand down.
"The M.E. said this one wasn't strangled. Whoever did it used a garrote, which is a stick that you put through the rope, and you just kind of keep twisting--" I cut my mom off by putting my hand on her shoulder. She looks over at us. Stiles has tears in his eyes.
"Stiles?" My mom asks.
"Oh, my God, did you know her?" My mom asks and Stiles slightly nods. I put the cover back over Heather.
"I'm so sorry. I didn't even think." Mom says.
"I was--I was at her party. It was her birthday. Her name is Heather." Stiles says before wiping away his tears with his arm. I pull him in for a hug. I wrap my arms around his neck and he buries his face in mine. I feel the tears hit my neck, but I leave them be. I hate it when Stiles is sad, I can't bear it. He always tries to bear the pain so he doesn't "bother others with his pain." I know when he's hurt, it's easy to tell, but lately he's been getting better at hiding it and it scares me. I don't want him to hide his pain. I break up the hug but I stay close to Stiles.
"Okay, we need to call your father, 'cause you're a witness." Stiles looks at the mark on Heather's neck before turning to look at the mark on the guys' neck. I think he's agreeing with me. Stiles turns back to us and looks at me. He agrees with my earlier thought.
"Stiles?" My mom asks. Stiles looks like he's about to pass out. He puts his arm out as if to say 'hold on', I gently grab his arm.
"Stiles." I whisper. He snaps out of it, so I let go of his arm.
"Has anyone else been through here tonight? Any--any other bodies, or even anybody missing?" Stiles asks.
"Uh, no, no bodies, but, um--" My mom stops.
"Mom, what?" I ask.
"Two girls. They brought the first one in, Caitlin, for a tox screen, and then I overheard her girlfriend, Emily, just disappeared." Mom answers. Stiles and I look to each other before turning back to my mom. Stiles' eyes are still watery.
"I mean, they were out in the woods and--" Stiles cuts her off.
"Nobody's found her yet?" Stiles asks.
"I don't know." She answers.
"Okay, first one." Stiles says.
"Caitlin." Mom says.
"Okay. Is she here? Is she here right now?" Stiles asks.
"I think so." Mom answers.
"Okay, where?" Stiles asks while starting to walk off. Mom stops him.
"Okay, okay, wait. Just wait a minute." Mom says.
"I have to talk to her." Stiles says.
"Why?" Mom asks.
"Because we think we know what's happening." I answer while stepping up next to Stiles.
My mom is standing at the door, I'm standing at the foot of the bed, and Stiles is standing beside the bed that Caitlin is lying on.
"We weren't doing anything that bad. I mean, I've camped out there plenty of times." Caitlin says while my mom steps up next to me.
"Why tonight?" I ask and Caitlin looks down at her hands.
"We wanted to be alone for one night. Emily lives with her mom, and I have three roommates. Not exactly romantic settings, you know?" She says while slightly chuckling a few times.
"How long have you guys been together?" I ask with a small smile.
"Three months." She answers.
"And you wanted to make it romantic." Stiles says and Caitlin slightly smiles.
"Yeah, you know, because--" She cuts herself off.
"Because it was her first time." Stiles and I say in unison.
"They're gonna find her, right?" She asks with tears in her eyes. I walk up to the other side of her, across from Stiles. I take her hand, she looks at me, sadness and hope on her face. I can't tell her the truth.
"They're gonna try." I say with an assuring smile. She returns the gesture. I would tell her to not worry but...I would worry about Stiles if he was taken from me.
Stiles, Scott, and I stand around Heather. This whole time Scott's been gone he was with Argent, Isaac, and Derek. They we're trying to catch Boyd and Cora and they did. When Derek broke the news about Erica I cried. I did. Erica didn't deserve that. Everyone that's died didn't deserve it.
Stiles puts the cover back over Heather.
"So, Boyd and Cora might not have killed anyone?" Scott asks.
"You're gonna wish they did." Stiles answers.
"Why?" Scott asks, confused.
"I'm not exactly sure yet." Stiles answers.
"The other girl who was out in the woods, Emily? Eventually they're gonna find her. She's one of them. Emily, Heather... the guy Lydia found at the pool." Stiles says.
"All virgins." I add.
"And they're all gonna have the same three injuries--strangled, throat slashed, head bashed in. It's called the threefold death."
"So if these aren't random killings, then what are they?" Scott asks.
"Sacrifices." I answer. The three of us glance at each other.
"Human sacrifices." Stiles finishes.