|
Previous: "Breaking News"
|
Next: "Antidote"
|
Teen Wolf: Outcasts Episode 2
"Wet Grave"
In the dead of night, it would be rare to find any human being in the Beacon Hills Preserve. The woodland was enough of a maze even in broad daylight – you would need a damn good sense of direction to negotiate your way out when it is pitch black. Unusually, however, the forests were more alive than normal. Treading through the muddy, uneven ground was a young woman, no older than 20. Her silky ginger hair was unusually untidy, and she wore a nightie – pink in colour and exceptionally soft. The hard, dry mud below her bare feet slowly became damper and slushier, but she didn’t take any notice. She continued walking, until finally, she stopped. Dead in her tracks. Right in front of a young boy’s body. Opposite her was another young man, with shoulder-length blonde curls. Right there and then, Lydia Martin opened her mouth as wide as she could and released her inner banshee, screaming louder than anyone could imagine.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Guest Stars: Linden Ashby, Melissa Ponzio, JR Bourne, Seth Gilliam, Ryan Kelley, Cody Christian, Kaj Nieuwenhoff, Nick Robinson, Natalia Dyer, Paige Turco, Michael Hogan, Dilan Gwyn, Juanpa Zurita, Nesta Cooper and Timothée Chalamet.
“What do you want?” Scott angrily questioned. He sat comfortably in his jeep, trying to leave Beacon Hills for college. However, Gerard Argent had paid an unexpected visit and blocked Scott’s escape, speaking through the car window on the driver’s side.
“I see your little secret is finally out” Gerard began, “I assume you’re not best pleased.”
“Why do you care?” Scott was not happy to be wasting time.
“I’ve always taken a keen interest in your world, Scott, it’s practically hereditary. Not that you have any concept of that, what with your obliteration of the once-fearsome Argent family” Gerard spoke gently, but the undertone was attempting to provoke Scott.
“None of that was my fault” Scott tried to keep his cool. He turned his attention to the girl stood in front of the car, blocking his exit, “Who’s your friend?”
“I’m a believer in a level playing field. If we’re going to be facing each other in battle, it’s only fair I match teenagers with teenagers” Gerard clarified, making his intentions of a human versus supernatural war clear.
“You’re turning teenagers into killers?” Scott was repulsed.
“Hold it there Scott, let’s not go throwing false accusations around. I’ve not seen any murders take place, have you?” Gerard ignored Scott’s point, skirting around the subject. Before Scott had the chance to reply, he heard a familiar roaring scream in the distance. That of a banshee. It sent a shiver through Scott’s spine as he identified it immediately.
“Lydia.”
The bright hospital lights filled Stiles’ eyes as he emerged from a light nap. He had rested his head on the side of Lydia’s hospital bed, and he knew must have drifted off to sleep. He sat himself up in the uncomfortable hospital chairs, and immediately caught sight of the empty bed. There was no sign of Lydia. Stiles immediately sprang out of the char and stormed out of the room, desperately on the lookout for Lydia, or somebody who might have seen her leave. Spinning around the corner, Stiles almost crashed into Isaac and Malia.
“I got Melissa’s text, she wanted to see me” Isaac explained, skipping small talk.
“Yeah sorry Isaac but there are more important matters right now. Lydia’s gone missing, and I’m going out of my freaking mind trying to find her” a highly stressed Stiles filled them in.
“I’ve got her scent, let’s go” Malia got on the case, leading the boys with her expert sense of smell.
Settling into bed, Liam had persuaded his mum to allow Nolan to stay the night. Despite Liam’s insistence that he is an adult now, Joanna generally refused him any social gatherings or sleepovers on a school night. This was the first time Liam had asked her since coming out, though. This occasion was different, for both Liam and Joanna, considering she was now more knowledgeable. She’d had no problems regarding Liam’s sexuality, but a new house rule had been created – it was to be a supernatural-free zone. Considering the damage to Scott’s house over the years as a result of fights or losses of control, Liam found that to be a reasonable request. As he made himself comfortable, Joanna poked her head around the door.
“Night boys” she smiled, “Sleep well.”
“Night mom” Liam responded.
“Night Ms. Dunbar” Nolan politely added.
“How many times Nolan? It’s Joanna” she laughed. Liam could tell that she liked Nolan, even if his bleeding destroyed her favourite rug before Christmas. She gently shut the door, leaving the boys alone.
“I wish I had a mom like yours” Nolan confessed. Liam took a few seconds to consider his response. He wanted to know more, but he’d have hated to sound insensitive.
“What happened between you and your mom?” Liam questioned, before adding, “If you don’t mind me asking.”
“Of course not” Nolan answered, “After my diagnosis, it’s like she couldn’t cope. A giant wall went up between my parents and me. My dad left her, and my mom…she blamed me for the break-up.” Liam listened intently. He was distraught to hear Nolan’s story. He knew his home life wasn’t easy, but he felt uneasy about the circumstances.
“I’m so sorry” Liam responded sympathetically, “If I knew, I’d have helped out.”
“It’s not your fault” Nolan smiled. The smile was genuine but Liam could tell that smiling was the opposite of what he wanted to do in that moment. He could smell the sadness.
“It’s not yours either” Liam smiled back. It meant a lot to Nolan to hear that. He was used to being cited as the cause of the rifts in his family. It was a warm feeling to hear the opposite for a change. Nolan snuggled in close to Liam. As usual, he was the little spoon and Liam was the big spoon. Nolan had never felt as calm as he did in Liam’s arms right there.
Scott sprinted through the forest, rushing as fast as he possibly could to the source of Lydia’s scream. His incredible hearing abilities meant this wasn’t an issue, but he couldn’t help himself from fearing the worst when Lydia’s inner banshee was in earshot. Faster and faster, without even a puff or a pant, until he saw the unmistakable red hair and pale skin of Lydia, stood motionless with her back to him. He slowed down as he approached her, grinding to a halt. It was a relief to see that Lydia was unharmed, but he should have predicted the dead body that was lying in front of her. Unusually, Lydia was not alone. Stood directly opposite was a young lad – one Scott recognised too – with the same gormless expression as Lydia. This wasn’t his only problem though – he’d only just escaped Gerard by making a run for it. After all, his friends always come first.
“Lydia” Scott said gently, not wanting to startle her. Scott felt it was much like waking a sleepwalker. Lydia moved her eyes, recognising Scott, and she snapped back to her usual self.
“Who is he?” Lydia asked, immediately noticing the lad in front. Scott moved a hand in front of his eyes, hoping to wake him subtly. He blinked, and began to gain focus on Scott’s hand. He snapped back just like Lydia did.
“Where am I?” he queried, baffled at being stood in the forest in the middle of the night, “What are you doing here?”
“Never mind that, you’re safe, don’t worry” Scott ensured he was a friendly face in that moment. Scott turned back to Lydia.
“This is Frankie. I don’t think you two have properly met” Scott explained to her. The only time Scott had met Frankie was at the animal clinic during the séance, during which Lydia took part. She wasn’t conscious to meet Frankie, and she wasn’t enthusiastic about meeting him in that moment either after learning about the article I wrote. There was no time to complain though, Lydia had found a dead body and that was the number one priority in her mind.
“How did I get here?” Frankie was still dazed.
“We’ll figure that out later. We need to phone the Sheriff” Scott stayed calm and was as assertive as he possibly could be. In that moment, Stiles, Isaac and Malia arrived from the shadows.
“Thank god you’re alright” Stiles breathed a huge sigh of relief as he wrapped his arms around Lydia.
“Who died?” Malia asked, lacking any subtlety as usual.
“I don’t know his name” Lydia responded coldly, feeling shaken and cold, “He was murdered. Right here, by a girl.” The group shared glances of concern. The field was narrowed, but knowing a killer was on the loose made Scott feel sick.
At school the next morning, the mood all round was sombre. News had spread of a senior being murdered and it rocked many of Liam’s year group. Liam walked into history class and perched at his desk, adjacent to Cody’s in the centre of the room. Frankie’s article was still fresh in everyone’s minds, even with more urgent and tragic news taking hold that morning. Liam was quickly learning how to ignore all of the stares he was receiving, but it didn’t mean he was happy about it. Directly in front of Liam was Daan, who had still barely said a word to any of their friendship group since returning to school after the holidays. Jodie was positioned to his left in front of Cody, and the two were passing notes to each other when the teacher wasn’t looking. Liam subtly used his enhanced wolf vision to reads the notes – they were as sickly sweet as he expected. While he read, Cody prodded him on the arm, startling him. Liam immediately snapped the wolf vision off. He turned to Cody, who handed him a note of his own. Liam un-scrunched the scrap piece of maths work that Cody has used and read the message. “Look at her hair” it said. Confused, Liam glanced over. Strangely, Jodie’s hair was dripping wet. There was even a puddle below her chair. Cody passed a second note, which read “Let’s investigate.” Liam nodded in response – anything to get out of double Spanish and lacrosse practice that afternoon.
Laid out on the operating table in the morgue, Melissa took a glance at the body of the young lad Lydia had found. Sheriff Stilinski had asked her to perform the post-mortem, supposedly at Scott’s own request. Melissa knew exactly what this meant – there was a high possibility of supernatural involvement. Stood a few steps behind were the Sheriff as well as Argent, who she had asked to join her for any expert input he might have. Immediately, looking at the body, Melissa knew how the lad had died.
“He drowned” she confirmed, making an intrusion into his chest to confirm her suspicions.
“Drowned? Are you sure?” Stilinski was surprised.
“Not only is he soaking wet but he suffocated and his lungs are full to the brim with water. Trust me, I’m certain” Melissa informed with confidence.
“Why is that so unlikely?” Argent questioned Stilinski, “He wasn’t found too far from the lake.”
“Lydia said he died there, on the spot” Stilinski justified, “He wasn’t near enough to have drowned.”
“Drowned on dry land” Melissa pondered aloud. She couldn’t hide her intrigue even if she tried.
“What could do such a thing?” Stilinski was baffled.
“I have no idea, but I think young Frankie might be our key” Argent suggested.
Meanwhile, Parrish had been left in charge of supervising Frankie. Currently, he was sat in Stilinski’s office, with a blanket surrounding his frozen cold arms. The blanket also dried up his dripping-wet locks, and he looked incredibly shaken up. Parrish stood on the other side of the closed door, speaking to Scott and the group.
“You think he’s a banshee? I thought only women could be banshees” Parrish interrogated.
“I think he’s something” Scott replied, “He didn’t arrive by accident, I know that for sure.”
“I’ll give you ten minutes with him. Be gentle” Parrish instructed, opening the door. Scott led the way as he, Stiles, Lydia, Malia and Isaac filtered into the office.
“You’re all…” Frankie was hesitant and uncomfortable, recognising them.
“Supernatural, yes” Scott completed the sentence.
“I’m not” Stiles interrupted, ever the sucker for detail.
“Stiles, do me a favour” Isaac groaned, “Shut up.” Scott ignored them both and stayed fixated on Frankie.
“We’re not going to hurt you. We want to help. I need you to tell us what happened last night” Scott spoke as gently as he could.
“I don’t know” Frankie replied, visibly distressed, “I was in bed one minute, and the next thing I knew I was stood with you guys next to some kid’s dead body.” Lydia prodded Scott to get his attention for a quiet word. They both turned their backs to him.
“Sounding familiar?” Scott whispered.
“Extremely. This is how I feel every time I find a dead body” Lydia notified.
“You think he could be a banshee?” Scott asked her opinion.
“I don’t know. Stranger things have happened in this town” Lydia reasoned. They were interrupted by a concerned Malia.
“Guys, is this supposed to be happening?” she questioned, not moving her eyes off Frankie. Scott and Lydia turned around to see Frankie dripping with a seemingly unending supply of water.
“What is that? Why is he dropping?” Isaac was confused and worried.
“I don’t know, I’ve never seen it before” Scott shared the same sentiment.
“What’s happening to me?” Frankie was just as confused. It was evidently the first time this had happened to him, and he was becoming flustered.
“I’ve got an idea” Malia suggested, speaking quietly to Scott, “He can’t remember anything. Isn’t this where you step in? Those claws are pretty handy.”
“I could kill him” Scott was unusually pessimistic.
“Worth the risk” Malia insensitively yet bluntly retorted, “Besides, you’ve got a one hundred percent success rate.”
“He’s barely sitting still, it would be dangerous” Scott remained sensible, fighting Malia’s urges.
“We need to get him to hospital” Lydia suggested.
“Lydia, you take him to the hospital with Malia. Stiles and Isaac, have a look in the bestiary for anything relevant. I’ll try and track down Theo, I think we could use an extra pair of hands. I’m gonna speak to Lawrie” Scott assertively decided.
“What about Maddie?” Stiles ruined the moment.
“I’ve called her, she’s not responded” Scott bluntly answered.
“Leave it with me” Lydia smiled smugly.
After cautiously creeping around the side of Jodie’s house, Liam stood at the back door and sniffed. He, Cody, Nolan and Becky were about to break into Jodie’s house, and the coast had to be clear. The aim was to find some sort of evidence to prove that Jodie wasn’t all she made out to be. Initially, Liam suspected that she was simply a bit of a player, but he was very confused by the water dripping off her hair earlier that morning. He knew it can’t have been a simple case of Jodie not having enough time to dry her hair that morning. It were as if a tap was situated inside her head and had been switched on in history class. Paying close attention to any scents he could notice, Liam checked for anybody around.
“Coast is clear” he announced his findings.
“Are we sure about this?” Nolan was sceptical, “I mean, what if we get caught?”
“We’ll think fast, like normal, now let’s go” Liam reassured him. He pressed on the door knob and gave himself access to the house. Immediately filling his nostrils was the rotten scent of damp. The entire house gave off a moist atmosphere, he felt it against his skin, but as he looked around, there were no signs of any damp patches.
“Can you smell that?” Liam asked Cody. He was the only one of the four without an enhanced supernatural sense of smell. Liam valued his opinion in this moment.
“Smell what?” Cody responded. That answered Liam’s question. The damp wasn’t in the entire house – certainly not in this room. His nose told him to go upstairs.
“Nolan and I will check upstairs. You two stay down here and see what you can find” Liam ordered. The group split up, as Liam led the way up the stairs. Nolan looked carefully at the sights around him as he continued up the stairs. The house was furnished nicely. Not posh or expensive, but comfortable and stylish. He saw the sights of a close-knit family in the photos hung along the staircase. Jodie surrounded by a mother, father and sister. Nolan had never had a family unit as close as that, and it was weighing on his mind more than usual in that moment.
“Can you hear that?” Liam interrupted his train of thought. Nolan focused on his hearing.
“Yes” he responded, “It sounds like the bath’s running.” They both sprinted into the bathroom, and sure enough, the bath taps were on full blast. The level of water was at its maximum point, trickling over the sides at an alarming rate. Nolan rushed to turn the taps off before any more damage could be done, his feet splashing in the dripping wet bathroom floor. He gave a concerned look to Liam, as his feet splish-sploshed back out of the bathroom. Together, they moved towards Jodie’s bedroom. Creaking open the door, Liam saw a typical teenage girl’s bedroom. It was neat and tidy, with photo frames on the wall and the bed made. It was presentable from one end to the other.
“This is almost too tidy” Liam observed, “Nothing out of place. I don’t know any bedrooms that actually look this tidy.”
“It’s been a while since you’ve been in a girl’s bedroom” Nolan joked. He stepped over and touched her bedsheet. Once again, it was dripping wet.
“Feel this” Nolan suggested. Liam joined him, and felt his hand submerged in a wet bedsheet.
“This isn’t normal” Liam noted, “We need to tell the others.”
Downstairs, the topic of conversation between Becky and Cody was on Daan.
“How long have you two been friends?” Becky politely queried.
“Since the start of high school. He was new to the country, and Nolan and I were friendly faces I guess” Cody recounted.
“You seem closer to Daan than to Nolan now though” Becky pointed out her observations.
“They’re both my best friends. They were my only friends until recently. Weirdos united” Cody joked at his own expense, “I guess Nolan’s drifted a little now he’s with Liam.” Becky noted his head looking down at his feet as he said the final sentence.
“You don’t seem too happy about that?” she mentioned.
“I guess I miss when it was just the three of us. Chilling, listening to music and playing video games. Now Nolan and Daan both have other priorities” Cody was becoming upset thinking back just a few months. He quickly changed the subject, “What about you? Any friends from your old home?”
“Nobody” Becky confessed, “I was a loner, a werehyena with no pack. I liked it though, I was my only priority.”
“I see how it is” Cody joked.
“Obviously this pack is better” Becky clarified, “But I used to tackle my own problems head on. Nobody would stand in my way. That was cool.”
“That’s it!” Cody exclaimed euphorically.
“What?” a bemused Becky questioned.
“Daan isn’t tackling his issues. Jodie is his distraction. His coping mechanism, after Father Time” Cody explained. He glanced around Jodie’s perfectly furnished living room and pulled out the cushions of the sofa.
“What are you doing?” Becky thought he was having a crazy moment.
“Look around. This room is perfect. Not a speck of dust, not a TV remote knocked onto the floor, not a dirty mug left on the table, and not even a crumb behind the cushions on the couch” Cody explained.
“We need to get out of here” he heard Liam order from the doorway. He and Nolan looked concerned, and immediately they knew they had to leave.
“Too late” came a female voice from the other end of the living room, adjacent to the front door. The group looked over – it was Jodie, stood next to another young girl of a similar age, holding a gun facing them. Jodie looked at her and gave the comment, “Liah, now.”
BANG.
Promised by Lydia that she’d arrive, Scott was waiting outside the entrance to the school library, keeping his eyes peeled for Maddie. Stood by his side was Theo – somebody he’d never expected to call up for a helping hand, but he couldn’t deny the effort he’d made to cement himself as part of the pack.
“Is she definitely coming?” Theo impatiently nagged. Scott understood his frustration – they’d been waiting for fifteen minutes already.
“Lydia said so” Scott responded. It wasn’t his fault. However, he knew full well that Maddie only went by her own schedule, and she was sure to be busy making her hair look pretty or something of that ilk.
“Let me be crystal clear” came Maddie’s voice as she approached from behind Scott, “This is a favour for Lydia.” Scott nodded. He was pleased to see Maddie again. He was worried considering he hadn’t heard from her in so long. She looked paler than normal, but Scott didn’t think much of it.
“Let’s get going then” she sprung to action, taking a look at the library doors, locked shut by a card reader.
“We need a…” Scot began to explain as Maddie punched the card reader, smashing it into pieces on the floor.
“…pass” Scott finished, deflated.
“Wow” Theo muttered, smirking at Maddie’s time-saving technique. Maddie led the way through the now-open doors, examining the library. Scott and Theo followed behind, on the lookout.
“I see him” Scott identified. Sat alone on the middle desk of the relatively empty library was Lawrie, his dark curls brushed out of his eyes as he read the chemistry textbook opened in front of him. Scott led the way, and took a seat opposite him. Theo sat next to Scott, while Maddie sat next to Lawrie, surrounding him.
“Err, hello?” Lawrie awkwardly greeted as three strangers perched next to him.
“Hi Lawrie, I’m Scott” Scott smiled, ensuring he came across as friendly.
“Scott McCall?” Lawrie identified. He recognised the name from Frankie’s article and attempted to run, but Maddie placed a firm hand on his shoulder.
“Don’t move an inch” she commanded, as her eyes glowed yellow.
Pushing their way into the hospital, Lydia was desperately looking for Melissa. There were a large number of people crowding around the reception desk, where Melissa was based normally, but there was no sign of her yet.
“Where do we go?” Malia asked. She was supporting Frankie, who had his arm around her, trying not to fall. He was still dripping wet, and was leaving a trail of water through the hospital.
“Through here” Lydia used her initiative. She led the way through the corridors and into the first empty patient room she saw. Malia followed, assisting Frankie onto the bed.
“What now?” Malia was impatient.
“Now we wait for Melissa” Lydia decided, concerned at the amount of water trickling from Frankie.
Just metres away, Gerard was also arriving at the hospital.
“Are you alright sir?” a nurse asked him politely.
“Yes thank you” Gerard responded, “I know exactly where I need to go.” He looked down at the floor to see a trail of water – exactly what he had hoped to find. Now it was time to capture something he’d never captured before…
The adrenalin levels were high at Deaton’s animal clinic too. It was open time, but luckily for Stiles and Isaac, Deaton was not serving a patient in that moment. He watched as the duo arrived, as if he were anticipating their arrival.
“I assume my assistance is required” Deaton noted as he saw Stiles open the door.
“Your expertise would be invaluable” Stiles responded, following Deaton into the central operations room, “Do you know of any supernatural creatures that can trickle water?”
“Water? I’ve not seen any personally, but I know many legends” Deaton explained, “The most famous is perhaps the siren, a water-based female who lures men to a wet grave with the beautiful song she sings.”
“What about a harbinger of death?” Isaac added, “Like a male banshee.”
“You sound concerned” Deaton noted, “Is there something I should know?”
“A kid in Liam’s year turned up at the site of a dead body last night, he was behaving exactly like Lydia except he’s now become a human tap and won’t stop giving out water” Stiles explained, “Any ideas?”
“I think I might know” Deaton said, opening his filing cabinet. He took out a tatty piece of paper. Isaac leaned in closer, observing the picture on it. He saw a teenage boy drawn, with long flowing hair and attractive facial features. Below him stood a large puddle, which was growing bigger and bigger with help from the streams of water pouring down his arms.
“He looks identical to Frankie” Isaac noted.
“This is called a nix. It’s a water spirit, it can summon water wherever it goes. Typically they aren’t harbingers of death but the legends aren’t totally correct” Deaton explained, “By the sounds of it, Frankie is inexperienced and has no idea how to control his abilities.”
“How do we teach him control?” Stiles eagerly asked.
“The same way you teach a werewolf control. He needs to get to grips with his abilities, learn how they work” Deaton said. Stiles and Isaac nodded, knowing exactly what they needed to do.
As she looked around the school library, Maddie couldn’t help feeling faint. The bookshelves were blurry and she couldn’t focus on what she saw. To her left, Lawrie was being grilled by Scott and Theo, but she wasn’t really paying attention.
“Have you noticed anything strange about Frankie lately?” Scott interrogated.
“Err, he’s been spending more time working on the school newsletter I guess” Lawrie wasn’t happy to be answering these questions, but he knew he had no alternative, “He worked hard on the article exposing you guys.”
“He sounds like a headcase” Theo mentioned.
“He did what he thought was right” Lawrie defended his friend.
“He should’ve thought again” Theo was giving as good as he got. He was the bad cop to Scott’s good cop.
“Alright, let’s forget about the article for now” Scott suggested, “Frankie was found distressed last night, that’s why we’re here.”
“Is he alright?” Lawrie was concerned.
“He’s fine” Scott lied. He hoped Frankie was alright, and he trusted Lydia and Malia to keep him updated. No news was good news, he assumed, “Any help you can offer would be invaluable though.”
“I’m sorry, I don’t know anything more” Lawrie regretfully said.
“It’s OK. Thank you for your time” Scott smiled. He was determined to leave a good impression, to prove he wasn’t the enemy. As he stood up to leave, Maddie collapsed to the floor with a crash. Scott immediately crouched at her side and checked her pulse.
“What’s wrong with her? Why isn’t she healing?” Theo worried.
“I don’t know. We need to get her to a hospital now” Scott said, lifting her up in her arms. Unbeknownst to Scott and Theo, somebody was watching their every move from the shadows of the bookcases. Francisco smiled, as his plan was coming to fruition.
Slowly, Nolan opened one eye. He’d heard a gunshot, and was terrified for himself. He wasn’t even able to tell if he’d been shot or not, the fear had overcome his emotions so much, and he didn’t even want to check for any injuries. Nevertheless, he plucked up the courage to glance down at himself with his one eye. No bullet wound. He was fine…for now. He opened his other eye and looked for the others. Liam stood frozen next to him, too scared to move, which was a relief – he hadn’t been hurt either. More alarming though was the sight in front of them. Lying on the floor, Becky was almost motionless. Her eyes were just about open and her chest contracted and relaxed as she struggled to breathe. In the middle of her stomach was a grotesque wound as the bullet had hit her full pelt. Normally, a werehyena of her strength could heal from a gunshot wound, but her close proximity decreased her chances massively. Cody stood next to her. He wanted to crouch down and hold her hand, but he knew he couldn’t without being shot himself.
“What did you do that for?” Liam yelled.
“You’re different. Thanks to your friend Daan, I know all about your supernatural powers Liam” Jodie spoke smugly. Liah’s hands were shaking next to her. She tried her best to look composed, but the quivering of her hands could not be disguised, no matter how hard she tried. Jodie had noticed how terrified she was and took the gun into her own possession.
“I guess I’ll have to finish this myself” she decided, priming the gun. As his survival instinct kicked in, Nolan let out the loudest roar he possibly could. His throat hurt as he used all his strength to create the loudest sound possible to throw Jodie off. He bared his eyes and fangs, allowing the suppressed wolf to shine through. Cody took this chance to run, as he, Liam and Nolan made their getaway. Jodie remained on the spot.
“Why aren’t you following them?” Liah questioned.
“We’ll catch up to them, don’t worry” Jodie arrogantly answered. She looked down at the floor as Becky’s eyes slipped shut and her chest became still, “This is just the beginning.”
“Dripping water?” Melissa was confused. Having examined Frankie’s vital signs, nothing in his body seemed out of the ordinary, but in many years of nursing, Melissa had never seen anything like this.
“I’ve stopped now though” Frankie added, “That’s good, right?” For the past few minutes, the flow of water out of his body had indeed stopped, thanks to Malia finding a heap of towels.
“Where did these towels come from?” Melissa wondered.
“I found them on your desk” Malia responded naïvely.
“I’ll be right back, I need to call the maternity ward and explain the delay in clean towels” Melissa said, standing up.
“Will I be okay?” Frankie worried, turning to Lydia. His trust in the girls was increasing – they were the only people willing to help him in that moment.
“You’ll be just fine” Lydia reassured him, “We just need to figure out what you are.” On the spot, Lydia took a deep breath. She felt light-headed and like she was no longer in the room. All she could see in her mind was one word. A name, one she recognised too.
“Becky.”
Also arriving at the hospital, Theo held the entrance doors wide open as Scott carried Maddie through, using his strength to ensure she was comfortable in his arms. While talking on the phone, Melissa saw her son arrive and without hesitation, she hung up and rushed to Scott’s aid.
“What’s up?” she asked.
“She just collapsed, she’s not healing” Scott explained fast, barely knowing what to say but ensuring Melissa knew enough to be able to help.
“Let’s get her onto a bed and check her over” Melissa sprung to action, leading the way to the same ward that Frankie was in. Melissa knew she had to keep the supernatural action contained as best as she could. However, Gerard’s keen eye didn’t miss a trick. He was still watching, and the pieces were falling into place. Francisco appeared at his side, like a puppy returning to its owner.
“It’s done” he verified.
“You worked well Francisco. Scott won’t know what’s hit him, giving us the perfect opportunity to strike” Gerard was cryptic as ever, but his plan was mapped out in perfect detail in his head. The hospital was his, and there was no way he’d allow Scott or his nix ally out alive.
“I see your little secret is finally out” Gerard began, “I assume you’re not best pleased.”
“Why do you care?” Scott was not happy to be wasting time.
“I’ve always taken a keen interest in your world, Scott, it’s practically hereditary. Not that you have any concept of that, what with your obliteration of the once-fearsome Argent family” Gerard spoke gently, but the undertone was attempting to provoke Scott.
“None of that was my fault” Scott tried to keep his cool. He turned his attention to the girl stood in front of the car, blocking his exit, “Who’s your friend?”
“I’m a believer in a level playing field. If we’re going to be facing each other in battle, it’s only fair I match teenagers with teenagers” Gerard clarified, making his intentions of a human versus supernatural war clear.
“You’re turning teenagers into killers?” Scott was repulsed.
“Hold it there Scott, let’s not go throwing false accusations around. I’ve not seen any murders take place, have you?” Gerard ignored Scott’s point, skirting around the subject. Before Scott had the chance to reply, he heard a familiar roaring scream in the distance. That of a banshee. It sent a shiver through Scott’s spine as he identified it immediately.
“Lydia.”
The bright hospital lights filled Stiles’ eyes as he emerged from a light nap. He had rested his head on the side of Lydia’s hospital bed, and he knew must have drifted off to sleep. He sat himself up in the uncomfortable hospital chairs, and immediately caught sight of the empty bed. There was no sign of Lydia. Stiles immediately sprang out of the char and stormed out of the room, desperately on the lookout for Lydia, or somebody who might have seen her leave. Spinning around the corner, Stiles almost crashed into Isaac and Malia.
“I got Melissa’s text, she wanted to see me” Isaac explained, skipping small talk.
“Yeah sorry Isaac but there are more important matters right now. Lydia’s gone missing, and I’m going out of my freaking mind trying to find her” a highly stressed Stiles filled them in.
“I’ve got her scent, let’s go” Malia got on the case, leading the boys with her expert sense of smell.
Settling into bed, Liam had persuaded his mum to allow Nolan to stay the night. Despite Liam’s insistence that he is an adult now, Joanna generally refused him any social gatherings or sleepovers on a school night. This was the first time Liam had asked her since coming out, though. This occasion was different, for both Liam and Joanna, considering she was now more knowledgeable. She’d had no problems regarding Liam’s sexuality, but a new house rule had been created – it was to be a supernatural-free zone. Considering the damage to Scott’s house over the years as a result of fights or losses of control, Liam found that to be a reasonable request. As he made himself comfortable, Joanna poked her head around the door.
“Night boys” she smiled, “Sleep well.”
“Night mom” Liam responded.
“Night Ms. Dunbar” Nolan politely added.
“How many times Nolan? It’s Joanna” she laughed. Liam could tell that she liked Nolan, even if his bleeding destroyed her favourite rug before Christmas. She gently shut the door, leaving the boys alone.
“I wish I had a mom like yours” Nolan confessed. Liam took a few seconds to consider his response. He wanted to know more, but he’d have hated to sound insensitive.
“What happened between you and your mom?” Liam questioned, before adding, “If you don’t mind me asking.”
“Of course not” Nolan answered, “After my diagnosis, it’s like she couldn’t cope. A giant wall went up between my parents and me. My dad left her, and my mom…she blamed me for the break-up.” Liam listened intently. He was distraught to hear Nolan’s story. He knew his home life wasn’t easy, but he felt uneasy about the circumstances.
“I’m so sorry” Liam responded sympathetically, “If I knew, I’d have helped out.”
“It’s not your fault” Nolan smiled. The smile was genuine but Liam could tell that smiling was the opposite of what he wanted to do in that moment. He could smell the sadness.
“It’s not yours either” Liam smiled back. It meant a lot to Nolan to hear that. He was used to being cited as the cause of the rifts in his family. It was a warm feeling to hear the opposite for a change. Nolan snuggled in close to Liam. As usual, he was the little spoon and Liam was the big spoon. Nolan had never felt as calm as he did in Liam’s arms right there.
Scott sprinted through the forest, rushing as fast as he possibly could to the source of Lydia’s scream. His incredible hearing abilities meant this wasn’t an issue, but he couldn’t help himself from fearing the worst when Lydia’s inner banshee was in earshot. Faster and faster, without even a puff or a pant, until he saw the unmistakable red hair and pale skin of Lydia, stood motionless with her back to him. He slowed down as he approached her, grinding to a halt. It was a relief to see that Lydia was unharmed, but he should have predicted the dead body that was lying in front of her. Unusually, Lydia was not alone. Stood directly opposite was a young lad – one Scott recognised too – with the same gormless expression as Lydia. This wasn’t his only problem though – he’d only just escaped Gerard by making a run for it. After all, his friends always come first.
“Lydia” Scott said gently, not wanting to startle her. Scott felt it was much like waking a sleepwalker. Lydia moved her eyes, recognising Scott, and she snapped back to her usual self.
“Who is he?” Lydia asked, immediately noticing the lad in front. Scott moved a hand in front of his eyes, hoping to wake him subtly. He blinked, and began to gain focus on Scott’s hand. He snapped back just like Lydia did.
“Where am I?” he queried, baffled at being stood in the forest in the middle of the night, “What are you doing here?”
“Never mind that, you’re safe, don’t worry” Scott ensured he was a friendly face in that moment. Scott turned back to Lydia.
“This is Frankie. I don’t think you two have properly met” Scott explained to her. The only time Scott had met Frankie was at the animal clinic during the séance, during which Lydia took part. She wasn’t conscious to meet Frankie, and she wasn’t enthusiastic about meeting him in that moment either after learning about the article I wrote. There was no time to complain though, Lydia had found a dead body and that was the number one priority in her mind.
“How did I get here?” Frankie was still dazed.
“We’ll figure that out later. We need to phone the Sheriff” Scott stayed calm and was as assertive as he possibly could be. In that moment, Stiles, Isaac and Malia arrived from the shadows.
“Thank god you’re alright” Stiles breathed a huge sigh of relief as he wrapped his arms around Lydia.
“Who died?” Malia asked, lacking any subtlety as usual.
“I don’t know his name” Lydia responded coldly, feeling shaken and cold, “He was murdered. Right here, by a girl.” The group shared glances of concern. The field was narrowed, but knowing a killer was on the loose made Scott feel sick.
At school the next morning, the mood all round was sombre. News had spread of a senior being murdered and it rocked many of Liam’s year group. Liam walked into history class and perched at his desk, adjacent to Cody’s in the centre of the room. Frankie’s article was still fresh in everyone’s minds, even with more urgent and tragic news taking hold that morning. Liam was quickly learning how to ignore all of the stares he was receiving, but it didn’t mean he was happy about it. Directly in front of Liam was Daan, who had still barely said a word to any of their friendship group since returning to school after the holidays. Jodie was positioned to his left in front of Cody, and the two were passing notes to each other when the teacher wasn’t looking. Liam subtly used his enhanced wolf vision to reads the notes – they were as sickly sweet as he expected. While he read, Cody prodded him on the arm, startling him. Liam immediately snapped the wolf vision off. He turned to Cody, who handed him a note of his own. Liam un-scrunched the scrap piece of maths work that Cody has used and read the message. “Look at her hair” it said. Confused, Liam glanced over. Strangely, Jodie’s hair was dripping wet. There was even a puddle below her chair. Cody passed a second note, which read “Let’s investigate.” Liam nodded in response – anything to get out of double Spanish and lacrosse practice that afternoon.
Laid out on the operating table in the morgue, Melissa took a glance at the body of the young lad Lydia had found. Sheriff Stilinski had asked her to perform the post-mortem, supposedly at Scott’s own request. Melissa knew exactly what this meant – there was a high possibility of supernatural involvement. Stood a few steps behind were the Sheriff as well as Argent, who she had asked to join her for any expert input he might have. Immediately, looking at the body, Melissa knew how the lad had died.
“He drowned” she confirmed, making an intrusion into his chest to confirm her suspicions.
“Drowned? Are you sure?” Stilinski was surprised.
“Not only is he soaking wet but he suffocated and his lungs are full to the brim with water. Trust me, I’m certain” Melissa informed with confidence.
“Why is that so unlikely?” Argent questioned Stilinski, “He wasn’t found too far from the lake.”
“Lydia said he died there, on the spot” Stilinski justified, “He wasn’t near enough to have drowned.”
“Drowned on dry land” Melissa pondered aloud. She couldn’t hide her intrigue even if she tried.
“What could do such a thing?” Stilinski was baffled.
“I have no idea, but I think young Frankie might be our key” Argent suggested.
Meanwhile, Parrish had been left in charge of supervising Frankie. Currently, he was sat in Stilinski’s office, with a blanket surrounding his frozen cold arms. The blanket also dried up his dripping-wet locks, and he looked incredibly shaken up. Parrish stood on the other side of the closed door, speaking to Scott and the group.
“You think he’s a banshee? I thought only women could be banshees” Parrish interrogated.
“I think he’s something” Scott replied, “He didn’t arrive by accident, I know that for sure.”
“I’ll give you ten minutes with him. Be gentle” Parrish instructed, opening the door. Scott led the way as he, Stiles, Lydia, Malia and Isaac filtered into the office.
“You’re all…” Frankie was hesitant and uncomfortable, recognising them.
“Supernatural, yes” Scott completed the sentence.
“I’m not” Stiles interrupted, ever the sucker for detail.
“Stiles, do me a favour” Isaac groaned, “Shut up.” Scott ignored them both and stayed fixated on Frankie.
“We’re not going to hurt you. We want to help. I need you to tell us what happened last night” Scott spoke as gently as he could.
“I don’t know” Frankie replied, visibly distressed, “I was in bed one minute, and the next thing I knew I was stood with you guys next to some kid’s dead body.” Lydia prodded Scott to get his attention for a quiet word. They both turned their backs to him.
“Sounding familiar?” Scott whispered.
“Extremely. This is how I feel every time I find a dead body” Lydia notified.
“You think he could be a banshee?” Scott asked her opinion.
“I don’t know. Stranger things have happened in this town” Lydia reasoned. They were interrupted by a concerned Malia.
“Guys, is this supposed to be happening?” she questioned, not moving her eyes off Frankie. Scott and Lydia turned around to see Frankie dripping with a seemingly unending supply of water.
“What is that? Why is he dropping?” Isaac was confused and worried.
“I don’t know, I’ve never seen it before” Scott shared the same sentiment.
“What’s happening to me?” Frankie was just as confused. It was evidently the first time this had happened to him, and he was becoming flustered.
“I’ve got an idea” Malia suggested, speaking quietly to Scott, “He can’t remember anything. Isn’t this where you step in? Those claws are pretty handy.”
“I could kill him” Scott was unusually pessimistic.
“Worth the risk” Malia insensitively yet bluntly retorted, “Besides, you’ve got a one hundred percent success rate.”
“He’s barely sitting still, it would be dangerous” Scott remained sensible, fighting Malia’s urges.
“We need to get him to hospital” Lydia suggested.
“Lydia, you take him to the hospital with Malia. Stiles and Isaac, have a look in the bestiary for anything relevant. I’ll try and track down Theo, I think we could use an extra pair of hands. I’m gonna speak to Lawrie” Scott assertively decided.
“What about Maddie?” Stiles ruined the moment.
“I’ve called her, she’s not responded” Scott bluntly answered.
“Leave it with me” Lydia smiled smugly.
After cautiously creeping around the side of Jodie’s house, Liam stood at the back door and sniffed. He, Cody, Nolan and Becky were about to break into Jodie’s house, and the coast had to be clear. The aim was to find some sort of evidence to prove that Jodie wasn’t all she made out to be. Initially, Liam suspected that she was simply a bit of a player, but he was very confused by the water dripping off her hair earlier that morning. He knew it can’t have been a simple case of Jodie not having enough time to dry her hair that morning. It were as if a tap was situated inside her head and had been switched on in history class. Paying close attention to any scents he could notice, Liam checked for anybody around.
“Coast is clear” he announced his findings.
“Are we sure about this?” Nolan was sceptical, “I mean, what if we get caught?”
“We’ll think fast, like normal, now let’s go” Liam reassured him. He pressed on the door knob and gave himself access to the house. Immediately filling his nostrils was the rotten scent of damp. The entire house gave off a moist atmosphere, he felt it against his skin, but as he looked around, there were no signs of any damp patches.
“Can you smell that?” Liam asked Cody. He was the only one of the four without an enhanced supernatural sense of smell. Liam valued his opinion in this moment.
“Smell what?” Cody responded. That answered Liam’s question. The damp wasn’t in the entire house – certainly not in this room. His nose told him to go upstairs.
“Nolan and I will check upstairs. You two stay down here and see what you can find” Liam ordered. The group split up, as Liam led the way up the stairs. Nolan looked carefully at the sights around him as he continued up the stairs. The house was furnished nicely. Not posh or expensive, but comfortable and stylish. He saw the sights of a close-knit family in the photos hung along the staircase. Jodie surrounded by a mother, father and sister. Nolan had never had a family unit as close as that, and it was weighing on his mind more than usual in that moment.
“Can you hear that?” Liam interrupted his train of thought. Nolan focused on his hearing.
“Yes” he responded, “It sounds like the bath’s running.” They both sprinted into the bathroom, and sure enough, the bath taps were on full blast. The level of water was at its maximum point, trickling over the sides at an alarming rate. Nolan rushed to turn the taps off before any more damage could be done, his feet splashing in the dripping wet bathroom floor. He gave a concerned look to Liam, as his feet splish-sploshed back out of the bathroom. Together, they moved towards Jodie’s bedroom. Creaking open the door, Liam saw a typical teenage girl’s bedroom. It was neat and tidy, with photo frames on the wall and the bed made. It was presentable from one end to the other.
“This is almost too tidy” Liam observed, “Nothing out of place. I don’t know any bedrooms that actually look this tidy.”
“It’s been a while since you’ve been in a girl’s bedroom” Nolan joked. He stepped over and touched her bedsheet. Once again, it was dripping wet.
“Feel this” Nolan suggested. Liam joined him, and felt his hand submerged in a wet bedsheet.
“This isn’t normal” Liam noted, “We need to tell the others.”
Downstairs, the topic of conversation between Becky and Cody was on Daan.
“How long have you two been friends?” Becky politely queried.
“Since the start of high school. He was new to the country, and Nolan and I were friendly faces I guess” Cody recounted.
“You seem closer to Daan than to Nolan now though” Becky pointed out her observations.
“They’re both my best friends. They were my only friends until recently. Weirdos united” Cody joked at his own expense, “I guess Nolan’s drifted a little now he’s with Liam.” Becky noted his head looking down at his feet as he said the final sentence.
“You don’t seem too happy about that?” she mentioned.
“I guess I miss when it was just the three of us. Chilling, listening to music and playing video games. Now Nolan and Daan both have other priorities” Cody was becoming upset thinking back just a few months. He quickly changed the subject, “What about you? Any friends from your old home?”
“Nobody” Becky confessed, “I was a loner, a werehyena with no pack. I liked it though, I was my only priority.”
“I see how it is” Cody joked.
“Obviously this pack is better” Becky clarified, “But I used to tackle my own problems head on. Nobody would stand in my way. That was cool.”
“That’s it!” Cody exclaimed euphorically.
“What?” a bemused Becky questioned.
“Daan isn’t tackling his issues. Jodie is his distraction. His coping mechanism, after Father Time” Cody explained. He glanced around Jodie’s perfectly furnished living room and pulled out the cushions of the sofa.
“What are you doing?” Becky thought he was having a crazy moment.
“Look around. This room is perfect. Not a speck of dust, not a TV remote knocked onto the floor, not a dirty mug left on the table, and not even a crumb behind the cushions on the couch” Cody explained.
“We need to get out of here” he heard Liam order from the doorway. He and Nolan looked concerned, and immediately they knew they had to leave.
“Too late” came a female voice from the other end of the living room, adjacent to the front door. The group looked over – it was Jodie, stood next to another young girl of a similar age, holding a gun facing them. Jodie looked at her and gave the comment, “Liah, now.”
BANG.
Promised by Lydia that she’d arrive, Scott was waiting outside the entrance to the school library, keeping his eyes peeled for Maddie. Stood by his side was Theo – somebody he’d never expected to call up for a helping hand, but he couldn’t deny the effort he’d made to cement himself as part of the pack.
“Is she definitely coming?” Theo impatiently nagged. Scott understood his frustration – they’d been waiting for fifteen minutes already.
“Lydia said so” Scott responded. It wasn’t his fault. However, he knew full well that Maddie only went by her own schedule, and she was sure to be busy making her hair look pretty or something of that ilk.
“Let me be crystal clear” came Maddie’s voice as she approached from behind Scott, “This is a favour for Lydia.” Scott nodded. He was pleased to see Maddie again. He was worried considering he hadn’t heard from her in so long. She looked paler than normal, but Scott didn’t think much of it.
“Let’s get going then” she sprung to action, taking a look at the library doors, locked shut by a card reader.
“We need a…” Scot began to explain as Maddie punched the card reader, smashing it into pieces on the floor.
“…pass” Scott finished, deflated.
“Wow” Theo muttered, smirking at Maddie’s time-saving technique. Maddie led the way through the now-open doors, examining the library. Scott and Theo followed behind, on the lookout.
“I see him” Scott identified. Sat alone on the middle desk of the relatively empty library was Lawrie, his dark curls brushed out of his eyes as he read the chemistry textbook opened in front of him. Scott led the way, and took a seat opposite him. Theo sat next to Scott, while Maddie sat next to Lawrie, surrounding him.
“Err, hello?” Lawrie awkwardly greeted as three strangers perched next to him.
“Hi Lawrie, I’m Scott” Scott smiled, ensuring he came across as friendly.
“Scott McCall?” Lawrie identified. He recognised the name from Frankie’s article and attempted to run, but Maddie placed a firm hand on his shoulder.
“Don’t move an inch” she commanded, as her eyes glowed yellow.
Pushing their way into the hospital, Lydia was desperately looking for Melissa. There were a large number of people crowding around the reception desk, where Melissa was based normally, but there was no sign of her yet.
“Where do we go?” Malia asked. She was supporting Frankie, who had his arm around her, trying not to fall. He was still dripping wet, and was leaving a trail of water through the hospital.
“Through here” Lydia used her initiative. She led the way through the corridors and into the first empty patient room she saw. Malia followed, assisting Frankie onto the bed.
“What now?” Malia was impatient.
“Now we wait for Melissa” Lydia decided, concerned at the amount of water trickling from Frankie.
Just metres away, Gerard was also arriving at the hospital.
“Are you alright sir?” a nurse asked him politely.
“Yes thank you” Gerard responded, “I know exactly where I need to go.” He looked down at the floor to see a trail of water – exactly what he had hoped to find. Now it was time to capture something he’d never captured before…
The adrenalin levels were high at Deaton’s animal clinic too. It was open time, but luckily for Stiles and Isaac, Deaton was not serving a patient in that moment. He watched as the duo arrived, as if he were anticipating their arrival.
“I assume my assistance is required” Deaton noted as he saw Stiles open the door.
“Your expertise would be invaluable” Stiles responded, following Deaton into the central operations room, “Do you know of any supernatural creatures that can trickle water?”
“Water? I’ve not seen any personally, but I know many legends” Deaton explained, “The most famous is perhaps the siren, a water-based female who lures men to a wet grave with the beautiful song she sings.”
“What about a harbinger of death?” Isaac added, “Like a male banshee.”
“You sound concerned” Deaton noted, “Is there something I should know?”
“A kid in Liam’s year turned up at the site of a dead body last night, he was behaving exactly like Lydia except he’s now become a human tap and won’t stop giving out water” Stiles explained, “Any ideas?”
“I think I might know” Deaton said, opening his filing cabinet. He took out a tatty piece of paper. Isaac leaned in closer, observing the picture on it. He saw a teenage boy drawn, with long flowing hair and attractive facial features. Below him stood a large puddle, which was growing bigger and bigger with help from the streams of water pouring down his arms.
“He looks identical to Frankie” Isaac noted.
“This is called a nix. It’s a water spirit, it can summon water wherever it goes. Typically they aren’t harbingers of death but the legends aren’t totally correct” Deaton explained, “By the sounds of it, Frankie is inexperienced and has no idea how to control his abilities.”
“How do we teach him control?” Stiles eagerly asked.
“The same way you teach a werewolf control. He needs to get to grips with his abilities, learn how they work” Deaton said. Stiles and Isaac nodded, knowing exactly what they needed to do.
As she looked around the school library, Maddie couldn’t help feeling faint. The bookshelves were blurry and she couldn’t focus on what she saw. To her left, Lawrie was being grilled by Scott and Theo, but she wasn’t really paying attention.
“Have you noticed anything strange about Frankie lately?” Scott interrogated.
“Err, he’s been spending more time working on the school newsletter I guess” Lawrie wasn’t happy to be answering these questions, but he knew he had no alternative, “He worked hard on the article exposing you guys.”
“He sounds like a headcase” Theo mentioned.
“He did what he thought was right” Lawrie defended his friend.
“He should’ve thought again” Theo was giving as good as he got. He was the bad cop to Scott’s good cop.
“Alright, let’s forget about the article for now” Scott suggested, “Frankie was found distressed last night, that’s why we’re here.”
“Is he alright?” Lawrie was concerned.
“He’s fine” Scott lied. He hoped Frankie was alright, and he trusted Lydia and Malia to keep him updated. No news was good news, he assumed, “Any help you can offer would be invaluable though.”
“I’m sorry, I don’t know anything more” Lawrie regretfully said.
“It’s OK. Thank you for your time” Scott smiled. He was determined to leave a good impression, to prove he wasn’t the enemy. As he stood up to leave, Maddie collapsed to the floor with a crash. Scott immediately crouched at her side and checked her pulse.
“What’s wrong with her? Why isn’t she healing?” Theo worried.
“I don’t know. We need to get her to a hospital now” Scott said, lifting her up in her arms. Unbeknownst to Scott and Theo, somebody was watching their every move from the shadows of the bookcases. Francisco smiled, as his plan was coming to fruition.
Slowly, Nolan opened one eye. He’d heard a gunshot, and was terrified for himself. He wasn’t even able to tell if he’d been shot or not, the fear had overcome his emotions so much, and he didn’t even want to check for any injuries. Nevertheless, he plucked up the courage to glance down at himself with his one eye. No bullet wound. He was fine…for now. He opened his other eye and looked for the others. Liam stood frozen next to him, too scared to move, which was a relief – he hadn’t been hurt either. More alarming though was the sight in front of them. Lying on the floor, Becky was almost motionless. Her eyes were just about open and her chest contracted and relaxed as she struggled to breathe. In the middle of her stomach was a grotesque wound as the bullet had hit her full pelt. Normally, a werehyena of her strength could heal from a gunshot wound, but her close proximity decreased her chances massively. Cody stood next to her. He wanted to crouch down and hold her hand, but he knew he couldn’t without being shot himself.
“What did you do that for?” Liam yelled.
“You’re different. Thanks to your friend Daan, I know all about your supernatural powers Liam” Jodie spoke smugly. Liah’s hands were shaking next to her. She tried her best to look composed, but the quivering of her hands could not be disguised, no matter how hard she tried. Jodie had noticed how terrified she was and took the gun into her own possession.
“I guess I’ll have to finish this myself” she decided, priming the gun. As his survival instinct kicked in, Nolan let out the loudest roar he possibly could. His throat hurt as he used all his strength to create the loudest sound possible to throw Jodie off. He bared his eyes and fangs, allowing the suppressed wolf to shine through. Cody took this chance to run, as he, Liam and Nolan made their getaway. Jodie remained on the spot.
“Why aren’t you following them?” Liah questioned.
“We’ll catch up to them, don’t worry” Jodie arrogantly answered. She looked down at the floor as Becky’s eyes slipped shut and her chest became still, “This is just the beginning.”
“Dripping water?” Melissa was confused. Having examined Frankie’s vital signs, nothing in his body seemed out of the ordinary, but in many years of nursing, Melissa had never seen anything like this.
“I’ve stopped now though” Frankie added, “That’s good, right?” For the past few minutes, the flow of water out of his body had indeed stopped, thanks to Malia finding a heap of towels.
“Where did these towels come from?” Melissa wondered.
“I found them on your desk” Malia responded naïvely.
“I’ll be right back, I need to call the maternity ward and explain the delay in clean towels” Melissa said, standing up.
“Will I be okay?” Frankie worried, turning to Lydia. His trust in the girls was increasing – they were the only people willing to help him in that moment.
“You’ll be just fine” Lydia reassured him, “We just need to figure out what you are.” On the spot, Lydia took a deep breath. She felt light-headed and like she was no longer in the room. All she could see in her mind was one word. A name, one she recognised too.
“Becky.”
Also arriving at the hospital, Theo held the entrance doors wide open as Scott carried Maddie through, using his strength to ensure she was comfortable in his arms. While talking on the phone, Melissa saw her son arrive and without hesitation, she hung up and rushed to Scott’s aid.
“What’s up?” she asked.
“She just collapsed, she’s not healing” Scott explained fast, barely knowing what to say but ensuring Melissa knew enough to be able to help.
“Let’s get her onto a bed and check her over” Melissa sprung to action, leading the way to the same ward that Frankie was in. Melissa knew she had to keep the supernatural action contained as best as she could. However, Gerard’s keen eye didn’t miss a trick. He was still watching, and the pieces were falling into place. Francisco appeared at his side, like a puppy returning to its owner.
“It’s done” he verified.
“You worked well Francisco. Scott won’t know what’s hit him, giving us the perfect opportunity to strike” Gerard was cryptic as ever, but his plan was mapped out in perfect detail in his head. The hospital was his, and there was no way he’d allow Scott or his nix ally out alive.
|
Next: "Antidote"
|