The whole audience leaves the lacrosse field quite quickly. Mason informs me that he's going to head home and we'll definitely have to talk about all of this when we see each other again. I have to sit alone in the soon to be empty bleachers as I impatiently wait for any news. Luckily, I soon get a text from Scott, but roll my eyes as I look at his name on the screen, remembering that he'd changed it a few nights before.

From: Scott the Hot 🐺
Inside the school. Near the boy's locker rooms

I get up right away, hurrying to get inside the school. I find him in a hallway that's filled with people from the police department, making me slightly intimidated. I stop short though when I notice that Scott's dad is standing in front of my cousin. I begin stepping away to hide in the shadows, but unfortunately, I am called out.

"Riley," a deep voice says.

I scrunch my face up, mentally cursing myself from being found. I then put on a small smile and turn around, gracefully walking towards Scott and his dad.

"Mr. McCall," I say stiffly. It's been a long time since I've seen him and I'm unsure whether calling him 'uncle' is even appropriate. After all, I'm technically not even related to him. It's Aunt Melissa I'm really related to.

Scott's dad chuckles a bit at my use of words. "It's good to see you again, Riley."

"You too."

"You've grown," he says, smiling.

I nod and stand awkwardly to the side, none of us speaking again. As I wait for someone to talk, Violet comes from around the corner, her hands held to the back by some officer. I can't read his name tag from here, so I open my mouth to ask Scott but it's not needed as Violet speaks.

"Jordan Parrish?" she questions, looking at the man's name tag. Upon hearing her voice, Scott looks around to watch her.

"Deputy Parrish," he corrects Violet, forcing her to keep walking.

When she passes by, she obviously makes eye contact with my cousin, sending him a small smirk. It creeps me out slightly, but it doesn't seem to faze Scott in the slightest. As she and Deputy Parrish leave, Sheriff Stilinski arrives.

"Sheriff," says Mr. McCall, starting at the item inside a plastic ziplock that the Sherrif holds. "What is that? Is that the weapon?"

"Yeah," Sheriff Stilinski replies, turning the weapon over in his hands. "A thermo-cut wire."

The two adults exchange glances and Mr. McCall soon looks away. "Parrish," he suddenly calls out, walking to where they passed by. "Hold up." Sheriff Stilinski walks behind him, leaving Scott and I alone.

"Are you alright? Are you hurt or something?" I question him.

"No, no, I'm fine." I hear someone's footsteps behind me, and they turn out to be Liam's.

"Where's Kira?" Scott asks as his Beta makes his way over to us.

"She took off," he answers. "Stiles told her about Lydia cracking the second part of the dead pool."

"Her mom's on it..."

"Everyone's on it."

"You're not," Scott interrupts.

"Not yet," Liam says with his eyebrows raised.

"There's still another part, right?" I ask anxiously and they simply nod their heads at me. The two suddenly become quiet. I don't understand at first, but I soon realize that they're listening in on an interrogation with Violet. Their voices are faint and unlike Scott and Liam, I don't have super senses. I try my best to hear what they're talking about, but I can only catch bird of it.

"I don't know what you're talking about..." a voice, most probably Violet's, says.

More mumbles and murmurs come. Damn, I wish I could fully hear what's happening.

"Oh that's right..." I think Mr. McCall says this time. "You don't have any..."

Silence.

"We need to find that boyfriend, Garrett."

At the mention of his name, all three of us share a look.

"Coach," a louder voice says. Sheriff Stilinski. "I'm gonna need both their locker numbers..."

"Okay," Scott calls our attention, sounding serious. "Here's what we're gonna do. Once the Sheriff, my dad, and the rest of the department leave, I'm gonna open Garrett's locker in the changing rooms."

"How exactly are you gonna do that?" I question, knowing he couldn't know his locker combination.

"Wolf powers," Scott says. "Duh."

I roll my eyes at his answer, not able to say anything else.

"So what're we gonna do?" Liam asks.

"You'll watch out for me. Tell me if anyone is coming or you hear or see anything unusual, alright?"

"Got it."

And so, we wait patiently for the entire police department in the school to leave. I can't be the one to tell for sure if they're gone, so I wait for either Scott or Liam to confirm it. A few minutes later, Scott tells us that it's clear and we can head off now. We quietly go to the changing area for the boys which I don't really want to be in. Liam and I do as we are told and stand by the entrance.

"Stand guard, okay?" my cousin repeats, looking at me as he says it.

"I heard you the first time, Scott," I hiss as he walks over to a locker.

From time to time, both Liam and I nervously look over at Scott then back to the hall to keep watch. Scott finally opens the locker forcefully using his powers, causing a slightly loud sound to echo around this changing room.

"Do you hear that?" Liam asks me quietly after a while. I strain my ears but hear no sound aside from the previous one Scott caused by opening the locker door.

"No..." Although I don't hear anything, I do see some shadows quite far away, but nevertheless we have to warn Scott. "Wait, I see something."

"I think someone's coming," Liam quickly tells Scott who's still scanning the locker.

"You have to hurry," I add. By now, I can hear the faint sound of people talking as they approach.

"You find anything?" asks Liam as shuffling sounds and movements come from where Scott is.

"No," he replies. I furrow my eyebrows. Surely there must be at least one thing that's odd... "Nothing."

"We should go now," Liam suddenly says.

"Right," Scott agrees, finally shutting Garrett's locker close and taking out a red duffel bag.

"What's that?" I question as my cousin walks over to us.

"Uh, just gonna check it over just in case."

"Oh, okay." I shrug.

"Look, I'm gonna take both of you home now, okay? You're neighbors, right?"

"Yep," I reply quietly as the three of us hurry out of the locker area and into the hallway.

"Okay, good. Let's go."

"Scott, how exactly are you gonna drive us back?" I ask, knowing he has a motorcycle but three people can't possibly fit there.

"Stiles is actually waiting outside." Of course he is.

I don't respond anymore and stay as silent as possible while we run out of the main part of the school, exiting through the front doors and walking out to the parking lot full of buses. Sure enough, Stiles' jeep is parked on the side. We make our way over to the jeep, Scott instantly heading to the passenger's seat so both Liam and I go to the back. Honestly, this makes me feel like we're the kids among them.

"Hey," Stiles greets us all as we settle in.

"Hi."

"Uh, drop them off by Riley's house first. They live next to each other anyways," Scott tells his best friend; he simply nods and gets the engine running, then we drive away from Beacon Hills High School.

The ride back home is short but silent. I feel like we're all replaying the events of tonight and pondering on it. My mind also keeps going back to the red duffel bag owned by Garrett, so I can't help but keep glancing at it. If Scott didn't find anything in it or in the locker earlier, will he find something inside later on? A clue to something bigger, maybe?

Finally, Stiles pulls up in front of my familiar driveway. I straighten up in my seat, ready to get out.

"See ya Riles, Liam," Scott smiles faintly at the two of us sitting in the back. Stiles merely waves at us.

"Bye guys. Thanks for the ride, Stiles," I say before unlocking the door and stepping out of the jeep. Liam does the same on the other side, having to walk around the car to stand by me on the sidewalk. Once he's next to me, Scott and Stiles drive away.

"Tonight was... a long one," I say, walking side by side with Liam, both of us approaching our front doors.

"It was," he agrees, looking down at the ground. "I just hope everything turns our fine in the end."

Remembering something I read before, I tell him, "Everything will be okay in the end. If it's not, the it isn't the end."

Liam smiles thoughtfully, halting in front of his door just as I do that as well. "Did you just come up with that?"

I smile sheepishly, shifting my weight from one foot to the other. "Well, I actually read that somewhere on Twitter I think..." I admit.

Liam scoffs. "And here I was thinking that you made that quote."

"At least I remembered the quote," I attempt to defend myself but fail.

"Alright, I'll let it pass," he chuckles.

After a pause, I say, "Well, good night. My parents will probably be wondering what happened at the game."

"Same," he nods. "Goodnight, Riley Bales."

"Goodnight, Liam Dunbar."

I send him one last grin then unlock my door, stepping inside and awaiting the long interrogation I will be receiving from my parents about the lacrosse scrimmage and the events that went with it.

→ → →

My parents were pretty worried about me after hearing me recount as much details regarding the scrimmage as I could. I left out the ones that shouldn't be said but tried to fill them in on enough.

The next day felt... weird. The day goes by normally, but Garrett is missing. That causes a buzz around the school, specifically among the freshmen, the people in my year. Mason is especially baffled at everything from Violet being an assassin to Garrett being one as well and is now missing in action.

Sometime in the afternoon, Mason, Liam, and I head to the locker rooms to get changed separately. I finally have cheerleading practice and the two boys are out for gym class; today, they'll be running.

"It's just that, we were actually friends with them," Mason rants.

"I know," I sigh, turning to the next hall.

"It makes me feel... uneasy."

"Same," Liam agrees.

"They just seemed so causal and normal, you know?"

We stop our conversation right there when we finally arrive at the locker area.

"Well, I'll see you all later. Or tomorrow," I bid them goodbye.

"Alright, bye Riley," Mason says, heading inside to his respective room first.

Without any words, Liam and I do a handshake that consists of high-fives, claps, and the usual. We created this a few days back during lunch when the topic came up. By the time we finish, I grin and he simply chuckles.

"Okay, see you soon," he waves, stepping back.

When he walks away, I do the same in a separate direction, taking my time, knowing I would have some time before my actual training begins. Besides, the coaches and team members don't care much, to be honest. It was slightly disappointing, but oh well.

"Hi Riley," Lacey greets me upon entering.

"Hey Lacey," I smile at my friend, setting my bag down as she already ties her shoelaces with her foot propped up on the bench.

"I heard coach saying we'll be going over the routine today," says Lacey. "Honestly, I think she's being too relaxed at the moment."

"I agree." I nod, unlocking my locker and taking out a few things. "With a competition so near, we need to be serious."

"It's not like Beacon Hills High even cares about highs school cheer," the blonde rolls her eyes while applying a light shade of lipgloss.

Although I agree on that as well, I change the subject and chuckle at my friend. "Really? Lip gloss?"

"What? I need to look good even when we're at practice," she shrugs.

I drop the topic and continue getting changed into something more appropriate for training. Once I've been fully dressed into the proper attire, Lacey and I head to the gymnasium that is rarely used here at this high school; if it wasn't obvious, this school tends to use the field outside more.

Sure enough, our coach tells us do our routine. We begin with the usual, from warming up to drills, then she orders us to go over the whole routine before slowly making us do each section fully. Once she gives the whole team a water break, we are all relieved and trudge back to the bleachers where we've placed our bags.

"That was the longest I've gone without drinking water," a sophomore named Karen comments.

While a few others agree and talk about it with her, I frown confusedly when I look at my phone and see a few messages from Mason. I furrow my eyebrows even more when I notice that even Scott has left a few texts. It seems causal at first, then becomes more urgent. I quickly unlock my phone and scan my messages, heart racing slightly.

From: Mason 😎
have u seen Liam? we were running and he's suddenly gone
12:18 PM

From: Mason 😎
Has Liam texted you or?? Idk if he's gone to class or not
12:30 PM

From: Scott the Hot 🐺
your friend Mason told me about Liam. have you seen him?
12:51 PM

From: Scott the Hot🐺
I think this has something to do with Garrett...
12:52

From: Scott the Hot 🐺
call me when you get this!
1:00 PM

From: Mason 😎
I'm with your cousin now & we're gonna go see Finstock
1:02 PM

"Okay girls, back to work! We've got just a little time left!" Coach says loudly. I have to read in an even faster pace to finish looking through all these texts and then send only one to each boy back.

To: Scott the Hot 🐺
I'm almost done with practice. Call u soon

To: Mason 😎
I'll be there in a while

Thank God for autocorrect or else those boys wouldn't understand my message for them due to my rushed typing. Some girls are already walking back and some fix their things before doing the same. I sigh and shove my phone back into my bag, planning to escape right before practice officially ends.