chapter forty two
not your average book club

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WATCHING SHERIFF Stilinski cross out Tracy Stewart's face with a red marker set a pit in Odessa Stone's stomach. Solely because she knew something he didn't know about his son. And that something was tearing him apart.

After leaving Eichen House, not before getting their personal items back from the very traumatized looking man from the front desk, the McCall pack was slowly putting the pieces together as to what they were up against. And they discovered there were a lot of different parts to it.

They had to read the book.

Dr. Valack had repeated the request to Lydia and Stiles over and over again. They had to read the book. So they were going to. Was Odessa excited? Absolutely not. Don't get her wrong, she was always down for a good read. She read with Stiles whenever they were alone together. But reading a book about the people who were currently terrorizing them and Beacon Hills? A book that Dr. Valack said would 'open their minds to see the truth'? Not a very fun read if Odessa was being honest.

It had been a week since the Eichen House visit, but it had also been a week since Stiles confessed what had happened to him to his girlfriend. And things were as normal as they could be between the two. There was no awkward tension. Nothing with their dynamic had a drastic change. But if there was one thing that was off about them was how quiet they had become when they were around the pack as opposed to alone.

Carrying a secret of any kind could create tension between the knowing and unknowing, but the only people who could feel the tension in this situation were the people in the know—Odessa and Stiles. The former was simply too worried about the latter to care about adding any remarks in the pack while the latter stuck to trying to frankly keep himself together most of the time.

And now as the couple stood together in Stiles' Dad's office looking at pictures of teenage Chimera's, they were no different.

"Chimeras," Stilinski muttered to himself as he gazed at Tracy's school picture.

"Two dead Chimeras," Stiles clarified from next to his girlfriend. The two were currently behind the Sheriff as the man tried to piece the puzzle together in his own head.

Odessa broke her silence, sighing, "and eight new ones."

"So, that's 10 in all."

"I'm thinking maybe 11," Stilinski voiced as he stuck a picture of Donovan on the wall with the rest of the Chimeras. The couple behind him collectively felt their stomachs drop at the sight of the mugshot, "our station tech guys confirmed something for me... they said, both the holding cell lock and cameras could have malfunctioned because of something electromagnetic," the man picked up the copy of The Dread Doctors on his desk, "you said that, uh, these guys..."

"Dread Doctors."

The Sheriff shook his head at the blonde, "are we really calling them that?"

"So they broke Donovan out," even though Odessa knew more than she was letting on, she did not know how Donovan escaped police custody in the first place.

Stilinski shrugged, "it's how they got into Eichen, isn't it?"

As her boyfriend simply looked down from next to her, Odessa took a deep breath while gazing at Donovan's mugshot. It was show time, "Donovan's a Chimera," she moved closer to the board, next to Stilinski.

It was show time because now the Stone had to act like she didn't know a thing about what actually happened to Donovan. She wasn't going to be the one to tell the Sheriff, it had to be Stiles. Only, of course, when the boy was ready.

"Yeah," Stilinski sighed, "but... is he a failure like Lucas and Tracy?"

"If he is," Odessa heard her boyfriend's footsteps moving away from them but paid no mind, still keeping up her act, "he's probably dead."

As the blonde picked up the red marker to cross over Donovan's picture, Stilinski caught her wrist to stop her, "not until I've seen a body," the man then turned around to face his son, who had his back turned toward the two at the board, "you're uncharacteristically quiet."

Stiles turned to face his Dad and girlfriend, choking out, "yeah... sorry, I'm, uh... I'm just trying to think about it. Uh... these are all teenagers, right," he stepped closer toward the two with a firmer stature, "so, now shouldn't we be trying to figure out why these teenagers? If the Dread Doctors, if they went through all that... burying them, killing them, breaking one of them out of jail..."

"They couldn't have been chosen at random," Stilinski finished for his son.

Odessa nodded along, pride filling her chest at how smart Stiles was, "they had to have something in common."

"Something that made them right for this experiment."

Stiles tilted his head at his Father's words, adding on to them, "something that made them special."

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"My Mom's book club has more wine."

Odessa raised her brows at Lydia's remark. Though she can't get drunk, wine did sound good at the moment. Especially since the blonde was standing across from Theo, someone she found absolutely unbearable to be around.

It was later that night when the pack came together to finally read The Dread Doctors. Copies of the book were spread out around the coffee table in the living room of the McCall residence. Odessa was glad this was happening in her own house, knowing if she ever got tired or bored, she could just go to her room whenever she wanted to.

"Well, they also probably didn't read books that cause violent hallucinations," Stiles remarked from next to his girlfriend, who looked like she wanted to be doing anything else but this.

Scott nodded, moving his eyes across from him, "that's why Malia's here."

As the Tate gave her friends a small smile, Kira gave her boyfriend an uneasy glance, "so none of us go running into traffic?"

"Or worse."

"Like what happened to Judy," at her words only she could understand, Malia felt the eyes of her friends so she reiterated, "chapter 14."

Lydia picked up the actual book rather than the packet versions on the table, "maybe I should have my Mother read it. She might remember a girl with a tail leaping off the ceiling and attacking everyone."

Odessa cocked a brow, pessimism in her tone, "if it works."

"It has to."

The Martin's wary tone caught everyone's attention as the Alpha questioned, "what's that mean?"

"I think I saw them during my surgery," Lydia, almost hesitantly revealed, causing eyes to widen around her. Odessa felt her heart become heavy in her chest, the protective nature she felt for Lydia instantly climbing to new heights, "when I look at the cover of the book... it's almost like..."

Theo nodded, breaking his silence, "a memory trying to resurface."

"Yeah."

"Isn't that what Valack wanted when he wrote it," Kira questioned.

"If they did something to me, I want to know what it is," with that last statement, Lydia traveled to one of the couches in the room to start reading, her friends following in tow with the packets of the book in hand.

The pack spread out around the living room accordingly. Scott and Kira took one of the couches, Theo and Lydia took the other, Malia took her place in the kitchen to do homework and Stiles claimed the cushioned chair with Odessa sitting on the floor between his legs. She didn't mind sitting on the floor, no matter how many times Stiles offered to switch spots with her. She had a feeling she was going to have a hard time reading this book whether she was sitting on the floor or not.

Opening the first page of the paper clipped packet, Odessa leaned her head on Stiles' pant covered leg and tried to keep her full attention on the small printed words in front of her.

Time ticked by. Very, very slowly.

The Ember Wolf had to admit to being proud of herself as she started chapter 10 on her own. Usually when she read, it was with Stiles, alone, and they were reading something they were both interested in. Although she was making progress, Odessa was starting to grow more tired and, quite frankly, a bit bored as time went on. She also couldn't take the silence of the room, it was driving her crazy. The only noise anyone made was the sound of them turning to the next page.

With her legs stretched in front of her to make sure they didn't fall asleep, Odessa sighed heavily as she dug her forehead into her boyfriend's leg, dropping the packet into her lap.

It seemed she wasn't the only one noticeably over reading as Scott glanced around the room, "anyone feel anything yet?"

"Tired."

"Hungry."

"Annoyed," Odessa chimed in after Kira and Lydia, playing with Stiles' shoelace mindlessly.

Theo chuckled shortly, "I think he meant the book."

"I think he meant the book," Odessa couldn't help but mock under her breath with a high pitch, not caring that everyone in the room with advanced hearing could hear her. The blonde then looked up at Stiles, her voice at a normal volume, "I need coffee. Come with me."

Whether it was a question or a request, Stiles didn't know, but he nodded as an answer anyway. The boy waited for Odessa to get up so he could before walking into the kitchen with her, seeing Malia already pouring cups of coffee in advance for anyone who needed it.

The Stone rubbed her boyfriend's shoulder as he sat on one of the chairs at the kitchen table, her arm around his shoulder from above him.

"What did you do to your shoulder," Malia asked as she eyed Odessa's hand that was slightly rubbing Stiles' shoulder. Even though the blonde took the majority of the pain a week before, there was still a slight ache that was always bothering him.

The Stilinski sat up straighter in his seat, "what are you talking about?"

"I can smell the blood," Malia explained, glancing between the two, "what happened?"

"Jeep died on me again. I went to check the engine, the hood fell on it."

Though the Tate was secretly listening to his heartbeat during his explanation, her eyes went to Odessa, who nodded in confirmation of the story, giving Malia a small smile while taking a sip of her coffee.

"So, Mal," Odessa started to change the subject and get the attention off of Stiles, which the boy silently appreciated, "how much do you remember anyway? With the accident, did it play like a movie in your head or was it like being completely in it again?"

Malia only took a few moments to respond, nodding firmly, "in it."

"Was it just the crash? Nothing else?"

At Stiles' question, it seemed Malia wanted to say more, but only answered with a short, "nothing."

No matter how much coffee she sipped, Odessa Stone's eyes drooped to no end. After another 2 hours of reading, or trying to, the whole pack was knocked out. Scott, Lydia and Malia were downstairs while Kira took Scott's bed and Odessa and Stiles went up to her room for the night.

The couple changed into their pajamas, Stiles having a small drawer full of his clothes he kept for when he slept over, before climbing into bed, arms around each other like they usually were.

As the McCall pack slept peacefully, they neglected to see Theo Raeken get up from his position and make his way upstairs, phone in hand. And the pack also neglected to see him bring his phone up to Kira's face as he recorded her speaking in Japanese in her sleep.

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Odessa woke up with her head on her boyfriend's chest with caution. She had no idea how the hallucinations, or memories, worked and she was starting to regret actually finishing the book.

The blonde was also worried about what her memory or hallucination would entail. Would it be her time in the Salvation? What more could she remember when she already knew of her extensive abuse she received while there? She was just glad she wasn't alone in worrying.

The next day, the two couples of the McCall pack bursted through the doors of Beacon Hills High, though school was the last thing on their minds.

"What if we need some kind of trigger," Scott theorized as they all walked down the main hallway, "wasn't Malia driving when she remembered the crash?"

Stiles shrugged with his hand enclosed with Odessa's, "yeah, but how are we supposed to trigger a memory that we don't remember?"

"Maybe it's a delayed thing," the Ember Wolf pursed her lips. This talk of lost memory hit a little too close to him for her, "I didn't start getting my memories back until, like, two weeks of being here and they were all dreams. Maybe we all have to wait a couple of hours to see what happens."

The four stopped in their tracks as the lights above them flickered for a moment before turning back to normal. Scott, Stiles and Odessa couldn't help but turn to look at Kira, who was looking at them with wide eyes, knowing what they were accusing her of.

"That wasn't me," the kitsune glanced between the three, "I swear."

Scott sighed, "we keep an eye on each other today, okay?"

Odessa nodded her own head, squeezing her boyfriend's hand as he spoke, "yes, and keep an eye out for either other potentially homicidal Chimeras."

"And keep an eye out for the Dread Doctors," Kira reminded before her and Scott started on their way to their first period, AP Bio.

Stiles and Odessa watched them go as the former called after them, "starting to see the appeal of a third eye."

The Stone snorted at his comment before tugging him along to their first period, English, "come on, babe. We have that discussion due today and I can't wait to show all the smart kids I actually know something!"

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Needless to say, the hallucinations hit the pack sooner than they thought. First, Lydia had hers that resulted in her fainting in the hallway. Then, Scott had an asthma attack in his first period due to his. Odessa made a mental note to herself to ask Melissa for one of the extra inhalers for her to keep in case she needed to help Scott if it ever happened again. Thankfully, Liam helped Scott through it and Lydia's Mom made sure she was all right after her hallucination.

That brought Odessa to where she was now, outside of Beacon Hills Memorial. She tagged along with Stiles and Lydia to help the latter try to figure out something that had to do with her seeing the Dread Doctors during her surgery.

"Okay, what are we doing here if you've already had your suppressed memory?"

"It wasn't the right memory," Lydia countered to Stiles as the three teens started their walk toward the hospital, "I remembered my grandmother at Eichen House. There was nothing to do with the surgery, nothing to do with the Dread Doctors. So, if I've read the book, why don't I have the full memory of my experience with them?"

Odessa glanced at her boyfriend at her words, brows furrowing, "well, we're not supposed to know that, are we?"

"No, something," Lydia trailed, coming to a stop, "happened during the surgery. But now I think that maybe it has more to do with me being a Banshee," her words started to resonate through the other teen's minds, coming to understand what she was getting at, "it's not my memory, guys. It's someone else's."

With the help of Melissa, the three teens entered the room where Lydia's surgery took place with no issue. Stiles opened the door to the room, only to walk into complete darkness. The only light in the entire room was a light gleaming down on the patient bed and an emergency light above one of the exits of the room.

"Hey, babe," Odessa called quietly, the silence intimidating her a bit, "can you turn the lights on."

Stiles nodded before going to the light switch on the wall and flipping the switch, only for nothing to happen, "uh, not going on."

Lydia sighed, walking around the room, "ask someone."

"Hey, I thought this was more of an auditory thing."

"I still wanna see what I'm hearing."

At the Martin's answer, Stiles looked to his girlfriend to make sure she was okay with him leaving, to which she nodded in response. Sometimes Odessa thinks he forgets she's a werewolf who can defend herself. She still appreciated his concern nonetheless. After seeing her nod faintly through the darkness of the room, he left down the hall.

Odessa kept her distance from her friend, wanting to give her space to concentrate. The blonde wrung her hands from behind her back as she started to grow antsy with the silence around her. As she looked around the dark room to the best of her ability, faint whispering caught her attention. The girl shook it off, passing the voices as a conversation from one of the other rooms in the building that she had no business hearing. It was only when the whispering turned into full voices did Odessa have no choice but to listen.

"But, momma, I want to play with you!"

"Odessa, honey, we can't play right now. It's time for bed."

The sound of her name made her heart drop to her stomach. The woman's voice who spoke her name wasn't recognizable to her. She had to investigate. Something was telling her to follow the woman's voice. So she did.

"Hey, Lyds, I'm gonna go see where Stiles is," the Stone rushed, hand already on the door handle, "I'll be right back."

Without waiting to hear a response from her friend, Odessa was out the door and ventured out into the hallway, anticipating another echo of the woman's voice.

"Good night, baby. I love you."

"I love you, too, momma."

The little girl's screams and pleads for her parents grew louder in her ears as the soft words turned into screams. Odessa clamped her hands over her ears at the loud screams that were echoing through her head as she walked purposely down an abandoned hallway.

She soon found herself in a dark forest. Odessa swallowed thickly at the change of scenery but didn't dwell on it for too long. Her converse covered feet crunched the dry leaves below her as she followed the echoing girlish screams bellowing through the trees. Continuing forward, Odessa stumbled upon a plethora of tents scattered around a log fire that was burnt out.

With the bad feeling in her stomach starting to grow, she approached the camp site only to stop at a struggle up ahead. People in all black clothing were carrying off a little blonde girl, who seemed to be struggling against their restrained hold on her. The little girl tried to scream, but had a hand covering her mouth to restrict her from doing so. With tears welling up in her eyes, Odessa willed herself to move closer when the captors and the little girl were out of sight. Approaching the tent where the little girl was taken from, the Stone dreaded the silence that came with it. There was no sound of someone's breathing or talking coming from the tent. Just silence.

Heaving a dry sob from her lips, Odessa crouched down at the opening of the tent to gaze down at her parent's dead bodies. She could recognize them from anywhere with all the pictures she was provided with from Satomi. Their eyes were glazed open and her chests were not moving with blood everywhere. They were gone—and so was the younger version of herself.

With a heavy heart and damp cheeks, Odessa got up from her position and turned around, only to find herself back in the hospital. The blonde furrowed her brows in confusion as to how she got there but that quickly faded at the sound of voices—familiar voices.

It seemed Odessa was on an awning of some kind attached to the hospital, meaning she could see what was happening on one of the lower rooftops. Following the voices that weren't in her head this time, she looked down to see Stiles and Theo with each other on the roof below with someone she didn't recognize on the ground, unmoving.

She listened closely to her boyfriend's heart beat, only to hear it getting faster and faster. She knew she had to go down there. And it took her boyfriend to launch at Theo for her to hurry to him.

Her hallucination and the damage it caused now gone from her mind.

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omg another cliffhanger! love it!
we're so close to the end of 5a it's crazy
also, just a general note for the people who follow my tiktok: i write happy endings <3 comment & vote babes