Chapter Four
EDITED
"So, the Walcott's were the first. At least the first that we know about." Stiles started, taping photos to the board in front of him with red tape. "Four murders. Sean, his brother, and their parents. They were killed by a professional assassin called The Mute. Weapon of choice, a military tomahawk. But then The Mute was killed by Peter Hale after he tried to blow up Derek with a Claymore mine. Next was Demarco. He delivered a keg to the party at Lydia's lake house. And got decapitated outside his car." Stiles said, Isabelle watched as Stiles glided his hand to secure the tape.
"It's a deadpool." Isabelle said as Scott unfolded a piece of paper with names and numbers on it.
SEAN WALCOTT 250
DAVID WALCOTT 250
MICHAEL WALCOTT 250
CHRISTINA WALCOTT 250
LYDIA MARTIN 20
SCOTT MCCALL 25
DEMARCO MONTANA 250
DEREK HALE 15
CARRIE HUDSON 500
KAYLEEN BETTCHER 250
KIRA YUKIMURA 6
ELIAS TOWN 250
"A hit list of supernatural creatures. This is only part of it. The rest is to be decoded." Scott said.
"Who found this list?" Sheriff Stilinski asked, reading through the names.
"Lydia." Isabelle answered, tapping her fingers on the desk, trying to fidget to keep herself busy. Stiles noticed and offered his hand to her, the girl smiled graciously and played with the older boy's fingers.
"How?"
"She wrote it." Stiles said, looking from the girl to his father, "Actually she transcribed it without realizing it."
"Banshee?" Sheriff asked.
"Banshee." Stiles replied, with a nod.
"Perhaps Banshee will be our always." Isabelle jokes, making Stiles roll his eyes and retract his hand.
"Beautiful." the sheriff says, "All right. What are these numbers next to their names?"
"We're getting to that. First, you need to know that the code was broken with a cipher key." Stiles said.
"Wait, you mean, like a... like a keyword?"
"It's actually a name." Stiles said.
"Allison." Scott finished.
"Her name broke a third of the list." Isabelle said, gesturing to the sheet of paper.
"And now we think there's two other chipper keys." Scott said.
"Which will give us the rest of the names. Okay. So how do we get the cipher keys?" Stilinski asked.
"Lydia. She's been out at the lake house all weekend trying to find the other two keywords."
Isabelle's mind wandered to the day before, she sat on the floor beside Lydia as they watched a record spin on the record player, no sound coming from it besides static. Lydia's lips trembled slightly as she lifted the needle from the record. The younger girl looked at Kira and Malia who sat behind her before the two stood up land walked closer. Isabelle grabbed Lydia's hand as Kira lifted the needle from the record and pushed it aside.
"You didn't know about Demarco or Carrie. Hmm?" Sheriff asked, looking at the trio in front of him. "And what about these other two names on the list? Uh, Kayleen Bettcher and Elias Town. They werewolves too?" The sheriff questioned, locking eyes with Scott.
"I don't know. But Deaton said that the Nemeton would draw supernatural creatures here." Scott replied.
"Here being Beacon Hills? Or Beacon County? The population of Beacon Hills is just under 30,000."
"And dropping...." Stiles added, getting a look from his father.
"He's not wrong." Isabelle commented, sticking up for Stiles.
"But if we're talking Beacon County, then you're looking at close to 500,000. Look, how many werewolves, banshees, kitsunes and whatever the hell else is out there are we talking about? And what if the next cipher key uncovers not twelve names but a hundred?" Stilinski asks.
"We don't think there would be that many. There's a limit" Stiles said.
"Because of the numbers. We think that once we decode the names, the numbers will add up to
A hundred and seventeen." Isabelle spoke up.
"A hundred and seventeen what?"
"Million" Scott answered. Isabelle grabbed the paper and a pen from the desk.
SEAN WALCOTT 250 K
DAVID WALCOTT 250 K
MICHAEL WALCOTT 250 K
CHRISTINA WALCOTT 250 K
LYDIA MARTIN 20 M
SCOTT MCCALL 25 M
DEMARCO MONTANA 250 K
DEREK HALE 15 M
CARRIE HUDSON 500 K
KAYLEEN BETTCHER 250 K
KIRA YUKIMURA 6 M
ELIAS TOWN 250 K
"A hundred and seventeen million dollars, Dad." Stiles said as Isabelle turned the paper back to the Sheriff. "Stolen from the Hale vault and is being used by someone to finance all these murders."
"Someone who wants every supernatural in Beacon Hills dead."
"So the coded list goes out. And somehow these professional assassins get that list."
"And a cipher key." Stiles interjected.
"And then they go after the names on the list. They being killers with no mouths, tomahawks, thermo-cut wires that can take your head off."
"Let me see. Carrie was also stabbed." Stiles spoke, shuffling through the photos on the desk. His fingers grazed the image of a gash, "What's this mark?"
"We're not sure yet. We're still waiting on the ME's report." Sheriff Stilinski spoke, looking at the photo, "There's one other thing I don't get. How did this new assassin know that Demarco was going to be at the lake house?"
"Everyone knows he delivers kegs to teenagers for a little extra cash." Isabelle said, Scott nodding in agreement.
"Ah," Stilinski spoke, squinting at the girl, "So whoever ordered that keg killed Demarco."
"Yeah, it was someone at the party." Stiles spoke.
"A student." Scott said.
Mason and Liam were in the weight room, Mason lifted his smaller weights, warming up as he watched his best friend push much more weight. Mason was slightly worried about both his best friends, he was used to Isabelle taking off and being dodgy, but not Liam. Liam told Mason every thought that entered his head, whether it was a conspiracy about aliens or if it was about his most embarrassing moment.
"You know how I keep reminding Garrett to give
me my hoodie back?" Mason asks, lifting his weights.
"Yeah?" Liam replies, getting up from his bench to add more weight to his bar.
"Well, I remembered you said he lived in that housing development on Spaulding. So I went there and guess what? The housing development is still in development."
"So?" Liam asked, situating himself under the bar.
"There are no houses yet. So unless the dude lives in some backhoe, there's something he's not telling us." Mason spoke, watching as Liam began to lift the large amount of weight, "And then there's this other dude, man, he's... He's been acting really strange. Running to school for no reason. Disappearing at parties. Used to be my best friend. He's also checking out my other best friend who seems to be doing the same thing, disappearing all the time, never really around anymore." Mason ranted.
"Uh-huh." Liam replied after adding two forty five pounds to lift.
"And he was apparently on steroids." Mason said.
"What?" Liam asked, finally paying attention, he turned his head to his friend.
"You're not actually going to try to lift that, are you?" Mason questioned, resulting in Liam sitting up and turning his head to the weights behind him in confusion.Are you all right? I mean, is it about the game tonight?"
"I'm fine. It's just a scrimmage." Liam said, looking down.
"You know who you're playing, right?"
"Yeah, I mean, no, I guess I missed the announcement."
"Liam, it's your old school. Devenford Prep."
Liam tossed his gym bag onto the bench in front of him, letting out a breath as he did so. He looked into the locker where his lacrosse equipment should've been, but it wasn't.
"What the hell?" The boy wondered out loud before banging his hand against the wired locker. He looked around, "Where's my stick?"
Just then the door opened and Liam heard a scraping noise. He walked away from his locker to follow the noise, meeting a slightly older man. Derek Hale examined the lacrosse stick in his hand, "Is this yours?" He asked, innocently, or as innocently as Derek Hale could. The boy said nothing, so the man broke the stick in half. Liam jumped back slightly, the man tossed the broken stick onto the floor.
Liam's eyes turned yellow and he began breathing heavily, he looked up at the stranger in front of him. Liam snarled, making Derek raise his eyebrows in amusement. Liam charged towards Derek, but Derek was quick to grab the boy and shove him against a locker by his throat.
"Liam," A voice called, Scott and Isabelle appearing. Liam locked eyes with Isabelle, his eyes returning to their normal color, his breathing was still heavy.
"You were right," Derek spoke, looking at the young girl. "He is angry." Liam grunted, Derek released the grip he had.
Isabelle grabbed the lacrosse stick from her behind her brother's back, "This one's yours." She said as she tossed it to him. The bell rang, signaling the end of the period.
"Get to class, both of you." Scott said. Isabelle nodded, grabbing a hold of Liam's hand to drag him out of the locker room.
"Are you even allowed to be here?" Derek asked the girl as she walked away.
"I'm not allowed to do most things that I do." She called back, waving goodbye to the two. "Bye, Der-Bear." he asked
Isabelle, Kira, Scott and Stiles stood in Coach's office, taking every lacrosse stick they could come across.
"This... This is pointless. Most of the team plays with their own gear." Scott said, adding more sticks to the pile. Isabelle rolled her eyes at Scott's comment.
"Maybe instead of trying to find a lacrosse stick with a hidden dagger in it we should try to get the game cancelled." Kira suggested, sadly. It would be her first game and Isabelle knew there were a few reasons to be nervous to play.
"The game's the best way to catch him red-handed." Scott said, locking eyes with Kira.
"But what if he's red-handed 'cause his hands are covered in the blood of the person that he just stabbed to death?" Isabelle asked.
"Which, by the way, could be either of you guys." Stiles added, pointing to Scott and Kira.
"Or Liam." Isabelle said, looking at her brother as she dropped another lacrosse stick into the pile. "I'm just saying, we don't know who could be on the next two lists."
"We don't know anything about that list." Stiles spoke, making the younger girl look at him. "How it's made. How it's updated. I mean who's been out taking a supernatural census anyway?"
"How do they even know about me?" Kira asks, Isabelle glanced at the other girl, seeing a worried expression on her face.
"They know everyone." Scott says, causing Stiles to sigh.
"I think Kira's right. I think we should stop the game." Stiles says, much to Isabelle's surprise.
"I'm not afraid." Scott said.
"Neither am I."
"Well, I'm terrified. And I'm not even on the list." Stiles exclaimed, "Guys, these are professional killers. It's their profession. One of them has got a thermo-cut wire that cuts heads off. Who knows what else they have?"
"Scott," Isabelle chokes out, "I know you're the big and mighty true alpha, but you can still get hurt. A-and after Allison... Scott, I can't lose you too." Isabelle felt the lump form in her throat. She hated crying, especially in front of people. She had gone through so much with the pack, more than a fifteen year old should, and she still managed to seem so strong. She did it so that they wouldn't worry. But she was just a kid at the end of they day.
"Izzy," Scott pauses, walking closer to his sister and hugging her. "I'll be fine. I always am."
"Liam, wait. What, no, no, no, no. Liam." Mason called out. Isabelle, Scott, and Stiles were in hearing distance and all looked up.
"Oh no," Isabelle muttered, running to Liam.
"Brett!" Liam called.
"Oh here we go," Mason said to himself as Isabelle rushed past him.
"Liam!" Isabelle called out, gaining the boy's attention. "I just wanted to say, have a good game." Liam stuck out his hand to shake Brett's. The boys from Devenford Prep laughed at that action.
"That's cute, Liam. Is that what they told you to say in anger management? Apologize and everything's fine? You demolished Coach's car."
"I paid for it." Liam said angrily.
"Yeah, you're going to pay for it. We're gonna break you in half out there and it's going to be all your fault."
Isabelle noticed blood dripping from Liam's clenched fist and touched his wrist lightly. Isabelle heard footsteps behind her, knowing it was her brother and best friend. She helped Scott drag the younger boy away as Stiles tried to speak to the other team.
"Hey, what's going on prep students? Welcome to our little public high school. How you doing? That's a firm handshake you got there. Uh, we're very excited for scrimmage tonight. Uh, but Let's keep it clean, all right? No rough stuff out there. Alright, see you on the field. Go."
The four rushed off, leaving a very confused Mason.
"Okay you calm yet?" Stiles shouted over the shower that Liam was currently under. Liam roared in response to the question, making Scott and Stiles push him back.
"Does it look like he's calm?" Isabelle exclaimed, gesturing to the boy. Liam's eyes met Isabelle and he calmed down almost instantly.
"Okay! Okay!" Liam panted. Scott and Stiles let him go and shut off the water, Liam slid his back against the wall. Isabelle watched in amusement as Stiles struggled to catch his breath.
"That car you smashed, I thought you said it was your teachers?" Scott spoke.
"He was also my coach." Liam began, looking from the girl to her brother. "He benched for the entire season."
"What did you do?" Isabelle asked as she walked closer to Liam.
"I got a couple of red cards."
"Just a couple?" Stiles asked, raising an eyebrow skeptically.
"You gotta be honest with us. What else happened?" Scott asked, lowering to Liam's level.
"Nothing," Liam lied. He looked at Isabelle who held his gaze with soft eyes, "I got kicked out of school. They sent me to a psychologist for evaluation."
"What did they call it?" Isabelle asked.
"Intermittent Explosive Disorder."
"I.E.D? You're literally an I.E.D? That's great. That's great. You gave powers to a walking time bomb." Stiles exclaimed, giving Scott a sarcastic thumbs up.
"You're an ass." Isabelle said to her friend with a stern glare on his face.
"Did they give you anything for it?" Scott asks, ignoring his friend.
"Risperdal. It's an antipsychotic."
"Oh, this just gets better." Stiles says.
"Shut up, Stiles." Isabelle snapped, Stiles rolled his eyes.
"But I don't take it."
"Obviously." Stiles said.
"I can't play lacrosse on it, it makes me too tired."
"Okay, I think you should bail out of the game. Tell Coach your leg is still hurting." Scott suggests.
"No, no! I can do this, especially if you and Isabelle are there." Liam said, making Stiles groan and run his hands over his face.
"But, Liam, it's not about the game. We think whoever killed Demarco might be on our team." Scott said.
"Who's Demarco?" Liam asked.
"The one who brought the beer to the party. The guy who was beheaded. Remember?" Stiles explained.
"We think the person who ordered the keg," Scott looked at Liam who was looking around nervously, "Liam," Scott called, the three looked at the younger boy who sat quietly. "What, you know something?"
"I don't know who ordered the keg, but I know who paid for it."
Isabelle stood with Mason and Liam at the game. She couldn't pay much attention to anything or anyone besides the shirtless boy from the other team.
"I don't care if he's a foot taller than me, I can take him." Liam said, looking from the boy to his two friends.
"Yeah." Mason said simply, barely able to keep his eyes off the boy.
"What do you think you're doing?" Liam asked the two, looking at Isabelle with a pointed look.
"What? Us?" Isabelle scoffs, looking from Liam to Brett then back to Liam.
"Agreeing with you. We're being agreeable." Mason said, Liam nodded, not believing his friend.
"You think he's hot, don't you?" Liam asked to two.
"No! No! No way. Maybe. Yeah, maybe a little." Mason jumped.
"Unlike Mason I have no reason to lie, the dude is so hot." Isabelle shrugged, looking at the beta. He glared at her, "I'm not even sorry."
"He wants to destroy me." Liam reminded the two. Isabelle shrugged once agin.
"I think you could definitely take him." Mason said.
"And then, give him to us." Isabelle said, smirking at the boy in green. Liam looked at Mason angrily, a small pout forming on his lips.
"No, no, just go out there and kick their smug prep school asses, man." Mason said.
"Alright." Liam said.
"Okay, Isabelle let's go sit." Mason said.
"I'll be right there. I wanna talk to Liam alone really quick." Isabelle replied, making Mason raise an eyebrow but walk away anyways with a shrug. He was willing to bet money that his two best friends would get together.
"I just wanted to apologize for the party thing." Isabelle began, looking at the boy in front of her, "I did mean what I said. You do seem like a cool guy and I would like to get to know you and I'm just really sorry for trapping you like that but I kind of had no choice. I just, I hope that you and I could be cool and talk still and not because of my brother, ya know, oh god I'm rambling, I spend too much time with Stiles, way too much time. Okay. Have a good game. I'm sorry." Isabelle rants nervously making Liam chuckle.
"Izzy, it's okay if I call you that, right?" She nodded and he continued, "Okay, Izzy, it's fine, okay. I'm not so angry anymore. I'd like to get to know you and hang out with you, not because of your brother." Liam said, making Isabelle smile and grab his hand.
"Have a good game, Dunbar, I'll be cheering you on." Isabelle sends a slightly flirty smile and releases his hand, walking away. She turned back, making eye contact with the boy who had a slight tint of pink gracing his face now. He felt like he could do anything as long as she was there and cheering him on.
Isabelle saw Mason sitting with Violet, who she strongly disliked and had odd feelings about. Isabelle sighed and made her way to the two of them.
"Isabelle, hi." Violet said.
"Hey." Isabelle replied, politely, or as politely as she could sound.
"I talked to Coach, I'm out for the rest of the game." Liam said.
"What are you going to do?" Kira asked Scott.
"I don't know, something's still not right. We're missing something." Scott said.
"Guys," Stiles said as he and Isabelle made their way to them.
"Lydia just broke another third of the list." Isabelle said, looking at her phone.
"Am I on it?" Liam asked.
"No. But someone else is."
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