illuminated

In a room left in complete darkness Isaac lay curled up on the carpet, shaking like a leaf, despite the fear-induced sweat that dripped down him, soddening his hair until it regained a natural curl, he was freezing, as cold as ice. He couldn't move, unable to pull himself up off of the floor to open the door that Kinsey and Allison banged their fists against as they yelled his name in the hopes that it would somehow unlock itself the same way that it had locked itself. They couldn't be sure, but they assumed it wasn't Isaac who had locked the bedroom door, he wouldn't have had the time to after the scream, Kinsey had been straight at the door. Even if he was slightly terrified of what Chris would do to him now that he knew about him and his niece, he wouldn't have locked the door to hide from the man in fear. He'd learned enough about Chris to know it would only make matters worse. Something else had happened to him, someone had reached him before Chris had been able to drag him into the lecture along with his niece and daughter.

While the two girls threw themselves against the door, Chris rushed around the apartment in search of a flashlight, he thought the lights in the apartment would have come back on by now, but he was beginning to think that Kinsey telling Scott and Stiles to go to the power substation had something to do with it, something had happened there that had cut the power of the entire town, at the worst possible time too.  Chris returned with an industrial-sized flashlight in hand, warning the two teenage girls to move aside as his boot collided with the bedroom door, swinging it open, something Kinsey was trying to refrain from doing, she didn't want to be the one to blame for breaking their apartment when she had only narrowly escaped her last lecture.

Kinsey's room was trashed, the pages of the bestiary had been blown around every inch of the room, lamps broken as they lay down on the dresser, pictures fallen onto the floor. It certainly hadn't been Isaac alone in here. While the two girls rushed to Isaac's side, Chris shone the light around the room, looking for something or someone lurking in the shadows, he didn't know which but it had to be one of them, Isaac didn't do this to himself, Kinsey placed her hands on either side of the wolf's face, feeling how cold his skin was as he flinched away from her warm touch, terrified by it, by anyone. Once the room was clear Chris dropped down beside the two girls who tried to calm down the wolf, but neither had been successful so far. 

Chris placed his hands on Isaac's face, turning his face towards him. "Isaac, look at me. Isaac." The man repeated as the wolf looked at him with wide and tearful eyes. 

"What's happening to him?" Kinsey asked, her voice cracking. She hadn't seen him like this since he was under the bed at Glen Capri, tortured by his own mind and memories, even with a past like his, the childhood memories he had the kind of things that she knew had come back to him that night, he looked more terrified now than ever. 

Chris ignored his niece's question, keeping his focus on the wolf. "Isaac, come on." For a man who had been prepared to kill him just a few minutes ago, he seemed just as worried for him as the two girls did, maybe he didn't know Isaac as well as Kinsey and Allison did, but in the limited interactions he had with the wolf, he knew that this wasn't like him. He was stronger than this, both mentally and physically. "Isaac, listen. You have to turn."

Similar to how Kinsey had been while standing in his office, her eyes wandering around the room while he lectured her and Allison, Isaac wasn't able to listen to his words either, he was too flustered and overwhelmed by whatever had made him like this. Something as simple as any of their voices wasn't going to give him what he needed. He needed more of a push than Kinsey had needed to release that scream from inside of her, the one that was on the tip of her tongue, Isaac's was further inside. Chris knew that. Which was why he didn't hesitate to dig it out of the wolf. He raised his hand, slapping it against the boy's cheek as Kinsey and Allison quickly moved back, perplexed by what had just happened, how Chris had gone from being calming and gentle to hitting the wolf. As the man yelled at Isaac to turn his slaps turned into punches, maybe part of him was taking his anger out on the wolf just as much as he was helping him. 

Kinsey and Allison wanted to tell him to stop, that maybe he was being a little too harsh on Isaac as he lay there helpless, but before either of them managed to string together a sentence he had sat up, his eyes glowing a bright yellow as he looked between the three of them with a low growl warning Chris to move back slightly. Isaac scrambled across the floor, pressing his back against the foot of Kinsey's bed as he looked at three worried faces. Once his eyes had softened back to their human blue tears had begun to swell in them. He was no longer too shaken up to subside what had happened to him, what he had seen, it was all clear, too clear maybe.

"Did you see them?" He asked in a frightened whisper.

"Who?" Kinsey asked softly.

"There were five of them," Isaac muttered, a tear rolling down his cheek. "They wore black. I couldn't... I couldn't see their faces. They were covered." He stammered, unable to talk clearly as he relieved what he would now deem as just one of the worst things he'd ever experienced. 

"What do you mean? Like masks?" Allison asked.

"One of them... I could see his eyes. They were greenish-yellow. Like a... Like a firefly." Isaac tried his best to explain, trying to compare them to something so the three Argents had a visual image in their minds, allowing them to comprehend just how scary the sight was.

Chris stood up from in front of the wolf, walking towards his niece's closed bedroom window, her window, like every other window and point of access in the apartment, was alarmed and electrified to stop things like this from happening, from unwanted people from being able to walk in at free will. It was just one of the adjustments the man had made after finding out the aftermath that his niece could expect after her sacrifice, how things that even the Argent bestiary hadn't heard of could find their way to Beacon Hills, and maybe to her too. None of them could understand how the five hooded figures that he talked about had gotten into the apartment without triggering the security system like it almost had been when Isaac was electrocuted by trying to climb in through that very window. The only way for them to find out was by asking the overwhelmed wolf even more questions, but the answer he provided them hadn't helped either of the teenage girls to understand what was going on, if anything, they were more confused. 

"It was like they came out of the shadows."

Allison and Kinsey had noticed how Chris's head had sharply turned towards Isaac, as though it had sprung a thought in his mind as if there was something familiar about five hooded figures who appeared from the darkness of the shadows.

"Do you know what that means?" Allison asked her father with a raised brow, but that man didn't answer, he was staring off into space, deep in thought.

"Chris?" Kinsey shouted his name, snapping him out of it.

The man shook his head wearily. "Um... I'm not sure." He mumbled, but it was clear that he knew something, he just wasn't entirely sure of it yet. Allison ignored it for a moment, turning her attention back to the wolf in Kinsey's arms who had managed to calm down slightly, his breaths were calmer, the tears in his eyes had disappeared. But it was clear that the image of those five figures was still present in his mind, bound to stay there for a long time. The hunter approached the three teenagers. "Listen... the three of you. I need you to keep this quiet for a few hours." He warned them. 

From everyone. Allison and Kinsey turned to look at the man with knitted brows, wondering what he knew about those five figures with masks and firefly-colored eyes that would require them to keep quiet, to keep this from everyone, their friends, enemies, anyone who they may find themselves coming into contact with for the next 24 hours. Kinsey didn't want to stay quiet, she wanted to warn everyone before something happened to them too, wondering what would happen if the five figures came for someone else that she loved, and did a lot worse than what they had done to Isaac. As she told her uncle, they could have killed him. 

Chris knew that, he freely admitted that they could have, but they hadn't, that was what he was more focused on. He believed there was a reason that they didn't kill Isaac, because they were never looking for the wolf, but for him. He didn't care to elaborate on his point as he walked out of the room, leaving them only with the knowledge that for the next 24 hours, this was the new secret to be kept between the three of them, only this time, Chris was involved too. 

Just when the three had thought the secrets were over, another one began. 

·❥·

"Kinsey!"

Her name was called down the hall as she stood at her locker, rolling her eyes at the voice that couldn't be mistaken, though it wasn't one she ever expected to hear calling her name through the school halls. With a roll of her eyes, Kinsey closed her locker, walking further from the voice that dared to shout her name, as though the two of them were friends now, and that they often had friendly conversations in the halls. But they weren't friends, not even acquaintances in her mind, and she didn't particularly care for being on a first-name basis with him, she would have much rathered if the two didn't know one another at all.  

He called her name again as he began jogging to reach the brunette who hastily walked away from him, making it obvious she was ignoring him. She couldn't even pass it off as not hearing him through the crowd of fellow teenagers, the hallway was empty, just the two of them, she could blame her free period on that. Though the girl didn't particularly care if he knew she was ignoring him, there was no reason for the two of them to communicate, once again, the two of them weren't friends. They never would be. She didn't even bother to peer over her shoulder to make sure it was the person who she thought it was, she didn't need to, she knew it was him, and she couldn't be less interested in seeing him, let alone hearing him shout his name when he should have been in gym class with her boyfriend. 

The brunette was surprised, an involuntary gasp escaping her mouth as his hand slammed onto one of the lockers beside her, his arm blocking her from stepping any further. Kinsey turned her head from the hand that had slammed against the locker to the wolf attached to it, her face in a scowl as she looked at him through her long eyelashes. 

"You're ignoring me." Ethan deadpanned, looking at the girl with a cocked head. 

Another gasp left the girl's mouth, this time, a sarcastic one. "Really?" 

She moved aside, prepared to walk around the wolf as if he was just another obstacle in what was already proving to be a difficult day, she already had a list of people to avoid thanks to her uncle's little secret, she could have easily added Ethan to the list too. Not that she would need to avoid him for the same reason, but it was no trouble to her, he and his brother practically made her list on their own, they had etched themselves a permanent spot at the top. Kinsey had only managed to take a few more steps before the cycle was repeated, Ethan slamming his hand on yet another set of lockers, this time he'd done it strong enough to leave a slight dent, it was clear he was growing irritated with the girl and her arrogance as he blocked her once again.

"I need a favor." 

The brunette broke out into a hysterical laugh as the wolf stood watching her, unimpressed by her amusement towards those four little words he had said. Kinsey's smile faded and she looked at the wolf with his arm stretched in front of her. "Oh, you're serious. You're really stupid enough to ask me for a favor?" She asked with a raised brow. 

"I helped you with Barrow." Ethan deadpanned.

"No." Kinsey shook her head. "You sniffed a few bloody rags, searched around a few corners, and still didn't manage to find him. And if we're going to be technical about this, it was Scott who asked for your help, I just did the dirty work for him. I don't owe you anything. Now if you don't mind, I have to be anywhere that isn't here." The brunette spat out.

Just as she was about to move around him again, for her second attempt, Ethan stepped in front of her, placing both of his hands on her, stopping her much more directly this time. Kinsey's eyes widened as she looked at the wolf, surprised that he dared to touch her, both of them knew that if Scott, Isaac, or Stiles dared to walk into this hall right now, he would be a dead wolf, and she'd get that winter coat after all, just in time for her birthday in a little over a month's time. The girl sighed as she looked at the wolf, lowering the large wall she had put up ever so slightly.

"Why would I help you?" She asked with sincerity, rather than the usual anger she spoke to him and his brother with. "You and your brother beat Scott up, you went after Derek, not to mention you locked me, Isaac, and Allison in a closet until he almost killed the two of us-"

"All of those things were Aiden. I had nothing to do with either of them." Ethan interrupted her. "He's trying to change. You may think that we were joking about needing a pack, but we weren't, and we're prepared to work for it, and if you do me this favor I'll be forever indebted to you."

Kinsey looked around with another sigh, contemplating her own sanity as she considered if she was willing to hear him out, she could always reject helping him, there was nothing wrong with that, even if he did seem sincere when he admitted having no part in anything that his brother had done to them, which was a lot of things. And he had tried to stop Kali and Aiden from going after Derek that night. Maybe he wasn't as bad as his brother, she'd never disliked him as much as she disliked Aiden, frankly, she had just grouped the two of them together as many people did to her and Allison, something that had always annoyed the two of them too. Against her best interests, Kinsey agreed to hear the wolf out. 

When she had, Ethan admitted that his favor was more so a favor for Danny rather than himself. A point she probably should have led with rather than blocking her from moving and denting an innocent kid's locker to make his point.

Their entire interaction would have gone a lot quicker and smoother if he had mentioned Danny at the beginning, that was a person who she had would help favor, even if it was a severely large favor for Ethan to ask from her. But he'd come to the right person. There was nobody else in this town stupid enough to agree to give him the keys to Derek's loft so that Danny could host his Halloween blacklight party there, even if she knew there was a chance that her cousin would kill her for agreeing and hosting a party, she couldn't resist a party at the best of times, but certainly not on Halloween. She needed the distraction, all of them could use a party in Beacon Hills, it had been much too long without one. 

Kinsey was sitting in class, idly clicking her pencil against the desk as she stared at the front of the class with a smile. Not only had she successfully managed to form a plan with Ethan to help Danny throw his blacklight party, including getting Derek away from the loft for a night, but she had managed to go the entire day without mentioning the five hooded figures to anyone who didn't already know about them, and it hadn't even taken as much avoidance as she thought it would have. All it had taken was treating everyone as if they were her Uncle Chris and that the secret was her and Isaac again, it made it a lot easier, after months of keeping it quiet, that came naturally to her now. Frankly, she kept forgetting that Chris even knew about her and Isaac now, maybe it was because both of them were still breathing and had all of their limbs. It was as she looked at the front of the class she had heard her name being whispered from beside her, after today she considered changing her name, she had never heard it be called so much in the space of a day. Whether it was teachers calling it to volunteer her to solve a math problem, or to read a piece of a text to the entire class, or a surprisingly common reason today; to ask for a favor. 

The brunette turned towards the whisper, she knew it wasn't someone who never usually dared to utter her name, that was clear by the fact it had been Kins rather than Kinsey, this time it was someone much more welcome to talk to her. Scott McCall. She turned her head to the wolf who seemed nervous to talk to her, which already gave her an incline of what was about to happen, it was clear he needed something, and it wasn't going to be something simple.

"I need your help with something," Scott whispered as he leaned over the aisle to talk to her.

"When did Halloween become "Ask Kinsey for a favor day"? Did I miss the memo?" The brunette asked, confusing Scott as he furrowed his brows at her, he had no idea what she was rambling on about, she hadn't filled him in on the party happening tonight yet, or the fact that she would be forcing everyone else to come along too. She'd already told Allison and Isaac, they had both of them warned her just how stupid the idea was, they hadn't had much choice in the matter, it was Kinsey, they couldn't argue against her. Not when she told them to be ready by eight sharp. "It doesn't matter." Kinsey shook her head. "How can I help?" 

Outside the Sheriff's station, Kinsey and Stiles sat in the Jeep, patiently waiting for Scott and Kira to arrive on the dirt bike while they played eye spy. The wolf had assembled the two of his friends as the sneakiest people he knew to help him and Kira break into the station and retrieve Kira's phone. Of course, a curious Stiles had asked him what was on the phone that Kira wanted to hide so much, out of all the reasons he was expecting, naked pictures weren't one of them. Stiles was taken aback, surprised that such a seemingly quiet and innocent girl had something like that on her phone, but he expected that Kinsey would decide that she liked Kira even more.

Though unlike Stiles, Kinsey hadn't asked at all, she hadn't asked any details about what they needed to break into the station for, the last thing she needed to do was delve into someone's secrets when she was keeping some of her own. The only details she had required were a time, a place, and an agreement from Scott and Stiles that they were going to be at Danny's blacklight party, her only condition to her helping them tonight as if she wouldn't have done it either way.

Scott was glad that Kinsey wasn't the type to ask for details in order for her to offer her help. Kira didn't want anyone to know why she needed her phone back so desperately, she wasn't certain that she wanted to tell him. But she had no choice after it was confiscated by his father and the rest of the FBI when she had been kidnapped and held hostage by Barrow, there were things on that phone that she wasn't prepared for anyone else to see. 

"Okay, this one will get you into all of the perimeter doors, this one into the evidence room, and this one's for my father's office," Stiles explained as he handed Scott each of the key cards he'd cloned using an RFID emulator. Which may have just been worse than the way Scott thought his best friend had retrieved the cards; by stealing. It may have been worse, but it was also smarter.

Kira pulled aside Scott for a moment while Kinsey and Stiles sat forward in the car, wishing that they had the ability to hear their conversation based on Kira's worried expression. They knew it was probably a question of whether she could trust someone who cloned their father's key cards or a girl who she still hardly knew anything about, Scott had refrained from telling Kira about the nature of the girl who would be helping them, he chose to leave that to Kinsey herself, she had kept his secret for him, he was prepared to do the same for her. 

When the two returned back to the Jeep where Stiles and Kinsey acted as though they weren't trying to listen to the conversation, though their version of acting casual, hysterical laughing as they both slapped one another, hadn't fooled either Kira or Scott. Stiles cleared his throat while Kinsey took it as her cue to get out of the Jeep, prepared to head into the station with the two of them after Stiles had finished giving out his warnings. 

"Okay." He looked between the three who listened intently. "So, now almost everybody's out dealing with the blackout. But there's always somebody at the front desk. There's Dispatch and usually a night shifter or two. You guys are gonna use the service door entrance by the dumpster. All right? Nobody uses it. Now, I'll text you if anyone comes out." 

He paused for a moment as the three nodded, understanding everything that he had said so far, and if things didn't go according to the slight plan he had laid out, that was where he depended on Kinsey and her natural ability to be sneaky, not to mention she was also a huntress, she'd figure something out. Before he let them go he gave them one final warning "But, Scott, if you get caught, I can't help you. My dad's under investigation for impeachment because of your dad, so if anything happens I will run and leave both of you for dead."

"There's three of us." Kira pointed out, referencing how he had only said both. 

Stiles nodded, sure of what he said. For one simple reason, Kinsey was a huntress, she would be fine, she could get herself out of getting caught. As soon as he had said those words his eyes along with Scott and Kinsey's had grown wide, nobody had told Kira that she was a huntress, until now, when he had blurted it out in front of her. Kira looked at the brunette with confusion, wondering what Stiles meant when he called her that, whether it was just a fun nickname she had been given because of her sneakiness, or whether it was something deeper than that. 

Nobody said a word after that, they were all too worried that they would have to elaborate on Kinsey being a huntress, there wasn't enough time to delve into the mystery that was Kinsey and her family history. Kira was still too new to Beacon Hills to overwhelm her with just how crazy of a place it was to live in, being kidnapped by a serial killer was only the tip of the iceberg. 

Scott swiped the first key card, allowing them into the building as they all crouched down with the werewolf leading the two girls, each of them keeping a close eye as they watched for passing deputies. As soon as they had entered the building they had heard a door open causing them all to duck behind one of the desks, watching as a deputy walked across the station. As soon as he had walked back through the door the three continued to sneak across the building, heading to the evidence room that sat directly across from them. While Scott and Kira snuck in, Kinsey had stood up, prepared to keep watch and act as a distraction, just like the wolf had asked her to do when he asked for her help. There was no better person for it, she had a charm that nobody was capable of understanding, it was one of the things that stopped her from getting caught, the kind of thing that Stiles was talking about. 

"You sure you've got this?" Scott asked before closing the door.

Kinsey scoffed. "Please. You know my family, we're experts at lying." 

Scott nodded before closing the door behind him and Kira, trusting that she had already thought of an excuse if one of the night shifters happened to find her lingering around the station on her own. It didn't take the two long to find Kira's phone, there had been a moment of fulfillment and hope until Kira had tried to turn it on only to find that it was dead, and with the lack of power in town, they had no way to charge it. Kira suggested that the two of them just take the phone and get out of here, saving both them and the girl outside standing guard for her sake. 

But Scott knew that his father would notice the missing phone, and that was bound to cause more trouble for everyone. He looked around the room for a better option than stealing it, then he then noticed a laptop on the desk, as the two snuck over to it he instructed Kira to try and find a charging cable in the drawers, neither had expected it to have been so simple when she had managed to pull one out. With smiles on their faces, Scott opened the computer to charge the girl's phone, nobody could have prepared him to see a picture of himself and his father when it had flickered on. The photo was years old, it had to be, his father had been gone for a while, still, there was a moment of wistfulness as he reminisced on that time of his life, a simple time. 

Stiles sat in his Jeep, waiting for the three to come out of the station as he spun his keys around on his finger, still fascinated by an extra key that had appeared on it just this morning, he may have had a lot of keys on his key ring, but he knew the purpose of them all, all but that one. As two bright headlights shone in his eyes Stiles's attention was drawn from the keys and to the car that had pulled up in front of him, watching as Agent McCall stepped out. He quickly fiddled for his phone to call Scott or Kinsey, whichever one came up first on his call list, but as he sat calling the wolf, he didn't answer, and before he had the chance to call Kinsey too, Rafael was already walking in the Sheriff's Station, prepared to catch them. Knowing he was going to regret his decision, Stiles jumped out of the Jeep, rushing after Rafael. 

As he ran into the station he found Kinsey standing in between the man and the door, blocking him from getting anywhere near the evidence room, trying to do the same as he had rushed in to do. The deputies stood in the room were all furrowing their brows, wondering how long she had been stood there, none of them had noticed her walk through the main doors, but none of them quite cared either, the whole purpose of them working the night shifts was to get an easy life. 

"Why are you here, Argent?" McCall asked, already tired of the girl.

"Uh, well..." Kinsey mumbled. "My car was stolen. Yeah. Stolen. Poof. Gone." She nodded. 

"So why aren't you talking with one of the deputies?" The man asked with a raised brow. 

Stiles rushed over to the two of them, interrupting the conversation, hoping to save her from getting too caught up in the millions of questions that he knew McCall would ask, just last night he had experienced it from himself as McCall tried to figure out how he, Scott, Kira and Lydia had found themselves at the substation with Barrow in the nick of time. Just like he hadn't gotten answers then, he intended that McCall wouldn't find out anything now either. 

"Hey, guys!" He beamed as he looked up at the man, wrapping his arm around Kinsey's shoulder as she looked at him with concern, he had specifically said he was going to run, by that, she didn't think he meant to run straight into trouble with Scott's dad, the man making his dad's life a living hell. "So, you know, I've been thinking about the whole Barrow case." Stiles began to ramble knowing that the whole Barrow situation would be something that would take Rafael's attention much better than a teenager's stolen car. 

"I'm thinking Barrow received the information about who to kill at the school, right, you know that? So I was thinking maybe the person who gave him that information, check this out, might actually be someone... at the school." Stiles stammered, losing his thought process with every word that came out of his mouth, even Kinsey was struggling to keep hold of the conversation as she squinted her eyes at the boy, trying to figure out the point of his words if there was one. 

"Hmm." McCall nodded. "You're right."

"He is?" Kinsey asked with a raised brow.

McCall admitted it was a good theory and one they already happened to be pursuing, much to the boy's surprise as he questioned it, he thought that only he and Lydia had thought of Barrow and the school a connection when they had found Kira's name on the chemistry board, hidden in a message of chemical symbols. He was a little less surprised when McCall admitted it was the Sheriff who had come up with the connection, though both disapproved of how he spoke of the man, commenting on it being Stilinski's one useful suggestion. Not only had he angered Kinsey by speaking of the Sheriff with such distaste, but of course, he angered the man's son. The man stepped forward, reaching past Kinsey as he swiped his keycard, prepared to continue his job and find Kira's phone from the evidence room. 

Stiles stepped forward with a scowl across his face, getting in McCall's face as he took his arm from around the brunette girl's shoulder, slowly losing his calm. He had almost turned to a new person as he spoke, a raspiness to his voice, musting the hate that Stiles had built up for the man over many years, even more so since he had returned to town. Kinsey watched in shock as Stiles spoke about the attitude the agent has towards his father, how it may be all dressed up in so-called professional disapproval but he knew the real reason McCall doesn't like his father. It's because he knew something that Rafael doesn't want him to know. Stiles had clearly hit a soft spot as McCall tried to shake off the revelation, but Stiles was too far gone, all he saw was red as he looked at the man, insisting that the man's little secret, he knew it too. 

In an awkward fluster Kinsey turned behind her, looking through the window, barely catching Scott and Kira sneaking back out of the service door the three of them had come in through. She slightly nudged the boy beside her, suggesting that they should leave. Just as the two were about to step out of the station Rafael turned back to them, asking about the girls' stolen car, in desperation to get out, she shrugged, acting as though she never cared, her uncle would get her a new one and save the hassle of filling out boring forms. 

"We did it." Scott proudly smiled as the two reached the Jeep. "All the pics deleted."

"That was awesome!" Kira beamed with enthusiasm. "I mean, terrifying... completely terrifying but kind of awesome. I've never done anything like that before. Have you?" She asked, looking between the three of them who all pouted their lips in thought, they could either lie and say no, or admit they had, and therefore admit to committing many, many crimes. 

Stiles shrugged, suggesting the three of them had done it once or twice in their lives. A large understatement. Kinsey cleared her throat as she nudged the boy, suggesting that they had better go so she could pick up Allison and Isaac from the apartment before he dug themselves into an even bigger hole. Stiles had already told Kira that she was a huntress, he could save the detail of her being an unconvicted criminal too, she had no idea just how much Kira had found out tonight. The brunette smiled as she and Stiles got into the Jeep, insisting that she would see Scott and Kira at the party, it wasn't a question more so than it was an order, they would be at the blacklight party. Scott promised, it was her condition for saving their asses. 

The brunette walked back into the apartment, her jacket thrown over her arm, she had to admit even she was feeling quite the rush like Kira was, and she had done it a dozen times before, but it had been a while since she had caused trouble alongside Scott and Stiles, it reminded her of her early days in Beacon Hills, one's that weren't simple, but compared to now, were as simple as the three of them could get. After the hour she had spent at the Sheriff's Station the brunette had expected to find Allison and Isaac waiting around for her, dressed for the party she had told them about just under ten hours ago. They'd had plenty of time to prepare for it both mentally and physically. Not only had they known about the party all day, but she'd been gone for an hour at the station, an hour for Allison to find an outfit because they all knew she took a hell of a long time to find one and for Isaac to make his way over to the apartment and get out any of the awkward conversations with her uncle before she got home and had to witness them. 

Instead, though she did find the two of them lounging around in her room waiting for her to come home, neither seemed ready to go to the loft with her. They were both studying. Studying. On Halloween. When there was a party they could be at in no more than ten minutes. Allison was still in her pajamas laying on the floor eating leftover pizza from last night while Isaac lay on her bed. He had never looked so bored in his life, but he still would have rathered sitting around and studying than be at risk of getting killed by a pissed off Derek when he found out that she had agreed to throw a party in his loft, ensuring that it would be trashed by teenagers by tomorrow. 

Kinsey stopped in the doorway as the two looked at her, neither thinking to jump up and act as though they were ready to go to the party. "Why aren't you ready?" She asked with a raised brow, specifically towards her cousin who lay on the floor, at least Isaac was dressed, all he had to do was pull himself off of her bed. Allison sat up, prepared to give Kinsey a long list of reasons as to why she didn't want to go to Danny's party but she hadn't managed to give her a single one before Kinsey had spoken for her. "Don't even bother telling me that you aren't in the mood for a party, or that Derek's going to kill me when he finds out. Because we're going. And if Derek asks, I had nothing to do with it. The two of you are coming, we deserve a party and I am in desperate need of some tequila." 

Just a short half an hour later the three approached the loft door, already able to hear the loud thumping of music through the steel door. Allison and Isaac were still unsure about it all, but the brunette who had convinced them gave them quite the list of reasons for them to go while she searched for an outfit for Allison to wear, saving all of them the torture of watching her search in her own closet. Not only did she want some tequila, but after all the three of them had been through, in the past day, let alone the past year, they all deserved to let loose, party, and act as if they were normal teenagers who didn't have to wonder about five hooded figures being after someone that they loved, imposing danger on their beloved town. Tonight, they were nothing more than careless teenagers with a desperate need to party. 

Isaac looked at the two brunettes who nodded, prepared to follow through with that promise. He swung open the loft door, revealing a loft filled with people dancing under the black lights, covered in neon paint and the brightest and smallest clothing that their closets could provide leaving the three standing out like saw thumbs, Isaac in his blue t-shirt and jeans, Kinsey in her red plaid shirt with a pair of black denim shorts and Allison in a tied-up flannel and a black skirt. None of them were wearing anything remotely bright that would glow beneath the lights. It was the one thing Kinsey hadn't quite thought about when searching through her closet. Never had the three heard music so loud in their life, a party so lively. With all the neon paint on people's faces, they were hardly recognizable, everyone had gone all out for Halloween, just as desperate as the three at the door to let loose and not remember anything in the morning.

As Isaac had said when he looked at the party; Derek could never know about this. Kinsey stood looking across the loft, through the sea of bright dancing people, it was a lot more than she was expecting, there were a lot more people than Ethan had led her to believe, the music was louder than he had made out, he had even hired a DJ, it wasn't anything like the parties she and Lydia had thrown every weekend over summer. This made that seem as if it was a small get-together. Though she was excited, she was also absolutely terrified of Derek's reaction as she nodded in agreement with her boyfriend, the three of them walked into the loft, never looking back.  

Kinsey stood at the bar beside Allison, prepared to get as many shots for the two of them as she could, she wanted nothing more than to be drunk and forget about the past few months of her life, at least the ones where she had been haunted by her mother and other nightmares. Kinsey had turned to Allison, prepared to ask her something, but as soon as she had seen the look on her cousin's face she had lost her train of thought, she followed the girls' gaze until it landed on Scott and Kira, the two stood in the midst of the crowd, hand in hand as they looked straight at the two brunette girls at the bar. She had a feeling she knew what was going through Allison's mind, her and Scott's first date at a party, and every party she had ever been to in Beacon Hills it had been her holding the wolf's hand, she hadn't been to a party since their break up, since the night that her mother had died on Lydia's birthday. Adding to the list of reasons why she didn't like parties, another reason why the brunette pushed her to go to them, she needed to try and disconnect all of those thoughts she had, she needed to do what she said she would.

"Hey." Kinsey nudged the brunette in her side, Allison nodded, listening as she kept her eyes on Scott. "A new start, remember?" She reminded the older brunette of her own words, the ones she had repeatedly told not only herself, but Kinsey and Lydia over the phone throughout all of summer, and now, she finally had to live up to that phrase. 

Allison nodded, providing Scott with a half-smile, letting him go, an acknowledgment that what they had was over now. A fresh page in the book that was their lives, it was time to move on now. With a sigh Allison had turned back to her cousin, insisting that she was going to need that shot of tequila now, if not more than once, she didn't plan on drinking too much tonight, but she also hadn't planned on seeing Scott move on either. Tonight she was toasting goodbye to her first love. With a proud smile Kinsey handed her the short, she wasn't going to pass up on the chance of seeing Allison's face when the tequila burnt her throat, she hadn't seen it since their first-ever party with one another, a very long time ago. 

While Allison heaved from the burning of alcohol in her throat, opting for a break from the shots so she could go and find Lydia, Kinsey rejoined Isaac who'd been stood watching the party, he had a few thoughts in his mind other than what was taking his girlfriend so long. He still didn't like the thought of what was in front of him and how Derek would react to him, but what he was most concerned about, was Scott's lack of knowledge of the demon warriors that had attacked him last night. He didn't like not telling Scott things, he was the one person he struggled to keep things from, even more so than Kinsey. The brunette noticed how distracted he seemed as she handed him a drink, though he smiled back as he took it, it was clear that a drink wasn't enough to take his mind off of things like it was for Allison. 

She stood beside him, her cup pressed against her lips as she looked over the crowd. He tried to hold it in, refraining from mentioning it in the fear of ruining her night, but when she had looked at him with pierced eyes, she had practically burnt it out of him. "Have you seen Scott?" Isaac blurted out. Kinsey nodded at first, she thought he had seen the exchange between Scott and Allison until he elaborated on his worries. "Did you tell him what happened?"

Only then did she realize what he meant. "No." Kinsey shook her head. "We still have a couple more hours, remember? We promised my uncle Chris."

"You promised your uncle Chris." Isaac corrected.

"I promised him in order to protect him." Kinsey deadpanned.

Isaac corrected the girl again, she and Allison had promised Chris in order to protect him, he had never said a word, a loophole, he knew how fond of those the brunette was, he had heard all about her and Stiles's winter formal deal, and every other deal they had ever made. 

The brunette looked at him with furrowed brows, asking whether protecting her uncle was such a bad thing. She knew he was no saint, he had once been an active werewolf hunter who may not have hesitated to kill Isaac, but he wasn't that man anymore, he'd lost a lot since then, he'd learned a lot too. He had seen the man his father had become and was determined to not turn into that man himself, for the sake of his own daughter and his niece. The last thing the three of them needed was a repeat of history. Gerard. Kate. His wife. He needed to save them from that. 

"I don't like keeping secrets from Scott." Isaac shook his head. 

Kinsey nodded in agreement, she didn't particularly enjoy it either, she'd had enough of keeping secrets in the past six months of her life, it didn't matter what the secret at hand was, she didn't enjoy having to hide things from the people she loved. She had become a hypocrite after telling her mother and uncle how much she hated the lies and the secret telling, only to become just like the woman, part of her could see things she hadn't been able to then, how sometimes secrets are necessary to keep those you love safe, it probably wasn't her mother's reasoning, but it still applied. Once her uncle's twenty-four hours were up, she was prepared to let go of all the secret-keeping and lying, she wanted no more of it in her life. It was time she got the new start that Allison had been talking about. Kinsey took a large gulp of her drink, washing away her problems, just like she used to do when she was just a human and her biggest problem was that Kate regularly abandoned her. Mommy issues as Morrell had so subtly put in her counseling file.

"Have you seen Stiles?" The wolf asked, looking directly at the boy who danced, strangely, in the middle of the dancefloor alongside a girl in a short pink wig, bright orange paint on her lips that matched the print of orange lips on his cheek. Kinsey nodded with a slight hum as she watched him too. "What did the two of you talk about while you were at the station?" Isaac asked through the loud music, even if he and Stiles occasionally got along in desperate measures, the thought of the two of them alone still irked him, it didn't matter who Stiles danced with, he still looked at Kinsey the same way, he still wanted her for himself. The brunette shook her head, a small nothing mumbled through the edge of her cup, she still wondered what Stiles and his dad knew about Rafael, she hadn't asked on the drive home, that was another secret that she wanted no involvement with. Isaac furrowed his brows, she was never this quiet, not even in her sleep, how she had noticed something was on his mind, there was something on hers too. Only he couldn't quite sniff out the mood that she was in how she seemed to be able to tell his. "Are you mad?"

"No." Kinsey removed her cup from her mouth, shaking her head with a slight smile. 

"No?"

"No." The brunette insisted, laughing it off. The last thing she was was mad. "I'm frustrated." She sighed, she wasn't sure which way she meant, there were plenty of things causing the frustration she felt inside of her, she couldn't pinpoint it to just one thing. 

But Isaac seemed to be able to. "Sexually?"

She didn't answer, only smiling at the boy, about to lean into him, until she walked straight past him instead, teasing him further as she walked towards the body painter in the corner of the loft, it was about time the two of them looked a part of the party. Isaac gladly followed his girlfriend with a smile on his face, one that only grew as she stood in front of the body painter, taking one of the paintbrushes, placing it in her mouth before pulling her red plaid shirt over her head, her blue bra glowing under the black light. Isaac watched with intent, a sight that never grew old.

Kinsey removed the paintbrush from her mouth, holding it out to the wolf. "Do you want to talk about Stiles or do you want to paint my body?" Kinsey challenged him with a smile.

There was no doubt in Isaac's mind, he didn't even have to think about the offer as he took the paintbrush from her hand, wasting no time in trailing the fluorescent paints across her skin as she held her hair out of the way, leaving all kinds of patterns across her, but he wasn't careless with it. He took his time, enjoying the moment as the body painter nodded with approval. 

When Kinsey's body was covered in paint, and so was Isaac's face, the brunette guided him to the dancefloor, compared to the rest of the crowd, their dancing was slow, but to them, they felt like the only two in the room, consumed with one another as Isaac spun the girl around. Neither of them could hide the smiles on their faces, not even when their cheeks had begun to ache from all of the smiling they were doing. Tonight was one of the first true outings with one another since being an official couple, technically, their first date. And it was bound to be one for them to remember for the remainder of their lives. Lydia and Allison stood beside one another, leaning against one of the columns that supported the loft with a drink in their hands, the two of them seemed to be the only ones slightly enjoying the party, not having the time of their lives like the rest of the room, including all of their friends. Kinsey and Isaac were dancing happily with each other. Finally, as the two girls described it. Stiles was just a few feet from them dancing crazily with a girl neither of them recognized, or awkwardly as the two girls described it, but they were happy for him too nonetheless. With stifled laughter, Lydia and Allison looked around the room, their eyes landing on Aiden in the elevator,  sandwiched between two grinding girls. Predictably.

Unable to watch anymore, Allison excused herself, heading to the bathroom for a minute or two to herself, there was only so much young love she could look at around the room, or in Aiden's case, she just couldn't look at him for too long. Lydia didn't mind, she continued observing all of the people who had come tonight, she didn't mind if she was the only one who wasn't dancing or covered in illuminated paint, she hadn't come for that, frankly, she had only come because it was Kinsey who had asked her. With how excited the huntress was she couldn't possibly refuse. 

As Lydia took another sip from her cup she heard a light growing in her ears, a popping sound. She looked around the party, nothing in sight as she takes another sip. Then five hooded figures began to flicker in and out of existence around her. The shaken redhead dropped her cup to the floor, rushing through the party as she called for Scott, but even with enhanced hearing he was unable to hear her over the loud music, she turned her head, looking for Kinsey and Isaac on the dancefloor where they had been stood just a few seconds ago but the two of them were gone, nowhere to be seen. With heavy breaths, Lydia rushed out to the balcony beyond the giant loft window, catching her breath as she looked over the skyline. The popping sound returned, one of the hooded figures rising up from the concrete. She turned to scream but another one of the five figures appeared in front of her snatching the sound from her mouth with his hand. It placed a hand on the left side of her face, staring her in the eyes as its own began to glow.

A playful giggle escaped from their mouths every time the two came up for air before their lips crashed against one another again, unable to part from each other's touch for too long, taking pleasure in the paint from their faces creating a mixture of colors across their faces and bodies. Both of them stumbled through Derek's loft towards the storage cupboard, away from the party, and the loud music that began to grow muffled the closer they got to the small closet. As they worked their way through the loft they collided with every surface, every wall, too focused on tugging at the articles of clothing left on each other's bodies to look where they were going. The two of them knew the loft well enough to know the direction they needed to head in. Eventually, Isaac had given up with bumping into everything they passed, stopping in the hallway for a split second as he lifted the girl up, her legs wrapping around his waist as he continued making their way to the storage closet.  A gasp escaped the brunette girl's mouth as her back was pressed against the cold mirror, a smile growing across her face as she pulled the werewolf closer under a dim lightbulb that hung above their heads. While Isaac's hands traveled up her back, slowly edging their way to the hook of her bra, Kinsey's fingers tangled in his hair until she had brushed past his ear. When she had felt something behind it the brunette quickly pulled apart from him.

"What? What's wrong?" Isaac asked raspily.

"There's something behind your ear." She muttered with confusion.

Isaac removed his one hand from her back, pressing her closer behind the wall to hold her up as he reached behind his ear, feeling the small mark behind it that she had felt too. His eyes grew wide as the girl unwrapped her legs from around his waist, he let go of her as her feet touched the floor. "Turn to the mirror," Kinsey instructed him. As they both looked at the wolf's reflection they could see the imprint of a small 5 behind his ear, almost like a tattoo to his skin.

Isaac's head turned sharply at the sound of a low groaning, one that Kinsey didn't seem to hear as he turned to look at her, she was too interested in the small tattoo he had gained. "Did you hear that?" He asked with a knitted brow as the brunette wearily shook her head. 

She followed Isaac's gaze across the room to three buckets of ice, his stare remained on it until the two were edging closer slowly. He kept a hold of the brunette's hand as they peered behind the buckets of ice, finding a shivering Ethan who curled up with wide eyes, an image of how Isaac had looked last night. Even he knew that that was how he looked, and he hadn't been able to see himself. Isaac threw the ice buckets out of the way, sitting in front of Ethan as Kinsey sat him up, Isaac checked over his the wolf's like Chris had done to him just last night, but it was as if nobody was behind them, the boy brown eyes just shut again as his body continued to shake, slowing entering a hypothermic state. Isaac grabbed Ethan's arm, he needed to trigger Ethan's healing process, Kinsey cringed as she watched him break the werewolf's arm. Ethan sat up with a large growl, his eyes glowing their steel blue as he looked up at the ceiling. As soon as they had dimmed back to their usual human color Kinsey grabbed Ethan's jaw, turning his head towards Isaac as she pointed out the mark behind his ear, identical to the one they had found on him. It was exactly the same. A small number five. 

Just as the couple had stood to their feet, pulling Ethan up from the floor as they wrapped his arms around their shoulders they heard a voice echo through the loft, a voice like thunder as it yelled for everyone to get out. Kinsey and Isaac looked at one another with wide eyes, Derek. The three stumbled out of the closet back to the party that had quickly cleared with the wolf's loud yell, but five figures still stood in the middle of the room as the pack converged. All of their feet had fallen to a halt at the five hooded figures. Kinsey looked around the room. Scott, Aiden, Kira, Derek, and Allison all of them were scattered around the room, awaiting movement from the dark hooded warriors.

All at once, they turned towards Aiden who stood a few feet from Allison who had a feeling she knew what was about to happen, the same thing that had happened to Isaac last night, and the redhead she had just found on the balcony. "Guys, they're all looking at me." The former Alpha mumbled nervously. "Why are they all looking at me? Guys?"

Derek and Scott tried to intercede as they charged towards the figures with a snarl, their eyes growing bright as their canines illuminated beneath the backlights. The hooded warriors were much faster than the two wolves, disappearing into thin air before reappearing in a different spot making them impossible to catch. At least, almost impossible. Derek had caught one off guard, breaking its neck, but it quickly recovered before throwing him against one of the steel columns, dropping him to the floor. Scott tried to fight alone against the five, but he soon met the same fate as one of their hands collided with his chest, throwing him across the wall until he hit a wall. Both wolves left in pain, nobody to try and stop the five from reaching Aiden. Nobody was stupid enough. Until Isaac stepped forward leaving Ethan to lean on his girlfriend, he was prepared to get revenge on them as he stood behind one of the figures, releasing his claws. The hooded figure turned to him, pulling a sword from his body, spinning it around like a pro, Isaac quickly backed away, retreating back to his girlfriend, the one who could do the very same with a sword like that, which was why he was so sure he shouldn't fight against it.

The warriors made it to Aiden without another fight, surrounding him as one stood in front of him, staring at him with their firefly-like eyes as Allison backed away, asking someone to do something, but nobody was brave enough, nobody who hadn't already tried. They were forced to watch as the life was sucked out of Aiden's body, branding him like everyone else until he had weakly dropped to the floor. Allison wanted to help him, but while the five stood so close, she didn't dare to move, she didn't want to be next.

Once Aiden had been branded with their small mark, the five figures turned back around, their movements in unison as they looked between the next two on their list, Scott and Kinsey. After what seemed like a moment of hesitation as their heads stopped on the Angel, the five stepped towards Scott who bore his teeth and red eyes, turning to Kira who he shielded, revealing his true face to her. Just as another fight was about to break out the first rays of the rising sun had shone through the loft, striking the five figures until they disappeared into black smoke.

Everyone nervously looked around the loft, its lack of hooded demon warriors. Ethan finally had the strength to pull himself off of Kinsey as he rushed over to his brother and Allison while Derek pulled himself off of the ground with a painful groan.

"What the hell were those things?" Scott asked, looking at Derek for an answer.

Isaac looked at his girlfriend who stood beside him, she knew what was coming before the words had even left his mouth. Her uncle's twenty-four hours were up. It was time that their shared secret with the man came to light. Nobody was safe against the figures anymore.