CHAPTER TWENTY THREE » RETRIBUTION
"There's going to be hell to pay."

☽

There was a faint ringing in my ears.

I slammed the palms of my hands against the hospital doors, bursting through into the busy corridor. I froze still for a moment, the whirlwind of sounds around me all beginning to blur into one.

My heart pounded and my dizzy head spun as I started to make my way through the corridor, eventually finding the crowded waiting room. Once there, I instantly spotted my brother in the distance, standing stoically beside Malia.

"Scott?"

His head turned at the sound of my voice, and I began to rush towards him, soft cries tumbling from my lips before I could hold them back. Scott quickly brought me into a hug, wrapping his arms tight around my back.

"What happened?" I choked out hoarsely, taking a handful of his sweater in my grip as I attempted to stop myself from falling. I looked up at him desperately. "What happened?"

My brother pulled me in closer, placing his hand on the top of my head as I pressed my face against his chest, muffling my shallow breaths. "They shot at the house," he told me a few moments later. I pulled back slowly, wiping a hand over my face. "Mom and Dad are awake. Mason and Lydia are both in surgery."

I let out a shuddering breath at the news, as Malia stepped towards me, placing a firm hand on my shoulder. "They're gonna be okay."

I nodded slowly, glancing up at Scott again to meet his eyes. "Mom and Dad, can we–" I swallowed thickly, my voice wavering. "Can we see them?"

"Yeah," he said, sparing a look down the end of the corridor. "They're gonna come and get us."

"Okay," I breathed out, nodding along at his words. "Okay."

Malia looked up at us both reassuringly, her softening eyes full of sympathy for us both. She kept her hand placed on my shoulder, but I also watched as she reached down to take Scott's trembling hand with her other.

The three of us remained silent as we waited to be called. No more words were spoken. Nothing else needed to be said.

~

"You have about a minute before the sedative kicks in," the nurse with the kind smile informed. "Let her rest."

Scott nodded understandingly as the woman moved past us, closing the door shut quietly behind her. I stepped further inside, my ears picking up on the sound of heart monitor beeping continuously.

Mom lay helplessly on the bed, tubes and wires surrounding her fragile, pale frame. A weak smile pulled at her lips, as her tired eyes shifted over us. "Hey kids."

Scott moved to stand beside her bed, as I hung back slightly, taking my time as I made my own way over. My brother let out a heavy sigh, as mom's eyelids seemed to flutter shut momentarily. "We'll go wait outside."

"No, wait–" she cut off, her voice sounding a lot firmer than the exhausted, hoarse whisper she'd managed earlier. I swallowed thickly, slowly moving to stand beside Scott. My stomach churned, a heavy lump rising in the back of my throat. Weakly, mom reached out a trembling hand, placing it over mine before glancing up and meeting Scott's eyes. "Listen to me." She took a sharp intake of breath, squeezing my hand tighter in her cold grip, yet her eyes remained on my brother. "You shouldn't do this."

"But I'm responsible, mom," Scott responded quietly. He paused for a moment before shifting. "You need to sleep."

"I just need to–" she cut off, her eyes falling slightly as she took another deep breath. Scott and I shared a concerned look. "Tell you."

"It can wait," my brother assured.

"It can't wait," she countered, her voice shuddering, as if she was struggling to catch her breath.

"Mom–"

"Don't run." She breathed out heavily, her soft gaze shifting over the two of us, until her brown, glassy eyes landed on me. "You fight."

I bit down on my lip as her grip on my hand loosened, her own hand eventually falling back down by her side. My vision began to blur with tears, and I glanced away, listening as she breathed heavily, sounding almost as if she was fighting for air to keep talking to us. But eventually, she fell quiet, the sedative finally taking over her body.

Beside me, Scott inhaled sharply, sounding as if he was fighting back his own tears. After a few moments, he leaned over, gently placing a soft kiss against mom's forehead. Her eyelids opened slightly, and she let out an acknowledging sigh before closing them shut again.

Scott moved away, exhaling heavily as the two of us watched mom silently slip into sleep. I brushed my hand against his, tearing my eyes away to look up at him. His eyes were soft, saddened and deeply troubled, holding a large amount of pain and guilt behind them.

He took my hand, squeezing it gently as we let the silence hang over us for a little while longer.

~

As I watched Scott turn the corner at a rather an intense speed, I allowed myself to hang back a large distance, desperately hoping that my dad was asleep so we'd be able to leave without bothering him.

Of course I wanted to see him. Even after everything, he was still my dad and I still cared. I just felt terrible about the way things had even left between us. Things could have ended up so much worse, and I would never have forgiven myself.

I listened as Scott pushed the door open, only for him to come to a sudden stop. "What the hell?"

Hearing the sudden and scarily fast jump in his heart rate, I rushed round the corner, almost stumbling into the back of my brother, who was stood staring at an empty room. My heart dropped. "What?"

Scott stumbled back slightly, and I moved aside, feeling nauseous as I watched Sheriff Stilinski rush down the corridor.

"Where's my dad?"

"Transferred to San Francisco memorial, he's gonna be fine," Stilinski replied quickly, looking between us both. I choked out a breath, the rising panic beginning to fade away.

"Okay," Scott's voice trembled. "What about Mason?"

"Already out of surgery."

"Lydia?" I questioned hopefully.

"She's alright too," he assured. "Bullet missed everything that matters, thank god. We got lucky."

"They almost died–"

"But they're gonna live," Sheriff Stilinski assured, as Scott took in a deep, shaky breath of air. "We're gonna have two deputies posted here around the clock. Nobody sets foot on this floor without authorisation." My brother shook his head slowly at the words, beginning to turn away. Stilinski and I shared a look, both starting to follow him. "Scott, I got a pretty good idea how you're feeling right now. But the whole Sheriff's department is gonna be on this. I am gonna find out who did this."

"We all know who did this," Scott responded, his jaw clenching before he turned his back to us, storming off without another word.

Stilinski sighed heavily, watching after him whilst I remained where I was, staring vacantly into a spot in the distance, allowing the anger I felt from earlier to begin to churn in me again.

"Rebecca?" I snapped my head up, meeting his eyes. He watched me carefully, a concerned expression on his face. "You want to talk?"

I shook my head firmly, glancing in the direction Scott had just left. I knew exactly what I wanted, and exactly what he wanted. To fight back. "No. I'm okay."

"Rebecca–"

I ignored the call of my name as I headed down to the end of the corridor, reaching the fire exit stairs and heading down them to the bottom floor. As I flung open the door, I spotted Scott and Malia in the distance beginning to exit through the double doors, their conversation too faint for me too hear. However, Liam, Venus and Theo were stood in the waiting area.

Their eyes fell on me, and I began to make my way over, Venus beginning to speak as soon as I reached them. "Hey, Scott said that–"

"We're fighting back," I stated firmly, interrupting her words. The three of them seemed to exchange glances.

Venus frowned slightly, stepping forwards, her voice calm and steady. "Rebecca?"

"Listen, we're gonna fight this war," I began again, the words forming on my tongue not even surprising me one bit. It's something I'd been thinking about ever since Brett and Lori were murdered. Revenge. "And when the time is right," I glanced up again, my eyes shifting between the three of them. "I'm going to kill them. I'm going to kill Gerard, I'm going to kill Monroe. And anyone else who gets in my damn way."

"You're not thinking straight," Vee started, moving towards me again. "Your head is all over the place right now–"

I ignored her protest, the words going over my head as I focused my attention on Liam, who was watching me with a straight face. "You want Nolan to pay?"

"No," he shook his head. "I want them all to pay."

"Then we do this," I said, finding myself sharing a glance with Theo, who had a tight lipped smirk on his face. "Full dark. No stars. We stop them for good," I scanned over the group once more, my lips pulling together. "We make them pay."

"And you think Scott's gonna let you do it this way?" Venus questioned, disapproval dripping from her tone.

"It isn't about who's going to let me," I told her. "It's about who's going to stop me."

~

"You brought me grapes?" Mason questioned looking between the two of us with his eyebrows raised. He began to push himself up into a sitting position, gritting his teeth in pain as he struggled slightly. Venus reached out to give him a hand. "Do you realise how cliche that is?"

"We do," Vee replied casually, taking the seat beside his bed. She grinned up at him. "But we know you love us for it."

"That true," Mason confirmed, resting his head back against the pillow he'd propped up. "How are you both? Is everything ok?" He then turned to me, his smile faltering, and his eyes widening. "Your mom, Becca? Oh my god, your dad? And Lydia? Is everything– how is everyone?"

"Hey, relax," I said, cutting off Mason's rambling before he got himself worked up. "Everyone's ok."

He let out a long breath, nodding slowly at my response. He seemed to think quietly for a moment. "It was the hunters, wasn't it?"

He glanced at me momentarily, before turning to Venus for confirmation, who eventually answered his questioned. "Yeah, it was the hunters."

"Who?" He asked. "Monroe?"

Venus and I shared an unsure look, before she turned back to Mason, shrugging her shoulders in reply. "We don't know. Liam and Theo have gone to find out."

"So what now?" Mason asked, his attention falling on me for this question. "What happens next?"

I didn't miss a beat. "We fight."

Mason naturally turned to look at Venus, who had pursed her lips together. Neither of them commented for a short while, until Mason spoke up again. "How?"

"We're building our own army," I responded, recalling back to what Scott had told me earlier. I was glad to know we were both on a similar page. "And we're going to fight back. All of us."

Before Mason could respond, my phone began to ring, jolting the three of us out of our silence. I reached down into my pocket and pulled it out, flipping it over in my hand. I let out a defeated sigh when I saw Theo's name flashing on my screen.

"Who is it?" Vee questioned.

"Theo," I answered, glancing back down at my phone. "I should answer."

She narrowed her eyes slightly at the sound of his name, but neither her or Mason commented – though, I suspected they had some suspicions about Theo and I. That was a conversation I definitely didn't want to have any time soon.

"Hey," I said, turning away from the two of them, moving into a corner of the room. "What's up?"

"Hey, Kill Bill." I rolled my eyes at his choice of nickname. "Look, I know you're probably busy plotting revenge right now–"

"Theo, I'm going to hang up."

"Wait–" he rushed out, his faint laughter dying down. I tightened my grip on the phone. "There's something you need to see."

Immediately, I felt a bad feeling settling within me, and I straightened up, ignoring the worried glances I was receiving from Mason and Venus. "Did something happen?"

"It's difficult to explain," he told me. "But we need to talk. We think we know who the Anuk-ite is."

~

I'd arrived to meet Theo and Liam at the same time as Scott and Malia. The three of us had been led to a small room with a freezer. I hadn't asked why, or what, or how, but I definitely wished I had done, so I could have been prepared when we opened it to find dead, lifeless bodies, with blackened and soulless eyes and mouthes.

Seeming just as unnerved as me, Scott and Malia slammed the lid of the freezer shut as quickly as possible. "It's a bad day for finding bodies," Malia commented, staring down at the closed freezer with slightly widened eyes.

Although I was no longer seeing it, the image felt almost engraved in my mind. A shiver ran up my spine.

Liam and Theo had confronted Gabe earlier today, who had led them to where they'd been storing bodies of those they'd tested for being supernatural creatures. Upon that discovery, they'd also figured out that Aaron, a freshman on the lacrosse team, was one half of the Anuk-ite.

In all honesty, I was quite impressed that they'd managed to find all of that out. Though, thinking back to it, the Anuk-ite situation felt like something we should have pieced together a long time ago.

I remembered the night we were searching for Aaron, thinking he'd been harmed, and when the others found him alive and well, they mentioned feeling unsettled. It had been an odd situation, one that we probably should have thought more about. But now we did know the truth.

"And it'll be a lot more if we don't find Aaron's other half," Liam replied, as I moved away from the freezer, putting as much distance between it and myself  as I could.

"Which we know nothing about," Theo added on.

"We do know one thing," Scott countered. "We know it's a werewolf."

"Well, we need to find this other werewolf," Liam said. "Right now."

"Preferably before they merge," Theo stated, his words causing Malia to frown.

"What happens if they merge?"

"I don't know," Scott said, turning to face her. "But I've got a feeling it's not gonna be good."

"Any chance you've got together that army, Scott?" Liam questioned, shifting awkwardly on his feet. He spared a very brief glance at me.

"You're looking at it."

There was a small crash as the door opened, and Peter Hale's voice rang out. "Let's hope this thing doesn't feed off desperation," he said as he stepped through the doorway, cuts, bruises and all sorts covering him from some sort of scuffle. "Because this room reeks of it."

Scott took a curious step forwards. "What happened?"

"Hunters," he responded dryly, holding up a broken car wheel. "Destroyed my perfect automobile," he sighed almost dramatically, causing me to arch an eyebrow. "So if this thing had anything to do with it, I'd like to see it's demise is, appropriately, painful."

He slammed the wheel down the ground without warning, startling me slightly. Everyone exchanged glances.

"I thought you had two cars," Malia spoke up, looking up at her father suspiciously.

Peter held up another ripped out car part briefly, before letting it clatter to the floor.

"There's going to be hell to pay"

❥

A/N

Dark! Becca rise.

I know this chapter was a bit stop and start, but this is all purely build up to what's to come.

I'm super excited to write this darker version of Becca as I've always felt it was something in her ready to rise to the surface. After Brett and the events of this chapter, her motivations are completely set in place and I'm looking forward to it.

Thank you all for reading!