...

It's funny how fast things can change in one night. What was once something big in Y/n's mind, now seemed trivial in the grand scheme of things. Yes, she was hurt and upset with the people who kept the truth about Peter from her, but after everything that happened the night before, she was done being hurt and upset. She always knew that tomorrow wasn't promised, but she got a firm reminder about it, in the form of almost being burned alive. She didn't want to let any bitterness she had keep her from time with the people she cared about.

"Alan?" Y/n called when she walked into her house. Derek and Braeden had taken care of the guards while Y/n, Malia, Scott, and Liam had gotten cleaned up, making sure to get the gas off of them. The sun was starting to rise as Scott took her home and she was hoping Alan hadn't left for the clinic yet. There was some things she wanted to say.

"In the kitchen." He called. When she entered the room she saw him drying his hands with a dish towel, probably from washing a dish that he ate breakfast out of. He looked at her and smiled as he set the towel on the counter. "Hey, how was the bonfire?" Without answering she closed the distance and wrapped her arms around him. He was surprised by the action but still reciprocated the hug. "Hey, what's wrong? Did something happen?"

She shook her head as she hugged him tighter. "That doesn't matter right now. I just wanted to say I'm not mad anymore, and I understand why you never told me about Peter. I'm sorry I was ever upset in the first place."

"No, you don't need to apologize for that. It's natural for you to feel that way. It was a big surprise, I'm sure."

"Well, it's not so big anymore. And it's not the most important thing at the moment. I just need to tell you this. Please. Thank you for taking me in and caring for me. Thank you for being my father." Alan's eyes widened in surprise. Sure, she's called him 'dad' a handful of times, but she's never actually called him her father. He's always done his best to take care of M/n's daughter, raising her and loving her as if she were his own. As far as he was concerned, Y/n was his daughter.

Alan smiled and hugged her tighter. "It's my pleasure." After a moment longer in the embrace he put his hands on her shoulders and lightly pushed her back, making her loosen her grip and let her arms fall. "As much as I enjoy these moments, I know there's a reason behind it. What happened?"

She told him everything that had happened recently, including finding out Genevieve was dead, trying to figure out what Jordan was, the bonfire, and the encounter with the would-be assassins. "The dead pool is easier to get than ever now. Anyone who had access to a printer within the past 48 hours will have seen it."

"Which means anyone could be tempted to come after all of you."

She nodded. "Anything could happen to me, or to any of my friends and family. And it would kill me if I or one of them died and I had wasted all of this time avoiding everyone and not talking about it. I've already talked to Scott, I've talked to you, I just need to talk to Lydia."

"What about Stiles?"

She sighed. "I'll talk to him, too. It'll just be a bit harder. Stiles knowing what it meant to me and still not saying anything hurt the most. But I will talk to him. I have to. I love him and I don't want to keep avoiding him."

...

Lydia was sitting in one of the chairs outside of Noah's office, waiting for Meredith to start talking. She pulled out her phone and looked at Y/n's number. She thought about calling her in the off chance that she would answer, but she hesitated. After a moment she decided to just send a message telling her that Meredith was actually alive, had faked her death, and was the banshee behind the dead pool. She finished it by saying that they were at the Sheriff's station, but Meredith has yet to say anything about what she has done.

Barely half an hour passed when she saw Y/n walk in. Lydia was surprised by her sudden arrival and that she was walking over to her. "Hey, are you okay?" Y/n asked as soon as she was close. "I mean, Meredith actually being alive must have been a shock."

"Um, yeah, it was. I'm a little shaken, but I'll be fine. What are you doing here?"

"I got your message and I wanted to make sure you were okay."

"I didn't think you would come."

"I know. I may have been upset, but that will never stop me from worrying about you. You're my best friend, Lydia. I'm sorry I made you think I would just leave you."

Lydia smiled a little at that. Of course she wouldn't, Y/n is one of the most loyal people she has ever met. It was silly to think she wouldn't show up when something big happened. "It's okay. You're here now, and you proved me wrong. Thank you."

Y/n took Lydia's hand to make her stand up before pulling her into a hug. "I will always be here for you. I love you, Lydie."

"I love you, too, N/n."

After a moment in the embrace Y/n pulled away and they both took a seat. "So tell me what happened. How did you find her?" And Lydia told her everything that had happened. She and Stiles had figured out the key for the list her grandmother had left her, and with Jordan's help found out it was a list of suicides that had happened in Eichen House, including Lorraine's. They had gone to Eichen with the idea that they could give Brunski a bribe so that they could find more clues. As it would turn out Brunski was actually the cause of Lorraine's death and was planning on being the cause of Stiles' and Lydia's death as well. Luckily Jordan figured it out as well and showed up just in time, shooting Brunski to save them. Lydia had thought Brunski was the one to use Meredith and killed her when she helped them, but with his dying breath he laughed at them and revealed that he was actually the pawn in Meredith's game.

Lydia could see Y/n tense when she told her that Stiles was at the hospital for a concussion. Lydia knew Stiles keeping that secret from her hurt her the most, and she could see how much Stiles was hurting since Y/n stopped talking to him. "Y/n, you should go see him."

"I want to, but..." But suddenly she was nervous, and Lydia could see that.

"Please, talk to him. He's beating himself up over everything. We all were, but he's been harder on himself." She took Y/n's hand and gave it an encouraging squeeze. "You can do it." She took a deep breath and nodded.

"I can do this."

"Now."

"Now?"

"Yes, now!" Lydia urged.

"What about Meredith?"

"I can handle it. I'm gonna try and get in to talk to her if the Sheriff will let me."

"Okay. But just remember, be yourself." At Lydia's confused look she elaborated. "Before, you were harsh with her because you let your frustration and anxiety get the better of you. The Lydia I know is kind and gentle. Be yourself."

Lydia smiled and looked down. "Okay."

...

Stiles was sitting on the edge of the hospital bed, waiting for Melissa to return. She wouldn't let him leave due to his concussion and he reluctantly agreed to stay, but he had asked her if she could find a tape player. After a while there was a knock on the door and he turned as Melissa entered the room. "You find a tape player?" He asked.

"No. But I found someone looking for you." He lifted his hand in a gesture that it was he was okay with her letting the visitor in, but the last person he was expecting to walk through the door when Melissa waved them in was Y/n.

He stood up from the bed to face her as she walked into the room. Y/n gave Melissa a little smile as she closed the door behind her and then turned to face the only person left in the room. "Hey." She greeted.

"Hey."

"I heard you almost got killed."

"I heard you almost got killed."

"Are you okay?"

"Brunski punched me in the face. Little concussion. Turns out he's a serial killer."

"That's... Not surprising, actually. He was such a creep."

"Yeah. What about you?"

"We, uh... We almost got set on fire." She fiddled with a random thread on her clothes, the memories of the previous night not the funnest thing to think about.

"Everyone okay?"

"Pretty much. As okay as they can be."

"Are you okay?" He knew very well about her fear, sometimes having to comfort her when she had the occasional nightmare about it.

She nodded. "I will be." They lapsed into silence, and Y/n hated how awkward it was. Maybe she wasn't quite ready to have this talk as she thought she was. "I think I should go." She turned towards the door.

"You don't have to."

"I should see how Lydia is doing with Meredith."

"O- okay."

She mentally flinched at the slightly crestfallen tone of his voice, but she was already commited to leaving. Yet when she pulled on the handle the door didn't budge. She tried again, but still no success. "It's locked."

"Why would she lock the door?" Stiles muttered as he went over to try it himself. It didn't move for him either despite his attempts at jiggling it. "Uh... Hey, Melissa?" He called, trying the door again. "Melissa."

"Why would she lock the door?" Y/n asked as she paced a bit from the door.

"Maybe she didn't mean to." He turned towards her.

"How do you accidentally lock a door?" Honestly, she could have easily opened it with her magic, but a part of her didn't want to.

"Well, maybe she wasn't thinking, exactly." His hands moved as he talked and she couldn't help but follow the movement. She always liked watching him talk with his hands. "Or wasn't thinking it through. You know, sometimes people do things without thinking them through." She could tell when he slowly stopped talking about Melissa and started refering to himself, and she followed along, because it somehow felt a little easier this way.

"She's so smart, but that was kind of stupid."

"No, even smart people can do stupid things. You know, 'cause they think that it's the right. And I don't think we should hold it against her, you know, for the rest of her life! Especially because she's tried apologizing hundreds of times through texts and voicemails."

"Will she keep apologizing?" She unconcsiously took a step closer to him.

"Yes, for the rest of her life, if she has to." His tone softened as he also took a step closer, just a foot apart from her now.

"I don't want that." She lightly shook her head as she glanced down for a moment before meeting his eyes again. "I get why you did what you did. You wanted to protect me, make sure I didn't get hurt by him again. But I don't want you to shield me from things. I want to face them with you, because that's what you do when you love someone. You face the bad things together. And I love you, Stiles. So much. So, please, don't hide anything from me again, okay?"

He gently took her hand and pressed his lips to the ring he gave her a while back. "I promise." He spoke against her skin.

The corners of her lips twitched up into a sly smile. "I think you can seal it with a better kiss than that." He also smiled as he pulled her closer by her waist and brought her lips to his own. Her hands trailed up his arms and across his shoulders, one of them lightly raking through his hair. They only pulled away when they heard the door click and they both looked over to see it slowly opening by itself. She looked at him again. "Did I hear you saying something about tapes?"

"Yeah. It was Brunski's 'thing' I guess. He recorded himself when he killed those people. One of them was Lydia's grandmother's, and I think there's something on it." He pulled the cassette from his pocket and held it up for her to see it labled 'Lorraine Martin'.

"I have a radio in my room that has a CD and cassette player."

"You have a tape player?"

"Yes, I have a cassette player. They're also called cassettes, Stiles." He furrowed his brows at her and she just chuckled to herself, taking his hand and leading him out of the room. When they got to Y/n's house they found Malia in Y/n's room, laying on her bed and flipping through a random book. "Hey, Mal. Perfect, you can help us."

"Okay." Malia shrugged and sat up on the edge of the bed. Y/n fished the cassette from Stiles' pocket and went over to her dresser where her radio was sitting. She grabbed it and brought it over to her desk, letting Stiles take the chair, and put the tape in. Stiles pressed 'play' as Y/n sat next to Malia, and the three listened to Lorraine's final moments.

"Let's go, Lorraine." Brunski's voice spoke through the speakers.

"Listen to me. Please listen. There's something I have to do, something I have to stop."

"I have to take you back to Eichen, Lorraine." Stiles turned the volume up.

"No. No, I don't think you're gonna be taking me anywhere. I can hear the recorder in your pocket. It's on now, isn't it? You're making a tape. Just like you taped the others."

Stiles paused it. "This didn't happen at Eichen House." He said.

"But then where did she go?" Malia wondered.

"That's what we're gonna find out." Y/n said as she played it again.

After a few times of listening to it, Malia spoke up. "There's something in the background. It almost sounds familiar."

Y/n nodded a bit. "I think I heard it, too."

Stiles rewound it a bit. "-back to Eichen, Lorraine."

"No. No, I don't think you're gonna be taking me anywhere."

"That's it. That's where it is. Play it again and turn it up." Stiles did as Malia asked, turning it as loud as it could go.

"-back to Eichen, Lorraine."

"No. No, I don't think you're gonna be taking me anywhere. I can hear the recorder in your pocket. It's on now, isn't it? You're making a tape. Just like you taped the others."

In the pauses between Lorraine's words Y/n could hear it. The faint sound of a needle scratching against a record. But this one was specific, and she spent hours listening to it with Lydia, Malia, and Kira. "It's the record player." Y/n said making Malia's eyes light up in recognition.

"That's it!"

"What record player?" Stiles asked to which Y/n answered.

"The one in the study of the lake house."

"So she escaped from Eichen House to go back to listen to a record player?"

"Well, she was like Lydia, right? She was a banshee?" Malia questioned.

"Yeah, but only once. She predicted Maddy's death and then spent decades just trying to predict something else."

"What if she finally did?" Y/n could tell where Malia was going.

"And what if this time, it wasn't just one death, it was a lot of deaths?" Malia continued.

"Like the dead pool." Stiles realized.

"What if all those years ago, Lorraine predicted it? And she knew there was something in the study that could stop it?"

"Then we're going to the lake house." Stiles pointed at her.

They stood up and were about to head out when Y/n got a message. "Actually, you guys are going to the lake house." She said as she looked at her phone.

"What? You're not going?"

"More greedy bastards are gunning for them and Scott needs some extra man power." She put her phone in her pocket and walked over to her window, opening it and climbing onto the window sill.

"Just be careful, yeah?"

Y/n smirked over her shoulder. "Only because you asked." She jumped out of the window and disappeared from sight, the rush of wind and leaves following her departure.

...

While Chris went around his warehouse putting up motion sensor alarms, Scott watched over the remaining few of Satomi's pack with Kira, Derek, and Braeden. A sudden wind picked up, carrying the sound of skittering leaves and making the plastic partitions flutter. A silhouette behind one of them put everyone on guard, Braeden pointing her gun at it. The shadow moved and Y/n stepped out from behind the partition.

"I didn't miss the party, did I?"

Scott smiled when he saw her and everyone relaxed realizing this was more help and not a danger. "Thanks for coming."

"No problem." Y/n looked around as Satomi's pack continued to talked amongst themselves, Braeden and Derek loaded guns, and Kira fidgeted anxously with her sword. Y/n walked over to her with a kind smile. "Hey, I heard your mom got hurt. How is she?"

Kira looked at Y/n in surprise, not expecting the witch to go up to her and talk to her. It took her a moment to realize what Y/n said before she nodded. "She's good. She's healing." Kira nodded again and looked away, unable to help but feel awkward.

Y/n quietly sighed, sensing how the fox was feeling. "Kira, I'm not mad at you."

Kira looked up at Y/n again with a bit of hope. "You're not? Because I would totally understand if you were. I mean, it was such a big thing, but they said we couldn't tell you because he's, like, a bad guy and I didn't really know the full story so-"

"Kira," Y/n huffed a laugh making Kira stop her nervous ramble. "I'm not mad, because there's nothing to get mad at you for. You're still trying to figure out your place in our little mixing pot of a pack, so I don't blame you for keeping it to yourself. If I were in your shoes, I probably would have too."

"I like having you as a friend and I was worried that I had messed it all up."

Y/n shook her head. "You didn't. And I like having you as a friend, too." Kira beamed and pulled Y/n into hug making the witch chuckle. When they pulled apart, Y/n saw Scott walk up to Derek, who had been looking at Satomi and her pack.

"They'll be okay." Scott assured.

"They've got claws and fangs. But they're not fighters." Derek responded, moving over to where Braeden was standing.

"That's why I called you and Y/n." Y/n and Kira moved to stand with the three as well.

"Well, try to remember I don't have claws and fangs anymore either."

"That's why he called me." Braeden said.

"Am I the only one still hoping this is all just a false alarm?" Kira asked. "I mean, it's possible we could wait here all night and nothing happens. Right?"

"I hate to be the one to say it, but the chances of that happening are slim to none." Y/n said. Kira frowned a little, but she was half expecting it.

"Have you guys heard anything from Stiles or Lydia yet?" Braeden asked.

"Lydia's still talking to Meredith." Scott answered first.

"Stiles and Malia are going to the lake house." Y/n added.

"They're trying to stop it."

"What if there is no stopping it?" Brett suddenly asked, making the five turn to look at him. "What if it doesn't end until we're all dead?"

After a moment of silence, Derek was the one to speak up. "Then let's send a message. Let's make tonight perfectly clear to anyone with a copy of that list. It doesn't matter if they're professional assassins, Hunters, or an amateur who just picked up a gun. Anyone who thinks they can hunt and kill us for money, is gonna be put on another list. Our list. They get to be a name on our dead pool." Braeden cocked her shotgun for emphasis.

"Hoorah." Y/n cheered to herself with a smile.

Chris came back after a little while, pausing for a moment as he saw that Y/n was now there. "How did you get in here?" He asked.

"Magic." She smirked and wiggled her fingers. He blinked and shook his head, not wanting to question it anymore.

A few hours pass and the sun has set, the warehouse being lit by pale green lights. If there was any hope left that no one was going to come for them, it was dashed when an alarm beeped. "They're coming." Chris warned.

Not two minutes passed when flash grenades were thrown in their direction. "Get back!" Braeden yelled. The grenades went off, smoke following the bright light and then everyone was dodging a volley of bullets. Hunters dressed in tactical gear and carrying heavy duty artillery flooded the space, littering the floor with discarded shell casings. Hiding behind pillars and discarded furniture, Chris, Braeden, and Derek fired back any chance they got. Kira cut down any partition that got in her way, one of them revealing a Hunter that she kicked into a shelf. She turned and ran passed a shifted Scott who knocked down a Hunter of his own, punching him a few times before moving on. Satomi spun her spike in her fingers before Chris stood in front of her and shot down some Hunters that were coming for her.

Y/n used her magic to it's full extent as she moved through the warehouse. These Hunters reminded her of the ones that came for her and her mother so long ago. Even if the motives weren't the same, one hunting for money and the other hunting for the thrill of the kill, they were no different. They were coming for innocent people, a pack wanting to live in peace, and they were coming for her family. With a fire of determination making her violet eyes shine brighter, she would appear in front of a Hunter in the blink of an eye, and in a second she would manipulate a partition to snatch them up and haul them up to the ceiling. With a flick of her wrist a gun that had been pointed at her was now flung into the distance and the Hunter sent crashing into old furniture. Another Hunter who was about to shoot Brett was suddenly pulled to the ground by his feet, old wires coiling around his ankles like snakes and dragging him off, screaming and clawing at the ground.

While fighting Derek and Braeden ended up back-to-back as they shot off more rounds. "How many are there?" He yelled over the noise.

"Too many!" She fired off another shot.

Scott looked around for a moment after taking down another Hunter. Seeing that there was barely a dent in the enemy forces, he stopped Brett as he ran by. "Get the others back. Tell them to hide." Brett nodded and ran off to do as told. Scott got hit in the arm by a bullet as he started to look for Kira. "Kira! Kira!"

Lori, Brett's little sister, walked slowly as she tried to stay out of the way and unnoticed, flinching at every gunshot she heard. "Brett?" She called. "Brett, where are you?" There was a figure in the smoke, and for a moment she thought it was her brother. But when it got closer she froze as she realized it was a Hunter who now had his gun trained right on her. She closed her eyes, waiting for the inevitable, but it never came. Her eyes shot open when she heard a crash, seeing Y/n who had just pushed the Hunter back with her magic. When the Hunter started to get up Scott came to their aid, grabbing him and slamming him onto a desk. Scott climbed on top of him and slammed the Hunter's head into the desk a few times before he started to claw at his chest.

Y/n grabbed Lori, who clung to the witch as tight as she could, and held her close, keeping the girl's face tucked into her shirt to keep her from looking at what was happening. "Don't look. Keep your eyes closed." Y/n told her. It was bad enough she was in the middle of this battle, she didn't need to see the affects of Scott starting to lose control. Scott took the man's helmet off and continued to slash at him, the man starting to cough up some blood. Y/n watched in shock as Scott's features shifted even further, becoming more animalistic as he slowly lost himself. "Scott, stop!" She yelled when it looked like he was about to take the final blow. Scott paused, hand in the air and poised to end it, when he seemed to realize what he was doing.

A moment later the sounds of phones buzzing slowly filled the warehouse and the gunfire ceased as the Hunter's started to retreat. Scott pulled the phone out of the Hunter's pocket and looked at the screen. He glared at the man below him and turned it around so he could see the message.

THE BENEFACTOR: ALL CONTRACTS TERMINATED.

When it seemed like the coast was finally clear everyone gathered back together, bruised and a little bloody, but still alive. Scott and Chris nodded at each other as he walked by with Kira. "Is it over?" She asked him. "Really over?" He looked at her for a moment, and nodded.

"Yeah. I think it is."

~~~
Published: 3/2/22
Edited: 4/12/22

☽︎𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒎𝒆☾︎

☽︎𝑰𝒇 𝑷𝒆𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒓𝒂𝒊𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝒀/𝒏☾︎