Chapter Thirty-One

After the full moon, the next day, Scott, Stiles, Stilinski and I are sitting a room at the Stilinski's. "So, this kids the real killer?" Sheriff Stilinski asked standing beside my Dad.

"Yeah." Stiles responded.

"No." Stilinski shakes his head.

"Yes." Stiles glared.

"No." Stilinski looked down at the book that has Matt on it. Stiles and Scott had figured out that the real killer is Matt, because at Lydia's party he couldn't swim and the Kanima can't swim. They put two and two together and we decided to tell Stiles' Dad's about it.

"Dad, come on." Stiles stands up. "Everybody knows that the police looks for ways to connect victims in a murder, okay? So, all you and Mr Madden have to do is like, look through their transcripts and figure out which class they all had in common."

"Yeah, expect for the fact that the rave promoter, Kara, wasn't in Harris's class." Sheriff Stilinski reminded him.

"All right, okay, you're right, sorry," Stiles apologised. "Then I guess they dropped the charges against him?"

Stilinski looked mad. "No. You know what? They're not dropping the charges. But that doesn't prove anything. Scott, Paige, do you believe this?"

"It's really hard to explain how we know this, but you just gotta trust us." Scott tells him.

"We know it's Matt." I added.

"Yeah, he took Harris's car, okay? Look, he knew that if a cop found tire breaks at one of the murders, and that if enough of the victims were in Harris' class, that they'd addrest him." Stiles explained our theory.

"All right, fine." Sheriff Stilinsi caves in. "I'll allow the remote possiblity, but give me a motive. I mean, why would htis kid want most of 2006 swift team and its coach dead?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Stiles asked. "Our swim team sucks. They haven't won in like, six years. Okay, we don't have a motive yet. I mean, come on, does Harris?"

Stillinski sighed. "What do you want me to do?"

"We need to look at the evidence." I chimed in.

"Yeah, that would be in the station, where me and your father no longer work at." Stilinski gives me a look. He'll always be the Sheriff to me.

"Trust me, they'll let you in." Stiles begged.

"Trust you?" Stilinski's eyes widen, pointing to his son.

"Trust... Trust Scott and Paige?" Stiles pointed behind him, where Scott and I stood.

"Them, I trust." Stilinski agreed.

⇉

Moments later, we walked into the police department. The Night Officer raises a wary eye when the door clicks open. With Stiles, Scott, and I behind him, Stilinski approaches the desk. "It's two in the morning." The officer spoke.

"Believe me, I wouldn't be here if it wasn't extremely important." Stilinski tells her.

Stiles to whisper to us. "We look at the hospital stuff first, okay?" Stiles informed us.

"Why?" Scott and I both asked back.

"Because all the murders were commited by Jackson, expect one, you remember?" Stiles asked.

Scott nodded. "The pregnant girl, Jessica."

"Yeah." Stiles softly said. "Since Matt had to kill her himself, somebody from the hosptail could've seen him."

I watched as the lady nods her head. "Thank you." Stilinski smiled. "Boys and girl." Stilinski moved into his office. Moments later, with Scott, Stiles, and I peering over his shoulder, Stilinski clicks through security footage on his screen. "I don't know, guys. I mean, look at this. There's a six-car pileup that night, the hospital was jammed."

"All right, just keep going." Stiles insisted. "Look, he had to pass one of the cameras on that floor to get to Jessica, okay? He's gotta be on the footage somewhere. Oh! Hold on! Stop, did you see that? Scroll back." Stilinski moves the footage back and then pauses on the image of a young man walking down the corridor. "That's him. That's Matt."

"All I see is the back of someone's head." Stilinski tells us.

"Matt's head, yeah." Stiles nodded. "I sit behind him in history. He's got a very distinct cranium, it's weird."

"Are you crazy?" Stilinski looked at his son.

"All right, fine." Stiles sighed. "Then look at his jacket, huh? How many people do you know who wear black leather jackets?"

"Millions, literally. Paige is wearing one right now." Stilinski gestured towards me. Stiles looked annoyed.

"Okay, can we scroll forward?" Stiles requested. "There's gotta be a shot of him coming at one of the cameras." Stilinski sighed and Stilinski keeps the footage going. "Right there, stop, stop. See? There he is again."

"You mean there's the back of his head again." Stilinski scowled.

"Okay, but look. He's talking to someone." Stiles pointed out. It was my Mom and Scott's Mom, Melissa.

"He's talking to my Mom." Scott leant forward.

"And mine." I worried.

While Scott talked with Melissa, I was in the corridor trying to ring my Mom. But I knew she was on duty, and probably wouldn't respond.

"You have reached the voicemail of 0—"

I hang up, groaning. Stiles popped his head through. "Hey, you reached her?"

I shake my head. "I never see her, or hear from her, so I doubt she'd respond to my messages." I shrugged, feeling slightly disappointed. I walked back into the room with Stiles. Scott was at the desk still talking to his Mom with Stilinski.

"This one's 16." Scott tried to explain what Matt looked like to his Mom. "He's got dark hair, looks like a normal teenager."

"Yeah, he looks evil." Stiles added.

"Scott, I already talked to the police about this." Melissa informed us.

"Okay, Mom, I'm gonna take a picture and send it to you." Scott tells her. He takes a photo of the book with Matt's face and sent it to his Mom. "Did you get it?"

"Yeah." Melissa replied.

"Do you recongsine him? Do you remember him?" Scott asked.

"Yeah, I did." Melissa answered. "I mean, I remember I stopped him with Paige's Mom because he was tracking mud in the hallway. Scott, what's going on?"

"It's nothing, Mom." Scott stuttered. "I'll explain later. I gotta go."

"We've got shoe prints alongside the tiles at the trailer site." Stilinski continued, bringing out the case file.

"And if they match, that puts Matt at the scene of three murders." Stiles beamed. "The trailer, the hospital, and the rave."

"Actually, four." Stilinski corrected. "A credit card receipt for an oil change was signed by Matt at the garage where the mechanic was killed."

"When?"

"A couple hours before you got there." Stilinski said.

"All right, Dad, if one's an incident, two a coincedence—"

"And three a pattern, what's four?" I asked, cutting off Stiles.

"Four's enough for a warrant." Stilinski informed us and I smirked. "Scott, call your Mom back, see how quick she can get here. Try and get her to bring Paige's Mom, too. If I can get an official ID, I can get a search warrant. Stiles and Paige, go to the front desk. Tell them to let Scott and Paige's Mom in when she gets here."

"On it!" Stiles and I chimed in together, walking towards the front desk.

I smiled at Stiles. "I can't believe it, we're so close to sovling this." I almost squealed with excitement. "We are literally about to bring his ass to the ground." I stopped in my tracks when I approached the desk, it seemed to empty. "Oh."

"Hello?" Stiles asked. Moving to the side of the desk, he swings the gate open to get behind it where the night officer lies on the floor dead, bloody slashes ripped across the front of her uniform.

I almost let out a scream but stopped when my eyes move to the empty holster at her side, seeing her gun missing. Not even ten seconds, I find it gripped in Matt's hand, barrel aimed right at our heads. My breath hitched as he cocks his head at us.

Matt gives us a look to indicate that he wants us to go into the back room with Stilinski and Scott. He cocks his gun. Stiles and I glanced at each other, unsure of what to do. Stiles stepped forward, not saying anything and I grabbed his arm.

I turned my head and shined my bright yellow eyes at him. As I was about to bring out my claws, he placed the gun against my head and my breath hitched, everything going back to normal. Matt gives us a stern look and we finally complied, but Matt kept the gun to my head harshly as Stiles stepped through the back room frist.

Matt pushed Stiles towards Scott but kept me on a tight leash, which I did not like. "Matt?" Stilinski asked, standing up. "It's Matt, right? Matt, whatever's going on, I guarantee you there's a solution that doesn't involve a gun."

"You know, it's funny you say that, because I don't think you're aware of just how right you are." Matt kept the gun at my head.

"I know you don't want to hurt people." Stilinski calmly said.

"Actually, I wanna hurt a lot of people." Matt corrected. "You three weren't on my list, but I could be persuaded."

"Why am I on your list?" I calmly asked.

Matt smirked at me. "Well, you see, you're sister Lucy, and fiance Sam aren't here to suffer for what they did to me. But, you are. You're going to be a replacement and they can feel my pain." Lucy and Sam had something do with this? My breath hitches even more at the thought of dying. "And, one way is to try dialing somebody on your cell phone, like McCall is doing." Scott clenched his jaw. "That could definitely get someone hurt. Everyone. Now!"

He pressed the gun further and I could feel it, my head pounding at the coldness. I looked at them, terrified. "Come on," Stilinski gestured for the phones.

"You too, beautiful." Matt spoke in my ear and the way he said that sent chills down my spine. Slowly, I reached into my back pocket and handed Stiles my phone, who then puts it on the table along with the other phones.

⇉

After tieing Stilinski in the jail cells, Matt had taken Scott, Stiles, and I upstairs. We walked to the front of the station, Matt behind us. He was close behind me, the gun jabbed in my back as a warning. I glanced down the hallway, seeing three polie officers on the floor, dead. They were covered in blood, and I let out a whimper.

"What are you gonna do, kill everyone in here?" Scott asked, his voice shaky.

"No, that's what Jackson's for." Matt answered. "I just think about killing them, and he does it."

He shoves us forward, especially me. Once we had gotten into the main office with the evidence, he forced us to shred it and delete all evidence. He ordered me to sit on the couch and watch.

"Deleted." Stiles answered. "And we're done. And, so, Matt, since all the people you brutally murdered desevered it because they killed you first, whatever that means, we're good here, right? I'll just get my Dad, and we'll go, you know, you continue on the whole vengeance thing. Enjoy the Kanima. Oh, and let Paige go, of course."

Suddenly, lights from the outside appeared and the sound of the vecnhical turned up. "Sounds like your Mom's here, McCall." Matt smirked.

"Matt, don't do this." Scott pleaded. "When she comes to the door, I'll just tell her to leave. I'll tell her we didn't find anything. Please, Matt." The door opens, indicating that Melissa is here. I could feel her presents, but not my Mom. Thank God.

"If you don't move... Now, I'm gonna kill Paige first, then Stiles, and then your Mom." Matt threatened. Scott, Stiles, and I moved, stepping outside Stilinski's office, we approach the door that leads to the front desk lobby with Matt behind us. "Open it."

"Please." Scott tried.

"Open. The. Door." Matt hisses.

Scott puts his hand on the knob and turns it. The door slowly clicks open allowing the boys to peer out to the front desk. It's not Melissa standing in the lobby, however—It's Derek. My heart almost skipped a beat at the surprise.

"Oh, thank God." I breath. But Derek sinks to his knees and drops forward, slamming down on the linoleum floor. Paralyzed yet again by Jackson. Standing right behind him.

Matt bends over Derek's paralized body. "This is the one that's controlling him?" Derek aked. "This kid?"

"Well, Derek, not everyone's lucky enough to be a big, bad werewolf." Matt mocked. "Oh, yeah, that's right. I've learnt a few things lately, werewolves, hunters, Kanimas. It's like a frickin' Halloween party every full moon. Expect for you, Stiles. What do you turn into?"

"Abonimal snowman. But, uh, it's more of, like, a wintertime thing, you know. Seasonal." Stiles explained and I had to press my lips together in order to stop laughing.

Jackson then claws Stiles and he falls to the ground. "Hey!" Scott tried, but Jackson raised his claws to his face.

"You bitch." Stiles collasped to the ground, on top of Derek. Derek grunts.

"Get him off of me." Derek seethed.

"Oh, I don't know, Derek." Matt smirked. "I think you two make a pretty good pair. Don't you think, Paige?" He looked over at me. I clenched my jaw, giving him a hard glare. "It must kind of suck though, to have all that power taken away from you with just a little cut to the back of your neck. I bet your not used to feeling this helpless."

"Still got some teeth. Why don't you come a little closer, huh?" Derek glares. "We'll see how helpless I am."

"Yeah, bitch." Stiles added.

Another vechincal approachs, causing my heart beat to almost drop. "Is that her?" Matt asked. "Do what I tell you to and I won't hurt her. I won't even let Jackson near her."

"Scott, don't trust him." Stiles tried.

With a sudden brutality, Matt kicks Stiles off Derek and then sets the sole of his shoe on Stiles's throat. I gasped a little. "This work better for you?" Matt asked.

"Okay, just stop. Stop!" Scott snapped.

"Then do what I tell you to." Matt glares.

"Okay." Scott agreed. "All right. Stop. Stop!" He lets go roughly, Stiles coughing and gagging.

"You, take him in there." Matt pointed to Jackson. "You...With me. And you." He looked over at me and my breath hitch. He pulled out a knife, and stabbed it in my shoulder. I let out a cry, my eyes widening at the burning sensation. "That should keep you busy for awhile."

I fall to my knees and Scott looked like he wanted to come with me, but Matt glared at him. With that, Scott and Matt disappear. I tried to remove the knife but it was in deep and I was too scared. While the boys were being put into the office, Jackson had disappeared after doing so and I was still on the floor, letting out whimpers.

"Paige, just rip it out, you'll heal." Stiles informed me.

"No, she won't. It's wolfsbane." Derek corrected and my eyes widened.

"Wolfsbane?!" Stiles exclaimed. "Where the hell did Matt get wolfsbane?!"

"Wolfsbane?" I muttered. "Am I going to die?"

"No, not necessarily." Derek tells me. I heard a gun shot and I gasped, feeling Scott's pain. God this is so hard. "You need to find a lighter and burn the knife to get it out of you."

"Burn it out?" My eyes widen. "Where am I going to find a lighter?"

"Officer Reagan," Stiles informed me and I nodded, knowing what he was talking about. "In the dr—"

"Draw beside her desk, yeah." I nodded.

"Be careful, Paige." Derek tells me. "Don't let Jackson get you, or Matt."

I huffed, annoyed. This whole situation was annoying. I crawled on the floor, trying to get to Officer Reagan's desk, until I heard a gun shot. I felt pain my leg and I winced. "Scott." I whispered as I heard Stilinski call for him down in the jail cell, and Melissa wailing out.

I hurried along and eventually, crawling through the hallways, I got to Officer Reagan's desk. I placed my hands on the draw and opened it, seeing a lighter. I crawled under the desk, trying to keep myself hidden and keep my breaths as shallow as possible.

The lighter turning on, I watched the flame light. I gulped nervously before hovering it over the knife that was stabbed in my shoulder.

I let out a muffled whimper, one of my hands covering my mouth, and kept pushing myself to put the lighter closer to my wound. Burn it out of you, Paige.

I mustered up the courage and it hurt like hell, I was trying so hard not to scream. I ripped the knife out of me, some wolfsbane ashes coming out.

It was working.

I dropped the knife that was covered in my blood onto the floor, and I kept burning myself for five seconds, before I could feel myself slowly beginning to heal. I let out a breath of air in relief as I dropped the lighter on the floor, the flame going out.

I walked slowly out, hearing Matt getting angry that I was gone. "Jackson, find her." I hear him snarl. It sent shivers down my spine and I slowly walked out, not wanting to get caught by Jackson.
"I'm here, I'm here." I stepped back into the office, finding Matt and Scott, with Stiles and Derek on the ground.

Matt furrows his eyes at me. "How did you heal?"

"I have a few tricks up my sleeve." I answered. "Matt, the evidence is gone. Why don't you just leave?"

"You think the evidence mattered that much, huh?" Matt glares. "No, no. I want the book."

Scott frowned. "What? What book?"

"The besiary." Matt snapped. "Not just a few pages, I want the entire thing."

"I don't have it." Scott informed him. "It's Gerard's. What do you want it for, anyways?"

"I need answers." Matt lowly said.

"Answers to what?"

"To this." Matt pulls up his shirt to reveal an unexpected development forming over the skin on his side.

⇉

After ordering Scott to send a text message to Allison to draw them here, Matt forced Scott and to walk the main enterance of the Sheriff Station. I kept glancing down at Scott's wound in his stomach, knowing just how much pain he is in.

"There." Matt orders, and we stood beside each other while Matt stands in front of us. Scott his hand from his stomach with a pained breath, Scott surveys his bloody wound while Matt watches. "You know why I feel sorry for you, McCall? Because right now you're thinking: How am I going to explain this when it heals? And the sad part is you don't get how incredible it is that you are healing. You know what happens to everyone else when they get shot? They die."

"Is that what happened to you?" Scott dared to ask. Matt scoffs, looking at the ground for a moment. He then places his hands on the desk in front of him. "You drowned, didn't you?"

Matt shakes his head. "He shouldn't have let them drink."

"What? Who? Matt, what do you mean?" I asked.

"Lahey!" Matt snapped. "He shouldn't have let them drink."

"What? Who was drinking?" Scott asked.

"The swim team, you idiots!" Matt glares. "Which includes your sister, Lucy and her Fiance, Sam, Paige. I didn't know what was happening. I didn't know they had just won state, and Lahey, he's letting his favourties come over to have a couple drinks to celebrate. Who cares if they're 17, right?"

"Were you at Isaacs?" Scott figured.

"He had his first edition Spider-Man, or was it Batman?" Matt asked. "And we were gonna make a trade. But them I'm over there and I hear music, and everyone's having a good time, and I see Sam. He throws Lucy in the pool and then Bennett goes in and—"

"Bennett?" Scott cuts him off. "What... The hunter?"

"And then Camden." Matt whispered. "Isaac's jarhead brother, he grabs me. He thinks it funny."

"They threw you in." I softly said.

"I yelled that I can't swim, but nobody listens. I go under and I swallow water, and no one cares, and I see these bodies underwater." Matt continued to explain. "I see Jessica got her hands down Sean's board shorts." The other two victims. "Tucker's grabbing Kara, Sam and Lucy are making out, and I'm drowning. I'm dying, and they're laughing. All of a sudden, I was just... I'm lying by the pool, and Lahey is right there, right above me and he says..." Matt walked over to me and Scott. "He says, you tell no one! This... This is your fault! You don't know how to swim? What little bastard doesn't know how to swim? You say nothing. You tell no one. No one!"

"And I didn't. I didn't tell anyone." He continues. "And I would see them at school and they wouldn't even look at me. I'd wake up in the middle of the night. I'd gasp for breath, and my parents, they thought I was asthmatic. They—They even gave me an inhaler. They didn't know that every time I closed my eyes, I... I was drowning. You know about that little white light that they talk about, you see when you die? Well, I didn't see anything. Just... Darkness. Everything was dark."

"But then..." Matt inhaled. "Then came the Argent's funeral, and everything changed. I was taking some photos, and then purely by accident... Lahey gets in one of the photos. I looked down at the screen on my camera, and I just have this unbelievable rage that fills up inside of me, and I just... I look at him and I... I wanna see him dead... And the next day... He actually was. You know, Einstein was right. Imagination is more important than knowledge. It was like something out of Greek mythology. Like the Furies came down to punish Orestes. You guys have no idea what I'm talking about, do you?"

"Was he the guy who stabbed out his eyes?" Scott questioned.

"God, that's Oedipus, you dumbass!" Matt turned sharply to Scott and I, close to us. "The Furies are deities of vengeance. Their tears ran of blood, and they had snakes for hair. If there was a crime that had gone unpunished, the Furies would do the punishing." He looks over to see Jackson starring back at us. "Jackson is my fury. And when I saw him the next night... It was like this bond had been cemented between the two of us."

"I knew he killed Lahey for me," Matt continued. "And I knew he would do it again. So, I went to Tucker's garage. I even paid for the oil change, and guess what? He didn't even recongise me. So, when he wasn't looking, I took a shot of him with my camera, and in a few hours, he was dead. So, I took more pictures. All I had to do was take their picture... And Jackson would take their life."

Suddenly, the whole station was cut to black and it made me flinch. "What is this? What's that? What's going on?" Matt bellowers. "What's going on?"

"I don't know." Scott answered.

Headlights blaze into the bullpen, flooding it with a brilliant glow. high beams from what must be several SUV's. The answer comes with an explosion as the bullpen windows burst inward, millions of fragments showering down on us.

Arms above my head to shield myself from falling debris, Scott and I duck down under a hail of gunfire blasting through the bullpen. We hide under the desk together, my heart rate increasing incredibly.

A smoke bomb fly in. The moment it hits the floor, a blinding flare lights the room and smoke begins pouring out of its spinning body. "Come on, let's go." Scott whispered to me and we both dashed out of the room. Scott took care of Jackson, grabbing Jackson by the shirt. He spins, slamming him through the door and crashing back out to the lobby.

With a triumphant breath, Scott and I turned back to Stilinski's Office where Derek struggles to pull himself up with one hand while pushing Stiles forward with the other. "Take him. Go!" Derek snapped.

Together, Scott and I haul Stiles' limp body up, dragging him out and down the hallway. Into the next office where Scott slams the door shut, locking it, only to see Jackson smash through a moment later. Scott and I dragged Stiles into the next room, another door whipping shut and locking.

But a snarling Jackson barraels through this one as well until finally, Scott and me, and a barely mobile Stiles tumble into the interrogation room, steel door closing just as Jackson slames into it. Scott flips the dead bolt and nothing. All of us gasping, we listen. But all we hear are panicked shouts from Melissa and Stilinski in the cell block just nearby.

Scott sits Stiles down on the chair. "Don't move." Scott informed him. Stiles gives him a look. "You know what I mean. Paige, keep an eye—"

"I'm already gone!" I yelled, running down the hall and bumped into Allison who held a crossbow right in front of me with a serious look on her face. She wore all black, looking like a goth girl. "Whoa! Allison."

"Where's Derek?" She demanded me in a soft tone.

I furrow my eyebrows. "What are you doing?"

"If you're not going to tell me, then get out of my way." She snapped.

"Allison—"

"Where is he?" She hisses out, retrieving her crossbow, holding it up.

"What happened?" I asked, noticing that she looked rather upset.

"Paige..." She pants. "Paige, you and Scott need to stay away from me right now. You need to go. Just stay out of my way." She storms by, leaving me utterly confused.

I shake my head, having other priatoies to focus on. I need to get to Melissa and Stilinski, fast. I ran as fast as I could, getting down to the cell in three minutes. I stumbled back into the hallway, seeing that Stilinski had freed himself and Melissa screamed as Matt knocks him out. My eyes go to the floor, seeing Stiles trying to crawl to them.

"Matt? Matt. Please listen to me." Melissa begged. Matt turned to Melissa while Stilinski was lying on the ground, knocked out. I wait a little bit, wanting to see if Matt would do anything. And if he would, I will personally kill him myself. "My son has just been shot, and I've heard other gunfire," Stiles tried to move forward but I picked him up swiftly, placing him against the wall and using my hand to stable him on his chest. "And I don't know what's happening, but can you please just let me see my son?"

"How totally clueless are you people?" Matt asked. A low growl could be heard from the corner, Derek was standing in another doorway, his eyes glowing bright red and he had transformed. Melissa looked completely shocked.

Jackson had brushed by us, hissing as the Kanima at Derek. Derek growled back. The Kanima charges first, Derek moves fast, clawed hands reaching up to grab the creature and slam it down to the floor.

But the Kanima flips back up, moving with uncanny agility, bouncing from wall-to-wall, grabbing onto the bars of the cell and swinging up to move with lightning speed.

I transformed as the Kanima was starring at Melissa, but Scott had already charged forward, stabbing the kanima into it's back with his claws, pulling him off the cell and onto the floor. Melissa gasped.

"Oh, God. Scott." Melissa kneels on the ground, her hands clutching the bars. "Scott, are you okay? Scott?" Scott turned to her, fully transformed. Melissa lets out a gasp, and slowly stands up at the same time he does. I transformed back to my human self, glancing at Stiles to see his reaction. "No." She whimpered, her hands covering her mouth, crying. Scott runs off.

"Melissa..." I run in and found the keys, letting her out. She falls into my arms, crying her heart out. And I even begin to tear up, as I rubbed her back, trying to comfort her.