1.19 | The Benefactor

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The ride over to Eichen House was tense for the four occupants in Jordan's car, Lydia sat in the passenger seat taking glances in the rearview mirror at Stiles and Jasmine who were snuggled up in the back seat with Stiles doing what he can to keep his girl calm after the information they had learned about Andrea Miller. Leaving Jordan in the car, the three teens heading into the building and once they passed the receptionist, they soon found themselves standing in front of Brunski in his office. The man's egotistical presence was discomforting to Jasmine, the way his eyes flickered over the two girls was even more uncomfortable than his natural aura.

"A thousand," Brunski told the three of them, the price of his bribe was outrageous but the answers they needed where potentially life and death. "A thousand dollars? To use one little key to open one little file room? Are you out of your mind?" Stiles snapped back in disbelief, he fought the urge to hold Jasmine close to him but held no trust towards Brunski or his intentions. "When you get the keys, you make the price," Brunski replied carelessly, he held a cunning smirk on his face. "Right. You actually think we have that kind of money?" Stiles snarked as he crossed his arms so he wouldn't grab Jasmine's hand and pull her out of there.

"I know you don't── if you did, Daddy Sheriff would have paid the bill by now," Brunski responded with his own snarky tone that made Jasmine's eyes narrow. "That's why I'm talking to her," Brunski added as he motioned towards Lydia who sighed and pulled her purse free. "I have five hundred," Lydia pulled out the money and held it out to the man who took it, bringing it to his nose to take a whiff before putting it into his pocket. "Follow me," Brunski told them after putting a cassette tape into the player, leading the three teenagers out of the room and down the hallway.

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Victoria had her hands on Malia's hips as the two danced against each other, the coyote was drinking from a flask that had been filled with vodka and despite Victoria being amused by the fact the coyote thought she could get drunk, she left her to her own fun cause even placebo affects can ease a person's worries. Unfortunately, Scott was too responsible as an Alpha and was happy to ruin the fun. "I just want to talk──" Scott was cut off by Malia, "Well, I just want to dance with my girl." Victoria smirked hearing Malia's claim on her, she hadn't been surprised by it considering werecoyote's were mostly known for their claims on a partner.

"We had our reasons. We didn't tell you about Peter──" Scott sighed as Malia cut him off once again, "──To protect me. That's what Peter said you would say. And guess what he said next?" Victoria raised a brow as she slipped her arms around Malia's waist, pulling her closer as she faced Scott who was very interested in the conversation. "That you were right. Does that surprise you?" Malia asked noticing the way Scott's brow raised. "No... It makes me wonder what he wants. Malia, we need to stay togerher. You, me, Jasmine, Stiles──" Interrupted by Malia again, "I don't wanna talk about Stiles. I just want to dance, get drunk and go home with Vicky."

"Kitten, you can't get drunk. Metabolism and healing prevents it," Victoria remarked in Malia's ear, Scott nodding in agreement with her words. However, both of them were shocked to see Malia stumble almost as though she were drunk. "Is this what drunk feels like? It doesn't feel as good as I hoped..." Malia whined as Victoria moved to steady her, looking down at her with worry before looking at Scott and saying, "Something's happening. And it's not gonna be good." Scott nodded before leading the two over to where Mason sat with a drinking Liam; to outsiders, he looked intoxicated but to Scott, it was something much more and possibly much worse.

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Back in Eichen House, Brunski stood by the door as the three teenagers headed inside and looked around. "Good?" Brunski asked them. "Yeah. We can help ourselves," Stiles replied to him with indifference before turning to Lydia, "Uh, Lydia, you got the list?" Lydia nodded and handed the list over to Stiles who looked down at it as Jasmine turned to one of the shelves. "Lydia, why did you write another two names on here?" Stiles asked with a sigh, frowning deeply. "I didn't write anything..." Lydia replied, her brows furrowed to show her clear confusion at his question. "This is your handwriting," Stiles told her as he held out the list for her to see.

"Why would I write another two names?" Lydia asked him. "Why would you write mine and Jasmine's?" Stiles replied with his own question causing alarm bells through Jasmine's mind. "It was the tapes, wasn't it?" Brunski asked from the door, a cunning smirk on his face before he hit Stiles over the head, grabbing Jasmine before sticking a needle in her neck when her eyes began to shine. Lydia screamed out as Brunski turned to her, his gaze darkened threateningly, "Your turn, sweetheart." Jasmine blinked slowly before her eyes fell shut, her heart slowing to a steady beat as exhaustion washed over her.

Stiles' eyes didn't dare stray from Jasmine who was across the room bound with ropes while Stiles and Lydia were back to back with a beam between them, tied in place to prevent either of them escaping. "HELP US! Help us!" Lydia screamed out but no matter how she screamed or yelled, no one would be coming to save them. "Lydia, there's a lot of people screaming for help in a place like this. I don't think anyone's listening," Stiles remarked, his gaze darkened at the slow and shallow pace of Jasmine's breathing; his jaw clenching as he felt rage simmering within him. "Well, I'm open to better ideas... Because, if you didn't notice, all those suicides were murders," Lydia told him, sorrow filling her chest knowing that Jasmine's mother was on the list too.

"That's why she left you the message..." Stiles told her, his body tense hoping for Jasmine to open her eyes. "She predicted her own death. She knew I'd figure it out──" Lydia trailed off as Brunski interrupted them, "──Once you were able to predict your own." Brunski walked back into their view from the shadows as he continued, "But they weren't murders. I'm not some serial killer like Ted Bundy, going around cutting up college girls." Stiles scoffed at the man, he didn't like him before and now he definitely loathed him. "No, you're just an Angel of Death," Stiles replied with his usual snarky, sarcastic tone.

"I don't think you understand my level of commitment to my work here, Stiles. There are people here who don't simply need treatment── they need release. I helped them. I helped Lorraine," Brunski expressed like he was some divine gift to those who had been killed by him. "You killed her," Lydia gritted out painfully. "I helped her," Brunski doubled down on that belief before adding, "And now, you can help me... Because there is something about it that's always bothered me." Lydia looked at him confused as Brunski held out a small radio ready to play something to the teenager unaware of the young Siren slowly waking up.

"My mother..." Jasmine muttered out gaining Brunski's attention, he made his way over to her and brushed her hair from her face. "Andrea Miller was a spectacular woman, Jasmine... her abilities went past just the skills of a Siren," Brunski spoke with awe in his tone, Stiles glared heavily at the man touching his soulmate wishing nothing more than to break his wrist. "Did you know that if the gene of a Siren wasn't so powerful, you and Andrea would've been Banshees," Brunski added, his tone wistful but his eyes held a sense of pity, "Your mother fought the hardest, Jasmine... your name was the last thing she said before she screamed."

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"It's not too uncommon for former lovers to find their way back to one another," Denali spoke as she looked up at her father, her tone was hopeful but the dazed expression on Deatons face told her that the words didn't have the impact she wanted. "Uh, you asked me to look into the Island that Sirens originally came from and... I couldn't find much," Denali added as she sat down on the edge of the counter, she tilted her head intrigued as her father placed three small jars by her, "But I figured that Jasmine would be better versed with the information or maybe Natasha could be better help." Deaton opened the first jar, the symbol of a clam and pearl drawn on the front.

"Natasha and her parents have been debating moving to Beacon Hills to be closer to Jasmine," Denali continued as Deaton poured a circle of shiny white dust on the counter, the size of a average donut. Denali watched as her father opened the second jar, an image of a sea urchin, placing the crushed dust in the center of the circle. "What are you doing?" Denali asked as she dropped off of the counter and crossed her arms, brows furrowed. "Sirens are protectors and a Nemeton is a Beacon," Deaton began as he opened the final jar pulling out some unfamiliar dust, instead of an image on the side, it read gömbhal.

"And that matters why?" Denali asked confused about what her father was doing with these strange ingredients. "Sirens have two specific threats to their existence. What are they?" Deaton questioned his daughter, testing her knowledge as he sprinkled the dust over the circle. "Hunters, obviously. They typically hunt for two reasons; poach the scales. Or because the Siren is their lead to a pack," Denali answered with a shrug, her mind trying to remember the second threat to Sirens. "And the second?" Deaton asked as he pulled a matchbox from the drawer to the side. "Uh, I can't quite remember," Denali answered truthfully.

"The second are the Leshy," Deaton spoke as he lit the match, dropping it into the dust causing it to spark up; the flame turning from orange to blue and finally, burning green until the dust was gone. "Right. Forest spirits that protect the forest and its animals. However, they are known for being tricksters, using their shapeshifting ability to appear as a man to confuse wanderers in the woods or lure them astray," Denali said, her lessons returning to her mind, "They consider Sirens as threats due to them escaping their natural place while Leshy's are trapped living in the forest in loneliness so they hunt them." Deaton nodded at his daughters words, "And Jasmine has just been hidden from them."

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"What are you...? Brunski, what are you doing?" The voice of Lorraine Martin echoed from the speaker for them to hear followed by the man himself, "Don't worry, Lorraine... it's going to be all right... you're just going to have a little trouble breathing..." Stiles fought against his binds as Lydia's eyes flooded with tears, listening to the death of her grandmother was not something she ever wanted to witness. "Lydia, look at me. Don't listen! Okay? Don't listen to it. Just focus on my voice, Lydia. Don't listen to it── block it out. Okay?" Stiles told his sister figure, he knew she was strong but even this was too much for the eighteen year old. "Hey! Turn it off!" Stiles snapped at Brunski who hit him to shut him up.

"Stop!" Lydia shouted at Brunski, her eyes wide seeing Stiles get hit. "Then listen... just listen. I need your help with this, Lydia," Brunski replied as he moved closer to the young woman, his eyes crazed and despite for an answer. "Please, don't..." Lorraine's voice pleaded. "Here it is── the part I never understood," Brunski muttered desperately before whispering, "Listen." Lydia let a tear fall as she listened to her grandmother, "Please... don't hurt her..." The young woman sniffled as Brunski's voice came from the speaker, "Don't hurt who?" The next name that came left Lydia slightly wide eyed and heartbroken. "Ariel..." Lorraine answered in a broken tone of voice, soft and raspy.

With no answer besides tears, Brunski stood up and collected something from the shelf, he then moved over to Jasmine and placed down a small box, opening it. "We get a lot of teenagers trying to break into our drug cabinets... Most of the time, they don't succeed... But you three look pretty clever to me..." Brunski expressed as he pulled a needle out, holding it up for the two of them to see, "I'll admit, Stiles... I don't have any unusual talents like Lydia or Jasmine. But somehow, I just knew we were gonna get a chance to do this again." Stiles began fighting harder against his binds, darkened thoughts flooding through his mind at ways he could torture and torment Brunski the closer he got to Jasmine's unconscious form.

"Leave her alone!" Stiles growled out, the tone dark and hit Lydia with memories of Void. "I'll kill you. You hear me! You hurt her and I'll kill you," Stiles continued, his eyes glaring in Brunski's causing a faint flicker of real fear to flash across Brunski's face but he pushed that aside and stuck the needle into Jasmine's neck. "Drop it!" Jordan Parrish's voice flooded the room, the kids had been gone too long and he felt like Jasmine had been calling to him, "Take your thumb off that needle and slowly withdraw it from her neck." Brunski groaned in irritation as he did so and turned to look at the town's newest deputy.

"Young Deputy... you're just a kid. I bet you've never even fired a──" Brunski was cut off by a gunshot causing him to fall back, groaning uncomfortably by the new wound infiltrating his body. "He was in... the army... dumbass," Jasmine coughed out as she opened her eyes seeing the look of relief on Stiles' face. "He─ He killed my grandmother. He was controlling Meredith," Lydia whimpered out as Jordan freed her and Stiles' binds. Stiles rushed over to Jasmine, pulling her into his lap as he untied the binds to free her; checking her wrists to make sure that she was too hurt by them. "He used her to create the Deadpool──" Stiles added as he looked up at Jordan while Lydia continued, "──And killed her when she tried to help us."

Brunski laughed weakly at those words, "You... you think it was me?" Jasmine furrowed her brows before she frowned and scoffed, "No way..." Brunski continued with an amused grin, "That I was controlling her? Idiots... She was controlling me." Jasmine dropped her head back on Stiles' shoulder as she spoke, "It's not Brunski... He's not the Benefactor." They were all stunned as Meredith Walker stepped out from behind the shelves revealing herself to the others, "No... And... he wasn't on my list. But he was a bad person." The subtle smirk on the woman's face was discomforting and a clear sign that they had been played all along by the woman herself.

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ᯓ★ HELLO, MY BRIGHT STARS ୭˚. ᵎᵎ

Awe man... poor Andrea Miller, huh?

A few little reveals and sub plots shown... also, only a couple of chapters left of this act and then we are onto the next season including the birth of our beautiful baby.

How are we feeling about this chapter?

See you in the next chapter!

Unedited
Written via phone

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