"smoke and mirrors"

CASSIE WAS CURRENTLY AT A study group at school with Mason, doing a normal teenage activity, something she only wanted to do since she found out about the supernatural world, while Stiles and the rest of the pack had run off to Mexico, once again; this time, with Liam tagging along, knowing that he had to face his fears with the berserkers. Cassie had offered that she could go, as much she didn't actually want to, but she didn't want to see Scott or Kira get hurt because of it. She didn't really know Kira, but from what she's heard of her, she's nice girl, and if Scott loved her, then Cassie would like her as well.. Stiles had immediately shot the girl down, not wanting her to get hurt, and he couldn't exactly look out for her as well as look for Scott, so that's why she was currently hanging out with Mason, studying for another test that was coming up.

Over the course of the last couple of days, Cassie and Stiles had began patching things up with their relationship; Stiles had finally begun telling her everything that was going on, and they had been attempting to talk a lot more about it than they had just after Cassie had gotten stabbed. The two were slowly getting back to where they first were, but it was definitely taking some time for them to do so..
As the girl was walking down the hallway, to place her books back into her locker as she had finished her studying and was now going to ring her father to come and pick her up, her phone began to ring, interrupting her. She sighed as she pulled it out of her pocket, seeing that it was Stiles, and instantly picked it up. "Everything okay in Mexico?" She asked, walking down the hallway, to her locker, Stiles could sense the sarcasm in her voice, obviously a little bit upset that he hadn't allowed her to tag along to Mexico, as she just wanted to help, but to be fair, he didn't let their dad go with them, either.

"We haven't left yet, listen, Lydia's missing, and the last place she was seen at, was the school, looking through Kira's locker, for a piece of her clothing so Malia could find her scent." Stiles told her in a rush, knowing that they couldn't go without Lydia, "I know I didn't allow you to come with us, but I need you to look for her, in case anything's happened to her." He begged, scared that something had happened to Lydia.

"What could possibly have happened to her?" Cassie asked him, as she started putting away her studying books into her locker - she didn't understand how Lydia could have even disappeared here, what could happen at the school? "The school's completely empty, anyway, everyone's leaving now to go home." She stated, looking down the dark hallways and finding no one, not even Mason.

"I don't know, could you just please look." Stiles asked, causing Cassie to sigh in annoyance, Lydia was probably off somewhere, it was just the school, "Please?" He asked again, knowing that she didn't want to, but she didn't know half of the things that had gone down in this school. A lot had happened.

"I'm sure she's fine." Cassie told Stiles, trying to reassure him, but he seemed pretty shaken up at the fact she wasn't there with the pack, "But okay, I'll go look for her anyway." She said, closing her locker and looking in which direction she should be going in to find Lydia.

"Thankyou." Stiles sighed in relief, knowing that Lydia will be found by his sister.

"I'll call you if I find her." Cassie told him as she looked around, "Don't die, I'll see you later." She said.
Cassie then hung up on Stiles and immediately began her search for Lydia, not before grabbing Mason from his locker for some company, as the school looked scary at this time of night without the lights on, and she didn't want to be alone during her search.

"So, Stiles asked you to find Lydia?" Mason asked quietly, as they both walked through the dark school hallways, trying to avoid the echo's of their voices down the halls. Cassie nodded in reply, keeping an eye out for any sign of Lydia on where she might. "Because something might have happened to her?" He asked sceptically. Cassie nodded again, when Mason looked at her strangely. "What could have happened to her in the school?" He asked.

"Look, I don't know." Cassie told him, "Stop asking questions and let's find her, okay?" She asked, not knowing how to answer any of Mason's questions, as she hadn't even been told anything herself. All she knew is, that she had to find Lydia and fast, to make sure nothing had happened to her.

The two teenagers then walked into an empty classroom, hoping that she would be there, but it was completely empty, "Lydia?" Mason called out, loud, but not too loud, as the school was as quiet as anything, and it was quite scary. Cassie had never been to the school this late before, and she definitely didn't want to do it again.

Cassie actually had a strange feeling that they weren't alone, and she didn't like it one bit, she didn't know how Stiles and the others did this almost everyday of their lives - this was terrifying. "Lydia?" She called out, repeating what Mason had said, a little louder this time as it was strange Lydia wasn't here, where could she be?

When nothing had appeared in the classroom they knew Lydia wasn't there, so they walked back out slowly, only to spot Lydia's jacket, and her phone, sitting on the stairway just outside the classroom, in a small pile on the floor. Mason bent down and picked her phone up, noticing all of the missed calls on the screen of her phone. "No wonder why she's not answering." He commented, unsure as to why it was all just lying here, as somebody wouldn't just leave their phone in the middle of the school hallway at nighttime.
When Mason unlocked the phone, a picture had come up on the screen from when Lydia had last taken a photo, and it looked like a man who had a weird bone-like face structure. "What the hell." Mason muttered, showing Cassie, who furrowed her brows in confusion at the photo.

"What is that?" Cassie asked, tilting her head to look at the photo from all angles, trying to figure out what it was and why Lydia had taken a photo of it.

Suddenly, the two teenagers were interrupted, as they had heard a noise come from directly behind them. Cassie gulped in response, along with Mason, and they both slowly turned around to look up, hearing some kind of growling noise from behind, something terrifying. Cassie grabbed Masons hand as hard as she could, as the two of them looked up, only to see exactly what Lydia had taken a picture of. Cassie's breath caught in her throat as it looked down at them and growled even louder than before, a look of murder in the strange creatures eyes.

They were so screwed.




Cassie woke up with a groan, feeling her head pound through her skull, as she was lying on the floor, next to Mason, who Lydia was currently shaking awake. She felt like she has had a whole piano fall on her head, due to the pain that enmities throughout her brain, and she instantly knew that she had been knocked out by that strange creature. Obviously, the school wasn't as safe as she once thought.. the girl hesitantly sat up from her place on the floor, due to the pounding in her head, and looked down at Mason with worry. The look on Lydia's face, meant that whatever had knocked them out, wasn't human, and they were definitely in a heap of trouble, and with Scott currently out of the country with the rest of the pack, they didn't stand a chance against this huge bony thing..

Cassie was terrified, this was the first time that she had come into contact with anything that was supernatural, besides Scott and the pack, of course. She could now understand why Stiles wanted to keep her away so badly, and why Liam was having tonnes of nightmares every night.
"Are you okay? My head... Oh." Mason groaned, with his hand placed over his head, as he had also just woken up from being knocked out alongside Cassie.

"Yeah, it's probably gonna hurt a lot." Lydia told him, knowing he had been knocked out, then she had looked back at Cassie to ensure that she was okay. Cassie nodded at her in response, as Lydia placed her hand on top of the young girls shaking hand, to hopefully calm her down. Lydia hated that Cassie was stuck here along with her, as she, along with the rest of the pack, wanted to shield her away from this life as much as they could, she shouldn't be here right now..

"There was this guy. Huge, really huge." Mason said to Lydia, panicking slightly at the remembrance at what the guy looked like. He had never seen anything like it in his whole life.

"He had a-a skull on his face." Cassie told Lydia, stuttering slightly in fear, if he was still here, she was going to have a panic attack, she couldn't face it again.

"Yeah. I know. I saw it, too." Lydia told them, not sparing on the details as Mason didn't know about the supernatural, and she didn't want to scare Cassie.

"My phone's gone." Mason spoke up, patting his pockets, only to find them all empty.

Cassie checked her pockets over, too, only to find out that hers is missing also. "Mines gone too, damn." She muttered. This meant that she couldn't ring her dad or Stiles to help them out of this mess.

"Yeah. I think that's the point." Lydia told them, making sure to keep her voice down in case the berserker could hear them all and come to attack again. It wouldn't surprise her if it tried to actually kill them..

"Okay. Well, why, what's he gonna do to us?" Mason asked in a panic, not knowing how Lydia could be so calm about his whole situation, it was like she had been kidnapped before, and didn't care about it now.

"I don't know. But it definitely doesn't want us to leave." Lydia told them, causing Cassie's hands to sweat in fear. She couldn't even say anything in complete stress, she felt like she was on the verge of a panic attack, and she didn't know what to do, she didn't know how to do this, she had only been up against Garrett, and he was a human with a knife - this guy, or whatever he was, was huge, and scary looking. She didn't want to die today, that's for sure.

"Lydia, why do you keep saying 'it'?" Mason asked in suspicion, causing Cassie to cringe, as Liam didn't want him knowing anything about the supernatural yet. She would tell him if it was up to her, she knew how it felt to be left out of the circle - but then again, it was Liam's decision, just like it had been Stiles for herself..
Their small conversation was cut short, when the three of them heard a loud growling in the distance, indicating that the thing was near, causing the three of them to stand up in shock, wanting to be able to defend themselves in anything happened. Mason and Cassie peered around the corner to see if they could see anything, but the two of them could only see darkness. "What is that thing?" Mason asked, whispering.

"Not human."




——

Back in Mexico, Stiles was currently on the phone with his dad, panicking at the fact he couldn't get in contact with Lydia, Cassie, or Mason. He was scared, "How can I help?" Noah asked, over the phone, also frightened for his daughter who was stuck at the school - he would kill anything that hurt his daughter..

"Lydia was at the school, when we called Cassie for her and Mason to look for her, but now we're not hearing back from any of them. I don't know, dad, I don't know what I'm doing. You know, I'm just... I'm trying to save my friends." Stiles spoke into the phone, feeling panic for his sister and his friends. "Cassie could be in trouble, after all of this time keeping her out of it, I dragged her in, it's all my fault." He told his dad.

"Okay. I'll find Cassie, Lydia and Mason. You get Scott and Kira. You save your friends." Noah spoke on the other line. "She'll be fine, Stiles." He assured his son, knowing that he wouldn't let anything happen to Cassie.

"Dad, if it's one of the Berserkers at the school, you're gonna need firepower. A lot." Stiles informed him.

To say that Noah was mad with Stiles, was an understatement. Not only did he leave for Mexico without telling him, again, but he sent his sister and her friend on a wild goose chase to look for Lydia in the school with a berserker on the loose. Right now he only had one mission, to save his daughter, Lydia and Mason.

Cassie, Lydia and Mason were all now sat against the wall again, waiting for the berserker to leave, hoping that they could find a way out of the school, alive. They had been stuck down in the basement for a long time, and Cassie was getting more scared by the minute, now she understood why Liam was having nightmares about these things, they were horrifying. "I don't hear it." Lydia told them, in a whisper, having not heard anything for a while, "Come on." She said, beginning to stand up.

"No, no. There's only one way out on this side of the basement." Mason whispered back, keeping her down on the floor, not wanting her to get killed by that thing who was clearly guarding the door.

"I know." Lydia said, looking around, "But if we don't get out of here, someone's going to die." She told them, knowing as she had her feeling.

Cassie's eyes widened, Scott had told her that Lydia can sense death. She really didn't want to die; not without kindling things with Stiles. "How do you know that?" Mason asked in disbelief.

"I just do." Lydia replied, not explaining things to him, she didn't have time.

"Well, let's just see if he's blocking the exit, okay?" Cassie suggested, really not wanting to have to go past the creature again, she would sit here for the rest of her life if it meant never seeing that thing again.

Mason nodded, leaning forward very slowly, followed by Cassie and Lydia, who were holding hands, Lydia mostly to comfort Cassie, as she was on the verge of tears. It was all clear, no one being there, until the berserker had walked back into view and blocked the only door that they could use to get out of here alive. They all gasped at the sight and leaned back into the wall, to avoid being seen by it.
"Yeah." Mason breathed out, "He's blocking it." He said.
Cassie let go of Lydia's hand and walked over to the barrel at the side of the room, no matter how scared she was, she was careful to be as quiet as she could to avoid being heard, and pulled out three baseball bats, one for each of them to use.
"Are you serious?" Mason asked them both in disbelief, when he saw that Lydia thought that was a good idea as well.

Cassie knew that she needed to man up in order to get out of here alive with her friends. She thought back to Scott and Stiles, and how they did this everyday to keep her going. "Very." Cassie replied, as Lydia took one of the bats from her, holding it in her grasp.

"A baseball bat? Against that guy? Or thing or whatever it is." Mason asked in disbelief, not thinking that the wooden things would help them in the slightest..

"Well, what else are we supposed to use?" Cassie asked him, unsure of what else Mason expected them to do.

"My friends are in trouble. Your brother." Lydia told Cassie, before turning to Mason. "And so is Liam, your best friend." Lydia told Mason, getting to the point, "They need me. I'm going for it. And yes, with a baseball bat." She muttered as she walked up to the berserker, with Cassie in toe, the girl finally manning up to save her friends and family.

"Argh!" Mason suddenly yelled out loudly, running past Lydia and Cassie in order to get to the creature. Lydia and Cassie looked at each other, shrugged, then followed behind him with their bats all raised in the air, ready to strike.
Mason hit the berserker three times with his bat, first, only for it to not be affected in the slightest. Suddenly, the creature reached out and punched Mason, sending him flying into the wall behind them. Cassie and Lydia were up next, only getting one hit in, before the berserker threw both of them backwards with one strong hit, sending them into the same wall as Mason. They all grunted in pain as Mason spoke, "I thought you said it wanted to keep us here, not hurt us." He gasped in pain, trying to catch his breath as it had been knocked out of him.

"I think it changed its mind." Lydia cried, as they all sat up in fear, watching the creature stalk up to them with one thing on its mind, murder. The three teenagers all took each others hands in each other's, gripping tight as they watched their fate head towards them with his weapon raised. They were going to die here tonight..

Suddenly, Cassie heard a voice, breaking all of their thoughts about dying. It was her dad. "Excuse me." Noah spoke up, catching the attention of the berserker, "Catch." He said, throwing something at the berserker.
Lydia gasped and pulled Mason and Cassie back behind a wall, seeing what had been thrown, and they all huddled together, as a huge explosion occurred, causing the whole room to vibrate from the impact. There was dust everywhere as the explosion went off, followed by the three teenagers coughing wildly at the amount of particles that was in the air. They all stood up and Cassie immediately ran to her father, who pulled her into a tight hug at the sight of her, thankful that she was okay, "You all okay?" He asked them.

Lydia nodded, while Cassie and Mason still looked to be in shock after witnessing the creature blow up. Bones were scattered everywhere on the floor, where the berserker once stood. Noah kept is hold on his daughter, now not wanting to let her go, ever.

"It was after me." Lydia spoke up, as Noah picked up a piece of bone, Cassie keeping her grip on her fathers arm, "It wanted me to stay in Beacon Hills. I think this was all some sort of distraction." She told him.

"Because you knew they're trying to kill someone." Noah confirmed.

"Kill who?" Mason and Cassie asked in union.

"Scott."