chapter fifty-nine
❝every little thing got me coming back around❞
a promise to the dead
i didn't edit this before uploading it & it's christmas so youre not allowed to yell at me for anything.

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Eleven year old Kennedy ran to the basement, trying to find her family. Sloane Valet reached through the bars of the basement, trying to get out. She turned around, "Kennedy!"

"Momma, what's going on?" Kennedy asks as her mom rushes over.

Sloane looks up the stairs. "Did you leave the door open?" She asks. Kennedy shook her head. "Son of a bitch," Sloane hissed. "Kennedy, my love, I need to to go."

"Momma, whats wrong with the door?"

"It's locked." Sloane answered. Kennedy's eyes widened in realization. They were all locked down here. And the fire was spreading. "There's a window in the back room. You need to get out."

Kennedy shook her head. "Momma, no!"

"Go!"

Scared, Kennedy ran out of her moms arms, rushing to the small room. She saw the small window, climbing onto the dresser. The youngest Hale grabbed onto the bars, pulling as hard as she can. She snapped her head as she heard loud, familiar, screams. It was Aunt Talia. Kennedy's eyes widened in horror. She began to pull on the bars harder and harder. "Dad!" She screamed out, hoping he was outside, ready to rescue her. "Daddy!" Kennedy screams as she turns around, seeing the door ignite into flames. She stayed on the dresser, cradling herself in the corner. She could hear her moms howls of pain, causing Kennedy to scream and cry. She coughed and coughed as smoke filled her lungs, her face covered in hot tears.

Fire was everywhere.

The little girl cries as she hides in the corner, her entire family burning alive. The fire was inching close, but she kept trying to crawl away. "Dad!" She screams. "Dad!"

Peter Hale cried as he cradles his dead wife in his arms. He is head snaps at the sound of his daughters cries. "Kennedy!" He slowly puts down Sloans body, now prioritizing his daughters life over his own. "Kennedy, where are you!?"

"Dad, I'm scared!" Kennedy cried. She wanted her mom. She wanted her dad. She wanted Auntie Talia, or Auntie Kate.

"I know, Bunny, I'm coming," He pants, looking around. Peter ran through the fire, slamming open the door. His eventually fall on the 11 year old girl, cradling her stuffed bunny. He rushes over, ignoring the burning feeling in his body as he grabs the girl. "I got you, Bunny, I got you."

Kennnedy clutched onto her dad, hearing him scream as his body burns in the flames. He protects the little girl, who clutched her bunny tightly. As he carried her away, Kennedy saw the basement. The bodies everywhere. People her family knew. Her face was covered in tears as she saw Auntie Talia, who was severely burnt. Kennedy's eyes landed on a familiar face.

Her mom.

"Momma!" Kennedy screeched, reaching her hand out. Peter felt tears well up in his eyes, wishing he could've prevented the little girl from seeing that. Sloane's body leaned against the wall, the fire beginning to take her over. She had died from smoke inhalation, but the fire wasn't much help
either. Kennedy screamed and screamed as she realized everyone was dead. Her aunt, her cousins, her friends, her mom.

Everyone was dead.

A scream escaped Kennedy's mouth as she sprang awake. Stiles jolted himself up, wrapping his arms around the sobbing girl. She clutched onto him, as if she was still trapped in the horrible memory that haunted her family. "Kennedy! Ken, baby, it's me," Stiles's voice echoed in the girls ears. Her breathing began to slow. "It's just a dream,"

Kennedy slowly pulled away, looking up at the Stilinski. His tired eyes bored into hers with a look of concern. Kennedy slowly looked around. He was right. They were in his room, no bodies, no fire. No Peter or Sloane. She sighed in relief, hugging Stiles tightly. The human boy rubbed her back, comforting her like she comforted him when he had nightmares. Kennedy's tear stained face pressed against Stiles's chest.

"I'm sorry," She whispers.

Stiles shushes her. "It's okay, I was kind of awake anyways," He joked.

Kennedy pulled away, wiping tears from her eyes, "Not that, you idiot," She retorts, causing Stiles to raise a brow in confusion. Kennedy slowly looked up, "This was all my fault." She admitted.

"Ken, what the hell are you talking about?" Stiles asked his girlfriend. Kennedy slowly stood up, running her hand through her messy auburn hair.

"Think about it! Kate was my baby sitter. I introduced her to Derek. Kate was there for me when she set the fire. She was there because of me. All of this comes back to me! It's all my fault!" Kennedy throws her hands in the air in frustration. "I killed Aunt Talia, I killed Mom, I killed Ben, my dad, Laura, I killed Allison, Stiles! All of this was my fault!"

Stiles sprang out of his bed, rushing to his girlfriend. He grabbed her wrists, shaking his head. "Kenny, don't say that," He tells the Hale. Kennedy slowly looks up, her eyes meeting his. "Kate is an Argent who lied about her identity to get you and Derek to trust her. Your dad lost his mind because Kate burned him alive. None of this leads back to you, it leads back to Kate. This was all her fault, not yours." Kennedy searched Stiles's eyes, trying to see if he was right. Kennedy looks down at the ground as tears spill down her cheeks.

"I just want her back," Kennedy whispered, "I just want my mom,"

༺❀༻

Days had passed since it was revealed Peter Hale was the Benefactor after all. It seemed that the revelation had triggered something inside Kennedy. She couldn't make it a full night without flashbacks of the fire, or Peter's death. She stayed with Stiles, night after night.

Now, Kennedy stood in his bathroom, brushing her hair. She looked at herself, realizing she could barely recognize Kennedy Stallard anymore. The human girl with the Deputy dad. The most popular girl in Beacon Hills. That Kennedy wasn't there anymore. Now, it was just Kennedy Hale. The survivor. The one who watched so many of her friends and family died.

She slowly shook her head, walking into the boys bed room. Stiles snored loudly, causing her to roll her eyes. Kennedy walked over, "Stiles," The boy only hums in reply, "You've got an early morning practice for the big game tomorrow, remember?"

"Hi."

Kennedy slouched her shoulders, "If I'm going to make Malia watch an entire lacrosse game, you better not suck." She told him factually.

"Not gonna suck." Stiles mumbled.

"Remember you were supposed to drive me to school early so I help Malia study for the math test?" Kennedy watched her boyfriend roll over, "The one that determines whether or not my new sister is gonna be a senior with us next year? Stiles!" The boy groaned in reply, trying to go back to sleep. Kennedy sighed loudly, knowing she only had one more idea.

Stiles, almost asleep again, grunts in surprise as he is rolled onto his back. He barely has time to react when Kennedy presses her lips on his. The boy didn't seem to mind, as he instantly kissed back. His hand cupped her face as the two kissed passionately. Stiles pulled away. "What are you doing? I haven't even brushed my teeth yet." He said tiredly.

Kennedy smiled down at him, "I don't care." She chimed, leaning down and kissing him again. Stiles smirks into the kiss, grabbing Kennedy and pulling her on to the bed. Kennedy squealed in surprise, laughing. The couple found time to simply be a couple for the morning, and it was a great time for them both.

༺❀༻

At school, Kira and Kennedy talked as Malia turned to Lydia next to her. "Lydia? Lydia. Did you hear me?" The Martin, as well as Kira and Kennedy, looked up at the Tate-Hale. "Look. I passed."

Lydia rose a brow, "C-minus." She replies.

"Your notes are great when they're not written in code."

Another paper lands on Malia's desk. "Disappointed, Malia." Bobby Finstock says "Profoundly disappointed."

Malia looks between Kennedy and Lydia. "I'll send you my notes." Lydia commented, turning to her notebook.

Kira looked at Kennedy, who slowly shrugged. "I wasn't in charge of Econ, but I'll send some too," The girls fell silent as they looked at Lydia, who had seemed to be out of it.

The Yukimura leaned over, "It's over. The computers are off. No more assassins. No more murders. No one's dying." Kira explained. Lydia slowly turned back to her desk.

"Not yet."

Meanwhile, Chris Argent was in the sewers of Beacon Hills, aiming his gun at Peter Hale. "How'd you find her?" He asks, talking about Kate.

"Keen sense of smell. You?"

Chris held up a weapon from the Berserkers. "This came out of Scott's side. There were traces of calcium hydroxide on it." He tosses it to the side. "It's used by water treatment plants as an anti-corrosive."

"You tracked Kate and her Berserkers all the way down here. That's very impressive." Peter commented, tilting his head. "I wonder if one of them might still be around." Chris Argent furrowed a brow, hearing the sounds behind him. A Berserker walked into view, snarling quietly.

༺❀༻

Kennedy and Malia sat on Stiles's bed. "Hey! I get this!" Malia chimes excitedly, grabbing her green highlighter.

"Awesome," The pair of girls high five, looking up when Noah Stilinski walks into the room.

"Drop what you're doing. I'm taking you all out to dinner. Whatever you want."

Stiles put his hands in his lap, "Dad, I don't think a man of your debts should be treating anyone to anything."

"Well, there's one debt we no longer have to worry about." Noah said to his son. The Sheriff held up an envelope. Malia and Kennedy shared a look.

"What is that?" Asked Stiles.

Noah hands the envelope to his son, "A letter of apology from Eichen House. Apparently, they've decided to forgive our debt due to," He trailed off, looking between his son and his girlfriend, "Well, you two and Lydia almost getting murdered."

"They can do that?" Asks Malia.

"They can do it and they did it."

Kennedy raises a hand, "Does this mean I get my $1,200 back?" She asks. Everyone looks at her, and she slowly brings her hand down.

"I have never been so happy to have almost been murdered." Stiles chimes.

"Well, we're not out of it yet. But," Noah smiled at his son. "We're going to be okay. And at least for the moment, I can afford to take my son, his girlfriend, and her sister out to dinner." Noah turned to the girls who sat side by side. The girls began to shut their things. "Malia, what's your favorite food?"

Malia smiled wide, "Deer." She answered. Kennedy giggled, looking at the look on Noah's face.

"Pizza. She likes pizza." Kennedy adds, looking at Malia. The Tate smiled at the Hale, which caused Kennedy to return the expression.

Meanwhile, Chris Argent grunted in pain as the Berserker pinned him to the wall. Peter walked over, holding a pipe in his hands. "Unfortunately, while I promised Kate I wouldn't kill you, I also can't let you leave." Peter grabbed the Argent, shoving the object through the mans side, and into the wall. Chris screamed out in pain. Chris grabbed the object, "No, no, no, no, no. Allow me." Peter cooed. Chris moaned in pain as Peter twisted the pipe, making it practically impossible for the Argent to get out of it alive. "Now you rest here for a while. You've had a hard time, for a very long time."

Peter began to walk away, until Chris spoke up, "What about Kennedy?" Chris called out. Peter froze. "Bunny, I think you called her."

"What about her?" Peter asked cooly, narrowing his eyes.

"What do you think she's going to do? When she finds out what you did? Do you think she's going to side with you?" Chris laughed, blood spilling from his lips. "Kennedy Hale is not stupid, Peter. I would know, I was there when you weren't."

Peter scoffed, "You're nothing more than a background character to my daughter." He snapped.

Chris shook his head. "That might be true, but tell me this." The Argent groaned as he glared down the older Hale. "Who's going to be the one to raise her when she kills you?" He asked coldly. Peter clenched his jaw as Chris smiled wickedly. "Maybe it'll be me. Or maybe the Sheriff. Or maybe Melissa McCall. All I know, is that anyone would be more of a parent than you ever will be to that girl. And you know it, too."

༺❀༻

Malia sat in Kennedy's car. "My hair is a mess!" The coyote girl commented. Malia had decided to play with Kennedy's hair straightener, but wasn't sure if she liked it.

Kennedy looks over, "Do you know what I do on bad hair days?" She asks. Malia pursed her lips together, shaking her head. Kennedy opened the middle compartment, pulling out a blue knit hat. "I wear a hat," The Hale reaches over, placing it on Malia's head.

"It smells different." Malia deadpanned, scrunching her nose. "It doesn't smell like you,"

"That's because it wasn't always mine," Kennedy said. Malia rose a confused brow. "It was Allison's."

Malia's mouth hung open in realization. "Then I can't take this, she was your friend." Malia tugged off the hat, shoving back at Kennedy. The alpha only shook her head, putting it back in Malia's hands.

"Trust me, M, Allison would have loved to see you in her hat," Kennedy cooed, smiling. "And it looks better on you than me anyways,"

The two girls walked onto the field, sitting in the bleachers with Noah Stilinski. "Stiles told me he had been practicing," Says Noah.

"Practicing doesn't mean much," Kennedy deadpanned. Noah sighed, knowing she wasn't wrong. "Plus, Scott and Kira aren't here,"

Malia looks over, "So we're gonna lose?" She asks. Kennedy sighed, unsure herself.

The game continued on, and Stiles sucked, as expected. Devenford Prep had four points, while Beacon Hills still had zero. Stiles walked over, "Dad, Scott and Kira aren't answering. Something is definitely going on,"

"Want us to stay here if he shows up?" Kennedy asks her boyfriend.

Stiles nods, "Yes." He says, pecking Kennedy's lips, "I love you,"

"Love you," Kennedy says, watching her boyfriend and his dad walk away. Malia and Kennedy shared a look, before keeping an eye out on Liam, who sucked more than usual on the field.

Peter slowly walked into the space, looking at his girls. He thought about what Chris said. Kennedy hardly knew Chris. Sure, they got along when Kennedy was Kennedy Stallard, but things changed when Peter came back, right? Peter thought about when he left Kennedy in France, practically all by herself. He wondered how much of that time she spent with Chris. Peter didn't feel like being replaced again.

The eldest Hale sat down in Noah's spot. "So," He began. Malia and Kennedy both looked at him, and then each other. "Who's winning?"

The whistle blows, "We're dying out there," Kennedy whispered. Malia looked at her sister.

"Then play,"

Kennedy snapped her head, "What?"

"You told me yourself that Coach has been trying to get you on the team for years, so maybe be a Scott substitute," Malia explained to the Hale. Kennedy looked out on the field. As much as she didn't like Liam, she needed to keep an eye on him.

Kennedy stood up, jogging over to Bobby Finstock. "Coach!"

"Kenny! What are you doing!?" Coach shouts, looking over. Kennedy let out a loud sigh.

"I want to play,"

༺❀༻

As good as Kennedy played, the team of Beacon Hills still lost. However, that was the least of Kennedy's problems when she got a call from Derek. She ran into the loft, seeing Stiles, Noah, Braeden, and her cousin. She looked around at the mess. Broken windows, furniture.

"What happened?" Asked Kennedy, looking around her home.

"It was supposed to be a date." Says Braeden.

Stiles speaks up, "They were both here?"

"And they're both gone."

Kennedy's phone began to ring, "It's Lydia," She says, the group gather around Kennedy as she answers. "Hey."

"Scott's been taken."

Stiles speaks up, "Scott and Kira. We just don't know where."

To everyones surprise, Deaton speaks up on the other line, "Mexico." Kennedy glanced at Stiles, listening closely. "And if you want to save his life, that's where you're going too."

NATALIA'S NOTES
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this chapter sucks & i APOLOGIZE. but MERRY CHRISTMAS!!! if you don't celebrate christmas then happy saturday<3.

i fell asleep at like 8pm and was woken up by my parents at like 10:30 & now it's 1am & i cant sleep so THATS NICE. anyways, that's literally irrelevant i'm here for other things.

first of all, i'd like to announce we have a few additions to the kennedy multiverse, including a new trilogy (i hope) which is kennedy in all the diff spider-man movies & such. if you're seeing this in the future & there's no trilogy or anything related to spider-man, then assume i got lazy & took it down. anyways you can add book one, invisible string, to your libraries now! i really like what i've written so far so that's pretty exciting.

there's ONE more chapter of season 4, and then we are on two season 5!! which is so crazy cause i also just finished writing 5A too & i wrote season 4 like 3+ months ago. however i did have to rewrite the next chapter cause i DELETED IT ON ACCIDENT *insert me crying for months about it here*.

but please don't expect insane frequent updates now i'm back to writing this story. in my head, i don't want to finish this book soon & wait 10 months to update it for the movie & lose everyone because they think it's over (this was the downfall of a lot of my old books). so i'll be updating it every 2-3 weeks with the next 40 chapters, & maybe longer if i have writers block, but i am writing maps, exquisite corpse, & invisible string, which all have kennedy, as well as 2 other books with kennedy's family called southern constellations & moondance. moondance will be coming out soon (i hope) i just want to get a lot of it prewritten & i thought i'd have enough of it written by new years.

anywhoreeee, i hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, & the happiness within it, cause there's no such thing as happiness in season 5 (well except for the first episode). i have unintentionally ruined kennedy's life more & more each season. but don't worry! 6A might be her least traumatizing season (aside from her boyfriend getting taken by the wild hunt)...maybe.

NEXT UPDATE JANUARY 3RD CAUSE ITS KENNEDYS BIRTHDAY SHE'LL BE 27 I THINK OMG SHES OLD IM CRYING OKAY IM GONNA GO

TOODLES<3