Chapter 18: To Catch a Killer

"Please stop hovering." Lydia says, frustrated as she grips her pencil. Lydia and Malia spend hours in the art classroom, figuring out a way for Lydia to tap into her Banshee power to figure out the next key to the next dead pool list.

"I'm not hovering." Malia says as she stands practically attached to Lydia, looking over her shoulder. "I'm waiting. Draw something. Write something. We need to know who else is on that list."

"You mean, you need to know if you're on the list." Lydia points out.

"If someone's coming to take my head off, then, yeah, I'd like to know." Malia says.

Lydia lifts the pencil to the sketchpad and Malia leans in closer, "Can you please just sit down? You're making me nervous." Lydia says as she shoves Malia a little with her shoulder, irritated by her constant leaning.

"Sorry." Malia whispers and sits down, flipping through a book.

Lydia sighs and closes her eyes, concentrating as hard as she can. She closes her eyes and tries to let her hand guide her.

"Lydia." Malia gasps.

"What? Oh, my God, what?" Lydia says annoyed.

"Maybe we need help. From another banshee." Malia says as she shows Lydia a drawing of a screaming woman in the book.

"Meredith." Lydia sighs in realization.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In Econ class, Stiles went through the murder scene pictures, trying to figure out the weird stab marks on the girl. Scott and Josie tried to pay attention to Coach Finstock. Josie read out on the laptop what the coach was saying through the microphone.

"Economic disparity exists in all forms. Well, take sports, for example. Some teams have better training facilities. Some have better equipment. Unlike Beacon Hills that can barely afford the duct tape to keep our equipment together."

Coach Finstock stops at Stile's desk and bangs his lacrosse stick on his desk causing Stiles to jump, "You know, Stilinski," He leans down and takes a better look at the pictures Stiles had. "If I could grade you on how profoundly you disturb me, you'd be an A plus student."

"Thanks, Coach." Stiles smirks.

Coach Finstock rolls his eyes and points the stick at him, "Put those pictures away."

Stiles catches a glimpse of the stick's bottom and sees similarities. He grabs for the stick to look at it better, comparing the wound.

"Stilinski! The hell is wrong with you?" Coach Finstock exclaims and yanks the stick back, causing the plastic part to pop off. Stiles opens his mouth to answer but Coach cuts him off.

"Don't answer that!" He waves him off and goes back to teaching.

Josie and Scott look over at him in confusion. Stiles turns to speak softly, but Josie could read his lips.

"It's a lacrosse player."

Josie's eyes widen when she realized what he meant.

Scott turns to look at her, "The killer's on the team."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Stiles, Josie, and Scott sneak into the lacrosse team's equipment closet to look for the stick with the dagger that matched the pictures.

"This is pointless." Scott says, frustrated. "Most of the team plays with their own gear."

"Maybe instead of trying to find a lacrosse stick with a hidden dagger in it, we should be trying to get the game canceled?" Josie suggests.

"The game's the best way to catch him red-handed." Scott shakes his head.

"But what if he's red-handed 'cause his hands are covered in the blood of the person that he just stabbed to death?" Stiles asks, sarcastically. "Which, by the way, could be either you or Kira." He points at Scott.

"Or Liam." Scott says. Josie gave him a worried look. "Well, we don't have the whole list and he could be on it." Scott adds.

"We don't know anything about that list. How it's made, how it's updated. I mean, who's been out taking a supernatural census anyway?"

"How do they even know about me?" Josie asks.  "I didn't even know till this morning." 

"They know about everyone."  Scott says. 

"I think Josie's right.  I think we should stop the game." Stiles says.

"I'm not afraid." Scott says.

"Well, I'm terrified. And I'm not even on the list." Stiles says.

"I'm scared for you and Kira and Liam.  What if they get to you on the field?  Either of you?"  Josie says, sadly.  Scott walks over to her and holds her tight. Then, they both turn to Stiles as he begins to talk again.

"Guys, these are professional killers.
It's their profession.  One of them's got a thermo-cut wire that cuts heads off. Who knows what else they have?"  Stiles says.

Josie suddenly has an idea, "I'm an elemental, right?" 

Scott and Stiles both nod, Stiles wasn't really getting it.

"Why not use the elements against them?  On the field.  If I can control the wind and water, then there might be a good chance I can control Earth and fire.  Maybe a few mud puddles to throw off their balance or wind to knock the blade out of their hands."  Josie says. 

Scott thinks about it and nods, "That's actually not a bad idea, we practically have Mother Nature on our side."  Stiles says. 

"And it's not nice to fool with Mother Nature."  Josie smirks. 

"If we're gonna do that, you're gonna need to practice your powers."  Scott says. 

"How?  I can't leave school and the game is tonight."  Josie says. 

"We both have a free period soon. We'll go to Deaton. But, if he can't help," Scott sighs. "We'll go to Peter."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Wolfsbane. That's wolfsbane?" Garrett asks Violet as she mixes up a yellow substance in a large beaker.

"I thought it was purple." He says.

"Not this species." She shakes her head. "Which is very rare and very expensive."

"What's that supposed to mean? "Don't screw up"?" He scoffs.

"Don't miss."

He chuckles.

"Okay, all you have to do is nick him. It'll work fast." She says. "Even on an Alpha." She hints.

"We gonna do this again?" He frowns at her.

"I'm just saying I don't know why we're going after a Beta when there's an Alpha on the field." She says.

"Because an entire pack of Alphas went after McCall and he was the one left standing." He points out.

"It's a lot of money." She pouts.

"So is the Beta." He says.

She sighs in defeat and watches him click his blade open. She grabs and eye dropper and carefully coats the tips of his forked blade with the wolfsbane. Garrett smirks, watching the yellow substance drip down.

"What about the girl who's always with him? There wasn't that much information about her. Josie Thompson. All there was is that she's human and she's his mate. Why put a human on a list of supernatural creatures?" Violet asks.

"Who cares? She's worth a lot of money, almost as much as the Alpha. After we get the Beta, we'll go after her. Ok?" He smirks.

She smiles devilishly.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Eichen House says Meredith can't have visitors without permission from a family member." Lydia says to Malia as they walk through the hallways and down the steps.

"That's not gonna be easy since her whole family is dead." Malia says, sarcastically.

"Perfect." Lydia says, dryly.

"Okay, maybe we go back to the art room? Or music room?"

Lydia stops walking and turns to face Malia, "I'm not plucking piano strings for two hours waiting for some supernatural inspiration." She says frustrated.

"Fine. What else do banshees do?"

"You think I know? I can't just turn this on. I'm not like you guys. I don't have claws, or glowing eyes or super senses." Lydia scoffs, then sighs. "I just have voices in my head."

Malia carefully looks over her shoulder and sees people watching them.

Lydia follows her eyes and sighs, embarrassed with people listening in on their conversations. She walks away, leaving Malia feeling guilty for pushing her.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mason and Liam walk out on to the courtyard as the team from Denton Prep exits the bus. Liam walks over to the team.

"Liam, wait. What, no, no, no, no. Liam." Mason protests as he runs after him.

"Brett!" Liam calls out to a tall player known as Brett Talbot.

"Ah, here we go." Mason groans.

Breathing heavily with annoyance, Liam walks over to him and stands in front of him, "I just wanted to say..." He forces out. "Have a good game." He sticks his hand out to shake Brett's.

Instead of accepting it, Brett and the other team mates laugh.

"That's cute, Liam. Is that what they told you to say in Anger Management? Apologize and everything's fine?" Brett scoffs. "You demolished Coach's car."

"I paid for it." Liam gritted out.

"Yeah, you're going to pay for it." Brett nods. "We're gonna break you in half out there. And it's gonna be all your fault."

Scott watches Liam's hands as he fists them against his sides, he could see blood dripping from his hands.

"Oh, shit." He pulls Stiles with him and Josie runs to help.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, let's go." Scott says. Josie moves to stand between him and Brett, pressing a hand on both of them. She watches Brett's eyes widen at her in shock. She watches him, confused.

"You." He says, softly, in shock.

"Oh." She just realized she's touching another werewolf.

Stiles pulls her away and gets in front of Brett.

"Hey, what's going on prep students? Welcome to our little public high school." He says, sarcastically.

They all look at him weirdly, but Brett kept looking at Josie. Scott didn't like that so he pulls her close to him. Brett lowers his eyes, like a sign of respect, then looks back to Stiles.

"How you doing? Stiles." Stiles says and holds his hand out to Brett. Brett refuses. "That's a firm handshake you got there." He jokes. "Uh, we're very excited for scrimmage tonight. Uh, but let's keep it clean, all right? No rough stuff out there. All right, see you on the field."

"Go." Stiles waves at Scott and Josie as they drag Liam away.

Scott and Stiles drag Liam into the boys locker room and Josie stands outside, biting her nails as she waits. She could hear Liam roaring outside the locker room. And she was deaf! He was loud enough for her hearing aids to pick up.

Scott and Stiles held Liam under the cold tap to calm him down. Not even Josie could calm him. His anger was out of control.

"Okay, you calm yet?" Stiles asks.

Liam snarls and roars again. Scott and Stiles press harder to push him back under the spray. Finally, Liam was calm.

"Okay! Okay!" He shouts.

Panting in exhaustion, Liam gets out from the spray as Scott turns it off, and slides down a wall to sit on the floor.

"That car you smashed. I thought you said that was your teacher's." Scott says accusingly.

"He was also my Coach." Liam says. "He benched me for the entire season." He brings his knees up and rests his arms on them.

"What did you do?" Scott asks.

"I got a couple of red cards." Liam mumbles.

"Just a couple?" Stiles scoffs, crossing his arms over his chest.

Scott sighs and kneels in front of him, "You gotta be honest with us. What else happened?"

"Nothing. I got kicked out of school. They sent me to a psychologist for evaluation." Liam shrugs.

"What did they call it?" Scott asks.

"Intermittent Explosive Disorder." Liam says.

"I.E.D? You're literally an I.E.D? That's great. That's great. You gave your powers to a walking time bomb." Stiles says sarcastically, giving Scott mocking thumbs up.

"Did they give you anything for it?" Scott asks, ignoring Stiles.

"Risperdal. It's an anti-psychotic." Liam says.

"Oh, this just gets better." Stiles scoffs.

"But I don't take it." Liam protests.

"Obviously." Stiles rolls his eyes.

"I can't play lacrosse on it. It makes me too tired." Liam explains.

Scott sighs and nods, "Okay. I think you should bail out of the game. Tell Coach your leg is still hurting."

"No, no! I can do this." Liam protests and gets up. "Especially if you're there." He says to Scott. "And Josie. I get calm when she's near." He says.

"Not enough just a few seconds ago. Your IED is too powerful for her to control. She can probably control your wolf anger, but human anger, that's something you really need to put a tight leash on." Stiles says.

"But, Liam, it's not just about the game. We think whoever killed Demarco might be on our team." Scott explains.

"Who's Demarco?" Liam asks.

"The one who brought the beer to the party. The guy who was beheaded." Stiles says.

"Remember? We think the person who ordered the keg killed Demarco." Scott says.

Liam scrunches his brows, thinking then realizes something. He couldn't believe it.

"Liam? What, you know something?" Scott asks as him and Stiles look at him curiously.

"I don't know who ordered the keg." Liam shakes his head. "But I know who paid for it."

They wait patiently for him to say the name.

"Garrett."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Josie sighs and leans on the wall near the locker room, waiting for Scott to come out. She hated being far apart from him. She was about to just go on in till she feels a sharp prick on her neck.

She winces and looks to see Violet, holding her hands up in surprise.

"Sorry! I didn't mean to scare you. I was just wondering if you've seen Garrett or Liam?" She asks, innocently as she hides the small needle that was coated with wolfsbane.

Josie rubs the sore spot, "Um, I don't know where Garrett is but Liam is in the boys locker room with my boyfriend, Scott." She says.

"Oh, ok. Well, tell him I'm looking for him. Thanks." Violet smiles and walks away. Without Josie knowing, Violet frowns and looks at the needle, it pricked Josie, but nothing happened. That confirmed to Violet that Josie wasn't a werewolf. She must be something. Why would anyone pay so much for her death? It's almost as much for an Alpha.

When she watches Violet turns, her jacket collar moves and she notices scratches on her neck.  Josie frowns, they didn't look like animal scratches.  Also, a familiar scent flows with Violet's breeze.  A faint burnt smell. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Stiles, Scott and Josie drives to Derek's. Of course Peter was waiting for them as well.

He smirks as he sees Josie, "Was wondering if I would ever see you again. Derek has told me everything. Now you know what you are." He says.

Derek walks into the room, frowning at the three of them, Scott turns to Derek, "We need some help."

Before they knew it, Peter brings a bowl of water and places it on a table, "In order to tap into the other side, you have to be able to control your emotions. Obviously, your powers might be connected to them. From what Scott describes, you were scared when Sean the Wendigo attacked you. You wanted to protect yourself. Right?" He asks.

Josie slowly nods, "Yes."

"Use another emotion to call it. Not fear. Think of something that makes you angry. Anything that you think could be powerful enough to call the elements." Peter says.

Josie sighs and closes her eyes, thinking of something. Her father.

The water begins to ripple angrily. It suddenly shoots up up into the air, slithering like a snake. Gurgling and sloshing. Josie's breathing starts to pick up. Scott could hear her heart pounding. Suddenly, the water wraps around Peter and forms a giant ball. Peter shouts in surprise and cuts into gurgling. He couldn't get out of the ball.

"Josie! Josie!" Scott runs and shakes her shoulders. She gasps and opens her eyes. The ball pops like a balloon and Peter slides out, spitting water out of his mouth. Panting breathlessly.

He starts to laugh, getting on his knees, and claps slowly, water flying everywhere, "One down. 3 more to go." He gasps out.

Peter changes his clothes and places a pot full of dirt and a tiny seed in the middle.

"For Earth, Mother Nature is always at her best when she's at her worse. With Earth, you can simply call on to the plant life for help. No emotions. Just a call for help. In your mind. But, you have to focus. Focus on what plant you need. Exactly what kind of help you need. You say it, in your mind." Peter says, pointing at his head.

"So, she's like Poison Ivy?" Stiles speaks up. Everyone looks at him funny, "You know, from-from Batman?"  He stutters.

"Shut up, Stiles." Peter rolls his eyes.

"Focus." Peter says and backs away.

Josie sighs, and starts to think in her mind. Roses. Thorn bushes full of roses, like at home. The seed in the pot pops open and roots start to spread, digging into pot. Streams of roses start to grow in the middle of the pot. Josie giggles and asks it to stop. It obeyed.

"Wow." She says.

"Now, you already got wind taken care of.  But just remember, the harder you concentrate, the more powerful you can make it.  And you can focus it direct if you keep it clear in your mind on who."  Peter says as Derek puts down a tin can on the table. 

"Focus on that can and blow it across the room" He says.

Josie sighs and takes a deep breath and tried her best to focus.  The wind start to whistle softly around her and began to grow stronger.  Her hair starts to fly around her.  Breathing heavily, the wind formed some sort of shield, her body jerks and the wind shoots across the room, hitting the tin...and Derek. 

"Woah!" He shouts in surprise.  Derek takes flying across the room and lands hard on the floor near his door.  He hits the floor with a painful grunt.

Winching in sympathy, Josie scrunches her face in guilt, "Oops."

"Hmm, well, you got the can at least."  Peter says.  "Now, time for my favorite."  He adds, sarcasm dripping in his voice. He flicks a lighter, the flame dances.  "Fire." 

He stands in front of her, "Fire is basically something that also comes from emotion.  But, not as strong.  Think of combining Earth and Water.  You can either project it..." He takes one of her hands, making her holding it like a platter and sets her hand on fire. "Or compel it." 

Josie gasps and Scott tries to help her, but Derek holds him back, "Wait."

"Focus, Josie." Peter says. 

Josie controls her breathing with difficulty but managed.  The flames danced all over her hand but did not scorch her.  She uses her other hand to scoop some of the fire on to it.  Both of her hands were on fire! 

"Oh, my god."  She giggles, squealing in excitement.  "I'm doing it." She says.

But soon the fire starts to spread up her arms, "Um, how do I stop it?"  She asks, worryingly. 

The fire spreads all over her arms and moves to spread all over her body. 

"Oh, my god!" She starts to panic. 

"Stop, drop, roll! Stop, drop, roll!" Stiles yells out. 

She suddenly lights up like a human torch. She screams in fear, patting herself, trying to put out the fire. Everyone was shouting in panic, except Peter.

"Josie, calm down.  Remember fire is mixed with your emotions!" Peter shouts over her screaming. 

She runs behind the couch, rolling all over.  Scott grabs a blanket and throws it on top of her, patting the fire away.  

He lifts the blanket up off her face, and smoke pours out.  Josie's face had a bit of soot on it, but other than that, she was ok, but, naked. 

She yelps and wraps the blanket tight around her, "Um, can someone give me some clothes?"  She says, as her voice wobbles.

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