𝐅𝐔𝐑𝐘
protect what you love

WHEN THEY ARRIVED at the police station, the three teens stayed behind Noah Stilinski.

The woman at the front desk looked unamused that Stilinski was standing in front of her. "It's two in the morning."

"Believe me, I wouldn't be here if it wasn't extremely important," Stilinski replied softly, leaning his arms on the counter.

Whispering, Stiles said, "We look at the hospital stuff first, okay?"

"Why?" Scott asked, unsure why the murder that was committed in the hospital was so important that they needed to look at it first.

Caroline face-palmed, shaking her head. "Oh, Scotty..."

"Because all the murder were committed by Jackson, except for one, remember?" Hope answered, looking at the McCall. "The pregnant girl, Jessica. Since Matt had to kill her himself, somebody from the hospital could've seen him."

Damon hummed. He once killed a pregnant woman, Zach's girlfriend. Back then, nothing mattered to him, and he killed her easily. He had been hungry, and saw her as the perfect treat. There is moments that he regrets, and that might be one of them.

"Kids," Stilinski announced, and the three of them moved to follow after him, making their way down the familiar hallway.

They followed him into his office, and did what they said they were going to do — pulled up everything regarding to the night of the hospital murder.

Stilinski sat at his desk, pulling up the security footage on his computer. "I don't know, guys. I mean, look at this." He sighed, referring toward the dozens of people flooding the hallways. "There was a six-car pileup that night, the hospital was jammed."

"Of course it was," Bonnie deadpanned.

"The perfect cover," Damon stated.

"All right, just keep going," Stiles insisted, waving his hand at the screen. "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!" Scott cried out frantically. "Did you see that? Scroll back."

The screen soon shifted in reverse, and their eyes widened as Matt's back appeared on the screen. Stiles pointed at the screen. "That's him! That's Matt!"

Stilinski paused the tape, "All I see is the back of someone's head."

"Matt's head, yeah," Stiles insisted, nodding frantically, "I sit behind him in History. He's got a very distinct cranium — it's weird." Hw gestured toward Matt's head.

"I can't with him," Lizzie groaned, shaking her head.

"I like him," MG stated with a smile.

"Are you crazy?" Stilinski retorted, staring up at his son in disbelief.

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

"Millions," Noah deadpanned. "Literally."

"He's so done with him," Josie said with a grin.

"At least he keeps trying to prove his point," Kaleb said, shrugging.

"Remind me of someone," Freya cleared her throat, side-eyeing Klaus who scoffed in disbelief. "You will say anything to prove that you're right and the other person wrong." She rose her brows challengingly.

Klaus opened his mouth and said, "as a matter of fact—"

He was cut off by the scene that played over his words.

"Okay," Scott interrupted, ceasing the bickering between the two Stilinskis. "Can we scroll forward? There's gotta be a shot of him coming at one of the cameras."

"Rude," Klaus huffed, rolling his eyes when his siblings laughed.

Noah complied, pressing play again, the three of them watching in anticipation.

They only scrolled forward a few more seconds before the figure reappeared. His back was still facing the camera, but this time, he was talking to someone.

"Right there! Stop! Stop! See? There he is again!" Stiles exclaimed loudly which made Hope sighed heavily.

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

Hope chuckled and shook her head. "Look. He's talking to someone."

Scott leaned forward, his dark eyebrows furrowed in the center before his eyes widened as he registered who the woman was. "He's talking to my mom." He quickly called his mom, asking if she remembered.

"He better not have hurt Melissa, I like her," Caroline said, staring intently at the screen.

"Scott, do you know how many people I deal with in a day?"

Scott sighed, leaning against the desk. "This one's sixteen. He's got dark hair, looks like a normal teenager."

"Yeah, he looks evil," Stiles added, refusing to give up that fact that Matt was evil. He was constantly telling his friends that he knew from the start the boy was creepy. And Hope was the only one that apologized to him for not believing him.

"Good on her," Kaleb said, "because he is creepy."

"Scott, I already talked to the police about this," Melissa said, trying to get her son to understand.

"Okay, Mom, I'm gonna take a picture and send it to you," Scott said, moving toward the picture of Matt that was in the yearbook. After he took the picture, he pressed send and placed the phone back down the desk. "Did you get it?"

"Yeah."

"Do you recognize him? Do you remember him?" Scott questioned urgently.

"Yeah, I did. I mean, I remember I stopped him because he was tracking mud in the hall. Scott, what's going on?" Melissa asked, obviously confused.

Their eyes widened, realizing that they could place Matt at another crime scene.

"It's — It's nothing, Mom," Scott stuttered slightly. "I'll explain later. I gotta go." Hw ended the call as Noah grabbed another folder, sifting through the papers.

"We've got shoe prints alongside the tire tracks at the trailer site," Stilinski announced, pulling out a specific piece of paper.

"And if they match, that puts Matt at the scene of three murders," Hope concluded, everything was seemingly falling into place — for once. "The trailer, the hospital, and the rave."

"Actually, four," noah correct, reading another paper, "A credit card receipt for an oil change was signed by Matt at the garage where the mechanic was killed," he added, standing up from his desk chair.

"When?"

"A couple hours before you got there," Noah explained, rubbing his thumb against his temple as he couldn't believe three kids were the ones to pull the investigation together.

"Well, they're smart kids," Alaric stated as hd glanced over at his kids; Caroline, Bonnie, and Elena. He would've been looking at Jeremy as well if the said 'author' had brought him.

Damon smirked, "thank you, buddy."

Alaric rolled his eyes, "not you, Salvatore."

The dark haired vampire frowned, "well, that's rude."

"Don't care," Alaric grumbled.

Elena giggled and then simply whistled while turning away when Damon turned to her with narrowed eyes,

"All right," Stiles breathed out, "if one's an incident, two's a coincidence, and three's a pattern, what's four?"

Looking over at him, Noah answered, "Four's enough for a warrant." A grin appeared on Hope's face whilst Stiles fist pumped the air in triumph. "Scott, call your mom back, see how quick she can get here. If I can get an official I.D., I can get a search warrant. Hope, go to the front desk. Tell them to let Scott's mom in when she gets here." 

"On it," she nodded, rushing out of the office and walking through the halls. 

Something eerie settled within Hops when she arrived at the front desk and there was no one to be seen. It was dead silent. And usually that meant one thing, so Hope tensed up.

"Nothing better happen to my daughter, or else," Klaus growled out.

Katherine simply rose a brow, maybe she wouldn't get the chance to use Hope as a bargaining chip if said hybrid's daughter dies first.

Stepping behind the desk, she breathed in deeply when her blue eyes landed on the reason why it was so quiet. The front desk lady was slashed up badly and dead. The Kanima was being this — Hope was sure — so she knew Matt wasn't far behind.

"Ugh!" Katherine exclaimed, holding her hand over her mouth. "That thing is hideous!"

She turned around and froze upon being face to face with a gun. Rolling her eyes, she looked past the gun and at Matt's face.

"And once again, she's rolling her eyes at being pointed at with a gun," Lizzie said with dry chuckle. "Girly really doesn't care about her own life."

"What do you mean, she's been held at gun point before?!" Hayley exclaimed.

The Super Squad shared a look before pursing their lips.

"What are you doing?" Her voice was monotone seeing as she didn't care that she was at gun point — it wasn't the first time this has happened so she's not that scared.

Matt stepped forward, the barrel of the gun pressing against her cheek roughly. She clenched her jaw, refusing to let any emotions show on her face. "You don't want to hurt anyone, don't do this."

A sinister smirk twitched onto his lips. "Oh, how wrong you are, Hope. I do want to hurt you — I want to hurt a lot of people. But this is going to go one of two ways. Either you lead me to your friends, or I'm going to shoot all of them and watch you suffer." 

Hope swallowed thickly. She might not care about her well-being, but she does care about her friends, especially Stiles and Noah seeing as they're human.

"She needs to start learning how to care for herself," Bonnie said with a frown, her friends nodded in agreement.

She slowly took a step forward, and Matt moved the gun off of her cheek and to the back of her head. She clenched her hands at her sides, wanting to fight the boy, but she knew that the Kanima was around somewhere, meaning she needed to wait for it to show itself so she can stop it from killing more people.

Stepping inside the office, the three males glanced up and their eyes widened once they saw Matt with the gun.

He then shoved Hope forward by pushing the barrel of the gun harder against her head. "Watch yourself," she warned as she made her way between Scott and Stiles.

Noah slowly straightened up, his eyes focused on the gun in Matt's hand. "Matt? It's Matt, right?" he asked and Matt only nodded, his grip on the gun getting tighter as he glanced over at Hope who was ready to strike if necessary. "Matt, whatever's going on, I guarantee you there's a solution that doesn't involve a gun." 

Freya grinned, "he already knows how Hope is, so he knows that it'll be difficult taking her down."

Matt grinned at his words. "You know, it's funny you say that, because I don't think you're aware of just how right you are." 

"I know you don't wanna hurt people." 

"Actually, I want to hurt a lot of people," Matt corrected, tilting the gun in his hand in a shrugging matter. "You four weren't on my list, but I could be persuaded. And one way is to try dialing somebody on your cellphone, like McCall is doing." Scott's hand shot out of his pocket quickly. "That could definitely get someone hurt. Everyone," he made a gesture with the gun for them to place their phones out on the desk, "Now!" 

"Come on," Noah mumbled, trying to console the three teenagers.

The four of them reluctantly pulled out their phones, and tossed them onto the desk so that they were in plain sight. 

And it was only just the beginning of the night.

Everyone was tense, except for Stefan and Katherine, but both for different reasons.

Stefan could care less about Hope, knowing that one less Original in the world will be the best solution. And Katherine, she wasn't sure if she was wanting Hope to die so that she wouldn't be a problem for the future, or if she wanted her to live so she could use the petite girl for bargaining.

HOPE AND SCOTT stood off to the side as they watched Stiles handcuff his father to the bench in the holding area.

Matt ordered Stiles to handcuff his father to make sure Noah wasn't in his way of doing things.

Hope glanced around the room, seeing security camera's, knowing there is a bunch more around the Station which meant that she'll have to deactivate everything so the supernatural world won't be out in the open.

Josie grinned, "smart."

The sound of clicking signified that Stiles had completed his task, but Matt wasn't satisfied. "Tighter," he demanded.

Noah glanced up at his son, noticing him hesitating while sending a glare Matt's way. "Do what he says, Stiles." 

Hope and Scott glanced to one another, glad that Noah would be out of the way once a fight breaks out. At least, they hope he'll be safe.

"They're at least trying to be smart with this," Alaric said, "getting the civilians out of the way is a good strategy."

Stiles sighed, leaning forward before tightening the handcuff.

Once he was satisfied, Matt nudged Stiles' shoulder, ushering the three of them out. They made their way down the hallway, stopping in a doorway to see a horrendous sight. 

Hope clenched her jaw as she looked at the sight of the three dead bodies. "What is wrong with you?" She recalled the first time she saw a massacre worse than this — it was her father's doing and she was astral projecting because she wanted to see him. It ended up with her crying herself to sleep because for the first time, she saw her father as a monster.

Klaus frowned, feeling his heart clench at the remembrance. He hated that night so much. He had already tried pushing his daughter away, and not only to keep her safe, but because he was selfish and thought pushing his emotions away was the best idea. He had spent days, weeks, months hating himself for the fact his daughter saw him for who he really was.

"What, are you gonna kill everyone in here?" Scott exclaimed, his eyes wide and full of disgust.

The deputies' skin were shredded, blood spattering all of the walls and floor. Even some organs were hanging out.

"Damn," Kol whistled. "Almost as bad as me."

Rebekah reached over and slapped him on the back of the head.

"Ow!"

Matt grinned and answered, "No, that's what Jackson's for. I just think about killing them, and he does it." He pushed them forward, forcing them to walk away from the hallway of dead bodies. 

Hope pursed her lips, really wanting to rip his face off, but knowing she can't because then they'll have to deal with the Kanima. And seeing as the Kanima was Jackson, they can't really kill him because then it'll make a bigger mess than there already is.

"I vote for killing Jackson," Lizzie said, raising her hand.

"Lizzie!" Josie shouted, pushing her sisters hand down.

"God, Josette, stop being so dramatic," Lizzie huffed, rolling her eyes. "And it's not like he's a good person. The world would just be down one psychotic asshat."

The three teenagers did as Matt instructed, getting rid of all the evidence that placed Matt at four crime scenes, so that it seemed that it never happened in the first place.

Scott and Hope were shredding all of the files, while Stiles worked on deleting the files off of the computer.

Stiles slammed his finger against the enter key roughly. "Deleted. And we're done. And, so, Matt, since all the people you brutally murdered deserved 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." 

Klaus snorted which surprised everyone. "I think I enjoy his presence now."

"That's surprising," Kol commented. "But, I chose him first, thank you very much. He's gonna be my prodigy."

Headlights shone through the open blinds in the office, and all three of their hearts dropped simultaneously. Melissa was there, and she was about to step into something larger and more dangerous than she was ready to understand. 

"Sounds like your mom's here, McCall," Matt announced, Scott's head snapping in his direction. 

"Matt, don't do this," Scott pleaded, tears shining in his eyes. "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 sound of the metal door hinges squeaking caused all of their heads to look up at the door. The door then slammed shut, and all of them were willing to do anything to protect Melissa. 

"If you don't move now, I'm gonna kill Stiles first, then I'm gonna figure out how to kill Hope, and then your mom," Matt snarled, pointing the gun toward the auburn haired girl next to Scott. 

"Good luck with that," Kol spat out. "That's my niece you're talking about."

"He hurts my daughter, he's dead," Klaus growled out, clenching his seat so hard that the arm rest broke off.

A gun was placed at their heads, the three slowly making their way over to the door, trying to buy as much time as possible.

Hope knew it wasn't much of a plan, but once Melissa shows herself, she's going to attack Matt, not caring if it brought the Kanima to her. She'll fight anything to make sure her friends and their parents stayed safe.

MG shook his head softly, "she's too selfless sometimes."

"Sometimes?" Lizzie rolled her eyes.

"Open it," Matt demanded, growing agitated. "Open the door now!"

Scott took in a deep breath and did as told, and Hope prepared for herself to attack. Just as the door opened enough to reveal who was standing behind it, they were all surprised.

It was Derek.

A few people let out breaths of relief at the sight. No one wanted Melissa to be in danger.

Scott let out a breath of relief, his shoulders relaxing after realizing his mother was safe. "Oh, thank God," he breathed out. 

But before anyone could warn Derek, he toppled to the floor. The hybrid form of Jackson and the Kanima stood in the doorway, looking emotionless as Derek's back collided harshly against the ground.

"Fuck!" Elena exclaimed, and then looked sheepish when everyone turned to her in surprise. "Sorry," she mumbled.

"Crap," Hope mumbled under her breath.

"This is the one controlling him?" Derek deadpanned, staring up at Matt in disbelief. "This kid?" 

Matt's face contorted into anger, a hard glare forming on his features as he looked down at the older man. "Well, Derek, not everyone's lucky enough to be a big, bad werewolf." Stiles and Scott head shot up to stare at Matt in confusion. "Oh, yeah, that's right. I've learn a few things lately. Werewolves, hunters, Kanimas, the witch—" He gestured to Hope who tilted her head. "It's why my bullets are full of witch hazel." He smirked at the female who glanced at the gun with wide eyes. "It's like a frickin' Halloween party every full moon. Except for you, Stiles. What do you turn into?" 

Katherine frowned. A witch? Well, that'll just be a little harder to get her to do what she wants.

"So... he thinks she's just a witch?" Freya smirked. "Oh, he's gonna be in a world of hell soon."

Klaus loosened his hold on the chair, knowing that Matt is at a disadvantage at thinking Hope is just a witch. "I can't wait to see her destroy him."

Katherine frowned, swallowing thickly. So, Hope must be a werewolf, witch hybrid which means it'll be way harder to manipulate her into doing what she wants, but not impossible. So mission 'turn girl into a save Katherine Pierce fail safe' was still on.

"Abominable snowman," Stiles quickly retorted and the tribrid turned to him with one brow raised. "But, uh, it's more of, like, a wintertime thing, you know, seasonal," he remarked sarcastically. 

"Tribrid?" Katherine asked to herself, a little fear building up in her chest.

Matt nodded at Jackson, and Jackson's claws immediately sliced the back of Stiles' neck. His knees wobbled, causing his body to go tumbling to the ground. 

"Hey!" Scott cried out, lunging to catch his friend, but Jackson held out his claws warningly in front of Scott's face. Hope placed her hand on Scott's arm, giving him a look.

Stiles' body collided on top of Derek's chest, and he grunted loudly. "You bitch," he mumbled out as Derek let out a groan of dissatisfaction. 

"Get him off of me," Derek grunted, his face hardening. 

Matt chuckled in response, crouching down next to the three on the ground. "Oh, I don't know, Derek. I think you two make a pretty good pair. It must kinda suck, though, to have all that power taken away from you with just a little cut to the back of the neck. I bet you're not used to feeling this helpless." 

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

"Yeah, bitch," Stiles' muffled voice chimed in agreement. 

"I—I can't," Lizzie wheezed.

The sound of another car rolling into the parking lot was heard, the headlights shining through the windows once more.

"Oh, no." Hope got on a defensive mode, keeping a close eye on Jackson who was staring at her with lizard eyes.

"No, not Mama McCall!" Caroline exclaimed and a few people shot her questionable looks. "What? It's the nickname I came up for her."

"Is that her?" Matt asked, standing from his crouched position. "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 shouted and Matt's face lit up with rage again, grabbing Stiles by the back of his shirt and rolling him off of Derek. As soon as Stiles' back hit the floor, Matt's foot was pressed against his throat.

"No, don't touch him!" Kol shouted, throwing his carton of popcorn at the screen.

Instantly, Hope went to lunge forward, but Jackson grabbed her by the neck and lifted her off of the ground. She clawed at his hand and desperately began to breath in oxygen.

"Get your scaly hands off of my daughter!" Hayley shouted, picking up her chair and throwing it at the screen as hard as she could, but it simply bounced off. She growled and her hybrid face was displayed. Because for some reason, she's a hybrid again in this place.

"This work better for you?" Matt asked, applying more pressure to Stiles' throat. 

"Hey, just stop! Stop!" Scott pleaded, glancing between Hope who was starting to turn red in the face, maybe from anger or lack of air, he didn't know, and then to Stiles whose eyes were bulging out as he attempted to gasp for air. 

"Definitely anger," pretty much everyone chorused.

"Then do what I tell you to." 

"Okay, all right," Scott agreed, but Matt didn't remove the pressure. "Stop!" 

Matt frowned before removing his foot from Stiles' throat just as Hope kicked harshly at Jackson who released his hold, and stumbled back a few steps.

Suddenly, Jackson's claw dug into Hope's shoulder, making her cry out as his claws went into about two inches. She hissed loudly and clutched her shoulder as it began to slowly heal. Seeing as she wasn't part vampire yet, she didn't heal fast. Though, the blood inside her did help her heal faster than a normal werewolf.

Katherine pursed her lips.

"You," Matt pointed at Jackson, "Take them in there." He then turned toward Hope, roughly grabbing her bicep, yanking her in front of him. "You and McCall are coming with me." He released her arm when they were out in the hallway.

Scott instantly grabbing ahold of her, his eyes wide as he checked her bleeding shoulder. It was almost completely healed now.

"Awe, brotherly concern," Elena said, sighing as she looked around at everyone, sad that her brother isn't there with her.

When they reached the end of the hallway, the first thing she saw was a glimpse of blue scrubs.

Matt forced them forward and they stumbled in front of Melissa. "Mom?" Scott breathed out.

"Oh, you scared me, where is every—" her voice trailed off when she saw the situation before her. Her dark eyes landed on the two teenagers, immediately noticing the distressed looks on their faces. 

"Mom, just do what he says," Scott began softly. "He promised he wouldn't hurt you." Scott and Hope both glanced back at Matt for conformation, and he was nodding as he grinned.

"He's right," Matt agreed, before lowering the gun slightly, and pulling the trigger. A bullet was fired right into Scott's side, and Hope went to attack Matt when he pulled the trigger again.

Caroline gasped, Klaus and Hayley growled, the rest of the Mikaelson's stood up in alarm, and the Super Squad winced.

"Oh, Matt is sooo dead," Lizzie commented, tsking.

Hope came to a stop, her hands flying to her stomach where it began to sizzle. She clenched her jaw and stumbled back a little. Looking up at Matt, she saw he was smirking as he noticed the pain settle into her face.

Klaus was clenching his teeth so hard, he's surprised he didn't break all of his teeth.

"Oh, crap!" Hope exclaimed as she fell into the wall. Her shoulder might be healed, but the bullet that was in her stomach was full of a herb that witches can't touch — just like wolves can't touch wolfsbane. So, it was burning her insides, making her want to scream out in pain. But, she didn't want to allow them to see her weak, so she clenched her jaw and straightened herself up with the wall.

"She's so strong," Bonnie said, but frowned. "I have never heard of this so called witch hazel."

Freya turned to her, "it's because all the witches made sure that it was destroyed in this universe. My aunt especially didn't want any weaknesses for our kind, so she made sure it was vanquished. I'm guessing there's little to none witches in that universe that witch hazel is still very much a thing."

Katherine narrowed her eyes, her mind going in overpower. If there's no such things as witch hazel in this world, than she just needs to get ahold of wolfsbane. But, seeing as wolfsbane is also on low because of certain wolves — she casted a glare in Klaus' direction as immediately looking away when she caught Hayley already staring at her with heated eyes. She knew that she would have to be careful approaching Hope if she were to ever meet her.

"Stiles! Hope!" Noah's voice boomed from the cell. "Scott! What happened?" 

"Oh, god!" Melissa exclaimed as Hope dug inside her stomach for the bullet. "Don't—" Her words got caught in her stomached as Hope grunted loudly, pulling out a bullet which was making a sizzling noise.

"Well, damn," Lizzie breathed, eyes wide, mouth agape.

"That should've have been as hot as I thought it was," Caroline deadpanned before blushing brightly when she remembered that Hope's parents and friends were still in the room with her.

Hope dropped the bullet and leaned up against the wall, letting out hisses once in awhile. Even though the bullet was out, the herb was still inside her, making it painful to breath in, let alone move.

When Melissa stepped forward to help her son, Matt growled, "Back, back!" 

"She has such motherly instincts, even to a kid that's not even hers", Bonnie cooed.

"Well, she's also a nurse, so..." Kaleb pointed out, and then held up his hands in defense when Bonnie shot him a look.

"Mom! Mom, stop, Mom!" Scott warned, but groaned in pain as a wave of pain coursed through him. 

"I said get back!"

"Scott," Melissa croaked out, looking between Hope and Scott. The tribrid turned her head, trying not to move too much because it still felt like acid was running through her veins.

"Mom, do it. Please, Mom," Scott begged, noticing his mother take another step forward.  She did as told, stepping back even though every fiber and instinct in her told her to rush forward and help her son and Hope.

"I understand that sort of pain," Hayley remarked, "wanting to get to your child, but knowing there is going to be challenges there to slow you down or stop you." She swallowed thickly, heart pounding loudly in her ears.

"Matt! Matt, listen to me!" Noah shouted, trying to reason with Matt. 

"Shut up! Shut up! Everybody shut the hell up!" Matt hollered, moving to look down at Hope and Scott. "Both of you get up or I shoot her next!"

"He's very unstable," Elena stated, and Bonnie nodded in agreeing saying, "he looks like death."

Hope looked pale and sweaty as she pushed herself off of the wall. Though, she ignored her pain and helped Scott up.

Matt wasn't even slightly gentle when he shoved the two of them forward, trailing behind them as they walked to the holding cells.

"No," Noah breathed out as he saw them, his eyes wide at all the blood.

They both held onto the wall for support, breathing in deeply.

"Please, they need to see a doctor," Melissa cried out, still shocked by seeing both of them getting shot, and Hope pulling out her bullet.

"Do you think she's more shocked by them getting shot or Hope simply pulling the bullet out?" Lizzie asked with a tilt of her head.

"Probably them being shot, Lizzie!" Josie snapped before breathing in deeply, closing her eyes.

Kaleb shrugged, "I think I would be more shocked at someone casually ripping a bullet out of themselves, so..."

"You think so?" Matt mocked, closing the cell door and locking Melissa inside the cell. 

"Hey! Hey, you listen to me!" Noah shouted, pointing a finger at Matt, but the boy only glanced at him. 

"It's all right," Hope called out, everyone staring at them as blood continued to pour out of Scott's wound. Hope's on the other hand, was very slowly healing, but a faint sizzling sound could still be heard. "We're okay." 

Melissa shook her head at the young girl and cried, "No, honey, you're not okay."

"Honey," Hayley whispered, wiping away a few tears.

"It doesn't hurt, Mom," Scott insisted, feeling himself slowly healing. But, unlike him and Hope, Melissa and Noah didn't know that. 

Melissa nodded at him softly. "Because that's the adrenaline, okay? Please, let me... let me just take a look at them, okay? I mean, I can help stop the bleeding." 

Matt turned his head to look at both teenagers. "They have no idea, do they?"

"Please, let me just take a quick look." Melissa sobbed out, hating that her son and the girl she was looking after, was both hurt.

Matt began to twitch, muttering, "Shut up, shut up. Shut up! Lady, if you keep talking, I'm gonna put the next bullet through their heads." 

Hope growled out, but the rumple only made her insides hurt even more, and she hissed through clenched teeth.

Melissa nodded, letting out a shaky breath, "Okay, okay." 

"Back to the front, now!"

"So much is going on," Lizzie mumbled, glancing at her sister, feeling slightly hurt that she had snapped at her. Like yeah, sometimes she says or asks something out of pocket, but her mouth has a kind of its own half of the time. She can't control that, and she has tried so before, but it never works out.

"THE EVIDENCE IS gone," Scott announced as they were in the office where Derek and Stiles were lying on the ground still paralyzed. "Why don't you just go?" 

Matt looked at them in disbelief. "You think the evidence mattered that much, huh? No, no, I want the book." 

"What?" Hope asked, sweat building up on her forehead, and her voice cracking. "Book?"

"The bestiary," Matt stated, and everything fell into place then. "Not just a few pages, I want the entire thing." 

Hope rolled her eyes as she leaned on the desk. "We don't have it, genius."

Scott's eyes widened and he quickly brought the attention to him. "It's Gerard's. What do you want it for, anyway?" 

"I need answers." 

"Answers to what?"

"To this," Matt grabbed the hem of his shirt, pulling it up to reveal a large patch of scales — Kanima scales — running up his side, the pattern identical to the one plastered on Jackson.

Elena winced, "yeah... that's definitely doesn't look good."

Bonnie nodded, "no wonder he looked like death."

"It's so disgusting." Caroline scrunched up her nose.

After showing them his condition, he shoved them into another room.

Hope crashed into the wall and began to throw up, a burning sensation going up her stomach and neck. Gagging, she held her stomach and peeled her eyes open to see some witch hazel in her throw up. She stood up, slightly wincing, and looked up at Scott and Matt as her wound finally started to heal faster.

Lizzie smirked, "oh, he's about to get his ass kicked by Hope now.

"You know, I feel sorry for the both of you. 'Cause right now, you're thinkin', how are am I gonna explain this when it heals. And you're thinkin' how do I explain that there was no blood after I was shot. And the sad part is, you don't even realize how incredible it is that you're actually healing. 'Cause you know what happens to everyone else when they get shot? They die," Matt stated coldly as he watched Hope gain some of her color back.

"Is that what happened to you? You drowned, didn't you?" Hope asked, biting her lip as she felt her stomach heal. Though, the taste of witch hazel was still in her mouth.

Matt looked down at his feet. "He shouldn't have let them drink."

"What — who — what do you mean?"

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

"What, who was drinking?" Scott questioned, holding his wound.

"The swim team, you idiot!"

"Wow, reel it back," Caroline commented, holding her hands up.

"I didn't know what was happening. I didn't know they had just won state, and Lahey, he's letting his favorites come over to have a couple drinks to celebrate. Who cares if they're 17 right?" He laughed dryly. "He had this first edition Spiderman, or was it Batman? And we were gonna make a trade. But then i'm over there and I hear music. And everyone's having a good time, and I see Sean. He throws Jessica in the pool, and then Bennett goes in and—"

Scott cut him of, "Bennett? What — the hunter?"

"A Bennett..." Alaric trailed off, glancing at their resident witch who was frowning in thought. "... a hunter?"

Matt ignored him. "And then Camden. Isaac's jarhead brother, he grabs me. He thinks it's funny." He slightly laughed.

"They threw you in," Hope murmured, everything was finally coming together.

"I—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. I—I see Jessica's got her hands down Sean's board shorts. Tucker's grabbing Kara. 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 "you tell no one!"

He paused and his bottom lip trembled. "This, this is your fault! "What little bastard doesn't know how to swim." And I didn't. I didn't tell anyone. 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 an asthmatic. They — they even gave me an inhaler."

Klaus breathed in deep, thinking back to Isaac and his that man was his father, a father that definitely probably hurt Isaac in more ways than one. And honestly, he hopes he's not right, but he feels in his gut, that Isaac's dad was a lot like Mikael.

Hope knew the boy was psychotic, but hearing the story, and seeing his pain, it made her feel terrible.

Matt continued, "They didn't know that every time I closed my eyes, I was drowning." He abruptly looked up and held eye contact with Hope. "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 — 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 look down a the screen on my camera, and I just had this unbelievable rage that fills up inside of me, and I just look at him, and I — I wanna see him dead. And the next day, he actually was." His trembling lips turned up into a sinister smile. "You know, Einstein was right. Imagination is more important than knowledge. It was like something out of Greek mythology. Like — like furies coming down to punish Orestes. You have no idea what i'm talking about do you?"

Scott nodded. "Uh, Was-was he the guy who stabbed out his eyes?"

Hope turned to him and shook her head. "That's Oedipus."

Matt rolled his eyes and continued his rant, "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. Jackson is my fury." He smiled to himself. "You know, when I saw him the next night, it was like this bond had been cemented between the two of us. I knew he had killed Lahey for me, and I knew he would do it again. So I went to Tucker's garage. I even paid for an oil change. And guess what. He didn't even recognize me. So when he wasn't looking, I took a shot of him from my camera. And in a few hours, he was dead."

He paused and looked between them with wild eyes. "So I took more pictures. All I had to do was take their picture — and Jackson would take their life."

"That is actually terrifying," Bonnie breathed out with wide brown eyes.

Out of nowhere, the power turned off, alarms started going off.

"What is this?!" Matt demanded angrily. "What's happening? What's going on?" He pointed the gun at them, and this time, Hope flinched. She didn't want to experience the pain she just went through, especially now seeing as she's healing.

Klaus growled, hating how scared his daughter is.

"I don't know."

All of a sudden, bullets started spraying through the windows, and Hope lunged into action, bringing Scott down with her. "Come on," she ordered and ushered Scott out of the room as a smoke bomb smoked the whole building.

The pain from the bullet had almost completely subsided as Hope ran through the smoke. She growled when she saw Jackson standing in front of the doorway, and seeing as he hasn't noticed her yet, she body-slammed him into the wall, and then flung him through a window that led into an office.

"Holy fuck!" Kol practically screeched, "my niece is a badass!"

"Hell yeah, that's how it's done, Mikaelson!" Lizzie shouted, pumping her fists in the air.

Katherine flinched, finally seeing how powerful Hope can be.

They quickly ran past his fallen body and into the room that held Stiles and Derek.

"Stiles!" Hope exclaimed and she skidded beside him, and helped him sit up. "Are you alright?" Scott helped Derek up and Hope looked over at them. "Be careful. I'm getting Stiles' out of here." Scott nodded as she wrapped her arm around Stiles' shoulders.

Katherine crossed her arms as she watched the way Klaus Mikaelson's daughter fussed over the stupid human boy with a buzz cut. Something was definitely there, so if Hope wouldn't bend to her will, then maybe she will use the human boy to persuade her.

Running through the doorway, she could hear Jackson following them, so she slammed a door shut, and continued running. As she closed the third door, she could hear that Jackson stopped following them, so she sat Stiles down on a chair.

"Don't move." Stiles glared at Hope due to her words and she gave him a look. "You know what I mean."

Lizzie snorted, "that kind of reminds me of when the gargoyle paralyzed me." She sighed, "fun times..." It honestly was terrifying, not being able to move or talk. But, she would do it again if she knew it meant protecting the school and the world from chaos.

She ran out of the door and down the hallway, but as she rounded a corner, she skidded to a stop once she saw Allison holding a bow towards her. "What are you doing here?!"

Klaus narrowed his eyes, "a sense a betrayal."

Allison held a blank expression on her face. "Where's Derek?"

Hope furrowed her brows as she recognized the look on Allison's face. The brunette wanted revenge, probably for her mother. "I'm not telling you."

Allison glared at the tribrid. "Then get out of my way."

Hope crossed her arms and was about to lecture her until she heard a familiar voice scream. Melissa. "Don't do anything stupid!" She shouted as she ran past Allison.

She met up with Scott and they both walked towards the holding room to see the kanima hanging on the jail cell Melissa was in.

Without thinking, Hope jumped forward and slammed her claws into it's back, and flung it across the room. It hissed loudly and ran off, Derek following after it.

"Scott!" Melissa shouted, her voice cracking. "Hope! Are you both okay?"

Scott looked up at his mother and she gasped loudly as she saw his werewolf features, and backed away quickly.

Hayley frowned, "oh no."

Caroline gulped, "it reminds me of how my mother first reacted to me being a vampire. I don't want him to go through that, too."

Hope looked at Scott to see that he was upset with his mother's reaction. She then turned back to Melissa, knowing this was just the beginning of a long journey.

"What the hell is going on?" A voice asked and everyone swiveled around to face two new people.

Marcel.

And Davina.

Kol grinned and ran towards his wife, sweeping her off of her feet, pulling her into a kiss. "Hello, lovely lady."

Marcel eyed everyone, looking away from Rebekah quickly. Yeah, they cut things off and it was mutual, but a part of him was annoyed with the decision.

Lizzie sighed loudly, rolling her eyes. "Welcome to the club, it's apparently not just VIP exclusive because they just about let anyone in," she aimed that comment at Katherine who simply scoffed and rolled her eyes. "But anyways..."