♡ 𝙩𝙖𝙨𝙩𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪 ♡
𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘳 sixty-three

DNA.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

TENSION was thick. That part was no doubt. Dallas Garcia found herself standing between both Scott and Stiles by no choice of her own. They didn't look at each other. They rarely looked at her, either. Just the odd glance to keep her where was. Babysitting.

She'd rather die than admit it - again - but as her ghastly wound had only just begun to heal over and she could still feel the Dread Doctor's glove on her broken skin, Dallas felt a tad safer there.

"That's my hoodie."

Dallas inhaled sharply and kept her stare forward while Stiles hummed from beside her. "It's cold."

The springtime air would suggest otherwise. And so would the fact that she had refused his jacket so many times before. Stiles didn't meet her eyes but she faintly could hear him suppress a cocky grin. "So now you feel it?"

As usual, the brunette found herself avoiding his look. "You're so annoying."

"Maybe, but you're still wearing my hoodie-"

Lydia Martin interrupted his whispering when she entered the room, dropping the book copies onto her coffee table. "My mom's book club usually has more wine." She commented dryly as they all stared down at the multiple copies of 'The Dread Doctors' splattered across the glass.

Stiles tore his eyes away from Dallas before clearing his throat. "Yeah, well, they also probably didn't read books that caused violent hallucinations."

"That's why Malia's here." Scott mumbled out. The were-coyote spread an awkward smile across her face while noticing the eyes that lay on her.

"So none of us go running into traffic?" Theo leaned forward, his eyebrows raised and arms resting against the table. While his eyes were narrowed into slits and his bulky arms dropped to his sides, there was not a single look of worry on his face.

His eyes connected with Stiles who gave him a grim look. He didn't particularly like Theo. Nor did he particularly like Scott much either at the moment. Although, now wasn't the time to fuss over the past. So, instead, he rolled up the sleeves of his tinted blue flannel and chewed on the inner side of his cheek with deep-set worry.

Dallas raised her hand, flickering her eyes between Malia and Theo. "Since when was that apart of the side-effects?" She then pursed her lips and peeked out from underneath her blue beanie, watching the two exchange looks.

Scott didn't give much time for either of the women to speak before nodding along. "Yeah," he swallowed. "Or worse."

"Like what happened to Judy." Yet, when all eyes remained on her once again with a tinge of curiosity, she continued. "Chapter Fourteen."

Dallas simply hummed, dropping the topic and running her hand along the book's spine. It looked rather boring. Everything there did. Although, Lydia's shallow breaths caught her eye. Dallas had known the Martin a long time - a very long time. So when her lips contorted into a frown and her lower one sank between her teeth, the brunette felt inclined to at least say.. something.

She ignored the overlapped voices around her and nodded towards Lydia Martin with a soft spoken tone. "What is it?"

Lydia seemed caught off-guard by the sudden intimacy. Dallas was rocky with her when her humanity was intact. So, with her humanity at its flip, the Garcia usually acted like Lydia Martin simply did not exist.

Atleast, until now.

"I think I saw them during my surgery." Lydia let out a breath of air, squeezing the book firmly with her hands and pressing her lips together tightly. Stiles furrowed his eyebrows at her while Dallas simply cocked her head to the side. "When I look at the cover of the book.. it's almost like.."

"A memory trying to surface."

Everyone turned to Theo while he stared dimly at the pile of books in the centre of the table. "Yeah.." Lydia met eyes with him and suppressed an understanding smile.

Dallas coiled into herself. The Dread Doctors were entirely new to her. Just like everything else in Beacon Hills. She simply could not understand why it was her aunt's they'd bother to attack and when bigger chess pieces sat on the table.

Kira swept from side to side on her feet before turning to Malia.

"Isn't that what Valack wanted when he wrote it?"

The Banshee nodded with little effort. "If they did something to me, I want to know what it is." Her tone fell stern, turning away with a book in hand and flickering through the pages.

Nobody spoke afterwards. They all picked at the folders of paper with reluctance until Scott sat before them, reading out loud with his crew.

"Chapter One.."

⊱ ──────ஓ๑♡๑ஓ ────── ⊰

It had been hours at the Martin Residence. Page after page. Chapter after Chapter. Scott had stopped reading aloud and the entire room had fallen into a state of steep silence. Some were up, drinking large amounts of coffee and others stuck their noses in the pages of the book.

Dallas did neither. It was pointless. Instead, she stood in the kitchen and ran her hands underneath the cold tap water before cupping it with her fingers and spreading it across her neck. Coincidentally, where she could feel the edges of her scales prick up.

She tilted her head back and hissed lowly at her dry skin but paused when she caught the eye of Stiles Stilinski sitting drearily before a black cup of coffee. She would've half-expected a sarcastic remark from him by now - but he stood still.. clutching his shoulder and rubbing his thumb into his aching bones.

"What's up with your shoulder?"

Stiles lifted his head and shook away the drab expression from his face. "What's up with your neck?"

"Tsk, I asked you first." she crossed her arms.

He clutched his cup and tried to evade her questions from behind the liquid. "Nothing."

"Lying. Brave move, Stilinski."

Leaning back to examine those who were still bunched over in the living room, the Siren turned the taps around to keep her voice low beneath the running water and any nosey listeners. Stiles quirked a brow but watched silently as she turned to him anyway.

"I don't like it when people break my things." Dallas stepped away from the sink, digging her nails into the back of his chair looming behind him. "So tell me."

"I did. It's nothing." Although his words were clear and precise, his heartbeat rose significantly. "My jeep broke down. Hood fell. That's it."

Dallas cocked her head to the side before placing her lips beside his ear and speaking in a hushed tone. "Then why is your heart beating so fast?"

He felt her breath fan the back of his neck, along with the tension that her nails had on the wood behind him. She was careful not to touch his shoulders - but her cold skin pricked the crook of his neck and sent shivers down his spine.

"Let me guess, Scott promised you something else for being here?" Dodging the question, Stiles leaned back in his chair and dropped his head onto the backrest until she hovered above his face.

A laugh escaped her primrose lips while she tucked the dark hair behind her ears. "You sick of me already, Stilinski?" she breathed in the words like a sharp nicotine drag before giving him a quick one-over with her eyes. "Would it kill you to know I'm here for my own personal.. motive?"

"Oh yeah?" Stiles felt the skepticism seep from his pores. "And what's that?"

She ran her hands through his hair, giving him a look he didn't quite understand. Although, when she reached over his shoulders and across his chest, Dallas did something he didn't quite expect.

Her hands wrapped around the coffee mug from his hands, slipping it out of his grip and bringing it to her lips. "You should wear more blue." The Garcia spoke between sips. The Siren left her lipstick print on the painted pottery before clutching it's warmth to her chest. "You look good in it."

And with that, she spun on her feet and exited the kitchen with nothing but quick glance behind her.

Yet, she didn't notice how Theo Raeken bowed his head into the book when she passed, flickering his eyes back up at her and twisting them back to the kitchen. He could still hear the running water from the sink - and so much more beneath it.

⊱ ──────ஓ๑♡๑ஓ ────── ⊰

Theo Raeken stood blankly before a sleeping Lydia Martin. Her chest rose and fell with steady breaths while the book slid from her manicured fingers. He could hear the sleepy snores of those around him, all dozing off into a state of total unconsciousness.

But not everyone.

Dallas sat alone on the doorstep, clutching her phone against her ear and pulling at the strings of her hoodie. "I can't just.. leave."

Murmuring echoed from the phone but none that Theo could decipher. Her head shook slightly and argued with whoever else was on the phone. "You guys suck, but I don't want you dead."

She grew frustrated and ran a hand over her face. "I won't leave Stiles, Derek. He trusts me. Still. Nobody else does." She blew out a harsh breath of air. "No, I know you do. Look, Scott doesn't want to kill. It's his rule. But if I don't have my humanity.. I can. And I will. For myself and everybody I.. need. I don't care."

"Once my humanity is back, its over for me. You think I don't know that?" She looked back at the room full of sleeping supernaturals while Theo ducked out of sight just before. "If.. if I flipped, they'd still never trust me again. I've done too much bad shit."

Her face fell into a conflicted frown. "Fine. I'll be home soon."

Dallas didn't see how he hid behind the doorways, or how he listened to every word. Simply risint up from the floor to pluck her bag from the back of Lydia's lavish sofa

She saw how everybody sprawled over the cushions and suppressed a lazy snicker.

As she made her way past, Dallas found herself absent-mindely pulling the blanket more over Malia's shoulders and huffing at her bad posture.

Then she glanced to Lydia, taking the book out of her hands and dropping it gently onto the side-table. With her free hand, she flickered off the light that strained the Banshee's closed eyelids.

"Ugh, would it kill you to turn off a light?" She hissed, mainly to herself, and to the unconscious redhead.

Next came Scott. Theo expected for her to strangle him in his sleep. Or smother him with a pillow. Yet Dallas simply leaned forward and threw another cushion his way, which a sleepy McCall seemed to appreciate nonetheless.

"Moron."

Just beside her purse, drooling and waving his arms halfway off the couch, lay Stiles Stilinski.

"Tsk, you're such an idiot, Stilinski." she murmured out, leaning over to retrieve her bag gently without waking him. However, it only left Dallas to stare down at him with another lopsided frown.

He'd wake up. And she'd be gone. Again.

Guilt coated her insides and stiffened up her every move like glue. Truth be told, Dallas missed her humanity. Although, now it seemed too far out of reach even if she wanted it.

Blinded by her own pesky emotions, she took the time to plant a kiss against his cheek without a second thought.

Her melancholy look didn't last too long before she stood up. Sliding the frilled purse strap over her petite shoulders, the Siren tred through the hall as quietly as she could.

Because even without humanity, Dallas cared about her friends.

Even if she tried to pretend like she didn't.

Even if the only way she could show it was by not showing it all.

As she left the residence with one last careful look, Theo unveiled himself from behind the doorways with a quirked brow. Her words echoed in his head, what they meant and who to, before he found himself staring up at the ceiling - hearing the voice of another.

He stood in silence, the cogs in his brain turning with ease. After a few seconds of desolate silence, Theo dug his phone from his pocket and slowly began climbing the stairs, nothing but mischief on his mind.

⊱ ──────ஓ๑♡๑ஓ ────── ⊰

Scott sat hunched over in the boy's locker room, fixing the last of his buttons before catching the glimpse of Theo Raeken biting back a grim look. He opted to ignore it, but every time he looked away, Theo looked forward.

"You want to talk about something?"

Theo hid behind his locker and swallowed down a response. "It can wait."

"No, no," Scott ushered him closer. "What's up?"

Theo's thoughts grinded on dirty gears. With a swift move forward, he sat beside the werewolf and down-turned his head with a somber look. "It's about last night." he fumbled with the phone in his hands. "After everyone fell asleep.. I went upstairs to check on Kira. She was sleeping.. but-"

The McCall widened his eyes and felt his chest grow tight enough to emulate his asthma. "You heard her speaking Japanese, didn't you?"

The other boy tapped his fingers against the phone - almost deep in thought. "I didn't just hear it." His thumb let go of the play button and within moments, Kira Yukimura's voice echoed through the locker rooms. Japanese springing effortlessly from her tongue.

Scott blinked rapidly in a concoction of confusion and worry. "That's exactly what she said at the club." He leaned forward to place both elbows on his knees and brought his hands to his lips. "But that.. that could mean anything."

A wince escaped the Raeken's lips. "Well that's the thing.. I found a website that translates Japanese." He watched as Scott's eyes scoured his face anxiously. "It means.. roughly.. 'I am the messenger of death.'"

Sighs. A cluster of deep, bone-rattling sighs were all Scott could force out of his mouth. The teenager tore his gaze away from Theo and readjusted his shaky slouch onto the bench.

"You already knew?"

Scott bowed his head to the floor before blowing out a gust of air and nodding. "Uh.. I knew something was up, that something was happening to her. You know?" he paused, almost as if the words caused him pain. "She's got this aura around her. It's hard to explain. Um.. it's supposed to be apart of her. But now? It looks.. different."

"Almost like... it's taking over." He paused. "I don't know."

Theo rubbed his hands together, not wanting to add onto the big pile of bad news, but did so anyway. "It's not just.. that I heard last night."

Scott rose his head and clipped his eyebrows together with curiosity. "What?"

"I don't know. Maybe it's not my place to tell you." Theo stood up and slung his backpack over his shoulder. The doorway welcomed him with open arms but as he tried to slip through - he was caught in Scott's.

"Theo, if there's something else, you need to tell me."

The wind whistled through his teeth as he inhaled. He avoided the pleading look of the Alpha before clenching his jaw and turning his head. "I don't want to cause mischief." his movements were slow as he twisted his full body around to face Scott.

The room was silent until he spoke once more. "I heard Dallas in the kitchen. I didn't mean to listen, but.. she sounded.. off."

Scott blew out a breath. Understatement of the year. But that was nothing new. "Stiles asked why she was here. If it was because of you." he furrowed his eyebrows as he recalled the memory. "She said she had a personal motive, Scott."

Tension settled once again on the shoulders of the True Alpha. "I know her motive, Theo, it's okay."

He stared blankly ahead before clenching his teeth together. "Do you?"

Tilting his head ever so slightly to the side, Scott noticed the sudden distrust he had in the Siren. "I mean, I trust you. But when everybody fell asleep, I noticed she wasn't there anymore... and then that's when I heard Kira. That's not suspicious to you?"

"No, you're wrong." Scott took a step back. "She wouldn't. Even without her humanity, she wouldn't."

"Yeah. You're right. Forget I said anything." Theo shook his head in dismay and struck his eyes to the floor. "Maybe I'm just paranoid."

He slapped his hand on Scott's shoulder before leaving the locker rooms.. and the mess he just created in his wake.

The werewolf didn't see it as he was too busy drowning in the thoughts that Theo poured in his head - but as he left, a smirk worked its way onto his lips.

But who would Scott believe?

The boy he barely remembered,

Or the girl without her humanity.

☆ word count: 2,692. ☆

a/n: please dont hate me please dont hate me