𝙽𝚊𝚝𝚊𝚕𝚒𝚊'𝚜 𝙿𝙾𝚅

"So, the Walcotts were the first...at least, the first we know about" Stiles explains to his father as Stiles, Scott and I stand in the man's office "Four murders- Sean, his brother, and their parents. They were killed by a professional assassin called the Mute; weapon of choice, a military tomahawk. But then, the Mute was killed by Peter Hale after he tried to blow up Derek with a claymore mine"

"Tad bit dramatic if you ask me" I hum thoughtfully and my brother nods in silent agreement.

"Next was Demarco. He delivered a keg to the party at Lydia's lake house... and got decapitated outside his car" Stiles continues "And then, last night, twenty-three-year-old Carrie Hudson..."

"It's a Deadpool- a hit-list of supernatural creatures" Scott informs him "This is only part of it... The rest still has to be decoded"

"Who found this list?" Sheriff Stilinski questions skeptically.

"Lydia" Stiles answers simply.

"How?" The Sheriff huffs, his eyes scanning all the names including that of my brother, Lydia, Kira and Derek.

"She's the one who wrote it" I tell him, quietly eyeing the number twenty five printed beside Scott's name.

"Actually, she transcribed it... without realising it" Stiles corrects like the dork he is.

"Banshee?" Noah guesses.

"Banshee" Stiles confirms and I shoot finger guns at the older man who raises a questioning brow in my direction that I just shrug off.

"Beautiful" Noah sighs out, his gaze moving back to the list of names "All right, what are these numbers next to the names?"

"We're getting to that. First, you need to know that the code was broken with a cipher key" Stiles replies and I keep our opinion to myself.

"Wait... You mean, like, a- like a key word?" Noah asks curiously.

"It's actually a name" Stiles counters and is swiftly interrupted by my brother.

"Allison" Scott breathes out and we're all enveloped in a sad cloud of awkwardness, my chest aching still at the reminder of the Argent girl.

"Her name broke a third of the list" Stiles hesitates to speak, eyeing Scott with concern but my brother does a spectacular job at keeping his cool.

"And now we think there's two other cipher keys" Scott adds on.

"Which will give us the rest of the names" Noah follows our line of thinking and we all nod in unison "Okay... So, how do we get the cipher keys?"

"Same way we got the code" Stiles answers as though it's obvious.

"We gotta let Lydia work her magic" I elaborate incase it wasn't so obvious to the Sheriff.

"She's been at the lake house all weekend, trying to find the other two key words" Scott assures the older man who nods and allows himself to look over the names another time.

"You didn't know about Demarco or Carrie, hmm?" Noah asks us and we all shake our heads in response "And what about these other two names on the list- uh, Kayleen Bettcher and Elias Town? They're Werewolves, too?"

"I don't know..." Scott drawls off in an unsure tone "But Deaton said that the Nemetone would draw supernatural creatures here"

"Here being Beacon Hills, or Beacon County? The population of Beacon Hills is just under thirty thousand" Sheriff wonders aloud in worry.

"And dropping" Stiles interrupts grimly and I slyly elbow the pessimistic boy in the side to which he responds by discreetly tugging my hair from behind, causing me to glare at him.

"But, if we're talking Beacon County, then you're looking at close to five hundred thousand" Noah continues on, ignoring us and Stiles smirks at my scowling face "Look, how many Werewolves, Banshees, Kitsunes, and whatever the hell else is out there are we talking about? And what if the next cipher key uncovers not twelve names, but one hundred?"

"We don't think there will be that many. There's a limit" Stiles tries his best to put some of his father's worries at ease.

"Because of the numbers. We think that, once we decode the names, the numbers will add up to one hundred seventeen" Scott explains, pointing at the numbers on the list.

"One hundred and seventeen what?" Noah queries in confusion and Stiles grabs a pen to start writing on the list.

"One hundred seventeen million" I declare, crossing my arms over my chest and Noah raises a brow at the word 'million'.

"One hundred and seventeen million dollars, Dad" Stiles repeats my words with emphasis, showing his father the list again now that he's written on it "Stolen from the Hale vault and is being used by someone to finance all these murders"

"Someone who wants every supernatural in Beacon Hills dead" Scott adds.

"Which is extremely rude, by the way" I mutter with a frown.

"So, the coded list goes out, and someone, these professional assassins get that list-" Noah speaks our theory aloud for us.

"And a cipher key" Stiles quips.

"And then they go after the names on the list- they being killers with no mouths, tomahawks, thermo cut wires that can take your head off" Noah continues to speak and I nod along in confirmation.

"Let me see... Carrie was also stabbed. What's this mark?" Stiles points at the picture on the desk of Carrie Hudson's wounds and my stomach turns at the sight so I avert my eyes to look at the Sheriff.

"We're not sure yet. We're still waiting on the M.E.'s report" Sheriff Stilinski shrugs "There's one other thing I don't get. How did this new assassin know that Demarco was going to be at the lake house?"

"Everyone knows he delivers kegs to teenagers for a little extra cash" Scott answers with an awkward smile.

"Ahh. So, whoever ordered the keg killed Demarco" Noah deduces simply.

"Yeah, it was someone at the party" Stiles agrees with his father.

"A student" Scott

❦ ❦ ❦

Per request of my brother and just because I'm a little worried myself, I skip my first class of the day to look for the pack's newest beta. I find the freshman in the gym, much to my distaste, and I reluctantly enter the sweaty room, ignoring the stares I get from the males working out.

Liam doesn't even notice me approaching him and his friend, too busy lifting weights that are heavy enough to make some of the guys give him a double take. I casually lean against the vacated machine beside him and Mason is the first to notice my presence, his eyes widening.

"N-Natalia, hi!" Mason stutters out in surprise and I give him a cheery smile.

"Hello, boys" I greet them as Liam leaps off the seat, looking at me wearily as though he's not sure whether I'm going to hug him or drag him away kicking and screaming.

"What are you doing in here?" Liam questions me bluntly and Mason elbows him, muttering something about being rude.

"I'm just checking up on my favourite freshman" I reply teasingly.

"Why?" Liam frowns in confusion.

"Am I not allowed to make sure my friends are okay?" I answer his question with one of my own.

"Since when were you two friends?" Mason finally buts in.

"We're not" Liam snaps hurriedly.

"Ouch, that hurt my feelings" I pout at the younger boy who shakes his head with a guilty expression on his face.

"I didn't mean it like that" Liam rushes out apologetically.

"Hey, Nat, don't you think he's a little young for you? Didn't take you for a cradle robber!" A stupid jock from the lacrosse team hollers at me and my sweet facade crumbles in an instant.

"Hey, Kev, don't you think you should stop letting your mom cut your hair? I mean, what a butchered job of a bowl cut, dude!" I fire back and his friends all howl with laughter as he glares at me.

"I like her, she's hilarious" Mason murmurs to Liam but I hear him, giving him a wink.

"Listen to me, Liam, I get it. Okay? You're tough and you don't need anyone" I mock a little but I smile to let him know that it's a joke "But we're friends now whether you like that or not. I only wanted to make sure you're good"

On that last note I give Mason a polite smile and turn, walking straight to the exit while holding my middle finger high for the douchebags who wolf whistle at my retreating form. I make it to the hallway before my arm is grabbed gently and I turn to see a worried looking Liam.

"I didn't mean to come off like a jerk, I'm sorry. This is just a lot and I don't know what to do" He tells me in a quiet voice so that no one passing by will hear him "Thank you for checking up on me"

"Don't thank me, it's fine" I shrug before holding out my hand to him "Give me your phone"

He raises a brow and hesitates a little before pulling his phone from the pocket of his sweatpants, gently placing it in the palm of my hand. I open his contacts, adding in my number and saving it to his phone before returning it to him.

"That's my number. If you ever need anything, call me or text me" I tell the boy who smiles softly and I remember the stupid comments Stiles made to me "Also don't mistake this for me being into you, you're a baby to me"

"A baby?" Liam chuckles, not taking offence at all and I smile back at him.

"Yeah, dude. You're way too young for me" I inform him and he nods in understanding "But I am here for you"

"Liam, what the hell? You run too fast!" Mason wheezes as he approaches us and Liam mouths another thank you before I wink at him, heading to my next class.