Coming from a black woman, looking for actually neutral/diverse fics on Tumblr(of all sites) is hell, besides Wattpad which is the underwold. Why you ask? Cause each category is dominated by a certain type, especially White/Caucasian as the standard/average. I'm not trying to be seen as close-minded with these statements.
Example: You search Chubby! Reader / Curvy! Reader, its mostly smut instead of fluff or angst, particularly monster smut. Or vice versa, you search for (neutral) monster smut, but mostly get Chubby! Reader / Curvy! Reader, or at the very least implied, along the lines of and I quote: 'only your fat p*ssy can take them anyway'.
Example: You search Black! Reader / POC/WOC! Reader, its mostly smut again instead of fluff or angst. And even then, its not much of a difference compared to a truly neutral reader. Though there are also too many times where everything is HEAVILY stereotyped, like the overuse of AAVE and how reader/chars acts more assertive/aggressive.
Not to mention, how items are tagged. If reader's appearance or name is described, its NOT an 'x Reader', but now an insert/OC. 'Well I wanted reader to have straight black hair, green eyes, and fair skin cause I have those traits-' NO. Cause I did NOT flush pink. Or perhaps when I read smut, but reader is coded to be on chubby side which was not labeled.
Overall, I just wish I didn't have to go out of my way to read a certain! reader type just to get the bare minimum, or worse, see none / barely any. I just find it odd how POC/WOC! Reader, Chubby/Curvy! Reader, and Diverse! Readers seem more.. sexualized. Or how it seems the only time we're included that it is indeed for smut and nothing else.
Samantha, Stiles and Scott are always joking about the impossible. Who wouldn't when your best friend's dad is the sheriff of Beacon Hills? All jokes stop when they realize the impossible is indeed possible.
Chapter 45: Break In to Break Out
"What I'm about to show you isn't supposed to exist," Deaton explained. They looked confused as he pulled out a bunch of pictures. He placed the first picture on the table.
"This is the only surviving evidence of Dr. Valack's time as Chief Medical Officer of Eichen House."
"This is fucked…", Sam muttered, looking at the picture.
One person had no skin around his mouth visibly showing teeth.
"To call it human experimentation would be charitable.", Deaton frowned.
Scott took a picture of a woman that was covering her ears and seemed to be yelling in pain. "A Banshee. She died screaming."
The teens watched as he placed a couple more pictures, but these victims had drilled holes in their heads.
"So, he drilled holes into their heads?", Stiles asked. "All of them?"
"That was the experimentation part," Deaton explained. Stiles frowned, concerned. "He did it to Werewolves, Banshees, Wendigos, any creature he could get his hands on. And Valack found that trepanation would initially heighten their powers, but to levels that it couldn't be contained."
"So, he's trying to make Lydia more powerful.", Sam said.
"Yeah. Except she's going to end up like them.", Stiles said. "Worse, actually.", Deaton said. Sam's eyes widened. "How worse?"
"Lydia's abilities were already pretty exceptional, to begin with. Putting a hole in her head will be like causing a leak in a nuclear reactor. She'll hear everything. Every death, every dying scream, all at once.", Deaton explained.
"That's going to kill her.", Scott said, worriedly.
"Not only that…", Deaton started. "Her own dying scream could be so powerful that it might actually kill everyone around her as well.", he said, making everyone shrink with dread.
"There's four steps.", Stiles said, walking them through his plan. "We get into Eichen, we get into the Closed Unit, we get Lydia, get out."
"And we have to do all of this while getting past orderlies," Scott brought up. "Guards, electric door locks, and a Mountain Ash barrier."
"You have a plan for all of that?", Malia questioned.
Stiles held up a pass. "I stole this last night off an orderly."
Sam was ready to scold him, "Stiles–"
"But it's useless 'cause they reset the codes each night.", Stiles explained quickly.
"So why did you take it?", Kira asked.
"I'm getting to that.", Stiles replied.
"The only way to get Lydia out of Eichen is to make that keycard work again.", Scott said.
"How are you going to do that?", Liam asked, and Sam nodded in agreement.
"We're getting to that," Stiles repeated, "Okay, just listen." He turned his computer towards them. "I pulled all the history off the key card. Two weeks ago, there was a brownout and the security system rebooted. During a reboot, all of the key cards revert back to a default code."
"So, if we trigger a reboot…"
"The card goes back to the default code." Liam finished.
"It'll work again."
"Okay, so how're we gonna cause a brownout?", Sam asked.
"That's Kira's part.", Scott said, looking at Kira. "You're going to draw power from the mainline." She looked a bit worried. "But only enough to cause the brownout."
"Not a blackout," Stiles said, firmly. "Do that and you send Eichen into a lockdown which would be bad. Very, very bad."
"There's an electrical room behind the reception counter.", Scott said and pointed to the room on the blueprint. "The main power line goes into two breakers that run power to all of Eichen."
Kira laughed nervously, "Okay, slight problem. I don't know how to do that."
"That's okay." Scott replied. "You have time to practice."
"Okay, let's say all this goes perfectly.", Sam said. "How do we cause a brownout and how does that help us get into the Closed Unit of Eichen?"
"The system takes five minutes to reboot.", Stiles replied. "In that five minutes all the alarms will be turned off and the key card should work."
"Liam, Sam, we'll get Stiles to the gate of the Closed Unit," Scott explained. "But after that, he has to go on his own. We can't get past the Mountain Ash barrier. And when we're gone, all anyone's going to think is that there was a security system reboot caused by a brownout."
Stiles nodded in agreement then looked at all of the rest, "Uh, any questions?"
Liam looked confused, "How do we get into Eichen House in the first place?"
"What's our worst-case scenario?", Malia asked.
"What if I can't do it?", Kira asked worriedly.
"Okay, admittedly, a lot could go wrong," Stiles said.
"Everything could go wrong," Liam said.
"That's why we need to make a good plan.", Sam said, making her friends look at her. "If we don't do this right, we could lose Lydia."
"She's going to die in there tonight," Scott said. "And she might take a lot of innocent people with her."
The next day, Scott, Sam, Stiles and Liam went to prepare for the break-in, while Kira and Malia were practicing at the school instead.
Melissa went to hand out some black body bags to Liam but then handed it to Scott instead. Liam's face dropped slightly.
"Just promise you're not coming back in one of these.", Scott's mom warned them.
"We're coming back with Lydia.", Scott assured.
Melissa nodded and relaxed her shoulders a bit. "Okay."
"We still don't know who's actually doing this." Liam said. "Who the Beast is."
"We'll find out.", Scott reassured.
Melissa grabbed more bags.
"Someone we know?" Liam asked.
"Might be, knowing this town.", Sam said, grabbing some bags from Scott's mom.
"You think he even knows he's doing it?", Liam questioned.
"How are you so sure it's a he?", Melissa asked and practically threw some more black bags at Liam with a glare.
Sam looked between Liam and Melissa before looking at Scott with a raised eyebrow.
He gave a weak smile and mouthed, "Theo." Sam rolled her eyes.
"You still mad at me?", Liam asked, nearly shrinking under the older woman's glare.
"No.", Melissa replied. "But if you try to kill my son again, I'll put you in one of these myself.", she said, making Sam's eyes widen at the underclassman.
Liam took a step backward and Scott looked at his mom with slightly widened eyes. She turned around while Sam gave Scott another questioning, concerned look.
"She's still mad," Liam whispered, looking down.
The next day, the supernatural teens went to school and discussed the plans in the library.
"My Dad's got the lab working on the shoe prints," Stiles said. "But, uh, we're both kind of mystified about how giant clawed werewolf prints turned back into a pair of sneakers."
"Argent said it wouldn't be like anything we've seen before.", Scott said. "Did he say it was going to defy the laws of physics?" Stiles asked.
Sam chuckled. "You know, you can be really dramatic."
The trio stopped as they saw Theo standing by a bookshelf and pretending to look through a book.
Sam immediately felt defensive. "What the fuck is he doing here."
"I still need to graduate, Sammy.", Theo said.
"No. No.", Stiles disagreed. "What you need is to be beaten severely with a lead pipe wrapped in barbed wire…"
Theo cut him off. "Okay, I admit that mistakes were made."
"Murders.", Stiles corrected. "Murders were made."
"Not only that, you drugged me and kidnapped me.", Sam added.
"Technically, Tracy did it.", Theo said before flipping a page in the book he held. "You know how the Soviets helped us win World War II?"
He looked back up at Stiles. Stiles rolled his eyes, not responding. "They knew how to make it through a Russian winter." He looked at Scott expectantly.
"That it?", Stiles asked. "Okay. Thank you, Theo. Very informative."
Stiles pushed his two friends away from Theo but stopped as Theo continued. "If you're planning to break Lydia out of Eichen House, you still need to get past the Mountain Ash."
Stiles crossed his arms. "We can make it through. You can't."
"What do you really want?", Scott asked.
"I know you saw the fresco," Theo replied. The trio looked confused. "Two seriously pissed off creatures, the Hellhound, and the Beast, fighting over a pile of dead bodies. I don't want to be one of the bodies, it's that simple. I can get you to Lydia."
Sam let out a laugh. "Please. You want us to trust you?"
Theo shrugged. "Or we can see who gets her first." He placed the book back onto the shelf and walked away.
Sam shook her head. "I hate him."
"There's no way he knows what Valack's doing.", Stiles said. "Why's he so interested in her?"
"He probably thinks what we're all thinking," Scott said. "That Lydia's got something bigger to do with this. That, maybe, she's the only one who can actually save us."
"How far can we get without the brownout?", Liam asked. Kira practiced, but she blew up the whole grid.
The teens went to Scott's house, figuring out how to get Lydia first. "The front door." Stiles said sarcastically after watching Kira fail multiple times.
"We're going.", Scott replied.
"Scott, we went through boxes of light bulbs," Kira said.
Scott turned to Kira, "It doesn't matter. You can do this."
"Their key card won't work unless there's a reboot.", she said. "And there's no reboot without a brownout."
Scott moved closer to her. "I know you can do this." Scott turned around to look at his friends. "Anyone here thinks she can't?"
Everyone looked at each other.
"Not me," Liam answered.
"I was the one who put you in the plan." Stiles reminded him.
Then Stiles looked at Sam and Malia.
"I believe in you.", Sam said, shrugging, and looked at Malia.
"What?", she asked.
"I believe in you too, Kira.", Stiles whispered.
"I'm the one who's going to be locked in an electrical room with her.", Malia said, with furrowed eyebrows. She turned to Kira. "You can do it."
She glared back at Stiles as Scott nodded in approval.
Kira shook her head and looked back at Scott, "You guys are all crazy. We're gonna die."
The teens were placed in body bags, settled in the back of Parrish's cop car. The car suddenly stopped, causing the teens to set themselves straight.
They heard Parrish roll down his window then a few footsteps steps approaching the cop car.
"Delivery to the morgue," Parrish said.
"I don't see you on the list.", someone said.
"You heard about the animal attacks, right?", Parrish asked.
"The hospital ran out of refrigerated drawers and Eichen's got the only other up-to-code morgue in the county.", Parrish said.
"Let's have a look.", the man replied.
"I don't think you want to do that," Parrish warned. "The stench back there almost made me pass out while driving."
"Open the back of the van, please.", the man replied, annoyed.
Parrish sighed and opened his car door and then slammed it shut. The teens froze as the back door opened. A light shone over their bags.
"I'll need to log the names off the toe tags." The man said. "There's significant decomp.", Parrish replied. "They were found in the county tunnels past rigor."
"Open them up, please."
Parrish went on and unzipped the only bag that had an actual dead body inside.
Scott and Liam tried their best not to gag.
The man gagged and Parrish started unzipping Sam's bag really slowly. "No, no.", the man said. "Go, just go."
Appreciatively, the back doors slammed shut.
Parrish entered the car and drove on. After a couple of minutes, the back door opened, and each teen was taken and laid on top of tables.
Once they were left alone, they hurriedly poke their fingers through the zipper and unzipped the bag.
Sam and Liam gasped for air as Stiles glared at Scott. "Never again.", he said, and Sam nodded in agreement.
Scott sighed and nodded in agreement. He looked down at his phone. "Fifteen minutes," Scott said. "Starting now."
Stiles rushed to get out of his bag and fell. "Ow."
The three werewolves just shook their heads and got out of their bags.
Scott and Sam ran to the door and pressed their ears against it. They heard footsteps getting nearby, but then slowly faded away.
They stepped away as Scott opened the door and rushed out of the room with them.
They crept down some hallways and all jumped back as they saw some of the staff waiting by the door at the end of the other hall.
"What the hell are they doing here?", Sam whispered.
"I don't know," Stiles replied. "Their rounds should've ended five minutes ago." He leaned a bit forward to see what was going on.
"I can take them," Liam said, bravely.
"We're not doing shit unless we have to.", Sam shot down. She shrugged. "Well… I could knock them out."
"No. No one is taking anyone.", Scott scolded.
"How much time?", Stiles whispered.
Scott took out his phone. He sighed. "Three minutes."
"I'll just knock them out and hide their bodies," Liam said, making Sam look at him with wide eyes. Stiles looked at him and shook his head. "Oh, my God, please stop."
They jumped at the sound of a loud thud and saw a patient appeared in his room. His door was transparent as he glared at the teen in front of him and pressed himself against the glass.
"Did you take the doctor?", the patient asked. He looked their age or at least younger than them. Liam frowned. "What?", he whispered.
"Did you take the doctor?", the patient asked again.
Scott glanced over at the staff and leaned back.
"I haven't had my medication. I need ten milligrams at 8 am, 15 milligrams at 1 pm, and no more than 20 at dinner.", the patient said.
"We'll get the doctor," Scott whispered.
"Dr. Fenris.", the patient replied. "Dr. Fenris." Then he started sobbing. "They took Dr. Fenris." He slammed his hand against the glass window, making the teens jump.
The patient continued slamming both of his hands repeatedly. "I haven't had my medication. I need to see the doctor. They took Dr. Fenris." He slammed his hands once more.
"Hey, somebody shut him up," Stiles said, annoyed.
"I need to see the doctor."
"Shut him up," Stiles said, looking at Scott.
They watched as Scott's eyes turned red. He let out a low growl at the patient.
The guy's eyes widened, and he took a few steps back. The staff opened a side door and left, making the teens let out a simultaneous sigh.
Stiles motioned them to follow him. They ran down to the small door at the end of the hallway. Suddenly, the emergency lights turned on.
"She did it.", Liam said, astonished. "Kira did it."
"Five minutes to get to Lydia," Scott said. They made it to the door and Stiles grabbed the handle but paused in shock.
The card reader wasn't there.
"Where's the card reader?", Stiles asked. They looked around the door. "It should be here. It has to be here."
"They must have taken it out when the Dread Doctors got through," Scott said, frustrated.
"We came here for nothing?", Sam asked.
Liam shook his head, "We don't need a key." He looked at Sam and Scott. "Not if we can break it down."
The three werewolves started pushing on the door.
"There's no way this thing is this strong. Why can't we just ram it?", Sam asked.
"Guys, we're running out of time," Stiles said. The werewolves stopped, realizing the sudden weakness.
"We can't.", Scott told him. "The Mountain Ash. It's too much."
"Hit me.", Liam whispered to Scott.
"What?", Scott asked, confused. Liam turned around to him.
"Hit me." He repeated. "I'll get angry then I'll get stronger."
Scott looked at Sam and Stiles confused. Stiles encouraged him. "Hit him." Scott looked at him with concerned eyes. "Hit him!"
"I tried to take your powers." Liam told Scott. "I tried to kill you. Hit me!"
Stiles instigated. "He also left you for dead."
"I wanted you dead!", Liam said angrily then Scott threw him a punch straight into his face.
Liam groaned in pain. "Do it again.", he said, looking at Scott. Scott punched him once more. Liam yelled in pain.
"It's gotta be harder than that.", Stiles said.
"Do it!", Liam yelled. "Do it!"
"Yeah!", Stiles encouraged, then Scott threw another punch, growling. Liam yelled in pain and huffed. Both boys were angry now.
"You angry?", Scott asked. Liam looked back at him, his eyes glowing with golden anger.
"Let's do this.", Sam said and then they pushed at the door once more, finally clattering off of its hinges.
Stiles went ahead and Scott shook his head, "Only two minutes."
"We're never going to get through," Scott said. "We have to. If something happens to Stiles, we won't be able to get to Lydia.", Sam said and started pushing against the invisible barrier.
"There's Mountain Ash in half of the building, Sam." Scott said, groaning. "The key card doesn't work anymore,"
"Scott, are you or are you not the true alpha?", Sam pressed, looking at him with hardened eyes. Scott frowned and walked next to her, pushing against the barrier.
The older werewolves let out a groan as they shoved against the barricade that flashed a blue light.
"You've gotten through it before, though, right?", Liam asked.
Scott huffed, wrapping an arm around his side. "Ah, it was a life-or-death situation," Scott said.
"Scott, this is a life-or-death situation. Literally.", Sam said, continuing to push against the barrier.
"Stiles and Lydia had five minutes to get in and out.", Liam whispered. "It's been almost ten. The reboot's over."
"And then there are the four security guards," Liam said, looking behind them.
"What guards?", Scott asked, gaining Sam's attention. Scott turned around and they saw four guards coming their way.
The guards looked furious, and each held an electrical baton.
Shit.
Just before a guard could swing on them, Sam knocked one of them to the side by their shadow, groaning and panting softly in sudden fatigue.
The mountain ash was stronger than she thought.
Another guard slammed his baton into her, and it electrocuted her. Sam fell to the ground as well as Scott and Liam, while the guards managed to hold them down on the ground and electrocuted them.
The supernatural teens let out yells of pain as the guards pressed their batons into them further. Scott's eyes brightened in red as he looked at Sam and Liam. Their eyes brightened as well as they got up and fought the guards off.
The three werewolves huffed, and Scott looked at his betas. “Let’s go get Lydia.”
Samantha, Stiles and Scott are always joking about the impossible. Who wouldn't when your best friend's dad is the sheriff of Beacon Hills? All jokes stop when they realize the impossible is indeed possible.
Chapter 46: Beasts
Scott looked through the guards' pants as Liam kept touching the barrier. Sam went to look through the other guards' pants.
Scott pulled out a card and a walkie-talkie. He pressed on the button. "Does anyone have eyes on the Closed Unit? I need a status report." Scott asked.
"It's a war zone down here." A security guard reported.
"Uhm, 10-4.", Scott replied. "And what about the patients? Lydia Martin?"
A new voice blurted. "Who is this?"
Liam and Sam looked at him in panic. "It's…Unit Nine.", Scott rushed, making Sam look at him crazy.
He wasn't good at this.
"There is no Unit Nine.", the same person replied. "Who is this? How did you get…"
Before he could finish his question, Scott quickly crushed the radio and dropped the broken pieces.
"You're an idiot.", Sam said. Scott shrugged unapologetically. "All right.", Scott said. "We need to figure out another way to get into this Closed Unit."
"How are we gonna do that behind mountain ash?", Sam asked and Scott shrugged.
"I don't know yet," Scott replied. "But there's somebody else here that might be able to help us."
"Who?", Liam asked. "Meredith," Scott replied.
They ran off to Meredith's room. As soon as they got there, said girl was sitting on a desk chair, her back facing them.
Scott pressed a button and a sound buzzed, allowing them access.
Sam closed the door quickly.
"Meredith," Scott called. She didn't reply. "Meredith? It's Scott. Scott McCall."
Scott glanced at his betas as Meredith didn't move at all. Scott turned the chair around and saw that Meredith had a black eye and a blank look on her face.
Scott knelt down and grabbed her hand. "Hey, Meredith, can you hear me? We need your help. We're trying to find Lydia. We're trying to get her out of here."
"Scott, I think we better go.", Liam suggested.
Scott ignored him, "Meredith, listen. There has to be another way to get to Lydia. We can't get past the mountain ash. How do we find her?"
"Scott…", Liam whispered, warningly. Meredith just stared in front of her, just completely blank.
Scott looked down and stood up. Before he could pull his hand back, she grabbed it and placed it on her neck, indicating that he'd have to go in her memories.
"I could hurt you.", Scott whispered. She pressed it on her neck and placed her own hand back down. "Okay.", Scott said.
Scott glanced at the two werewolves behind him before he plunged his claws into the back of her neck
Liam and Sam waited in silence. They waited for 5 minutes, and nothing happened.
Liam looked nervous then turned to Sam, "Is it always like this? This… Long?"
"Yeah, it takes some time. Peter's done it to her too. Come to find out he knew her before he became…well, him. It was right after the Hale fire.", Sam said.
They quickly quieted down as they heard distant voices. He glanced at Sam then slowly opened the door. After a couple of seconds, he came back worried.
"Two nurses.", he whispered. Him and Sam looked at each other worriedly before glancing at their Alpha.
Shit.
Sam nodded at Liam. They'd have no choice but to attack the two nurses who came and saw them.
Liam kicked one and the nurse fell back into the wall. Sam does the same with the other one, sending the nurse back by their shadow and knocking him out.
Liam closed the door and smacked the lock. Liam grabbed one of the staff and slammed him onto the door and Sam pulled the nurse off, also knocking him out.
The door buzzed once more and three bigger men appeared.
Their growls shocked Liam and Sam. Were they supernatural creatures as staff members?
"Oh, sh…" Before Liam could finish his statement, one dark-skinned man grabbed Liam by his collar and smacked him on the wall.
The other one came after Sam and reached for her collar but Sam shoulder rammed the man instead, knocking him back.
The other man charged at her with a growl and she stomped, stopping his shadow in place, also making him freeze.
She whipped her hand around, now controlling the man's body to attack his comrade. The controlled man, confusedly knocked his comrade out before Sam quickly knocked him out by slamming his head into the wall.
They were all knocked out.
Liam stood by the door as it was now open and Scott snapped out of his trance and looked at his betas in confusion.
"Is he out?", Liam asked, mentioning to the guy that was laying down in front of him.
"Yeah," Scott said, shocked.
Liam gave him a thumbs up. "Okay.", he breathed out. Sam gave him a high five as he walked back into the room.
Before they could call it a victory and move on, Sam quickly dropped to a knee, covering her ears from the sound of a shrill scream.
The scream was so loud, it blurred her vision for a moment. Even through her blurry vision, she could see Liam had passed out.
"Sam!" Scott knelt down to her. "What's wrong?"
"You can't hear that shit?", she exclaimed in pain. He shook his head and the screams finally stopped.
"It's Lydia.", Sam said dreadfully. "We have to get Parrish."
Scott frowned, "That's what Meredith told me." Liam came back in consciousness and looked at the older werewolves. "C'mon.", Scott said and led them to find Parrish.
They stopped in the stairs, catching him knocked out and half-naked, covered in ash.
"Parrish," Scott said as he shook him a bit. The deputy jumped and snapped his eyes open. He looked around, confused. "How did I get here?"
"We don't know.", Liam replied. "We just followed the burning smell."
He looked down at his hands which were covered in blood and all burnt. "Parrish, listen.", Scott began. "Eichen's in lockdown. There's no way for us to get out unless Plan B works."
"Plan B?", Parrish asked. "What's Plan B?"
Scott looked at us then at Parrish, "Don't worry about it. Right now, we need you to find Lydia."
"Me?" Parrish asked, even more confused. "Actually, not completely you," Liam said. "We kind of need the other you."
"The Hellhound.", Sam clarified.
"How?", Parrish asked.
"You'll see.", Scott said. "We'll, uh, light you on fire.
Sam looked at him with wide eyes. This was a crazy plan b.
Liam looked around and noticed a cart full of cleaning supplies. He threw a can at Scott.
He hesitated and looked at Parrish. "Do it!" He yelled.
Then Scott lit up a lighter and pressed on the button of the spray can. A huge flame came out towards Parrish.
Parrish stood up once more.
He turned back into a hellhound. Flames covered his body for a moment and his eyes turned orange. The flames suddenly died down and flickered in the cracks of his body.
They walked over to the Mountain Ash barrier is. They watched as Parrish walked over to it.
"Parrish?", Scott asked. The deputy didn't respond.
"How's he going to get through the mountain ash?", Liam asked. Parrish walked over the line and it turned blue.
Then Parrish just walked through it and once he touched it, the barrier went up in flames and it destroyed it.
The werewolves walked over and placed their hands through, not wasting any time to run through.
They caught Parrish going into a shower room. He walked over to the end of the room and noticed a vent on the ground. The opening was gaping as if someone had already gone through. Parrish went down on the ladder and the teens quickly followed.
It was a tunnel with pipes alongside the walls similar to the place Sam and Liam saw in his dreams.
Sam quickly found an open door but Parrish pushed past her and moved Stiles back before going to Lydia.
The teens braced themselves as Lydia gasped and started to scream but Parrish wrapped his arms around her and turned up his flames.
Lydia's scream wasn't as loud, but it caused some pieces of the walls and ceiling to fall off. As a result of that, everything was covered in smoke.
Even the floors shook under their feet. They coughed, trying to wave away the smoke that filled the place, waiting as Parrish came out of the smoke, holding Lydia in his arms.
Lydia gasped and Parrish was back to normal.
"Where to?", he asked Scott. "This way," Scott said, leading them all down the halls of the tunnels.
Suddenly, Liam led them out since he knew where to go. "There's a gate up ahead."
"Wait, what about Mason?", Sam asked.
"He's on it. Trust me.", Liam replied.
Scott and Sam looked at each other in confusion. Liam just bolted down the hall, speeding up in front of everyone else. "Liam, slow down!", Scott yelled. "Liam, wait!", Stiles yelled.
They arrived at where the gate was, and they could hear the electricity sparkling. But just as Liam just ran towards it and grabbed it with his hands, it didn't affect him.
The electricity seemed to have gone out. Liam grunted as he pulled the gate on both sides, making it slide open.
He looked back at Scott, "I told you."
Scott just glanced at Sam confused. She shrugged and followed Liam. He seemed to know where he was going. She wasn't gonna question him any further.
They came to a stop and Liam looked up. There was a vent with a ladder leading up and he started to climb it, with everyone following behind him. Once they were all out, Scott slammed it shut.
They watched Lydia in worry. "Can you stand?", Parrish asked Lydia. He placed her on the ground as she wrapped an arm around his shoulders.
Stiles' Jeep came to them and Malia was in the front seat. Kira hopped out and rushed to their side.
"Is she okay?", Malia asked.
"No," Scott replied, "we need to go. Give me the keys." Malia got out and gave him the keys. "We gotta get her to the clinic."
They jumped at the sound of a slash and Parrish groaned in pain.
They all looked back and saw Tracy holding Lydia, her claws on the banshee's stomach. "Sorry, but she's coming with me."
Sam growled at the girl. "Okay. Tracy, just wait.", Scott said. "You don't know what's about to happen."
"I'm taking her. That's what happening.", Tracy replied. "And none of are you going to do a thing…"
Suddenly, she gasped as someone electrocuted her. She fell down to her feet and Sam quickly caught Lydia. They looked up to see Lydia's mom standing there.
"Could somebody please get my daughter out of this hellhole?", she asked. About the time she realizes.
The teens nod and Stiles and Sam put Lydia in the jeep.
After a couple of minutes, it seemed Scott had issues changing gears, considering the Jeep kept making weird sounds. "Scott.", Stiles said.
"Yeah. I'm trying. I'm trying.", Scott said.
"We're almost there.", Stiles assured Lydia. "Lydia, just hold on, okay?"
Sam constantly wiped off Lydia's sweat with her sleeve, but quickly covered her ears as Lydia let out another Banshee scream. Scott winced in pain.
It wasn't long before they were at Deaton's clinic. Sam and Stiles quickly got Lydia out of the jeep and got inside the clinic.
Deaton rushed into the back as he heard them. "Get her on the table." He hurriedly got some of his tools out. Lydia groaned in pain and Scott and Stiles helped her get on the table.
Everyone looked shocked as Lydia yelled in pain.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa.", Stiles said as she arched her back in pain.
"Hold her.", Deaton said. Lydia started screaming gradually louder and louder, causing everything around them to tremble.
"Doc, I think you gotta do something.", Stiles said, panicked.
"I will.", Deaton replied. He started putting liquid in the syringe he held. "But right now, I need you to keep her still."
Scott and Stiles held both her arms and Sam held down her legs. Lydia groaned in pain as Deaton turned around and walked over to the table. "Steady."
Sam's eyes widened at the size of the syringe. "What the hell is that?"
"Mistletoe.", Deaton replied, and pointed the syringe near Lydia's drilled head.
"Mistletoe?", Stiles questioned. "She's got a frickin' hole in her head."
Lydia groaned, continuing to move and Scott snapped at him. "Stiles, help."
Deaton injected the Mistletoe inside Lydia's head. Suddenly, she sat up and let out another scream causing all the windows to explode.
The blast of Lydia's caused Sam to be thrown back, slumping against the wall behind her. She covered her head as glass shards fell on her.
She looked up and saw Deaton covering his head whilst Stiles was covering Lydia.
He looked down at Lydia and she was unconscious. They stood in silence, anticipating anything else. Stiles brushed the glass shards off her face. "Lydia." She didn't reply. "Lydia?"
Stiles teared up and grabbed her face. "Lydia, come on."
She was terrifyingly pale and her lips were blue. The sight sent Stiles into a panic. "No, no, no, no, no. Come on, Lydia. Wake up. Come on. Wake up. Can you hear me? Lydia. Lydia, open your eyes. Come on, come on. Hey, show me your eyes, okay?", Stiles pleaded. "Lydia, you have to open your eyes."
Deaton looked down, defeated. Surprising all of them, Lydia gasped loudly, opening her eyes.
Sam sighed in relief. "For fuck's sake…", she muttered, placing a hand over her chest and got up to walk back over to them.
"You okay?", Stiles asked and Lydia nodded. "You're okay." He grabbed her hand. "Want to try to sit up?" She nodded as tears bubbled in her eyes. She looked around and spotted her mom in the corner. "Mom?", she croaked.
Her mom walked towards her and pulled her into a hug, "Oh, honey."
Deaton gave the teens a proud smile. "They saved my life, Mom.", Lydia told her mother. Her mom just kept her in a hug and rubbed her back. "Stiles saved me."
Stiles looked back at Scott and smiled. Scott returned the smile and Sam patted his back.
"I'm not paying for the windows.", Stiles said, pointing to the windows. They chuckled at him.
Scott's phone buzzed as Stiles, Sam and Liam sat in the Jeep. "He's headed to the school," Scott announced, getting a text from Argent who was after the beast.
"Why's Parrish headed to the school?" Liam asked. "It's not Parrish.", Scott told him. "At least not right now."
"Okay, why's a Hellhound going to the school?", Liam asked.
"Who knows.", Sam muttered. Stiles replied. "I think he just wants higher education."
"We're just gonna go see him, okay?", Sam said and Stiles pressed down on the gas, driving to the school entrance.
Once they arrived, they got out of the Jeep. They made their way towards the entrance and saw Chris moving toward them. "Where's Parrish?" Scott asked.
"I lost him.", Chris replied. "He's moving too fast.", he said.
"Scott.", Liam called as he looked the other way. "That guy is not moving at all."
Sam followed Liam's line of sight and saw someone covered in blood. They kept walking where they saw blood trails.
"Look…", Liam said. There was a yellow bus with the back door ripped open. It was covered with a bunch of dead bodies. One head lifted up. "Help me.", a male whispered.
Scott ran towards the bus. "It's a trap." Parrish's voice said as he walked over the bus.
"Please…" The man said.
Scott walked forward and Sam stopped him. It felt off. This felt just like Peter's first set up in the auditorium. "Scott, don't."
Scott looked at her. "Is it here?", he asked her. She nodded.
They jumped at the sound of a snarl and then half the body fell down off the bus, blood and organs poured out. The Beast appeared and growled at them.
It was bigger than they expected. Way bigger than Sam remembered seeing.
It lifted up and then it was standing at the front of the bus. "That's big.", Stiles said. "No one said it was that big."
"Didn't exactly have the chance to tell you while I was too busy being kidnapped.", Sam growled.
Then the Beast roared at them. Parrish lit his flames once more and growled back. The Beast ran back in front of the bus and Parrish ran after it. Glass shattered as the Beast jumped out of the front window and Parrish ran to the side of the bus, chasing it.
The teens just stared in shock. "What the hell is happening?", Scott asked.
Chris looked at them in dread. "It's getting smarter."
Liam, Stiles, and Sam were sitting at the table and Scott stood next to Lydia.
"Mason said it's not just a transmitted frequency,", Liam explained. "It's high powered. Like it has to be a really strong signal."
"That makes it shift?", Sam asked. Scott shook his head. "No.", Scott said. "I don't think it's just that. Last night Argent said that it's getting smarter. What if the Dread Doctors are trying to make the Beast grow faster?"
"With frequencies?", Stiles asked, confused.
"No," Scott replied. "By shifting. The frequency is just the trigger. The important part is when it shifts into the werewolf."
"Like Peter.", Lydia said.
"Right.", Scott said. "Yeah, when Peter was an Alpha, he got stronger every full moon. Eventually, the burns healed, and he was back to normal."
"So the Dread Doctors don't want to wait for the full moon.", Liam suggested.
"They want the Beast to be as strong as possible, as fast as possible.", Scott said.
Liam nodded, "Because of Parrish."
"So if this is happening tonight, what are we going to do?", Lydia asked.
Stiles raised his finger, "Uh, we've got one clue to go on." He pulled a map out of his backpack. "This came from the hospital." He placed it on the table. It wasn't a map, but a picture of a bloody shoe print that measures 10 inches. "Whoever's lurking inside the Beast is wearing a size 10 or indeterminate mark."
"Indeterminate?", Lydia asked.
"Means, it's a partial print," Stiles explained. "Basically, it was all we were able to get considering all the fire, blood, and carnage."
"How many size 10s are out there?" Scott asked as he sat down. "Only one with Parrish's blood on the sole.", Stiles said.
"So are we going to try to get the game canceled?", Liam asked. "No, no, we're going to play.", Stiles explained. "But we're just going to hope really hard that it doesn't turn into a blood-soaked massacre."
"Okay," Liam began as Scott stood back up, "But, um…Aren't we kind of missing out on a chance to catch this thing? We don't have the 'who', but we have the 'where' and the 'when'."
Scott hesitated. "There's too many people."
"And we still don't actually know if it's going to happen.", Sam said.
Lydia added. "It just might end up being a regular lacrosse game. It's possible, right?"
"That's absolutely possible.", Stiles said.
"So, we're getting the game cancelled?", Liam asked once more. Stiles nodded. "We're getting the game cancelled."
The only way to do that was to go to the only person they knew that could do it best.
At the Beacon Hills Rehabilitation Center, Coach Finstock had been residing there for the last 7 months.
Stiles, Scott and Sam saw Coach sitting on a couch, slumped as if he was sleeping.
They walked into the quiet building and walked over to the coach, only pausing as they saw his eyes were open but held a blank stare.
"Hey, Coach," Scott called. "It's Scott, Stiles, and Sam." The boys both sat down on each side of him while Sam stood by the table. She glanced at his state. He kinda looked a mess and looked like he had just gotten up.
Stiles waved his hand in front of his eyes. No responses.
"Coach, you're in rehab," Stiles said. "You didn't have a lobotomy."
"Coach?", Scott asked.
"Cupcake.", Sam called, confusing the boys.
Stiles glanced at the chessboard and reached for a piece, but before he could touch one, the students jumped as Coach suddenly just grabbed his arm. Stiles winced at the grip.
"Don't you touch it.", Coach said and lifted up his head. "I've got Nurse Gonzalez by the balls of the last three moves and she knows it."
"Let it go.", Stiles said, rolling his eyes. "You're checking out of this place now."
Coach smiled. "Not a chance."
"Okay, Coach," Scott said, catching Coach's attention. "But we know you're fine."
He started shushing his former players. "I have a debilitating disease.", he claimed. Sam raised an eyebrow.
"It's called "I'm not going to take another arrow to my stomach-phobia.", Coach specified. Sam gave him a confusing look and turned to her best friend.
Stiles gave her a grimace that she knew he'd tell her later.
"Look it up!", Coach defended. "No one's gonna shoot arrows at you, coach. Okay?", Sam reassured and Coach frowned at her.
"We just need you to coach the charity game.", Scott said.
Finstock scoffed, "Charity? Not a chance."
"How exactly have you been conning them into letting you stay here?", Stiles questioned.
"I, uh…" He stuttered as he tried his best to come up with a lie. "I have relapses. It's – It's serious. I've had seven of them."
Sam gave him a disapproving look. "So once a month?", Scott asked.
"Yeah, you see, uh, every time they are just about to discharge me, I relapse.", Coach explained.
"And no one's noticed that pattern?", Stiles asked, sarcastically.
"I have phenomenal health insurance," Coach argued. "So why don't you all get the hell out of here. I hate charity games. They're meaningless."
"I don't think the charities would agree.", Stiles said.
"What's it for this year?", Coach asked.
"Cancer.", Sam replied.
"For or against?", he asked, making Sam look at him with wide, concerned eyes. "Against, Coach.", she expressed. "Deeply against."
"Yeah, okay, well I'm deeply not interested.", Coach whistled and motioned them to get out of there.
"Coach, we need you.", Scott pleaded.
He tapped the boys on their backs. "I will never coach there again."
"That's okay.", Stiles said. "Because we don't actually need you to coach the game."
Coach gave them a confusing look. "We need you to forfeit.", Scott clarified.
The older man just stared at them but didn't reply. He looked at his former student manager. "You guys really need me?", he asked.
"As your manager, would I ever lie to you?", Sam asked, shrugging.
Coach gave a little chuckle and leaned back into his seat, crossing his arms over his chest. He nodded once more, "Okay."
••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
Sam and Lydia walked down the school field, watching the players and audience getting ready for the game. Sam spotted Liam and Scott on the other side of the field. "I feel like everyone one here could be wearing size 10s," Sam told Lydia.
"It's a teenager too.", Lydia reminded. "Which doesn't help, considering there's a bunch of teenagers here.", Sam said. She frowned. "I wonder if Coach is actually going to forfeit the game."
Scott and Liam were looking over at the news vans. There were so many of them. Too many liabilities. Too many people.
Lydia and Sam looked up as the giant spotlights turned on. Scott jogged up to the girls. "It's time."
Sam nodded and they quickly followed him and Liam inside of the school. They went into the locker room to get ready and joined the others in one of the classes.
"Hey." Mason said. Sam gave him a reassuring smile, sensing his nervousness.
Kira walked in with her Lacrosse uniform and sat down next to Mason. Then Scott, Stiles and Liam walked in.
"Hey guys.", he said as he reached the spot that we were at. "Tonight is an important night…" He trailed off then looked over at Mason. "Mason, you know your part…"
He nodded. "Corey and I break into the Devenford Bus and search for their shoes."
Scott nodded and then looked over at Malia, "Me and Sam take out the TV vans.", Malia said. "Right before the whistle, Coach forfeits the game.", Stiles said.
"Do you think he'll actually do it?", Sam asked him.
He sighed, "I hope so."
"Lydia," Scott began, "You stay on the bleachers and look for anyone suspicious or that leaves or anything stange."
Scott looked over at Liam. "The rest of us are looking for a size 10 with a bloody sole."
"Just out of curiosity…", Malia started. "What if it doesn't work? What if we have to go up against this thing? I mean, I hate to bring up bad memories but Scott's still healing from what Theo did to him."
"No, he's not.", Kira said, making Sam and Malia look at her in confusion.
"She's right.", Scott replied. They looked at his stomach and he lifted up his shirt, revealing healed skin.
"It happened the night we got Lydia out of Eichen House.", Scott explained. "I healed. When we were all together again, when we were a pack."
"Then he's got nothing on us.", Sam said, smiling.
"The Beast doesn't have a pack.", Liam said. "Not like us.", Scott said, proudly. "We can do this, guys. No one dies tonight."
Everyone gave a nod and went along their positions.
Sam followed Malia and sneakily made their way to the news vans. They noticed that the game had already started. Malia looked at Sam in confusion while Sam frowned. "I thought they were going to stop the game?", Malia said.
Sam sighed, frustrated. "Coach never forfeited a game before."
Malia frowned and led Sam to a van, watching as she silently jumped onto the roof. Sam moved to the other van.
Malia ripped the wires connected to her van whilst Sam did the same before evading being spotted. They moved into the other vans and did the same, taking out any type of media connections.
"I got the last two.", Malia told Sam. "Go look for the shoes in the bleachers."
Sam gave her a nod before running off for the bleachers and walked under them.
Before she could move any further, she looked around for Lydia. Where the hell was she???
Sam quickly turned around to see Stiles behind her. "What the hell are you doing?", she asked, quietly.
"Uh, looking?", he hushed her, before grabbing someone's converse. He lifted the end of the shoe slowly, grimacing as the person shook their foot and Stiles quickly let it go.
"That's not gonna work.", Sam whispered. "Forget that, where the hell is Lydia? She was supposed to be on watch."
"She's still trying to get Coach to forfeit the game.", he explained as he tried again.
The two moved from under the bleachers and jumped as sparks flew off the news vans.
They paused as they heard a loud growl. "Shit.", Sam muttered, her heart dropping in dread. "It's happening…"
They peered around as they spotted their younger underclassman following the sound of the growl, sprinting after the beast.
"Liam!", Sam called, warningly and chased after him. Stiles followed. "Liam! Liam, wait!"
Liam's eyes had already changed color, as he jumped as well as the Beast, ready to claw at each other.
People started screaming as they heard the loud, rumbling growls and ran into the school. Sam growled, taking hold of the beast's shadow and tugging it away from Liam.
However, the beast was stronger than her and threw her into a van.
Sam painfully gasped for air as she slumped to the ground, watching it roar and ran towards the people that took refuge into the school.
Stiles ran over to her and helped her up. "It's looking bad."
Hayden showed up, clambering over to Liam. Sam and Stiles helped Liam to stand up. They quickly rushed into the school avoiding the runners and ran into a classroom.
"The desk, the desk!", Stiles yelled at Hayden. Sam and Hayden pushed the desk to him and helped place Liam on it. The young boy shouted in pain.
"Liam?", Hayden called with worry.
He grunted. "I'm okay. I'm fine.", he says, still covered in blood.
Sam ripped his shirt open, and looked at his deep wounds, quickly grimacing. Hayden gasped as Stiles gagged.
"What? Is it bad?", Liam asked.
"No." Hayden said at the same time Stiles said "Very."
She glared at him. Liam started coughing. "Okay.
"Okay, we gotta get you to heal before we can clean you up.", Sam said. "What do you guys usually do when this happens?", Hayden asked.
"Oh, I usually pass out," Stiles said. "And I think I still might do that."
He started zoning out. "Stiles!", Hayden and Sam yelled.
"Okay, okay.", Stiles begrudged.
"He's gotta heal on his own.", Sam said and Hayden looked at her in confusion. "He has to trigger it…"
Stiles spoke up. "Pain makes you human!"
Hayden looked at him. "He's already in pain."
"Right, okay, but maybe adding a little more could help take away the pain.", he said and Liam yelled in pain.
Sam immediately grabbed Liam's arm, absorbing his pain like she had done to Aiden and Stiles.
She groaned in pain, slowly stopping and quickly feeling nauseous again. She watched as Liam panted softly from the reduced pain.
Hayden frowned and grabbed Liam's face, pressing her lips on his. Moments later, he let out a breath.
"Next time I'll kiss him then.", Stiles muttered sarcastically and Hayden just chuckled at him.
Sam's eyes widened as she heard a familiar scream.
Scott.
She quickly ran out of the room, ignoring her friends' cries to stay as she ran down the hall.
She made a turn and saw the Beast slam its hand into a door and pull out the door before stabbing its claws into Scott's chest. Sam partially shifted and let out a loud roar at the beast, catching its attention.
It tossed Scott into the wall and she ran at the beast, slashing her darkened claws where she could reach.
The beast reached for the girl and growled at her, annoyed at her dodging and evasion.
The beast swung its arm, finally catching the girl off guard and slammed her into the wall next to her alpha. She groaned and recovered as best as she could, quickly helping him up.
He shook his head at her, "We have to run." Sam nodded and held her hand out, trying her best to pause the beast by its shadow as they ran into the library.
Scott fell down onto the floor and Sam helped him up again, resting him against a table. They paused as they saw a group of people hiding behind shelves.
"Go upstairs," Scott whispered and they followed his hushed direction.
The older werewolves paused and tensed at the sound of heavy footsteps and anticipated any attacks from the beast.
Suddenly, the door slammed open and it roared at them. Sam and Scott shifted and roared back at it.
They ran towards the beast, but before they could get a hit in, the beast easily smacked both of them away like bugs, slamming them into bookshelves.
Sam let out a yell as she managed to push the beast back by it's shadow once more. She struggled to get up, instantly sensing how much the shove affected the beast.
Scott and Sam managed to stand back up and chased after the beast once more.
The beast reached for Scott and clawed into his shoulder, tossing him into the stairs.
Sam stuck her own claw into the beast's shoulder, ducking away from its swinging.
The beast managed to grab the girl and threw her into another bookshelf.
The Beast went after the young alpha and Scott stared back at it, almost exhausted. It stood on its two legs. But before it could make a move, Liam ran beside his older packmates and Scott moved to the side as Liam jumped into the air. The Beast looked back and Liam smashed his fist against its face.
Suddenly, they heard shotguns and saw Braeden, who aimed her shotgun at the beast and Malia, who let out a low growl.
The Beast stumbled back but shook it off. Malia shifted and growled at it. The Beast growled but jumped out of the library's window and ran off.
Braeden helped them back up as Liam and Malia went to help Scott. They joined each other. Braeden looked at the teens with furrowed eyebrows. "You guys didn't seriously think you were gonna have a chance against that thing, did you?"
"No.", Scott breathed out. "But I got its scent."
Scott started to run out of the school. Liam and Sam quickly followed him.
"Scott, wait. You're hurt.", Liam said as they ran after him. "You gotta slow down."
Scott ran into the parking lot and his betas followed him. Suddenly, Scott stopped at one car. A black one. He lifted up the truck and then a pair of bloody shoes were there.
Mason.
Mason was the beast??
"Scott? Sam?", Mason called, confused and Sam immediately frowned at the boy. "What are you doing to my car?", he asked.
"It's you.", Scott said in realization.
Mason frowned. "What?" He looked over at Liam. "Liam, what's he talking about?"
"Mason.", Sam shook her head. "You're the Beast."
Mason looked at Liam. "Liam?"
Suddenly they caught Corey shifting back and grabbed Mason's shoulders.
"Corey!", Scott called after him. Unfortunately, the boy turned invisible and pulled Mason away. "Corey, wait!", Scott ran off, trying to run after them, but couldn't as he doubled over in pain.
The remnants of the pack stood under the moonlit sky. This entire time… Mason was the beast. Mason was causing the trouble and didn't even know it.
