Once in a Lifetime

19

Tabitha walked up to see Theo and Stiles talking.

The two paused and looked at the redhead.

"Tabi, what are you doing here?" Stiles asked.

She shrugged. "I was worried about you. What are you doing here?" She narrowed her eyes at Theo. "Let him go before I go all brainwashed Winter Soldier on your ass."

Theo released Stiles' shirt, causing it to wrinkle. "I found him up here."

"I don't believe you."

The sound of sirens resonated in the air and Tabitha groaned before saying, "Great. One of you idiots did something, meaning we need to get out of Dodge before his dad and my mom show up." Josh laid dead on the ground. "What happened to him?"

Stiles shook his head. "We can't just leave him here."

Theo shrugged. "Fine. All right, let's take him. Someone's stealing the bodies anyway, right? Here's our chance to find out who."

Tabitha narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms. "You have five seconds to tell what the hell happened or I make you."

Theo shook his head. "I found Stiles up here being chased by a Chimera, about to be killed. Basically, I saved him. We gotta get him out of here. Stiles, come on. We gotta do something."

"You killed him!" Stiles yelled.

"In self-defense! He was going to kill you and me! If we stay, we're either going to have to tell the truth or we're going to need a pretty convincing story. It's your choice. I'm not going to ask you to lie to your dad or your girlfriend's mom."

Stiles shook his head. "Don't worry. I've had plenty of practice."

Tabitha shook her head slowly, not believing that her friend from fourth grade was capable of something so dark. But Theo also put out a good cover story, making it hard to figure what to believe.

They made their way to the Animal Clinic. Tabitha's irritation was weighing on everyone. When she was annoyed, she didn't try to hide it.

They walked into the clinic with Josh and laid him on the table. Theo looked at Scott who was examining the body. "Do you know him?"

Scott didn't look up. "His name's Josh. He was a junior." Stiles placed the cover back over Josh and Tabitha leaned against a wall. "So which one did it? Was it the one with the cane?"

"Yeah," Theo said.

Stiles glanced around the room. "What are we going to do with him? We can't just set the alarm and leave. That's how Tracy disappeared. All right , someone's got to stay with him."

Theo stood. "I'll do it. It's not like I had a big Saturday night planned."

Scott's phone buzzed and he got a strange look on his face. "What?" Stiles asked in a worried-sounding sigh.

"Another one," Scott replied. "Another Chimera."

They drove to Scott's house because Liam had brought Hayden there after they'd escaped the Dread Doctors.

Scott banged on his bathroom door. "Hayden? It's Scott. I know that you're scared, but we just... We want to help."

There was no response and Scott turned to Liam. "I can hear her heart beating. She's really freaked out. What happened?"

"She was okay when we got here!" Liam cried, panicking. "I went to text you for two seconds and she locked herself in."

"Why?" Stiles asked.

Liam shook his head. "I don't know."

Scott glanced at Liam. "She's definitely a Chimera?"

Liam gave a small nod. "She said she heard a voice saying, "Your condition improves.""