Changed

Cypher Key #2

For a minute no one says anything.

Stunned.

Shocked.

Terrified.

Horrified.

All of the above.

"Derek?" Parrish questions. "Are you sure, Scott?"

Scott nods solemnly. "We have to make sure he's okay, before we work on the second cypher k-"

"What are you idiots doing awake at this time of night?" A gruff voice interrupts Scott.

I round on the person, only to see that it's my brother.

"Derek!" Scott says, smiling broadly. "Were you-screaming?"

Derek raises an eyebrow. "No...not that I know of." He crosses his arms. "I was trying to get some sleep like any normal person would be doing at one o'clock in the morning."

Though I don't, the others laugh at this, relief evident in their voices. "So...the second cypher key." Lydia mentions, shuffling her feet.

"Right, Meredith Walker here we come," Parrish says in a falsely upbeat tone. "Let's get this over with."

We all decide to walk, mostly in silence, the police department being only a mile from Scott's house.

After about two minutes, I fall behind, and conveniently so does Derek.

"Listen, Cora," he starts, but I don't let him finish.

"Stiles, can I have your sweatshirt, please?" I ask, speeding up and falling into stride with him.

"Sure," he says, slipping it off and pulling it over my body.

"Thank you," I say, quickly glancing at Derek. He looks miserable and frustrated beyond belief, and a pang of guilt hits my heart.

But a pang of triumph does too.

Good.

Bad.

Whatever.

We crash through the doors of the PD and Stiles basically slams into his father.

Who does not look happy.

"Stiles, what the hell are you and your friends doing here at this time in the morning?" He asks impatiently, crossing his arms.

Stiles looks to Scott nervously, who thinks on his feet right away. "We came to see Meredith Walker. It's you-know business."

Sheriff Stilinski immediately straightens, his ears perking up if possible. "I'm listening," he says.

And ten minutes later, Parrish, Stiles, Lydia and I stand across from Meredith, who sits on a bland couch in Parrish's private office.

She looks frightened and just a tad "off her rocker" but I push that out of my mind as Lydia kneels beside her.

"Meredith, we really need to talk to you."

Meredith's eyes dart to each of us, then back to Lydia. "Okay."

Lydia sighs a little. "We need you to tell us the second cypher key."

Meredith immediately shakes her head.

Stiles huffs a huge breath of air. "Why not?!"

Meredith continues to shake her head unwillingly. "I can't help anymore."

"Meredith, people are dying!" I say, harshly. "You need to tell us the second code."

More shaking of the head. "I just want to help. That's all I want to do. But I already helped. Can't help anymore." She looks completely crazy, her eyes lit with pure insanity.

"Ugh, Meredith! Come on!"

Meredith stops shaking her head and stares straight ahead. Her eyes widen and she blurts out, "2436!"

Lydia raises her eyebrows.

I cross my arms, stunned.

Parrish looks worried.

Stiles narrows his eyes and frowns. "She's mental. That's all there is to it."

"Stiles!" Lydia scolds, putting a hand on Meredith's arm. Her voice softens. "Thank you so much, Meredith. That's a huge help."

"No, it really-"

Lydia shoots stiles a glare and he immediately shuts up.

"Meredith," I continue for Lydia. "Can you perhaps tell us what that means?"

Again with the head shaking. "No. No. No. No. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have told them. Bad Meredith! No. No. NOOO!"

I stumble back at her loud scream and fall right into Stiles, who steadies me.

"You okay?" He asks nervously.

"Fine." I say, rubbing my ears with my palms.

Parrish jumps forward and takes Meredith by the arms. "It's okay, Meredith!" He says, over her outburst.

He leads her out of his office, giving us "I told you so" looks.

Lydia sits down on the couch with Stiles and I, all of thinking the same thing.

What the hell do we do now?

Stiles is the first to voice it.

He runs his hands through his town hair in frustration, racking his brain. "What the hell does 2436 mean?"

But Lydia's eyes widen and she jumps up. "I got it!"

Stiles and I exchange glances. "Really?" I ask for the both of us.

"Yes! Allison, the first cypher key. She's dead, right? Think really hard...who else has died while we've been fighting for our lives?"

I can't answer this one, but realization hits Stiles right away. "2436! It spells Aden! Aden is also dead! Try it!"

Lydia grabs the laptop off Parrish's desk and types it in.

It clicks and the code turns to names. Not only is Lydia on list, but so is Kira, Parrish, Peter Hale, and...

No that can't be.

Could this be any worse.

"Wait, I thought this was only a supernatural dead pool..." I say, my voice quivering shakily.

Stiles gulps loudly. "Then why am I on it?"