Hypervigilance {Stiles Stilinski Book Three}

Chapter 12

"Alright, let's see it." I say. "Still a he, not an it." Lydia corrects. "Not after what happened tonight. Once you go ballistic like that, they don't see you as human. Wait until you kill somebody, they'll never let you live it down." I state.

"I forgot to ask, how are you?" Lydia questions. "I'm perfect. Let's just take a look at the unburnable man." I reply. His whole body is intact. It doesn't look like a flame even came near that skin. "He covered you in gasoline right?" Derek questions.

"It's the hair and nails isn't it? The parts of the body that are essentially dead." Lydia says. "Well, they should be gone." Derek states. "I was set on fire. All of me should be gone." Parrish says. "Not if you're like us." Scott states.

"Uh yes. I'm very flammable. One of the only ways to actually kill me." I interject. "Like you?" Parrish questions. "I don't think he's like us." Derek states. "Then what is he?" I ask. "Sorry, but I have no idea." Derek replies.

"But you knew about Jackson and Kira." Scott argues. "This is a little out of my experience. There might be something in the bestiary. Did you try Argent?" Derek questions. "I don't know where he is." Scott answers.

"Okay, hold on. What's a bestiary? Actually, that's not even my first question. Just tell me one thing, are you all like Lydia? Are you all psychic?" Parrish asks. "Psychic?" Derek questions. "Not exactly." Scott responds.

"Then what are you?" Parrish asks. Scott looks to Derek and he nods. Scott then shows Parrish his eyes. When then explain the supernatural world to him.

"What's a kanima?" Parrish asks. "We'll get back to that. Just know that everyone like us, everyone with some kind of supernatural ability is on the Dead Pool." Scott states.

"But I don't even know what I am." Parrish argues. "I'm pretty sure they don't care." Derek replies. "How many professional assassins are we talking about?" Parrish questions. "We're starting to lose count." Lydia answers.

"But is it still just professionals?" I ask. "I don't think Haigh's ever tried anything like this before. I think he was taking a chance." Parrish states. "That means anyone with the Dead Pool could take a chance." Derek says.

"But if Haigh had it, then who else does? How easy is it to get this thing now?" Parrish questions. "Apparently very." I reply. Lydia then tells us what she uncovered at the lake house.

"Meredith was only there once. But I think once was enough." Lydia states. "How did your grandmother know her?" Scott asks. "She didn't. She found her. Because of another woman named Maddy. The woman she loved. I never met her, but I saw her name everywhere. She used to be part of a yacht racing team. There were plaques and trophies in the lake house from all the regattas she'd won." Lydia says.

"How did she die?" Parrish questions. "How's not the story. It's what happened right before. My grandmother, Lorraine, used to work in San Francisco for IBM. She was there on a weekend, catching up on work. She started hearing this sound like rain. But when she looked out the windows all she saw was blue sky." Lydia explains.

"But she kept hearing the rain?" Scott asks. "And it just kept getting louder. Rain and thunder cracking like gunshots in her head. So loud. Until she finally just screamed." Lydia states. "Like a banshee." Derek says.

"She called Maddy who was planning on taking one of the boats out on the lake. But Maddy said that the sun was shining there too. So Loraine didn't say anything." Lydia says. "There was an accident?" Parrish asks.

"It took them four days to find Maddy's body. And then it took decades to figure out how Loraine knew. She started with parapsychologists, like the PhD in their name made it more scientific. They built the study in the lake house according to every pseudoscientific theory they could find. None of it worked." Lydia states.