Breathe

chapter nineteen: clever

"Lydia... We need to call Scott."

~

"What? What is it?" I said.

Lydia looked at the paper and gave me a sympathetic look before tilting her head toward me.

Stiles handed me the list and it was the third of the dead pool.

"What, we've seen this already?" I asked.

"Look at Liam." My brother said.

My eyes found the name of my boyfriend and I noticed the number had gone up.

"18 Million dollars?" I asked.

~

"Well, it's not another dead pool. More like an already dead pool." Parrish said as we leaned over his desk.

"All of them? All dead?" I asked.

"Within the last 10 years. All suicides. And all at the same place." He said and I looked to Stiles.

"Eichen House."

We all piled into Stiles' jeep and Parrish took the squad car and waited outside for us incase we got in trouble.

"Lydia, Eichen House isn't a library. You need a warrant to get files from there." My brother told her as we walked up the steps.

"My grandmother left me a list of 10 suicides, including her own. There's got to be a reason why. Is there anyone there who's willing to help us?" Lydia asked.

"No." Stiles said.

"But there might be someone willing to take a bribe." I said.

My brother understood and we went over to Brunski's office as him and my brother started talking numbers.

"A thousand."

"A thousand dollars? To use one little key to open up one little file room? Are you out of your mind?" My brother asked.

"When you get the keys, you make the price." Brunski gave a sleazy smile.

"Right. You actually think we have that kind of money?" Stiles said.

"I know you don't. If you did, Daddy Sheriff would've paid the bill by now. That's why I'm talking to her." Brunski said, looking at Lydia.

Lydia violent unzipped her wallet.

"I have $500."

Lydia handed the money over and Brunski took out a cassette that looked just like a benefactor tape.

"Follow me." He said, as creepy music started playing and Stiles rushed us out. "Good?" He asked letting us in.

"Yeah. We can help ourselves. Uh, Lydia, you got the list?" Stiles said as Brusk locked the door.

Stiles walked over to one of the cabinets with the list.

"Lydia, why did you write another name on here?" He asked, and I yanked the list out of her hand.

"I didn't write anything." She said.

"This is your handwriting." I said.

"Why would I write another name?"

"Why would you write mine?" Stiles asked.

"It was the tapes, wasn't it?" Brunski appeared and taxed my brother, Lydia and I screamed.

Brunski cracked his neck and looked at me, "Your turn, sweetheart."

And then all I remember is darkness.

~

"Help us! Help us!" Lydia shouted as I came to, chained to a metal beam. "Someone, help!"

"Lydia, there's a lot of people screaming for help in a place like this. I don't think anyone's listening." Stiles said, noticing I was awake. "Hey you okay?" He asked and I nodded, unable to speak.

"Well, I'm open to better ideas. Because if you didn't notice, all of those suicides were murders." Lydia said.

"That's why she left you the message."

"She predicted her own death. She knew I'd figure it out." Lydia said.

"Once you were able to predict your own." Brunski entered, slamming the door. "But they weren't murders. I'm not some serial killer like Ted Bundy going around cutting up college girls."

"No, you're just an Angel of Death." Stiles said.

"I don't think you understand my level of commitment to my work here, Stiles. There are people here who don't simply need treatment. They need release. I helped them. I helped Lorraine." Brunski whispered to Stiles.

"You killed her." Lydia said.

"I helped her. And now you can help me. Because there is something about it that's always bothered me." Brunski said showing her a tape, that I couldn't read from where I was sitting.

Brunski put the tape in and Lydia's grandma's voice came through.

"What are you... Brunski, what are you doing?"

"Don't worry, Lorraine. It's going to be all right. You're just going to have a little trouble breathing."

"Lydia, look at me. Don't listen." Stiles said. "Okay, don't listen to it." 

You can hear Lorraine breathing heavily.

"Just focus on my voice, Lydia. Don't listen to it, block it out. Okay?" Stiles said.

 "Lydia?" I asked.

"Hey, turn it off!" My brother yelled and Brunski punched him.

"Stop!" Lydia and I yelled in unison.

 Brunski turned and grabbed Lydia's neck, "Then listen... Just listen. I need your help with this, Lydia."

"Please don't..."

"Here it is. This is the part I never understood. " Brunski whispered, squeezing Lydia's face as she cried. "Listen."

"Please don't hurt her."

"Don't hurt who?"

"Ariel."

Then you heard Lorraine gasp until all breathing stopped.

Brunski stood up and walked over to a metal shelf grabbing a first aid kit.

"We get a lot of teenagers trying to break into our drug cabinets. Most of the time they don't succeed. But you three look pretty clever to me." 

He pulled out a large syringe and looked to me, as Lydia jerked her body toward him and grunted.

"I'll admit, Stiles, I don't have any unusual talents like Lydia, but, somehow, I just knew we were gonna get a chance to do this again." Brunski said, flicking the needle and turning to me.

"No. No. No. No!" Stiles said as he shoved the needle in my neck.

"Drop it. Take your thumb off that needle and slowly withdraw it from her neck." Parrish said.

"Young Deputy. You're just a kid. I bet you've never even fired a..." There was a loud gun shit and Brunski went down.

"He... He killed my grandmother. He was controlling Meredith." Lydia said as Parrish released her.

"He used her to create the dead pool." Stiles said standing and coming to me.

"And killed her when she tried to help us." I added.

Brunski spattered blood every and chuckled, "You... You think it was me?" He panted. "That I was controlling her?" He laughed. "Idiots... She was controlling me." He said before dying.

"Oh, God. It's not him. He's not The Benefactor." Lydia said.

"No. And... He wasn't on my list." We heard a voice and turned to see Meredith coming out from behind a shelf. "But he was a bad person."