Unbroken ▹ Teen Wolf [02]

41; remembrance

Things had gone from bad, to worse, to whatever the hell came after worse. Horrific? Catastrophic? A complete and utter train wreck? It was bound to be one of the three very, very soon, if it had yet to reach there quite yet.

They'd been granted a moment of peace after the paramedics arrived and assessed the situation— Coach Finstock was going to be fine, and classes were going to continue as scheduled. Stiles, however, was not— and was still panicked despite being assured repeatedly by Scott that it wasn't his fault. Rachel offered a few words of comfort, but struggled as her thoughts continued returning to her comatose boyfriend.

It wasn't Stiles' fault, she knew that, but to say that to his face when she had no way of being absolutely positive it was really him she was speaking to.. it wasn't easy. He didn't have any obvious tells, and he seemed like himself, but she just couldn't bring herself to be as supportive as Scott. She remained relatively silent, hoping Stiles would overlook her uneasiness.

Stiles would have, but Stiles wasn't there anymore. Someone else was in control, and he didn't overlook the brunette's distrust, but he didn't fret it either. As far as he was concerned, she was his puppet, and if she decided to stray too far out of line, all he'd have to do is tug the string around her neck to pull her back where she belongs— right next to Scott, being a good little pawn.

He liked Scott. His hope & determination made him gullible, and there was nothing more entertaining to a trickster than someone who'd always fall for their tricks. Rachel, however, didn't have hope. She was really starting to lack in the determination department, and she wasn't gullible, so she wasn't very entertaining, but Stiles loved her. Albeit not quite as much as Scott, she served enough of a purpose to be kept around until she made the mistake of voicing her concern.

Then he'd get rid of her.

Luckily for her, Rachel stayed silent on her suspicion as she was unable to get Scott away from Stiles without question. Ethan had discovered a roll of wrapping paper in the back of Stiles' Jeep, the same paper that Scott & Stiles had used to wrap Coach's birthday present. The less homicidal twin had reminded them of William Barrow's signature crime; walking onto a school bus with a shrapnel bomb made from bolts and nails, all wrapped up like a birthday present.

It would seem like a stretch to any outsider, but with Barrow's recent game of hide and seek in Beacon Hills High School, the dots were all too easy to connect. As expected, when they phoned the police department, the arriving officer had discovered there was indeed a little wrapped gift on the bus— inconveniently placed into the nervous, sweaty hands of Jared, the same boy who Stiles had made sick on the bus to the cross country meet they never ended up attending.

It didn't take long for the situation to unravel, and for an even more disturbing discovery to be made by Deputy Parrish, who had been sent on the bus presumably to disarm the supposed bomb. He looked rather young to be capable of disarming a bomb, but as a seventeen year old that had perfected the art of many, many illegal things, Rachel wasn't going to question his skill set. As it turned out, there was no bomb— not at the school, at least. In the box had been, not nails and bolts, but instead Sheriff Stilinski's name plate.

From his desk, at the police station.

His realization was instant. By the time others had pieced it together, Sheriff Stilinski was already in his car, radioing the station to inform them there was a bomb in there, and evacuation needed to be immediate. Unfortunately, his warning hadn't come soon enough, and that led Scott, Stiles & Rachel to their current location— outside the station, where they already knew they were too late.