Dark Side of the World // S.S. [Book Two]

Chapter 18

Sheriff places an X through Tracy's picture and says, "Chimeras."

Stiles gives a small shrug. "Well, yeah, two dead chimeras."

"And eight new ones." I reply, resting my head on my hands. "That's ten in all."

Sheriff doesn't turn around and continues focusing on his board and tacks up another picture. "I'm thinking eleven." I see Stiles tense up and his mouth opens slightly. "Our station tech guys confirmed something for me." He turns around. "They said, both the holding cell lock and cameras could have malfunctioned because of something electromagnetic. You said that, uh, these guys..."

"Dread Doctors." I cut in.

Sheriff frowns. "Are we really calling them that?"

"Yes. We are. You think they broke Donovan out?"

"It's how they got into Eichen, isn't it?"

Stiles pulls me back and says, "Donovan's a chimera."

Sheriff nods. "Yeah. But is he a failure like Lucas and Tracy?"

Stiles purses his lips. "If he is, he's probably dead."

"Not until I've seen a body." He then looks at his son. "You're uncharacteristically quiet."

Stiles locks eyes with his dad. "Yeah. Sorry...I'm, uh, I'm just trying to think about it. Uh...these are all strangers, right? So, now shouldn't we be trying to figure out why these teenagers? If the Dread Doctors, if they went through all that...burying them, killing them, breaking one of them out of jail..."

"They couldn't have been chosen at random."

I shake my head. "There's something in common with them. Something that made them right for this experiment. Something that made them special."

At Scott's, I narrow my eyes at the book. Not only the thought of having to read them, but just the look of the cover.

Lydia looks at the books and says, "My mom's book club usually has more wine."

Stiles chuckles sarcastically. "Well, they also probably didn't read books that caused violent hallucinations."

"That's why Malia's here." Scott clarifies.

Kira frowns. "So none of us go running into traffic?"

"Or worse." Scott adds.

"Like what happens to Judy." Malia states. Seeing our confused looks, she says, "Chapter fourteen."

Lydia reaches her hand out to the table and grabs the only actual book. Looking at it, she says, "Maybe I should have my mother read it. She might remember a girl with a tail leaping off the ceiling and attacking everyone. Meg, here's a copy in Greek."

I take the stack of papers as Stiles mutters, "Yeah, if it works."

"It has to."

Scott turns to Lydia. "What does that mean?"

Lydia meets Scott's eyes. "I think I saw them during surgery. When I look at the cover of the book, it's almost like..."

"A memory trying to surface." Theo finishes.

Stiles tenses up and I grab his hand to try and calm him down.

Lydia glances at Theo and nods. "Yeah."

"Isn't that what Valack wanted when he wrote it?" Kira asks.

"If they did something to me, I want to know what it is."

Soon, each of us have a book. We scatter to various places. Stiles and I are on the couch. I'm laying my head on his lap as my feet touch the end of the couch. Scott and Kira are across from us, sitting on another couch. Theo and Lydia each have a chair, and Malia is on the floor.