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

Chapter 24

Stiles sits by his dad's bedside and I'm curled up on the couch watching the scene unfold. "Is that my laptop?" Sheriff asks.

Stiles types as he says, "Yep."

"Do you have my password?"

Stiles raises his eyebrows. "I have all your passwords. You know, they just brought in another body from last night?"

"Yeah, I was hoping you wouldn't find out. Now give me my damn computer."

He reaches for the computer and Stiles shies away. "Hang on, hang on." Sheriff groans. "I think there's some footage missing. Or something missing in the footage."

"I think there's something missing in your head." Sheriff retorts, causing me to let out a snort of laughter.

"You need your rest." Stiles says absentmindedly focusing back on the computer footage.

I make my way over and stare at the computer screen. "What in Hades is that thing?"

Stiles turns to me. "I have no idea."

We get to Scott's and he's nursing his wound in his bathroom. Stiles says, "Hey. Still not healing?"

He looks down for a second. "Sometimes it just takes a little longer. What are you doing here?"

"Ah, you heard about the guy who got killed out at the communication towers, right? I think I may have figured something out."

Scott glances to me and focuses on Stiles. "What, you want my help?"

Stiles shrugs. "Yeah, well, you said you can find the clues that I can't." He pulls out his phone and Scott pulls on a clean shirt. "Here. Take a look." He pushes play on a video of a security cam he'd pulled up. "This is where the technician first arrived. You see him going in? Then Deputy Clark goes in. Then something really big and really fast comes charging out. And now comes Clark. Eventually, technician's body is carried out by paramedics."

"Okay, what am I missing?" Scott asks, frowning.

I raise an eyebrow. "Two people in, three people out."

Stiles nods. "I checked all the footage. Not a single person enters that building before the technician the entire day. So where does that something really big and fast come from?"

"There's another way in." Scott realizes.

We arrive at at Telecom building, as Stiles told me. We see a grate surrounded by words. "You see that?" Stiles asks us.

"I see blood."

Scott tries to pull up a locker with blood and scratch marks. After a little while, Stiles and I help Scott. I'm not sure how much I did compared to the boys, but we manage to get the locker sitting up straight.

Stiles trails the flashlight across the blood. "Look where it leads to."

He crouches down next to the grate and focuses on the words. "What is that?"

I crouch next to Stiles. "It's Latin. Damnatio Memoriae. It means condemnation of memory."

"How do you know?" Scott asks.

I turn to him. "Believe it or not, I do know some Latin. My brain translates it easily, though not as easily as Ancient Greek."

He nods and turns to Stiles. "Hold up that light. I'm gonna get a picture of it. Stiles, hold the light still."

Stiles falls to the ground and yells, "Scott, Meg, behind you!"

I turn and see Scott push Tracy into Josh. He's paralyzed by Tracy's claws and she is knocked down by his electricity. Scott turns to the wall, alpha eyes glowing, and growling. Corey becomes visible and his eyes widen, showing his fear.

I draw my sword and rush Tracy, holding my sword to her neck. "You may be injured, but going after my friends is a very bad idea."

Scott pulls me back. "Not worth it, Meg. They're both injured."

Stiles turns to Josh. "Sucks, doesn't it."

Theo appears and looks down at his pack members. "Maybe they're not ready to take on the two most powerful members of the McCall pack. Especially one that can smell fear."

Corey's voice gets higher and higher as he cries, "He's got fangs!"

Scott points to Tracy and Josh. "What did you do?"

"I found some new friends. I don't take rejection well." Theo replies.

Corey and Tracy carry Josh away, leaving us stuck with Theo. "Hey, Theo!" Stiles yells.

Still holding my sword, I instantly hold it up to Theo, ready to summon water to drown him.

"Hello, Megara. Put the sword down. Stiles." Theo says, looking down at the Latin words and crushing them with his foot. He turns to Scott. "You're going to leave here thinking that you need to worry about me. But you're wrong. We're actually back on the same side. Because that's the thing...That's what we need to worry about. Your pack and mine. We're gonna go back to school and pretend like we're normal teenagers, but at night, we're going to be fighting for our lives."

Theo turns to look at something and I ask, "What is it? What's wrong?"

"It's not a chimera."

"But if it's just a kid underneath. Someone like us." Scott reasons.

"Not anymore."

Theo leaves and I help Stiles sit up as Scott continues, "He knew what it meant and I can't remember the words."

"Damnatio Memoriae. The condemnation of memory." I remind them.

"I think it also means that whatever the Dread Doctors created, whatever the last chimera really is, it's not something new. It's something old. Really old." Stiles adds.

"So they didn't create a new creature." Scott says.

Stiles gives a small nod. "They resurrected one."

Scott draws a circle in the dirt. "We need help. If Theo's got his own pack now, then we need ours. We have to get the others back."

Stiles frowns. "The others? You mean Kira who's currently battling a homicidal fox spirit inside of her, Malia who isn't even speaking to either one of us, Lydia who is stuck in Eichen House, and Liam who almost killed you and hurt Meg?"

Scott grins. "Also known as our best friends."

"How?" I inquire.

"One by one."

Stiles looks down at the circle. "You're not seriously gonna make me do it, right?"

"You're part of the pack, right?"

Stiles sighs. "Okay." He draws the outer circle of Scott's pack symbol. Once he finishes, Scott and I pull him up and leave the tunnel. "We need to find Kira." He then glances at Scott's arm. "I still hate that tattoo."

Scott smirks. "I know."

We get to Scott's house, and Stiles follows me into my room, closing my door. "Do you realize Theo was flirting with you?"

I cross my arms. "Obviously. But Theo can die in a hole. Stiles, I love you and only you."

"Are you sure about that?"

"Stiles, what the hell is going on? I told you. I don't like Theo. Why don't you trust me?"

"Because I don't trust people easily!"

"I have given you every reason to trust me, Stiles!"

"Have you? How do I know you haven't been with someone else?"

"I'm not hearing this. Get out!"

"Meg, wait. I'm sorry."

"Get out!" I scream.

He leaves and I fall on my bed, curling into a ball, letting the tears fall. Scott walks in and frowns. "What happened?"

I hold my arms out to him and fall into his embrace, sobbing.