Kids in the Dark [S.S. Book One]

Thirty-One

I despised homework. Luckily, I got a text from Scott telling me to meet him at the hospital and that Jackie could come if I wanted to bring her.

I jumped up and knocked on her door. We had a secret knock that we'd used for years. "Come in, Lissy."

"Do you want to join the Three Musketeers on another adventure? Why do you have my dog in your room?"

"Yes, I want to. Molly walked in here and wouldn't leave. She obviously likes me better."

I mimicked her and told her, "Get ready, because I'm leaving in a couple minutes, with or without you."

We piled into her car and I drove us to the hospital. Once I'd parked, we ran in and found Stiles and his dad talking. I heard his dad say, "Hang on, hang on. They were both in the car?"

Stiles shook his head. "No, dad, they're trying to tell you that it was two separate kidnappings, okay? Two doctors, both gone."

Sheriff went to talk to Melissa and Scott looked at Stiles. "These are definitely sacrifices, right?"

Stiles nodded. "Yeah, it's the one Deaton called healers."

"What about Danny?" Scott asked. "He threw up mistletoe. That's no a coincidence, and if he hadn't been with Ethan, he probably would've died. Danny's not a healer. I..."

"Can you hear that?"

"They found a body."

"Is Danny okay? Please tell me he's gonna be okay!" I cried.

Jackie hugged me. "I'm sure he'll be okay. It's Danny."

"No, no, you don't understand!"

"What? What don't I understand, Lissy?"

I didn't answer, certainly leaving Jack worried about me and knowing she wouldn't get anything out of me. We drove home in silence.

At school the next day, Stiles informed us of something his dad said. "Hey, my dad said that E.R. attending wasn't strangled but did die of asphyxiation. They just don't know how."

"Do you think the on-call doctor could be alive?" Scott asked.

Stiles shrugged. "I don't know... But, Scott, there's got to be at least twenty other doctors in the hospital... at least, you know? Any one of them could be next."

Stiles and I met Scott at the Animal Clinic after school and Scott took us into the room with all the cats; not something I prefer. Personally, I liked dogs better, but that wasn't important to this situation. Scott looked at Stiles for a moment before saying, "We have to tell him."

"You mean, like tell him, tell him, or tell him something else that isn't telling him what I think you want to tell him?" Stiles asked in his typical confusing tone.

"You know what I mean," Scott retorted.

"You remember how your mom reacted? She didn't look you in the eye for, like, a week."

"And she got over it, and... and it actually made us closer."

"I don't know, dude. I mean, look at him. Come on, he's completely overwhelmed as it is."

I rubbed the back of Stiles' shoulder as I looked up at my boyfriend. "Maybe he's overwhelmed because he doesn't know what's happening. There are people dying in his town, a town he's sworn to protect, and he has no clue what's happening."

"He's gonna find out sooner or later," Scott added.

Stiles sighed, knowing the two of us were right. "Yeah, but is now really the right time?"