"Matt? It's Matt, right? Matt, whatever's going on, I guarantee you there's a solution that doesn't involve a gun." Sheriff tries to reason, his eyes darting to me as he frowns.
"You know, it's funny you say that, because I don't think you're aware of just how right you are." Matt snarks.
"I know you don't wanna hurt people." Sheriff tries.
"Actually, I wanna hurt a lot of people. You four weren't on my list, but I could be persuaded. Tori knows. She's the one who tried to hit me. And another way is to try dialing somebody on your cell phone, like McCall is doing." Matt says and I glance at Scott, trying not to roll my eyes at him. He moves his hands so that Matt can see them, frowning. "That - that could definitely get someone hurt. Everyone. Now!" Matt yells, gesturing to the desk. Everyone pulls their phones out of their pockets and puts them on the desk. I do too, frowning at the blood on it. God I hope it's not ruined. That's the last thing that needs to happen right now. Sheriff and Scott both raise their arms, but Stiles just goes back and forth between glaring at Matt and glancing at me.
"What now?" I ask, ignoring Sheriff's wide eyes. Matt just grins.
"We're gonna go on a little walk to the holding cells." He says, gesturing towards the door. We all walk out in a line, Matt bringing up the rear. The hairs on the back of my neck stand up, the instinct to punch this asshole in the face getting stronger by the minute. We walk into the area with the holding cells and I lean up against the wall, taking in deep breaths. I shut my eyes, desperately trying to steady my breathing before someone notices. Big mistake. The image of a body covered by a blue cloth takes over. I try to open my eyes, but the image shifts to my dad's funeral pyre. I fight back the tears, pushing my eyes open. I blink rapidly as I look around the room, trying hard to stay focused on the problem at hand. Trying not to let the mental images back in.
"Tighter." Matt says, and my eyes are finally able to focus on the scene in front of me. Stiles handcuffing his dad to a wall while being held at gunpoint. I hate that that sentence doesn't sound insane to me.
"Do what he says, Stiles." Sheriff says softly. Stiles frowns, but tightens the handcuff before looking back to Matt. Matt nods towards the door and shoves Stiles roughly.
"Hey." I say, frowning at him. Matt raises an eyebrow and points the gun at me instead, walking over and pushing me off the wall. I hiss in pain as the shove jolts my shoulder. I follow behind Stiles, nearly running into him when he freezes suddenly. I move around him to see what made him stop and my eyes widen in horror. A pile of dead officers lay in the hallway, all of them covered in blood. Their blood soaking the walls. I feel my breath hitch in my throat as the panic bubbles up. I could die here. I might die here.
"What, are you gonna kill everyone in here?" Scott asks, panicked. Matt scoffs.
"No, that's what Jackson's for. I just think about killing them, and he does it." He says with a grin before shoving us to keep us moving. I yelp as he shoves my shoulder. I move to the other side of Stiles, trying desperately to not let Matt hit my arm again. I frown when I realize Matt is leading us back to Sheriff's office.
"What do you want us to do, Matt?" I ask, turning to him.
"Get rid of the evidence against me." He says simply. I purse my lips and glance at Stiles who just nods to go along with it. I huff before grabbing papers that help condemn him and toss them in the shredder. Stiles gets to work with the files on the computer, including the security videos.
"Deleted. And we're done. All right, so, Matt, since all the people you brutally murdered deserved it because they killed you first - whatever that means - I think we're good here, right? So I'll just get my dad, and we'll go, you know? You continue on the whole vengeance thing. Enjoy the kanima." Stiles rambles, frowning at Matt. I try not to glare at him. He looks so at ease sitting in the chair. Not at all like he's responsible for actual murder that resulted in a baby girl being orphaned. And he also just shot me. And apparently stalked Allison. Overall a scumbag. I'm torn from my thoughts when the headlights of a car shine on the window. My heart drops. Please don't be Melissa.
"Sounds like your mom's here, McCall." Matt says.
"Matt, don't do this. When she comes to the door, I'll just tell her to leave. I'll tell her we didn't find anything. Please, Matt." Scott begs, the panic clear in his voice. A door squeaks open and my chest feels tight again. Not another mom. Please. Don't let another mom die tonight.
"If you don't move - now, I'm gonna kill Stiles first, then Tori and then your mom." Matt says with a short laugh. He stands and gestures towards the door with his gun. Scott, Stiles and I walk towards the main door, Matt following. Please don't be Melissa. Please don't be Melissa. "Open it." Matt demands.
"Please." Scott asks, not moving to open the door. Please don't be Melissa.
"Open. The. Door." Matt says. Scott reaches for the door, his hand shaking slightly. Please don't be Melissa. He starts to open the door and I squeeze my eyes shut. Please don't be Melissa.
"Oh thank God." Scott says, and I open my eyes just in time to see Derek collapse to the ground. Well shit. At least it wasn't Melissa. My eyes widen at Jackson's appearance. He looked mostly normal, except for the half of his face covered in scales. His eyes flash to slits and I frown. Again, well shit. Matt walks over and stands over Derek with a smirk.
"This is the one controlling him? This kid?" Derek asks, with his usual attitude.
"Well, Derek, not everyone's lucky enough to be a big, bad werewolf." Matt replies and my eyes widen. He stands straight and turns to us with a smirk.
"Oh, yeah, that's - that's right. I've learned a few things lately. Werewolves, hunters, kanimas. It's like a frickin' Halloween party every full moon. Except for you, Stiles. What do you turn into?" He asks.
"Abominable snowman. But, uh, it's more of, like, a wintertime thing, you know, seasonal." Stiles replies smoothly and I snort. Matt nods, and Stiles winces as Jackson slices his neck and he starts to fall.
"Hey!" Scott yells, but Jackson holds up a claw and wags it at him, so Scott has no choice but to let Stiles fall to the ground.
"You bitch." Stiles mumbles as he falls. Right on top of Derek.
"Get him off of me." Derek growls.
"Oh, I don't know, Derek. I think you two make a pretty good pair. It must kinda suck, though, to have all that power taken away from you with just a little cut to the back of the neck. I bet you're not used to feeling this helpless." Matt taunts with a smirk.
"Still got some teeth. Why don't you get down here a little closer, huh? We'll see how helpless I am." Derek counters.
"Yeah bitch." Stiles says, his voice muffled by Derek's shirt. I start to say something, but more headlights appear at the window and my heart stops. Just turn around Melissa. Please. Please just leave, I beg silently, wishing I could somehow tell her to get the hell away from here as fast as she can.
"Is that her? Do what I tell you to and I won't hurt her. I won't even let Jackson near her." Matt instructs Scott.
"Scott, don't trust him." Stiles yells and Matt flips. He flips Stiles over and steps onto his chest, pushing down.
"Stop!" I yell, trying to run at him. I yell out in pain when Jackson grabs my bad shoulder to stop me, carefully not using his claws. Why doesn't Matt want me paralyzed? "Get off of him!" I yell at Matt, tears pricking my eyes as I watch Stiles choke.
"This work better for ya?" Matt taunts Scott, pushing down harder.
"Okay, just stop. Stop!" Scott yells desperately.
"Then do what I tell you to." Matt demands, pushing even harder.
"Okay. All right, stop!" Scott agrees. Matt lifts his foot off of Stiles. Stiles sputters and coughs, tears in his eyes as he struggles to get a deep breath.
"You, take 'em in there." Matt directs Jackson, pointing towards Sheriff's office.
"You and you- with me." he says to me and Scott. Please don't hurt Melissa. Please don't hurt Melissa. We walk towards the doors, and I try not to let my mind race away. I take a deep breath, trying to ignore the pain in my shoulder. Matt stops us by tugging on my good arm. I turn to glare at him, but immediately stop when I notice the gun pointed at Scott's head. Time to cooperate. Time to figure a way out of this mess. Melissa walks in and my heart drops.
"Mom?" Scott says.
"You scared me." She says, still not looking at us.
"Where is every-" Her words falter as she looks at us. What a messed up group we are.
"Mom, just do what he says. He promised he wouldn't hurt you." Scott says calmly.
"He's right." Matt says, and another gunshot echoes. Melissa screams and I jump back, eyes wide when I see the bullet wound in Scott's stomach. It'll heal but how is he supposed to explain this?
"Scott! Stiles! Tori! What happened?" Sheriff's voice echoes.
"But I didn't say I wouldn't hurt you." Matt taunts, turning to Scott with a smirk.
"Oh, Baby-" Melissa breathes, moving towards Scott to try to help him.
"Back, back!" Matt demands, pointing the gun at her. Melissa freezes but doesn't move back.
"Mom, mom, stop, mom!" Scott begs, the panic clear on his face. I breathe, but my heart feels heavy as I watch the scene unfold. I shift my weight, prepared to jump in front of the gun if he tries to shoot Melissa. I won't let Melissa get hurt.
"I said get back!" Matt hisses out, his gun still aimed at Melissa.
"Scott." She says, her eyes on her son.
"Mom, do it. Please, mom." Scott begs and Melissa backs up a bit.
"Get up, McCall." He demands, and Scott moves one hand to the bench to try and push himself up. I start to lean down to help him, but Matt switches the gun so that it's pointed at me and shakes his head. I swallow and step back, glaring at the boy.
"Matt? Matt, listen to me -" Sheriff calls out.
"Shut - shut - shut up! Everybody shut the hell up!" Matt yells, freaking out. "Now, get up, or I shoot her next!" Matt readjusts the gun so that it's pointing at Melissa's head. Scott immediately pulls himself up, wincing in pain. He gestures for us to move, so we do. We walk all the way back to the holding cells and I'm relieved that the hallway we take isn't covered in dead police officers. Melissa doesn't need to see that. I lean up against a wall and Scott does the same while Matt locks Melissa into a cell.
"Please, he needs to see a doctor." Melissa begs, tears running down her face.
"You think so? What about Tori?" Matt says softly, and Sheriff jumps up. Melissa's eyes dart to me and widen, more tears falling. Apparently she didn't notice that I'd been shot. Nice job Matt, make her panic even more.
"Hey, hey, you listen to me!" Sheriff yells, pointing at Matt.
"It's all right. I'm okay." Scott says, holding his stomach.
"No, honey, you're not okay." Melissa cries, standing right up against the bars of the cell.
"It doesn't hurt, mom." Scott insists, and I try not to scoff. Of course it hurts. Just because it's healing doesn't mean it doesn't hurt. I squeeze my eyes shut as I try to steady my shaky breathing. Panicking isn't going to help anyone Tori. Breathe. Just breathe. I vaguely hear Melissa crying and Matt yelling, but I'm too focused on my breathing to help. Too focused to say anything. In. And out. And in. And out. And-
"Back to the front, McCall. You too Tori." Matt's voice yanks me out of my thoughts and my eyes burst open. My eyebrows furrow together and he huffs, shoving me forward my shoulder.
"After you." He growls out. I look at Scott and he nods, so I follow him back to Stilinski's office.
"The evidence is gone. Why don't you just go?" Scott asks and Matt frowns.
"You - you think the evidence mattered that much, huh? No, no, I - I want the book." He insists and my eyes widen.
"The bestiary?" I ask and he nods.
"Not just a few pages, I want the entire thing." Matt demands and I shake my head.
"I don't have it, none of us have it. It's Gerard's." I say and Scott nods in agreement.
"What do you want it for anyway?" He asks.
"I need answers." Matt says, wiping underneath his nose and looking around. He has never looked more insane than in this moment. Dripping with sweat, his eyes darting around as he demands something he shouldn't even know about.
"Answers to what?" Scott yells.
"To this." Matt says, yanking his shirt up. My jaw drops at the scales lining his side. Scales just like the kanimas. Like Jackson's.
"Holy shit." I mumble, and Matt drops his shirt back down.
"Text Allison, Scott. Ask her for the bestiary. Tell her you and Derek are trying to figure something out at the sheriff's station." Matt demands, and I bite my lip to keep from talking. Allison will know something is up if Scott sends a text like that. If Scott texts her in general. And who knows how she'll take it right now. I just hope she doesn't do anything rash. I know she's hurting, but she can't do something that she'll regret. It'll haunt her.
"Done." Scott says, setting his phone back down on the desk.
"Come on." Matt demands, grabbing my shoulder and pointing the gun at Scott. I don't even try to fight back at this point, my shoulder numb at this point. Matt stops us right outside of Sheriff's office, nearly shoving me into a desk.
"Easy." I hiss at him, and he just rolls his eyes.
"You know, I - I feel sorry for you, McCall, 'cause right now, you're thinkin', "how am I gonna explain this when it heals?" And the sad part is, you don't even realize how incredible it is that you actually are healing. 'Cause you know what happens to everyone else when they get shot? They die." Matt rants, glaring at Scott. I raise a hand, waving at him.
"You're not getting rid of me that easily buddy." I say with a smirk.
"Most die." Matt insists. I open my mouth to tell him how wrong he is, but Scott beats me to it.
"You drowned, didn't you?" He asks. Matt leans up against a desk, shaking his head.
"He shouldn't have let them drink." Matt says softly.
"Who?" I ask, my curiosity peaking.
"Lahey! He shouldn't have let them drink." Matt says, looking down and shaking his head.
"What, who was drinking?" Scott asks.
"The swim team, you idiot!" Matt yells, tears filling his eyes. "I didn't know they had just won state, and Lahey, he's letting his favorites come over to have a couple drinks to celebrate. Who cares if they're 17, right?"
"And you were at Isaac's." I say, and Matt nods.
"He had this first edition Spider - man, or was it Batman? And we were gonna make a trade. But then I'm over there and I hear music. And everyone's having a good time, and I see Sean. He throws Jessica in the pool. And then - and then Bennett goes in and -" Matt rants,
"Argent's hunter." I whisper with a frown.
"And then Camden. Isaac's jarhead brother, he grabs me. He thinks it's funny." Matt continues, no sign of stopping now.
"They threw you in." Scott says, realization in his voice. Way to go Scotty. It only took you an extra five minutes to catch on this time.
"I - I yelled that I can't swim, but nobody listens. I go under and I swallow water, and no one cares. And I see these bodies underwater. I - I see Jessica's got her hands down Sean's board shorts. Tucker's grabbing Kara. And I'm drowning. I'm dying, and they're laughing. All of a sudden, I was just - I'm lying by the pool. And Lahey is right there, right above me, and he says "you tell no one! This, this is your fault! What little bastard doesn't know how to swim? You say nothing! You tell no one! No one!"" Matt rants, gesturing with the gun while he talks and my heart breaks. He was what, 9? Or 10? It's so shitty, but that doesn't excuse what he's done. "And I didn't." He continues. "I didn't tell anyone. And I would see them at school, and they wouldn't even look at me. I'd wake up in the middle of the night. I'd gasp for breath. And my parents, they thought I was an asthmatic. They - they - they - they even gave me an inhaler. They didn't know that every time I closed my eyes, I - I was drowning. You know about that little white light that they talk about, you see when you die? Well, I didn't see anything. Just darkness. Everything was dark. But then - then came the Argent's funeral, and everything changed. I was taking some photos, and then, purely by accident, Lahey gets in one of the photos. I look down at the screen on my camera, and I just had this unbelievable rage that fills up inside of me, and I just - I look at him, and I - I wanna see him dead. And the next day, he actually was. You know, Einstein was right. Imagination is more important than knowledge. It was like something out of Greek mythology. Like - like the furies coming down to punish Orestes. You have no idea what I'm talking about, do you?" Matt rants, and I blink rapidly, trying hard to stay awake. My eyelids have gotten heavy, for some reason. And Matt's voice keeps going in and out of the tunnel.
"Was - was he the guy who stabbed out his eyes?" I hear Scott ask.
"God, that's Oedipus, you dumbass! The furies are deities of vengeance. Their tears ran of blood, and they had snakes for hair. If there was a crime that had gone unpunished, the furies would do the punishing. Jackson is my fury. You know, when I saw him the next night, it was like this bond had been cemented between the two of us. I knew he had killed Lahey for me, and I knew he would do it again. So I went to Tucker's garage. I even paid for an oil change. And guess what. He didn't even recognize me. So when he wasn't looking, I took a shot of him from my camera. And in a few hours, he was dead. So I took more pictures. All I had to do was take their picture - And Jackson would take their life." Matt explains with a smirk. I let out a small exhale, trying desperately to stay awake. I glance at my shoulder, frowning at the amount of blood on my dress. There's no way that's coming out. Suddenly all the lights go off and I blink, trying to make sure I stay awake despite the darkness surrounding us. Emergency lights blink and sirens beep.
"Wh-what's going on?" I manage to ask, my words slurring together.
"I don't know." Scott says. And suddenly, rapid gunfire rings out, shattering the windows. Looks like the hunters are here. I try to duck down, but it feels like everything is moving in slow motion. I'm jerked down quickly and pushed under a desk. My vision clears enough for me to see Scott shielding my body from the glass and stray bullets as we hide out under a desk. A smoke bomb goes off and Scott grabs me, carrying me as he runs out of the room. He sets me down when we get to Sheriff's office.
"Take him, go!" Derek yells at Scott, and I see Scott pick Stiles off the ground.
"Can you walk?" He asks, and I think I nod. He puts one of Stiles' arms over his shoulder and throws my good arm over his other shoulder, barely managing to keep both of us steady as he takes us away from the smoke. I hear crashes behind us and I assume Jackson is following, but I'm too out of it to care. It sounds like I'm underwater and it's getting harder and harder to stay awake. I slouch as Scott helps me to sit, and I'm sure he says something but he's gone before I can be sure.
"Tori." Stiles says, and I manage to turn to him. I blink, enjoying the darkness that takes over when my eyes shut.
"Tori, no. Come on, open your eyes." He says. I manage to crack an eye open and grin.
"L-later, Stilinski." I manage to say, my words slurred.
"Tori no, please. Tori please stay awake. Please stay awake." It almost sounds like Stiles is crying, but why would he cry over me? I blink again, not having the energy anymore to fight back the darkness that overtakes me.
***
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YOU ARE READING
Secrets in the Hunt (Book 2)
FanfictionTori Winchester doesn't know what's going on. One of her best friends was bitten by a werewolf, yet she isn't showing any symptoms. Her brothers went on a hunt for two months, and won't tell her what happened on the hunt. On top of the supernatural...
