chapter five.

"A LATE NIGHT swim with bloodthirsty werewolves on loose," Arthur mumbled, slamming the blue Toyota door closed behind him. Shoving his hands in his pockets, he shook his head, "Not the worst plan I've seen today."

Lydia either didn't hear or didn't care as she continued walking through the gates carelessly.

"Lydia?" Arthur calls, catching up to her his hands grasping her forearms snapping her out of her trance making her look at him. "Tell me what's wrong, so I can help."

Her unfocused forest green squinted at something behind him her breathing becoming labored. "Behind you."

Arthur glances behind him spotting a body flooding in the water, his heartbeat spikes and minds began to race with a million questions on how Lydia found was able to lead them here. He trudges towards him hearing Lydia's plead repeatedly behind him 'please don't be dead'. He yanks the man's shirt flipping him over prepared for CPR. He nearly collapsed in relief when their eyes meet; a freaking manikin.

He forced a chuckle glimpsing back at the tense strawberry blonde, "Looks like your dead body radar is off tonight -"

"Arthur... your hands."

His eyebrows furrowed, the crimson staining palm shines under the moonlight. He gulps and unwillingly follows the trail noticing it under Lydia's heels and glanced up sucking a breath. "Lydia, call 911."

A dark haired man slouched in a lifeguard high chair tinted with dark blood dripping off his fingers dodging the silver Purity ring on his middle finger before he could consider its significance Lydia's scream broke through the silent night, again.

* * *

"ARE YOU SURE?" Scott's questioned over the phone, the hunt for Cora and Boyd ongoing. Arthur has a feeling they might have had something to do with the dead body but it looked a lot cleaner then a werewolf would have done after missing months of full moons, it would have sloppier, their thirst for blood known. But who else would be on a murder spree at the moment.

"Your lack of faith is really hurtful, Scott." Arthur complains playfully, glancing back at Lydia, who stood a few feet away from hugging herself glancing anywhere but the body. He wanted nothing more than to wrap his arms around until all her fear evaporated into dust. "Throat ripped out, blood everywhere. I'm just waiting for the main girl from the Ring to come out of a freaking corner and bam I'm in a freaking horror movie."

"Can you get a little closer to make sure it was them?" Scott asked exasperated.

His knees nearly gave out at the request, he takes a double take. "Make sure it was them? Scott, who else is going around ripping throats out?"

"Please just do it." Scott pleaded. Looking at the body again nothing stood out apart from a faint line almost unnoticeable at the beginning of his throat definitely something that couldn't have been done by their claws, it's to thin maybe done by a cord of some sort. This is just getting weirder. He stepped around the pool searching for anything else but couldn't find anything, but the blood made it harder not even the bandages in his pocket could bandage this up. The purity ring continues to shine making him wonder its importance.

* * *

ARTHUR NODDED AT Stiles, walking inside Beacon Hills hospital together welcomed by warmth. After escorting Lydia home, Melissa called him with news about the body Lydia had called in and Arthur decided to invite Stiles realizing he'd could be more helpful then intended, he'd explained to him about the purity ring he found that could've meant nothing but for some reason stuck in his mind.

The nurse smiled at both boys, closing the file she had been going through. "Hey."

Stiles returned the smiles, "Hey." And Arthur nods. "Hi."

"Over here. And if you tell anyone that I showed you this," Melissa began threatening them, leading them towards the morgue, glancing back at them. "I swear to God, I will kill you painfully and slowly."

"Why do you want to show me a body I've already seen?" Arthur inquired, stepping inside the morgue both boys on either side of Melissa and a boy in front of them, Arthur crossed his arms.

"Because you haven't seen everything." Wearing plastic gloves, she pulled back the white sheet exposing the cleaned dead body his wounds now noticeable. "See this around his neck? That's a ligature mark. That means that he was strangled with something, like cord, rope..."

"Ah, okay, wait a second. What kind of werewolf strangles someone? You know, that's not very werewolf-y." Stiles noted.

"Exactly what I was thinking." Arthur snapped his finger, glad he wasn't looking too deep into something.

"Well, there's this." She tiltes his head to the side revealing a gash on the side of his head showing brain matter, one squirmed uncomfortably while the other leaned closer trying to contain their fascination.

"Real life brain matter, sweet." Arthur nodded his head, a smile on his lips. His medical Textbooks tend to censor these with cartoonish drawings.

"B - brain matter?" Stiles panicked, unable to look away. "Yeah, it's brain matter, of course."

Used to Stiles' dramatic squirms and Arthur's unusual interest for gore, she continued, "See the indentation? He was hit in the back of the head, hard enough to kill him. In fact, any one of these things could have killed him. I mean, someone seriously wanted this poor kid dead."

"All right, so then this couldn't have been Boyd or Cora, you know?" Stiles remarked, glancing at Arthur, who had his lips pressed together and nodded. "They wouldn't have done all that. So maybe this is just one murder. I mean, maybe it's just a random coincidence."

"I don't think it was just one." Melissa shook her head, gloved hands raised.

"How come?" Arthur inquired, eyebrows pinched together. He seriously thought human serial killers would be the least of their worries in Beacon Hills.

"Because that girl over there, she's got the exact same injuries." She nodded her head to table the ocean blue hadn't noticed. She pulled back the sheet revealing a familiar blonde, he just couldn't put a name on her making his heart tug in guilt. "The M.E. said this one wasn't just strangled. Whoever did it used a garrote, which is a stick that you put through the rope, and you just kind of keep twisting, and..."

But Stiles clearly remembered, the girl he was gonna have his first time with. "Stiles?" Arthur glimpsed at him, tears gathering in his eyes. Melissa quickly covered her up. "Oh, my God, did you know her? I'm so sorry. I didn't even think."

"We were... We were at her party. It was her birthday. Her name is Heather." Stiles stutters clearing his throat, Arthur placed a hand on his shoulder squeezing it lightly.

"Okay, we need to call your father, 'cause you're a witness. Stiles?" The boy snapped out of his trance alarmed, fixing his eyes on Melissa who looked perplexed glancing at Arthur, who arched an eyebrow wondering what theory he came up with.

"Has anyone else been through here tonight? Any... any other bodies, or even anybody missing?" Stiles demands, his words nearly colliding into one or two words.

She pressed her lips together in thought, "Uh, no, no bodies, but, um..."

"What?" Arthur questioned, he didn't know what Stiles might know but asking questions could help him piece together the answer.

"Two girls. They brought the first one in, Caitlin, for a tox screen, and then I overheard that her girlfriend, Emily, just disappeared. I mean, they were out in the woods and..."

"Nobody's found her yet?" Stiles wondered, eyebrows furrowed.

Arthur is as puzzled as Melissa appeared.

Melissa shrugged, "I don't know."

"Okay, first one."

"Caitlin."

"Okay. Is she here? Is she here right now?"

"I think so."

"Okay, where?" Stiles tried to slid past them but Arthur caught him before he could.

"What's going on, man?"

"I have to talk to her."

"Why?" Arthur pressed, his hands still wrapped around his bicep, he knew if he'd let him go he would have dashed leaving them clueless.

"Because I think I know what's happening."

* * *

ALONE IN THE morgue besides Scott, who stood cluelessly between the two boys summarizing what's they discovered while he was out chasing Boyd and Cora.

"So Boyd and Cora might not have killed anyone?" His voice sounded relive, he should have known with great news comes the worst.

"You're gonna wish they did." Arthur retorted, his stomach growled lowly reminding him he forgot to eat dinner. He sighed.

Scott shot him a perplex look, blurting, "Why?"

"We're not exactly sure yet. the other girl who was out in the woods, Emily? Eventually they're gonna find her. She's one of them." Stiles explained, his eyes flickering between the white sheet and Scott, "Emily, Heather... That guy Lydia found at the pool. All three were virgins... And they're all gonna have the same three injuries...strangled, throat slashed, head bashed in. It's called the threefold death."

The pieces slowly clicked in Scott's mind, "So if these aren't random killings, then what are they?"

Arthur knew it might take times for the puzzle to come together for him, he blew a breath. "Sacrifices. Human sacrifices."

* * *

"I LOOKED EVERYWHERE." Scott recounted about the man he met last night working at the vet, "It's like he just walked away. Left his car, his dog."

"Okay. Was he, like... could he have been a virgin maybe?" Stiles wonders trying to phrase his words casually. Arthur rolled his eyes pulling his sweater over his head exchanging it for a red Nike t-shirt. "Did he look like a virgin? Was he, you know, virginal?"

"No, definitely not. Deaton makes me have sex with all of his clients. It's a new policy." Scott joked, a goofy smile on his face, tugging on his black hoodie. Arthur's loud fake laugh followed by a knee slap and Stiles' dead stare made him drop his smile. He sighed. "No, I don't know if he was a virgin. And why are you talking like he's already dead? He's just missing."

"Missing and presumed dead because he's probably a virgin, Scott." Arthur retorted, combing back his hair he tied it in a ponytail to keep it out of his face then remembered himself, a young virgin possibly next to be a human sacrificed.

"And you know who else is a virgin? Me." Stiles continued, panic laced in his words.

"Does that mean I could be next?" Arthur wondered, glimpsing between Scott and Stiles wearing his hoodie.

"I'm a virgin, okay? And you know what that means?" Stiles blabbed, ignoring Arthur. "It means that my lack of sexual experience is now literally a threat to my life."

"I'm younger, wouldn't they want someone fresh?" The brunet cried out, running a hand through his hair eyes wide. "Oh, no, guys!"

"Okay, I need to have sex, like, right now. Someone needs to have sex with me, like, today. Like, someone needs to sex me right now!" Stiles demanded dramatically, slamming his locker shut.

"All right, I'll do it." Danny volunteers, on the other side of Stiles' locker leaning against, lips titled in a half smirk.

Stiles shouts spinning around, "What?"

Danny, unfazed checks him out, "Come to my place at 9:00, you too Arthur." Arthur, flattered and astonished, points at himself, "Yeah, plan to stay the night. I like to cuddle."

"Seriously?" Arthur inquired flabbergasted, he never thought his first time would include Stiles. His face scrunched.

"Oh." The three friends glanced at one another speechless, "That was so sweet. Are you kidding?"

"Yes, I'm kidding." Danny smiled, walking away from them. Arthur released breath, his eyes meeting the ground he didn't why these sacrifices rattled him. Maybe it was he's human and these are human sacrifices.

"Okay, you know, you don't toy with a guy's emotions like that, Danny." Stiles called after him, "It's not attractive, all right?"

"I'm not into threesomes anyway." Arthur mumbles shrugging, he closed his locker.

"Mr. Lahey, happy to have you back." Coach announced. "Not happy that you're late."

"Sorry, coach." Isaac replied. Arthur smiled, it's been awhile since he's caught up with Isaac, hopefully he's back for good.

He makes his way over to him. "Thought you weren't going to show."

Isaac shrugs, dropping his gym bag on the ground. "I need to get my mind off things." By things he referenced to the late Erica. Arthur nods leaning on the locker besides.

"I'm here for you, man." Arthur reminds him. "Whether it's scratching each other's ears for comfort or howling at the moon for our losses." Isaac rolls his eyes playfully and removes his t-shirt.

"Nice ponytail."

"I'll remind you all, cross-country is not optional for lacrosse players. I don't need you turning into a bunch of fat-asses in the off-season." Coach yelled, his eyes found Issac and Danny, both noticeable fit. He scowls, "So work on that."