BARELY BREATHING

"Its eyes were glowing."

Carter, Scott, and Isaac found themselves seated in Argent's office. Chris Argent stood behind his desk, face contorting in pain as Allison attended to his wounds. The youngest Hale frowned, running her hands over her face as she gave a nod in confirmation before she began to play with the frayed section on her shorts. Carter was doing this action to try and show how uncomfortable she was, writhing in her seat as she thought about how the hooded figures were staring at her like she had been their experiment.

Chris' lips pursed, groaning through his teeth but remained silent as he thought back to the time he had his first confrontation with that same shadowy figures. They emerged from the darkness, alluring firefly eyes being the only thing breaking up the blackness that were their eyes. The creatures pulled long black swords from their chests, slaughtering everyone and everything in sight.

"There was something almost ritualistic about it - like it was looking right into his soul." Argent explained, Carter was still shaken up from what had happened. It was the exact same thing they did to Aiden, Lydia out on the balcony, Derek right outside the complex near his car, and Isaac the night prior in the Argents apartment.

"That's the same thing it did to me," Isaac announced, Carter glancing over at the curly-haired Beta.

Allison moved her eyes away from her father's wounds, briefly looking toward Isaac. "That's what it did to everyone."

"Not everyone," Scott spoke up. "They only came after the werewolves."

"And Lydia," Carter added, speaking up for the first time knowing that Lydia wasn't a werewolf and they still went after her. "Anyone with a connection to the supernatural, I've heard something about them before - they're looking for someone."

"Then who was the guy they went after in Japan?" Isaac inquired, stirring the conversation back into the direction of Chris Argent's experience in Japan.

"A kumicho," Chris replied immediately, like the entirety of the memory had been scarred into his memory-bank for all eternity. Carter's own mind was still pulsating; not understanding who or what the creatures were looking for. "A yakuza boss. It was my first gun deal. I was only eighteen and it was supposed to be a simple exchange, except Gerard left out the minor detail of the buyers being yakuza. He wanted to see if I could adapt in the moment. Testing my ability to improvise."

"Or your ability to survive," Allison offered, knowing that Gerard was all about survive while she rubbed a hydrogen peroxide soaked cottonball over the gash on her father's cheek. But survival was Gerard's sole reason as to why he hunted supernatural creatures, and even in the end, was willing to become a werewolf to assure his survival through cancer.

"The moment the sun went down it was like they just materialized out of the shadows," Argent continued, drifting into a memory lost in a time that once was. "They had swords, not curved like katanas but straight, black steel - like ninjatos."

From beside Carter, Scott uttered the words they were all wondering: "What did they want?"

"To get to the kumicho," Chris answered. "They cut down every living thing in their way."

Isaac's fingertips instinctively rubbed against the mark branded into his skin behind his ear. "Did they mark him like they did us?"

Chris shook his head faintly, eyes casted down while he spoke: "Not exactly. After they had impaled their way through everyone else, they approached him. They didn't move to mark him; didn't stop to think. Their blades tore into him, eyes flashing a silver white as their blades pierced his stomach."

"What was he?"

"I don't know," Argent said slowly, Carter's shoulders slumping at his words. "But there might be someone who does. There were a few others who survive that night. One of them was a man named Katashi - they called him Silverfinger because of an unusual prosthetic, and it looked like he was getting ready to take them all on himself. I've known for a while Katashi was in the country. I spent yesterday tracking him down."

Isaac immediately gestured toward Chris' cut and bruised face, "Didn't look like he wanted to be found."

"Not particularly, no."

Scott leaned forward, pressing his elbows into his thighs, "You think he knows what they are? Or what they want?"

"Maybe," Argent replied, but nothing was set in stone. There had been no actual way of knowing if Katashi knew what the shadowy figures were or what they were looking for, but it had been the only lead they had at that moment. There was no telling what had arrived in Beacon Hills, and they knew that they were the ones to blames for returning power to the Nemeton.

Allison's eyebrows furrowed, backing away from her father to lean against the bookshelf. "What if he doesn't want to talk?"

"What if he doesn't even remember you?" Carter added on.

Chris stood from his chair, wrapping his hands around a wooden box with Japanese symbols carved into the opening. Spinning the container around, latch facing him, he spoke: "He'll remember this." Argent opened the box, unfolding a black cloth which revealed that shattered mask of one of the hooded creatures they had saw only hours before. "I know I didn't kill it - I'm not sure you can, but I slowed it down long enough for us to get out of there."

Carter slowly stood, curling her finger around two of the smaller pieces and pushing them together; lining up the cracks and crevasses where the mask had broken apart. A chilling feeling rolled down her spine, something she wasn't used to as she stared down at the molded pieces, haunting images flashing through her mind.

"What was behind the mask?" Carter asked, her eyes not wandering from the steel mask.

"Darkness...absolute darkness."

→

Carter pulled her Challenger into the high school's parking lot, expertly stirring the vehicle into a parking spot in the first row. She ran a quick hand through her hair, her cheeks hallowing out as she let out a long breath before grabbing her bag and exiting her car. But, before she even had the chance to shut the door, a black motorcycle swerved into the parking spot beside her.

She peered over the roof of the car, watching as Aiden pulled off his helmet before he set his eyes upon the Were-Pheanix beside him. A smirk present on his lips, Carter scoffed and rolled her eyes before she slammed her car door shut. She ran her hands over her face while Aiden dismounted his motorcycle.

"Is there something you need, Aiden?" Carter spat, knowing that herself and Aiden already hadn't gotten along in the first place, and she didn't need him following her around like a more annoying version of Isaac. Not only that, but the youngest Hale loathed Aiden - she tolerated Ethan, but Aiden's attitude toward everything just pissed Carter off.

"Isn't it obvious?" Aiden inquire, his blue eyes gleamed as he moved to stand in front of the brunette. "I'm protecting you - call me your unofficial bodyguard."

Carter let out a unnecessarily loud laugh, it quickly dying down into a chocked cough when she saw that the werewolf had been completely serious. "I don't need or want your protection. And if you hadn't already noticed, I can take care of myself thank you very much."

She narrowed her eyes, watching the boy skeptically. Her dark eyes piercing into his blue ones - he angered her to the ends of the earth, especially after almost killing Isaac and actually killing Erica and Boyd. She didn't need a murderer trying to be all buddy-buddy with her; kissing her ass so that he and his brother could be a part of her and Scott's pack.

"Well, the last time I checked, demonic ninjas were facing you. So, take it from me, having one of them look into the depths of your soul isn't something you want to mark off your bucket-list." Aiden assured, Carter biting back profanities as she locked her car before stomping into the direction of the school, Aiden was quick to follow.

"Is this about being in mine and Scott's pack?" Carter asked with obvious distrust.

"No," Aiden said, shaking his head. "This is about me protecting you, and about you being the target of demonic ninjas. You know the demonic ninjas that pulled swords out of their chests and completely kicked our asses. And since this is our first experience with demonic ninjas, I'm thinking we should play it safe."

Carter rolled her eyes at his excuse, "This is so about getting into mine and Scott's pack. And besides, I don't need anyone to protect me."

Aiden stared down at her, "Doesn't matter what you think you need, I'm still going to be protecting you - all day and all night. All twenty-four hours of the day, seven days of the week I'll be permanently glued to your side."

Carter ceased her steps, crossing her arms over her chest as she turned to face Aiden, "You know I don't like you, right?" Aiden's face fell, expression morphing into one of hurt. "And, I don't want your protection."

"Doesn't look like you have much of a choice in the situation, Carter."

She grumbled, turning away from the werewolf and continued to make her way toward the building as Aiden quickly began to follow once more. She, for what felt like the fifteenth time that morning, ran her hands over her face as she crossed the threshold into the school, realizing that it was going to be a frustratingly long day.

When Carter made it to her locker, Aiden had made it his duty to lean against the one beside hers. Just before she went to twist in her combination, she found herself glancing down the hall; Scott's face held an exasperated expression as Ethan trailed behind him. Apparently she hadn't been the only one that was assigned a guard dog that morning.

Carter rolled her shoulders, an intense heat pricked at her skin, fingers trembling from the warmth as she tried to twist in her combination. Her teeth sunk into her tongue to try and suppress a painful groan but to no avail as the sound forced its way through her lips.

Aiden was instantly alarmed, worry flooding through his system as her groan filled the silence in his ears. He placed a hand on her shoulders, immediately feeling her unnatural warmth consume his body at the slightest touch, "Hey, are you all right?"

"Yes," Carter grunted out, roughly shrugging Aiden's hand off her shoulder.

She didn't need his body heat adding to her own; temperature consistently rising as she grabbed the appropriate textbooks, shutting her locker before turning around and crossing the hallway. Aiden sighed, ears perking up again when another groan came from her as he followed behind the Were-Pheanix.

When Scott noticed that Carter was leaning against the locker beside him, he grinned, but it immediately fell when Aiden followed behind her with a distressed expression plastered on his face. Aiden was trying so hard to get Carter to trust him - not even with the intent of getting in her good graces enough for him and his brother to join her and Scott's pack - he just wanted to make it up to her after all of the wrong that he had done.

Scott's dark eyes glanced between his girlfriend and the werewolf, an unamused expression on his face. "So I'm not the only one who needs protection then, huh?"

"You two - plus Kira - are the only ones that haven't been targeted," Ethan announced, gazing over Scott's shoulder to look at Carter with Aiden's head bobbing in agreement.

Scott sighed, "Okay, one thing first - we need to talk to Stiles and let him know everything that happened last night." He began, grabbing a couple of textbooks out of his locker before he directed his words toward Aiden and Ethan: "Without you."

"No," Aiden immediately disagreed, Carter whirling around to shoot him a look. His eyes and expression softening slightly, not liking the look she was giving him.

"Yes, Aiden," Carter pressed, eyes narrowing into slits as the overwhelming heat caused her anger to boil over. Her fingernails dug into the flesh of her palms, trying to control the surges of warmth as she looked between Ethan and Aiden. "And I don't want you listening in, either. No wolf hearing."

Aiden raised his eyes from the floor, "How would you even know?"

"I'm one of the rarest beings of all time and Scott's a True Alpha - y'all have no idea what we can do."

→

"-so, then, she starts talking about phosphors and the key having chemicals on it, right? And so that made me think of the chemistry closet and the fact that someone had to let Barrow in."

Stiles Stilinski was struggling to properly annunciate his words the more anxious he grew as he tried to explain the theory that had been swirling around in his since last night. The moment he had saw Scott and Carter in the hallway, he was immediately calling out for them to follow him into the chemistry classroom where Barrow had been hiding.

The only fault in his theory had been when his feet suddenly stopped at the sight of the clean chalkboard, no remnants of the proof that would convince Carter and Scott to believe that he had been the one who left Barrow the message to kill Carter and Kira. After noticing something so similar in the lettering, he took it upon himself to write out the exact same number beside the coded messages - replicating the exact same writing on the board.

"It's gone," Stiles muttered, his face falling in confusion just before he turned to face Carter and Scott. "Okay, okay...it doesn't matter though - it doesn't matter. I've still got the key."

The boy darted toward the chemical closet at the back of the chemistry room, almost bumping shoulders with his best friends in the process. His shaking fingers searched for the key, the entirety of his nervous system being set on edge as he grew more sleep deprived with each passing minute. But his search had been to no avail, finding no such key that had been on the key ring mere hours ago.

"What the hell?" Stiles kept flipping through the keys. "I had it - I had it here. I had it here this morning; I swear to God, I had it this morning."

"The key you were talking about last night?" Carter asked, her voice angelic like as she noticed how shaken up Stiles was, leading her to believe that her best friend was on the verge of having a nervous breakdown.

"Yeah," Stiles confirmed, glancing up at Scott and Carter. "I showed you guys, right? Didn't I show you?"

Scott's eyes narrowed slightly, thinking back as he tried to remember, "No, you just told us about it. Neither of us actually saw it."

That hadn't brought any comfort to Stiles, his face paling even further as he set out to prove that he had been the one who left Barrow the coded message on the chalkboard. "I was here a couple of hours ago," he spluttered out, hand tightening around the keys as he moved back to the chalkboard. "And the message left to Barrow spelling Kira and Carter's names was right there on the board in my handwriting, and I had the key to the chemistry closet."

Scott hadn't been as convinced as Stiles was, "So you unlocked the chemistry closet so Barrow could hide in it from the cops, and then you wrote him a message to kill Kira and Carter?"

"I know - I know - I know how it sounds," Stiles stuttered, his voice shaking just before his hand sunk deep into his pocket and made an attempt to pull out the folded up report he had found. "But look at this. This is the news report that came out about Barrow when they caught him, okay? About the shrapnel bomb that he used. See this? See what he did? He put nuts, bolts, and screws - and then he hid the bomb and the detonator in a box that he wrapped as a birthday present. What does that sound like to you?"

Scott's face softened in realization, "Coach. The joke we played on Coach."

"That was my idea, Scott," Stiles whispered, his voice barely audible as he tried to get the two werewolves to understand what he was trying to say. "You remember? That was my idea. That's no coincidence. It can' be."

Carter's lips were parted, trying to form the appropriate words to say in a situation like that. "I don't want to sound like I'm trying to tell you that you're wrong. But I don't think you're trying to kill people either - I don't think you left that message for Barrow to kill Kira and I, Stiles."

"It was here," Stiles mumbled, his hand tightening around the paper until it was just a crumple up ball as he stared at the clean chalkboard. "It was all here."

"Dude, are you feeling okay?" Scott asked, him and Carter both worrying that Stiles wasn't getting enough sleep. A stinging feeling flashed down her spine, and that's when Carter realized that her abilities were screaming at her that something was wrong with Stiles. "You're looking really tired."

Stiles turned away from the board, "Yeah, I'm fine. I just...haven't been sleeping, really."

"Stiles, why don't you go home?" Carter suggested. "Take a sick day or something."

Maybe that was all he really needed.

After Stiles had finally agreed to skip the rest of the day and go home, Scott and Carter found themselves exiting the chemistry classroom only to be instantly surrounded by Ethan and Aiden. Carter pulled her phone out of her back pocket when it vibrated, reading the text message from Isaac saying that he was going to help the Argents track down Katashi.

"Did you tell him?" Aiden asked, gluing himself to Carter's side while she laced her fingers with Scott's. She squeezed his hand rather tightly, even tapping into her supernatural strength as the coursing sun-like heat continued to surge through her body every other second.

"No," Scott breathed out. "He's got enough on his mind right now."

"If they're coming for either of you in a few hours then so do you," Ethan pointed out, Scott whirling around to face the twins, yanking Carter along with him as they stood in the middle of the hallway.

"What if it's not me?" Scott demanded, Carter pursing her lips as a sickening thought entered her mind.

"Then it's me," Carter interjected, trying to keep herself together. Hearing the words out loud caused the fire inside her to flare out of control, consuming her insides; charring her bones, turning her organs into mush before it ate at her skin. Ethan watched in confusion while Aiden looked sadden by the revelation. "Scott, whatever's around me - it isn't good - it's evil. And I'm pretty sure those shadowy creatures aren't visiting hospital in their free time, it makes sense."

It hadn't mattered what any of them were going to say, it wasn't going to change the harsh reality of the situation. Each and every malicious sign pointed toward the girl whose fiery soul had been darkened and tainted by the bite of an Alpha. All she knew was that whatever turning into a werewolf did to her, it had been far from good - and she needed to put on a brave façade and face it head on. Carter was utterly terrified that the hooded creatures were going to find something within her soul causing them to thrust their swords in her body.

But, if they did, there wasn't anything she could do about it - she would've said that if there had been something evil within the confines of her mind and soul that she deserved whatever she got.

And she wouldn't have thought twice about dying if it meant that she would save her friends from facing the evil that was about to wreak havoc in Beacon Hills.