chapter nine.

          STANDING INSIDE DEREK'S LOFT is a man that survived being burned alive, how that was possible is beyond Veronica. This would've been so much easier if their weaknesses was listed on the list, but who was she to complain he could be a whole new species like a dragon or something.

"He covered you in gasoline?" Derek asked, flipping the deputy's hand back and forth. There's literally no scratches or burn marks of him even touching the flames, how is that possible?

"It's the hair and nails, isn't it?" Lydia said, arms crossed around her waist looking up at Derek besides her. "The parts of the body that are essentially dead."

"Well, they should be gone."

"I was set on fire." Jordan Parrish reminds forcefully, wide eyes sparing them all a look for how normal they spoke about this. "All of me should be gone."

"Not if you're like us." Scott argued, head tilting a bit.

His eyes glazed with suspicion. "Like you?"

"Like them." Veronica corrected, fiddling with her zipper. "They're... peculiar creatures."

"I don't think he's like us." Derek voices, dropping the deputy's hands.

"Then what is he?" Lydia questioned, her blush lips parted.

"Sorry, but I have no idea."

"But you knew about Jackson and Kira." She's positive she's heard about him but couldn't recall the information.

"This is a little out of my experience." Derek answered flashing a sarcastic smile. "Did you try Argent?"

"I don't know where he is." Scott said. Veronica does, he's off hunting Kate with her parents and she should be home babysitting but they're old enough to take care of themselves (... when bribed with deli takeout. ).

"How about you, Morillo?" Upon hearing her name she took her lips away from her zipper to glimpse up at the voice; Derek, his chin raised. "Any ideas?"

"There's nothing here we go off on, all we know is he survived a fire leaving us with firebirds, a salamander, ifrits and an Phoenix and those are only the ones I can think off the top of my head." Veronica replied, being to get intrigued on what he could be please let it not be something so cliché like a dragon. "I could leand you my family's bestiary?"

"Okay, hold on." Jordan interrupted eyes squinted, tired of them talking over him instead of to him. "What's a bestiary? Actually, that's not even my first question. Just... Just tell me one thing. Are all of you like Lydia? Are you all psychic?"

"Psychic?" Derek repeated, almost humored. She too wanted to laugh out loud glancing at the strawberry blonde.

"You told him you're a psychic?" She taunted, a smile toying on her mouth leaning close to her. "Oh miei giorni."

Her lips pursed lifting her shoulders in defense. "I just never denied it."

After a few silent seconds of amusement, Scott was the one to deny it. "Not exactly."

"Okay." He drawled out, fingers tapping his bicep nervous at what their answer would be. "Then what are you?"  Derek and Scott shared a conversation with their before it was concluded that Scott would do it, she watched as his eyes burned crimson adoring each second of it.

Scott took the liberty of explaining all the things that have attacked Beacon Hills (... it's adorable he thinks there aren't any worse out there. ). The deputy fell silent taking it all in seated on Derek's couch, no one speaking. "What's a Kanima?"

Lydia sent him a look. Scott climbed on the arm rest and sits there. "We'll get back to that. Just know that everyone like us, everyone with some kind of supernatural ability is on the dead pool."

"But I don't even know what I am." Jordan argued, eyes glimmering with irritation. He's being hunted down without even knowing what he is, now that is terrible. She wonders, how many of them are the same?

"That's the last thing they're thinking about." Veronica voiced, contradicting her own thought. Then few seconds were the first time she ever thought about them like that, if were running then they're guilty (... or maybe because people are chasing after them with weapons. ).

"How many professional assassins are we talking about?" He asked her. Well, she wouldn't call herself that just a hunter trying to save the world from mass destruction, you know like if robots were to take over the world?

"We're starting to lose count." Lydia replied, biting her bottom lip.

"But is it still just professionals?" This time it was Scott who asked, genuinely concerned glancing at them.

"I don't think Haigh's ever tried anything like this." Jordan said, hands rested on his thighs and glimpsed behind at Derek, Veronica and Lydia. "I think he was taking a chance." She blinks confused at that; that doesn't make sense why would the benefactor hire people who've never been trained for this?

"That means anyone with the deadpool could take a chance." Derek realized. How many people do have a list? Her neighbors, teachers, children and teens realized to the supernatural life and forced to hunt them down out of fear, that's not fair. She had the choice to put her path because she was ready and they're doing this out of money with layered by the terror of knowing what goes bump in the night.

"But if Haigh had it, then who else does?" He asked. "How easy is it to get this thing now?" Not even Veronica wants to know the answer to that.

* * *

         "MEREDITH WAS ONLY AT my grandmother's lakehouse once. But I think once was enough."  Lydia began seated on the edge of Derek's bed, the subject of Jordan forgotten for a moment as they listened to her tale relating somehow to the deadpool.

"How did your grandmother know her?" Derek questioned, arms crossed leaning on a beam.

"She didn't. She found her. Because of another woman named Maddy. The woman she loved." She recalled with a sigh, standing up she hands Scott a picture; Veronica, leaning her chin on of her arms rested on the arm of the couch, leaned over on his thigh to take a peek; it was a Polaroid of her grandmothers together.  The banshee stares off at window, mind somewhere else as she continues.  "I never met her, but I saw her name everywhere. She used to be part of a yacht racing team. There were plaques and trophies in the lake house from all the regattas she'd won."

"How did she die?" Jordan inquired eyebrows drawn, further away from them.

Lydia smiles tightly, fingers digging into her palms. "How's not the story. It's what happened right before. My grandmother, Lorraine, used to work in San Francisco for IBM. She was there on a weekend, catching up on work. She started hearing this sound... like rain." Veronica's eyes drifted to the shaded windows like she could hear the sound Lydia was walking to. "But when she looked out the windows... All she saw was blue sky."

"But she kept hearing the rain?" The ebony repeated in question biting her cheek, leaning forward. It was hard to decided whether this still interesting or becoming a horror story.

"And it just kept getting louder. Rain and thunder cracking like gunshots in her head. So loud. She finally just screamed."

"Like a Banshee." Veronica's head tilted to Derek.

"She called Maddy who was planning on taking one of the boats out on the lake. But Maddy said that the sun was shining there too. So Lorraine didn't say anything."

"There was an accident." Jordan notes.

"It took them four days to find Maddy's body." She breathed out like it all made sense. "And then it took decades to figure out how Lorraine knew. She started with parapsychologists, like the PhD in their name made it more scientific. They built the study in the lake house according to every pseudoscientific theory they could find. None of it worked." She explained. "So then she started going to more extreme occult. Things like mediums and psychics All of them were failures. Until she found Meredith. They found her in Eichen House. This fragile girl who didn't understand the things she heard. They brought her to the study. And they almost killed her. She was hospitalized for over a year. She..." Tears builds in her eyes, suddenly finding it hard to continue. " ... never really recovered. My grandmother drove her insane I drove her to suicide. And all she ever wanted to do was help."   Surrounding a dark table, she reached inside her bad and unfolds a coded page. "My grandmother created the code for the dead pool. They think she's the Banshee who put the names out in the first place. She left me this message in the same code."

"But she didn't leave a cipher key, did she?" Scott asked, hopeful. Lydia shook her head, no. Well, this has been eventful.

*  *  *

          THE MORILLO HOUSEHOLD WAS quiet calm for the time since they've moved in, no boisterous parents to disturb them just them in the same room doing what they need too alone; Perseus laid on the arm chair legs kicked up on the wall giggling every five seconds on his phone, Yoselin on the ground music blasting through her headphones going over her clothing designs on the glass table and Veronica, whom called dibs, watched the flat screen huge above the fire place (... they'd rather use a heater after an unfortunate event of Perseus almost burning his head bald. ) Z Nation played in a magnificent HD.  Their parents are still out with Uncle Chris searching for Kate and her Berserkers.

Sucks she couldn't enjoy it. Whenever she looks at it she's reminded of all the innocent people forced into this world, their world ━ everything her family and hunters have been trying to protect them from blown away by a stupid deadpool and money and they've fallen in the trap like mice. This has been eating her up way more than she thought it would be; maybe because they're children forced into a war, their choice stripped away from them not because they're worthy to carry their burden but because someone needed a job done.

"Can you stop laughing like that, you gremlin looking ass." Yoselin hissed, the thick eyebrows they share furrowed glaring at him over her shoulder, headphones back.  Veronica held back a groan though she was feeling the same way; he's probably laughing at stupid relatable memes because let's face it, her brother is a basic bitch.  "You sound like a door opening."

"I'll open the door on your face." Perseus fired back, eyes locked on his phone and laughs once more making it seem like he was laughing in her face.

"That don't even make sense." Yoselin shouted saying each word slowing turning her body toward him on her knees.  The eldest groans throwing her head back on the rest, dealing with them is the last thing she wants if only she had brought her Bluetooth headphones to plug it into the TV.

"It doesn't have to if you're offended by it." Perseus retorted, head tilted towards her grinning. He's a little shit, even she wanted to smack that smile off his face.

"I'll backhand you into another universe." Yoselin threatened, pushing herself on her feet glaring hard at him waving her hand.

Taking the challenge, he leaped onto his knees on the couch trying to stand taller tilting his chin.  "Eh, who's older?"

"Still not you." Veronica and Yoselin replied in sync, if strangers saw their expression they'd know instant they were related. The younger one continuing, "No matter how many times you ask it won't change."

"Or ask the court to change your birth time." Veronica added reading the subtitles and kicks her fluffy sock clad feet on top of the couch pillows.

"He done that?"  Yoselin demanded, ponytail whipping as she spun to face her in confusion.

"He tried it." She corrected with a shrug, getting bored of the argument.

"Ronnie, please learn to use your lips less ━ "

"Pile on Percy!"  Veronica shouted, her hands cupped around her mouth.  He could've made it if the went through the glass table legs apart instead he tried to go around it like a fool. They tacked him the ground and one sat on his butt and another on his legs.

"Lena! Ronnie, per favore get off!" Perseus cried out trying to wiggle free under their body but was proved unsuccessful. He groans rolling his forehead back and forth on his hand.  "I'm gonna tell mamma!"

"Shush, stupido." Veronica groaned, leaning back on the couch.  "Real talk dudes; this might get a bit deep, you've been warned. Do you remember the whole us deciding as a family to complete the deadpool to make humanity better as a family?"

"No." Perseus replied, huffing a breath.  "I'm pretty sure you talked us into it even though mamma was strongly against it."

"No one likes a snitch, mamma's boy." Veronica grumbled and punched his shoulder, he cried out, Yoselin laughed loud just to irritate him even further. "Back to us; turns out we're not the only hunters with the list."

"We're racing against other hunters to finish the list?"  Yoselin asked after a few seconds, scratching her head.  "I mean, I'm pretty sure we can keep up."

"You don't get it. The list has gone out to people who aren't hunters, like people who weren't trained to do what we do."  She explained, a bit too aggressively her hands flying almost hitting her in the face.  "As in anybody with hands can get a copy with the list."

"That does not sound good."  Perseus mumbled sounding pained, he tries to shift underneath them like a caterpillar.  "Nor this feel any better guys!"

"Shush Percy, the grown ups are talking." Yoselin scowled, her knees pulled to her chest as she rubs in between her eyebrows.  "It could be worse, they could have a hit list with our names on it. Right?"  Perseus breathes out a laugh.

"I mean I know that but...". Veronica grimaced. She shouldn't have agreed to that, if there are innocent humans hunting down the supernatural then does that mean the innocent creatures are being hunted? Come to think of it Brett's eyes weren't blue, they were gold; the color of innocence.  "Not everyone on that list are killers. We don't do that, as much as I don't like them, I don't kill the innocent."

A silence weighed in the living room.

"What are you trying to say?"  Yoselin questioned, swallowing heavily.

"How hard is it too keep up, Lena? Aren't you older?" Perseus snarled with a huff.  "She wants us to destroy the deadpool."

"And for that I stand."  Veronica chimed, patting his head like a good dog and swaps him for a much more comfier couch kicking her legs up on the table, imagine if her parents seen that they've smacked her off the couch and forced her to sit on the ground for the rest of the day like a dog. Perseus mumbled a thank God.

"How are we suppose to do that? We don't even know who this woman is and why aren't you talking ma or papà?"  Yoselin fired almost forgetting to breath, looking back at her.

"Because they're partners in a bloody crime. It'll always be him and her since before we were born. And I want ━ no, need you guys to have my back on shit like this."  Veronica replied, clutching her ankles. There was no humor in her face; it wasn't something strange but this time it was different, a scary different.  "We're stronger together. Always have been and always will be so you better say yes or I'll burn your hair in your sleep."

"If you're going to act like Batman then we might as well do a blood oath to seal the deal." Perseus grumbled stretching his spine the moment her weight was off him.

"Ew, that so unhygienic." Yoselin complained, rolling her eyes.  "But I'm in, no hunting ━ unless necessary until this deadpool is done and dusted."

"So dramatic."  Veronica rolled her eyes, holding both her pinkie out for them to hold they did; and shook it, the consequences of breaking a sealed promise is merciless between them. Once, Veronica woke up with her eyebrows shaved off for breaking it, she hated thinking about that when she wore her beanie so low stupid children would try to pull it off her head constantly.

Silence returns and Perseus is quick to disrupt it.  "So, what happens now?"

"I'm starving." Yoselin admits, clutching a thick pillow to her chest and raised her hand.

"Wanna look through ma and papà's room for change to order takeout?" Veronica questioned, there's food in the house ready to eat but nobody wants that. And they know the rule, whoever finds the most change gets to order more. Perseus didn't waste a second ambling it if his seat, Yoselin following running over her body and leaps on him knocking him and herself down, Veronica rolls her eyes stepping over them.  "Stupid twins."