xxvi. CONDITIONAL TERMINAL

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CARTER HAD THE sense that she'd been asleep for a very long time—her body was stiff, like she hadn't moved once through all that time, either. Her mind was dazed and slow; strange, colorful dreams—dreams and nightmares—swirled dizzily around the inside of her head. They were so vivid. The horrible and the heavenly, all mixed together into a bizarre jumble. There was sharp impatience and fear, both part of that frustrating dream where your feet can't move fast enough...And there were plenty of monsters, red-eyed fiends that were all the more ghastly. The dream was still strong.

The dream did not want to be shoved away into the vault of dreams she refused to visit. She struggled with it as her mind became more alert, focusing on reality. She couldn't remember what day of the week it was, but she was sure school or something was waiting for her. She inhaled deeply, wondering how to face another day.

Something warm touched her forehead with the softest pressure.

She squeezed her eyes more tightly shut. She was still dreaming, it seemed, and it felt abnormally real. She was so close to waking...any second now, and it would be gone.

But she realized that it felt too real, too real to be good for her. With a resigned sigh, she wrenched back her eyelids to dispel the illusion.

"Did I scare you?" His low voice was anxious.

She blinked twice, desperately trying to remember the last few moments before she fell asleep. Stiles was there, and she wondered if he had really been there at all, or if that was all in her head. If she'd fallen asleep with Stiles in the guest bedroom, then how did she end up here?

"How did I get in here?" She croaked. Her throat was thick with sleeping.

"You don't remember?"

She frowned at him unhappily.

"I did it again, didn't I?" She moaned. "I don't even know how or why I end up in here every night when I clearly remember falling asleep in the guest room. I think I'm going crazy. Again."

Scott frowned, too. "You're not going crazy, Carter."

"Then why do I awake up in your bed every night?" She challenged, raising her eyebrows.

Scott shook his head. "I honestly don't know. All I know is that every night, around two in the morning, I feel the bed dip beside me and when I roll over you're just lying there."

"And I'm asleep?"

"Dead asleep." Scott grinned. "It's like you never moved at all. Do you think that maybe you're having a hard time adjusting? Or something like that?"

Carter sighed.

Her head was getting clearer. Her eyes flickered away from his face for one second, to the bright, open window, and then back to him. Blinking harshly to try and get her eyes to stop stinging from the sunlight. She started to remember details...and she felt a faint, unfamiliar blush warm the skin over her cheekbones as she slowly realized why she kept ending up in Scott's bedroom.

"No, I just have a hard time sleeping alone." Carter whispered, embarrassed. "I've only slept alone a few times in the past six months because Malakai is always there—"

Scott frowned again. "Why is that?"

"Because of the nightmares." It was all coming clear now. "I've been having really bad nightmares and they only happen when I sleep alone. Did Stiles leave in the middle of the night last night?"

Scott nodded.

"That's why I keep coming in here." She concluded, sitting up in the bed. "You make me feel safe."

His eyes were sad. "What are your nightmares about?"

"My death." Her eyes tightened. "It's like I relive the night I died every single time I close my eyes. And it's not like I'm watching it happen, I can feel everything I felt that night. The fear pulsing through me, my stomach lurching into my throat when my car was plummeting, the water seeping into my veins—"

She was cut off when Scott's bedroom door flew open and Melissa stepped in. The woman was fussing with her watch, not having noticed that Scott wasn't alone in his room. She opened her mouth to speak but the words fell silent on her tongue when she finally lifted her eyes off her watch. She glanced between the two teenagers, speechless. Blinking several times to see if the scene before her was going to change. It didn't.

Carter wanted to face-palm herself. She could imagine how horrible the scene before the woman appeared; Carter in a tank-top—braless, she might add—and underwear with Scott just wearing his boxer briefs. The two of them were in an extremely close proximity with one another—their sides being pressed together. Carter coughed, inching herself away from Scott while he scratched the back of his neck awkwardly.

"Mom!" Scott chastised, throwing the blanket over his lower half. " Jesus! Why didn't you knock? I could have been naked."

Melissa blinked. "Well, I wasn't expecting anyone else to be in here with you, Scott."

"I didn't plan on being in here." Carter said, then realized how weird her words sounded. "That didn't come out right. What I meant, was that I've—"

Scott cut in. "She was really nervous about going back to school, so she came in her early this morning to talk. And that's why she's in here—the only reason she's in here, Mom."

Melissa nodded, knowing that her son was lying but it was too earlier to start parenting. "Uh, okay? I just came in here to tell you that I'm leaving for work and there's a fresh pot of coffee made in the kitchen."

"Okay, Mom, see you tonight." Scott said quickly, wanting nothing more for his mother to leave before the atmosphere got even more awkward.

Melissa glanced between the teenagers warily once more before she turned and left, closing the door behind her. Carter covered her face with her hands, falling back onto the bed with an exasperated sigh. That was probably the most painful and awkward situation she'd ever been it. The entire time Melissa stood in the doorway staring at them, Carter felt as though every tooth in her head was being pulled out.

Scott twiddled his thumbs, avoiding Carter's eyes. "Well, that was horrible."

"And now your mom thinks I'm a slut." Carter murmured, her voice being muffled by her hands.

Scott's head whirled toward her, astounded that she had just said that. "That is not true and you know it. My mother loves you! She used to tell me that I was an idiot for ever letting you go."

Carter's heart sank. She never meant for things between her, Stiles, and Scott to get this bad. She wished that she could go back and stop herself from ever getting into a relationship with Scott—to keep him from feeling the heartbreak he was suffering through at the moment. If she would've known then what she knows now, things would have turned out differently for the three of them.

She sat up. "Well, the awkward just took a turn for the depressing, I'm gonna go take a shower."

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Carter parked in front of the building, which had a small sign on the door reading FRONT OFFICE AHEAD. No one else was parked there, so Carter was sure it was off limits. She stepped unwillingly out of the Camaro and walked down a little path lined with dark hedges. She took a deep breath before opening the door.

Inside, it was brightly lit, and warmer than she'd expected. The office was small; a little waiting area with padded chairs, blue and red flecked commercial carpet, notices and awards cluttering the walls, a big clock ticking loudly. Plants grew everywhere in large plastic pots, as if there wasn't enough greenery outside. The room was cut in half by a large counter, cluttered with wire baskets full of papers and brightly colored flyers taped to its front. There were three desks behind the counter, one of which was manned by a large, red-haired woman wearing glasses. She was wearing a yellow blouse.

The red-haired woman barely looked up. "Can I help you?"

"I'm Caterina Hale," she informed her, and saw the immediate awareness light her eyes. She was expected—she'd been a topic of gossip around town since she entered the hospital. Teenage girl who faked her own death, returns to Beacon Hills High at last.

"Oh, my God—of course, you are." She said. She dug through a precariously stacked pile of documents on her desk till she found the ones she was looking for. "I have your schedule right here." She brought several sheets to the counter to show Carter.

She went through Carter's classes for her and gave her a slip to have each teach sign, which she was to bring back at the end of the day. She smiled at her and hoped, like Carter's friends, that Carter would easily return to the flow of going to high school. Carter smiled back as convincingly as she could.

When she went back out to her car, other students were starting to arrive. She drove around the school, following the line of traffic. She was glad to see that none of them were gawking at her yet. Still, she cut the engine as soon as she was in a spot, so that the volume of the V-8 engine wouldn't draw attention to her.

She looked up through the windshield, trying to find Logan; hoping that she wouldn't have to walk around searching for the boy. She stuffed everything in her bag, slung the strap over her shoulder, and sucked in a huge breath. I can do this, she lied to herself feebly. No one is going to say anything to me. No one wants to talk to the girl that was officially declared dead. She finally exhaled and stepped out of the car.

She kept her head down as she walked to the sidewalk, crowded with teenagers. Her plain black leather jacket didn't stand out, she noticed with relief.

Carter still hadn't found Logan when she approached the main building. She felt her breathing gradually creeping toward hyperventilation as she approached the door. She tried holding her breath as she followed two girls through the double doors.

"So, where's Malakai?"

Carter shrieked in surprise when Logan appeared out of nowhere, linking his arm with hers. She felt a strange heat rush up the back of her neck when everyone in the hallway turned to look at her. If her presence hadn't been known yet, it sure was now.

"Carter," Logan whispered, trying to drawl the girl's attention away from the people staring at her. "Carter, it's me, you're all right. Just forget about them."

Carter swallowed thickly and nodded, looking over at the young blonde boy. She smiled softly, trying her hardest not to turn around and run as far away from the school as possible.

"So, Carter," Logan smiled innocently. "Where's Malakai?"

"Um, he went out searching for Raeven. He's trying to find her." Carter said, the two supernatural teens approaching Logan's locker.

"Do you know when he'll be returning?" Logan asked, grabbing his assorted textbooks and binders out of his locker before slamming it shut.

Carter shrugged, leaning against the wall of lockers. "I don't know, Logan, I guess when he finds her. Why do you ask?"

"It's just..." Logan pursed his lips, thinking about the raven-haired man. "He's so hot, it's distracting and it kind of makes me want to punch him in the face."

Carter emitted a bark of laughter, grinning at Logan and she couldn't help but agree. Malakai was probably the most beautiful man she'd ever seen.

You can tell Logan that I think he's hot, too, Malakai's mental voice suddenly rang in her mind.

And as soon as she heard his voice inside her mind, her and Logan's conversation was momentarily forgotten. Mal! Where have you been? It feels like I haven't talked to you in ten years, she called back.

Carter could faintly hear that Logan was saying something about finding Kira before class. She mindlessly nodded, following along side the young beta as she anxiously waited for Malakai to respond. She'd been impatiently waiting for him to contact her—she didn't care if he had news about Raeven, she just needed to hear his voice. And now, as her and Logan moved down the hall, she needed him by her side.

I've been searching for your evil doppelgänger! Malakai said, sounding distressed. Why? What's happening in Beacon Hills?

The two girls passed by a small group of teens huddled by someone's open locker. They were whispering amongst themselves, occasionally glancing over their shoulders at Carter before going back to their whispering.

"That's her," one of them said. "That's the girl who faked her death."

"Is it just me, or does she actually look dead?" another asked. "I mean, look how pale her skin is! It's like she's a freakin' corpse!"

"I used to think she was the hottest girl in school, but now, she's too fuckin' weird to be hot."

Voices floated around her, clouding her mind until she felt another arm link with her free one. She looked over and saw that Kira was now walking with her and Logan. The Kitsune sent the undead girl a reassuring smile.

Oh, nothing much, just listening to people call me fuckin' weird, she grumbled to Malakai.

Regardless of all the thoughts swirling in her mind, she and Kira and Logan entered the room. The classroom was small. The people in front of her stopped just inside the door to hang up their coats on a long row of hooks. Carter copied them. They were two girls, both pale. At least my skin wouldn't be a standout, she thought.

Carter took the slip up to the teacher, a tall, aging woman whose desk had a nameplate identifying her as Mrs. Finch. She gawked her her when she saw her name—not an encouraging response—and of course Carter flustered. But at least she sent her to the empty seat in the front beside Scott.

She made her way over to the lab table, feeling Scott's eyes on her. They hadn't spoken to one another since their awkward conversation that morning. He watched her as she nervously made her way toward the stool.

"Do you mind if I sit here?" She asked, gesturing to the empty stool.

Scott's eyes snapped up, locking with hers. "Yeah—I mean, no, of course I don't mind. Sit away! It's all yours."

Carter cringed when she found herself wanting to laugh. Scott's eyes were suddenly glued to the cover of the textbook, finding it very interesting as his cheeks tinted. It was evident that the two of them were struggling with trying to set a normal and comfortable pattern and rhythm between them. Being just friends before she died had been hard, but now that she'd come back, everything was so...different.

Carter set her bag down on the lab table and slid onto the stool, pausing for brief moment when she pulled out her own textbook.

Scott McCall was in AP Biology.

She felt her undead heart swell with pride. After all the struggling he had gone through sophomore and junior year with his grade, she was so proud to see him trying to achieve a higher education. She knew that he was trying to get into a good college—could tell that he wanted to do better than before.

Carter leaned toward him, grinning. "Who are you and what have you done with Scott McCall?"

He looked over at her, his eyes widening. "What are you talking about, Car?"

"I just never would've thought I'd see you in AP Bio." She explained, her grin blooming into a wide smile. "I'm so proud of you, Scott."

His cheeks flushed once more, heart pounding in his chest. God, he missed her so damn much. It were little things that this made he loved the most about her. The way she say five simple words and make his entire day. How had he ever gotten along without her in his life?

Carter watched as he tugged out a notebook and flipped it open. She peered over, her curiosity getting the best of her. He had written: Belasko, Talons, Tracy, Kanima, Wolf. And there was an arrow pointing from Belasko all the way down to wolf at the bottom.

Mrs. Finch turned to the chalk board and began drawing on the board the diagrams for their lab. THE ROUTE FOR DNA INTO CELLS. "If ninety-nine point-nine percent of DNA sequence is the same as other humans, what could account for the missing point-one percent difference?" She asked. "Caterina?"

Carter blinked and automatically answered. "Nucleotides."

"That's right, and it looks like someone's up-to date on the chapter. Nice job, Caterina." Finch praised and Carter fought the urge to scream. She hated it when people she didn't approve of called her by her real name. But the last thing she wanted was to make a scene on her first day back. And she could feel almost everyone's curious eyes on her.

Kira, from beside Lydia, raised her hand.

"Yes, Kira?"

"Can there be more than one species in the same DNA?" Kira asked, meeting Carter's eyes from a brief moment.

Finch shook her head. "No, but there can be multiple sets of DNA in the same individual. We call that a—"

"Chimera." Carter said, the word falling right out of her mouth before she could stop it. Mrs. Finch looked at the girl, nodded and asked if Carter knew what a chimera was. "In Greek mythology, a chimera is a fire-breathing creature composed of the parts of more than one animal. It is usually depicted as a lion, with the head of a goat coming out of its back, and a tail that ends with a snake's head."

Mrs. Finch stepped closer to her, challenging. "Do you know what a genetic chimera is, Ms. Hale?"

"A genetic chimera is a single organism composed of cells from different zygotes." Carter said, glancing at Scott for a moment. "This can result in male and female organs, two blood types, or subtle variations in form. Animal chimeras are produced by the merger of multiple fertilized eggs. And another way that chimerism can occur in animals is by organ transplantation, giving one individual tissues that developed from two genomes. For example, a bone marrow transplant can change someone's blood type."

Finch nodded in approval. "Nicely stated, Ms. Hale. And that does get us into the next topic of mutation. As you know from the reading, DNA is a fragile molecule." Scott wrote down chimera at the bottom of the list. "Isn't it, Scott?" He quickly looked up from his notebook. "Or did you miss last night's assigned reading?"

"Kind of."

"Kind of, or yes?"

Scott glanced down at his notebook, ashamed. "Mostly yes."

"Well, then thank you for another helpful transition in topic." Finch moved to grab a stack of papers off her desk. "Drop forms. All those now acutely aware that they do not belong in this class"—slapping a form down in front of a brunette girl—"you should fill one out. The rest will be on my desk."

With that, everyone began gathering their things. Carter got up at the same time as Scott, not wanting to walk out of the classroom alone because when you're alone, people more confident to talk shit about you. She was following right behind him but stopped when he halted right in front of Finch's desk, looking down at the stack of drop forms.

He reached out with his right hand and was about to grab one when Carter immediately wrapped her own hand around his. His eyes snapped up to meet hers, questions swirling in his brown eyes.

"No," Carter said firmly, pulling his hand away from the forms. "You're not dropping. I can tell that you've worked too hard to get here and I'm not going to let you quit. And I don't care what I have to do, but I will help you pass this class."

"But, Car, it's—"

Carter stood her ground. "No, buts, Scott. I don't care if I have to spend all of my free-time helping you, but you are not dropping this class. Understood? You're Scott McCall, you don't give up."

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"This way."

Melissa McCall guided Carter and Scott out of the elevator and down the hall. The former couple arrived at the hospital after receiving a very disconcerting phone call from Melissa about a teenage boy coming through the ER. At first, Carter didn't really know why they were needed, but she quickly figured it out when she heard his screams all the way in the lobby.

"He came in about forty-five minutes ago." Melissa explained, the boy continuing to scream.

"Melissa," Dr. Geyer approached them. "I'm gonna find an anesthesiologist covering acute pain. See what you can do."

The three of them stopped right outside the door, staring at the closed door. Carter cringed every time his screams reached her ears.

"Mom, what's happening to him?"

"It's the pain. Nothing's working. We've already pumped him full of morphine."

Carter frowned. "Can't they do anything to help him? Like put him in a medically-induced coma?"

"You mean, like they do for burn victims?" Melissa offered.

"Let me see if I can help." Scott announced, walking into the room.

After they'd all entered, Melissa closed the door behind them. Carter felt an intense wave of sadness hit her. The boy lying on the bed—his wrists restrained—was about Liam's age, just a couple years younger than them. He was in so much pain. You could see it on his face as he threw his head back, releasing another wail.

"Please, make it stop." Corey whimpered to Scott. "Please, make it stop."

"Scott, wait—"

Carter wanted to warn him but was too late, the True Alpha had already taken the boy's hand. Within a second's notice, a wave of pain hit his body, needles were pricking his skin as the black veins trailed along his skin. From beside Scott, Carter's entire body began to shake in frantic tremors, an agony filled groan escaped her lips as she tried to keep herself from screams, but failed as the black veins continued to travel up Scott's body—onto his face.

Corey's pain rocked through Carter, and a scream, blistered with agony, ripping from her lungs. Her knees gave out at that exact moment, her face furrowed in pain. She wailed out once more. She could hear her breathing get faster, but she couldn't control it as she started to gasp.

"Scott!" Carter shouted, her arm feeling like it was covered in acid. "You need to let him go!"

Melissa noticed the seriousness on Carter's face and immediately began trying to pull Scott away from the boy. "Come on. Let go. Let go of him, Scott."

Carter's entire body relaxed when Scott finally let go. The pain she felt was instantly replaced by anger. She quickly got to her feet and stood in front of Scott. "Are you crazy!" she shouted, pushing against his chest. "You could have killed yourself! You do know what happens when you take too much, right?"

Scott nodded and she pushed him once more, causing him to stumble a little. She was seething. Air hissed up her throat, spitting through her clenched teeth with a low, menacing sound like a swarm of bees. She stared at him with anger obvious in her eyes.

"Carter, I know what happens when you take too much, but he's in pain—"

"And do you know how much pain I would be in if you died?" Carter shouted, thinking that if her voice was louder, he'd get the point she was trying to get across. "You saw what happened to me the night that Allison died, remember? I was begging them to kill me because that's how much it hurt."

"All right, that's enough you two." Melissa yelled before it could get any uglier.

Scott nodded. "Let me see it. Let me see his arm."

Carter crossed her arms over her chest, watching silently as Melissa undid the restraint on his wrist before removing the large gauze pad on his forearm. The gaping wound on Corey's forearm made Carter's stomach churn, she had this sudden urge to throw up at the sight of it. It appeared at the someone had literally splashed acid on his arm.

"Holy..." she muttered.

"What is that?"

"The lab says scorpion venom." Melissa replied.

"Scorpion?"

"No way." Carter shook her head. "A normal scorpion's venom wouldn't do that."

Melissa nodded, agreeing. "Exactly, but that's not the weirdest part." She recovered his arm. "A sting this bad means that he should have been dead ten hours ago, and the scorpion that stung him would have been ten feet tall."

"You know, a ten foot tall scorpion running around Beacon Hills wouldn't exactly surprise me." Carter said, earning a look from Scott. She rolled her eyes at him. She was still pissed.

"Lucas..." Corey choked out. "It was Lucas."

Scott moved closer, kneeling right beside the bed. "Hey, Corey, what Lucas did to you, he's gonna do it to someone else and it's gonna be much worse."

"We need to know what happened." Carter urged.

Corey glanced between them. "I don't really know." He sat up, looking down at his arm for a moment. "He's never been like that before."

"Like what?"

"Aggressive. We were taking it slow," Scott and Carter instantly lock eyes, thinking about when they were taking things slow. "But it wasn't me. He was the shy one. Then we're hanging out today and it's like he was a different person."

"Different how, Corey?"

"Like, super confident. We were just kissing and I felt this sharp sting on my arm and...and then I looked up at him and I swear his eyes turned black."

Carter stepped closer. "You mean totally black?"

"The whole eyes, but it was only for a second. And then he said sorry, that he'll see me at the club tonight and then he just left." Corey explained. "And then few minutes later, I'm in the worst pain of my life."

"Hold on," Carter interjected. "You said club. What club?"

"Every Friday night. Sinema."

Scott and Carter looked at one another.

"Logan, Liam, and Mason are at that club."

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wow, i feel like im cranking through season 5! let me know what you guys thought of this chapter!