Okay I think a moment is needed so we can all appriciate how beautiful Liam was in the last episode (And in the gif I have up). Dylan Sprayberry is a fantastic actor and oh my lord does he look hella fine in a lacrosse jersey. I just thought that needed to be addressed. You may now carry on reading.

Chapter 20 ✧From The Sidelines✧

Seeing as Liam was now a creature of the night with supernatural smelling abilities, it didn't take long to find our friends. Kira and Stiles had settled for an unused hospital room where they could set up a temporary base. As soon as Liam and I entered the room, I dropped his hand. Right now I did not Stiles getting any ideas about the two of us and then him teasing me with some stupid remark until the end of time.

While we worked on our little mission inside, Noshiko and Melissa were outside scouting for any peculiar people entering or exiting the hospital. That was probably a good way to get Melissa's mind off of Scott's current state which, I'll admit, was a task I've been struggling to complete. I needed him to wake up so I could be mad at him for not telling me about how serious these risks were. If he didn't then I'd have all these feeling jumbled up inside of me that I'll never be able to get out and I don't know how much more I'll be able to take. My dad wasn't wrong when he used to call me weak.

"Where did you even get these laptops?" I questioned Stiles as he pulled out the ones he had earlier in the McCall's' kitchen. I had to do something to get my mind off of, well, everything else.

"I know people, alright?" Stiles muttered as began to mess with them. I raised my eyebrows in amusement because I knew exactly who he knew; Scott, Lydia, Malia, Kira, Derek, Liam, and Myself. I don't really believe any of us exactly had a few extra laptops lying around. But, then again, what do I know?

Stiles then swiftly whipped out his cell phone and I only had time to see Chris Argent was calling him before Stiles brought the phone to his ear. He then looked over to Kira, Liam, and I and I realized it was finally the moment of truth. It was time to see if Chris had managed to hook up the security cameras to our computer screens so we could really monitor everything.

After we all exchanged a truly meaningful look-which could arguably count as a good pack bonding experience-Stiles clicked some buttons on the key boards. Flickering to life across the laptops were four camera's per screen. I let out a small sigh of relief when I saw that everything seem to appear clearly. It was about time things started to really go according to plans.

"Is this, it this actually working?" I asked quietly as I stared at everything in disbelief. I guess there really is a first time for everything.

"Yeah," Stiles answered, sounding just as surprised as I felt, "It actually is."

I felt a hand graze the back of mine and I looked away from the screens and over to Liam. He gave me a small smile which I gladly returned. He subtly shifted closer to me and tangled his fingers in mine before we both looked back at the screens. The weight of all the worry I had been feeling earlier seemed to lighten up some. Maybe, just maybe, this insane plan will work out. Tonight just might not be the night I'll lose Scott McCall or any of my other friends. Perhaps we will find the bastard that we've so politely opted to calling The Benefactor.

Suddenly, one of the section's on the screen began flickering and glitching. Liam pointed to it with his hand that wasn't holding mine.

"Is that supposed to look like that?"

"No," Stiles responded, the hope from earlier was no longer in his voice, "No, it's not."

"Where is that?" Kira questioned.

I looked over to Stiles for an answer and saw him frowning. "It's the roof. Someone is going to have to check it out."

"I'll go," Kira decided courageously as she grabbed her bag.

"Whoa, whoa," Stiles slowed her down, "This might not just be a malfunction."

"That's why I'm bringing this." Kira pulled out the hilt of her favorite weapon from her bag before sheathing it once more and heading towards the door.

"I'm coming with you!" Liam called after her as he let go of my hand which caused about fifty alarms to go off in my mind.

"Wait, Liam," I exclaimed before I could stop myself.

Liam turned just as he was about to leave and gave me a reassuring look. "It's probably nothing major. I'll be fine, Charlotte."

I nodded and held back any other protesting I felt the need to do. I knew it would just be selfish for me to say anything else. Anyways, Kira might need the extra pair of hands or claws, not that Liam has had a chance to get to much training in with the former.

"Well you're both coming right back! Immediately!" Stiles shouts after the pair like a worried mom telling her children not to stray too far from her sight. He then shook his head and sighed, "Kids."

"Stiles," I looked up to him as a genuine smile broke through my worry, "There pretty much the same age as you."

"Yeah, well, I'm taller," Stiles countered and I just rolled my eyes. For him being one of the smartest guys I knew he had some of the worst comebacks. At least they were entertaining, though.

After a few minutes I found myself sitting back into a chair next to the hospital bed. I quickly realized I was sitting on something which I then found to be Derek's leather jacket. It felt like I had gotten this ages ago with everything that has gone on since then but it honestly couldn't have been over forty minutes ago. I debated whether or not I should tell Stiles what I had concluded about Derek but something on the computer screen caught my attention.

It was a flicker on the little section that had glitched out. I had hoped that Liam and Kira had managed to get the camera to function again but then I realized the screen had just decided to go grey completely.

Stupid false hope.

I sunk back into the chair and began to feel worried for Liam and Kira. They were both on the list which means they were both in danger-Just Kira was slightly more so in danger seeing as she was worth more. I thought back to all the prices and all the names that had been crossed out. It was scary that someone could fill up and fund a hit list that had to be sectioned into three parts. And those three parts had been nearly impossible to crack and the names of the first two had shaken up a lot of emotions in all of us.

"Stiles," I suddenly broke the silence when I realized I only knew of the first two keywords; Allison and Aiden. "Whose name cracked the third part of the list?"

Stiles' impatient pacing came to a quick halt as he looked up at me with a horror-stricken face. "W-What do you mean?"

Stiles knew exactly what I meant, though. I could tell by the nervous look in his light brown eyes. This led me to believe that he was hiding something from me, again. And Scott had to be in on this one deceit too.

Slowly, I rose up from the chair I was sitting in. "Stiles, what was the third name?"

Stiles' Adam's apple bobbed as he began chewing on the side of his nail. I kept staring at him, waiting for him to answer, and finally he groaned before letting out a quiet sigh that held a name.

"Derek."

My eyes widened as I looked down at the leather jacket in my hands and then back at my friend. I shook my head slowly. "No, no Derek is still alive. I talked to him earlier! He couldn't be the final key word!"

"Charlotte," Stiles reached out to try to sooth me but I stepped away, "Lydia and I think that the final keyword is someone who isn't dead but is going to die. We typed in Derek and it worked."

I shook my head once more, this time getting a headache as tears made my vision go bleary. My lungs began caving in on themselves as what Stiles said sank in. It seemed almost impossible to even think that Derek Hale could die. Sure he and I had a rocky road full of awkward silences, random heart felt moments, and times when I was terrified of him but I still held him close to my heart. Despite the whole intimidating badass thing Derek liked to have going on, I knew he was a good guy, though not in exactly the most conventional way. He had sheltered me and Isaac and tried to save us from our dad before Jackson had just offed the man altogether. Either way, Derek was somebody I trusted, somebody I had learned to love. I couldn't lose him too.

But then I suddenly remembered by earlier discovery. Derek was losing his powers which made him much more venerable and easier to kill.

I felt my knees grow weak and I stumbled back into the chair. Stiles knelt down in front of me but didn't say anything else or even try to touch me. I was grateful for that because right now I felt betrayed by him and his werewolf best friend. They were supposed to fill me in on everything, including details like Derek being the keyword and Scott very possibly being on death row. I was supposed to be a part of the team and help them. They weren't supposed to leave these things out.

They weren't supposed to realize I was so useless.

All I wanted to do was help them but now I knew that I couldn't. It was like all my worst nightmares were coming true all at once.

Through the haziness of my vision I could see the lights flickering until they eventually went off and only the emergency ones were left on. This caused Stiles to stand up with a worried expression on his face that I couldn't help but mimic. I knew that when the lights flickered in this hospital then something very, very, bad was happening.

Stiles and I exchanged one look and I knew we were both thinking the same thing; we have to get to Scott.

I pushed all the other things I was feeling aside. I needed to stop being so weak for a moment. And as I managed to do just that, Stiles and I bolted out the doorway and in the direction of the morgue to protect our friend.

As we ran things that I couldn't push away rushed through my mind. Liam was still out on the roof and seeing as it was taking so long my guess is that something very terrible had gone wrong. And if something was going wrong that meant I could lose him too. Just today I've managed to come to the realization that I could be losing at least three people that I care deeply about.

How am I supposed to deal with all of this?

Eventually Stiles and I made it to an elevator which was taking an impossibly long time to arrive. As the two of us waited I felt my eyes drift over to a nearby stair case that led up to the roof top. That's where Liam and Kira would be.

The elevator dinged and I watched as Stiles quickly stepped into it. He said something to me but it was like I didn't hear it, like they were being muffled out or something. Within a split second I had turned away from the elevator and was sprinting up the staircase as fast as my legs could carry me.

I was done watching helplessly from the sidelines and being useless. Stiles could go down and help Scott but I knew I'd just end up getting in the way. My mind had finally managed to scrape up some courage and could only think of one thing that I could do.

I was going to help Liam.

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CHARLOTTE IS A CUTIE PIEOKAY.

ALSO HAPPY TWENTIETH CHAPTER OF SCARED TO DEATH! I don't know how but we've made it guys. Thanks for all of your support and love towards Charlotte! As a little gift I decided to put up the first chapter of Perturbation so go check it out!

But I also need to apologize for taking forever to update which is unusual for me and this book. But I have an excuse! I've been reading If I Stay and I suggest every single one of you read it!

Question- How do you like Charlotte's character development so far?