𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒇𝒊𝒇𝒕𝒚 | 𝔀𝓱𝓮𝓷 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓹𝓪𝓻𝓽𝔂'𝓼 𝓸𝓿𝓮𝓻

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘋𝘢𝘳𝘬 𝘒𝘪𝘵𝘴𝘶𝘯𝘦

"HIS EYES WERE GLOWING," SCOTT says. Himself, Charlotte, Allison, and Isaac stand in the Argent's study as they listen to Chris recite to them the story of his first weapon's deal in Japan.

"There was something almost ritualistic about it," the man explains. "Like it was looking right into his soul."

Charlotte frowns as she leans against the desk. "That's the same thing it did to me."

Allison sighs as she cleans the wound on her father's forehead. "It's what they did to everyone," she says.

"Not everyone," Scott points out. "They only came after the werewolves."

The room falls silent and Charlotte stares at her best friend, taken aback by his comment. "Are Lydia and I secretly dogs?" she deadpans.

The boy grimaces and he sheepishly smiles at her. "Sorry..."

However, Argent nods to both of them. "It's anyone with a connection to the supernatural," he clarifies.

"Then who's the guy they went after in Japan?" Isaac questions.

"A kumichō, a yakuza boss," Chris answers. "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."

Charlotte rolls her eyes at the mention of the oldest Argent's name. "Of course he did," she mutters to herself.

"He wanted to see if I could adapt in the moment. Testing my ability to improvise."

Allison raises her eyebrows. "Or your ability to survive," she says, gently smoothing out the suture tape she's placed on his cut.

"The moment the sun went down, it was like they just materialised out of the shadows," he continues. Then he nods to Charlotte. "Exactly like you described. They had swords, not curved like katanas, but straight, black steel, like ninjatōs."

"What did they want?" Scott asks.

"To get to the kumichō. They cut down every living thing in their way."

Charlotte's brows draw together as she instinctively touches the number behind her ear. "Did they mark him like they did to us?"

"Not exactly," Chris vaguely replies.

"What was he?"

"I don't know," he replies to Scott. "But there might be someone who does. There were a few others who survived 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."

Charlotte points to the bruises on Chris' face that are darkening by the minute. "I don't think he wanted you to find him," she comments.

He slightly smiles at her and shakes his head. "I don't think so, no."

"You think he knows what they are?" Scott queries hopefully. "Or what they want?"

"Maybe."

"What if he doesn't want to talk?"

Isaac nods at Allison and adds, "What if he doesn't even remember you?"

"He'll remember this," Chris states. He stands up from his chair and moves to the wooden box on the desk. The teenagers crowd around to see one of the masks that had covered all of the creatures' faces, but this one is shattered into pieces. "I know I didn't kill it, I'm not even sure that you can. But I slowed it down long enough for us to get out of there."

Charlotte takes one of the pieces, but quickly places it back in the box when a cold shiver runs down her spine. "What was behind the mask?" she asks quietly. She's not even sure she wants to know the answer.

"Darkness... absolute darkness."

"Great," the banshee mumbles. "They're evil ghost ninjas."

»»———-　　———-««

As she drives to school, Charlotte loudly sings along to the song blaring out of her speakers. But when she looks out the window and realises Scott is on his bike alongside her, she quickly turns the volume down and winds down her window to greet him. Then she watches two identical motorcycles box him on either side. "Oh this is amazing," she says to herself. Scott speeds ahead and the Steiner twins instantly match his pace. A few minutes later when she finally parks her car, Charlotte chuckles as she finds the twins are already beside her best friend. She grabs her bag and quickly walks over to them, giving the twins an impressed nod. "I reckon you could rival the Secret Service."

Scott gives her a brief smile and looks to the werewolves in exasperation. "You're really gonna do this all day?"

Ethan nods. "All day," he echoes.

"All night," Aiden finishes.

Charlotte raises her brows in surprise. "Twenty-four seven? 'Cause even I wouldn't want to do that and I've known Scott for thirteen fucking years."

Scott rolls his eyes at her. "Is this about being in my pack?" he questions the siblings.

"This is about you being the target of demonic ninjas," Aiden corrects.

Ethan turns to his twin to sarcastically respond, "You mean the demonic ninjas that pulled swords out of their chests and completely kicked our asses?"

"Yeah! Those demonic ninjas."

When his best friend laughs, Scott gives her a pointed look and she quickly falls quiet. "I don't need anyone to protect me," he says. Charlotte studies him for a few extra seconds just in case he's currently Allison in disguise.

"They were looking right at you when the sun came up," Ethan points out.

"That's true," the girl agrees. "I think you've been added to their hit list."

"And they also disappeared," Scott counters. "Argent thinks that they could just come out at night."

"And since this is our first experience with demonic ninjas, we're thinking we should play it safe."

Aiden nods in agreement with his brother. "All day," he repeats.

Scott sighs, his shoulders sagging in defeat. "... And all night"

Charlotte kisses her teeth. "Man, you need all the help you can get," she says as she pats the boy's shoulder.

But as herself and Scott walk through the halls of the school to reach the werewolf's locker, she's questioning whether letting the twins follow them is even remotely a good idea at all. It hasn't even been two minutes and she wants to push them off an incredibly high bridge. She can't tell if that's just how she usually feels toward them or if it's because they're actually spending time together.

When Scott finally gets to his locker and Charlotte is forced to wait for him to gather his books, her thoughts drift off to Stiles. Now she thinks about it, she hasn't seen him since he was dancing at the party last night. Actually, he hadn't even been with them when the ninja-creatures had appeared. "Hey, have you talked to Stiles since last night?" she questions her best friend in worry.

Scott shakes his head and quickly looks sideways to her. "No, you?"

"Nope."

"We need to talk to him and let him know everything that happened," Scott adds, sharing her concern that they haven't heard from him, even from something as simple as a text message.

Her eyes narrow and she gestures to the twins protectively on guard behind them. "Please tell me it's gonna be without them?"

"Without them," he confirms.

Immediately, Aiden responds, "No!"

Scott and Charlotte share a look filled with annoyance and simultaneously say, "Yes."

"And I don't want you listening in," Scott adds. "No wolf hearing."

"How would you even know?" Aiden retorts.

"I'm a True Alpha," Scott says confidently. "You have no idea what I can do."

Charlotte quietly snorts. "Yeah, neither do you," she mutters under her breath. She misses the appalled expression Scott holds and the amusement on the twins faces after hearing her words.

"You forget I have supernatural hearing," Scott points out as he throws an arm around her shoulder.

She raises her brows. "Ah, so it does work!"

They run into Stiles in the middle of the hallway. He looks his usual self until they properly study him. They realise just how deprived of sleep he is. Dark, purple bags are underneath Stiles' eyes, darker than how they'd been over the previous few weeks, and his eyes themselves are red and irritated.

"Woah, Stiles, are you okay?" Charlotte questions softly.

Scott nods, his brows creased in worry. "You look like-"

But before they can utter another word, Stiles jumps in to begin explaining his version of the events that had occurred at the black-light party: specifically why he had abruptly disappeared without any warning. "So then she starts talking about phosphors and the key having chemicals on it, right?" Stiles leads them into a classroom.

Charlotte's lips purse in thought. "Have you been doing experiments or something at home?"

The boy shakes his head and gestures around the room they're in. "And so that made me think of the chemistry closet," Stiles continues. "And the fact that someone had to have let Barrow in..." He trails off as he takes notice of the blackboard. "It's gone," he whispers in disbelief.

His friends share a look of confusion. "What's gone?" Scott asks.

If Stiles hears the question, he doesn't acknowledge it. "Okay, it doesn't matter though," he says, spinning around to run over to the closet at the back of the room. He brushes past his friends who watch him slot a key inside the lock, but it doesn't turn. Then another. And another. And another. "What the hell?" Stiles murmurs. He picks up every individual key on the chain, studying each to try and find the one that had been the enigma yesterday.

Charlotte takes a step toward him. "Stiles, what's going on?"

He continues going through his keys. "I had it-I had it here," he stammers. He finally looks up to them. "I had it here this morning, I swear to fucking God I had it here this morning."

Scott nods as he begins to understand what the boy is trying to explain. "The key you were talking about last night?"

"Yeah," he confirms. "I showed it to you, right? Didn't I show it to you?"

Scott shakes his head. "No, you just told me about it. I never actually saw it."

Charlotte frowns and she places her hands over Stiles' trembling ones. "Hey, I believe you, okay?" His eyes flick up to meet hers. "Stiles, I saw it yesterday morning, remember?"

The boy breathes a sigh of relief as he realises that she's right. "Thank God," he mutters to himself.

"Do you wanna tell us why we're in here?" she calmly questions.

Stiles quickly nods and leads them up to the front of the classroom. "I was here a couple hours ago," he begins. "And the message left to Barrow spelling out Kira's name was right there on the board in my handwriting, and I had the key to the chemistry closet."

Scott glances to Charlotte before looking back to Stiles who is breathing heavily. "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...?"

Charlotte frowns as she repeats his words over and over in her head. She wants to believe him so badly. So badly. But there are a few holes in his story. "If it was your handwriting, why didn't you recognise it when we were in here that night?"

"I know know how it sounds," Stiles says with frustration. He digs into the pocket of his jeans to pull out a newspaper clipping. "But look at this." They approach him to see what it reads. "This is the news report that came out about Barrow when they caught him, okay? About the shrapnel bomb that he used. See this?" Stiles points down to pictures on the paper. "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 guys?"

Her eyes close as she sighs. "Coach."

"The joke we played on Coach."

"That was my idea," Stiles points out. "You remember?" He's getting more and more frazzled the more he speaks. "That was my idea. That's no coincidence, it can't be."

Scott shakes his head as he stammers over to find the right words. " 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."

Stiles crumples the paper in his hand as he stares at the clean blackboard. "It was here," he murmurs. "It was all here."

After sharing another look with Scott, Charlotte moves in front of Stiles and his eyes immediately snap over to her. After listening to him boarding on hyperventilating for the last few minutes, she needs to get him somewhere calm and relaxing. Somewhere opposite to the place where everything he had said had occurred. "Listen, I don't have any more classes for today, so I was gonna go home. Why don't you come with me? We can hang for the rest of the day, watch a bunch of Star Wars?"

"Yeah, you look really tired," Scott adds, his eyes shining with worry.

"I'm fine. I just haven't been... sleeping really."

Charlotte nods and moves to link her arm through Stiles'. "Okay, c'mon."

Scott gives him a small smile. "Yeah, dude, just take a sick day. You won't miss anything," he reassures.

Stiles hesitates for a few seconds. He nods. "Yeah, okay, let's go."

»»———-　　———-««

So far, the drive has been quiet with both teens deep in thought. Another few minutes pass before Stiles breaks the silence. "Do you believe me?"

In surprise, Charlotte briefly takes her eyes off the road to look at her best friend. "What? Of course I believe you."

"So you think that I wrote on the board for Barrow?"

"I saw the key yesterday, you definitely had it." Her eyebrows furrow as she glances to him once more. "I believe you but it just doesn't make sense."

Stiles frowns and stares at his hands clasped together in his lap. "I just don't remember what the fuck I did with it," he mumbles.

"I think that you're incredibly overwhelmed with things right now, and that maybe the emotional exhaustion and stress you're feeling is causing some sort of problems with your memory?"

He gives her a small smile. Then he clears his throat. "Um, could you take me to the hospital instead?" he questions quietly.

Charlotte quickly glances over to him and her gaze softens when she notices how he's avoiding eye contact. "Yeah, of course."

"Thanks for doing this," he whispers.

She scoffs and turns the wheel. "Are you kidding me? It's best friend duty, I'd do anything for you." He smiles. When they finally reach Beacon Memorial Hospital, they head straight into the emergency department where they know their best friend's mother is currently working her shift. At the sight of an unfamiliar nurse behind the reception desk, Charlotte approaches with a sweet smile. "Could you page Melissa McCall for me, please?"

The woman looks up from her computer. "Family?"

"Yeah, we're family."

A few minutes later, the pair of teens spot a frantic Melissa rushing down the corridor toward them. She instantly spots them and rushes over, her eyes wide in a panic. "Are you guys okay? They told me it was urgent."

"Um..." Stiles swallows thickly before finally lifting his eyes up from the floor. His best friend notices that his fingers are still trembling. "Um, I-I-"

Melissa catches the immense concern that Charlotte currently holds as she watches him and she takes the stethoscope off from around her neck as she steps closer to him. "Stiles, are you all right?"

He takes a few shallow breaths. "I don't know," he answers. Charlotte places a hand lightly on his shoulder. His eyes shine with unshed tears. "I guess... I guess not really?"

The nurse's eyes flick back over to Charlotte who subtly shakes her head, communicating that she's just as worried about her friend as Melissa now is. Melissa nods her head. "All right, kiddo," she begins in a soft, calm voice. "All right, come with me." She directs him down the hallway. "It's okay."

Charlotte allows Stiles to grip onto her hand in a bone crushing hold as they follow Melissa through the corridors of the hospital. As they reach an empty patient room, Charlotte lingers by the door. When Stiles looks up to her, she gives him a small smile and shakes her head. "This is private," she says. "I'll be outside if you need anything."

He takes a deep breath and tries to reciprocate the smile. "Thanks," he replies quietly.

She glances to Melissa who gives her a reassuring nod, but once Charlotte is out of sight and seated in a nearby chair, the confident façade she had been holding up for Stiles falls. She sighs in exhaustion and rubs her eyes. She sits in silence, trying to get a little rest for a few minutes. Then her phone buzzes. It's from Allison. Charlotte doesn't hesitate to dial her girlfriend like she had been asked to, and the line picks up on the second ring. "Hey, everything going okay?" she asks.

"We've got something, can you come over?"

She looks back down to the room with her best friend and Melissa inside and she grimaces. Before she can reply to Allison, Melissa walks out holding her clipboard. They lock eyes and the woman nods her head to the side. She wears a rather grim expression. "I'm actually at the hospital with Stiles-"

"Is he okay?" Allison interrupts, her words laced with worry.

Charlotte glances back to Melissa waiting patiently for her and she frowns. "I'm not sure," she answers honestly. "I really don't know." She clears her throat. "Okay, so what's the plan?"

But instead of her girlfriend, Chris' voice rings through her ear. "We'll explain when you get here. And Charlotte? Make sure you have your knives on you."

Her eyes widen. "Uh, okay?" She's confused. Very confused. "Listen, text me the location and I'll leave in ten or so."

The sound of shuffling is heard over the speaker, then Allison returns. "Thank you," the brunette says softly. "Love you."

Charlotte smiles. "Love you, too." When the call hangs up, she hurries over to the curly-haired nurse. "Is everything okay? Is he okay?"

Melissa hesitates and motions to the room nearby with the filing cabinets. "He's asleep right now, I gave him a sedative."

Charlotte sighs in relief. "Thank God." However, her anxiety returns in seconds. "But you didn't answer if he's okay."

"I heard you have to leave, but I..." Melissa sighs. "I wanted to talk to you about something." They walk down the hall in silence, and when they reach the file room, Melissa glances around numerous times to make sure no one is watching her sneak the girl in.

"Mel, what's going on?" Charlotte questions. But Melissa stays silent as she pulls out a box of files, rifling through it until she finds the one she is looking for. Charlotte's eyes widen at the name written on the front. 'Stilinski, Claudia. DECEASED: 2004.' "W-wait, you're not saying-"

A soft sigh leaves Melissa's lips as she places Stiles' medical file next to Claudia's so that they can compare the pages. "Honey, he just told me that he's having blackouts. He's sleepwalking again, there's panic attacks... The Adderall isn't working... He's been getting eight hours sleep."

"A night?" she tries.

"Over the past three days," Melissa corrects.

Charlotte's blinks. "The past three days?" she repeats in disbelief. She knew Stiles had been struggling but she hadn't known it was this bad.

"Feeling irritable, 'possibly to the point of homicide,'" Melissa continues, listing off the symptoms she had taken down. "More impulsive than usual, vivid dreams during the day..."

The girl swallows thickly and refuses to let her eyes water with tears. "Hallucinations, impulsivity, irritability, insomnia..."

"You know all of these," Melissa says quietly.

Charlotte shakes her head, refusing to believe what is laid out right in front of her. "No, no, he's just tired, okay? And some of its probably the after-effects from the Nemeton and the whole sacrifice thing. He-he's gonna be fine, Mel. Right?" Her voice shakes as she please, "Tell me he's gonna be okay." But when Melissa closes her eyes in defeat, the tears begin to fall down Charlotte's cheeks. As the woman listens to the quiet sobs that fill the room, she doesn't hesitate any longer ton bring the girl she considers a daughter into a tight hug. "I d-don't wanna lose him," she gets out between hiccups. "I can't lose him."

Melissa nods as she rubs the girl's back. "Neither do I. But the first step is making sure it's true; we get a scan. Okay?"

She pulls away and wipes her tears off her cheeks. "Yeah," she whispers. Charlotte can't lose someone else, she's not sure she could take it. And she's going to do everything possible in her power to make sure that Stiles Stilinski doesn't end up like his mother.

»»———-　　———-««

Following the pinned location on her phone, Charlotte finally reaches an empty parking lot somewhere within the warehouse district. Spotting her friends up ahead, she quickly gets out her car and jogs over to slip inside the backseat of the Argent's. "Hey, what's going on?" She glances to the boy beside her and her brows furrow in confusion. "Iz, what are you doing here?"

"They needed some brute strength."

Everyone rolls their eyes. The two girls share a smile, then Allison nods to her father seated beside her. Chris sighs and gestures a hand to the building in the distance. "Katashi's hauled up in there," he informs her.

Charlotte shrugs. "Okay, so what the fuck are we waiting for? Let's go."

"Yesterday, I had contacts put out word that I was selling an antique weapon from my own collection," the man continues. "He's got an interest in things like that." The blonde-haired girl inhales a sharp breath as she realises that they'll be selling a gun and Isaac gives her arm a comforting squeeze.

Allison's eyes shine with concern as she glances to her girlfriend. She clears her throat. "The problem is, he won't do the buy in person."

"But he's a paranoid recluse," Isaac points out. "Shouldn't we be a little less surprised?"

"I was trying to remain optimistic that we wouldn't have to go to my Plan B."

Charlotte grimaces. "Do I even want to know what Plan B is?"

Isaac's eyes narrow slightly. "What's Plan B?" he asks hesitantly.

Chris turns in his seat to look to the teens in the back. "How tall are you both?"

"Five-six," Charlotte replies slowly. "Why do I have a bad feeling about this plan?"

The werewolf quickly nods in agreement with her. "Yeah, is it too late to back out?"

Gesturing for them all to get out, Chris walks around to the boot of the car and hands both Charlotte and Isaac each a set of folded clothes. "You guys are gonna go in there and sell it."

She immediately scoffs. "No, absolutely not."

Isaac shuts his eyes with a sigh. "I want to back out," he mutters.

Whilst the pair change into their dedicated outfits, the Argents get to work on planning exactly how this is going to play out. Chris unfolds the blueprint where the buy will be taking place and points out where Katashi's office is. "This is Katashi's-"

"Yeah, see, this isn't going to work," Charlotte pipes up. The father and daughter turn around and refrain their smiles at the sight of her. With a large scowl on her face, Charlotte gestures to the sleek, black suit she is now wearing. "There is no fucking way I'm going in wearing this."

Allison bites back a grin. "You look amazing," she reassures.

"Well, I look like I just stepped out of the last period of a Catholic prep school!" Isaac retorts as he joins them.

Charlotte vigorously nods. "Exactly! The remembering everything is easy, but I don't trust him enough that he won't fuck it up for us!"

At the words directed toward him, Isaac stares at her. "What?" he exclaims incredulously.

Chris rolls his eyes. "All you have to do is keep them talking long enough to allow us to get inside and find Katashi," he tells them. "He may not be there for the buy in person but... he won't be far."

Charlotte breathes out a sigh when Allison squeezes onto her hand. The brunette bites onto her lip and leans over to whisper into her ear, "You should wear a suit more often... It's turning me on."

With an extra burst of confidence, Charlotte takes the extra ring daggers handed to her and stores them within the pockets of her suit, careful so that the blades don't dig into her skin. "Okay, dog boy." She smiles at Isaac. "Let's go sell a fancy gun."

But as they walk up to the warehouse, the only thing Charlotte feels is terror. She hates people. People in general. So going to meet strange people that probably could kill them both in seconds if they wanted because they have to sell a gun of all things? Yeah, she's terrified. Isaac watches her fingers turn white as she clutches the handle of the duffle bag containing the firearm and he gives her a supportive smile when they lock eyes. "Hey, we got this," he mutters.

As the heavy door slides open for them, both teens roll their shoulders back and enter the building as the security quickly moves to either side of them. Looking around at the group of muscular men stationed around the room, Charlotte clears her throat. "Gentlemen," she announces, calm and collected. "I believe Mr Katashi is expecting us?"

"I'm expecting you." Charlotte's eyes widen a fraction at the man that slowly walks down the staircase. But what shocks her the most, and probably Isaac as well, is his set of claws that scrape down the railing as he joins them. However, she buries her growing anxiety away and unzips the bag, then setting the wooden box inside onto the table before them. Before she can speak, the werewolf nods over to Isaac behind her. "Who's he?"

With a mischief glinting in her eyes, Charlotte casually shrugs. "My assistant. It's his first deal so he's tagging along for the experience."

They all miss Isaac rolling his eyes.

"So," she begins. She carefully opens the box. "What we're looking at here is a mint-condition French Flintlock Turnover Pistol, crafted in the mid-seventeenth century."

Isaac nods as continues on. "It was a gift from Louis The Fourteenth to a prominent French family. It's only ever been fired once."

"During a duel between brothers on the grounds of the Palace of Versailles."

Charlotte hums, pretending to be impressed. "Ah, it's comforting to know we're selling to someone who knows his history."

"Oh, Mr Katashi knows what he wants. We'll take it." The werewolf clicks open the silver briefcase on the table to reveal stacks of money inside. "One-hundred and fifty thousand dollars."

Charlotte arches a single brow and scoffs. "You really think we're walking out of here, just like that?" The man in charge of the deal squints his eyes slightly at her. When Isaac looks at her in confusion, she motions a hand. "Well, what are you doing? Count it!" Catching on to her plan, he quickly nods and moves to take the electronic bill counter out of the duffel bag.

The werewolf watches the pair go back and forth between threading the wads of cash into the machine and sighs. "You two don't know the whole story behind this gun, do you?"

Firmly setting her stack of money down, Charlotte looks up at the man with a steely gaze. "Do you think I'm really stupid enough to come here and sell you something without knowing anything about it? It's like selling a car without knowing anything about the damn car."

"Well then, I'm all ears," he replies in amusement.

"There was no duel between the brothers, that was a cover up to what really happened. In the real story, there was an encounter in the woods with a vicious..." Charlotte's eyes move to the man's claws and she smiles. "Animal. Its bite caused one of the men to change into something monstrous."

"By his family's code, the brother of this man killed him with this very gun," Isaac finishes off confidently.

His narrows his eyes at them and after a few moments he says, "It seems you aren't as stupid as you seem."

Charlotte breathes a small sigh of relief. "And it's been a pleasure doing business with you." She glances down at the borrowed watch on her wrist. "Now, we're gonna have to trust you guys with the rest of the money here-"

Right before she reaches the case, the werewolf's hand snaps out to tightly grab onto her wrist. Isaac visibly tenses. "You see... We can't let you do that."

Her jaw clenches. Charlotte locks eyes with Isaac and she grins. "Was kinda hoping it would come to this."

»»———-　　———-««

After walking through corridors for five minutes, Charlotte and Isaac reach the room where they know the Argents are. With a placid expression on her face, the banshee enters first, the gun she had taken from one of the guards pointed back at the door. "They have a werewolf, too," she calls out.

Allison's eyes widen as Isaac follows after her holding a man hostage, his claws at his throat. "Are you guys okay?"

Charlotte glances to Isaac. "Are we okay?"

He smirks. "It was kinda fun." His eyes flick over to Allison. "Your girlfriend can fight," he adds.

When the werewolf in Isaac's grasp twitches his arm, Charlotte clicks her tongue and raises the weapon higher. "I wouldn't do that," she speaks lowly.

"You wouldn't sell me a gun that was loaded."

Her eyes narrow further as she cocks the gun. "Want to find out?"

Chris nods at the teenagers, then looks down to the piece of cloth on the table. He unfolds it to reveal the broken mask of the shadow-creatures. "Starting to remember?" he asks Katashi. "It was twenty-four years ago."

Katashi looks to Isaac and Charlotte. The latter scoffs. "No way," she states.

"Let him go," Chris instructs them.

Reluctantly, Charlotte lowers the gun and Isaac pushes the werewolf to the side who is still glaring daggers at them both. The blonde walks over to Allison who immediately entwines their hands together. "Of course it wasn't loaded, you idiot," Charlotte taunts the man.

Ignoring her, Chris watches Katashi reassemble the mask. "You know what they are, don't you?"

Aware of everyone's attention on him, Katashi places the final piece of the mask in its rightful place. "They're called oni. They are demons. And they are unstoppable."

Charlotte takes a deep breath as the interaction between herself and what she now knows are called oni returns to her mind. "There's really nothing that can stop them?" she asks quietly.

Katashi shakes his head. "Nothing. At least no man-made-weapon. The oni are a force of nature. You don't fight a tsunami, you endure it. And you hope that you're not destroyed in its path."

"Then how do we endure it?" Allison questions.

"Some of you already have," he admits. Katashi walks over to Isaac and turns his head so the black tattoo behind his ear is visible. "This is Japanese kanji for 'self'. This means that they," he points to Charlotte and Isaac, "are still themselves. The oni are looking for one who is no longer themselves."

Charlotte's brows draw together in confusion. "What do you mean, 'no longer themselves'?"

"Possessed... by a dark spirit."

"Of course," the Martin mutters to herself.

"There are thirteen kinds of kitsune," Katashi continues. "Celestial, wild, ocean, thunder... But there is one, a dark kitsune. They call it void, or nogitsune."

"A kumichō," Chris realises.

Katashi nods. "That's right," he confirms. "He was possessed by a nogitsune. It's what helped him rise through the ranks of our yakuza family. Nogitsune draw its power from pain and tragedy, strife and chaos..." He holds up his hand, showing them the silver prosthetic on his pinky finger. "Do you know why I'm missing this finger?"

"Halloween trick?" Charlotte tries.

The man shakes his head with the ghost of a smile on his face. "There is a ritual called 'yubitsune.' Removing the joints of the little finger weakens your grip on a sword. When a katana is gripped properly, the little finger is the strongest."

Isaac takes a small step forward to study the man's silver finger. "Why did they take your finger?"

"They didn't take it. A yakuza performs the ritual himself and offers it to his superior. It was penance for a mistake, and it wasn't my only one... I don't know what it was about the way I moved or stood that suggested to them that I was going to take them on... because actually, I was preparing to run for my life." He turns to look directly at Chris. "That shot you fired," he continues softly. "It saved me from looking like a coward before the survivors."

"Or dying," Charlotte mutters under her breath. Allison nudges her side and gives her a look, silently saying, Shut up.

If he heard her comment, Katashi doesn't acknowledge it. "For that humiliation, I wouldn't have to have given up my finger. I would've had to give up my head." He places the cloth back over the broken oni's mask. "I wish I could give you the answer you need, Mr Argent. I owe you more than my life. I owe you my honour." Chris dips his head. "I will tell you one thing, however. If there is a nogitsune among you... let the oni destroy it." His eyes briefly move onto Allison. "Even if it is your own daughter."

As Chris looks over to a tense Allison, Charlotte tightens the hold on her hand in a protective manner. Everyone flinches at the loud ring tone that suddenly fills the room. Allison grimaces and awkwardly smiles. "Sorry," she mutters. She pulls her girlfriend to a more private corner of the room and quietly says, "It's Scott." As the adults converse in further conversation, Allison places the call on speaker phone at a low volume.

The True Alpha doesn't hesitate to quickly talk once the line connects. "Allison, please tell me that you have something. They're here, they're trying to get in, and it looks like they're gonna be able to do it."

Charlotte's eyes widen with worry as she listens to the girl beside her frantically try to explain their situation. "Okay, okay listen. They're Japanese demons called the oni. They're looking for someone possessed, someone with a dark spirit attached to them."

"A nogitsune?"

The couple share a glance of confusion, each thinking how the hell he would know this. "Yeah," Charlotte confirms slowly. "But they won't hurt you. Scott, they know that you're supernatural, but once they check you, once they realise that you're not carrying the dark spirit with you, they won't hurt you."

"We promise,"Allison adds. "All they're looking for is the nogitsune."

»»———-　　———-««

Being told by Scott that he's on his way to the hospital to see Stiles, Charlotte agrees that she would meet him there. Surely their best friend would be waking from his medically induced slumber by now. Allison leans against the driver's door, smiling at the girl seated inside the car. "You know, I think I want to see you hold a gun again," she says. "It was really hot."

Charlotte raises her eyebrows. "Well, I hope you got a mental picture 'cause it's not happening again."

Guilt flashes across Allison's face for not remembering the trauma her girlfriend has because of a gun. "Shit, I'm so sorry. Are you okay?"

She hesitates for a moment, but she nods. "Yeah, weirdly I am. I thought it would be hard, like, I would get triggered or something... But it was kind of fight or flight. It was either we were gonna get hurt or..."

When Charlotte trails off, Allison places a hand over hers and softly smiles. "I'm so proud of you," she says quietly.

Charlotte rolls her eyes, her own smile adorning her face. "Don't get all sappy on me. But... thanks," she mumbles the last part.

They both lean forward to let their lips softly brush against each other's. Allison tucks a strand of hair behind Charlotte's ear. "See you tomorrow?"

"See you tomorrow."

Fifteen minutes later, she enters the doors of the Emergency Department for the second time that day. But her eyes widen in shock as she watches Rafael McCall get wheeled down the hall on a gurney, an oxygen mask being held to his mouth by the paramedics. "Stab wound to the left chest," Melissa calls out after the doctors. "Possible collapsed lung. Pulse is weak."

Charlotte rushes over to the mother and son. "What the hell happened?"

Scott slightly smiles at her. "I'll explain," he says. "Let's find Stiles."

She turns to the panicked Melissa who runs a hand stressfully through her hair. "He'll be okay," she tells the woman confidently. She's never met someone as arrogant and stubborn as Scott's father. If someone's not dying today, it's him.

Melissa gives them both a small smile, but it doesn't reach her eyes. "Yeah. You kids go, he's in the room from earlier unless someone's moved him."

As Charlotte leads Scott up to the floor where Stiles' room is, she glances to the werewolf with narrowed eyes. "Wanna tell me what the fuck happened to your dad?"

Scott sighs as they walk side by side. "One of the oni stabbed him," he tells her.

Her eyes widen in surprise. "Holy shit, are we happy about it?"

"Mom's freaking out, so no..."

"So, I take it we've all got matching tattoos now?"

Scott chuckles and points to his ear, which indeed has a black marking on the skin. "I guess so." Then he clears his throat, his smile falling. "How's he doing?"

Charlotte hesitates, unsure whether to bring up the symptoms herself and Melissa had theorised on earlier. She decides against it. Like Melissa had pointed out, it's just a theory until they can prove it. There's no point dragging Scott into something now that might not be true. "He's really tired, your mom had to give him a sedative."

They're silent for a minute. "Do you believe it?"

"The whole setting Barrow up and stuff?" When he nods, Charlotte huffs a sigh. "There are so many plot holes to the story, parts that don't make sense... But he's so sure, Scott. He genuinely believes he did it."

"But do you?"

"Yeah, yeah I think I do."

But as they reach Stiles' assigned room, they find it empty, the bed left unmade. Scott glances to his best friend in confusion. "Where is he?"

Charlotte frowns and quickly checks the adjoined bathroom. "I don't know," she says, a little confused. "He was fast asleep when we last left him here." Spinning around, the two quickly push through a set of doors, senses on hyper alert for their best friend. As they pass the elevator, there's a thud from behind one of the nearby doors. Scott abruptly stops walking. "Hey, what is it?"

He meets her eyes and points to the operating room. "I heard something," he answers quietly. They're both confused as to why he's in here.

Even when they enter, Stiles doesn't turn around. He doesn't flinch. "Hey, Stiles," Charlotte calls out softly. "You okay?"

The boy turns around. "Yeah, fine," he says calmly. "What's been going on?"

Charlotte frowns as a feeling she can't describe runs through her, however, she brushes it off as they turn to leave. And as they walk through the doors informing Stiles of the world of oni and kitsune, neither Charlotte nor Scott notice the firefly on the ground take its final breath.

𝘸𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘩𝘰𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘧𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘢𝘤 𝘮𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 🥰