𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒇𝒊𝒇𝒕𝒚-𝒕𝒘𝒐 | 𝔀𝓱𝓮𝓷 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓹𝓪𝓻𝓽𝔂'𝓼 𝓸𝓿𝓮𝓻

𝘝𝘰𝘪𝘥'𝘴 𝘈 𝘉𝘪𝘵𝘤𝘩

SHE STARES OUT HER WINDSHIELD, her mouth still slightly agape from the scream. She's breathing heavily. Everything she had been hearing during the day suddenly makes sense. It was an MRI machine. Charlotte's eyes widen in horror as she comes to a terrifying realisation. She had just left the hospital whilst Stiles was having an MRI. But there's something that tells her that he's not dead. It's just a feeling, she can't place it. She knows that he's not dead, but something is still terribly wrong.

Her phone rings. Charlotte snaps out of her dazed-like state and fumbles to pick up the device. Her heart beats faster as she notices the hundreds of missed texts and calls from her pack. She hurriedly presses Scott's contact; he picks up on the first dial. "What's going on?"

"Stiles is missing," he answers breathlessly. "The hospital blacked out and he's gone. We can't find him."

Her brows draw together in confusion as she quickly starts up her car to drive back to the hospital. "What do you mean 'missing'? As in he left mid MRI scan?"

Scott takes a deep breath. "Charles... he's the nogitsune." Charlotte's blood runs ice cold. "He cut a wire loose and we went outside and then Kira caught it and people-"

"Hold on," she interrupts urgently. "Stiles is the nogitsune?"

"You need to get here now. Something... Something happened to Issac."

Five minutes later, she's racing back through the doors of the hospital. She had been told to go to the ICU. Scott didn't say exactly what had happened to her friend, just that he had been severely injured. Barging past doctors and calling out apologies as she runs through the corridors, Charlotte finally finds her girlfriend on a bench with her head in her hands.

Crouching before her, she gently pries Allison's hands away from her face, revealing the inky black mascara stains under her eyes. The dark-haired girl tenses up at the sudden contact but then relaxes as soon as she hears the voice. "It's me, it's me," Charlotte reassures quickly.

Another tear rolls down Allison's cheek as Charlotte takes the seat beside her. "It's Isaac," she says quietly, her voice hoarse from crying.

Charlotte nods slightly and wraps her arms around the girl's body, tightly pulling her into her side. "What actually happened?" she questions. "Scott just said he's hurt." Her eyes trail back up to the frosted glass doors before them where she knows the werewolf is currently inside.

"He was electrocuted," Allison whispers. When Charlotte's eyes widen in horror and she quickly stands up, she grabs onto the blonde's hand, refusing to let her go. "He's unconscious but he's stable."

"What about his healing?" she asks in confusion. "He's gonna be okay, right?"

Allison breathes a shaky sigh. "I don't know, they won't let me see him."

"But we're family!" Charlotte protests, ignoring the nearby cluster of nurses that look their way at the outburst. She drops back down onto the bench beside Allison when her hand is tugged.

"Not legally," the Argent explains.

Charlotte groans in frustration and closes her eyes as she leans her head against the wall. "Wanna stay overnight?"

Allison glances to her. "If you want?"

"Will it make you less stressed if we're here to make sure nothing happens?" Once Allison hesitantly nods, Charlotte's lips lift into a soft smile. "Then we're staying."

»»———-　　———-««

The last forty-eight hours continue repeating over and over in her mind, even as she remains in a deep slumber. Her head lays on Allison's shoulder as they both sleep uncomfortably positioned on the bench. Scott glances to his mother as they approach the pair. He lays a hand on his best friend's shoulder. "Lottie? Allison?"

Charlotte's eyes snap open and she flinches in surprise at the sight of Scott and Melissa in front of her. Giving them a tired smile, she gently shakes Allison awake. "Hey, Scotty," she greets, her voice groggy with sleep.

"Have you both been here all night?"

Allison nods as she blinks the sleep out of her eyes. "Yeah... They, uh, they won't let us see him because we aren't family."

Charlotte hums in agreement, then adds, "Some bullshit about not having legal documents or something to prove it."

"Legal or not, we are his family," Melissa corrects. The woman takes out her hospital ID to show the four. "And I have a key card." The two girls quickly stand up as Scott quietly chuckles at his mother. Melissa grins and swipes the card through the lock on Isaac's room. She turns to the small group behind her as the doors open. "Be quick," she warns.

With Scott leading them through, they slowly approach the boy laying in the bed in the centre of the room. Multiple machines beep around him as they monitor his heart and vitals. As they move closer, Charlotte begs herself not to cry at the sight of her friend. Almost the entire right side of Isaac's body is covered in burns that are so dark they could be black.

Allison's eyes widen in shock at his physical state, then confusion overtakes her features. "I thought he'd be healing by now," she points out.

Scott stares at Isaac in both surprise and confusion. "So did I..." He tentatively reaches down and wraps a hand around Isaac's arm.

"Is he in pain?" Charlotte asks quietly.

He meets her eyes for a brief few seconds and nods. "Yeah."

They watch as black veins travel up Scott's arm as he takes Isaac's pain. After a few moments, Scott's eyes screw shut and he groans as he shares the agony with his Beta. Allison quickly grabs onto his wrist, pulling his hand away from the unconscious boy. "Scott, you'll hurt yourself if you keep going."

"I know," he murmurs. "It won't heal him, but it at least helps with the pain."

Charlotte continues to stare at Isaac, her eyes flicking across all of the visible wounds on his body. Her voice is faint when she speaks up. "Are we one-hundred percent sure that this was Stiles?"

Scott softly sighs at the disbelief in her voice. "Whatever's controlling or possessing him did it," he corrects. "The nogitsune."

"Fuck," Charlotte mutters. Allison entwines their fingers together. "If we had taken him a bit more seriously with the Barrow thing maybe we would've figured it out quicker."

Allison frowns at the guilt hanging off her words and squeezes onto her hand. She looks over to Scott who shares the same expression as Charlotte. "Look, the bigger problem now is how the hell do we get whatever's inside him out?"

"I'm working on it," Scott answers.

»»———-　　———-««

"So, we've got half a day together..." Allison smiles. "What do you wanna do?"

Charlotte bites her lip in thought, her fingers blindly playing with her charm bracelet clasped around her wrist. She's silent for a minute. Then she suddenly blurts out, "Let's get matching tattoos."

Her eyes widen and she stares at the girl behind the wheel. "Wait, are you serious?"

The banshee hesitates, but then she nods to confirm her irrational thought. "It could be cute! Plus, I can finally get the butterflies I've wanted."

After a few moments, a wide smile beams onto Allison's face, her hand reaching out to entwine with Charlotte's spare. "I love it," she confirms. "Let's do it."

Charlotte's smile only grows as she watches her girlfriend stare at her. "I love you for loving my crazy ideas."

Allison giggles. "I love you for giving me your crazy ideas."

An hour later, Charlotte Martin has her first tattoo. Well, her first three. "I fucking love it!" she shrieks.

The tattoo artist, the exact same one that had done Scott's, chuckles at her excitement and wipes the remaining ink off her skin. "Do you know what you guys want to be matching?"

Allison nods as she walks over with a design book in her hands. She smiles at Charlotte who lightly traces over the fine line butterflies on her collarbone, then she points to a picture as she looks up to the artist. "These?"

"Love it, give me a few minutes."

Now alone, Allison takes the spare chair beside her girlfriend. Her brows draw together as she studies the butterflies and she asks, "Can I ask why you chose those?"

Charlotte glances to her before her gaze falls back onto her fresh tattoo. She takes a deep breath before answering. "Butterflies symbolise healing. For me, it represents hope. Like, it's a reminder that I can get through whatever my fucked up brain puts me through, you know?"

A sad smile graces Allison's face and she tightly grips onto the girl's hand. "Your brain isn't fucked up," she says. "You've just been through some really fucked up situations. There's a difference."

"All right, are you guys ready? I love the arrows, is there a particular meaning behind them?"

Allison and Charlotte share a look as the artist enters the room and they smile. "Just something that represents our family."

»»———-　　———-««

Scott McCall's eyes widen in disbelief. "Wait, you got a tattoo?" he asks incredulously.

With a grin, she rolls her eyes and pulls down the collar of her shirt to show him the butterflies. The skin is still red and irritated from the process, but she's not in any pain now. "Multiple," she corrects.

His eyes widen even further once she shows him the delicate arrow inked onto her wrist. "Woah," Scott mumbles.

"Yeah, they put your circle to shame." His face falls and she giggles. However, the happiness is short lasted as they pass Stiles' locker. "Have they found anything?" she questions quietly. "Anything at all?"

He heaves a sigh and shakes his head. "No, nothing."

"Void's a bitch," she mutters. Scott nods along in agreement. When they turn a corner, they run straight into Kira. Charlotte smiles at her. "Hey, foxy fire girl."

Kira's eyes widen in alarm and her head snaps over to Scott. "Wait, you told her?"

"It's okay, she's one of us," he reassures.

She glances back to Charlotte and arches a brow questioningly. "Are you... Are you like Scott?"

Charlotte almost scoffs. "Oh, no way, I'm not a dog." Now, Scott's the one to scoff as he grumbles harmless insults to her under his breath. She laughs and shares a grin with Kira. "I'm a banshee."

Kira Yukimura's jaw drops to the floor. "Cool," she whispers in awe. She clears her throat and regains her composure after the revelation. "Okay, so I did some research on kitsune."

"Can anything help us?" Charlotte queries. "If you and void are types of kitsune, maybe you're the key to weakening it?"

"No idea," Kira says with a shrug. "The thing is, in all of the stories, kitsune are tricksters. They're mischievous. They don't really get caught up in right or wrong, or even understand it."

Scott's brows furrow and he shares a look of confusion with his best friend. "What's that mean? It's just doing this for the hell of it?"

"No," Kira responds with a shake of her head. "There's something else I found. If you somehow offend a nogitsune, it can react pretty badly."

"This isn't bad?" Charlotte exclaims. "It can get worse?"

"How do you offend a nogitsune?" Scott asks.

Kira grimaces. "I don't know... But if it's doing something this bad? Then someone really, really offended it."

The blonde-haired girl sighs. "Wouldn't be surprised if it was me..."

The next on their agenda is to attend the cross-country meeting Coach had called rather last minute. Charlotte jumps a few inches off the ground as the shrill sound of the whistle blowing rings through her ears. She's right beside Coach. He glances around the room, making sure he's got everyone's attention. "Listen up! Anybody catches the slightest glimpse of Stilinski, you contact the first available teacher. Got it? Got it?" Coach doesn't receive a response, so he blows the whistle once more.

But Charlotte's prepared this time and quickly places a hand over the object to dull the deafening noise. There's a chorus of agreement from the team. "Yes, Coach."

Charlotte hands him his clipboard with a sticky note on the front, a reminder written on it in bold. "Right, thank you, Martin. Now, there's a card on my desk for Isaac Lahey, and every one of you losers is not only going to sign it, you're going to write a personal message so profound and deep, it's going to bring a tear to Coach's eye. Who's first?" Danny hops up off his bench and plucks the pen out of Charlotte's hand. "Ah, Danny! That's how you do it, buddy! Keep it PG."

As the team begins to make their way into Coach's office to sign the card, she heads over to Scott in a quieter corner of the room with, much to her disapproval, the Steiner twins. "No Stiles, no demonic ninjas," Aiden begins.

Charlotte shrugs. "Okay? Is that a bad thing? The second part, obviously."

Ethan glances to her and folds his arms. "Things are getting too quiet."

"Yeah, I know," Scott agrees. "It's making me nervous, too."

The girl frowns in confusion when all three werewolves suddenly still and tilt their heads slightly to the side. "What's wrong?"

"Do you guys hear that?" Ethan asks.

Scott quickly turns to his best friend to fill her in. "It's an emitter," he says. "One of Argent's."

Charlotte follows behind as the boys rush down the empty hallway, hesitating occasionally to try to find the location of the signal. "It's coming from the basement," Ethan realises.

Everyone's pace picks up with urgency. But of course, a banshee is no match for a werewolf's speed. When Charlotte eventually gets to the stairs leading to the basement, her eyes widen in alarm as she catches Scott's panicked yell. "Wait, stop!"

She freezes in the doorway of the basement upon discovering the sight of Stiles held up in the air by the twins, their hands tightly wrapped around his through. The emitter that had previously been in Stiles' hold is left still pulsating on the ground. Charlotte swiftly draws her dagger hidden amongst her clothes and lunges forward to stab Aiden in the arm, successfully causing him to release his grip on Stiles.

Scott manages to grab hold of Ethan's sweatshirt and throws him into a nearby filing cabinet. "I said, stop!" But when Aiden turns to him, eyes glowing and a growl slipping past his lips, Scott lets out a booming roar. Aiden flinches and quickly takes a step backward like a dog cowering with its tail between its legs.

Even though she's thoroughly enjoying kicking some ass against the twins, her first priority is the boy slumped on the floor and rubbing his throat. Charlotte takes a small step toward him, still cautious that this might not be their Stiles. "Stiles?"

"It's me," he promises quickly. "I swear it's me. I don't know where I've been the last two days, or what I've been doing, but this is me. I promise."

Charlotte completely ignores the scowl that Aiden gives her as he winces in pain at the stab wound on his upper arm. Her eyes narrow slightly as she scans Stiles' body, looking for any kind of hint that this isn't her best friend.

Ethan breathes heavily as he recovers from being thrown across the room. "You know what happened at the hospital?"

"I know more than that," he replies. Stiles looks between his two best friends before walking over to a duffle bag on the ground and picking up a piece of paper. "You see this?"

"It's a blueprint," Charlotte answers slowly.

He nods and unfolds the paper. "It's a blueprint of the hospital's electrical wiring," he says as he spreads it out. The four behind him crowd closer for a better look. "You see all these markings in red? That's my handwriting." Stiles' eyes flick up to the group. "I know I did this," he tells them in concern. "I caused the accident." Scott and Charlotte share a look. Stiles moves the blueprint to reveal the unzipped duffle bag underneath. "And everything in this bag? It's all stuff that could be part of something bigger."

The girl's eyebrows furrow as she picks up a piece of rope stored in the bag. "What the fuck have you been doing?"

Ethan grabs a saw of some kind and stares at it for a second before looking back to Stiles. "It looks like he's been building a Terminator."

"Thank you for that," Stiles comments sarcastically as he continues to pace back and forth.

Once the contents of the duffle bag have been spread onto the table before them, Scott's eyes widen as he grabs a folded piece of paper. "Guys, this is a map." Everyone quickly shuffles over to crowd around him.

Charlotte's eyes squint as she studies the map, her finger trailing along the marked lines. "This is the cross-country trail," she points out.

Scott points to where the marked red line ends. "That's the Tate car," he says. "Where Malia Tate's family died."

"You mean that's where her father put the steel-jawed traps," Charlotte corrects. Whilst she hurries out of the room, it takes the boys a few further seconds to come to the realisation that the cross-country team is currently out in the Preserve right now, then they race after her.

»»———-　　———-««

By the time Stiles' Jeep screeches to a stop, the cross-country team is nowhere to be seen. Coach stands up from his seat on a rock and drops his whistle in surprise at seeing the missing boy. "Stilinski... Woah."

"Coach, listen close," Stiles begins urgently as they run over to him.

"No," Charlotte quickly interrupts. "We don't have time to explain."

Coach looks between them in confusion. "What the hell is going on?" But before he can receive an answer, Stiles takes off down the trail leaving them to hurry after.

Up ahead, they see Scott and Kira holding onto each other's arms. Charlotte's heartrate increases when Stiles suddenly shouts, "Scott!" His arms fling out in front of Coach beside him. "Stop, stop, stop! Everyone, stop!" The cross-country team that has finally caught up slows as they hear the frantic words. Stiles bends down to rifle through the piles of leaves until he finds a circular handle attached to a chain. He slowly pulls along the links, but instead of finding a trap like they had thought, nothing is attached.

Coach claps in a sarcastic manner as he approaches the boy. "Congratulations, Stilinski," he deadpans. "You found a length of chain! Can somebody now please tell me what the hell's going on?"

As he walks toward the dozens of students watching, Charlotte notices the trip wire inches before his shoe. "Coach!" she yells in alarm. But she's noticed it too late.

In the blink of an eye, an arrow has imbedded itself into Bobby Finstock's stomach. There are a few gasps, and the large group of teenagers stare at him in horror. Coach slowly looks down to the arrow. "Aw, crap," he mutters. As blood pools around the weapon, he stumbles backward and collapses onto the ground. Whilst a crowd quickly forms around Coach as he screams his lungs out, pleading desperately for someone to take the arrow out of his body, Charlotte pushes her way over and bends down to firmly press her hands onto the wound. "Oh, my God, I'm going to die... Get it out of me! I'm going to die!"

"Coach-"

"Get it out of me!"

As Scott and Aiden try to hold him down so that Charlotte can apply pressure to the wound bleeding profusely, she attempts to explain their situation. "Coach, we can't take it out until you get to the hospital or you'll lose too much blood, okay?"

He either doesn't hear her or blatantly ignores her. "I'm gonna die! I'm gonna die!"

Charlotte looks to Scott in exasperation, and she rolls her eyes. "Coach, you're not gonna die-"

"I'm gonna die!"

"It'll hurt less if you stop moving, Coach-"

"Get that thing out of me!"

"Stay still, Coach, an ambulance is coming."

"Get it out! I'm gonna die!"

Charlotte catches Scott's eyes once more and nods her head to the crowd of students moving closer by the second. He understands her silent words and jumps up, Aiden quick to follow. "Get back! Give him some room, get back!"

Keeping her hands firmly pressed against Coach's abdomen, Charlotte sighs as Scott takes one of the man's hands. Seconds later, he's trying to keep himself together as he takes the pain. Throughout the process, Coach's head falls to the side as his eyes close. Once she notices that his chest is subtly rising and falling, she reassures the boys, "It's okay, he's just passed out."

Stiles stares at his trembling, bloodied hands. "I could have killed him," he says, voice shaking. "I could have killed him, right? What if it was his head or his throat?"

"But it wasn't," Scott interrupts.

Charlotte nods, giving Stiles a small smile. "He's gonna be okay."

"I think I just heard an ambulance coming," Aiden informs them in relief.

As sirens wail in the distance, Stiles sighs. "And my dad."

And it's at this very moment as she watches him that Charlotte Martin realises that for these last few hours, they haven't been with their Stiles.

Five minutes later, Scott and Charlotte stand together as they watch Coach's ambulance drive off and Stiles reunite with his father. She smiles at the interaction, but as she wipes her blood-stained hands on a rag she remembers what she had realised. "Scott," she begins quietly, so quietly that only someone with enhanced hearing could pick up on. "We need to talk."

His eyes fill with concern at her grave expression. "Yeah, what's up?"

"It's about Stiles," she whispers. But before she can tell him exactly what's running through her head, their attention is moved to behind them.

"Guys," Ethan calls out. The pair turn around to find the boy searching the back of the Jeep. "You better look at this."

Upon joining him, they find a duffle bag unzipped. A different bag to the one before. Charlotte's brows pinch together as she picks up the roll of blue wrapping paper inside. "This is the same wrapping paper we used for Coach's birthday present."

"Wasn't that William Barrow's thing?" Ethan doesn't wait for a response; he knows. "A bomb made from nails and bolts, all wrapped in a birthday present?"

Charlotte and Scott share a look in realisation, then they turn to look at Stiles who is still in conversation with his father. "Holy shit," she mutters. "It's all connected."

"Where did it go off?"

"... On a school bus," Scott answers.

Before Scott can drag her with him to the high school, Charlotte grimaces apologetically when her phone rings. "Hey, Dee, what's up?" Her face falls upon hearing the urgency in her sister's voice.

"I need you, are you busy?"

She locks eyes with Scott who quietly reassures her, "It's okay. Go."

"Where are you?"

"I'm heading over to Derek's loft. Peter was at school talking to Mom."

Her hand clenches into a fist the second the werewolf's name is mentioned. "Wait, what?" Charlotte takes a deep breath. "Is she okay?"

"She's fine," Lydia quickly says. "He posed as someone from the health department. Look, he was talking about hearing tests for the students."

She shuts her eyes in frustration. "Let me guess, code for banshee?"

"I think so. Can you meet us? Allison's with me."

"On my way now." Charlotte hangs up the call to find Scott already looking at her. "Text me if something happens?"

He nods. "Yeah, will do."

"Scott?" He turns back around to her when he hears her voice come out in a barely audible whisper again. Charlotte's eyes flick over to her other best friend. "I'm not sure what's going on, but my gut's telling me that this isn't Stiles." Scott's eyes widen. "Just keep an eye on him... okay?"

"Yeah, of course. Good luck."

»»———-　　———-««

Upon arriving at the Hale's apartment building, Charlotte finds Allison and Lydia waiting by the latter's car. She pecks her girlfriend's cheek and Allison wraps an arm around her waist. "So, wanna tell me the rest of what's going on here?"

Lydia sighs and folds her arms across her chest. "I think he's offering to help."

"I'm sorry. Did you just say that Peter fucking Hale is offering to help us figure out how to be a banshee?"

The younger Martin winces. "Well, when you put it like that, it doesn't sound great..."

"Oh, it sounds terrible," Allison confirms. She sighs and the girls begin the walk up the multitude of staircases. "While it's smart to bring me with you, I still think that the rest of it is totally insane."

It doesn't take Charlotte long to find the guilt etched onto her sister's face, so she gently takes hold of Lydia's hand. "I tried to find Stiles," Lydia begins in frustration. "And instead I led everyone into a mental institution! I call that a colossal failure. Look, I just need to figure this out... We need to figure this out. And right now, he's the only one offering help."

Allison turns to the blonde in question. "Do you want to do this?"

Charlotte doesn't hesitate to nod. "As much as I hate it's with him, there currently isn't anyone else that can tell us or explain to us about what we're going through."

Once she realises that neither of the twins are going to back down, Allison sighs in defeat. "Okay, but you have to remember that Peter doesn't offer help. He offers a chance for you to be manipulated into giving him what he wants."

Lydia shrugs. "Fine." They stop by the barn door leading to Derek's loft. "Let's see what he wants." The Martin siblings hesitate for a second and lock eyes, however, they both slightly smile, encouraging each other that this is currently the right choice.

As the door slides open, they find Peter standing with his back to them, staring rather theatrically out the large window. Charlotte rolls her eyes at his attempt to seem like he hadn't been listening in on their entire conversation. The man slowly turns around with a smile. "The banshees and the hunter. My three favourite people! Ladies, come in." But as they approach him, Peter sends a pointed look to Allison. "She has to go."

One of Charlotte's eyes twitches. Lydia sucks air between her teeth. "Yeah, the last time we were alone with you... we almost bled to death." Her sister dramatically nods along. "She stays."

Peter looks between the two siblings tiredly. "Do you actually think I was trying to kill you when I bit you?" The immediate response that Charlotte wants to voice is, 'yes,' but she sighs as she thinks back to the conclusion herself and Lydia had drawn a few months ago. "You were my backup plans, remember? Not to mention, the bite is what brought out your nascent abilities. You think power like that was going to come out on its own?" He clicks his tongue. "Girls, I'm the spark that lit your fire."

Charlotte rolls her eyes at his dramatics, and Allison nods as she points out, "You attacked them and nearly killed them!"

Peter shrugs and brushes her comment aside. "Power doesn't come without a little pain and struggle..."

Lydia's voice remains steady as she retorts, "We didn't ask for it."

"But you're both embracing it now, aren't you?"

"How about the fact that you attempted to brainwash Charlotte, actually did brainwash Lydia, then used her to bring yourself back to life?"

Peter tilts his head slightly at Allison's words. "So that I could be here today to help you master your abilities!" he tells them. "Isn't it amazing how things come full circle?"

Charlotte stares at him blankly. She can't believe what's happening. She can't believe that he's the only person that can help them. Everything leaving his mouth is bullshit. Well, mostly. The twins share a look of doubt. "This is ridiculous," Lydia declares. "You're insane."

"Was insane. I'm actually much better now."

Allison scoffs in disbelief and grabs onto both siblings' hands. "No, you're still insane. We're leaving."

As the three girls walk back to the door, Peter stops the Martins once more. "You want the truth, Lydia? What about you, Charlotte? It's not the scream that gives you power." Charlotte clenches her jaw. "All the scream does is help drown out the noise, allowing you to hear what you really need to. I can help you focus your hearing."

They all turn back around. "But you want something in return," Allison states.

"That's a given," the blonde mutters.

"No, I'm dedicating my life to helping out narcissistic teenage girls." Allison quickly grabs onto her girlfriend's arm when Charlotte suddenly lunges toward the man. Peter smiles. "Of course I want something in return."

He grabs the circular wooden container on the table before him and twists the lid open, all three girls watching closely with curiosity. Charlotte grimaces as claws tumble out onto the table, presumably from a werewolf. "Man, what the fuck are you doing in your free time?"

Allison gently picks up one of the claws and inspects it with curious eyes. "These are the claws of Derek's mother?"

Peter nods. "My sister, Talia," he confirms. "Before she died, she stole a memory from me. It's something only a very powerful Alpha can do. That memory is locked inside these claws."

Charlotte clicks her tongue as she takes the claw from Allison. "It sounds like she wasn't your biggest fan." Peter rolls his eyes.

"Why would your sister want to steal a memory from you?" Lydia asks bluntly.

The werewolf stares at her. "Well, if I remembered the memory, I might be able to tell you," he retorts.

Lydia breathes a sigh and places her hands on the table before them. She glances to her sister, then back to Peter. "Okay, so what are we supposed to do?"

The twins listen intently as he explains the process to them. To Charlotte, it sounds like far too much work for a Monday afternoon. "Focus," Peter calls out.

Charlotte jaw clenches as her eyes screw shut. Frustration boils away inside of her, just waiting for the moment to explode. "I am focusing!" she snaps back.

"You're not!" he retorts.

Lydia folds her arms over her chest and takes a step toward him. "Does it look like she's doing nothing?" she defends her sister.

"I can see the wheels spinning behind your eyes," Peter says. "Both of your hearing is attuned to a level of the universe that no one else can hear. But only if you're listening."

Charlotte sucks in deep breath and tries to direct her focus back to the five claws in the palm of her hand. "I'm trying," she speaks through gritted teeth. Lydia locks eyes with her and gives the girl a small smile of reassurance, trying herself to do something with the set of claws in her own hand.

"Try harder!"

The twins tense once they hear the familiar crackle of electricity. Out of the corner of her eye, Charlotte watches Allison calmly hold a cattle-prod inches away from Peter's face, threatening him to take another step. Lydia takes her sister's unoccupied hand and squeezes it. "Just try and ignore them," she says softly.

But as he speaks the next words, it's impossible. "Your aunt had one of those... Auntie Kate?"

"Stop it," Charlotte says loudly. Allison's eyes briefly meet hers. "Both of you."

Of course, Peter isn't at all deterred. "Didn't do her much good as I ripped her throat out, did it?"

Lydia takes a deep breath. As hard as Charlotte attempts to block them out, it's almost impossible to ignore them. Especially because she knows Allison is being effected by what he's saying, even though she's not showing it.

"She didn't shove it up your-"

"Stop it!"

The entire room falls silent at the shriek. They watch Charlotte spin around, the volcano of anger inside of her finally reaching its boiling point. The claws in her hand fly through the air at such a force and speed that Peter has to flinch out the way to avoid them. They eventually impale the wooden beam behind him, sticking out like darts. Peter and Allison stare at her in shock. Charlotte's eyes widen as a cacophony of whispers suddenly fill her head all at once. Her head tilts to the side slightly as she cautiously approaches the column, her eyes locked onto Talia's claws. When Allison turns to look at Lydia, she watches in surprise as the banshee drops the claws in her hand and approach Charlotte. It's clear that the twins are hearing something or someone.

"Charlotte? Lydia? Do you hear something?" Each step the girls take, Peter grows more impatient. "What is it? What are they saying? Is it the memory? What did Talia take from me?"

Allison glares at him warningly. "Maybe if you stop talking, they'll be able to find out."

"Tell me what she knew!"

Charlotte and Lydia turn around, sharing a brief look with one another. The blonde swallows the lump in her throat. "You're not just an uncle," Charlotte whispers.

In the span of a second or two, Peter's face morphs from confusion to utter shock and disbelief. After a few minutes, he finally reaches the anger stage in his newfound discovery. "I want the name," he demands.

The sister once again share a glance, silently agreeing on what to do. "We don't know," Charlotte replies, willing her heartbeat to remain steady.

Peter's eyes narrow to slits. "Give me the name."

Lydia rolls her eyes. "We said we don't know. I don't know its name, if it's a boy, or a girl..."

"Or if it's some mutated dog baby," Charlotte adds.

"You're lying," he concludes quickly. "Tell me what you know." He lunges forward and roughly grabs onto Charlotte's shoulders. She stares at him, completely unbothered by the action. "Tell me what you know. Tell me."

It doesn't take much longer for Allison to make her way over and press the cattle-prod into his back. With a groan of pain, Peter collapses onto the ground, his body convulsing from the electricity. Allison takes both of her friends' hands. "Now we're leaving," she states.

Charlotte and Lydia follow without protest, the former making sure to give the man a patronising smile before. The last thing they hear as they begin their descent is Peter's booming yells for them to return. When they finally make it back down to the ground floor, Lydia's brows furrow as she opens her phone. "Anyone else have ten missed calls from Scott?"

Charlotte fumbles for her phone out of her jacket and as soon as the screen lights up, her heart drops into her stomach. "Try fifty." On the third ring, her best friend picks up, breathing heavily. "Scott, what's wrong? Talk to me."

"You were right. It wasn't Stiles."

𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘱𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘰 𝘦𝘯𝘫𝘰𝘺 🤍