𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒚-𝒆𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 | 𝔀𝓱𝓮𝓷 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓹𝓪𝓻𝓽𝔂'𝓼 𝓸𝓿𝓮𝓻

𝘋𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘭'𝘴 𝘕𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵

WALKING THROUGH THE WOODS BACK to their original meeting point with the rest of the pack, Charlotte swings her and Allison's hands back and forth, humming a song that is stuck in her head. "Babe?" At Allison's voice, she lifts her head and notices the group crowded by their cars. Charlotte frowns when her eyes land on the unfamiliar figure amongst her friends. Being questioned by Sheriff Stilinski is a teenage girl who wears a spare deputy's jacket. She uncomfortably shifts under the attention, but once she senses the arrival of two other presences, her head snaps over to be met with a pair of blue eyes.

Looking at the girl with matted brown hair in confusion, Charlotte clears her throat. "Uh, what's going on?" She spots the smile Scott gives her and her eyes widen in shock. Her voice comes out as a croak. "W- Malia?"

She's already recognised the teenager from their moment the other night. Malia nods, a smile gracing her face as she takes in the sight of her childhood friend. Tears brim in both of their eyes as they stare at each other. Charlotte laughs in disbelief and breaks away from Allison to meet Malia halfway. They embrace each other in a tight hug and a quiet sob leaves Malia's lips as she clutches onto the girl.

The group around them watch the girls talk with smiles and laughs, each of them in denial that this moment is really happening. Lydia glances over to Stiles and her brows raise in amusement. He catches her watching him and he clears his throat, quickly wiping the single tear off his cheek. "Nothing, just dust," he mumbles.

"Are you okay? Are you hurt? Do you need anything? Can I do anything?"

Malia shakes her head against Charlotte's shoulder. "I'm okay," she says quietly. "They're gonna take me to see my dad."

Through her tears, Charlotte looks over to Sheriff Stilinski. The man nods at her, confirming the werecoyote's words. "I just can't believe you're actually here," she whispers.

"Me either."

»»———-　　———-««

Twelve o'clock. Twelve in the morning. Charlotte Martin should be in her exceptionally comfortable bed with her many blankets, and fast asleep. There's only one day in the calendar year why Charlotte would be at the high school at twelve in the fucking morning. The girl opens the door to the boys' locker room to let herself and Stiles inside, her flashlight illuminating the dark area in a haunting manner. She glances back to her best friend and says, "This is literally the only reason why I'm still going to school."

Stiles huffs a laugh. "Agreed." He pulls out his phone from his pocket as the door shuts behind them and places the call onto speaker. Three rings later, he greets their absent third of the trio. "Get your ass down here now!"

Charlotte peeks around a row of lockers, double checking that no one else has the same idea as they do and are also inside. "Yep, we have a job to do," she calls out.

"Guys, I'm already in bed!" Scott loudly yawns on the other side of the phone. "Plus, aren't we getting a little old for this?"

Stiles and Charlotte share a look of both exasperation and disappointment. "Scott, are you serious?" she retorts. "This is for me- this is for Coach."

"I thought we did this to Coach..."

Stiles rolls his eyes. "Whatever, okay? You know he needs this!"

"Yeah, he lives for this shit," she adds. "He loves it!"

"But it's the middle of the night," Scott protests.

"When has that ever stopped us?" Charlotte deadpans. She shines the light onto Stiles' locker allowing him to unlock it.

The locker door bangs onto the one beside it. "And actually, it twelve-fifteen," he corrects. He grabs a drill from his duffle bag and both teenagers share a grin.

"Which means it's after midnight and officially Mischief Night!" Charlotte happily exclaims. "Slash-Day... And by some incredible coincidence, it also means..."

"It's Coach's birthday!" Stiles finishes. He turns completely serious. "So if you are not here, and I mean with us in exactly five seconds, we will destroy you."

"Very serious! And I'm literally counting down." She holds a hand up and grins as she begins to count down. "Five, four, three, two-" However, just as she turns around, a shrill shriek leaves her lips. She swears her heart has just stopped beating.

Stiles rolls his eyes in exasperation and slams the locker door closer. "What's wrong?" he asks, turning to see what she's making such a big deal out of.

He turns around with his phone still at his ear, only to flinch at the pair of glowing eyes staring at him as Scott emerges from the shadows. Stiles yelps in terror and collapses onto the ground as he tries to distance himself away from the creature, not registering that it's his best friend just yet. "One," the werewolf finishes with a proud grin. His beatific smile doesn't fall, even as he notices them both glaring at him.

"What the fuck?"

With a scowl etched into her face, Charlotte leaps forward and smacks the back of Scott's head, ignoring the grunt of pain that leaves his mouth. "Were you trying to kill us?" she yells.

"I hate you," Stiles states with narrowed eyes. "I actually hate you!"

"Yep, I know. But do you hate me so much that whatever you've planned is going to be cancelled because of it?"

Stiles and Charlotte share a look, and after a few moments they sigh. "No," he mumbles.

Her lips spread into an eager smile as she grabs the drill from Stiles' duffle bag. "All right, boys, let's do this."

»»———-　　———-««

Approximately seven and a half hours later, Charlotte returns to school. She had ended up going home with Stiles after they had finished setting up Coach's prank, and both teens had gotten a few hours sleep each. As the Jeep pulls to a stop in the parking lot, it doesn't take her long to find Scott stepping off his dirt bike in the distance. But what makes her eyes narrow is who she finds waiting for him. There's no time for Stiles to ask what suddenly has her on edge as she jumps out the car and races over to the group of werewolves. "I hope you aren't back at school because if you are I will find a way to not only kick you out, but make sure you both suffer a hell of a lot while doing so," she threatens lowly.

Scott's eyes widen as he quickly places a hand on her shoulder. "Woah, okay, Charles-"

"We're just here to talk," Ethan says calmly.

Having heard the boy's words, Stiles scoffs as he joins them. "Oh! That's kind of a change of pace for you guys," he remarks. "Usually, you're just hurting, maiming, killing-"

"Butchering, slaughtering, and mangling," Charlotte adds. "It's funny because right now I want to do all of those things to the both of you." Her arms remain folded across her chest as she stares the twins down, Ethan flinching slightly under her piercing gaze.

Aiden sighs and returns his attention to Scott. "Look, you need a pack," he says. "We need an Alpha."

Charlotte stiles her laughter. They're serious. Stiles nods in agreement with her unsaid words. "Yeah. Absolutely not. That's hilarious though."

"You came to us for help," Ethan points out. "We helped."

The banshee frowns and shrugs. "Hate to admit it but that is true," she speaks quietly to Scott. "It wasn't in the most ideal way, but they did help."

Stiles rolls his eyes as he looks back to the twins. "No, you beat his face into a bloody pulp! That's not helping," he corrects her. "In my opinion, that's actually counter-productive."

"Why would I say yes?" Scott questions.

"We'd add strength," Aiden begins. "We'd make you more powerful."

Charlotte snorts as she witnesses Stiles perform possibly the most dramatic eye roll she has ever seen. "Why is this feeling like a job interview all of a sudden?" she voices. Her amusement disappears as soon as Aiden adds,

"There's no reason to say no."

Her eyes narrow to slits as she flinches toward the boy. Scott quickly grabs onto her arm to hold her back from attacking them in the parking lot. "Oh, you've got to be fucking kidding me!"

Isaac joins having heard majority of the conversation and is quick to agree with Charlotte's frustration. "I can think of one," he starts. "Like the two of you holding Derek's claws while Kali impaled Boyd." Stiles begins to nod furiously.

"And what about Erica? Do I even need to bring up her?" she snaps. The girl swiftly takes out the ring dagger hidden in her Doc Martin. "Actually..." She smiles sweetly at the twins as she says, "Why aren't we impaling them right now?"

Ethan grimaces. Aiden's eyes glow bright blue as a threatening growl leaves his mouth, the corners of his lips curling back to reveal his canines. Isaac and Charlotte share a look of amusement when he takes a step toward them. "You want to try?" Aiden snarls.

Charlotte twirls the blade between her fingers, her smug demeanour mirroring Isaac's. "Well, now that you mention it-"

However, before either herself or Isaac can do anything, Scott grabs onto their arms and gives them both a warning look. With her jaw clenched, Charlotte pockets the dagger and steps back, Isaac following, although the smirk on his face doesn't falter. "Sorry, but they don't trust you," Scott says almost a little too politely. "And neither do I."

As her three friends leave to their lockers, the girl lingers behind. Folding her arms across her chest, Charlotte's voice lowers to a soft whisper that almost causes the twins' blood to drop a few degrees. "I don't know what your game is right now, but I swear to God-"

"We don't have an ulterior motive," Ethan tries to reassure her. "We only want to join your pack."

She nods. "Yeah, sure. I just want to make it clear that Scott underestimates me. He doesn't know that if someone hadn't convinced me a few weeks ago, Kali wouldn't have died from Jennifer." Unexpected by this, the twins stare at her in surprise. It's almost unnerving how much confidence she has, confidence that she could hurt them even if they are werewolves. But the more Ethan and Aiden get to know Charlotte, the more they realise that she probably could. "Watch your backs," she mutters.

It takes her a few minutes to catch up to Scott and Stiles. She hurries forward to grab onto the door before it can shut behind them, and both boys spin around when they notice her. Stiles arches a brow as she falls into step beside them. "So did you threaten them?" he questions.

"Absolutely," she confirms with a smile. Scott just shakes his head. He's given up trying to simmer down the violence she holds within her.

But before Stiles can delve into exactly what she had said, a toilet roll flies toward his face. Charlotte grabs it inches before it hits his head then aggressively chucks it back in the direction it had come from. She grins at the yell that the action elicits from someone. "Cheers, dude," Stiles says, bumping her fist. He turns over to Scott and claps his back with praise. "Anyways, good decision, Scotty. Good Alpha decision."

"I hope so."

Stiles opens his locker and nods. "No, you know so," he corrects.

Leaning on a locker whilst Stiles gets his books for the next class, a smirk tugs at Charlotte's lips as she follows Scott's line of sight. "Talk to her," she states simply.

Scott's brows furrow as he glances to her, momentarily moving his gaze off Kira who picks up her textbooks on the floor that she has dropped. "Huh?"

"The cute new girl." She nods her head over to Kira. "Go talk to her."

Now intrigued by the conversation, Stiles hums in agreement as he places an empty egg carton into his locker. "Yeah, Kira. You like her?"

"No," Scott quickly denies. "I mean... Yeah, yeah, she's okay," he stammers out with a nod. "She's new."

Charlotte suggestively raises her eyebrows. "So go ask her out!"

"I second this," Stiles agrees.

"Now?"

Stiles slams his locker closed with a sigh. "Yes, now!"

"Right now?"

"Yes, Scott! Right now! Go do it before I go over there and ask her on a date with myself."

An amused smile adorns Scott's face as he looks to Charlotte. "What about Allison?" he reminds her.

Her face falls. "Don't tell her I said that," she quickly says, her eyes flicking between her friends. "Okay? I never said that."

"I don't think you get it yet," Stiles begins as they walk down the hallway. "You're an Alpha, okay? You're the apex predator. Everyone wants you." He nods encouragingly as Scott stops in his tracks, slowly processing the words of his best friend. "You know? You're like the hot girl that every guy wants."

Scott lifts his head. "The hot girl?" he repeats.

Stiles discreetly gestures for Charlotte to say something. "Yeah! You're the hot girl," she quickly rushes out. She locks eyes with Isaac as the boy joins them, thoroughly confused as to what is happening.

"You are the hottest girl!" Stiles gives him a soft, encouraging smile before walking off to their next class, leaving the three teenagers behind.

"What's going on?" Isaac whispers to the girl beside him.

"Just play along," she murmurs.

"I'm the hot girl," Scott states in disbelief.

Charlotte and Isaac share a look, then they both nod at him. "... Yes, you are," the werewolf encourages.

A wide, beatific smile adorns Scott's face as his eyes flick between his two friends, before he giggles to himself and walks off in Stiles' footsteps. "There we go!" Charlotte calls out. "Go be the hot girl, Scotty!"

When the boy is out of ear shot, Isaac clears his throat. "Uh, what the fuck just happened?"

A giggle slips past her lips. "I don't know," she confesses. "But I loved it."

Walking in the opposite direction to Isaac, Charlotte enters the economics classroom with a wide grin. She doesn't pay any mind to the fact that Coach is a few minutes late. She slips into the seat in between Scott and Stiles and drums her fingers impatiently on the desk as she waits for the class to begin. The entire room falls silent at the loud laugh that is heard from behind the door at the front leading into the office. The three teens share a look of excitement. Seconds later, multiple deafening crashes reach their ears.

"Son of a bitch!"

At Bobby Finstock's scream of rage, the three teenagers who had constructed the prank all look to each other with delight, various volumes of laughter leaving their mouths. Charlotte's proud smile widens as the man storms into the classroom, scowling at his students who are all chuckling, then slams the door in fury.

"Mischief Night, Devil's Night. I don't care what you call it, you little punks are evil!" Someone laughs. "You think it's funny, every Halloween my house gets egged? A man's house is supposed to be his castle." Coach slams his hands down on Scott's desk causing the boy to jump in fright, and Stiles and Charlotte to giggle. "Mine's a frickin' omelette!" Spotting two boxes perfectly wrapped on his desk, Coach rolls his eyes and picks the closest one, which also happens to be considerably smaller than the other. "Oh, this? We're gonna do this again? I don't think so!"

Scott glances to his friends on either side of him, but only Stiles spots his look of confusion. "You didn't...?" The boy shakes his head, denying he's responsible of what Coach has found.

The gift is carelessly dropped to the floor, and Stiles' Cheshire grin of glee somehow widens when Coach violently stomps his foot atop of it. Whatever is inside instantly shatters. Charlotte slaps a hand over her mouth to muffle her loud laughter. Coach's eyes widen slightly as he looks out to his entertained class, then bends down to observe exactly what he has just broken. Picking up one of the larger pieces of the ceramic mug, he shakes his head. "'Happy birthday,'" he reads off the attached card. "'Love, Greenberg...' All right, which one of you hooligans is responsible for this next one?"

Scott and Stiles share another puzzled look and they slowly turn to Charlotte to find a wide, mischievous grin on her face. "What's missing on his desk?" she whispers. Both boys immediately turn to look and study the contents strewn across the desk. Stiles' eyes widen in realisation.

"Who the hell put my computer in Jell-O? Greenberg, you're done! I'm getting you suspended. Screw that, I'm get you expelled!"

»»———-　　———-««

"So, let me get this straight. You're telling me that you just pulled a Jim Halpert on Coach and I missed it?"

"Maybe..."

At the innocent response, Allison giggles and her lips lift into a proud smile as she plays with a lock of Charlotte's hair. "That's my girl," she murmurs. 

With her head in her girlfriend's lap, she has the perfect opportunity to stare. Once Allison realises, her cheeks taint a faint pink. Charlotte smiles. "You're just so pretty," she says softly. They lock eyes and Allison leans down to join their lips.

However, as usual, their moment is interrupted. "Emergency! Big, big fucking emergency!" The girls reluctantly pull away and look over to Stiles who has run over, imitating loud sirens.

"No," Charlotte immediately denies. "No, I am so sick of emergencies. Leave us alone."

At her bluntness, Stiles scoffs. "Yeah, you're gonna wish you didn't say that when you hear what it is," he retorts.

"Don't care."

Allison stifles a laugh and continues to plait the girl's hair. "What is it?" she questions.

Charlotte's eyes widen and she quickly sits up. "No!" she exclaims. "Babe, you're not meant to be on his side, you're meant to be on my side!"

"William Barrow escaped the hospital."

Anything she had previously said is now forgotten. Charlotte turns back to Stiles, her expression deadly serious. "Hold on, are we talking bomber Barrow?" she asks in concern. When Stiles nods, she pulls Allison up to stand. "Where the hell is he?"

As the three go to find their friends, Stiles fills the girls in on what his father had informed him of. Currently, classes are on hold as the FBI and the Sheriff's department seal off the school. It doesn't take the three long to find everyone but Scott. As Stiles explains to Isaac and Lydia what's going on, the atmosphere suddenly shifts to one of unease. Isaac's eyes are wide with worry as they hurry down a staircase. "Barrow said he went after kids with glowing eyes? He said those exact words?"

"Yeah," Stiles confirms. "And no one knows how he woke up from the anaesthesia. Just that when they opened him up, they found a tumour full of live flies, which in any other circumstance would be all kinds of awesome."

Charlotte's nose scrunches up and she shudders at the mental picture she had conjured. "That is so far from awesome," she mumbles. She's too caught up with her own imagination to notice her sister has stopped walking.

"Did you say flies?"

The group turn around to see Lydia back a few metres. Charlotte's eyebrows draw together. "Dee, what's wrong?"

The girl takes a deep breath. "All day, I've been hearing this sound," she stresses. "It's like... this buzzing. You haven't heard it?"

At the question directed to her, Charlotte shakes her head in confusion. "No..."

"It sounds like flies," the strawberry blonde says.

Part of Charlotte is wondering why she hasn't had an auditory premonition like her sister, but before she can dwell on that fact any longer, her eyes widen in understanding. "It's not flies," she whispers.

"No, it's exactly like flies," Lydia argues back.

She looks up to her sister. "We've been through this before. This exact same thing."

"Boyd," Stiles realises.

"It could be flies or it could be electricity. We just need to figure out which one."

"Okay, um, let's all split up and find out what's going on," Stiles suggests, waving a hand around the empty corridors. "Someone go find out what the police are doing, and I'm gonna go find Scott."

The Martin twins hurry down the empty corridors of the school, glancing around to try and spot anyone with a badge. They both slow and look to each other with confusion when they notice a group of Sheriff's deputies and FBI agents heading out the building through the double doors. "Why the hell are they leaving?" Charlotte questions.

The siblings share another glance then take off to find Stiles. It doesn't take them long to run into Scott and Stiles, finding them just around the corner. "The police are leaving," Lydia rushes out. "Why are they leaving?" Stiles' eyes widen in alarm.

Scott glances between the three and voices his lack of understanding. "The police?"

"Oh, dude..." Charlotte grimaces. "You've missed a lot."

"They must have cleared the building and grounds, which means he's not here," Stiles deduces with a frown.

"Who? What are you guys-"

A sigh leaves Lydia's cherry red lips. "He has to be here," she exclaims in frustration.

Stiles' eyes flick over to her and Charlotte nods, backing up her sister. "Agreed. I know we're new to the whole banshee thing... but if she says he's here, Barrow's here."

Lydia gives her twin a brief smile. "And that sound... the buzzing I've been hearing? It's getting louder."

Concern fills Stiles' eyes. "How loud?"

»»———-　　———-««

"Are you sure you haven't heard anything?"

Charlotte nods and sighs at her sister's worry. "Yeah, positive," she answers. "I even checked all my books, there aren't any drawings. Surely we both can't always hear the same stuff... right?" Lydia shrugs then suddenly winces, her hand flying up to touch her ear. "Getting louder?"

"Yeah, I'm gonna get a migraine," the girl replies quietly. Charlotte turns her attention over to Stiles talking with his father, and when she realises they're already looking in their direction, she waves. Lydia looks up and awkwardly smiles, Noah waving back.

"That's not- that's the worst!" Stiles yells out after his dad who walks away.

With an amused look on her face, Charlotte's brows raise in question when her best friend joins them. "So?"

The boy rolls his eyes and huffs a sigh. "School's on lockdown 'till three," he tells them. "They're," he points to the group of law enforcement including Stilinski, "all leaving 'cause apparently someone saw Barrow by the train station."

"What? They're leaving?" Charlotte questions in disbelief.

"Yep, but we have something that they don't. Werewolves."

Whilst Scott is meeting up with the other remaining werewolves at the school to explain his recent knowledge of Barrow, Stiles and the twins join back up with Allison in an empty classroom. "The bestiary is literally a thousand pages long. If I'm going to find anything about flies coming out of people's bodies, it could take me all night," Allison shares.

Charlotte gives her a small smile as she opens a window. "I'll come over later and help you."

Allison pecks her cheek before she climbs through the window, listening to Lydia while doing so. "Remember, the word in archaic Latin for 'fly' is musca."

"Got it." She gives the group a smile before Charlotte closes the window behind her.

"All right," the blonde announces. "Where does one start in attempt to think like a mass murderer?"

Stiles waves a hand as he strides out the room. "Upstairs!"

It's the art room that the trio enter first. With just under half an hour before school finishes and the lockdown is lifted, it's even more important that they find where Barrow is hiding. Rummaging through drawers in the art room, Charlotte sighs when she only finds stacks of blank papers. "Scott and Isaac are in the basement, right?" Lydia questions

"Yeah, with Ethan and Aiden," Stiles replies. "The plan is we meet in the middle, in the boiler room."

"All of the wolves..." Lydia begins slowly. "All of the ones with glowing eyes are in the basement at the boiler room?"

Stiles' eyes widen as he catches onto what she is trying to say. "Oh, my God. Shit. Shit! An engineer could use a boiler room to blow up the whole school."

"We have to get them out of there."

The boy shakes his head and corrects Lydia's words. "No, we have to get everyone out."

Noticing her sister has been abnormally quiet, Lydia frowns and looks over to her. "Hey, you okay?" she calls out.

But when Charlotte doesn't reply, Stiles and Lydia share a look and move over to her. When they find a red pen in her hand, Stiles' jaw drops. "Are we getting a live show of the creepy drawing thing?" he whispers.

Lydia scowls at him and moves closer to look over her twin's shoulder. "Shut up," she hisses. In a daze, Charlotte continues to sketch on the notepad, completely unaware that she is being watched. "It's a fox," she realises.

Stiles' eyes narrow in annoyance. "What the fuck does a fox have to do with a bomb?"

Before Lydia can retort something, they watch Charlotte suddenly still and the pen clatters to the floor. Looking down to the desk, Charlotte groans loudly as she notices the paper before her. "Oh, come on!" she exclaims. "Are you kidding me?"

"Dude, why are you drawing a fox?"

She looks over to him with a blank face. "Oh, when you find out please let me know."

"We can worry about it later!" Lydia interrupts impatiently. "We need to go save the school before we all explode."

Charlotte quickly snaps a photo with her phone of the picture. Her head snaps over to her sister as she registers her words. "Wait, what?"

"Barrow's gonna blow up the school," Stiles quickly explains. "Werewolves in boiler room."

As she catches on, Charlotte's eyes widen in fear. "Oh, my God."

"Exactly," Stiles nods. "But our biggest concern is: how are we gonna get the whole school out of here?"

The three are quiet for a few seconds, before the blonde-haired girl cracks a smile. "You know what, I think I've got an idea."

It's approximately five minutes later when they get back down to the ground floor that the fire alarm blares around the school. The sisters stand guard for any teachers whilst Stiles has his hand on the alarm with a gleeful smile on his face. He's clearly loving this opportunity. Hordes of students and teachers scurry past them to get outside, hopefully Scott and the others within them. But when Lydia nudges her side, Charlotte's own smile promptly drops.

When noticing the twins with grim expressions instead of the previous smiles, Stiles' face falls. He immediately flinches at Coach standing inches behind him, the man not changing his expression whatsoever. "Wow," Stiles mutters in shock. Trying not to giggle for the sake of their friend who is in pain, the girls quickly follow after as Coach drags Stiles outside by his ear. "Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow..."

"Pulling a fire alarm on Mischief Night is one thing. Doing it when there's a mass murderer spotted nearby is insane!" Coach glares at him with a thunderous expression. "If I was four years younger, I'd punch you," he exclaims furiously.

After failing to find a way where that sentence could make any sense, Charlotte's eyes squint. "Coach, that doesn't make sense," she points out.

"Oh, well, it does to me! Stilinski, detention tomorrow."

The boy's eyes widen in alarm and after sending an apologetic look to Charlotte who doesn't even notice, he frantically tries to save himself. "But it wasn't my idea!"

Coach stops walking and slowly turns around. "Keep talking."

Stiles subtly grimaces at the heated glare his best friend is giving him, but he continues anyway. "It was Charlotte's idea, she suggested it!"

The man's eyes squint at his favourite student and he scoffs. "No, don't believe it," he declares. "Nice try, Stilinski, see you in detention. And it's changed to the whole week." Stiles' mouth falls open. "Every. Day."

"What? Are you kidding me- ugh!"

"Yeah, 'Nice try,'" Charlotte mocks.

Stiles spins around and scowls when Lydia giggles. He accusingly points a finger to his best friend. "No, that's it! You've got him twice today, twice! And he won't even spare a thought that it could actually be you!"

"We've got far bigger problems than trying to drag me down with you." Charlotte places a hand on his shoulder. "We have a shrapnel bomber to stop."

"What happened to the 'if we go down, we go down together' motto," Stiles mumbles. His eyes widen and he points off into the distance. "Look, there," he tells the girls, quickly grabbing onto their hands and pulling them after.

Once she lays her own eyes on Scott and Isaac, Charlotte sighs in relief. "Oh, thank God."

The werewolves skip the greetings apart from small smiles to those of their choosing and move on to informing the trio of what had happened on their end. Which as Aiden points out, is nothing. Scott shakes his head as his friends look over to him for confirmation. "Not even a scent."

The fire alarm continues to ring loudly in the background. "It's three o'clock, so school's over," Stiles points out in confusion, still rubbing his ear in pain. "If there was a bomb, wouldn't he have set it off by now?"

Looking directly to the Martin twins, Ethan asks, "Does that mean everybody's safe?"

"I don't know," Lydia quickly answers. She purses her lips together with frustration, feeling the immense pressure on herself and her sister to try and figure all of this out before something catastrophic occurs. "I just... I don't know."

"Something still feels off," Charlotte adds. "I'm not sure, it just feels like we're missing something. And that's not from a banshee perspective."

»»———-　　———-««

Approaching the Argent's apartment, Charlotte tests the front door and smiles as she finds it's already unlocked for her. "Hey, it's me," she calls out.

"In the study," Allison yells back.

Charlotte walks into the room and goes straight to her girlfriend sitting in front of the laptop. She wraps her arms around Allison's waist and leans her chin on her shoulder. "How's it going?"

The brunette breathes a sigh and leans back in the chair. "Out of the eighty-something pages I've read, the only thing I've found about flies is them being able to carry messages to the dead..."

Pulling the spare chair over, Charlotte smiles as she positions the computer between them. "I guess it's lucky I can read archaic Latin then," she says.

Allison quietly laughs and watches her begin slowly scrolling through the bestiary. "Why do I find it hot that you can speak multiple languages?"

Charlotte grins and leans over to give the girl a brief, soft kiss. "That's because it is," she mutters. 

"So how did everything go? Did you find Barrow?"

The banshee pauses and leans back with another sigh. "Well, Stiles tried to throw me in detention with him for pulling the fire alarm because we thought there was a bomb in the basement, and I drew a fox... but no, we didn't find Barrow. Zilch."

Allison's eyebrows draw together in confusion. "Hold on, a fox?" she questions.

"Yup. Weird, right? Anyways, let's hope something in here will relate to a fly..." As Charlotte continues through the bestiary, skimming through the words, she pulls back with a frown as she reaches the next page. Bright yellow eyes stare back at them, its teeth appearing like canines. She thickly swallows as she feels like the monster is watching her. "I don't like that," she whispers. "I really don't like that."

Allison is quick to nod in agreement. "Neither. Do you know what it is?"

Charlotte forces her eyes to turn back to the mask. Her lips purse in concentration as she studies each inch of the screen. "It looks like something specific to a certain culture, maybe Japanese?"

"It looks like the devil," Allison replies with a grimace.

A knock is heard at the door and both girls look over to see Chris Argent leaning on the doorframe. He smiles at the girl he considers a second daughter, and Charlotte returns it. "Hey, Lottie, good to see you." His eyes flick to the computer for a second. "Everything okay in here?"

"Yeah, we're all good," Allison reassures him. "Thanks, Dad." Before any one of them can say anything else, Billy Joel's 'We Didn't Start the Fire' loudly blares out of Charlotte's phone.

Allison grins and her father chuckles. "Really?"

"It fits him perfectly," Charlotte defends swiftly. She clicks on the call and Stiles' voice reaches her ears. "Hey, everything okay?"

"I've figured something out, can you meet Lydia and I at the school?"

Hearing the urgency in his tone, Charlotte grabs her bag and nods even though he can't see her. "Yeah, of course. Be there in ten." She quickly kisses Allison once more and gives her an apologetic smile. "Sorry, I'm needed. I'll see you later?"

Allison smiles. "Yeah, go save the world. Stay safe," she adds.

As she moves past Chris, the man nods his head to the side beckoning her to follow. Charlotte's brows raise in question. "What's up?"

He hesitates for a second, choosing his words. "I'm just glad Allison has someone like you," he says. "You make her really, really happy."

Instantly a wide smile appears on her face. "Really?"

Chris chuckles. "Sickeningly happy. I didn't know what would happen after Victoria... but having her friends to help her, having you to help her, it's been exactly what she needs."

"I think she's actually helped me more than I've helped her," Charlotte quietly replies. She clears her throat when Chris sadly smiles and she gestures to the front door. "Well, um, I gotta go. Best friend speed dial duty and all."

"Good luck," he calls after her.

»»———-　　———-««

Stiles picks up his pace as he leads the Martin twins through the desolate, dark corridors of the high school, the flashlight on his phone illuminating the lockers that loom around them. After finding the same window Allison had gone through earlier still unlocked, the three had found an easy way in without causing any property damage. "So, what's the theory this time?" Charlotte asks. The boy ignores her, instead opting to open the door to the chemistry lab. 

But when Stiles yanks open the door to the storage closet, the twins stop in their tracks. "That was supposed to be locked," Lydia observes slowly.

"Unless teachers aren't locking the classrooms at night anymore?" Charlotte suggests.

"No, they are," Stiles answers. "Notice anything else?"

"It smells like chemicals," the blonde quickly acknowledges. "Which makes sense... since we're in the science lab..."

Lydia stills. "They wouldn't have been able to catch his scent," she realises. "The chemicals would've masked it." Stiles briefly looks back to confirm her words, then continues shining his flashlight through the shelving.

"That smart fucker," Charlotte mutters in disbelief. When the light lands to a spot on the floor, her eyes widen in alarm. "Holy shit, is that blood?" she whispers. But she already knows the answer.

Stiles crouches down to examine the mess. "Blood and staples... He was here, performing very minor surgery on himself. You were right," he tells Lydia.

"Then why don't I feel good about it?" she counters apprehensively. She glances to her sister. "Do you feel good about it?"

Charlotte shakes her head. "Nope, but it's probably because he was here to kill somebody..."

"But who?"

"That's what we gotta figure out," Stiles agrees as he pockets his phone. Exiting the storage closet, the three observe the empty classroom. "We could spread out, start looking for... anything." As Stiles and Lydia begin to search the desks and drawers, Charlotte walks up to the teacher's desk at the front of the classroom. As she moves past the blackboard, her eyes fall onto the numbers written in white chalk. The two behind her seem to have also noticed this as Stiles calls out, "What are those?"

Lydia joins her sister's side and the siblings study the set of numbers. "Atomic numbers," Charlotte replies.

"Is it a formula?"

Charlotte tilts her head slightly. "No, not really."

"Nineteen's potassium," Lydia informs him. "Fifty-three's iodine. Eighty-eight's radium," she informs them quickly.

"So that means the first two make potassium iodide," Charlotte finishes. She picks up the chalk and writes a K next to the nineteen.

"Potassium is K?" Stiles questions incredulously.

"It's from kalium, the scientific neo-Latin name," Lydia explains. Next to the fifty-three, Charlotte writes I.

"Okay, what's radium?"

Charlotte hesitates before adding Ra beside the final number. As they all stare at the word that has been created from the atomic numbers, their eyes widen in shock. "I think we just found Barrow's target," she says quietly.

"Kira."

3𝘣 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘧𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘈𝘕𝘋 𝘸𝘢𝘵𝘤𝘩.. 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘰 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘧𝘶𝘯 🥰