Scott and I were talking, walking down the street.

"So, basically, we're looking for abnormal behavior," I told him.

"Anyone acting a little off or a little weird," Scott answered. "And all of these are teenagers, so they'll be at the high school. We'll figure it out before you could."

"And how are you gonna figure that out?" I asked. "I mean, isn't everyone a little weird in high school?"

Scott nodded. "Yeah, good point."

I looked at the Dread Doctors book in Scott's hands. "You remember Tracy went a killing spree after reading that?"

"You think it's a bad idea?" Scott asked.

"I think me and Malia almost getting run down by a car could've been bad," I told him.

"So, you finished the book?" Scott asked. I nodded. Scott stopped walking. "What did you see?"

I stopped walking, hesitating, turning to face Scott. "I saw the fire. I saw what really happened."

"What do you mean?" Scott asked.

"I mean..." I trailed off, sighing, looking away, shaking my head. "Peter didn't save me like he always had me believe. He tried to use me as a shield when I had thought he had used himself as a shield for me, but I pulled away." I looked at Scott, shaking my head. "He tried to have me killed when I was nine years old, Scott." I scoffed, looking away. "And the bad thing is that I'm not even surprised."

Scott looked at me sympathetically. "You okay?"

I looked at Scott, nodding. "Yeah. Yeah, I'll be okay. What about you? I mean, has anybody else besides me and Malia finished the book yet?"

"Not yet," Scott answered. "But we're going to. The book's all we've got. And we all need to read it. Together."

I sighed. "Then it's time for a pack meeting."

*****

After dark, Scott, Stiles, Lydia, Malia, Kira, Theo and I were in the loft, standing around the large table in front of the wall of windows, looking at the copies of the Dread Doctors book in front of us.

"My mom's book club usually has more wine," Lydia told us.

"Well, they also probably didn't read books that cause violent hallucinations," I told them. "That's why Malia and I are here, aside from the fact that this is my house."

"So none of us go running into traffic?" Kira asked.

I nodded. "Or worse."

Malia looked at me. "Like what happened to Judy." I nodded in agreement. Everyone looked at us in confusion. "Chapter 14."

Lydia picked up one of the copies. "Maybe I should have my mother read it. She might remember a girl with a tail leaping off the ceiling and attacking everyone."

"Yeah, if it works," Stiles told us.

"It has to," Lydia told us.

"What's that mean?" Scott asked.

"I think I saw them during my surgery," Lydia answered. "When I look at the cover of the book, it's almost like..."

"A memory trying to surface," Theo finished.

Lydia looked at Theo, nodding. "Yeah."

"Isn't that why Valack wanted when he wrote it?" Kira asked.

Lydia nodded. "If they did something to me, I want to know what it is."

Scott, Stiles, Lydia, Kira and Theo took a copy of the book, walking off to find a place to sit, spreading themselves out through the loft, starting to read.

Malia and I exchanged a look, sighing.

*****

Everybody else was still reading.

"Anyone feeling anything yet?" I asked.

"Tired," Kira answered.

"Hungry," Lydia answered.

"I think she meant the book," Scott told them.

Malia was drinking coffee, noticing that Stiles was holding his shoulder. "What did you do to your shoulder?"

"What are you talking about?" Stiles asked.

"I can smell the blood," Malia told him. "What happened?"

Stiles sighed. "Jeep died on me again. I went to check the engine. The hood fell on it." I could hear Stiles' heartbeat rising. Stiles changed the subject, looking from Malia to me. "Wait. So, how much--how much do you remember, anyway? With the accident and the fire? Did it play like a movie in your heads, or was it like being completely in it again?"

"In it," I answered.

Stiles looked at Malia. "Was it just the crash? Nothing else?"

Malia shook her head. "Nothing."

Malia looked at me.

I gave Malia a look.

Malia shook her head.

Kira was starting to fall asleep.

"You're not giving up, are you?" Lydia asked.

"Just resting my eyes," Kira told her, turning off the light.

I sighed, walking toward the table, picking up one of the copies, looking at it numbly.

*****

Everybody had fallen asleep around the loft.

I was looking out of the wall of windows into the night sky, gazing off unblinkingly, thinking about the fire and the truth about what I now knew.

Kira was mumbling in her sleep. "Watashi wa shi no shisha da. Watashi wa shi no shisha da." I turned around in confusion, walking closer to hear more clearly. "Watashi wa shi no shisha da. Watashi wa shi no shisha da."

*****

Malia walked into the loft to talk to me the next day.

"Why haven't you said anything?" I asked.

"About what?" Malia asked.

"Don't be like that," I told her. "The rest of your memory. The Desert Wolf. Why didn't you tell anybody?"

"I don't want to," Malia answered. I tilted my head at her. "What? It--I'm processing. I need to know what it means before I tell anybody."

"You know what it means," I told her. "It means your birth mother killed your adoptive mother and adoptive sister and sentenced you to eight years as a coyote. Maybe you should stop looking, because maybe she was trying to kill you, too."

"I will," Malia told me. "But I was wondering..."

"What?" I asked, walking closer. "You were wondering if I could keep what I know to myself?" Malia nodded. I shook my head. "No. You need to tell someone. Stiles, Scott, I don't care. Someone needs to know."

"You know," Malia told me. "Isn't that enough?"

"No," I answered. "I'm not going to keep this secret for you, Malia. But I'm also not going to tell. It's not my place. You will tell them. And if you don't... Then and only then will I tell them. You can be mad at me all you want. But it's always better when they know."

Malia took a moment to respond, nodding. "Yeah. Yeah, I'll tell them. Just give me time."

"Just remember, if you don't, I will," I told her.

Malia hesitated, walking out, leaving.

I watched her go, sighing.

*****

I was working out in the loft again, in my usual workout clothes, using the pipe in the wall as a pull up bar.

The door was slid open.

I dropped to the floor, turning to face Scott.

Scott was amused. "Is there anything else that you do when you're home alone?"

"What else can I do?" I asked. Scott chuckled. I smiled a small smile, kissing Scott for a moment, pulling away, walking past him toward the table. "What are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be in school?"

"Free period," Scott answered. "Decided to tell you what's really going on with the book."

I grabbed a bottle of water from the table, taking a drink, turning to face Scott. "What do you mean?"

"Everybody's suffering memories and hallucinations like you and Malia did," Scott answered. "And they're suffering bad."

I raised my eyebrows, nodding. "I see."

"Just don't say I told you so," Scott told me.

"All right," I told him. "I won't tell you." I looked at Scott with an I told you so look. Scott sighed, slightly amused. He let it fade, serious and pensive. I walked closer. "What is it? What's wrong?"

"The book... did something to me," Scott answered. "It triggered an asthma attack."

I raised my eyebrows. "Asthma?"

"Yeah," Scott answered. 

"You gonna be okay?" I asked.

"Yeah," Scott answered. "I think it was just a memory hitting me. Psychosomatic thing." He sighed. "And everything seems to be falling apart." He sat down on the couch. "It feels like everybody is keeping secrets."

I sat next to Scott. "Well, sometimes people need time to adjust. Some people just need to know what is going on themselves before anyone else knows. You want me to be honest? Fine. I'll be honest. Last night, after you guys fell asleep, I heard Kira mumbling Japanese in her sleep. And I didn't just hear it. I understood what she said."

"You speak Japanese?" Scott asked.

"I speak many languages," I answered. "One of the perks about me and Laura moving around all the time. We didn't just move around the country. We moved around the world."

"What did Kira say?" Scott asked.

I sighed. "From what I could tell... Watashi wa shi no shisha da. She said the same thing in the club. I means 'I'm the messenger of death'. And it gets worse. That aura you saw around her when she almost killed Lucas? It's supposed to be part of her. But the way that it looked... it was almost like it was taking over."

Scott nodded. "Something's happening. And to be honest..."

"What?" I asked.

"I don't know if I can trust her anymore," Scott told me. I looked away. "What? What else is there?"

I sighed, looking at Scott. "And then there's..."

The lights started to flicker around us.

Scott and I looked up in confusion.

"That's been happening at the school all day," Scott told me. "I thought it was Kira. But..." 

We heard a sound like electricity sparking, standing.

I listened for the sound, trying to tell where it was coming from. "I hear it, too. It's coming from the basement."

*****

Scott and I walked into the basement to see electrical wiring chewed on and sparking, smoking.

I sighed. "It's a Chimera."

"Why here?" Scott asked. "And why the school?"

I turned around, walking toward the stairs. "They want to send a message." Scott followed. "So let's send a response. Loud and clear."

*****

In the loft again, I was dressed normally, pulling on my jacket, walking toward the door and Scott. "Where's Malia and Kira?"

"Still at the library," Scott answered. "Stiles and Lydia are at hospital."

"Doing what?" I asked.

We walked out of the loft, closing the door behind us, walking toward the steps toward the elevator.

"Lydia's trying to figure out what happened to her during the surgery," Scott answered.

"How long are they gonna be there?" I asked, pressing the button to call for the elevator.

"They said they're just waiting for the power to go back on," Scott told me.

"So you think the Chimera's there now," I told him.

"Yeah," Scott answered.

The elevator doors opened.

I looked at Scott. "Then let's go."

I raised my eyebrows slightly, backing into the elevator.

Scott followed.

*****

Scott and I walked into the hospital.

"Theo's here, trying to find Stiles and Lydia," Scott told me. "You help him. I'm gonna find my mom."

*****

I found Melissa.

Scott was fighting Dread Doctor 2 in the hospital hallway.

Melissa and I stepped off the elevator.

Dread Doctor 2 gripped Scott by his throat, pinning him against the wall while he was in the middle of having an asthma attack.

I let my eyes glow blue, growling.

Dread Doctor 2 tossed Scott aside, letting him fall to the floor, turning to face me.

I roared, running closer, jumping into the air, kicking Dread Doctor 2 in the chest, making it back away, but not having much else impact.

Melissa ran to Scott's side. "Come on. Come on, honey." She helped Scott stand. "Let's go."

Melissa and Scott ran toward the elevator.

I slashed into Dread Doctor 2's chest, only feeling a metal plate. I punched it in the face repeatedly, making it turn away. 

Scott fell to the floor from inside the elevator, gasping for breath.

I spun to kick Dread Doctor 2 in the chest, making it back away. 

Melissa withdrew a needle.

"Wait," Scott told her. "What is that?"

"A bronchodilator," Melissa answered. "It'll work." Melissa injected the needle into Scott's leg, making him groan in pain. She looked toward me. "Tara, come on! Run!"

Dread Doctor 2 gripped my wrist, breaking it, gripping me by my throat, trying to come down hard onto my neck to break it. I broke his grip, backing away before he could kill me, turning around, running for the elevator.

Dread Doctor 2 stomped after me.

"Run!" Melissa told me.

I ran inside the elevator, falling against the wall, breathing heavily, keeping myself standing against the wall.

Melissa hit the button to close the doors repeatedly, quickly.

Dread Doctor 2 tried to push its way inside.

The elevator doors closed before he could get in.

The elevator shook violently.

Melissa was still kneeling to the floor, turned to face us in relief, breathing heavily in shock.

I looked at Scott, breathing heavily.

Scott shook his head. "We never should have read that book."