Once in a Lifetime

06

Stiles shrugged. "Honestly, that might be a question for another day. Right now, there's still another third of the list we gotta crack."

"We need the third cipher key," Lydia said. "But we need help getting it."

Parrish frowned. "From who?"

"Meredith."

"The girl from Eichen? The last time you saw her, you almost gave her a nervous breakdown."

"Uh... Almost," Lydia said, defending herself.

Tabitha frowned at Lydia and the strawberry blonde shrugged innocently.

They got to Eichen House and as soon as they got to the front desk, an orderly started unlocking the door and Stiles saw another orderly and frowned. "Oh, no, not this guy."

The orderly frowned. "What the hell are we running here? A bed and breakfast? We do not just open the door for anyone with a badge."

Parrish took charge. "We need to talk to Meredith Walker. It involves a murder investigation."

"Well you can talk to her all you want but that one..." He pointed to Stiles and glared at him. "He's outta here."

Tabitha's eyes flashed and Stiles took her hand. Parrish said to the orderly, "They're crucial witnesses in an ongoing investigation. I wouldn't have brought them here if it wasn't absolutely... Crucial."

The orderly glared. "Okay, Deputy. How about you come back with a court order, then I'll listen. As for you, Mr. Stilinski, how about you come back with a payment in full. That's right. Daddy may be the sheriff, but he's late on the bills. I guess those government jobs aren't as reliable as they used to be, huh?"

Tabitha growled softly and felt Stiles grab squeeze her hand to try to calm them both down.

Parrish continued. "But they do help when you need a favor. Like, how a month ago, Canaan P.D. helped you get home after blowing a 0.1 on a breathalyzer."

"No..." Stiles breathed.

The orderly sighed. "All right. I'm not against a little quid pro quo. Not at all. Not at all."

Stiles smiled at Parrish. "You. You. I like you. I'm gonna keep you."

Tabitha glanced at Stiles and asked, "Who was he?"

"Brunski," Stiles whispered. "I hate him."

She looked back at Brunski. "He looks like a prat."

Stiles chuckled at her words. "Yeah. He's a major prat."

They reached Meredith's room and she was sitting cross-legged on her bed. Lydia asked her what they needed to know and Meredith shook her head. Lydia frowned. "Meredith, what do you mean you can't tell us?"

Stiles took on a gentler tone. "We just need the third key. You can give it to us in numbers, letters, hieroglyphs. Whatever you want."

Meredith's head shook faster. "I can't."

Tabitha crossed her arms and frowned. "Why did you help us, Meredith? Why'd you give Lydia the second key?"

She looked up at Tabitha. "I wanted to help. That's what I want to do. I want to help."

Lydia rolled her eyes. "Great. So help us now. Okay? Give us the third cipher key."

Meredith suddenly shrunk into herself. "Things have changed. I... I can't."

"Why not?" Stiles asked.

"Guys, go easy on her," Parrish told them.

Meredith looked back up at them. "I'm sorry. I can't. He... He doesn't want me to."

Tabitha leaned closer. "Who is he?"

Lydia's tone became sharper. "Meredith, who doesn't want you to tell us the third cipher key?"

"The Benefactor," Meredith answered.

"What's his name?" Tabitha asked. "You could just tell us his name."

"Okay, you're shaking your head," Stiles noted. "What's that mean? Does that mean you don't know? Or you don't want to help us?"

"I can't... I can't help anymore," Meredith repeated.

Lydia frowned at her. "How do you know about him?"

"Guys, I think we should stop," Parrish warned.

"Meredith, a lot of people are going to die if you don't tell us."

"I don't know... I don't know. I don't know," Meredith repeated again.

"Please... Meredith, it's okay. You're gonna be all right. Please."

"I don't... I don't... I don't know."

"Meredith," Parrish said in a calming tone.

"I said I don't know!" she screamed.

As soon as the screaming stopped, Tabitha turned to Lydia. "Your ear is bleeding. Are you okay?"

She nodded and looked at Tabitha. "So is yours. Are you okay?"

Tabitha touched her ear and frowned. "I don't know."

Stiles pulled out a tissue from Tabitha's bag and began wiping her ear.

"You don't-" the witch began.

"I know," Stiles interrupted. "I want to. Hey, we'll figure it out. You know that, right?"

"I know. And thank you."

"You're welcome. Are you leaving with me or Lydia?"

Tabitha glanced at her friend. "I think I should stay with her for now."

Stiles nodded. "Okay. Text me if anything comes up."

"I will. I love you, Stiles."

He kissed her forehead. "I love you too."

Lydia and Tabitha got to the Young household and went to Tabitha's room. The redhead laid on her bed and turned her head to face Lydia. "Okay, well, we know one thing. Allison and Aiden, two of our keys, are names of those who have died. Right?"

Lydia nodded. "But we've already tried every other dead person's name we could think of. And if you haven't noticed, there were a lot of tries."

"I noticed. So, what now?"

She let out a sigh. "The only other Banshee I've ever met. And I think I might have just drove her over the edge."

"No, Lydia. That isn't your fault. Stiles and I were there. Remember? You're not the only... Wait a second. Banshees predict death. I figure that means the third key is someone who isn't dead..."

"But will be," Lydia finished. She closed her eyes and typed in the name DEREK. "I'm gonna call Parrish. We need to call Parrish."

She called him and was silent before saying, "What are you talking about?"

Lydia ended the call and slowly met her friend's eyes.

"Meredith?" Tabitha asked quietly.

The strawberry blonde nodded and Tabitha stood and hugged her friend.