IT WAS A FUCKING DEADPOOL. Juliette recalled cracking a joke at the possibility, and now here she was — staring at the actual hit list. After showing the list to the rest of the pack, they assumed there would be at least two other cipher keys that could unlock the rest of the lists. Lydia has been at the lake house all weekend attempting to break the code, but even when Juliette heightened her powers, they left with nothing. "A deadpool."
"A hit list of supernatural creatures." Juliette elaborated to the Sheriff, spreading the papers across the desk. "They got Demarco yesterday, we're still trying to figure out who was responsible for that."
Stiles nodded. "And they almost got you."
"I'm sorry, what?" Sheriff Stilinski exclaimed.
"It's not really..." Juliette swallowed the lump in her throat, lost at words. "Well, the girl that tried to kill me did it as a job, but i'm not so sure it's the benefactor that sent her. There's no number next to my name, as far as we know, so wouldn't that mean she was sent by someone else? It's not like it matters–"
Stiles cocked his head. "I don't know, i'd say someone trying to murder you matters."
"Deaton said the Nemeton draws in supernaturals, right? So this would be the key place to creature a deadpool of supernaturals, this place is practically a haven for them—" Juliette stopped at the remembrance that she was a part of them now, too. "us."
Sheriff Stilinski leaned into the table. "Wait, wait— do you mean Beacon Hills, or Beacon County? Population of Becaon Hills is just under thirty thousand."
"And dropping." Stiles mentioned.
His father shot him a coaxing look before sitting on his chair, leaning back. "But if we're talking Beacon County then we're looking at about five hundred thousand. Look, how many werewolves, banshees, amplifiers— whatever, are there? And what happens if the next cipher key uncovers not twelve names, but a hundred?"
"It can't be, there's a limit. We think that if we add up all the numbers besides the names, it would add up to a hundred and seventeen million." Juliette started scribbling K's and M's beside each number. "Exactly the amount stolen from the Hale vault, used to finance all these murders."
"Someone who wants all the supernaturals in Beacon Hills dead."
"There's one thing I don't get, how did the new assassin know that Demarco was going to deliver to the lakehouse?"
"Everyone knows he delivers kegs to teenagers for a little extra cash. So whoever ordered it, killed Demarco."
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AS USUAL, JULIETTE took her seat by the far corner of the classroom beside Stiles. She gaped at the pictures of the marks on Demarco's neck, a hexagonal shape with a deep cut in the middle. She hid the pictures behind her Economics textbook, sliding the book to Stiles' desk when she couldn't figure out a clue. "I texted Argent the pictures, he's never seen a weapon leave a mark like that either."
"And we probably would have noticed if someone had a sword at the party." Stiles flipped through the papers. "So it had to be something—"
Coach hit the end of his lacrosse stick on Stiles' table for not paying attention to his lecture, and a disgusted look appeared on his face when he caught a glimpse of the gore pictures. "Stilinski, if I could grade you on how profoundly you disturb me, you'd be an A+ student."
"Thanks, Coach." He bobbed his head, his eyes drifting to the lacrosse stick Coach held. And that facial expression right there, Juliette has seen countless times— on every situation in which Stiles would unravel a mystery.
Coach attempted to jack his lacrosse stick back, but the student's grip was tight. "Stilinski!" Stiles stared at the hexagonal shape of the stick's end, and compared it to the mark on Demarco's neck. "What the hell is wrong with you!" Coach pulled his stick back. "Don't answer that."
"It's a lacrosse player..."
"Stilinski, you genius!" Juliette whispered as she examined the pictures. She pulled on the two bestfriend's wrists the moment the bell rang, walking out through the hallway. "So it's a lacrosse player, and you guys have a game tonight, right? Wouldn't that be the perfect time to strike?"
Scott nodded. "So they could want me, or... Liam." He glanced around the halls, failing to find the freshman. "But, i'm not scared."
"Well, i'm not on the list and i'm terrified!" Stiles uttered suddenly. "These are professional killers we're talking about. It's their profession! One of them had an axe, another had a lacrosse stick with a knife and a thermo cut wire!"
They pushed through the double doors, catching sight of the students from the competitor lacrosse team stepping out of the school bus. "It's Liam's old school you're playing against— and he's walking up to them, great." The three watched as Liam has his talk with the other team's captain, which brazenly didn't go well, judging by the fact that Liam's claws started to appear.
"Woah, woah, woah." Stiles and Juliette rushed to the lacrosse players as Scott grabbed Liam into the school buildings. "Hey! What's going on, prep students? Welcome to our little public high school, how you doing?" He stuck out his hand for them to shake. "I'm Stiles. That's a firm handshake you got there."
Juliette strived to disguise her laugh as a cough, which Stiles believed went horribly. "We're excited for the scrimmage tonight," She clapped her hands together. "But take it easy on this one," She patted Stiles' back. "Not exactly the greatest in the bunch—"
Stiles swung his arm around her hips, dragging her farther away from them. "That's enough, bye!"
By the time they reached the boy's locker room, which Juliette specifically refused to enter before being practically dragged in by Stiles, Liam was already in his werewolf form. Stiles ran to help Scott push Liam against the wall each time he attempted to escape. The shower was on, and water was splashing on them— which Juliette never understood how helpful the tactic truly is. Not wanting to get wet, she was seated by the benches.
"Liam, whatever he said is not worth you losing control–" Juliette stopped herself when he growled at her. "Don't growl at me!"
Liam shook his head, pushing himself back. "Okay, okay!" He expressed in defeat, his back scraping the wall as he fell to the floor. They turned off the water, and stood around the freshman.
"That car you smashed, I thought you said that was your teachers?"
"Who was also his Coach." Juliette mentioned, recalling the information she was told by his father when he hired her as a tutor for his step son.
"You knew?" Stiles crossed his arms. "Why didn't you tell us?"
"It's not like I lied, I just withdrew certain truths."
"He benched me for the entire season."
Scott kneeled down to meet the freshman's eye level. "You have to be honest with us, what else did you do?"
"Nothing!" Liam twiddled with his fingers. "I got kicked out of school, and they sent me to a psychologist for an evaluation. They called it... intermittent explosive disorder."
"I.E.D?" Stiles cried out. "And you gave him superpowers, that... will not end up well, to say the least."
Juliette walked closer to the three, minding her steps away from the puddles of water on the floor. "Being a werewolf healed your asthma, any chance it helps with mental disorders too? No?" She questioned. "Alright, do you take your pills?"
"They make me too tired, I can't play Lacrosse when I take them."
"You should bail out of the game either way." She shot the two a knowing look. "Tell Coach your leg's still hurting, or something."
Liam instantly jumped to his defence. "No! I can do this! Especially if you're there." He nodded to Scott.
"Listen, you need to bail because of this plus the fact that whoever killed Demarco is on the team."
"Who's Demarco?"
Stiles let out a sharp exhale before explaining. "The one who bought the beer to the party, the one that was beheaded. The weapon used was a lacrosse stick of a sort. Which means whoever killed him is on the team, was at the party, and ordered the keg." He elucidated. "Probably paid for it, too."
"Actually, I saw who paid for the keg." Juliette widened her eyes. "He's on the team too. Garrett"
════ ⋆★⋆ ════
THE SCRIMMAGE WAS ABOUT TO START, and Juliette would rather be anywhere else than where she is now. She was constantly texting Lydia, asking her about the cipher key and whether she's cracked it yet. It was a miracle that Lydia hadn't blocked Juliette's phone number already, and it was expected when she stopped answering her worrying texts. "You don't want to be here, do you?" Malia asked.
"Let me think, would I rather be helping solve something— anything related to the deadpool rather than sit on the benches and watch a scrimmage?"
"Is that a yes? Then what's keeping you here?"
Juliette's eyes instantly met Stiles' gaze from across the field when she heard her question. Stiles was in his jersey, and winked goofily once he caught her gaze. She turned to Malia, who seemed not to have noticed but instead still waited on the answer. "Whatever, I wanted to ask you something."
Juliette perked her head up in sudden interest. "Sure..." She said slowly. "What is it you want to know?"
"I'll just say it— how do you sleep?"
She took a moment before answering to question whether or not Malia was joking— which seemed unlikely considering she has a rather blunt sense of humour, and an awful habit of not detecting sarcasm in jokes. "On my back...?"
The game started, but the two were too into their conversation to pay attention to the scrimmage. "You're an insomniac, right? Stiles said that means you don't get as much hours of sleep as the rest of us. So how do you get yourself to sleep?"
"Yeah, I either watch a movie or... talk to Stiles."
Malia bobbed her head along, getting closer to her point. "But you don't talk to him when I stay up late with him."
She stood frozen, mouth agape, unsure of how to answer her. "I'm not sure what you mean." Except, she knew exactly what she meant, but always suspected Malia was oblivious to this detail.
"You don't talk to him when i'm at your house. And I only leave after he falls asleep, and I always find you watching or reading something in the living room when I leave. I figured it was because you didn't want to walk in on us making out, or something." Malia led on, oblivious to the way Juliette tensed up the more they continued with this conversation. "But then I realised that when I don't stay over, you always get a good sleep in. So why are you always awake when i'm over?"
"Because..."
"Because what?"
Juliette wanted her to end the conversation, wanted her to change the topic to focus on how Garrett just attempted to hit Liam on the field, but Malia kept gaping at her patiently waiting for an answer. "Because I can only sleep after I talk to Stiles."
This has been true for as long as she's known him. Juliette always felt uncomfortable about walking in on the two past midnight, so she would rather risk not talking to her the whole night (which simultaneously meant risking a good night's sleep) than invade their late night hang outs in his room. It never struck her that Malia or Stiles would notice this, which made hearing it from her a whole lot harder.
Coach called for a timeout, and the pack ran over to the two girls by the benches. Malia was still dumbfounded, most likely trying to unravel what Juliette had just said. This didn't go unnoticed by Stiles, who's eyes anxiously flickered between the two girls, too flurried to ask what they'd been talking about. "He's going after Liam."
"Why go after Liam when you can go after a true alpha worth millions?"
"Guys..." Juliette looked down at her phone. "Lydia deciphered the next list with the help of Meredith. She said the keyword was Aidan."
They made a circle around the phone screen. "Am I on it?" Liam asked, not being able to get a good look at the picture.
"No, but Kira is." Juliette scrolled at the list of names. "And..." She struggled to read the blurred image. "Brett. Isn't that the captain of the team?"
A panicked look struck their faces at the epiphany that Garrett might be after Brett too, and when they analysed the field and didn't find either of them, they each split up to find them. Which left Stiles and Juliette together, staring at the phone screen. "This is clearly a pattern— every cipher has been a dead person's name. Wouldn't that mean the next one would be Boyd, Erica or even Talia Hale?"
"Juliette..." Stiles lowered his voice, handing her back her phone.
"Yeah?"
"Why is your name on the list again?"
a/n
long time no update!
i can not make manips
but also i cant stop
making them
if anyones actually good at
making manips unlike me lmao
hmu!!!!