54. I.E.D

Once Liam calmed down we went back to the Lake House and Mr. Argent being the only adult helped us in stopping the party. After everyone cleared out Lydia brought her laptop down and told us that the notes she gave to Malia were actually code which provided a keyword, 'Allison' which opened a hitlist with all the supernatural creature's names on it and a number in front of it which we assumed was either in thousands or millions that people would get for killing them. Since we didn't have any information on who uploaded the hitlist Mr. Argent suggested that we keep low and just observe. After cleaning the place a little since I had Dad's car I offered to drop Liam and Mr. Argent and we left. 

"Kid, wait." I said stopping Liam as we got out of the car in front of his place "I wanted to apologize for tricking you into coming to the Lakehouse." I said also following him to his front porch. 

"It's okay, I understand why you did that, and honestly I wanted to thank you as well for not giving up on me and helping me." 

Liam said and I smiled, "It's what we do, kid." I said ruffling his hair. 

"Liam, is that you?" 

We heard Liam's father call. "You should go, kid. And if you ever need anything, you can call Scott, me or even Stiles." I said and Liam smiled and nodded and I finally went inside the car. 

"You tight with that kid?" 

Mr. Argent asked as I turned towards his house. "I guess. I just feel bad for him. I remember when Scott went through this, he was just as clueless as him and struggled, even Isaac struggled with this even though Derek told him all about it, but at least Scott, and Isaac had us, he looks alone." 

"You didn't change at all." 

He said as a smile formed on his lips. "But you have." I said pulling into his driveway. "Why were you M.I.A? Do you have any clue how worried I was when Isaac told me that even he couldn't get hold of you?" I said looking at him. 

"I am sorry sweetie, there were some things I needed to take care of urgently." 

He said patting my head. "As informative as ever." I said and he just laughed and got out of the car. 

"Get some rest, sweetie, while you can." 

He said going into his apartment. 

After that, as I went back to my place I got a call from my Uncle Dante's attorney. "Hello, Mr. Wilson." I greeted him. 

"Evening Ruth, sorry for calling you this late but I saw your mail yesterday and I am sorry to inform you this but I checked and you cannot have your funds under any circumstances until you turn 21."

He informed me, "Are you sure, there's nothing we can do Mr. Wilson?" I asked. 

"I am afraid there isn't." 

He said, "Well, thanks for trying." I said and then ended the call. After that, with a heavy heart, I went inside the house to find Stiles. 

"Rue, you hungry? I am making a sandwich." 

Stiles asked as I entered the kitchen. "Yeah, sure." I nodded and Stiles started making the sandwich. "Sty, um....Mr. Wilson, Uncle Dante's attorney called back." I said and he looked at me with hope it broke my heart to crush his hope but I told him the truth. "I am so sorry, I really tried."

"Hey, please don't feel bad, we will figure something out. Please don't stress anymore." 

He said cupping my face and I nodded and hugged him.    

                                                                                            -----------

The next morning when I woke up to a text from Lydia saying she was going to spend the weekend in the Lake house trying to figure out the rest of the keys Malia and Kira went with her. I offered to go with her but she reminded me that Stiles and Scott would also need help, so I stayed. After talking to her I went to Stiles to inform him about this but as I entered I saw him setting up the murder board again and when he noticed me he told me that last night someone killed a girl named Carrie Hudson. Then I told him about Lydia and he told me that Malia already called him so I nodded and sat on his bed while he went through all the murders again.

"So the Walcotts were the first. At least the first that we know about. Four murders: Sean, his brother, and their parents. They were killed by a professional assassin called The Mute."

Stiles said putting their photos on the board. "Weapon of choice: a military tomahawk. But then The Mute was killed by Peter Hale after he tried to blow up Derek with a Claymore mine." I said. 

"Next was Demarco. He delivered a keg to the party at Lydia's lake house and he got decapitated outside his car." 

Stiles said and I remembered when we got out last night we saw his body near his car and Mr. Argent told us that Demarco was part of a pack that'll come looking for him. "And then last night, 23-year-old Carrie Hudson." I said as Stiles put his picture on the board. After that, we called Scott and asked him to meet us at the Station with the Deadpool list. 

When we got to the Station we took Dad to his office and showed him the list and explained to him how this is a hitlist with supernatural living here and how this is only a part of it and the rest still has to be decoded and then we told him that Lydia transcribed the code without realizing it as part of her banshee abilities and the code was broken with the keyword Allison. The Dad asked if 'here' meant Beacon Hills or Beacon County as the population of Beacon Hills was just under 30,000 but the combined population of Beacon County was closer to 500,000 people and he was worried that the next cypher key will unlock not just 12 names but 100.  Then we explained to Dad that there was a limit to the number of names, since we know that the Benefactor was transferring money to people it was a safe bet that the combined total of the numbers would add up to the $117 million that was stolen from the Hale vault. Stiles then grabbed the Deadpool and started scribbling next to the names, revealing which ones seemed to be thousands of dollars and which ones seemed to be millions. 

"Since Demarco was known for delivering kegs to teenagers for a little extra cash, it seems likely that the killer called him to the lake house party which means the killer is a schoolchild."

Scott informed Dad. Dad then told us that he would look at this meanwhile we should go home and investigate this in our own way as always.

                                                                                         ------------

After the weekend ended and we went to school I saw Malia and when I asked her if there was any progress she told me that Lydia was so wrecked that she and Kira had to physically pull her away from the record player. Then I started telling her about our weekend and while talking we walked into the empty art room where Lydia was sitting in front of an empty canvas holding a brush. Malia and I sat behind her and waited for her to draw something like she drew the Nemeton, but she could barely put pen to paper. Then Malia cleared her throat and stood beside Lydia and asked if someone was coming to take her head off. Lydia told her to stop hovering and went back to looking at the empty canvas while Malia came and sat beside me. Just as it looked like Lydia was about to draw something Malia again interrupted her asking if we could take help from another Banshee like Meredith from Eichen House, before Lydia could say anything the bell rang so I picked up my bag and walked to my Economic class. 

When I got to the class I took my usual seat behind Stiles and I saw him looking through graphic crime photos that had happened during weekend. Before I could tell him to keep that inside Coach came to class and started his lesson. Coach was waving around the lacrosse stick as an example of economic disparity and when he came near our seat he saw Stiles looking at those gruesome photos. 

"Stilinski, if I could grade you on how profoundly you disturb me, you'd be an A-plus student."

Coach remarked and started to walk away but Stiles grabbed the end of the lacrosse stick. Coach tried to pull it back but Stiles kept looking at its end. Finally, Stiles let go of the stick and Coach walked away giving him weird looks, but Stiles leaned in and told Scott and me that the the hexagonal end of the lacrosse stick matched Carrie's stab wounds, which meant the killer must be on the lacrosse team.

After our class ended, Scott, Stiles, Kira and I went to find a hidden knife at the back of all the lacrosse sticks. As we were looking, Scott pointed out that most of the students used their own gears, so Kira suggested that instead of trying to find the weapon, we should find a way to cancel the game. 

"The game is the best way to catch him red-handed."

Scott said. "But what if he's red-handed because his hands are covered in the blood of the person he just stabbed to death? Which, by the way, could be either of you guys." I argued 

"I am more worried about Liam, what if he's on the list. We don't know how the list is made or if it's updated regularly. I am not scared of playing tonight." 

Scott said and Kira agreed with him saying she was also not scared. 

"Well, I'm terrified and I'm not even on the list. Guys, these are professional killers. It's their profession. One of them has a thermo-cut wire that cuts heads off. Who knows what else they have?" 

Stiles tried to talk some sense into Scott and Kira but they still stood on their ground about playing tonight. Then when we couldn't find the right Lacrosse stick so, Kira left saying that she needed to prepare for tonight's game. After searching for some more time, Stiles, Scott and I walked out and started discussing how to proceed with tonight. As we were talking we saw The Devenford Prep lacrosse team arriving, "It's Liam's old school team, isn't it?" I asked and Scott nodded. As the kids got out of the bus Liam came out and walked towards them and another kid followed him. We were on our guard as we expected Liam to do something stupid but instead, he just went and called a dude named Brett extended his hand for a handshake and told him to have a good game. I couldn't help but smile about how maturely Liam was handling everything but soon my smile came off when Brett laughed in Liam's face like a lil' bitch.

"That's cute, Liam. Is that what they told you to say in anger management? Apologize and everything's fine? You demolished Coach's car."

Brett seethed but Liam calmly reminded him that he paid for it. 

"Yeah, you're gonna pay for it. We're going to break you in half out there and it's going to be all your fault."

Brett threatened Liam and we saw him clenching his fist and drawing blood. We quickly raced over there and I pushed Liam behind me and stood between him and Brett. Stiles saw that I was angry so he came and stood beside me and started talking to Brett. Stiles extended his hand and tried to talk to Brett but he kept looking at me and I also gave him pointed looks. Finally, when Stiles stopped talking Scott pulled my arm and we started to walk away. 

We dragged Liam to the locker room and held him under the shower so that he would calm down and stop roaring. Once he calmed down he sat down and Scott sat across from him and called him out on his lie about why he got expelled, so Liam told us his whole story that the teacher whose car Liam wrecked was also his coach and he did that because he benched Liam for the whole season after he got too many red cards. Then he told us after he was expelled he was sent to a psychologist for evaluation. 

"What did they call it?"

Scott asked. 

"Intermittent explosive disorder."

Liam replied. 

"IED? You're literally an IED? That's great. That's great. You gave superpowers to a walking time bomb."

Stiles yelled, and Liam told us that he had some antipsychotic medication but he doesn't take it because it makes him too tired to play lacrosse. Scott suggested that Liam should bail out of the game and tell Coach his leg's still sore.

"No! No! I can do this, especially if you're there."

Liam quickly stood up. Scott grabbed Liam's shoulder to calm him and told him that he thought  Demarco's killer might be on their lacrosse team. Then Liam frowned and we explained to him who Demarco was and then he said that he didn't know who ordered the keg but he knew that a freshman named Garret paid for it. After that Scott looked at the time and reminded us that the game was about to start so they needed to get ready. So Stiles and Scott went to change while I took Liam to his house so that he could dry off and change. While I was sitting in the jeep waiting for him, I got bored so I took out Archer's Voice by Mia Sheridan, which Isaac sent me and started reading it. 

"Hey, I am reading that book too."

Liam said as he hopped in. "Really, are you a reader too?" I asked and he nodded. "That's amazing. I finally found someone to discuss books with." I said smiling which he returned. Soon we reached school and as we were going to the field I realized Liam looked nervous so I said, "You're doing amazing, kid." Liam stopped and then turned towards me. "When Scott first changed he didn't even have the half the self control you have despite suffering from I.E.D, give yourself some credit." 

"Thank you for believing in me." 

He said, and I patted his head just as Liam's friend came. 

"Mason." 

He said extending his hand, "Ruth." I said shaking his hand. 

"Ruth as in Ruth Stilinski?" 

He asked wide eyed and I laughed and nodded. Then as he kept looking at me, so Liam dragged him aside and I laughed and went to stands. As I looked around I couldn't find Dad so I called him, "The game is about to start, Dad." I said as soon as he picked up. 

"I know, honey Stiles also called. I'll be there soon." 

He said and I ended the call and took my seat. As the game starts I could tell that Scott had decided that he would only focus on Liam for rest of the game, while Kira focused on Garret and Stiles, he just focused on playing. As the game continued Brett got the ball and shoulder-charged Liam on his way to score a second goal. Liam threw off his helmet and gloves and was ready to fight when Stiles and Scott and came and had to restrain him. After that game started again and Stiles passed the ball to Kira. She went to goal as she had open shot but Coach shouted at her to pass the ball. She didn't listen to him and scored Beacon Hills first goal and as she went to hug Scott, Coach called her and benched her for not listening to him. Soon the ball was with Liam as he was about to score a goal Brett collided with him and they both went back flying because of the impact. Scott ran to Liam, and after a few minutes Liam seemed fine but Brett was still on his back crying in pain. After that Liam went to Coach and got himself benched for rest of the game and just as I was relieved, I got Lydia's text which had next Deadpool list. And even though that list didn't include Liam it did include, Kate, Kira's mum and shockingly Brett Talbot. I stood up and flashed my phone in Stiles direction, he nodded and went to talk to Scott who was standing near Liam, while I also went in their direction. After realizing that Garret must've attacked Brett, Scott ran towards the locker room while Stiles and I first made sure that Liam was okay and then followed Scott. As we went inside we saw Brett laying on the floor and some girl knocked out. After seeing us Scott said, 

"You guys might want to call your Dad."