How hard could it be? • LM / SS

Chapter 121

"Seek them out now one by one, dropping bodies like a nun."

Max rapped his knuckles against his sister's door, giving her ten seconds before barging in. He was more restless than usual, patience running on a thin line. If one thing went wrong today, Jade was sure he would snap someone's neck without hesitation.

"The others are on their way over. Like, in two minutes," he flopped onto the bottom of her bed, wrapping a gloved finger around a loose thread on her duvet. Her room always radiated a sense of comfort; the scent of vanilla was always present, either from the candles that she lit or Allison's body spray. The curtains let in just the right amount of light to focus, not too bright and not too dark.

She had redecorated over the last few weeks, everything neat and tidy once more. After Allison's death, she had been too depressed to do anything, which included cleaning. Lydia had came over every day with coffee and doughnuts when Scott and Melissa were out, coaxing her girlfriend from under the covers. It had taken an entire week to get the room in order, but they had gotten there in the end.

Jade was still half asleep, only after rolling out of bed a half hour ago— even then, she hadn't moved from under her duvet, scrolling through Instagram for outfit inspiration. The burns over her body were still painful when she moved, but the heat had subsided to a dull ache. She hated to admit it, but the sage and mountain ash treatment that Blair had given her was helping a lot. The burns along her back and neck were the worst so far, but the others were healing quicker than expected.

She was beyond grateful that she hadn't had to sit the PSATs yesterday— one near-death experience was enough for the week. From what she had been told anyway, there had been a lot more drama in a day than what should have happened. Lilith, Max and Stiles had been held at gunpoint, the hunter recovering from being shot in the leg, while the supernaturals had all gone temporarily blind! Oh, not to mention the fact that Malia had found out she was the daughter of Peter Hale. You missed one day and Elvis Presley rose from the dead!

"Sorry for not telling you about Malia, by the way. I completely forgot, it wasn't intentional," she apologised for the hundredth time in the last twenty-four hours, the doorbell ringing in the distance. It looked like her plan of doing nothing for the day had been ruined already.

Max was already on his feet and bounding down the stairs, shouting a quick dismissive comment over his shoulder. He knew that it had genuinely been an accident, something that had flown over her head with all of the other things that had been going on. He had already sent Malia a bundle of messages, all repeating the same mantra that he hadn't known the secret. She had eventually responded— at three in the morning, of all times— stating that she wasn't mad at him, but just needed time to process the news. As much as he wanted to knock down the girl's door, she had put up a boundary and he had to respect that.

Jade sighed, mentally preparing herself for the amount of stupidity she was about to endure. She would honestly pay Stiles five dollars if he came up with a plan that went right. Carrying Fern under one arm and her laptop under the other, she joined the group in the kitchen.

Scott had messaged a select group of people to meet him at his house, sending it into a group chat that had all the members of the pack in it, even Liberty— but 'coincidentally' left Jade and Lilith out of the chat.

"Three should be enough, but it depends on how many cameras they have," Stiles waved Jade off, letting her know that her own laptop wasn't needed. She didn't mind, firing the device onto the coffee table in the living room. It wasn't any skin off her back.

"Are we really doing this?" Liam anxiously asked, tapping his fingers against the table. Even though Scott and the others had reassured him countless times, over and over again, he just couldn't get himself on board with the plan. It was borderline suicidal if he was being honest. "Isn't it kind of dangerous? Have you guys done something like this before?"