Chaos Magic (Stiles Stilinski)

A Man Known as A Chemist

"Why am I scared to play it?" Scott asked as we stared at the tape recorder. At the bottom of the money bag, we found a single tape recorder with a straightforward instruction: Play Me.

Growing curious, I hit Scott on the arm, "Just play it."

He nodded as we looked at the cassette tape player, pressing play. "After entering the IP address, you will connect to an untraceable bank through a Dark-net portal. Once logged in, enter your account number to receive wire transfers. The IP address will deactivate with each transfer." My eyes scanned over the stacks of money we counted as the tape continued. "You will be assigned a new IP address if you continue down the list. Remember–visual confirmation is always required for payment." And just like that, the tape ended.

The three of us sat silently before Stiles said, "Any of us ever made a wire transfer?"

I shook my head as Scott shrugged, "Never had enough money."

"So, none of us understood what that meant?"

"I don't understand any of it," I sighed, looking at the money and the boys. "Why would someone use all this money just to kill us?"

"Someone wants us dead," Scott shook his head, "badly."

I scoffed, "That makes me feel a whole lot better."

Scott wasted no time as he started stuffing the money into the gym bag, "Whoa, whoa–what are you doing?" Stiles asked as we both watched Scott enter a frantic episode.

"It's late," he answered. "We've got the PSATs in the morning."

"He means the money," I clarified Stiles' question. "Five hundred thousand dollars, Scott. You know how much money that is?" My mind flashed back to the check that was issued to me from the city after Tate's attacks. Half a million dollars that I still haven't done anything with.

"It's five hundred thousand," Scott said as if it's just a number.

"It's half a million dollars, Scott," Stiles interjected. "What are you going to do? Just slide it under your mattress?"

"I have to talk to Derek," he said. "The money's his."

"You mean his and Peter's," I corrected him.

"What does that mean?" Scott asked, looking at me.

"I mean," I sighed, "maybe we should proceed with caution."

Scott's eyes widened. "You don't think we should tell Derek?"

I rolled my neck before laying on the ground, "No." I sighed, "No, we have to tell Derek." I rolled my head over as I repeatedly watched the rain hit the window. "I'm just saying, some of that money is Peter's, right?"

It was silent for a second before the boys said, "Yeah."

I sat up to look at them, hopefully getting my point across. "Right? Peter? Homicidal killer?" I tried to remind them. "You want to give five hundred thousand dollars to him?"

Scott's face was full of confusion, "So, we should give Derek his money back, but not Peter?"

I sighed, "I didn't say that."

"Taylor, that's exactly what you're saying," Stiles said. Before I could explain myself further, we all froze as we heard footsteps running up the stairs. Scott moved quickly to push the bag underneath the bed as Stiles and I stood. The door opened as I helped Scott off the floor. We stood awkwardly at the end of the bed as Malia stood soaking wet on the other side of the door. 

"We found Satomi's pack," she said. "Derek and I, but they're dead."

Scott took a step forward, "All of them?" He asked in disbelief.