Soldier ▶ L. Martin

chapter 24

L U C A   M C C A L L

"What do the different colored strings mean?"

The group decided to split up; Scott went to see Kira as Isaac went to see Alli, the twins...I don't know where the heck they went, leaving Lena, Lydia, and me either leaning, or laying on Stiles' bed as he attempted to assemble his so called, "murder board".

"Oh, just different stages of the investigation; so green is solved, yellow is to be determined, blue's just...pretty." Stiles told Lydia as he added a few more red strings, which I never realized was covered in only red and nothing else.

"What's the red then?" Lena questioned, sitting up from his bed. "Unsolved." He answered, not looking back at us.

"There's only red." I stated. "Yes, I'm aware. Thank you." He sassed.

Well, then.

"Did you get detention for pulling the alarm?" Lydia wondered, twiddling the red yarn with her fingers. "Yep. Every day this week. It's okay, though. We were onto something." He assured.

"Even though we couldn't find any proof of Barrow being there?" She sighed, causing me to look at her with a frown. I bent down to her eye level and began to untwine the strings from her. "Lyds, don't beat yourself up because of this. You were onto something and tried to help...that's all that matters." I cooed, placing my hand onto her cheek. She leaned into my touch and sent me a small smile.

"Fuck, I'm gonna cry..." I heard Lena choke in the background.

"And look, if you wanted to, I'd go back to that school right now and search all night just to prove it..." Stiles' voice trailed off as if a bright light bulb appeared above his head. "What?" Lena stood up from the bed questionably.

"Get up. Get up now. We're going to the school." He ordered, flashing out of the room.

"Why does this supernatural world always revolve around school?!" Lena whined.

-

"So what exactly are we looking for again?" My friend inquired as she followed us into the Chemistry room.

We came across the storage that contained various chemicals, and Stiles just-so-happened to open it without difficulty. "That was supposed to be locked." Lydia pointed out. "Yeah. I know. Notice anything else?" Stiles mumbled, looking around.

"Well, I think he's clever enough to use chemicals to wipe out his scent." I said.

Stiles used the flashlight from his phone and guided it towards the ground where blood and staples were found. "He was here, performing very minor surgery on himself. You were right." He told the strawberry blonde-haired girl. "Then why don't I feel good about this?" She asked in fear.

"Because he's here to kill a fucking person!" Lena panicked, forcing me to engulf her in my arms.

"But who?" Lydia urged for an answer, completely ignoring the brunette's little freak out. "That's what we gotta figure out. We could spread out, start looking for anything." He said, going back to the classroom.

We all went into separate directions with Kai still attached to my arm. I noticed from the corner of my eyes, Lydia, who was inching towards the chalkboard in trance.

19

53

88

Now seeing what was written on the board, I also made my way towards it. "Atomic numbers?" I questioned, more to myself.

"Is it a formula?" Stiles quizzed, joining along. "Not really. Nineteen's potassium. The first two make potassium iodide." She answered, writing down the symbols that belonged to its owners.

"Potassium is K?" He said in almost disgust and confusion. "From kalium, the scientific neo-Latin name." She replied.

"What's radium?" His eyes grew wide, realizing the final answer. "R-A." She concluded.

19 K

53 I

88 Ra

"It's Kira. He's after Kira." I revealed.

-

Once we jumped out of Stiles' Jeep, we came to Scott's aid as he was slowly gaining his consciousness back. "Barrow, he took Kira!" Scott exclaimed. "We know. He was after her the whole time." Stiles informed the werewolf.

Stiles and I helped him get back on his feet as he was dialing Isaac's number to see if him and Alli found any information that could help us.

"Alright. Thanks." Scott ended the phone conversation before turning his attention on us. "We have to think of something. He's going to kill her." He warned.

"I knew he was there. How did I know that?" Lydia questioned. "Because you heard the flies, right?" Stiles pointed out.

"Are you hearing anything now?" Lena wondered. "Nothing. I feel like I can do this. But I don't know what to do. It's like it's on the tip of my tongue, and I don't know how to trigger it. I just I swear to God, it literally makes me want to scream." She stressed, turning her back towards us.

"Lyds, if you want to scream, scream." I encouraged. It didn't take her long to do as I said and let out an ear-piercing scream that shook the entire neighborhood. As she was done, she faced us in realization, making us flinch. "It's not flies. It's electricity." She corrected herself.

"Wait a second, Barrow was an electrical engineer. He worked at a power substation." Stiles thought out loud. "What substation?" Scott interjected.

After we discovered which substation Barrow was holding Kira captive, Stiles stepped on the gas pedal as soon as everyone got in with Scott following behind on his motorbike.

Parking his vehicle in front of the building before us, we all got out but told Lydia to stay out until the cops arrived.

"Lena, you're with me." I told her as I began running inside one of the entrances. "No need to tell me twice." She commented hot on my trail.

The place was like a maze and it felt as if we weren't going to find her in time until we heard an explosion and screaming. "Over there." She pointed to the right and sure enough we made it.

"Oh, my God." Lena gasped in shock as we witnessed Kira absorbing the electricity through her fingertips.

"Scott!" I shouted, rushing over to his side. "You okay?" I asked.

"Y-Yeah...I think I am." He muttered. "Geez, today's not your day, huh?" I joked, patting his chest.