Cynical.

It was 10 o'clock, and neither of my parents were home, so I felt completely justified when someone knocked and I grabbed the biggest knife from the kitchen that I could find. I slowly walked toward the door, the fear creating an icy feeling in my chest.

"What the hell were you gonna do with that?" Stiles was staring at me with eyes when I yanked the door open, holding his hands up in surrender. I let out a loud sigh of relief and moved to let him inside.

"I planned on taking the life of whoever was standing on the other side of that door." I shut it behind him and walked back to the couch, flopping over the side. I grabbed my bowl of popcorn and the remote, pressing play.

"Seriously?"

"Why are you here, Stiles?" As far as I knew, there wasn't any new information. No one else had died, and we weren't any closer to cracking the second code. I was trying to relax while I could because every else was trying to push me to heighten my abilities. Long story short, it hadn't worked.

"Scott and I talked to my dad." I sat up, raising my eyebrows and setting the popcorn bowl back on the coffee table.

"What do you mean you talked to him?"

"We told him what was going on." This was either really good or really bad for us.

"What did you tell him?"

"Everything we knew. About the list, the money that was stolen from the Hale vault.....he has a theory." So telling Sheriff Stilinski was a good idea, but I still didn't think the adults needed to get involved when they didn't know exactly what they were dealing with. Hell, we didn't know exactly what we were dealing with. We were going into all go this with a blind eye.

"What's the theory?"

"Somehow, the list gets sent out, and the assassins pick who they want to kill. Each person is worth a certain amount of money. That's what the numbers are."

"So you came here to tell me that your dad figured out more about what's going on in thirty minutes than we have in the last couple weeks?" It was disappointing, but it wasn't like we had a lot to go on. Lydia was trying her best to figure everything out. She hadn't left the lake house since we cracked the first code.

"No. I'm here because I was hoping you'd be able to figure out the second cypher key?" I rolled my eyes, hitting the pause button again.

"I don't know how many times I have to remind you guys that I can't turn my powers on and off. Lydia's known about hers longer, and she can't do it either. I'm not sure what you want me to do. I feel like enough of a freak as it is. Liam lives next door. I'd rather him not come bursting in here because he heard me scream and thinks someone is trying to kill me."

"You don't know that you're going to scream. We're not trying to find a dead person. We just need answers. Please, Alana." It was moments like this when I wished my grandmother was coherent enough to have a conversation. She was the only person I knew that might be able to help.

"I hope you know you're interrupting a very intense marathon of Supernatural. I will never forgive you for this," I grumbled, turning the tv off. I moved to pull on my shoes and grab my jacket from the front closet.

"We're literally living in the middle of one of those episodes, and you want to watch the show." His tone was sarcastic, and I rolled my eyes, grabbing my keys from the bowl.

"Take me to the lake house." I didn't know any other place to be that would actually help. The lake house was where I heard the first cypher key. Maybe it would help with finding the second one.

"Have you talked to Liam?"

"Nope. He avoids me like the plague. He won't sit next to me in class, and he doesn't look in my direction on the way to school. I've given up trying to be nice."

"He's probably just scared. He doesn't really know what's going on. He needs friends." I rolled my eyes, keeping my nasty comments to myself.

"I've tried being his friend. He can find someone else to be rude to."

"You're not the nicest person either, Alana." He had a point, but I wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of letting him know that.

"I'm nice enough. If someone is rude to me, why would I be nice to them? You have to give respect to get it." The rest of the ride was silent, and I thanked whoever was watching over us. Lydia's car was still parked in the driveway, and the front door was unlocked. I made my way up to the office, pushing the door open. Lydia was standing in front of the wall, a lost look on her face.

"Anything?" Stiles asked as I walked to Lydia's side. I could tell that she was frustrated by the way she pursed her lips.

"Nothing useful," she sighed, walking back to the desk and opening her laptop. I ran my fingers over the wall, hearing a small humming sound. There was something behind it, but I doubted that she'd want to destroy the room to find out what it was.

"You know something is behind this, right?" I asked, pressing my ear against the wall. The humming got louder, but it didn't help with being able to hear anything.

"I know. I just wish I knew what it was. I have half a mind to break it."

"I don't think that's a good idea. We don't know what's waiting on the other side, and if it doesn't help, we'll have destroyed a wall for nothing." I tried to concentrate, but I only heard whispers. There were so many sounds at once that I couldn't get anything clear. Stiles standing in the corner staring at me like I had two heads wasn't exactly ideal either.

"Help Lydia or something," I grumbled, waving my hand at him. He walked to the desk and leaned over Lydia's shoulder. A sour feeling settled in my chest as I watched the way he looked at her. It was no secret that he was in love, but I wasn't sure why that fact suddenly mattered so much to me.

"Guys, it's late. I've been here all week, and I haven't been able to figure anything out. We should get some sleep." Stiles and I had only been there for twenty minutes. It seemed like a waste to leave now.

"Just give me a minute." I pressed my ear to the wall again and closed my eyes. There had to be something that would help.

the sun, the moon, the truth

A riddle wasn't something I took a liking to. Most were easy enough to figure out, but some made my head hurt.

the sun, the moon, the truth

"What is it?" Stiles was at my side, his hand on my shoulder. I bit my lip, taking a step away from him.

"The sun, the moon, the truth. Does that mean anything to either of you?" I asked, glancing back and forth between the two of them.

"Not us, but maybe Scott or Derek." Lydia was tapping away on her phone, but I was confused. I really wanted to talk to my grandmother, but that was at least a four hour drive, and I wasn't sure that she would be able to help in her mental state.

"Who's Derek?"

"Another werewolf."

"Well, where is he?"

"We don't know. We haven't seen him since we brought him back from Mexico." I opened my mouth to ask how that even happened, but there wasn't time for stories. We needed to figure out what was killing supernatural creatures.

"Let's just go home. We can pick this up tomorrow." I followed Stiles out to his car, promising Lydia that I would call her if I heard anything else.

"Are you going to the lacrosse game tomorrow?" he asked as he pulled into my driveway. I let out a small sigh of relief when I saw that my parents still weren't home. They would have my head if they knew I was out this late, especially with everything that was going on.

"Should we really be thinking about lacrosse with all this stuff going on?"

"It's about as normal as life is going to get in Beacon Hills, so yeah. Are you coming?"

"Yeah, I'll be there. I'll see you tomorrow, Stiles." I slid out of his car and walked into the house as fast as my legs would allow. When I made it up to my room, I tossed myself onto my bed, trying to figure out how I'd gotten myself in the middle of all of this.



"Liam, what's wrong?" It was like the entire school had gathered by the buses, but I didn't know what the occasion was. All I saw was that Liam looked on the verge of a freak out, and there were too many people around for him to shift and not have anyone notice.

"Not that it's any of your business, but we're going against my old school tonight." I'd come to the conclusion that whatever made Liam the way he was happened before he moved here, meaning it probably had something to do with his old team. I watched as they got off the bus, my eyes going directly to a boy that was almost too beautiful for words. I gasped, and Mason's eyes widened as he gulped, "Seriously? Both of you?" I shook my head, breaking my eyes away.

"Look at him." Mason was practically drooling, and I resisted the urge to giggle, covering it up with a cough.

"I have to go." Liam disappeared, and I sighed.

"He'll come around eventually," Mason said, putting his hand on my shoulder.

"Yeah, I don't think he will. I've tried. It's like he thinks I'm infected with something." I rolled my eyes, turning to walk back inside.

"That's not it. He's just been through a lot. Give him time." I was tired of people telling me to give him time or give it time. I didn't have time to waste. I wasn't going to try to make someone like me if they weren't making any effort toward a friendship. I was getting ready to walk into class when I saw Violet and Garrett. There was something on the side of her neck that she was trying to cover up, but I knew it was immediately.

"Do you know where Scott is?" I asked, though I knew it wasn't likely that he had the answer. I had to find someone though. I was right about the devil mint twins.

"He might be in the locker room." I took off down the hall, hoping I would run into someone along the way. If Scott wasn't in there, maybe I'd find Stiles or Lydia first. I ran into the locker room, hearing someone being slammed against the lockers.

"Scott?" I called out, hoping he was the one inside and not someone that I couldn't fight off, but Scott wasn't the person I saw. Tall, dark, and handsome was the only way to describe who I saw, but I had a chilling feeling, and every bone in my body was telling me to run in opposite direction. But I couldn't on account of the fact that Liam was wolfing out and struggling to get down.

"You're right. He is angry." When Scott stepped around the corner, I knew I'd walked into some sort of training for Liam, but I still didn't know what was going on, "Who's she?"

"Alana, this is Derek." My eyes widened, and suddenly I felt better. Not much, but enough to get out the question I needed to.

"Perfect. What does the sun, the moon, and the truth mean?" I saw something flash in his eyes, but as soon as I'd seen it, it was gone.

"What do you know about that?" He looked like he didn't want to tell me, so it had to have been important.

"She's a banshee. She's trying to help us with the deadpool."

"Where did you hear that?"

"Lydia's lake house last night. I was told you'd be able to tell me what it means?" I was hopeful because I'd been thinking about the saying all day, but I wasn't any closer to figuring out what it meant or who it pertained to.

"It's a Buddhist saying that werewolves use to help control themselves. Three things that can't be hidden; the sun, the moon, the truth." It still didn't help, but at least I knew what they were used for. The bell ran, but there was no way I'd be able to focus in class.

"You guys should get to class." Liam walked out of the locker room without me, and I was instantly annoyed. I started to leave, but I remembered something.

"Scott, you need to watch out for Garrett and Violet. They're the assassins." Scott's eyes widened, and Derek was staring at me with a look I couldn't pinpoint, but I didn't have time to guess.

"Are you sure?"

"Positive. Violet has claw marks on her neck, probably from Carrie." I took one last look at Derek and walked out, but I didn't go to class. I walked toward the music room. We had a long way to go, and sitting in a classroom wasn't going to help us.



"There you are. I've been looking everywhere for you." Stiles jogged up to me with Scott at his side. They were supposed to be getting ready for the game.

"Sorry. I was in the music room."

"Did you get anything?"

"I already told Scott it was Garrett and Violet. I just don't know who they're going after. They're not dumb enough to go after Scott. The only person I can think of is Liam, but his name wasn't even on the list." I hated being in the middle of all of this. I was only a teenager. I was supposed to be worrying about dances and college applications, not who was going to die next.

"It might be on one of the other two. We have to warn him."

"Liam runs in the opposite direction when he sees me coming. He's your responsibility. Not mine." I followed them out by the field where the Devenford Prep boys were unloading their gear from the buses. Liam was walking toward them, fire in his eyes, "Uh, Scott." I nodded my head and followed when they took off into a run.

"I just wanted to say...Have a good game." Those weren't the words I was expecting to come out of Liam's mouth, but I was thankful that he hadn't hit him.

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." Clearly this dude was an asshole, but I was more concerned with that he said. Liam was in anger management?

"I paid for it." I could see Liam's hands closing themselves into fists. I walked to his side, grabbing his bicep with one hand and his wrist with the other. It was risky, and he'd probably never forgive me for it, but they were making a scene.

"Come on, Liam. Let's go." I was trying to pull him in the opposite direction, but the boy wasn't done.

"Yeah, you're going to pay for it. We're gonna break you in half out there. And it's gonna be all your fault." At this point, I wanted to hit him, but he was nearly two feet taller than me. I knew punching him wasn't going to do anything.

"Liam." I tugged him back, letting Scott and Stiles take over.

"You didn't have to do that," Liam said once we were around the corner and out of sight.

"I just didn't want you to do something that was going to get you in trouble. He's not worth it." I could see the blood coming from his palms, and I grabbed a tissue out of instinct to wipe his hands, but he was already healed.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome." I turned to walk away, but I felt a hand on my wrist.

"I'm sorry, Alana." I didn't know what exactly he was apologizing for, but I wasn't going to complain or ask questions.

"It's fine. I'll see you later.