She remained situated at her desk, bathing in an unnerving silence that she couldn't quite shake. It was nearly the end of the morning, the second school day to the new year, but something just seemed off. It was a feeling Riley couldn't erase, as if it sat upon her shoulders, demanding to be felt. All she could think about was the previous night, and how she seemed to carry the guilt of the unknown man's death with her. And how the bullet casing seemed to match that of Chris Argent's. How his families crest was etched into every bullet he'd made by hand. That had thrown her off guard, finding it to be a hard pill to swallow once she'd seen the bullet wedged between the Hellhound's eyes.

Riley suddenly thought of her mother, and how both Divina and Chris had moved in together just earlier last year. Its the happiest she'd ever seen either of them in a long time, considering life had offered them circumstances that exceeded far beyond what any normal person could fathom. They'd taken things extremely slow in regards to healing from the fracture of the hardships they'd faced, finding solace in the presence of one another. Riley had been undeniably supportive of Divina and Chris' relationship, but after last nights events she wasn't so sure anymore.

Having not seen either of them in nearly a week, Riley contemplated the odds of Chris Argent being the hunter that had taken down two separate creatures in two separate nights. It couldn't have been. She trusted her instinct enough to know that Chris was an ally, but anyone else she wasn't too sure. She couldn't help it as her thumb mechanically pressed the lever of her pen over and over again. It's soft click allowed her to think properly, left alone to her own thoughts, she couldn't help but over analyze the situation.

A small knock at her office door startled her then, shifting into a ramrod straight position as she zoned back into the present. Knowing she didn't have an appointments scheduled with any student's, she craned her neck and furrowed her brows once the office door cracked open. "Hey." A soothing voice chimed, relaxing her shoulders when she saw Derek shuffle inside, cracking the door shut behind him.

"What are you doing here?" She asked, taken aback by his presence as she closed her calendar book in return.

Within Derek's hand was a paper sac, "You forgot your lunch this morning." He implied, placing it on her desk with a tender smile. He'd brought it to her without even second guessing it. Her lip curved for a moment, but fell once she glanced back up at her husband. His expression seemed to change after only a moment. The tenderness was gone, he was seriousness now. "Deaton got back to me." He expressed. "The bullets he extracted from the wolves match the casing found at the Hellhound's body."

Taking a second to absorb that information, Riley felt her entire frame sink lower into her chair. "You do think it was Chris?"

"I don't know what to think." He confessed apprehensively. "It could've been anyone." Derek didn't take a seat, but instead, stood before Riley at her desk with crossed arms. "I'm waiting to hear from Argent." He assured. "See if maybe someone got into his bunker and stole his ammunition?"

It wasn't the answer Riley had anticipated, but what more could she do considering the circumstances? Someone had willingly killed twelve supernatural's in the span of forty-eight hours. He could clearly see the defeat plastered over his wife's face, pursing his lips with uncertainty, unsure of how to ensure her that the worst probably hadn't happened yet. They'd seemingly fell into an unnerved silence up until the door to Riley's office bustled open quickly. Coach Finstock waltzed right in without so much as a knock, a folder of files latched between his hands. "These are all the degenerates that made lacrosse try—outs last night!" He announced as he plopped them on her desk. "Their grades will have to be closely monitored so that I don't have to bench them!"

Bobby Finstock hadn't changed a bit since Riley's time there as a student. And by the sound of it, it seemed as if the coach did not know how to appropriate boundaries. Bobby looked up then once he plopped the files down, glancing at the man who towered over him at his side. "Holy moly!" Coach gasped. "These Seniors just keep getting bigger and bigger." He clapped Derek on the back, admiring the structure of his jawline in awe. "Are there steroids in the drinking fountain this year?" Bobby wondered, his unruly brows rising in surprise as he roamed his palm over the sharp definition of Derek's arms. "If that was legal I would have started doing that ages ago!"

Riley cleared her throat then, able to identify the sheer uneasiness swell within Derek's cheeks. "Bobby?" She asked, gaining his attention. "That's my husband."

"Husb—What?" He crowed in alarm. "Where'd you find this guy?" He barked. "Chiseled from clay like some sort of Greek God!" Bobby took another second to admire his muscled frame before looking Derek in the eyes. "You ever play lacrosse, kid?"

Derek shook his head steadily. "Basketball." He hinted. "You were the coach."

Bobby Finstock narrowed his eyes at Derek again, studying his face as if he were linking to some kind of memory from years prior. "What did you say your name was?" He asked, unable to fully process this mans presence and link it back to a distant time before he'd switched to coaching lacrosse full time.

"Derek." He murmured. "Derek Hale."

Bobby's mouth seemed to open slightly, his wide, brown eyes enlarged with surprise before his wide grin appeared over his row of unnaturally white teeth. "Derek Hale?" He demanded with a snort. His eyes roamed over Derek's frame one last time before laughing. "You really grew into that skinny body of yours, didn't ya?" He laughed once more, reminiscing as he began to backtrack towards the hallway again. "You were like a life size bobblehead!" Wobbling his own head back and forth as if to mock Derek's once skinny, teenage frame, Coach disappeared then around the corner, though his loud guffaw could still be heard echoing from down the hall.

###

###

The rest of the afternoon seemed to run smoothly, continuing on with pre scheduled appointments with students she was just barely getting to know. Riley knew it would take time for most of them to open up to her about the problems they'd wished to seek guidance on, and she was beyond patient enough to gain any ounce of it she could. It's what the children of Beacon Hills deserved, especially after all this town had seen.

It had rounded to nearly one when another knock sounded on her door, having anticipated the arrival of another appointment, Riley was surprised to find Ms. Martin shuffle through quietly. She'd always been a pristine woman, not having any trouble seeing just where Lydia had gotten her poise and sense of fashion from. And ever since Natalie Martin took the position as principal, she always seemed slightly frazzled. "Hi, Natalie." Riley greeted. Her best friends mother and her were well on a first name basis. But Riley's welcoming smile seemed to falter at just one look at Natalie, watching her shuffle uneasily before wiping her sweating palms along the length of her dress.

"I don't wish to alarm you." Natalie proclaimed in a slightly shaken tone. "But we're releasing the students from class a few hours early."

Riley's brow knitted in confusion, straightening her posture within her office chair. "Early?" She demanded evenly. "Why?"

Natalie closed the door behind her, craning her head through the small glass window to ensure what she said did not spread to the students. "A body was found in the broiler room." She said after a second of deliberating her words. "We're evacuating the school before the word spreads." She then calmly spoke. "The last thing we need are their parents jamming up the phone lines."

With a firm nod of her head, Riley shut off the monitor to her computer and silently grabbed her things. "Was it a student?" She asked as both she and Natalie entered the hallway. Student's had already begun heading for the exits, bursts of excitement echoing down the halls.

But Natalie shook her head as Riley paused to lock her office door. "We're not sure." Natalie said sincerely, reaching a tender hand out to softly touch Riley's wrist. "It didn't have a face." She turned then, heading back for her own office as Riley felt cemented to the tile beneath her feet. Able to feel the palpitations of her heart increase, she felt lightheaded at the idea. And how her words had shifted Riley back a few nights prior to the dream she'd had. Finding the faceless and maggot infested corpse within the woods.

The similarity was uncanny, certainly a sign that something awful was festering within their town.

Riley took her time heading for the parking lot, waiting for the sea of students to disperse and head their own ways home. And as soon as the last bus of kids left the school, Sheriff Stilinski and his team sped into the parking lot. Years ago a dead body wouldn't have been such a surprise, but with the past two years being incident free, Riley couldn't remember having the news hit her this hard. She watched as John and the coroner entered the school, her throat swelling as her belly began to ache. It left her shaken at her core, gritting her teeth just to keep them from chattering. "When I first got hired here," a voice spoke up from beside her, "I heard this school had a reputation."

Glancing to her side, Riley watched as Tamora Monroe took a stance beside her. She watched with intrigued eyes as the coroner arrived on sight, her dark eyes lost in the tragedy of the scene unfolding before her. "What kind of reputation?" Riley asked curiously, perched at the hood of her car, unsure of if she should stay or leave.

"Excessive body counts." Monroe replied then, heading off then across the parking lot to her own car. Riley couldn't find any flaw within her words, having known for quite some time that this school was quite literally a beacon for bad things. She gulped thickly at the truth behind her choice of words, glancing back once more at the cop cars aligned along the sidewalk before she reached for her car keys within her purse, and as she hit the button on her key fob to unlock her door, Riley noticed something strange.

Bending down beside the back, drivers side door, Riley inspected an arrow protruding from her tire. A swell of shock collected in her bones, a sense of anxiety gripping firmly at her skin as she carefully plucked the embedded arrow from the rubber. The tire was flat, nearly melted into the street where she'd parked as she held the pointed edge up for herself to see. The arrow tip was crafted by hand and molded by silver. Stamped with an Argent's crest.

###

###

It had taken less than a half hour before Riley could hear the squeal of tires from down the block. She didn't even have to look to know who they belonged to. After finding the arrow embedded into her tire, her first call was to a tow truck, the second was to Derek. He seemed rather rattled on the other end of the line before he assured he'd be there to pick her up. She could hear the purr of his engine once he'd parked his car a few spaces away. She kept her eyes focused on the tow truck ahead of her, and the gentleman who continued to assemble his equipment to the front axel of Riley's charger. By the sound of Derek's car door slamming, she could gather just how angry he was.

Turning to face him felt harder than it should have, only because the prominent vein within his forehead seemed as if it were going to burst. He paced towards her, his eyes laced on the arrow that was still firmly gripped within her hand. "It could have just been an accident." Riley spoke first, hoping to simmer the heat flooding his cheeks, hoping that his ears wouldn't turn red with rage. "The archery team could have shot a rogue-"

She tries to make light of it, for his sake, so that the worry in his eyes would subside long enough to figure out whether or not this truly was an accident. "There is no archery team." He muttered angrily, unsure how she could make light of something that left him rattled. Derek paused his quick pace, a heavy breath of air surging through his flared nostrils as he pointed towards her car being hoisted onto the back of the tow truck. "No." He confirmed. "That's no accident." He seethed, ignoring Riley's pleading eyes for him to keep his voice down. "That was deliberate. Whoever did it knew what kind of car you drove. They knew where you worked. Hell," he huffed, "they probably know where we live."

"Derek." Riley said mindfully, shifting nervous glances to the armed officers who still patrolled the parking lot. They glanced at them every few moments, speculating about the rage they heard spilling from Derek Hale's mouth, and wondering if and when they should intervene. Her hand reached forward, cradling his rigid knuckles within hers to keep him calm. How else was he suppose to feel? Getting a call that his wife had been targeted? Perhaps it was a threat of some kind? But with the body count of supernatural creatures already spiking in the matter of two days, the odds of a coincidental attack seemed unrealistic.

He took a few deep breaths more, keeping his eyes firmly strained on the wedding band adorning Riley's hand. It helped ease the tension he felt building up inside of his chest, rolling his shoulders before she spoke again. "Can you catch a scent?" She asked, her voice low as she held up the arrow for him to study.

Derek's curved nose flared, analyzing any particular scent that still clung to the weapon. "It's faint." He mentioned with a defeated huff. "Nothing I could track."

Riley nodded, squaring her jaw as she glanced back to the commotion at the entrance of the school. They wheeled out a body bag now, loading it up into the back of the ambulance as she offered him a serious question. "Do you think whoever did this," inclining her head towards the flat tire of her car, "is the same person who did that?" Adverting her gaze back to the lifeless body bag.

Derek followed her gaze stiffly. "Only one way to find out."

###

###

The lobby of the Hospital seemed erratic, flooding with people waiting to be seen as both Riley and Derek strode past the check—in desk. They both already knew who they needed to find, taking the elevator to the third floor where Melissa McCall was often times zoned in. Riley couldn't help reaching for Derek's hand as they passed by a couple seated together just outside of a hospital room. Their expressions had been molded into grief, provoking an ache to stretch across Riley's chest. She hated Hospitals even to this day. The sterile smell and the sweltering sense of loss.

They moved along in silence, keeping to themselves with the hopes that a passing nurse wouldn't notice that they did not belong. But Derek spotted Melissa first, able to identify her scent within the first few seconds of stepping foot into the lobby. The Hospital seemed to be Melissa's second home. Her scent trailed over nearly every corner of this building. She was perched behind the counter at the nurses station, reading a file with careful eyes once they approached.

Melissa looked up in surprise, a smile spreading across her tan cheeks. Her grin grew so wide that the corners of her chocolate brown eyes had begun to crinkle. The nurse appraised the couple with gentle eyes before she was able to see the timid expression on Riley's face. "I'm guessing you two didn't stop by just to say hello?"

Riley's expression fell at the discomfort in Melissa's tone. "We need a favor." Derek pressed quietly.

He didn't need to specify much for Melissa to catch on. The nurse crossed her arms over the pink scrubs adorning her chest before nodding in assumption. "Is this about the faceless body they found at the school?" Sharing a knowing glance with Derek, Riley nodded firmly, "If you're hoping to see it," Melissa informed defensively, just as another nurse walked by, "absolutely not." She heightened her voice just the slightest to ensure any passing ears that no rules were being broken. And once the passing nurse was out of ear shot, Melissa leaned across the counter with a devious grin. "We better make it quick." She insinuated with a small wink.

Both Riley and Derek followed her back towards the elevator, clenching their jaws as Melissa input the code for the floor of the morgue. They'd been down in the basement several times before, but each time had always left a poisonous taste within their mouth. Being so involved like this was never as easy as some thought. It took a lot of mental preparation to confront the dead.

The basement was colder than the rest of the Hospital, having to be in order to store the bodies so that they wouldn't decay faster than Melissa could wheel them in. The hallway leading to the double doors were dim, a hauntingly dark space that left the hairs on the back of Derek's neck standing straight up. He could feel Riley radiate with a chill beside him, extending out his arm to wrap around her back with hope that it would offer her the slightest bit of warmth.

It seemed that as the closer they got to the doors, the colder Riley began to feel. Despite the chill weaving up her spine, her temples and palms began to pool with sweat. A strong desire to flee coiled within her gut, ushering her to turn back and run. She gulped down the lingering feeling of fear, biting down on her tongue to keep herself from turning back. This intense feeling was new to her. She'd never been this scared to come down to the morgue.

But it wasn't just her, Derek felt it too. He felt the rapid pulse of his heart thud against his ribs. Leaving them aching for an escape as he merely shook his head to dislodge the feeling. "I—I haven't had time to examine the corpse yet." Melissa stammered, her hands visibly shaking as they gripped the handle to the morgue's door. She seemed frazzled and shaken.

Hesitating for just a few moments, Melissa finally unlatched the door that lead into the morgue. Riley took slow steps forward, her knees buckling as if her mind had tried to send signals to her limbs to stop. Across from the door was the wall of cabinets, all labeled with the different bodies confined within their tightly knit spaces. Riley gulped at the sight, her hands balling into fists as they ached to reach back out for the door.

"Does anybody else feel . . ." Derek trailed off, his eyes skimming the room back and forth erratically

"Terrified?" Melissa prompted as the others nodded.

Her breathing was labored as they moved closer to the metal cabinet that sealed away the body they'd found at the school. A sickness seemed to gather in the pit of Riley's stomach as Melissa fearfully pulled back the metal door that separated them from the corpse. "Is the scent the same?" Riley asked, nudging an uncomfortable Derek as he shifted uneasily from one foot to the other.

He tried to concentrate, but it wasn't enough. "I—I can't tell."

Melissa's gloved hand wrapped around the metal table that resided inside of the morgue cabinet. Taking a deep breath to settle the nausea she felt, she slowly pulled the table out for them to examine. A sheet rested over the frame. The presence of this corpse left them afraid, holding their breath as Melissa falteringly peeled back the sheet. Despite the heinous scene before them, they found that they could not look away.

Just like in Riley's dream a few nights prior, the muscle of the corpse were smooth, showing no details of any previous features. As if it's skin had been delicately scalped from it's body. And the longer she stared at it, the more her own body began to shake. It was Derek who stepped forward eagerly, ripping the sheet from Melissa's hands before covering it back up and shoving the metal table it resided on back inside the cabinet. The metal clanged noisily, allowing the breath he'd been holding to escape as he looked to both of them wildly. "The scent isn't the same." He informed as all three of them shuffled back out into the hallway. He shook his head incredulously once they reached the safety of the hallway again, rubbing his palms against his thighs, hating how vulnerable this corpse seemed to make him. He'd been able to sense the corpses lingering chemo signals. Fear was an understatement.

###

###

Riley couldn't seem to control her hands even once they'd reached the safety of Derek's car. She kept them bound within her lap, her shoulders quaking despite the heater that was vented directly on her. And even still, she couldn't seem to get warm. "What—what was that thing?" Her teeth chattered against one another, helping her stay loosely focused on the vents upon the dashboard.

With his grip firmly laced around the wheel, Derek tasted his words before he let them out. "Not just a corpse." He stated initially before backtracking. "I've never seen anything like that." He shook his head as he relived the image of it's faceless body over and over again. "Someone skinned it straight down to the muscle." At his words, Riley felt bile rise into her throat, though she ground her teeth together to keep it from spilling into her mouth. Regardless of the fear she continued to feel, an even deeper emotion began to seep into her skin. The dreaded feeling of guilt. Guilt for not listening to her gut feeling after the dream she'd had a few nights ago. Perhaps she could have stunted the suffering of someone else in her town.

The sudden ring of Derek's cell phone sounded, it's shrill tone causing her to jump nervously at it's echo. Derek was quick to answer it, placing the call on speaker phone as he did. "Scott." Derek greeted between gritted teeth.

The voice on the other end was filled with haste. "We just got word on a group of hunters who are hunting down Brett and Lori!" Scott huffed anxiously. "I've got Liam on their heels, but they're heading South of the preservation!" Riley remembered the two werewolves from Satomi's pack with ease, her brow furrowing as she shuffled closer to the receiver to hear. "They're about a mile out from Maple drive!" Scott hinted, directing them towards their location as they neared the street that idled near a residential neighborhood. "You two up for a rescue mission?"

Derek shared a look with Riley, who nodded firmly without a second of hesitation. "I'm a few minutes down the road." Derek assured evenly as he eyed the night sky through his windshield. Derek swiftly turned the keys into his ignition, steering chaotically with one hand as he sped from the parking lot of the Hospital. "Tell Liam to fall back!" Derek ordered. "We'll meet Brett and his sister at the intersection!" He hung up then, tossing his phone into the back seat as Riley gripped the center console to center herself.

His driving was erratic, barely even tapping his break peddle at any given stop sign before he lurched his foot onto the gas. "What if the hunters catch up to us?" Riley asked, her voice breathless and nervous as the car drifted along the curb of a street just a mile away.

Keeping his foot on the gas as he rounded the corner to the neighborhood the werewolves were headed toward, he narrowed his eyes at the passing car who'd honked their horn and flipped him off. "Then we fight." He insisted, unaware of Brett and Lori's physical conditions as they tried to outrun the people who had gunned them down.

Acknowledging the idea that this altercation might turn deadly, Riley reached forward towards the dashboard, opening up the glove compartment before retrieving her Sig Sauer P—Two—Twenty pistol. It felt heavier than she remembered as she gripped it firmly within her hands. She hadn't had a reason to use it in over two years. Nervously checking the clip for a secure amount of bullets, she found herself lurching forward in her seat once Derek had slammed on the breaks. She kept her eyes alert as she scanned the tree—line up ahead, idling at the intersection of Maple drive and Southern. Derek had paused for good reason, able to identify the small rustle within the trees as two figures emerged in a dead sprint. Brett and Lori broke through the tree-line hand in hand, their clothes tattered and bloodied. From Riley's seat, she could see his little sister's cropped blonde hair matted from the blood of a healing wound. Derek flashed his headlights at them, signaling to them that their safe haven had arrived.

And despite their quick pace, Riley could see the limp within Brett's stride as his little sister helped him carry his weight. "C'mon." Derek huffed eagerly under his breath, his eyes nervously skimming over his rear view mirrors. "C'mon."

Brett and Lori had one street left to cross, striding over the pavement as they stepped into the asphalt to make it to Derek's car. Riley kept her gun poised within her hand, focusing on the woods across from them, waiting for a hunter to be following closely behind. Her hand latched around the lever of the door, wanting to get out in order to encourage the werewolves to pick up their speed, but it was Derek who suddenly latched his strong hand around her forearm. "Wait!" He bellowed defensively. Just as he did, a burly Hummer ran the stop sign beside them, the four—way intersection at a dead stop as the driver stomped on the gas pedal. Riley's eyes widened, a scream tearing from her throat as she watched the vehicle soar through the quiet neighborhood street and purposefully strike both Brett and Lori. It barreled over their weakened bodies, easily going eighty miles an hour in a fifteen.

The sound of their bodies hitting the bumper of the car would have forever haunted Riley if her screams hadn't of drowned it out first.

The Hummer stopped once it's tires had landed back on the pavement, a man extracting himself from the front seat as he trailed toward the back end of his bumper to inspect the bodies. Derek's hand landed over Riley's mouth, silencing her from gaining the attention of the hunter who had also been trailing Brett and Lori. Tears welled within Derek's eyes at the sight, seeing the pool of blood begin to seep from the lifeless frames sprawled across the asphalt. He heard the exact moment Brett's heart had given out, and a few moments later when his sister had taken her last breath.

And suddenly, nearly half a dozen cars had begun to flood the intersection. Blacked out SUV's that surely belonged to more hunters that gathered around the two bodies within the intersection. It's as if they congregated in celebration, though all of their faces remained stern and aloof. As if the murder of two children did not phase them. Riley felt a heat gather in her face as the residents from the near—by homes gathered on their porches, concerned about the commotion until they too saw the gruesome sight ahead of them. And as Riley's eyes scanned the sidewalk, she found the familiar features of a dark—complected woman idling indifferently. Tamora Monroe looked on with her arms crossed tightly over her chest and her eyes seemingly darker than usual. But it was Derek's hand, tugging at hers, that brought back her attention as she watched one final SUV pull up beside the bodies. And from it's passenger side door, stepped out the most menacing hunter of them all, Gerard Argent.

A mournful howl ripped through the night sky then, coming from the woods as the werewolf who had been trailing both Brett and Lori sprinted from the tree—line just a few moments too late. "Liam." Riley gasped, able to see the brilliant shade of his yellow eyes as he shifted in front of over two dozen by—standers. He snarled defensively, his eyes wet with tears at seeing one of his friends smeared across the pavement. Another hollow and grief ridden weep sounded from his exposed fangs, so torn by their sudden deaths that Liam did not notice the families shuddering at the sound emanating from his throat. And the neighborhood's grief—ridden expressions fell from the two kids laying lifelessly in the street, to harboring a gleam of fear within their eyes as they took in Liam's half—shifted frame.