Chapter Fifty-Four

Dead Pool

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"No," I huffed from my spot, cross-legged sitting on the floor with building instructions and a bag from Tony's Burger Shack in front of me. Scott and Stiles were putting together the cribs while I read off the instructions-- I decided to buy a second crib for my house along with the one our parents got us so that the babies will have separate beds once they're done co-sleeping.

The boys weren't very good at following my instructions. "You have to use the C screws for that part, not the B screws!" I turned the paper toward them, pointing to where it specified what went where. Stiles squinted at the paper and then looked down at the bolt in his hands before shrugging and trading it out.

After a moment of silence, I smiled at the boys, while they finished setting up the first crib it was super cute and made me even more excited to meet my babies. The crib was a wooden crib that had a plain stain on it. "This is fun," I mused while popping a fry in my mouth. The salt from the fry was so good, I felt my mouth watering at the taste.

Stiles sighed, "you only say that because, you're not the one actually putting it together." I rolled my eyes at my brother, throwing a fry at him and successfully hitting him in the head. Scott laughed at that, picking up the side of the crib and beginning to attach it to the body. It was all coming together.

"We should go get ice cream after this," I sighed, leaning back on my hands while I watched Scott. His muscles flexed under his t-shirt with every twisting movement he made with his body, and whenever he gets hot he does this thing where he pulls at the hem of his shirt to let some air flow across his torso and I get the perfect glimpse of his abs every. single. time.

Scott cleared his throat, saying my name with a crooked smirk on his face. "Huh?" I blinked, looking away from Scott to my brother, who was looking at me with a raised brow. "Are you going to buy the ice cream? Or are you asking one of us to pay?" Stiles questioned while opening the box for the second crib.

"I'll buy, consider it as a thanks for helping set up the nursery."

♡♡♡

Stiles had put up a new murder board. This one was better than his previous one, which was on his bedroom wall. This one was a clear board on wheels where he taped up the crime scene photos and victim headshots along with the Mute (the assassin that tried to kill Peter). Red tape was used to hold up each photo and placed between the photos to connect the killer to the victims.

To say the least, I didn't like going into Stiles' room anymore. It was just a reminder of the dead pool and that I was on it.

I chewed on my thumb nail as Scott, Stiles, and I stood in my father's office, the dead pool with us. "It's a dead pool. A, a hit list of supernatural creatures," Scott explained while setting the list on the desk. "This is only part of it. The rest still needs to be decoded." I hadn't personally read the list, it was too... stressful for me to look at but, I knew I was on it.

"Who found this list?" My dad asked as I leaned over his shoulder to take my fist look at the list. I had to know... how much? "Lydia," Stiles answered as I scanned over the sheet. LYDIA MARTIN 20 SCOTT MCCALL 25.... DEREK HALE 15 VICTORIA GAJOS 20

Gajos? That was my mother's maiden name, why wouldn't I be under Stilinski? I rolled my lip between my teeth, my hand now dropped onto my stomach. I'm worth just as much as Lydia, Scott is worth the most.

"How?" My dad asked, breaking me from my staring at the list. I cleared my throat, "well, she kinda wrote it... kind of?" My face scrunched up, still unsure about how the whole banshee thing worked, but then again, my whole seer thing was weird too so, who am I to judge.

Stiles frowned at me, obviously not pleased with my explanation. "Actually, she transcribed it. Without realizing." My dad nodded, "banshee?" We all sighed, agreeing, "banshee." I could see my dad's lost face as he sighed, "beautiful.

"Alright, what are these numbers next to the name..." My dad's voice fell flat as he looked toward the bottom of the list, his mouth falling open. I furrowed my brows, confused, until he spoke again. "Victoria, why is your name on here?"

My mouth went dry as his eyes moved to mine. How did I forget to tell my father that I'm a seer? I widened my eyes and turned to Scott and Stiles briefly, but they looked just as stunned as myself.

I nodded, alright, guess I've got to take the lead. I swallowed, "well, dad... here's the thing. Uhm, mom was a, a seer. She, uh, she passed it down to me... it's a trait in the, uh, Gajos family. Only the women."

The room fell silent for a moment and I swear I nearly died at the way my father's pale blue eyes stared into my own. He looked so worried, for the first time since Stiles, he seemed so worried. Stiles cleared his throat, getting us back on track. "Back to the, uh, dead pool?

"The code was broken with a cipher key." Stiles began to explain and my dad's eyes left my own, turning to Stiles as he nodded. "You mean, like a... like a key word?" I took a breath, nodding, "it's actually a name."

My eyes found Scott as he spoke, "Allison." There was still pain in every inch of his body, I could see where the wounds were beginning to heal but, I knew they would leave permanent scars on his body and mind. Allison was his first love and he lost her in such a tragic way, I don't blame him for his pain at all. I only wish I could make him feel better.

I sent him a small smile, which he returned after a moment. "Her name broke a third of the list," Stiles sighed. If this was only a third of the people on the dead pool, that means there are still so many names.

"And now we think there's two other cipher keys." Bingo, Scott. "Which will give us the rest of the names. " I really hope Lydia is able to figure out the other two names. My mojo is off and not working when I need it to, so I'm of no use, which is fine... totally. fine.

I'm cool with my sideline gig, watching and waiting for someone else to get benched so I have a friend. Actually, I hope no one gets benched. I just want us all to take a little break, but nope. We can't seem to stay out of it, even when we really really should leave it to the adults.

But, then again, even the adults are asking for our help. Derek and Peter have no idea who this benefactor is. They need us.

I shook away my thoughts, turning back to look at my dad's desk. He now had crime scene photos sprawled out on his desk, which only made me feel nauseous so I turned away again. I let out a sigh, moving away from the desk to sit in one of the chairs across from it.

"What about these other two names on the list? Uh, Kayleen Bettcher and Elias Town. They were wolves too?" My dad asked, to which I let out another breath. "We don't know." Scott nodded, looking over his shoulder at me and raising a brow at me, silently asking if I was okay. I nodded.

"Deaton said that the Nemeton would draw supernatural creatures here," Scott explained, turning back to my dad and Stiles. My dad's face scrunched up and he honestly looked like he was on the verge of passing out from confusion... if that was at all possible.

"Here being Beacon Hills? Or Beacon County?" My dad looked between the three of us, his eyes staying on me for a second longer than my brother or Scott. "The population of Beacon Hills is just under thirty thousand--"

Stiles grimly cut in, "and dropping." I threw my pen at him, it hit him square in the head. "Ow!" He turned to me, rubbing over the spot with a shocked look on his face that said 'what was that for.' "You know what that was for," I narrowed my eyes.

"Alright you two," my dad said, the words briefly making me flash back to memories of my childhood and getting yelled at by him. "If we're talking Beacon County, then you're looking at close to five hundred thousand."

I cleared my throat and raised my hand slightly, getting the attention of the three of them. "Actually it's four hundred ninety-eight thousand, six hundred and twelve." They all stared at me for a moment, probably wondering how exactly I knew that off the top of my head. I shrugged, "I looked it up last night."

My dad shook his head, but I could see the impressed look he gave me. "look, how many werewolves, banshees," he sat down in his squeaky chair, "kitsunes, seers, and whatever the hell else is out there are we talking about?"

None of us responded, so he kept going. "And what happens if the next cipher key uncovers not twelve names but, one hundred?" Stiles shook his head, "we don't think there would be that many. There's a limit."

"Because of the numbers," Scott finished Stiles' thought. "We think that once we decode the names, the numbers will add up to 117." I leaned back in the chair, rubbing my hands over my bump as I eyed the curve of my round stomach.

I could feel Janey kicking against me again, my little guy was sleeping though. "117 what?" My dad asked. I looked up from my stomach to answer him, my face grim as I spoke the word, "million."

Stiles moved quickly, picking up the pen from the floor and he took the dead pool. He began writing on the sheet and I knew without looking that he was adding up the money. "117 million dollars stolen from the Hale vault and is being used by someone to finance all these murders."

I sarcastically smiled at that, "someone really wants all of the supernatural creatures in this town-county dead." My dad sighed before nodding, taking a moment to wrap his mind around all of this.

"Ah," I gasped slightly, my hand going to my lower stomach as I felt a pressure on my bladder. I could feel Scott's eyes on me instantly while Stiles quickly asked, "what is it?" I shook my head, waving them off, "just getting kicked. It's nothing."

"Okay, I think I got it. This coded list goes out and somehow these professional assassins get that list." Stiles nodded along, "and a cipher key." My dad nodded, "and then they go after the names on the list. They being killers with no mouths, tomahawks, thermo-cut wires that can take your head--"

I quickly cut off my dad with a groan, "we don't need details. You're making me feel sick." "Well, don't get sick in here, there's a bathroom..." Stiles stopped talking once he saw my death glare trained on him. I swear, sometimes I wish he was the one who was pregnant, so then I could laugh as he felt sick. It'd only be fair, right?

"Okay, there's one other thing that I don't get." My dad cut in, "how did this new assassin know that Demarco was going to be at the lake house?" I scoffed slightly while Scott responded, "everyone knows he delivers kegs to teenagers for a little extra cash."

Who would've thought we'd be talking about keg deliveries with my father, the sheriff? I certainly didn't see it coming to this. My dad just nodded along, not pressing further, probably because we have bigger fish to fry.

I pressed above my belly button, blocking out the rest of the conversation and instead focusing on my babies. After a moment, I felt Janey push back and I smiled down at my belly. I pressed right over her, keeping my hand pressed down until I felt her press back lightly.

It was weird, I was touching her but, not at the same time. It just made me long to meet her more than I already did. At this thought I felt my little boy stir, his foot kicking right into my bladder once again.

I lightly laughed, it was like he was reminding me to not forget about him. I pressed where he was, letting him know that I was here, before standing up from the chair and excusing myself to the bathroom. I can't sit through more assassin talk right now. It's too much.