25 Recollection

The camera flashes were going off, enlightening the dim basement for spilt seconds at a time. Scott stood at a few feet of distance out of the way, in order not to disturb the forensic team. He couldn't remove his eyes from the bodies. Still and silent, he was able to shut away any and all outside voices and noises, yet he couldn't quiet down the loud and violent storm his thoughts were at the heart of. Years running after Monroe, only for it to end that way?

"Stilinski isn't coming?" Braden pulled Scott right out of his mental steer.

"He's at the hospital for now, but he'll be here later,"

"The bodies?" she was referring to the bodies found in the woods earlier that same night.

"That, and... Stiles is still unconscious, despite the doctors saying he should have been up by now," he let out.

"Concerning..." Braden could almost physically touch his pain, she decided to ask and relieve him of the pressure of his own thoughts, "Penny for your thoughts?"

"They've been choked using what seems like a garrote. Their throats have been slashed, and their skulls have definitely been smashed in," as a matter of fact, Monroe's death already left a bitter taste in his mouth, thinking about her killer and having an idea about their identity however, completely pushed him off the rails.

"Last time this happened it was some sort of druid gone sour?" she questioned.

"You can say it like that,"

"So, we got another vengeful druid on our hands?"

"Worse," he stated, then after a few seconds he added, "According to Lydia's vision it's definitely a DARAK but... Not a new one,"

"Thought you left her for dead?"

"And Peter said he finished her off for good," he confirmed.

"Then how ?"

"I didn't get to hear the entire story from the new banshee, I had to come here first," he took a deep breath before carrying on, " All I know, is that she didn't come alone," by she, Scott was of course talking about Jennifer Blake, the dark druid who plagued their town with a lot of unnecessary deaths a few years back.

Braden let out a low scuff, " Well that's a given, considering the heart warming welcome you got when you arrived,"

"The banshee said those were just pawns, that they're not the ones we should really be concerned with,"

An odd thought crossed the mercenary's mind right then, and she decided to share it,"Kate Argent could be one of them, she's been silent for the past three years,"

"I wouldn't put it beneath her. Speaking of Argent, I should probably text him about this ordeal,"

****

"You alright?" asked Chris calmly as soon as the woman regained consciousness.

"I am at the hospital?" she asked seemingly confused.

"Yes," he answered simply.

"What happened?"

"We found you in the woods, you were shot by hunters," he marked a short pause to see if she had any reaction to those words, when he didn't discern any, he continued, "Any reason you were out there in the middle of the night?"

"I... Don't really remember," she fiddled with her fingers while looking down at them.

"I see... You saw something else in those woods, didn't you?" the woman remained silent, "When I brought you in earlier, you were asking about your son," she gave him no response their either. He could tell she was hesitant to open up. To her, he was nothing more than a stranger, and he didn't expect her to trust him, so he decided that the best route was to reassure her first, "Alright, you don't have to answer any of those questions if you don't want to, I know you can't trust me or anything I say, but... I am trying to help, just know that nothing you will say can make you sound insane,"

A sound emanated from Chris's phone indicating the reception of a text message. He pulled it out of his pocket to read it and while he did so, the lights in the room flickered for about two seconds, causing them both to look up instinctively.

"They are already here," she stated.

"Who are they?"

"We were supposed to meet Scott and the others, that's why we were crossing through the woods, the hunters showed up then the longtails followed," it seemed that something had changed her mind about speaking to him, either she trusted Argent or not.

"The longtails?" his inquiry urged her to tell more.

"Basically, half men half scorpions, they have long scorpion tails,"

"Yeah, I've heard of those tonight, where do they come from?"

"They're nothing more than foot soldiers, they only obey to their leader," she said, "I don't know much about the one that gives direct orders to these braindead creatures but, I know who benefits from this entire thing. He goes by the apprentice,"

Chris took a few seconds to digest what she'd just given him, before concluding that he'd gotten enough from her, he didn't want to press her further, "I see... I should get going for now, I won't disturb you further,"

"Rosalie... My name is Rosalie, and my son's Hilldon,"