CHAPTER 81

After leaving Miss Morrell's office, Tristan went to class after throwing the episode with the guidance counselor concerning Lydia to the back of his mind. His thoughts were on something else, and that was Jackson.

The reptilian flinched for some reason when he saw Tristan walk past him to sit at the back of the class.

Concerning the kanima, he had another way to see if he could find the figurehead behind Jackson's murder spree. He was undoubtedly for Team-Kill-Jackson but the predator in him won't feel at rest with him letting the main prey go. 

Killing the kanima will force the master back into hiding and that wasn't what he wanted. If Jackson had been the one doing the killing by himself then he would have been dead the very next day. 

As for how he was going to try and sniff out the master, the answer lied with Jackson himself. 

The reason why he had immediately known that something was wrong with the kanima the very first time they came across each other was the murderous feeling it gave off that somehow felt foreign even when it came from it. 

Since Jackson was projecting the feelings of his master, what he needed to do was be in the vicinity of the kanima and see if he could sense a similar emotion from anyone else around. 

There are a number of reasons why this might not work and one of them is if it simply works as a command. Maybe all he needs to do is command Jackson and the kanima will carry it out without any other input from the master. 

Another reason is the fact that no one knows if distance has any kind of diminishing effect on their bond. Tristan however wasn't so inclined on believing this as some of the people the kanima killed required close surveillance which meant that their location had already been verified before the kanima swept in for the kill. 

This means that either the kanima's master had to be near or Jackson's master in particular liked being at the scene of the crime. 

He looked at Jackson who was focusing on the class and sensed his emotions and presence to see if he was under any external influence. 

What he got from Jackson was mostly the feeling of content in general, mild irritation at the subject being taught, and also a particular feeling of smugness he reckoned was being directed at McCall and his best friend.

All of a sudden, Jackson was overwhelmed by a sense of alertness which Tristan noticed and took back his focus on Jackson and acted as if he was listening to what the teacher was saying. 

'His senses are getting sharper. As a cold-blooded creature, his senses are acutely attuned to catching any sort of stalking being done to him. Just like mine.'

"Don't forget to turn in your assignments tomorrow, class. I'll be grading it alongside your exams." The teacher said before leaving the class before it devolved into chaos as soon as the bell rang. 

'Should I set him off?' Tristan thought but ultimately decided against it. Any ensuing fight was bound to make a lot of noise and damage school properties, not to mention the security cameras being fixed all over the school. 'I guess I'll just have to wait until he targets someone new. That or confront him after school hours.'

...

On the other side of the school in the principal's office was Gerard and Victoria sitting opposite each other with a few files and printed sheets scattered on the desk between them.

"So what do you think?" Gerard asked after going through the files of three students in particular. 

"Erica Reyes, Isaac Lahey and possibly Scott McCall are the only ones that seem likely to me." She replied after taking a quick glance at three particular files that had their names printed on it.

"It stands without doubt that the first two are Derek's foul sired, but why the last? Scott McCall." He asked with a knowing smile plastered across his face. 

"He looked too shocked when I walked into his class as if he already knew who I was. That and he doesn't know how to properly eavesdrop." She said with the same sweet hearted smile on her face as she remembered how he subtly flinched when she scratched her nails against the board when she was teaching. 

"Are we going to capture them and use them to draw out Derek Hale? Why do you even think that those two are Derek's betas rather than the Alpha who-" 

"Who no one has seen since the night Kate died?" He cut her off by asking, but faced with her silence he smiled again and gave a simple answer. "Call it intuition born out of experience."

He then looked over the other files on his desk and continued. "As for the betas, we leave them for now and focus on the kanima killing our men. Besides, my hunch tells me these children know more than they let on, and as for the others…"

Separated from the files of Scott, Isaac and Erica were files of a few other students. Though there was no proof to support the fact that they were supernaturals, Gerard would rather be wrong in his assessment of them than just writing them off. 

"Jackson Whittemore, Lydia Martin, Stiles Stilinski, Greenberg, Tristan Hayes and Malia Tate. Quite the interesting group, wouldn't you agree Victoria?"

Victoria said nothing other than giving the pictures a cursory glance, her face carrying no emotion.

"We've already spread out our net. Now the only thing remaining is for the kanima, its master, Derek and his betas, and most importantly the vampire, to fight to the death to eliminate each other."

"The Gu method."

"Yes, but unlike the ancient Chinese, we are not breeding them to see who comes out the most poisonous. We are simply killing off the final survivor."

...

While Gerard was planning out the most effective way to kill off all the supernaturals involved with his daughter's death, Tristan on the other hand was wondering if he had to attend the rave party Boyd told him about which apparently 'everyone' was going to. 

It wasn't a school party so it stood to reason that high school students would want to attend and let off steam in an unsupervised environment. 

He had absolutely zero interest in the party since the ones he's been forced to attend since he began schooling were already more than enough for him. 

"So you going or what?" Boyd asked as they kept their books inside their lockers. 

"No."

"Figured so. I might go so there's that. It's not as if I have anyone to ask out or anything." Boyd said sarcastically. 

"Hey guys." Allison called out to them, looking more better than she was for the last few days. 

"Hey, Allison." Boyd returned her greeting while Tristan nodded at her. "Are you going to the rave?"

Allison thought about it before shaking her head. "I don't think so. It's not as if I have anyone to go with."

"So you'll think about it if someone asks you out to it?" Boyd asked which earned him a scrutinizing look from Allison before she withdrew it and shrugged, saying she'd think about it then. 

While Allison and Boyd were trying to figure out they actually wanted to go to the rave, Tristan's attention was drawn to the wave of thick jealousy directed at him, which was followed by the silent shutter of a camera. 

He followed the sound and his gaze met that of a lacrosse player who swiftly turned around naturally as if his attention had not been entirely focused on Allison. 

'Well, she's beautiful. Makes sense she's got some secret admirers. I don't even need to be a genius to know what he's going to do with the picture he took.' He thought before ultimately dismissing it. 

"Tristan!"

"What?" 

"You were spacing out. I wanted to ask whether you really won't be attending?"

He shook his head and gave her the same answer he gave Boyd. Even if he ended up attending the party, it would be for an entirely different reason which might involve a lot of blood and maybe a loss of life. 

"Hey, Allison. Did you hear anything from Lydia?" He asked curiously as his meeting with the guidance counselor in the morning flashed through his mind. 

"No. I heard she wasn't feeling really good. Maybe I'll text her later." She was the only one who kept a level of communication with Lydia so she was the perfect person to ask. 

The reason he was asking was just out of normal courtesy. 

'I still haven't texted Derek about my thoughts on the kanima and his master and his victims. Hopefully they can figure out something very quickly.' He would have either Derek or Scott draw out the kanima's master while he'll go swiftly for the kill. 

He had no enmity of any kind with the kanima or its master so he normally should have had no interest in its activities, but unfortunately for the lizard and its shaman, he just didn't like the lizard. 

It was an instinctual thing, one that was caused by being a fellow cold-blooded creature of the night. Just as how the wolves were residents and worshippers of the moon, the kanima, and him, a vampire, were lurkers of the night. 

While he could force himself to look past his baser instincts towards the kanima, the kanima and whoever was behind it without doubt were bound to die because of their nature. 

If the master of the kanima fully carries out his vengeance, the kanima will seek a new master to continue the vicious cycle. 

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