CHAPTER 92

The next day of school opened up with yet another shocking news that another student of Beacon Hills was found dead in his house.

Maybe it was because of the news of Jackson's death the day before or maybe it was the stress and piled up fear of whether they were going to die next, the whole school erupted in chaos and would have taken to the streets had the cops not been called into action and stopped them from rioting. 

It was pretty disturbing news when the two days dead rotten, maggot infested body, of Matt was found inside his own room with no evidence whatsoever of who caused his death. 

His neck was broken and even if there were fingerprints on the neck, the print would have to match one in the police database before they can proceed on that front. 

"So Matt was the master of the kanima?" Allison asked Tristan while ignoring his pointed stare as she took one of his fries. 

"Yes." He curtly replied, and then added. "And apparently he was stalking you, bordering obsession if you asked me. His room was full of your pictures plastered around." He smirked as he saw the color drain out of her already pale face. 

"Be expecting the police to question you anytime today." Allison furrowed her brows as she tried imagining what Tristan was saying and her face immediately contorted into a disgusted expression. 

"I don't think I've ever met him alone in any scenario. Did you find out why he was killing all those people?" She asked. 

Tristan briefly explained all what he had heard from Matt and the crux of his motives as well as his final moments, leaving Allison unsure on how to react. 

Sure she was happy that the reason for all the death happening for the past month was now dead but the reason for it, although she could somehow relate with the trauma it caused, she felt it was petty. 

"Don't think too much of it. It's just one of those things that tell you that they are some stupid people in this world."

Allison nodded and then shifted her focus to something else. 

"The kanima, compared to you, how strong was it?" 

"Well believe it or not, it was stronger. At least to an extent. I can tell you for sure that there was no way in hell Derek's pack or your family was beating it."

"But you killed it, right? Doesn't that make you way stronger than it is?"

"I'm different. I'm the exception not the rule. Maybe it has something to do with predatorial instincts or something like that but it basically put me as a night creature above the kanima in the apex pyramid."

"Maybe it was Jackson's instinctual fear of me or Matt's apprehension, or maybe it stemmed from the kanima's subconscious but its first reaction was always to run from me. You might not believe it but creatures like us, vampires and werewolves, we feed on that."

"Like an adrenaline boost?"

"Yes, something like that. It's like trying to fight a guy and the first thing he does is buckle and turn away to run. The confidence boost that gives you, even though you might be slightly weaker, makes the difference seem negligible." He explained and then added. "It might be another thing but that's basically my take on it."

Allison bit her lips as she looked at Tristan, contemplating something that has been on mind since the previous day. 

"With the way you're looking at me, I know you are probably thinking of asking something generic and my answer for it is no."

Allison grumbled irritably to hide her embarrassment at being found out like that and count help but whine, "Come on! One of my best friends is a real life mythical vampire and apparently one that controls blood. It's obvious that I'm curious about you as a mythological creature."

Tristan cocked a confused eye at her and asked, "But Malia is a werecoyote, I haven't seen you being as curious as her as you are of me." 

To his question, Allison looked at him as if he was now the one acting weird. "Malia is a werecoyote. You are a vampire. From what I know, she's not much different from a werewolf unlike you on the other hand."

"True, but it's a bit weird that you quickly became interested. I was hoping for a few days, or maybe even a week of awkwardness from you, so consider my present expression a valid one."

She felt a bit irritated with Tristan bringing up what she was doing a good job in forgetting but just groaned and laid her head on the table with her hands stretched out. 

"I don't know how to think through it so I'm just doing what comes first to mind. So please sympathize with me for a while." She said. 

Tristan nodded and left it at that. How she went about it was up to her to figure out. He turned around and looked around the cafeteria. 

"Come to think of it, have you seen Isaac or Erica today?"

She looked around and shook her head. "No, I haven't. You think Derek and his pack are up to something?"

"I don't know. Maybe they are laying low after what happened with Jackson and Malia. I'd probably do that if I'm being watched by you Hunters."

Allison frowned at his words and even surprised herself a bit with the way her instant reply came out. "I'm not an Hunter… at least not yet." 

She was not comfortable with the current topic but she only had herself to blame as she was the one who had brought it up, so she changed it. 

"Have you seen or heard from Lydia? I tried calling her but it all went to voicemail." She said with a concerned frown and asked, "Think she's okay?"

"Probably not." He truthfully answered. "She wasn't quite mentally stable for the past few weeks. Only God knows how Jackson's death must have further deteriorated her mental stability."

"We should visit her. She'll need her friends with her during such a time or she might come out with mental scars you know."

Tristan shrugged. "The guidance counselor was concerned about her but she turned it down. You should visit her though because you're right, she needs a friend now more than ever."

"I guess I can take that as you not coming." She stated and took his silence as his answer. She debated on whether to take Malia or not and ultimately decided to, hoping she won't regret it and worsen Lydia's condition by bringing the two in close proximity. 

She still had a few questions to ask him but she decided to take it slowly. They were still friends and if nothing changed, they'll remain that way till they graduate high school. 

'I have all the time in the world to find out as much as I can about them during that time.' She thought as she saw Tristan walk away to look for Boyd after finishing his food. 

"Hopefully Malia doesn't throw a fit when I drag her to Lydia's." She chuckled at her own words since she could vividly picture something like that happening. 

Since school closed early today due to the news of Matt's death, Allison drove herself and Malia to Lydia's house after making a call to their landline with, fortunately for them, someone picked up – Lydia's mother – and told them to come over. 

"I still don't see why you forcefully insist I come along with you on a friendly visit to visit someone I would say I hate." 

Allison rolled her eyes in exasperation as she parked her car in front of Lydia's house. She lost count of how many times Malia has made the same complaint since she told her about the visit during school hours. 

"Be nice, Malia. Someone she loved just died and besides it's not like you have anything important to do at home anyways."

"Just because I don't have anything to do doesn't translate to me needing to do something. Being lazy is a choice you know."

She shushed the girl to end her whining rants and knocked on the door and waited until Lydia's mother opened the door. 

"Good afternoon, Mrs. Martin. I came with a friend, Malia."

"Oh Allison, you're here! Come on in, girls." She ushered them in and a concerned countenance fell on her face as she closed the door and faced them. "She doesn't come down even forgets to eat until I beg her to. It's been worse since Jackson died and I don't know what else to do."

Allison hugged the middle aged woman before she could break down in tears and comforted her. 

"Just get some sleep, Mrs. Martin. Hopefully we can talk to her and figure out what's wrong with her." Though she had no idea on how to go about what she said, she needed to say it just so the distraught mother could at least let her mind rest easy for a while. She looked like she really needed it.

Since this wasn't the first time she came here, she needed no directions and went straight to Lydia's room with Malia tagging along. 

"Lydia, it's me, Allison. I came with Malia. I'm coming in." She knocked on the door and waited a few seconds but didn't receive any answer before she turned the knob and pushed the door open. 

She wasn't sure what she was expecting about Lydia's state when she came here but what she saw definitely made her falter. 

Scattered all over the room were books and pieces of papers with weird drawings on them. 

"Lydia?"

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