Chapter IV: Winter Formal Pt.2

In the hallways of beacon hills, the teens gathered in secret. The atmosphere was uneasy and slightly worrisome.

"What's wrong?" Allison was the first to speak up.

"We've been locked in by Mountain Ash."

"What? I can let you out." Allison expressed her confusion.

"No. When we were at the door, the barrier rippled, but none of us were trying to go through." Tenko explained.

"What does that mean?"

"It means something else is here with us," Tenko replied.

"You think it's the Kanima?" Said Scott

" I do. That means the Kanima is trying to get to its master, or they're both here, and the master doesn't know shit about the supernatural."

"Why would you assume that? The master could also use this opportunity to hunt us down."

"Because the barrier rippled twice. The first was a shock, and the second was another attempt, curiosity, or verification of what had happened. And why would it hunt us down?" Tenko asked Lydia with squinted eyes.

Scott and his group made odd faces and avoid eye contact. Tenko's frown became more resonant and looked at Allison.

She could feel his burning gaze branding her body. "We've had a couple run-ins. We're pretty sure its master knows our identity. Every time we get close, it either attacks or runs." Allison explained with a nervous look.

Malia could smell Teno's anger. She silently moved closer to him and hugged his arm. Tenko sighed and said, "Then we need to find it. Better we face it hear than to let out on a killing spree."

"So we're willingly trapping ourselves in a magical prison with a supernatural serial killer and the person controlling it. Best dance ever." Stiles groaned as he rolled his eyes.

"Oh, and the phones are jammed, courtesy of the Argent family. So no calling for help." Tenko added nonchalantly, much to everyone annoyance.

"What about Derek?" Erica asked.

Tenko smirked, and his eyes glowed alpha crimson. "We don't need a phone to communicate. It's all about the intention behind the howl," he said.

Tenko emitted a long low growl that rocked the hallway. It gradually increased and turned into a full-on bestial roar the felt like thunder from an ancient legend. The roar was heard in its true form to the supernaturals present and forced their eyes to glow, revealing their nature. To the humans unaware of the supernatural, it sounded like a wolf was close to the school. Besides a brief pause in the music, the winter formal went on as planned.

Lydia, Stiles, and Allison looked at the glowing eyes of the teen wolves that surrounded them. Stiles became giddy, Lydia was expressionless for the most part. While Allison had a question at the tip of her tongue.

"They aren't in your pack," she said.

"So what?"

"I thought an outsider couldn't reveal a werewolf's nature by force?"

"Well, Scott doesn't really have an alpha, and these three are having some leadership issues. Can you blame them for being responsive? As for her." Tenko gestures to Malia. "This beauty is Beta and Mate."

"That kind of makes sense. The pack bound is shaky." Erica reflected on her pack relations since she became a werewolf.

"Yupp, It's probably why Scott kicked their asses at the ice rink. He wasn't fighting a pack, her was fighting three omegas." Stiles added, and Derek's pack sent a quick glare.

"Pretty much. So let's split up and search the school. As long as the barrier is up. The Kanima is a sitting duck. But we have to be fast. We can't let that thing go." Tenko finished.

___________________________________________

Broken up in groups of two, everyone searched the school for the Kanima.

"Do you really think the Kanima is here?" Asked Allison

"Yupp," Tenko replied. "I think it's a teen. Adults don't seem to turn that often in the place."

"Adults are also more likely to know themselves."

"What do you mean?"

"The Kinema has some sort of internal dilemma that it hasn't resolved. A dilemma so big that it altered its shift. Adults, for the most part, figure their shit out. At the very least, they know about their problems, but they choose to ignore them."

Tenko began to ponder the supernatural situation of Beacon Hills."How many Alphas are in Beacon Hills?" he asked.

"That we know of? Three. You, Derek, and woman named, Satomi Ito" Allison replied as she peaked into a locked classroom.

" Hmm, she could have bitten anyone, but I know Derek bit four people, and one didn't turn. I originally thought the wolfsbane in him rejected the bite. Now I think it may be something else entirely."

"You're talking about Jackson?" Allison asked.

"Yes, Jackson."

"Derek tested the venom on him. He failed the test."

Tenko flashed a crooked smile. "Of course, Jackson failed. Have you ever heard of a woman who was so convinced that she was pregnant that her stomach swelled and displayed all the symptoms of a pregnant woman?"

Allison's face contorted, and she shook her head.

"Imagine that mentality coupled with a multiple personality disorder. One personality doesn't know the other. One is a beast that kills, and the other is convinced that he is one hundred percent human. So convinced that he is human and the venom would paralyze him, that his body stopped working once he was exposed to the venom."

" Jackson and the Kanima. Two Identities in the same body. So, he has no idea what's happening."

"If he is the Kanima, but we won't know unless we find him. Come on"

___________________________________________________________________

Miles away from Beacon Hills High School, Mareth was organizing a containment protocol. A few well-placed documents and a couple of phone calls, the CDC was convinced that Beacon Hills was having a smallpox outbreak caused by bioterrorism.

Mareth stared in the direction of Beacon Hills with a devious smile and eyes clouded with murderous intent.

"Ms. Combs!" A man dressed in level A Hazmat gear shouted.

Mareth turned around to face the man.

"We're ready to go in." The man added as he was handed his fully loaded and tricked out M4 Carbine.

"Standby for orders," Mareth replied. She then turned her back to the man and sent a pre programmed text to her friend.

Mr. Tool: 60min window.

Mareth smiled at the reply and sent Tenko the same text. Unfortunately, a text that he couldn't receive.

___________________________________________________________________

Scott and Malia were searching the second floor of Beacon Hills as Malia was focused more on the young wolf than she did on the Kanima search.

Scott began to feel uncomfortable until he finally asked the wild woman what her deal was.

"Nothing," she replied. "You're the one that stinks. What's your problem?"

Scott frowned as he sniffed himself. He could smell his fabric softener, cologne, and deodorant. But just underneath the layers of scents, he could smell what Malia was referring to.

"Nothing lets just find the Kanima if it's here," he muttered.

"Tenko said it could be. I trust him."

"Even when leaves you to go off with someone else's girlfriend?"

Malia smiled. "Ahh. So that's your malfunction. The Argent girl. That's disgusting." Malia snickered.

"What's disgusting about love?"

"Nothing. Unless you're in love with a woman whose family wants to string you to a tree and cut you in half." Malia casually replied

"Allison isn't like her family… But it doesn't matter, she likes some else now." Scott spoke downtrodden.

Malia's eyes turned hard, and she spoke in a firm tone. " Well, you should win her back. If you don't, I'll kill her. I will never share him with a human."

"That's a little extreme."

"It isn't. Tenko is my mate. He may find another vixen, wolf, or coyote. Maybe even a badass druid. But that's okay because they aren't less than I am."

_________________________________________________________________________

Allison and Tenko walked through the double doors of the gymnasium. The winter formal was still going, and students enjoyed themselves none the wiser of a supernatural serial killer in their mists.

"Find Jackson…" Tenko told Allison before walking off on his own.

Sometime later, Allison and Tenko met up at the snack table. They were brainstorming about where Jackson could be, then decided to go find the others and go after Derek. If the Kanima hadn't shown up yet, it was better to let it go for Derek's sake.

As Allison and Tenko were leaving the gym, Allison was stopped by the camera guy she shared a dance with.

He asked for another dance but was rejected. He then tried to pry into why Allison was leaving early until a firm hand was planted on his chest, pushing him away. Tenko then Allison by the arm and dragged her away.

Just as the couple left, the camera guy took one quick snap of Tenko's side profile.

"Who was that?" Tenko asked.

"Matt Daehler, If you actually came to school, you would know him," Allison replied.

"I don't like his sent," Tenko replied. "Let's get the others and leave."

Stiles and Erica were the first groups to be found. Though, that's when the misfortune started. Like a thief in the night, the Kanima came.

Shick! Shick!

The Kanima attacked Stiles and Erica. Falling to the cold tile floor with a thud, Stiles and Erica were utterly immobilized.

"Allison...run.," Tenko whispered as he pushed the girl. A smirk appeared on his face as he looked around.

"Why now?" Tenko asked. "We've been searching for you for a while, so why now and why attack Stiles and Erica?"

Tenko didn't receive a reply, only a low bestial growl. But at the end of the hallway, the distant tap of heels hitting the tile floor could be heard.

Tenko nodded, then launched himself through the flimsy ceiling panels. The moment Tenko caught a glimpse of the Kanima, a crushing tail collided into his body.

Tenko instinctive caught the tail and dug his claws in. In an instant, Tenko and the Kanima both came crashing down. Tenko's eyes flashed crimson red, and fox avatar covered his body before sending a vicious claw that cleaved through the Kanima's chest.

In its moment of pain, Tenko quickly repositioned himself and snapped the Kanima's arms. The Kanima cried out, and Tenko didn't give it a chance to heal.

Crack! Snap!

The Kanima's legs went next, and beneath the reptilian beast's loud wails, Tenko could hear people converging on his location. Though he identified everyone by their scent, he didn't want to miss the chance he had with Gerrard.

Tenko roared as he drove his hands into the Kanima's neck. As the groups arrived, Tenko tightening his grip around the Kanima's neck bones.

"STOP!" Allison shouted, "It could be Jackson!"

Tenko heard her every word, but he didn't care. The Kanima had to go.

In one mad motion, Tenko ripped the Kanima's neck out. Its head hung back, flush against its back. Tenko allowed the body to drop and walked away.

Malia followed after him while everyone else watched in horror as the corpse of the Kanima reverted back to its human form, revealing the body of a nacked Jackson.

In the Gymnasium, Matt Daehler suddenly doubled over in excruciating pain. Struggling to find privacy, Matt eventually got himself into the boy's locker room. He pulled up his shirts to reveal patches of reptilian skin rapidly covering his body.