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Part 1:
When ghost meets ghost.
Edwin is more than happy to be back in London. He missed his city; he missed England, and he missed his office.
The American “adventure” has been interesting and, well, eye-opening for more than one reason. But there’s no place like home, or whatever.
He was happy that his new friends had decided to follow him and Charles home; he had wished everything to go back the way it was before, at first; just him and his best-mate.
Now, however, he just couldn’t imagine living without the others. Even if he’s not technically alive.
What would he do without Crystal’s sharp sarcasm?
What would he do without Jenny’s wise mind?
What would he do without Niko?
Sure, it would be better if Crystal and Charles didn’t make out in front of him, but it could be worse, too.
The situation between his best-mate and his new psychic friend isn’t clear at all. Charles didn’t talk to him about this, and he didn’t ask.
He doesn’t consider himself a sore loser, but sometimes you just can’t stop yourself from feeling.
It’s more than enough to have Charles beside him. Or at least, it’s enough for now.
The office is quiet; the only noise around there is the one made by cars out the windows.
Edwin is busy reading one of his big-dusty-books, as Charles calls them, while his friend lays on the couch playing with a little ball, he found only God knows where.
“Knock, Knock!”
A voice outside the door warns the two boys that someone is there.
“You can just knock, you know?”, Crystal says, coming in without waiting for an answer.
They definitely need a talk about good manners.
“Oh, you’re right.”, Niko smiles brightly and Edwin feels immediately better.
“Hi!”, Charles smiles too, jumping up from the couch.
“Hello”, Edwin says politely, closing his book, knowing his quiet afternoon is over.
“Hey!”, the two girls greet.
Niko wraps his harms around Charles in a breathtaking hug. The other one hugs her back.
“What are you guys doing?”, the white-haired girl asks, still wrapped around Charles.
“What we do every day”, Edwin answers just as his friend says, “Boring ourselves to death.”
Edwin narrows his eyes. “We’re already dead, Charles.”
Charles rolls his eyes with a smile on his face. “Yeah, mate. It’s metaphorical.”
Edwin ignores him, pointing his eyes on Crystal, now sat on the couch.
“What about you?”
The girl shrugs her shoulders. “We went shopping.”
“Without us?”, Charles plays offended, but he’s still smiling.
“Oh, sorry”, Crystal responds with irony, “I don’t think our taste in fashion matches yours.”
“Oi, 80’s fashion was neat. Edwardians’, on the other hand…”
“So, why are you here?”, Edwin says, feeling mocked.
“What? Aren’t you happy to see us?”, Crystal asks with a grin.
Edwin glares at her.
“Okay, we were just wondering if you’ve got some new case.”
Niko walks toward his desk, jumping up and sitting on one corner. “And we missed you!”, the girl says touching Edwin’s hand with hers.
The boy doesn’t really feel it but he’s glad for that contact.
He smiles back.
“We’ve got nothing at all”, Charles sighs crossing his arms. “It’s been dead silent since we came back. The mailman didn’t come once- “
“Mail!”
Charles can't finish his sentence that someone interrupts him, scaring everyone.
The other ghost watches them with his empty eyes and creepy smile, a bunch of mail in his hand.
“Oh, Good Lord!”, Charles says, a hand on his chest.
“You almost scared us to death. You must stop doing this.”
“We’re already dead, mate.”
“I know, Charles.”, Edwin says with an ironic smile “it’s metaphorical.”
Charles smiles proudly and Edwin looks away, incapable of meeting his eyes.
“So, the mail!”, the boy stands up, taking what the mailman is offering him. The ghost immediately disappears, just as he appeared.
Niko squeaks excited and Edwin find himself surrounded by his friends.
“So, let’s see…”
The letters are different by shape, color, and size but every one of them seems important in its own way. Edwin really doesn’t know where to start.
“Open the blue one!”, Charles says.
“No, no. Open the red one. Whatever letter comes in red must be important.”, Niko points out.
“Yeah, but that’s bigger!”, Crystal tries to take the letter from Edwin’s hands.
Edwin doesn’t really listen to them, too focused on a particular letter. It’s not big, it’s not red. The thing that catches Edwin’s eye is that there’s no addresser; the back of the letter just says “To: Dead Boy Detectives Agency” and nothing more.
Ignoring the others’ protests, he opens the letter, putting the other ones aside.
Inside there’s two things: an obituary and a postcard that says, “FROM BEACON HILLS WITH LOVE.”
“Where the hell is Beacon Hills?”, Charles asks, reading from behind his shoulder.
“Never heard of it”, Edwin answers.
Suddenly, a bright flash of light emanates from the post-card, blinding everyone.
“Edwin!”, Charles cries out, concerned, while his friend throws away the object.
“Are you all right, mate?”, Charles puts a hand on his shoulder, looking at him with worried eyes.
“I’m doing fine, I think”, Edwin reassures him, rubbing his eyes.
“Good. Girls?”
“We’re alright.”
Edwin needs a few seconds to regain vision, but when he does, what he finds before him it’s another ghost.
It’s a boy. A young boy, who’s looking at them with guilty eyes.
“My bad, guys.”
Oh, no! Another American, Edwin thinks hearing the boy’s accent.
“What the fuck, dude?”, Crystal blinks furiously.
“I know, I know. I said I was sorry.”
Charles glares at the new arrival. “We’ve got a door, d’you know?”
The boy looks embarrassed, and Edwin thinks that if ghosts could blush that boy would be as red as a tomato, right now.
“Who are you?”
The unknown ghost looks relieved.
“I’m Jason. Jason Skylar.”
He’s tall, with dark hair and black eyes. He should be around the same age Edwin was when he died.
“Welcome to the Dead Boy Detectives Agency, Mr Skylar. What can we do for you?”
“Oh, I know who you are!”, Jason nods with a smile. “I heard of you guys from other ghosts, but I’ve died recently. I couldn’t wait to learn how to mirror travel, so I thought that sending myself via mail would have been faster.”
“That’s brilliant.”, Charles looks impressed.
“Well, thank you.”, the boy puffs off his chest, proud.
“Can we help you with something, Jason?”, Crystal asks a little impatient, her arms crossed, and her eyes narrowed.
“Yeah, sure!” Jason stands up pointing the obituary now on the desk. His obituary.
Edwin reads: SKYLAR, Jason P., age 17, of Beacon Hills, passed away-; the obituary continues with a series of information about the boy and his life.
“That’s me”, Jason points out, even if there’s no real need to do it. “I’ve been killed yesterday.”
“Oh, it’s terrible!”, Niko cries with sympathy. “We’re really sorry for you.”
“Thanks”, the guy sighs, “The thing is: I haven’t been killed by another guy. Or another human. Man, that thing wasn’t human at all! And the police have absolutely no clue.”
Edwin raises his hand to his chin, intrigued.
“I’ve been choked, beated and slaughtered.”, Jason lists counting on his fingers. “I mean! I think this is a bit excessive, don’t you think?”
“Tell us more about this creature that killed you.”
“Oh, sure. Sorry.”, the boy clears his throat, “I was going to this meeting of the Youths Touched by God.”
“Come again?”
“Youths Touched by God.”, Jason explains, “It’s my Church’s group. A bunch of young people devoted to God and chastity.”
“A chastity group named Youths Touched by God?”
“Yeah, exactly.”
Charles chuckles behind a hand, and Jason and Edwin glare at him.
“Sorry, mate!”, he doesn’t seem sorry at all, “It’s just really ironic.”
Crystal tries to contain her laughs and Niko looks amused too.
“I can’t see what’s ironic about devotion.”, Edwin replies dryly. “You can continue, Jason.”
“Thank you. I was saying”, the boy starts again, glaring at Edwin’s partners, “I was going to this meeting, and it was dark. I was walking fast cause, you know, there are a lot of strange things in my town, when I heard someone calling my name. It sounded like my mom, coming from the woods.”
Pretending to be a loved one, Edwin thinks with disappointment, the oldest trap in the world. Just a fool would fall for it.
“I went to check it out.”
A fool, indeed.
“Let me guess, it wasn’t your mom”, Crystal looks as disappointed as Edwin.
“There was no one there!”, the boy explains, “Then someone hit me on the head with something really heavy and the next thing I knew was that I was standing beside my corpse while that terrifying creature was dragging me out of the woods.”
“But what kind of creature?”, Edwin feels impatient, now.
“It was this ugly chick- I could tell she was a chick from her boobs- with a deformed face and a bald head. I can still see those ice blue eyes if I close mine” Jason shivers.
“Sounds like a really ugly girl”, Niko says with a grimace.
“Yeah”, Jason agrees.
“Scarred face, ice blue eyes. D’you know what could be?”, Charles whispers at Edwin’s ear.
“It could simply be a disfigured human. What makes you think it was something supernatural?”
“Cause, after dragging my body out of the woods, that thing took it to the pool where she cut its throat and chocked it. And while she did this, she chanted a creepy melody and everything went dark- I mean darker, as if the light has been sucked away, and this strange energy radiated from the creature…I ran away, at that point.”
“Well, sounds pretty supernatural to me.”
Edwin agrees with Charles. Accepting that case means to go back to America, and they just came back. He doesn’t like America, but he must admit that it’s a pretty interesting case.
“Are you gonna help me?”, Jason asks, pleading.
Everyone looks at Edwin, waiting for his answer. He’s happy to have that kind of decisional power.
“We’ll help you.”, he says in the end. Niko claps, happy, while Charles smiles brightly.
“Luckily I didn’t unpack my bags, yet”, Crystal sighs, but she’s smiling too.
Jason looks the happiest. “Thank you so much, guys!”, he says shaking everyone’s hand. “I owe you one!”
Charles and Edwin look in each other’s eyes, understanding perfectly the other one’s feeling.
“Let’s go to Beacon Hills, mate!”
Part 2:
If you call one wolf,
you invite the pack.
Scott has been a little depressed for few days. Well, he has been pretty depressed for months. Okay, he has been verydepressed since summer.
It wasn’t enough that the love of his life dumped him and that the love of his life’s mother tried to kill him. Now they have a new mystery too.
He honestly doesn’t know what to do, he doesn’t know what to focus on. The Alphas pack? The three dead virgins? His homeworks? His love life?
It would be so much easier if he was still human.
He sighs heavily, closing his locker.
He wonders how Allison’s doing right now. She looked shocked when she knew about her mother and that’s exactly the reason why he didn’t want to tell her; he didn’t want to make her suffer even more.
Damned Derek Hale. It was him that forced Scott to reveal it to Allison.
She should have known it sooner maybe, Scott reflects, not angry anymore. He shouldn’t blame others.
An arm wrapped around his shoulders warning him that Stiles arrived.
“Hey!”, his best friend greets him. Scott nods at him, not trusting his own voice.
“We need to talk about the case. Like, right now, okay? We must hurry before someone else gets killed.”
Scott stays silent, his shoulders lowered sadly.
“I’m sorry, maybe I need to be clearer”, Stiles says stopping in the middle of the hallway, “We need to hurry before I get killed.”
Scott looks at him but doesn’t talk.
“Hello? You know, me. Your best-friend. Your very virgin best-friend.”
A group of girls looks at them weirdly and then walks away, laughing. Stiles doesn’t seem to notice.
His friend is right, he knows it. He shouldn’t be so selfish.
“Yeah, sorry dude. I’m a little blue today.”
Stiles seems to understand. “Still the Allison thing?”
“Yeah…”
“Well, what a better way to forget about it than a triple murder?”
That doesn’t sound very great, but Stiles says it like it’s the biggest party ever.
“You’re right”, Scott smiles, hoping it looks more like a real smile and less like a colic. From Stiles’ look it doesn’t seem successful.
“Okay…So”, his friend says starting to walk towards class “We’ve got three murders, three virgins, three fatal blows. It looks like a pattern.”
“Yeah”, Scott agrees. He knows that Stiles is a lot smarter than him, so he usually listens to what he has to say.
“The number three is very important for some cultures. It’s considered the perfect number and for the Catholics it represents the holy trinity. That’s the reason it appears so many times in Dante’s Divine Comedy.”
“Right…Wait”, Scott’s perplexed, “Do you think God is the murderer?”
Stiles looks at him with a disappointed expression, deciding to ignore his question. Scott is glad.
“Anyway, we can’t exclude it could be part of some religious ritual, or something like that!”
Scott listens interested. It could be right. It must be right; Stiles is usually right about this kind of things.
“Okay, but what kind of ritual? And who’s the person behind these deaths? Will they kill again?”
Stiles reflects on his words, and he’s about to speak when another voice interrupts them.
“Stilinski! McCall!”, the coach looks at them with his nervous gaze. “Are you two idiots intentioned to sit down or do you want to spend the rest of the lesson at my desk?”
“Sorry, coach”, Scott mumbles, while Stiles opens his mouth to answer.
“I swear to God, Stilinski. Another word and I’ll make you wash the team’s dirty uniforms by hands.”
Stiles must feel the concreteness behind that threat, so he closes his mouth again.
They reach their seats and Scott glances at the desks near them. At his right, Lydia is sat with Isaac, who nods at him while the girl simply ignores his presence.
Allison is sat at the end of the class, gazing out of the window. She looks thoughtful, gloomy and…beautiful. She doesn’t meet Scott’s eyes, but he suspects she knows he’s watching her. She always knows.
“Scott, dude!”, Stiles calls him, and Scott sits straight on his chair with a sigh.
The coach starts the lesson, but Scott doesn’t really follow him; too many thoughts in his head.
No one is really listening; usually no one really listens to the coach. Stiles doesn’t care, Allison is too sad, Lydia is simply too smart and Scott and Isaac…are Scott and Isaac.
Well, Isaac tries to follow the lesson, but he doesn’t seem to succeed.
“I’m sorry, so if the Italians now live in Rome…Where do the Romans live?”
The coach looks at him with a blank expression.
“Every time you open your mouth, Lahey, I remember why I didn’t have kids.”
Stiles scoffs a laugh and tries to mask it with a cough.
“Stilinski!”
“Sorry, coach”
The coach is still looking at Stiles when two new figures enter the room.
Two girls, two pretty girls; one of them has long white hair and a really nice smile, while the other one is a bit shorter, with blood-red curly hair and dark skin.
“Hello?”, the coach says when he notices the girls’ presence.
“Hi! Sorry, we are late.”
The man seems to understand who are in front of him, so he stands up from his chair.
“Oh, right! Guys, these are our new students. They’re going to spend some time with us, and their names are…” the coach reads from a paper on his desk, “Niko Sasaki and Crystal Palace…Von Hoverkraft. Who’s the idiot who wrote this? I bloody know what a surname is.”
“No”, the shorter girl looks a bit annoyed, “Surname is part of the surname. Crystal Palace Surname-Von Hoverkraft.”
“Oh”, the coach looks at her sincerely sorry, “I’m really sorry.”
“It’s oka-“
“Parents can be really mean sometimes.”
The girl seems wanting to reply but in the end she doesn’t.
“You can sit wherever you want. No, not there.”
The girls, after a moment of hesitation, find where to sit: in the desk before Allison’s.
The coach starts the lesson again, and Scott looks up from his notes just a moment, but right in time to see something really weird happening.
A moment everything is normal, and the next one, two guys’ heads stick out through the door.
Scott stops breathing. What the hell is happening?
The two figures go through the door completely, till their entire bodies are visible.
Scott’s eyes are wide open; he’s shocked. No one else seems to notice them, though.
The coach keeps talking like if nothing happened, Stiles scribbles in his notebook and the rest of the class is silent.
Scott doesn’t understand; how could no one notice them? They’re pretty flashy, too.
One of the two boys (the taller one), wears some old-fashioned clothes, the kind of clothes his grand-father could have worn; or his grand-grand-father, even. Short pants, long socks, an elegant coat, and a bowtie too.
The other one is shorter, with dark curly hair and an earring. He’s wearing a red shirt with a black coat covered in pins and patches.
A pencil falls to the ground, and Scott, following the sound, gazes at Isaac and Lydia who, like him, are looking at the two guys.
Isaac looks shocked, while Lydia has wide eyes and a confused expression.
“There’s no room for us there!”, the shorter guy complains, looking in the direction of the two new girls.
“Don’t be ridiculous, Charles. We don’t need to sit.”, the other guy says, walking towards the back of the classroom.
The shorter one- Charles, Scott thinks- follows him with a snort. “I bloody hate school.”
Lydia, Scott and Isaac follow the two guys with their eyes, and then looks at each other.
“What the fuck?”, Isaac whispers. “Did you guys see that?”
Scott nods while Lydia’s face is white as a sheet. “I don’t like this.”, the girl says shaking her head.
“What?”, Stiles intrudes, his face confused.
“Do you think the coach saw that?”
“Saw what?”
“No”, Scott says, “He didn’t even stop talking.”
“What are you talking about, dude?”
“How couldn’t he see them?!”
Stiles raises his voice, exasperated. “What are you guys talking about? Seeing who?!”
“Ssshh!”, Lydia puts a finger on her lips, “Be quiet!”
Stiles looks annoyed but lower his voice. “Can you explain me what’s happening?”
Scott glance at the two guys and then looks at Stiles again. “There’s two guys behind us, right beside the new girls.”
Stiles turns his head, confused. “Yeah, those are Danny and Greenberg. I didn’t know they got along.”
“No, not them!”, Lydia snorts, “There are two unknown guys beside the new girls. But no one can see them.”
Stiles looks again. “I can’t see them.”
“As I just said, Stiles.”
The boy glares at her but doesn’t respond. “I mean, why can you guys see them and I can’t?”
Isaac, Lydia and Scott shrug their shoulders.
Stiles snorts: he doesn’t like to be excluded from this kind of things. “Okay, so we’ve got another mystery to solve. Great.”
“Well, maybe we can simply ignore them.”, Lydia tries, hope in her eyes. Stiles glares at her and she understands with a sigh that there’s no way their friend would leave it be.
“Do you think they have something to do with the murders?”, Isaac asks, whispering.
“They could.”, Stiles agrees.
Scott feels really tired. This is just his usual luck.
The guys look back at the invisible boys, Stiles too, even if he can’t really see them.
It takes them a while, but the shorter one- Charles- notices them. He looks at them with surprise and wonders, nudging with his elbow to the other boy; he looks up and watches where his friend is pointing.
“I think they can see us, mate.”
“I think you may be right this time, Charles.”
The new girls look at them too, and Scott and the others understand that they can see the boys as well.
“What are they doing?”, Stiles asks, impatient.
“They’re looking at us.”
Isaac raises his hand, waving at them awkwardly.
“Lahey, McCall, Stilinski, Martin! What the hell are you looking at?”
The four friends turn on their chairs, looking straight ahead.
“Nothing!”
“Do you think miss Sasaki and miss…whatshername have something funny on their face?”
“No, absolutely”, Stiles answers for all of them.
“Then, keep your eyes on this handsome face.”
Scott feels his face burn, while the rest of the class laughs at them.
He risks a look behind his back, noticing that Allison is not laughing like the others; she looks at them with confusion.
The rest of the lesson passes with unnerving slowness; Scott can feel every second passing.
When the bell finally rings, him, Stiles, Isaac, and Lydia literally jump out of their chairs and out the classroom. When they reach the hallway, they put themselves in circle.
“Okay, what do we do?”, Isaac asks.
“I think we should talk to them; they already know that we can see them.”
“They do?!”, Stiles cries, “God, this situation is so annoying.”
“They noticed us watching them.”, Lydia explains.
Stiles’ shoulders lowered. “you guys just don’t know what circumspection means, right?”
Lydia glares at him while Isaac opens his mouth.
“Don’t answer, Isaac.”, Stiles stops him, “I know you don’t know it.”
“Okay, what’s going on?”, Allison’s voice calls from behind them and they turn around to look at her. “Why are you acting so strange? I mean, stranger than usual.”
Scott feels the words stuck in throat. He doesn’t understand how he just can’t even speak to a person he feels so in love with. It’s like their first meeting all over again.
The other three watch him gasps for a few seconds, before Lydia starts to speak.
“There’s a problem.”
“Yes, there are a few of them.”, Allison says, seriously.
“No, a new problem I mean.”
“Another one?!”, she looks annoyed.
“It looks like they weren’t enough, right?”, Stiles’ voice is full of sarcasm.
“Okay”, the girl sighs, “what’s this new problem?”
“We’re not sure, yet”, Scott finally says, founding his voice again. “But we’re about to know.”
At the end of the hallway, the two new girls and the two invisible boys look at them, waiting.
Part 3:
The idiots finally meet.
Charles is pleasantly surprised to see that so many persons the same age as him can see them.
He just can’t stop smiling while the two girls and the three boys approach them. Niko once described him as an excited puppy, and Edwin and Crystal actually agreed with her. He didn’t feel offended by the comparison.
“Hello, mates! It’s nice to meet you. My name’s Charles.”
Edwin glares at him, but Charles decides to ignore him.
“Hi! I’m Scott”, one of the blokes says, tentatively, “These are my friends: Lydia, Stiles, Isaac and Allison.”
“Hi!”, Niko greets with a bright smile, “I’m Niko and they are-“
“Here for work.”, Edwin interrupts her with his usual mistrust.
“Come on, Edwin.”, Crystal rolls her eyes with an ironic smile, “I don’t think that telling them our names will make some difference.”
Edwin purses his lips, “You say so. In some cultures, a name is a powerful item to control someone. I once knew a fairy-“
“Not the moment, mate.”
“Alright, then.”, Edwin says peevishly, “My name is Edwin and they’re Niko, Charles, Crystal and we are the Dead Boy Detectives Agency.”
Niko makes presentations for the ones who clearly can’t hear the two dead boys.
“Dead Boy Detectives Agency?”, the boy with honey-blond curls asks- Isaac, Charles thinks.
“We’re detectives!”, Charles says with excitement.
“We kinda understood that”, Lydia- the red head girl- says. Charles thinks she’s really pretty.
“I’m sorry, what are they saying?”, the third boy -Stiles- asks, “and why I can’t see them?”
“The real question is: why can you see us?”, Edwin says with curiosity.
“You are ghosts, right?”, Lydia asks again, her eyes bright from comprehension.
“You’re really brilliant.”, Edwin starts to walk around them, “But what are you? Witches? Zombies? Some kind of strange elves?”
“We’re werewolves.”, Scott explains.
“Ghosts. That’s perfect”, Stiles doesn’t look amused by the news. “What’s next? Lovecraftian Cthulhu?”
“Heavens, I really hope not. That would be a really difficult case to solve.”, Edwin says, looking at Stiles.
“What are they saying? Where are they?”, Stiles looks a bit in distress with everyone’s look on him.
“Edwin’s right beside you.”, Crystal explains.
“Oh, God.”
“Actually, Scott and Isaac are werewolves. Me, Stiles and Allison are just humans.”
“Then why can you see them?”, Crystal’s look is full of curiosity, “Have you been touched by magic? Did you almost die? You see, only magical creatures, someone who’s been touched by magic or almost died can see ghosts.”
“Actually, I almost died once”, Lydia says.
“That’s the answer”, Charles answers without losing his smile.
“I’m sorry but this is bullshit! I’ve been touched by magic!”, Stiles complains, “I’ve been touched by magic multiple times! I actually wish magic would stop touching me.”
Lydia rolls her eyes. Charles laughs.
“So, that explains why me and Stiles can’t see them. But why are they here?”, the dark-haired girl- Allison- is the last one to speak; she looks a little uncomfortable in her own group of friends. Charles wonders why.
“We’re here to resolve a case!”, Niko says while Charles takes the obituary out from his backpack offering it to Lydia and her friends.
“Jason Skylar”, the girl reads.
“That’s the guy Lydia found the other day!”, Stiles exclaims, “One of the three virgins dead.”
“Three virgins dead?”
“We didn’t know there were two other victims”, Crystal narrows her eyes.
“That’s interesting”, Edwin reflects, his chin resting again his hand. “Three victims, three kinds of wounds, three murders. The number three is a very peculiar number. It represents perfection, holy perfection. That’s why Dante Alighieri used it so many times in his Divine Comedy.”
“That’s exactly what Stiles said!”, Scott says, and Stiles looks at him with curiosity and a bit annoyed. “What? I said what?”
“The Dante’s thing!”
“Really brilliant, indeed.”, Edwin looks at Stiles with wonder and Charles bites his own tongue trying not to laugh.
“Our investigations led us to your school, so we’re here to uncover what’s happening.”, Crystal says, trying to explain the situation.
“That’s our same goal!”, Stiles looks excited as well, now. “We’re investigating on these murders as well.”
“So, it looks like we’re in this together”, Niko looks a bit too amused by this turn of events; she’s always happy to meet new people and possible friends.
“It seems so.”, Allison smiles a little; she seems to like the other girl.
“This is ace!”, Charles beams.
“Well, I think we could join forces. For this one time.”, Edwin agrees.
“Edwin says he’s okay with this situation.”, Crystal, translates for Stiles and Allison’s sake.
“That’s perfect! Thank you.”, Scott nods, grateful to have the help of someone who actually knows what they’re doing.
“Right, now we just have to go somewhere else to understand the situation and share our info.”, Stiles reflects, “And I think I know where we can go.”
Part 4:
Unexpected friendships
are the best ones.
Derek spent circa one hour to get ready. Usually, it doesn’t take that long: he takes a shower, chooses a shirt and a pair of jeans and that’s it.
Today, on the other hand, he felt important to be presentable.
He just wants to know how that woman’s doing; that’s all. He feels responsible for her wellbeing; after all, it was his sister who traumatized her and it should be shocking to live that kind of experience, mostly if someone’s not accustomed to supernatural situations.
He just wants to check on her; that’s what he says to himself while putting perfume on himself and leaving his apartment.
But right when he opens the door, he finds himself in front to an unexpected situation.
Stiles hits his chest with a fist; probably he was about to knock.
“Ouch!”, the boy cries, shrugging his hand. “Dude, are you made of iron? Fuck!”
Derek sighs, “What are you doing here, Stiles?”
“We need your help!”, Scott intrudes, and that’s the moment Derek understands Stiles is not alone. With him there are the Beagle Boys- as he calls the others in his mind- plus some others he doesn’t know.
Derek feels the onset of a headache. “Come in.”
He steps aside, letting that bunch of teenagers get inside.
“So, what do you want? Why are you here?”
“We’re here cause- wait, were you leaving?”, Stiles asks.
Derek narrows his eyes. “That’s not your business, Stiles. What do you want?”
“Derek, did you wear perfume?”, Isaac looks a bit concerned too.
The older boy feels uncomfortable, “Look, if you don’t explain to me what you want you can leave. Why are you here? What are you doing with two ghosts, a psychic and a…sorry, what are you?”
“Aquarius”, the white-haired girl smiles.
“…Right.”
“Do you know we are ghosts?”, the old-fashioned one asks.
“Sure, what else could you be?”, Derek’s confused.
“Wait, do you know ghosts are real?”
“I do; and they’re also a pain in the ass. It’s so annoying to get rid of them, so why did you take two of them in my apartment?”
“Fascinating.”
“Anyway”, Stiles looks really annoyed, “They’re detectives, and they’re investigating on the virgins’ murders.”
“Detective ghosts?”, Derek asks, confused.
“We’re the Dead Boy Detectives Agency. Nice to meet you, mate!”, the other ghost, the shorter one, reaches out to Derek, but he doesn’t shakes his hand.
“What a stupid name.”
The boy doesn’t smile anymore.
“I think I heard of you.”, it’s a new voice that makes anyone turn around toward a dark corner, from where a figure emerges.
“Peter.”, Scott snarls.
“What the hell are you doing in my apartment?”, Derek is fuming, “How did you come in?!”
Peter ignores him, walking towards the two ghosts. The shorter one looks tense, putting himself between Derek’s uncle and the other ghost.
“Hey, calm down!”, Peter smiles in an unpleasant way, “I don’t mean to hurt you.”
“Charles, what are you doing?”, the red-curls girl whispers.
“I don’t know, Crystal. I don’t trust this bloke.”
“Well, he has a good instinct.”, Isaac mumbles.
Peter keeps smiling. “You’re the two ghosts who defeated that witch, Esther Finch, in Port Townsend, right?”
“How do you know us?”, the taller ghost, the one who’s not Charles, asks.
“I’m a friend of the Cat King.”, Peter grins, “You must be Edwin, am I correct?”
Edwin looks a bit uncomfortable.
“So, I’m the only one who can’t see them?”, Stiles asks, clearly bothered. “I’m sorry but this is bullshit, it isn’t fair!”
“Well, I don’t see them too, Stiles”, Allison points out, but Stiles doesn’t seem to hear her.
“Okay, we must resolve this, first. I can’t work with someone I don’t see.”
“Try this.”, Peter walks toward Stiles, just to throw some kind of dust in his eyes. While the guy blinks and complains, Peter does the same to Allison.
“What the hell, Peter?!”, Stiles cries, “I said I wanted to see ghosts, I didn’t say I wanted to become blind!”
“Relax, Stiles.”, Peter rolls his eyes while Allison rubs hers.
“What was that?”, Scott approaches his two friends, concerned.
“Just dust of stramonium”, Peter explains, sitting on the couch in the middle of the room.
Sure, do as you please, Derek thinks with hostility.
“Doesn’t it cause hallucinations?”
“Well, that’s a common misconception. Stramonium- also known as moon flower or devil’s weed, it’s an efficient way to see supernatural things.”
“Well, thanks for your lesson.”, Stiles says with irony, and he looks around eyeing the two ghosts, invisible till a moment before. “Wow, I really can see them.”
“Hey, mate!”, Charles beams.
“Nice to meet you.”, Edwin greets.
“No need to thank me.”, Peter grins.
“Don’t worry, we won’t”, Allison says, glaring at him.
Stiles looks at them with amazement, until Derek speaks again. “Stiles, concentrate! What are you doing here?”
“Yeah, you’re right!”, the boy walks towards the big table near the windows, spreading a bunch of notes and newspapers clippings on the surface. “This is what we know. There are three victims, killed in three different ways. All of them are virgins.”
The Edwin-guy walks near him, eyeing the objects on the table. “Me and my partners discovered something that make us believe that we’re dealing with a Darach. Do you know about it?”
“A Darach? A dark druid?”, Derek’s confused and concerned.
“That’s right!”
“The three virgins are just the first step of a ritual.”
“But what are they for? What’s their use?”, Scott wonders.
Stiles reflects for a moment. “They give them power. Virgins are pure, charming.”
“We think it’s a girl druid.”, the white-haired girl says. Derek thinks they called her Niko. Or something like that.
“Okay, so they give her power.”
“How that’s important, right now?”, Derek’s annoyed.
Isaac narrows his eyes. “Pronouns are important, Derek.”
“There’ll be other sacrifices.”, Stiles mumbles.
“That’s exact.”, Edwin nods, a serious expression on his face.
“How can we stop them?”
Stiles starts to walk back and forth. “Virgins aren’t her target anymore. She gotta find a new one. A new category of targets!”
“That’s a problem.”, Isaac mumbles.
“Well, that’s actually not a problem.”, Edwin responds.
“Wait, really?”
“I’m quite sure.”, the ghost nods, “There were few categories important to the Celtics. Warriors, Healers…”
“Soldiers and Doctors”, Scott translates, feeling useful.
“Very well, Scott.”
“Well,”, Charles smiles, thrilled, “it seems like we’re on the case!”
“We can do this”, Crystal nods, looking everyone in the eyes. “Are you ready, guys?”
Stiles and Edwin look in each other’s eyes and then smile. “We’re in.”