Nobody slept after that.
Mostly because supernatural ghost attacks tended to ruin the mood.
The living room looked like a war zone.
Broken glass.
Claw marks.
Mountain ash burns across the walls.
And Stiles stress-eating an entire box of cereal at three in the morning.
Scott sat beside Drake looking exhausted.
"So let me get this straight."
Drake nodded patiently.
"There are werewolves."
"Yes."
"Hunters."
"Yes."
"Banshees."
"Yes."
"Whatever Ciri is."
"I'm standing right here." Ciri muttered.
"And now ghost demon things?"
"Wraiths." Drake corrected.
Scott looked genuinely emotional.
"I miss being normal."
Derek snorted from the corner.
"You were never normal."
"That's weirdly comforting."
Isaac quietly helped Noah clean shattered glass nearby.
The sheriff noticed the kid flinching every time someone moved too fast.
His expression softened slightly.
"You hungry?"
Isaac blinked.
"…What?"
"I'm making food."
Isaac looked confused by the question itself.
Like he wasn't used to being offered things.
Drake noticed immediately.
So did Noah.
The sheriff's eyes darkened subtly.
"Kid." Noah spoke gently.
"When's the last time somebody took care of you properly?"
Isaac looked down silently.
And again?
That silence answered enough.
Across the room Lydia suddenly froze.
Her breathing stopped.
Eyes widening.
Drake reacted instantly.
"Lydia?"
Then she screamed.
Everyone flinched violently.
The sound shattered another window.
Scott covered his ears.
Isaac stumbled backward.
Even Derek looked uncomfortable.
Lydia gasped sharply afterward.
"…There's another body."
The room went still.
Stiles looked pale.
"What?"
Lydia's voice trembled slightly.
"In the school."
Drake was already moving.
The front door slammed open behind him.
Derek followed instantly.
Scott hesitated once before sprinting after them.
Ciri sighed softly.
"…Teenagers."
Then opened a portal and stepped through casually.
Beacon Hills High stood silent beneath the moonlight.
Police lights already flashed outside.
Noah cursed quietly upon arriving.
"How are we always first to murder scenes now?"
"Experience." Stiles answered proudly.
"That isn't comforting."
Inside the school gym.
Blood covered the floor.
Symbols painted the walls.
And suspended from the ceiling—
A body.
Drained completely white.
Scott gagged immediately.
Isaac looked horrified.
Derek's eyes narrowed.
"Ritualistic."
Ciri examined the symbols carefully.
"…Definitely necromancy."
Drake stared at the corpse silently.
Then slowly looked upward.
Something was written above the body in blood.
NOT EVEN DEATH CAN SAVE YOU.
For the first time since returning to Beacon Hills—
Drake felt genuinely uneasy.
The town descended into panic by morning.
Again.
Beacon Hills residents had become disturbingly good at pretending horrifying supernatural murders were somehow normal.
Parents kept students home.
Police flooded the school.
Rumours spread everywhere.
Satanic cults.
Serial killers.
Animal attacks.
TikTok challenges.
Stiles looked offended by that last one.
"People really blamed TikTok before demons?"
"Yes." Lydia answered.
"That feels insulting."
Meanwhile Drake stood on the school roof staring toward the preserve.
Thinking.
Which rarely ended well.
Ciri appeared beside him quietly.
"You're worried."
"That woman knew me."
Ciri crossed her arms.
"You've met thousands of monsters."
"No." Drake said softly.
"She knew what I am."
That changed things.
Ciri's expression sharpened immediately.
"You think she's connected to Death?"
Drake stayed silent.
Which was answer enough.
Below them Scott awkwardly attempted to control his hearing in the hallway.
Failed.
Then accidentally listened to three different conversations at once and walked directly into a locker.
Jackson burst out laughing.
"McCall has the coordination of a dying giraffe."
Scott glared.
"Shut up."
"No."
Nearby Allison approached Drake carefully once he climbed back down.
"You okay?"
Drake blinked slightly.
"…Why does everyone keep asking me that?"
"Because you look like you're planning violence."
"…Fair."
Allison smiled softly.
Then paused.
"…Wait should I be worried by that answer?"
"Probably."
Before Allison could respond—
Every alarm in the school activated simultaneously.
Students screamed.
Teachers panicked.
And every supernatural being in the building froze.
Because the alarms weren't random.
They formed words.
Slowly.
Mechanically.
WELCOME HOME, DRAKE.
Silence hit the hallway instantly.
Then every television screen flickered on.
Static filled the displays.
Until the pale woman appeared smiling from every monitor.
Students screamed again.
The woman tilted her head slightly.
"Found you."
Then every screen exploded.
Glass rained across the hallway.
Chaos erupted instantly.
Drake's eyes flashed crimson.
The woman's laughter echoed throughout the school.
Every shadow in the hallway suddenly moved.
Then people started disappearing.
Panic consumed Beacon Hills High.
Students ran screaming through the halls.
Teachers shouted useless instructions.
Shadow creatures crawled across ceilings and walls like living nightmares.
Scott stared in horror.
"…THIS IS NOT NORMAL WEREWOLF STUFF!"
Derek grabbed a creature mid-lunge and ripped it apart.
"No kidding!"
Isaac protected a group of terrified freshmen near the stairwell despite visibly shaking himself.
Lydia's banshee senses screamed nonstop.
Stiles held a fire extinguisher like it was Excalibur.
"No one touch me," he warned.
"I am emotionally overwhelmed."
Drake moved through the chaos like a force of nature.
Every step cracked tile beneath his feet.
Every shadow creature that approached him disintegrated instantly.
Not from power.
From fear.
The pale woman appeared at the end of the hallway again.
Smiling calmly while students fled around her.
Nobody else could see her.
Only Drake.
Interesting.
"You shouldn't exist," she said softly.
Drake stopped walking.
"…I get that a lot."
"You were claimed."
The hallway temperature dropped violently.
"You belong to Death."
Ciri appeared beside Drake instantly.
Sword drawn.
"You're speaking very boldly for someone hiding behind corpses."
The woman's smile widened.
"Oh."
Her glowing blue eyes shifted toward Ciri.
"You're the child surprise."
Ciri's expression immediately darkened.
"…I really hate ancient beings."
Drake stepped forward slightly.
"Who are you?"
The woman bowed mockingly.
"Morana."
Every instinct Drake possessed screamed instantly.
Old god.
Not fully divine.
But close enough.
That was bad.
Very bad.
Morana smiled wider upon recognizing his realization.
"Yes," she whispered.
"Now you understand."
Behind Drake the entire pack slowly gathered together.
Scott.
Isaac.
Derek.
Lydia.
Stiles.
Allison.
Noah.
Even terrified—
They stood with him anyway.
Morana observed them curiously.
"…How strange."
Her eyes returned to Drake.
"You were made to walk alone."
Drake glanced briefly toward the people beside him.
Then back toward her.
For once—
He smiled genuinely.
"Yeah."
His crimson eyes blazed brighter.
"But I decided I didn't like that ending."