001 ; anyone can kill

A SUPERNATURAL HIT LIST. Or in other words, a way out.

Kelly had been living on the streets — or more exactly, in the forest — for three years now. Three years of theft, hunting, and bathing restricted to pool change rooms or the chilled water of the California rivers. And she was just a kid.

Seventeen and Kelly had already received a lifetime of loss and loneliness. No living relatives. Friends left behind. Kelly was a remnant, forgotten.

How did they die? A fire. Kelly's fire. One that she unwittingly set on her house by leaving a straightener on while she was at school. And so she's sentenced herself to feeling like an eternal idiot, like the grand failure. 

When she came to the excruciating realization of what had happened, she ran away. She ran as far as she could. She was just a kid after all, a kid who didn't know how to deal with that kind of loss. At fourteen she lost her ability to trust, to feel loved and to love anyone — including herself. How can you be expected to love yourself when you're the cause of your own suffering?

On top of that, Kelly was a werewolf. She was a monster in the eyes of the world in more ways than one. She was bitten three years ago, but her Alpha was killed by hunters before she even turned fifteen. Kelly was what some people liked to call a lone wolf. An omega. A wolf with no pack.

"How much are we talking?" A gruff voice said.

Kelly hid in the shadows of the trees, watching from afar as two men in leather jackets discussed their hit list. It was nearly three in the morning in the thick of some remote Californian woods, far away from any residential areas. Nobody ever came by this part of the forest except Kelly. It was her home. Until now. Her enhanced hearing honed in on their voices, listening closely for the other man's response.

"Millions."

Kelly's breath caught in her throat.

"So, all we have to do is pick off some supernatural creatures and this — what did you call it?"

"The Benefactor."

"And the Benefactor transfers us the money?"

"Precisely. All we need is photo evidence. And we send it to the Benefactor."

"And anything else we have to know is on that tape?"

"You got it," the man nodded, tapping his pocket.

This is too easy, Kelly thought. Steal it. Survival instincts don't discriminate between humans and animals, and they surely don't care about ethics. Kelly glowed her eyes as she crept closer to them, getting a better look. She took out her claws and fangs, prepared. They weren't werewolves, she knew that much. In fact, they looked more like hunters.

"Well then, let's go to Beacon Hills."

Kelly took her chance, running towards the pair. In their joy, they were caught off guard by the girl. She came up behind one of them, he tried to reach for his gun, but Kelly was faster. She kicked it out of his hands and grabbed onto his arm, using it as a pivot point for her body as she kicked the other hunter to the ground.

The list laid on the forest floor, close enough for Kelly to touch. She got up quickly and grabbed it with her claws. One of the hunters reached for his gun as she did so. The gun went off. Kelly felt the searing pain in her calf. She looked down to see her leg gushing blood.

Kelly grunted in pain, falling backwards slightly. Just as they started to stand up, Kelly punched them both in the head, sending them back into the brush of the forest. Her enhanced strength knocked them out cold.

She gripped her leg and took a regrettable glance at the bullet wound. It was deep.

Kelly had been shot before, numerous times. This was an inconvenience at most. She could already feel the flesh around the metal bullet healing.

She crouched down and slipped the tape out of the one man's pocket. She pulled their phones from their jackets — considering she didn't have one — and then she took their bags as well for good measure.

Satisfied, Kelly ran until she was so far away from where the hunters had been that even if they weren't knocked out, they could never find her. She sat down at the edge of an emerald green lake, surrounded by trees that cast veiny shadows along the ground in the moonlight.

Slowly, she pulled the metal bullet out of her leg. She threw it into the lake, watching as the crimson blood blossomed from the point where the bullet hit the water.

Kelly leaned over the edge of the land and stared at her reflection in the rippling water. Her dirty blonde hair hung in stringy waves around her face, her tanned skin glinted in the low light of the moon, her brown eyes looked dark and murky in the lake's mirror. Kelly dipped her hands into the water and poured a handful of water on her face, washing and remaining dirt and blood away. She ran her fingers through her hair, taking out all the knots of the day.

Once she had finished brushing through her hair, Kelly laid back on the mossy ground. She pulled out the hit list from her pocket. It was a single folded page. She ran her eyes over the many names. What interested her more was the numbers printed beside the names. The man was right, millions upon millions. The numbers ranged from two-hundred-fifty-thousand to twenty-five million.

Well then, let's go to Beacon Hills.

☾

Kelly hitch hiked her way to the town of Beacon Hills the next morning. It wasn't a far drive, and considering that she was always on the go, it wasn't an inconvenience either.

She never really spoke to the people she caught rides with, and after a while the people would usually give up with small talk. This time she sat in a banged up silver pickup truck with a man that reeked of nicotine. The truck smelled terrible, but the man was quiet and drove with soft music on which Kelly liked.

He stopped outside Beacon Hills' sheriff station which was situated along one of the main streets of the town.

"Thanks," Kelly said, nodding to the man as he drove away. She patted her pocket to make sure the list was still there before she began walking. She wasn't entirely sure what her plan was, but she figured by walking around she might get an idea.

The streets were lined with trees and the sun shone brightly on the grainy sidewalk. If Kelly didn't know that it was full of supernatural beings, she would've thought it looked like a nice place to grow up. But she knew better.

She didn't know where to go considering she had nowhere to stay and didn't know a single person in this town, but that wasn't new. She was used to sleeping on floors. She didn't even know if she remembered what it felt like to sleep on a proper bed. Whatever she had to do to survive, she'd do it with the knowledge that any damage she sustained would most likely be healed by the next day.

It was only once Kelly passed the high school that an idea occurred to her. It was a large, brick building with windows on all sides. It was surrounded by benches and grassy fields. Kelly checked the time on her watch; it was noon. The school would be open, she decided. With that, she cut across the beaten field and stopped at the double doors.

She searched her bag for her records before entering the school. They were fake, of course, but the school didn't have to know that. She left her bags in a bush outside the school and made her way through the double doors. She looked around for any signage, anything to point her towards the main office. Finally, she saw a small map of the school and followed the directions. The secretary was a middle aged woman who wore red glasses and a sleeveless blouse.

"Can I help you?" the secretary asked once she spotted Kelly.

"Yes, actually." Kelly stepped up to the desk and placed the papers on the counter. "I'd like to enroll. I just moved here."

The secretary looked at Kelly over the top of her glasses and sighed audibly. Kelly rolled her eyes as the lady turned towards her computer.

"All right, I'm gonna need some information. Are your parents here?"

"My dad's out of town on business and my mom is working," Kelly explained, picking the papers back up. "But I have my birth certificate, medical records, and previous school records here, and I have all my information." Every single item on that list was a fake document; ones that she had collected over the years just in case.

The woman seemed like she couldn't care less. She looked back at the computer, typing extremely quickly. After what felt like an hour, she began to ask more questions. At least eighty percent of Kelly's answers were outright lies, but the secretary didn't notice in the slightest.

"Okay, you're good to go, sweetie," the secretary stated. The way she said 'sweetie' didn't exactly hold the same endearing tone that Kelly usually associated with the word. "You can come in for you first day on Monday. It's the start of a new semester, so you're in luck. Just swing by my desk in the morning and I'll give you your schedule and locker information." The secretary wasn't even looking at Kelly as she spoke. Kelly took that as her cue to leave.

"Thanks, I appreciate it," Kelly smiled gratefully just in case the woman could see Kelly in her peripheral vision.

☾

The following Monday, well before the rest of the world had woken up, Kelly sat cross-legged in a gas station bathroom. She held the cassette tape she'd taken the previous day in her hand. It was made of clear plastic casing and had a strip of white tape on the top with PLAY ME written neatly in pen. An old, battered walkman laid in front of her on the milky tiled floor alongside the army green bags of the hunters. Kelly checked the lock on the door for the fourth time before pulling the headphones of the walkman over her ears and inserting the tape.

She heard a crackle and then a breath. Slowly, a voice began to speak.

"For centuries, supernatural creatures have plagued California . . ."

Kelly furrowed her brow and fast forwarded as the voice recounted the history of supernatural creatures in Beacon Hills. Kelly didn't need to know the origins or the 'how' of the matter considering she was already living it. She pressed play again, picking up the hit list from the ground beside her.

"Thus, we have created a dead pool. On this list is every supernatural creature in the area of Beacon Hills, otherwise known as the home of the Nemeton — a beacon for supernatural creatures. The following is instructions on how to access the list and how to receive payment."

The voice was even and calm, yet somehow chilling.

"There are three parts to the dead pool, each one requires a cipher key to unlock. The cipher keys are as follows: Allison, Aidan, Derek." The voice spelled out each of the names before continuing. "You have all received an IP address. To access the dead pool you will have to enter it on your internet browser. After entering the IP address you will be connected through a dark net portal to an untraceable bank. Once logged in enter your account number to receive wire transfers. The IP address will deactivate with each transfer you will receive a new IP address if you choose to continue down the list. Remember, visual confirmation is always required for payment."

The tape clicked. The voice stopped. Kelly looked down at the list, realizing that she only had one third. Well, that's annoying, she thought. But truly, she decided, it wouldn't be very hard at all to get her hands on the other two thirds. Kelly placed the walkman back on the floor and turned to the bags, zipping them open.

Wolfsbane. Knives. Traps. Poisons.

Kelly sifted through the bags, pulling out at least a dozen ways to kill. She didn't really need any of this to kill a supernatural creature. She had her own weapons ready at a second's notice, but it couldn't hurt. Kelly transferred the more useful items into her own bag. When she was done, she unlocked the metal door of the bathroom. It was still dark out, dark enough that the street lights were still casting flickering pools of oil-stained light on the pavement.

Kelly made her way behind the gas station and threw the bags in the dumpster. She then walked further, towards the cracked stucco of the community pool. She broke the lock. She knew nobody would be around, but just in case, she listened for heartbeats. Nothing.

Kelly made her way into the change rooms, immediately stripping herself of her clothes. She turned the dial on the shower until the water was steaming. She took her soap, shampoo, and conditioner out of her bag. She cleaned herself and her clothes from the following day as best as she could, then got out of the shower and changed into a clean outfit; simple pair of jeans, black converse, and a black tank top.

Then she left. And she started walking again. She was headed to the thick forest behind the road. She walked until she was well hidden from the rest of civilization. Until the only sounds were the soft hum of crickets and the howl of the breeze. She left her bag in a shallow cave and traded it for a dark blue backpack she'd attained that weekend. It was full of all the things that normal teenagers brought to their first day of high school along with a few supernatural-killing additions.

Now the sky was beginning to lighten in a coral haze and Kelly made her way back to the road. And then further. All the way to the dusty red brick walls of Beacon Hills High School.

AUTHOR'S NOTE.

( word count: 2559 )

hey! i really hope you liked the first chapter. let me know what you think about the length. no malia yet, but she's coming (obviously). i'm so excited to write this because malia is the love of my life and deserves more appreciation.

also the benefactor plot line is lowkey so confusing but maybe that's just me lmao.

you all better be taking care of yourselves because ily, thank you so much for reading <3.

much love,
skye