"You have to tell my father..."
Allison didn't feel anything.
Suddenly she couldn't feel the cold night, or Scott's hands holding her, or even the wound in her side; she couldn't feel anything and her vision faded to black. She was floating in a wide expanse of nothing for what seemed like hours, maybe days.
As quickly as she had lost everything, everything came rushing back. She gasped for breath.
"God, it took you long enough." A familiar voice whined. "You've been laying there for days."
Allison's eyes snapped open and a bright blue sky peaked through a dense forest roof. Where the hell am I? She wondered.
"Give her a break, she did get stabbed," a deeper voice came to her defense. "You've been there, it kinda sucks."
Allison sat up slowly from where she had been laying in the grass. Sitting a few feet away on a large stump sat two people who couldn't be there.
"Boyd, Erica?" the names slipped from her mouth in a whisper. "How? But you're..."
"Dead as a doornail? Stiffer than an 8th grade boy in the girl's locker room?" Erica said with a grin. "Yeah we know; we've been here for a while."
She stood up and was followed by Boyd over to where Allison sat stunned. Kneeling down, she put a hand on the younger hunters shoulder and gave her a smile. "Sorry love, but welcome to the great beyond."
Allison knew what the blonde girl meant, she knew she had been stabbed, knew she had died. But then where was she? Was this heaven? Looking around at the quiet forest they were surrounded by she gave the two young wolves a questioning look.
"Welcome to the Wood" Boyd answered her unspoken question. "At least that's what we call it. The others call it the afterlife, heaven, the great run."
"Others? Who..." she stood with a gasp, looking around the clearing quickly, "My mother?"
Boyd shook his head "Not that we've seen." He pulled Erica to one side and lowered his voice. "I think... I think we need to take her to see her."
Erica shook her head. "She's terrifying remember? That's why we're out here and the rest of them aren't." She looked back at the obviously confused Allison. "She's not going to be happy to see an Argent."
"Who are you talking about?" Allison demanded as she approached the two teens.
"Fine, so here's the deal," Erica said with a huff. "Everyone we've met here isn't human. Most are wolves, or kitsunes, or shifters, or something. You're the first human we've seen. This is apparently where supernatural creature goes if they died a tragic or particularly hard death..."
Boyd picked up were the other left off. "And you can probably imagine that the Argents had a hand in a lot of those deaths over the years. Including the, well ruler isn't the right word, but she is the only person who has any kind of control here. And she's the only person either of us could think to take you to when we found you."
"So this women? Someone in my family killed her?" Allison asked, her head starting to spin.
"Not just someone, your Aunt!" spat Erica.
"A Hale?"
"THE Hale...We have to take you to see Talia Hale."
Erica led the way down a narrow forest path as Allison followed with Boyd behind her. She had been stunned into silence by the declaration they were going to see Talia Hale. Talia had died when Allison was still a small child but over the last year of being a part of the supernatural world of Beacon Hill she had learned a lot about the Matriarch of the Hale family. She was supposedly a very formidable werewolf with the rare ability to fully turn into a wolf; something that had made her a leader in life and apparently in death as well.
Allison had met four Hales so far.
Derek who she had protected, been saved by, worked with, and tried to kill at different times. She had seen him as an enemy and an ally interchangeably. But she had always seen him as honorable and at heart a good person. He'd never killed for the sake of killing, and most of his actions could be attributed to the fire that her Aunt Kate had set. At this point she fully trusted him and her father had even accepted him as a pseudo-friend. She hoped that her relationship, at least the good parts, would put her in good graces with Talia.
Peter was a different story. He had killed and destroyed to come back from first his burned state and then from the dead. He'd hurt Stiles and Scott, kidnapped and made her do terrible things, and he'd killed Laura his own niece. He was calculating, cunning, and did nothing unless it benefitted him. He had been and would always been a threat, if not an enemy. He was also Talia's brother.
Kara and Malia were both Hales but Allison's dealings with each had been peripheral at best. While neither played any part in her life for very long, each had been tough, opinionated, and strong willed. They had fought for what they thought was right and had been allies to her friends. She wondered how much they were like Talia.
"So if Talia is here, that means all the other Hales from the fire are here as well. Right?" Allison asked and looked back at Boyd.
Boyd nodded, "Yeah, but I'm not sure who will be around when we get to Talia. She's really the only one from the fire who takes place in these kinds of things."
"But you can bet your ass Laura will be there," Erica said from her place in the front.
"Laura? Derek's brother?" Allison asked.
"The one and only, and Talia's golden child."
Boyd continued, "Apparently Laura was the heir apparent of the Hale line. She was supposed to take over after Talia. But now it's Derek's job as the Alpha."
Allison glanced at the tall boy confused. "Um, how much information do you have about what's going on in the real world?"
"Not much to be honest. There are ways to watch the world but that's mostly the work of the older wolves and the other older creatures. Those who want to make a difference or influence the world."
"But how'd you know I was stabbed?"
"Oh, well…you were still bleeding out when we found you," Boyd said, not looking at Allison. "You healed over the last few days. That's how Erica found me too, claw marks still fresh."
Allison continued to walk and said in a quiet, calm tone, "You should probably know something then. Derek's not an Alpha anymore, Scott is."
Erica's head jerked around and her eyes flared gold. "What?!" She had stopped in her tracks, forcing Allison to stop as well.
"Um, I guess Derek gave up his status as Alpha to save Kara," Allison started. "I don't fully understand how that works, you know not being a wolf or anything, but she was hurt and not healing and he did something, Peter showed him how, and it made him no long be an Alpha."
"What about Scott?" Boyd asked.
"Well, to defeat the Alpha pack he had to do some things and that made him a True Alpha," Allison continued. "Basically, he became an Alpha through will power not killing or death. That's apparently better. Once again, not a wolf so I don't know that much."
Erica and Boyd exchanged glances.
"We hadn't heard, but we don't go near the others very often," Boyd explained as they continued down the path again. "Talia may know, but probably not all the detail. She'll want to hear everything you know."
"It might be the only thing that keeps you from getting a face full of claws," Erica said, her voice dripping with sarcasm.
The walked for what felt like hours, but Allison quickly found that she never tired or got thirsty or hungry. Apparently you didn't have to worry about that kind of stuff when you are dead. When they finally arrived Allison was surprised to see a large house sitting in a clearing in front of her. For some reason she had expected something more primitive or no buildings at all. The house looked familiar and then it dawn on her.
"That's the old Hale house…"she said with surprise evident in her voice. "Well not old here I guess."
"Yeah, this place is weird like that," Boyd said. "When I first arrived, Erica and I found an old subway station for us to stay in. Apparently this place can create whatever felt like home to you or something."
As they approached the house, Allison could hear the sound of life coming from it. Laughter and talking, and what seemed like children. This is what the house had been like before Kate had gotten ahold of it. It made Allison's eyes tear up but she quickly blinked them away, she would need to be strong to meet Talia and Laura.
They had almost made it to the front steps when the door opened and a woman in her mid-forties walked out followed by a woman in her twenties. They shared the same color of dark brown hair and same twinkling eye, their faces strong and stately. They cared themselves with so much purpose and pride that Allison immediately knew this was Talia and Laura. Laura eyed Allison with suspicion but her mother's eyes were filled with something even more startling…compassion.
"Hello Allison, I was wondering if we'd see you here." Talia's voice was soft but firm as she walked down to the trio of teens at her doorstep. She smiled at Erica and Boyd. "You were right to bring her here."
"But, how did you know? I'm human."
"That's very true my dear, but you are also a member of the Hale Pack despite not being a wolf." Talia took Allison's hand. "Let's have something to drink and I'll explain a few things about the Hale Pack."