HASTINGS
Hastings was too nice of a place for a town as simple as Beacon Hills; it brought an elegance and 'upper-class' notability to the city. There were valets dressed in black suits with red bow-ties and crimson red 'H' cufflinks. Behind the valet stand was an arched walkway, meticulously threaded with vines and warm string lights, and lead to the hostess stand. The visible staff consisted entirely of beautiful women; the only men that would be seen outside of the kitchen were the two bartenders. Highly sexist and objectifying, yes, but it paid well and was becoming the most frequented place in Beacon Hills night life.
Tonight was like any other night, nearly all standing room for people who were without reservations and were impatiently waiting by the bar to be seated. The people who waited didn't mind after a while because they could at least say they got inside.
Claudia Cole was carefully making her way through the crowd with an empty tray in her hands. She wore the mandatory uniform – a strapless black cocktail dress that pushed up the breasts with the sweetheart neckline, hugged the hips, and stopped short of the knees paired with cherry red heels and lipstick. All the waitresses' hair were pinned up to have little ringlets fall around the face.
She smiled politely and discreetly waved to some of the regular customers. The owner, Joshua Hastings, encouraged the female staff to mingle with the patrons.
She abruptly stopped when a man in black slacks and a tan polo stepped in front of her. She would have apologized if she hadn't smelled the booze wafting off of him.
"Are your parents terrorists? 'Cos baby you're the bomb." He gestured with his hands for emphasis and managed to slosh his drink on himself.
Claudia tried to move around him, but the man's friend side-stepped her. "Jim, Jim, ask her if it hurt when she fell."
"Excuse me?" Claudia asked.
"When you fell from Heaven. Did it hurt?" The man looked her up and down, biting his lip. "'Cos I know an angel when I see one."
Claudia slowly pressed herself against the man, laying her hand on his chest, and whispering in his ear, "I'm no angel. I'm a witch." She pulled back, putting a finger to her lips and winking.
She walked around the dazed man and over to Mellissa McCall's table. Thankfully, Claudia was able to snag it when she clocked in this afternoon. She put her tray on the table as she sat down. She would have launched into her encounter with the drunken suburban dads, but Melissa was starring off at the bar.
"What are you staring at?" Claudia turned around and saw a young couple clinging to each other in a passionate lip-lock. The man was sitting on a barstool while the girl stood between his legs.
"They have been going at it for almost an hour." Melissa absentmindedly said.
"Ugh," Claudia turned away, her face scrunched up. "I can't even look."
Claudia reached out and took a sip of Melissa's wine. She handed it back to Melissa so that she could finish it off. "I know. I hate being single."
"Who's fault is that?" Claudia smiled.
Melissa's mouth fell open. "You're the one to talk!"
"I just got a divorce; you've been divorced."
"Yeah, well, this town doesn't have much to offer." She smiled snidely. "Last date I went on, he wanted to bite me and turn me into a den mother for his new pack."
That gave Claudia pause. She simply nodded. "Fair enough."
"Waitress coming through." A light, airy voice called out gently through the crowd. Haley weaved through the tables with a single drink on her tray and a lovely smile on her face. She stopped at their table. "Special delivery."
"Haley, this is my friend Melissa," Claudia introduced the two as Haley set a glass of white wine down in front of Melissa.
"Well, then, Melissa, it's your lucky night."
"Um," Melissa pointed down at the glass. "I think there's been some kind of a mistake. I didn't order this."
"I know," Haley's smile grew. "You have a secret admirer. He ordered it for you."
She turned on her heel and pointed at a man in a wheelchair. He was a handsome man after a second glance. He raised his glass to her.
"Who's that?" Claudia asked Haley excitedly.
"I have no idea. I'm just following the bartender's orders." She gently tapped Melissa's shoulder with her finger. "And, apparently he's been eyeing you all night."
"Haley, can you do me a favor?" Haley's and Claudia's smiles fell as Melissa put the drink back on the tray carefully. "Please tell him thank you and I'm very flattered….but I'm kind seeing someone."
Perplexed, Haley agreed. She turned around and went back to the man's table.
Claudia propped her chin in the palm of her hand. "Either you're lying now or you were lying two minutes ago."
"Maybe it's a bit of both…." Melissa dragged out. She smiled and laughed a bit. "I don't know what it is, but it's something."
Claudia reached over the table and squeezed Melissa's hand. "Whatever it is, whoever he is, as long as he makes you happy…." She squeezed her hand again, "I say go for it."
"Get off your ass, we're getting swamped out here," a frazzled waitress with a noticeable hicky on her neck rushed by the table, glaring at Claudia.
Claudia sucked in a deep breath through clenched teeth. As she stood up, she calmly said, "If you see me smiling it's because I'm thinking of doing something evil. If you see me laughing it's because I've already done it."
HALEY'S APARTMENT
NIGHT
She had finally crawled into bed around 1:30am. Joshua wouldn't let the girls leave until all the money was accounted for. He didn't trust women, clearly, but he tolerated them to make his money. She would have left months ago, but the pay was excellent and the restaurant was elite. If you were a Hastings' girl, you were elite. Haley liked feeling that way.
She'd been sleeping for nearly an hour when a leather gloved hand clamped harshly over her mouth, causing her to wake. She began to struggle, but the man turned on the bedside light.
It was the man from Hastings, the one in the wheelchair.
But he was sitting on the edge of her bed now, holding his hand over her mouth to keep her from screaming. He leaned in close and whispered,
"Hello, Haley."
She begins to struggle again, but he presses his hand tighter over her mouth. "Shh…you're in my world now."
The man threw off the covers and helped her out of bed as her room turned into her dream through a series of rolling fog and spinning walls. It's all red, everything is red – the air, the ground, the clouds. Haley looked around. It kind of looked like the top of her building's roof. Feeling the wind brush by her, she glanced down. She's was now wearing a cream evening dress instead of her Mickey and Mini t-shirt and gym shorts. Against the murderous atmosphere and his black clothing, she was the only source of light in her nightmare. In his fantasy.
"You look beautiful in that dress. I knew you would." The man stood behind her, brushing the tips of his fingers across the tops of her shoulders.
"I-I don't understand."
He whispered in her ear, ticking her. "It's your dream, but it's my fantasy."
"Where am I?"
He chuckled. "You're dreaming. I'm visiting."
"You're in my dream…"
"Yes," he walked around to face her, trailing one finger one her. "But I can make it mine."
She glanced down at his feet. He was standing, yes, but in her haze she hadn't realized he could walk. "You can walk."
"In dreams I can do anything." He held out his hands to her and slowly she took them. They began to dance, the man spinning her around. "I can dance in your dreams, I can alter your dreams," he placed one hand on her lower back and the other on her neck and slowly dipped her down. He held her there. "And I can kill you in your dreams."
She brought herself out of the dip and thumped on his chest to get away. He merely smiled and danced his way back, his hands firmly gripping her sides.
"No, please."
"Did you know that if you die in your dreams," He pulled her close to his chest for a moment to waltz her to the building ledge. He lifted her by the hips to stand on it, "You die in real life."
For effect, he dips her down as that she could see how long of a fall it was to the bottom.
"Please don't hurt me!" Haley yelled, and the man chorused her.
He chuckled. "Now Haley, you rejected me and now you gotta pay."
"Please, don't do anything!" Haley screamed, tears rolling down her face. The man chorused her again, laughing.
"Sweet dreams." With two fingers, he pushed her off the edge and walked away to the sound of her screaming…..and then silence.
HALEY'S APRTMENT
MORNING
Haley was dead.
She was lying on her bed, covers thrown aside and her body in an awkward position. There was no blood, but her limbs were flexed and contorted in inhuman positions. In the corner of the room, a forensics tech snapped photos.
"What do we got here?" John asked as he walked up to the bed. Seeing the girl in her reminded him Claudia had the same matching set.
Deputy Jordan Parrish walked up with his notepad. "Here name was Haley Morris, early twenty's, waitress at Hastings."
John cocked his head to the side. "Looks like she broke all her bones."
"That's because every bone in her body's been crushed." Parrish glanced down at his pad. "The coroner said it's as if she's fallen off a twenty story building."
"So a jumper," He turned to Parish with skepticism. "But without the sidewalk and blood."
Parrish threw his hands in the air. "Just reporting what the Doc said."
"We're in a closed apartment, on the ground floor and the body hasn't been moved." John rubbed his eyes. It was too early in the morning for puzzles. He turned and walked out the bedroom door.
"Sherriff?"
"Getting coffee!"
McCALL FAMILY HOME
Since the kids were in school and the girls had the morning off, the decided to spend it like typical middle-aged moms. Melissa is standing in front of the TV watching an exercise video and trying to copy what they're doing. Claudia was lying on the couch reading a trashy tabloid she picked up on the way over here with a bottle of wine on the floor next to her.
"Uh, I give up." Melissa put down the five-pound pink weights she had been working with and decided to lay on her exercise mat. She picked up the DVD case and looked the cover over. "Two weeks and nothing strengthened but my temper."
"Mell, you didn't read the fine print." Claudia exchanged the wine bottle for the DVD case. Melissa happily agreed. "See. It says right here." Claudia pointed to a random spot on the back of the case. "$19.95 for the video and twenty grand for the plastic surgeon."
"Yeah. Well it's worked." Melissa handed the bottle back to Claudia. "She's the most desired female in America. She's what every man wants."
"Of course men want her." Claudia went back to reading her rag-mag. "Men are not different from women. We all want what we can't have. Which is why we need to stop thinking about what men want and start thinking about what we want in a man."
Melissa turned her head to look up at her. "You're reading that, aren't you?"
Claudia tossed the magazine over to Mellissa. "Of course I'm reading. All I want is tons of fun, lots of heat, and no strings attached."
"So Peter….." Melissa mused. She began laughing when Claudia made a move for the magazine to beat her with it. "I'm kidding! I'm kidding!"
"Better be," Claudia begrudgingly took a swig of wine. She swallowed hard. "It don't want to think about Peter. I don't want to think about John. I just want to think about me." She turned to look at Melissa. "Is that selfish of me to want that?"
"I think it's perfectly reasonable considering what you've been through the past couple months."
"What do you want?" Claudia asked as she handed over the bottle to Melissa.
"I want romance." She let the brought the tip of the bottle to her lips and kept it there while she thought. "Long, slow kisses. Late-night talks. Candle lights. I love love. I'd take that in a flat second."
"Hmm, but then you'd have to deal with the family secret, which isn't exactly normal now, is it?" Claudia pointed out.
Knowing Claudia was right, Melissa tilted her head back and began chugging. With how screwed up her life was, she'd never be able to find anyone.
BEACON HILLS POLICE STATION
AFTERNOON
Parrish poked his head into John's office as he knocked on the door. John waved him in.
"Got the coroner's report," Parrish held the document in the air. He handed it to John. "Haley Morris died of massive internal hemorrhaging. Her body literally imploded upon itself."
After reading what little he could make out, he looked up at Parrish. "Ever seen anything like it before?"
"Like you said at the crime scene, boss – looks like a jumpers but their bodies usually come with sidewalks."
"There aren't any signs of external damage consistent with any type of fall," John muttered aloud as he continued to skim through the file. "In fact there's not a scratch on her."
"Maybe the body was moved." Parrish suggested. "Maybe we were wrong."
"From where?" John closed the file and stood up. "How?" He dropped the file on his desk and began pacing around. "The front door was locked and bolted; each window had bars on it, none of which had been tampered with in any way. Nobody but she was in that apartment last night."
"It's not a suicide," Parrish said, "And it's sure not death by natural causes."
"Which leaves only one thing..." John stopped pacing.
"Murder." They said simultaneously.
HASTINGS
Claudia was called in for the late lunch / early dinner shift. She didn't mind this shift because of the different dress code – a snug black cocktail dress with short sleeves and a modest neckline paired with red flats. Hair could be done in any fashion as long as it was out of the waitress' face.
Claudia was currently carrying Mr. Haverford's dinner, a regular customer. Haverford was an academic type that taught at the university about a half hour outside of town. He was in his thirties, full black hair, and matte black glasses. It seemed like he always came into Hastings for dinner wearing the same suit.
"The chicken with rice and vegetables. Just the way you like it." AS she set the plate down in front of him, minding the papers he was grading, she commented on the dish. "Chicken well done, light oil on the vegetables and rice steamed dry."
"Thanks." Haverford said flatly without looking up.
"Bon Appetite." She muttered as she walked back to bar to wait on her drinks.
Daniele Walters placed her order with the bartender, Kevin, before turning to talk to Claudia. She was one of the newer waitresses Joshua hired. He did it manly for her adequate beauty because she was a couple fires short of a happy meal when it came to brains. She was a delightful air-head, though, always nice to talk to.
"Hey, why are you doing that?" Daniele gestured to Haverford's table.
"Haley didn't show up for her shift day. So we're short-handed."
"Ooh." Kevin put the drinks on Claudia's tray with a wink. She rolled her eyes. Daniele waved as she walked away.
LATER
Claudia was out back of Hastings taking her break. She slowly sipped a shot of whiskey Kevin slid her while looking up at the sky. She could never see the stars anymore not that she was in the city. When she was growing up, all she had to do was look out her window. She would fall asleep counting them instead of sheep. She'd never run out of stars to count.
Her cell phone ringing brought her out of her trance. She pulled it out of her cleavage, the only place she could put it in her 'uniform'.
"Hey, Mell. What's up?"
"Well, I was thinking…." Melissa floated out cautiously. "I, uh, I found this spell. 'How to attract a lover'."
Claudia nearly choked on her drink. She spit it out. "How could you even find something like that? And please do not 'the internet'."
"Then I won't say the internet."
Claudia sighed, squeezing her eyes. "Mellissa-"
"Before you say no-"
"You're not even a witch, Mell. If it even is an actual spell, you'll need magic."
"Well, that's where you come in."
"No, Melissa. Forget it. I'm not casting any spells."
"Come on, Claudia! Aren't you ready to have some fun in this god-forsaken town? Don't you want to win for once?"
"Even if I wanted to – which I don't – there's this small thing called 'personal gain'."
"How is it personal gain, if you're using your powers to bring happiness to another person? And in your case lots and lots of happiness." Hearing silence on the other end, Melissa continued trying to sell Claudia on the idea. "Look, I'm not talking about marriage. Both of us have been there and we've done that and we want something else now. This is that something else. This spell is about having good time. Don't you want to have a good time just once?"
"I admit it's tempting. And the dating scene isn't really my thing at the moment." Claudia sighed. She couldn't believe she was even slightly considering it. "But bringing men into our life through a spell..." Someone, another waitress, came out the back door to take a smoke. Claudia turned away and lowered her voice. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't that a little bit desperate?"
"How is asking for what you want being desperate?"
Melissa did have a point.
Sensing she had Claudia on the ropes, she gave her final argument. "Besides, the occult website says we could reverse this spell at any time."
CLAUDIA COLE'S APARTMENT
NIGHT
Claudia was cutting vegetables in the kitchen, her apron securely tied around her, when the front door opened. She grasped the butcher's knife and slowly opened the glass barn doors of the kitchen.
"Mom?!" Stiles yelled when Claudia came around the kitchen corner wielding a knife. "It's me! It's me!"
"Stiles, baby, learn to knock," Claudia lowered the knife and pulled him into a hug.
"Then why'd you give me a key?"
"Fair point," She patted his cheek when she pulled back. Walking back into the kitchen, she spoke over her shoulder, "I thought you were going to Isaac's lake party?"
"I am," he immediately walked over to the candy jar in the corner of the kitchen – a granite bowl with a white ceramic fox, curled up in its sleep, lid. "Awesome, Red Vines." He picked out a couple and hopped on the counter to eat them. Claudia wiped the blade on her apron before sliding it in a wooden bust of Julius Caesar's head. "Just wanted to stop by on my way over. See if you had dinner."
"Claudia, I was wrong. The spell calls for cayenne pepper not black-" Melissa stopped reading from her tablet when she looked up and saw Stiles on the counter, a Red Vine hanging out of his mouth. "Did I say spell? I-I meant recipe." Stiles continued to stare at her, motionless and slightly disproving. "We're busted, aren't we?"
Stiles nodded his head, his Red Vine slapping his chin. He turned to his mom. "What spell are you casting?"
"I realized today that Melissa may have stumbled onto something. Something harmless and reversible."
"What's the spell for?" Stiles hopped down from the counter and made a move to grab Melissa's tablet. She swatted his hand.
"An adult spell."
"Now I'm worried," he turned to his mom and pointed over his shoulder to Mellissa. "And she's not even a witch. How's your spell going to work?"
"Don't you have homework to do?" Claudia asked, deflecting.
"Don't you have a secret spell to cast?" Stiles asked.
Claudia rolled her eyes and guided her son to the door. "Scram, kiddo. Get your homework done, read the books I gave you-"
"Potion making? You're a real Professor Snape."
"Or you can't go to Isaac's lake party this weekend." Claudia continued as if he never interrupted.
"Love you." Stiles pecked her cheek and headed out the door.
Claudia bolted the door and turned around. Melissa was standing at the end of the hallway, holding up spices with a smile on her face. "Ready?"
DEREK HALE'S LOFT
Peter was slumped over on the couch, a bottle of scotch in his hand. Since the heist, he hasn't felt up to doing anything besides drink. And with the full moon this weekend, he was hoping to pass out in a puddle of alcohol and ride it out. Derek, on the other hand, wanted to talk.
"I still don't get it." He was walking around the open room, fiddling with the armband Peter managed to snag off the assassin with no mouth. "How can a guy with no mouth talk? How can he eat?"
"I apologize for not asking him that." Peter slowly spoke. He rubbed his face with the heel of his palm. "Must have slipped my mind while I was trying not to die with a tomahawk in my chest."
"And who carries around tomahawks?"
"I used to." Derek turned sharply to the door, while Peter lazily rolled his head and squinted. Walking through uninvited was Sheriff Stilinski. With him was the Wendigo police report he smuggled out of the station. He has been having Derek hold on to the 'supernatural' case files that were too risky to keep in the department. "Military." He pointed to the device in Derek's hand. "So is that."
"Do you know what it's used for?" Derek asked, handing him the wrist keyboard.
"Better question," Peter loudly called out, "who invited you? I sure as hell didn't?" He pointed at Derek with his bottle. "Did you?"
John ignored the drunk on the couch and studied the equipment. "This one looks like it's been modified."
"Show me."
CLAUDIA COLE'S APARTMENT
LIVING ROOM
They had everything set up on the coffee table – a copper pot filled with spices and herbs, and other necessities, all encircled by lit candles. The entire apartment was dark, the only source of light came from the candles, giving the room and eerie atmosphere. And what spell casting could be complete without an open bottle of wine?
This would be Claudia's first spell since coming back, and Melissa's first spell period. They were both equally nervous and excited.
"I'll go first," Claudia said.
"Okay," Melissa nodded.
Claudia held her notecard over the pot, but pulled back. "And you're sure this is what the spell said?"
"Yes, for the last time, yes. I may not be a witch, but I do know how to read." She curiously glanced at Claudia's card. "What'd you write?"
Claudia pulled her card closer to her. "What'd you write?"
After a moment of staring each other down, they silently and slowly held their cards out for the other to take.
Claudia began giggling as she read Melissa's. "You want a man who is single, smart…." Claudia looked up with a raised eyebrow. "Endowed?"
"Employed."
"Oh, sorry, employed." Claudia bit back her smile as she continued reading. "A man who loves sleeping in on Sunday, sunset bike rides," she snorted, "cuddling by a roaring fire and late-night talks. A man who loves love as much as you do." She couldn't help but smile. "Is this the guy you were talking about last night?"
"Bite me," She cleared her throat before reading Claudia's. "You want the sexy, silent type that finds you driving through town on the back of a Harley at 3:00 in the morning. A man who appreciates scented candles, body oils and Italian sheets."
Melissa starts to laugh, so Claudia snatched back her card and continued reading it in a deep, James Earl Jones type of voice.
"He's about hunger and lust and danger and even though you know all this, even though you know he'll never meet your friends or share a holiday meal with your family, you still can't stay away." Melissa fell sideways on the floor laughing. Claudia patted Melissa's rear with the card. "And he recycles."
"He recycles?" Melissa repeated, sitting back up and wiping the tears from her eyes.
"Oh yes," Claudia rolled up both of their cards. "And I think it goes without saying we both want a man who is well..." she chuckled, biting her lip, "employed."
"You're twisted."
"No, I just want something different. I want to get out of my suburban mom box for a while." She handed the rolled papers to Melissa and picked up the spell Melissa had written down on a card. "This is the spell we have to say?"
"Yeah. We're lucky," Melissa took a sip of her wine. "If we were men looking for women the spell requires putting a piece of honey cake in a sweaty armpit for day."
"That's disgusting," Claudia scrunched up her nose.
"Ah, the things we do for love." Melissa tossed the rolled paper in. There was a small pop that caused her to jump. White smoke rose from the pot.
"Tell me about it," Claudia downed the rest of her wine glass before picking up the pocket knife on the edge of the table. Without putting more thought into it, she sliced the palm of her hand. Melissa held out her hand, but looked away when Claudia sliced it. She winced.
"You've got peroxide, right?" Melissa asked.
"Don't worry, I'm clean." Claudia held out her sliced hand for Melissa to take with her own.
"Says the dead woman." Melissa mumbled.
They took a deep breath before saying in unison, "I conjure thee, I conjure thee, I am the queen, you're the bee, as I desire so shall it be."
They had to look away from each other to keep from laughing at the ridiculous words. AS they repeated it a second time, the smoke rising from the pot swirled around them. When they finished, the smoke blew out the candles, plunging the room into darkness.
"You think it worked?" Melissa asked after a moment.
Across the apartment, in the kitchen, one of their cell phones starts to ring. In the darkness, they look at each other before bolting off the ground. They lightly shove each other as they slide across the hard wood, push back the kitchen barn doors, and rush to the one illuminated phone.
It was Melissa's.
"Hello?"
"Is this Melissa McCall?"
Melissa's face slightly fell. It wasn't who she was expecting. "Yes, who's this?"
"Yeah. We met at Hastings. Well, we didn't actually meet. I sent you a glass of Chardonnay and you sent it back. Still, you know, I was wondering, maybe you'd like to go out sometime."
"Uh, oh, look, as I told the waitress I'm just not available." Her expression quickly turned from disappointment to caution. "How did you get my number, my name?"
The man hung up.
"Hello?"
"Who is it?" Claudia asked.
"That guy from Hastings who sent me a drink."
"What did he want?"
"He asked me out."
Claudia was about to offer her condolences when her own phone rang. She wiggled her eyebrows at Melissa before answering. "Claudia Cole." Her face fell, as well.
"Not who you were expecting, either?" Melissa asked when Claudia ended the call.
"And by that you mean I was expecting anyone other than work to call me, you'd be right."
"Maybe the spell takes a couple hours to kick in." Melissa said to cheer herself up.
"Or maybe it didn't work?"
"You'll have to let me know," Melissa pocketed her phone and shrugged on her coat. "I'm going home and taking a bath."
"So I'm the test dummy for your idea?"
Melissa blew her a kiss on her way out the door.
DEREK HALE'S LOFT
John wasn't a computer-savvy person; he knew about as much to operate his phone and his computer. Back when he was in the military, there were tech guys that handled this equipment for him. With Derek at the computer, John gave him the best directions he could. Derek figured out most of it, but some he had to screw around with it before he managed to get to where he needed.
After a while, he found something.
"Got an IP address." He spoke over his shoulder. "We can find him."
The connection between the computer link-up and the device must have triggered something. The device began to mechanically chirp and twitch.
"What was that?" John took a step back.
The computer beeped. Derek turned his attention away from the device and back to the screen. "I found a message."
On the bottom of the screen beneath lines of complicated code was a single coherent word. John leaned over Derek's shoulder.
"Do you recognize the name 'Benefactor'?"
"Peter?" Derek called out to his uncle. He glanced up and saw the man passed out on the couch, the bottle nearly empty and dangling between his fingers.
The computer beeped again. John read, "Money transferred." He turned to Derek. "What does that mean?"
"I means this guy's not just a thief, he's a contract killer." He turned in his chair and looked up at John. "An assassin."
McCALL FAMILY HOME
MELISSA'S BATHROOM
Melissa is lying in the bath. Surrounding her were dozens of light, scented candles that would help her relax. Light music from the stereo plays in the background. She closes her eyes and begins drifting to sleep.
DREAM
Melissa is still sleeping in her bathtub, but the candles and music are gone and everything is tinted purple and red in the misty haze. A man dressed in black kneels by her tub. He gently strokes the side of her face with his leather gloved hand.
Melissa violently jerks herself 'awake', sloshing water and bubbles over the edge.
"Hello, Melissa," the man smiled.
Melissa scoots back in her tub as far as she could go, moving bubble foam to cover her chest. "Who the hell-"
"Am I and how did I get in?" The man finished for her. He leaned forward so she could get a better look.
It was the man from Hastings, the one that called her tonight. It was the same man, yes, but there was no wheelchair. He seemed stronger now, more assured of himself, confident. His entire demeanor changed since last night. She was beginning to think the wheelchair was a ruse, a disguise that would allow him to appear harmless to the women he prayed on.
"I don't care just get-"
"Out of the bathroom?"
"Scott!" The man yelled with her. "Isaac!"
Melissa grabbed for the towel beside the tub, but the man got to it first. He handed it to her. She snatched it from him and covered herself in the water.
"Scream all you want. No one can help you."
"How did you know-"
"Know what you are thinking and know what you're going to say?"
"Yes."
He closed his eyes briefly and smiled. "I'm in your unconscious. I know your every thought and desire."
"Who are you?"
He tucked a strand of fallen hair behind her ear. She flinched, which only seemed to amuse him. "I'm the man of your dreams."
In the blink of an eyes, Melissa and her bathtub were somehow moved to the roof of a building. The man stood up and walked around the tub, pacing it, circling it like a predator.
"You're not real. You don't exist."
"That's what your mother used to say, isn't it? Every night, before you went to sleep?"
Melissa closed her eyes firmly, pressing the towel closer to her body. "You're not real. You don't exist."
"As she tucked you in? She'd say if you saw any monsters to tell yourself they weren't real."
"You're not real. You don't exist."
The man picked up a sponge from the base of the tub. He dipped it into the water and dragged it up to Melissa. "Do you say that about your sons?"
She could feel the ripples it made. She was trembling. The man lifted the sponge out of the water and stroked her back.
He breathing was raspy and uneven. Her heart was pounding uncontrollably in her chest. She couldn't control her body shaking. She had faced fear, even death, before, but this was something entirely. "I-I can't move. Why can't I move?"
The man chuckled in her ear. "Because I'm going to love you…to death."
The man presses the sponge hard on her back and rubs it so hard it makes her bleed. He laughs as she screams out in pain. While her mouth is open, he pushes her head under the water.
Someone was banging on the door, outside of Melissa's dream, in reality. Annoyed, the man sharply turns his head and let go of Melissa.
REALITY
Melissa wakes up under the water of her tub, violently thrashing. She pulls herself up, gasping for air. The door opens and Scott sticks his head in.
"Mom," Scott looks around and sees water and soap puddled around the floor, candles knocked over and pooling wax. "Are you okay?"
"Uh, yeah." Instinctively, she pulls the towel closer to her. Realizing what she's clutching, she grips it tighter. It wasn't a dream….the though echoes in her head.
"You were yelling."
"Yeah. I had a..." She wipes soap off her face with a shaky hand. "I had a really bad dream."
"Sounded more like a nightmare."
"I-I'm okay now, Scott. I promise." She looks up and tries giving him a smile. "Thank you for checking on me."
"Okay mom." Scott leaves, still concerned.
Slowly, Melissa gets out of the tub and dries herself off with a fresh towel. She felt pain when the towel touched her right shoulder blade. She went to the mirror to look at her back and saw the scratch marks from the sponge.
"Oh, my God…"
BEACON HILLS MEMORIAL HOSPITAL
MORNING
Claudia brought in hot coffee and breakfast to Melissa after listening to her panicked voicemail from last night. They were sitting at the nurse's station, speaking quietly between sips of coffee and bites of their breakfast wraps.
"Do you remember what our moms used to say about nightmares?"
"They said if we saw any monsters to tell them to go away that they didn't exist." She covered her mouth while she spoke around the food, "Always worked, too."
"Yeah, well, not this time." She put down her coffee and leaned forward. "He knew about my mom. He knew what she told us. How did he know that?" A nurse came into the station to pick up paper work. Melissa waited for her to leave. "And what about the marks on my back? Claudia, they were there and now they've disappeared. I don't know how and I don't know why but they were definitely there!"
Claudia put down her food and took Melissa's hands. "How many hours did you work this week? 60, 70? And it's only Wednesday?"
"Yeah, well, I work in a hospital. Sick people can't grasp the concept of a 9-5 schedule." She took her hands back. "And you're changing the subject. You don't believe me."
"I didn't say that. I believe you are exhausted and watching you down your third cup of coffee isn't helping." She took the cup away from Melissa. "You said this happened while you were asleep in the tub. Isn't it possible that exhaustion and sleep deprivation, not to mention the wine we had, make you have a nightmare about a guy you rejected?"
"Maybe that spell we cast had something to do with it? Maybe it back fired and the man I rejected came to me in my dream somehow instead of the man I wanted."
"Oh, the spell worked alright…." Claudia said, looking away while she drank her coffee.
"You had sex last night, didn't you?" Claudia didn't answer, but her smile did. Melissa kicked the edge of Claudia's rolly chair. "You were out having sex while I was being murdered in my bathtub. How is that fair?"
Happy to get Melissa out of her paranoid breakdown, even for a moment, Claudia worked up another theory to put her friend's mind at ease. "Okay, say you were almost murdered-"
"Which I was."
"Which you were," Claudia added. "Maybe the spell working on me and not you did having something to do with magic."
"I knew it!" Melissa said a little too loudly, drawing attention for some people waiting nearby. She mouthed 'sorry' to them and lowered her voice. "I knew it!"
"But not for the reason you think."
"What do you think?"
"I think it worked on me because I'm a witch. I think because you were a human dabbling in magic, the 'powers that be' caused the complete opposite to you as a warning not to try it again."
"If that's it, believe you me, I am done with magic." She raised her coffee cup for a toast.
"If it happens again, we reverse the spell and I'll buy you coffee for the rest of the month. If it doesn't, you live and I enjoy the spell a little bit longer."
As Claudia was about to clink cups, Melissa pulled back. "How is it that you win? Now I kind of want it to happen again."
BEACON HILLS POLICE DEPARTMENT
"Parrish!" John called out from his office. A moment later, Parrish came trotting in with a mug in one hand and creamer in the other.
"Sheriff?"
"It's all here in the FBI files that were sent over last night," John turned it around on his desk so that Parrish could read. The Deputy put his coffee and creamer aside on the coffee table before approaching the desk. "Three young women, completely unrelated, except for the fast they all died the exact same way as Haley Morris."
Parrish tapped the cause of death on the file. "Medical examiner listed them all as jumpers."
"Look at the crime scene photos." John waited until Parrish was holding them in his hands. "All locked in their rooms."
"I'd hate to say it boss, but-"
"We've got a serial killer," John closed his eyes and leaned back in his seat. "I hate this job."
BEACON HILLS MEMORIAL HOSPITAL
It was pretty quiet at the hospital, so Melissa was taking a short break to check-in with Claudia. Since Claudia was working the afternoon shift, she had a couple minutes to spare before getting back to work. She was telling Melissa how she met David, her spell dream boy.
"Get this. David doesn't go to bars. He's never been to Hastings, but last night he's on his way back from his acting classes."
Melissa laughs. She quickly covers her mouth and apologizes. "Sorry."
"When...BAM! Flat tire on his motorcycle right across the street from Hastings. His cell is dead so he comes in to use the landline and who should he bump into but me, exiting the ladies' room."
"And let me guess, the night ended with the two of you at your place?"
"God no….his place. Clothes everywhere, furniture turned over," Claudia sighed contently. "It was amazing."
"Well, I'm glad one of our nights turned out okay." Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Doctor Morehouse coming down the hallway. No doubt he was a heart-throb, the McDreamy of Beacon Hills Memorial, but he didn't slacking nurses. "Uh, I'll call you back."
Melissa grabbed a chart at random and looked it over, pretending to look busy until Morehouse went away. Unfortunately, he stopped at the desk. Melissa looked up.
"Doctor Morehouse," she said politely.
"Please, call me Jack." He flashed her a Colgate smile that was softened by his eyes. "I don't want to seem forward, but has anybody ever told you how truly beautiful you are?"
Melissa laughs. "Have you been drinking?"
Jack laughs back. It was a nice laugh, deep yet light. "Sense of humor, too."
"I better be getting back to my rounds," Melissa put down the chart and got up to leave, but Just held his hand out.
"Wait, Melissa." Melissa stopped. She hadn't realized Morehouse knew her name. "I don't know why but I've got to get to know you. Have dinner with me."
"Can you hang on a second?" Melissa whispered, holding up a finger.
Jack smiled, nodding, whispering back, "Okay."
Melissa left the nurses station and walked down the hallway into an empty room. She pulled her cell out of her pocket and hurriedly dialed Clauida's number. It went straight to voicemail.
"So, about that spell…..funny thing just happened."
McCALL FAMILY HOME
MELISSA'S BEDROOM
Claudia was relaxing on Melissa's bed. She'd been here for the past hour and a half helping Melissa find something to wear for her date with Doctor Morehouse. Claudia had a date tonight, too. Thankfully, the boys weren't here. They were out at Lydia's lake house, prepping for their party on Friday night. Of course Melissa told Scott about her date tonight, but Claudia absolutely did not want Stiles knowing what she was doing. Namely, having sex with a gorgeous stranger for fun.
She checked herself out in the full-length mirror beside the bed while Melissa told her about Jack. She wore red leather pants and a black crop top with an open back, paired with spiked heels and dramatic dark eye makeup. She borrowed the clothes from another waitress.
"Jack stayed through my entire shift even though his had just ended. Talked my ear off, had me laughing at all his stories and somehow convinced me to have coffee with him on my break."
"David and I are going dancing at Rave. You and Jack should come join us."
"Aren't you a bit old to go clubbing? And besides, I could never pull off that look." She stepped out of her closet and gestured at herself. "Yes?"
She wore a tight-knit black long sleeve shirt that tucked into a floor-length emerald green maxi skirt. She accented with silver – chain pendent necklace, flat shoes, clutch. Her hair was down and wavy.
"Oh, yes."
"Well, if our dinner date last as long as our coffee break," Melissa said, sitting down on the bed to strap on her shoes, "we wouldn't make it there till closing."
Claudia's phone chripped. She smiled. "David is outside." She kissed Melissa on the cheek. "This has worked out so great, hasn't it?"
"Yeah." Claudia waves on her way out of the bedroom. Melissa could hear her carefully trotting down the stairs and out the front door. The smile leaves Melissa's face. "Great."
DREAM LAB
Following a lead, John and Parrish were at the university, science department. A student lab techniction showed them through.
"So this is a dream lab?" Parrish said, looking around at all the equipment. "They actually pay people to sleep?"
The technician stopped at the windows of the observation room. "If you wait here, I'll tell Mr. Berman that you would like to speak with him."
John thanks him as he walks away. He turned to Parrish, speaking quietly. "Look, just because Berman dated the first victim-"
"Julie Garikson."
"Doesn't make him a killer."
"But it's a great place to start. It's our only place to start."
"Don't remind me." He pinched the bridge of his nose between his eyes. "What do you know about this place?"
"It's a privately funded research facility where Julie Garikson worked before she died. She and Berman teamed up on some kind of experimental project."
The sound of screeching wheels made them turn around. Berman was clutching the edge of his wheels to make them stop. He was a handsome man, muscular shoulders and arms; thick, neat hair; groomed stubble.
"Hello Sheriff, Deputy," he nodded to both of them. "How may I help you?
"Are you Whitaker Berman?" Parrish asked.
"Yes. What's this about?"
Parrish quickly glanced at John before answering. John nodded and took a step back. He was allowing Parrish to take control of his mistake.
"We're conducting an investigation and would like to ask you a few questions."
"Regarding?"
Parrish pulled out a photo from his jacket pocket and hands it to Berman. "Do you know this woman?
"That's Julie Derikson. She was my girlfriend. I was heartbroken when she..." He handed the photo back to Parrish. "Forgive me, it's just very hard. I still miss her."
"Another woman died just like her the other night. A waitress. Crushed to death in her sleep."
"Oh, you're kidding?"
"No." John spoke up.
"Mr. Berman," Parrish said, taking a step closer. "Can you tell us your whereabouts night before last?"
"I was here in the lab asleep. I left in the morning?"
"Witnesses who can confirm that?" John asked.
"A nights worth of data, two scientists and a lab technician." He as becoming irritated. He sarcastically asked, "Shall I have them paged?"
"No, that's okay Mr. Berman." Parrish glanced at John. "Sorry we disturbed you. Thank you for your time."
The two men walked out of there the same as they walked in – with nothing.
GODFATHER'S ITALIAN RESTURANT
Melissa and Jack had moved on to desert – cannoli – and wine. She was doing everything she could to sabotage the date for the past couple hours, but the spell wouldn't let her.
"What else can I tell you? Um, when I get stressed, I get hives...in very strange places. Which is nothing compared to what happens when I panic, believe me."
"Your honesty is so refreshing."
"Ah, well, it helps keep my ulcer under control."
"It's 2015. I mean, is there anyone who doesn't have one?"
She leaned in closer. "Would you like to see my tattoo?"
He leaned in closer, arching his eyebrow. "Would you like to see mine?"
"Is there nothing I can say to turn you off?"
"There really isn't." He smiled at her.
She didn't understand, how could the spell have not worked one night and was in overdrive the next? Maybe Jack was another way of the 'powers' warning her; that maybe he'd try and kill her? She was pulled from her paranoid thoughts when Jack kissed her.
BEACON HILLS POLICE DEPARTMENT
"The man is in a wheelchair." John was tossing a tennis ball up in the air and catching it as he reclined in his chair. "He's got no motive and he's got an alibi. So tell me again why you think Berman is our suspect."
"Dream leaping."
"Dream leaping?" John was stunned by Parrish's answer that he didn't catch the ball. It fell hard on his chest, slightly winding him. He sat up in his chair.
Parrish got up from the couch and handed John his tablet. On it was his research into Berman. "That's what Berman's researching at the lab. Dream leaping - the ability to project himself into someone else's dreams."
"Going into women's dreams and killing them." After scrolling though, he handed the tablet back to Parrish. "Now who's dreaming?"
"Not just any women. Women who reject him." Parrish pressed his case further. He talked while he looked something else up on his tablet. "Just like Julie Derikson did. She broke up with him when they were driving somewhere. He got into an accident. That's why he's paralyzed. It's on there in the police report." He handed the tablet back to John to read the report. "The day after he went back to work at the lab, Julie died suspiciously. Six months later, two more women died in their sleep. Crushed to death. Coincidence?" John handed Parrish back the tablet. "You tell me."
"Love to. Can't." John stood up and grabbed his coat off the back of the chair. "Let's go."
McCALL FAMILY HOME
Melissa had finally had enough. She cut the date short and asked Jack to drive her back home. He tried to salvage the night by walking her up the stairs and kissing her goodnight. She shut him down before he asked for more. Nicely enough, he backed off and headed to his car.
"Soctt!" Melissa kicked off her shoes and hung up her coat. "Isaac!"
They didn't respond. She shrugged, thinking they were probably asleep. If not, they were at Stiles'. She was walking down the foyer and noticed bunches of flowers everywhere. She sees an open box of chocolates and takes one. She walks into the kitchen and sees more flowers.
"What in the world….."
There was a yellow sticky note on the kitchen counter. It was from Scott, she recognized the sloppy handwriting.
'They were waiting on the doorstep when we got home.'
Melissa looked around the room, thinking that they wouldn't all be from Jack. She went from vase to vase collecting cards and reading them. They were lovely and heartfelt, asking for coffee and lunch and dinner dates, even a weekend in Paris, but they were all from men she barely know and some from men she's never met.
She wanted to call Claudia, vent about her date, but she knew Claudia was probably having a wonderful time. She always did when it came to men and dating. She sighed, tired. Right now, all she wanted to do was sleep. She barely had the energy to crawl up the stairs, so she sunk down on the couch. The moth-bitten afghan made a lousy blanket, but she didn't care.
Sleep washed over her within minutes.
DREAM
"Hello Melissa. We meet again." The gravel voice whispering in her ear woke her up. She quickly lunged for the letter opener on the coffee table.
"Scott!" Melissa sat up, screaming. "Isaac!"
The walls her living room disappear, the room itself transforming into the roof of a building. Swirling blue and red clouds surrounding them. Melissa was on the ground, on her back looking up at the man that would kill her.
The man knelt over her, smiling. "Why do you shun the slightest hint of romance? Is it the pain of your past or the uncertainty of your future?"
Melissa tried getting up off the ground, but this increasing force kept pulling her down. "I don't hide from anything."
"You can't move, can you?" He picks up one of her legs. "Don't you want to know why?" As he drags her closer to the edge of the roof, he taunts her. "Because I don't want you to. You're powerless, Melissa. I, on the other hand, am the all power-full. If you don't want to talk to me, that's fine. There's always Claudia or Lydia or any number of young, single women out there. It's an endless pool for the Dream Sorcerer."
Her kicking and screaming where getting her nothing. She stopped fighting and started pleading. "No, wait. I'll stay. I'll stay."
"It's too late. You're falling asleep." He balanced her back on the edge of the building. All he had to do was drop her feet.
"No. I'm fine. I'm awake."
"Shall I sing you a lullaby?" He whispered, leaning in for a final kiss.
"I don't think so." She jammed the letter opener from her coffee table in the base of his neck, between the shoulder and the neck. He yelled out in pain. For good measure, she kicked up into his crotch.
He let go of her leg and stepped back, clutching his neck. That gave her enough time to crawl away from the ledge. She hadn't gotten far when he grabbed her ankle and yanked.
"Good night, Melissa." He growled, violently dragging her back to the ledge. He was inches way from throwing her off when the phone rang. The man yelled in anger and vanished.
REALITY
Melissa jerked awake, clutching her chest, gasping for breath. With shaking fingers, she reached for her phone on the coffee table.
"H-Hello?"
"Sorry, did I wake you?"
Melissa closed he eyes in relief. It was John. Hearing his voice, its soothing tones, calmed her heart.
"John…." She opened her eyes. In her hand was the letter opener, blood on the tip and on the edge of her hand. "C-Can I call you back?"
"Sure. I'm still working, so I'll be up. Everything okay?"
"It is now. Thanks, John. Thanks for calling."
"Something told me I needed to hear your voice."
"Good thing you listened."
OUTSIDE
Melissa has her car keys in hand and is walking to her car while she waits for Claudia to pick up her cell.
"Hello?"
"Claudia-"
"Melissa, we've got to reverse that spell."
"Wait," Melissa stopped, her key in the ignition. "You too?"
"Yeah, me, too. David would not leave me alone all night. He kept touching me. And practically every guy in the bar was hitting on me. Finally I couldn't take it anymore. I ditched David and left him at the club. I'm heading home in a cab."
"T-That's not what I meant." She started her car and buckled up. "It happened again. I fell asleep and that man from my dream tried to kill me again."
"What?"
"It was worse than last time, Claudia. I don't understand why. All I know is I'm only safe if I stay awake. If I fall asleep, I'm dead."
"Honey, stay where you are. I'll come pick you up."
"No! I don't want to stay here another minute."
"Alright, let me think." Melissa waited anxiously in her idling car as Claudia came up with something. "Okay. Meet me at John's; Stiles has the Book of Shadows. We'll see if we can find anything and reverse the spell."
"Forget the spell for right now and focus on this guy. He calls himself a Dream Sorcerer."
STILINSKI FAMILY HOME
Claudia used her key to get in. John gave her one for 'emergencies' and this damn well classified as one. The house was dark, but Stiles' jeep and Scott's motorcycle were in the driveway. The boys were probably sleeping upstairs. She didn't have time to think about her son and his friends waking up to her dressed like this, looking for a spell do get rid of her date.
She rushed up to the attic as quietly as she could.
She's flipped through the book a dozen times in the past fifteen minutes, but she hasn't found a single thing. Not a single thing mentioning killing someone in their sleep or more importantly this Dream Sorcerer. They only way the Book wouldn't have anything would be if the threat was mortal.
Demon or mortal or some supernatural catastrophe, there had to be a way to stop him.
Claudia's phone began to ring. What was she going to tell Melissa, that she couldn't help her, that she could never go to sleep?
"Melissa?"
"Did you find anything?"
"No, I didn't but don't worry. You're not in this alone. I will help you. The pack-"
"How can you help me when we don't even know what he is?"
"The most important thing right now is for you get here safely."
"Yeah. Ok, um, look. Just keep talking. Don't let me fall asleep."
Claudia pulled the phone away for a second to think. She would have to risk the boys hearing her. When she came back, she was yelling, "Okay, Melly. Blast the air conditioning and roll down the windows. Do you remember the song we always used to sing when we were little?"
"The road trip song?" Melissa blinked furiously. She was beginning to feel her eyelids droop. "Yeah. Let's sing that."
"Okay, don't worry. Everything's going to be fine. Nothing is going to happen-"
Downstairs, someone was knocking furiously on the door.
"Claudia!" The man was yelling. Claudia quickly whispered curse words under her breath. It was David and he was angry. "Let me in. I have to see you."
Softly, Claudia made her way down the stairs. David was still yelling her name, pounding on the door.
"Claudia, what's going on?"
"Mom?" It was Stiles. He was on the top landing, looking down the staircase at her. "What are you doing here? Who's yelling?"
"Hang on, Melissa." She spoke into the phone. She looked up at Stiles, holding up her finger. "Just stay up there, sweetie." Claudia held the phone to her chest, yelling back at David, "Go away!"
David's pounding harder until he broke open the door, by slamming his shoulder into it. Claudia screamed.
"Are you crazy?! What are you doing?!"
"Mom!" Stiles yelled. He rushed down the stairs to her. Claudia held out her arm so that Stiles would stay behind her.
"Claudia?" Melissa sleepily murmured.
"You left me." David angrily pointed at Claudia, moving towards her. "How could you leave me?!"
"David, please." Claudia held her hand up, urging him to stay back.
"Ever since I met you I can't do anything! Eat, drink, sleep. All I can do is think about you!" AS he walked further into the room, he started throwing things, knocking lamps off their stands.
"Stiles, get upstairs. Wake up Scott and Isaac." She turned to him when he didn't move. "Now!"
MELISSA'S CAR
She's holding her phone to her ear, exhaustedly calling out Claudia's name, her eyes growing heavier. The phone dropped in her lap. The Dream Sorcerer appeared in the passenger seat beside her.
"It's almost time, Melissa." He whispered as if speaking to a sleeping child, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "We're almost there."
Headlights flashing in her eyes and the sound of a horn blaring jerked Melissa awake. She yanked the wheel out of oncoming traffic. She pulled the phone out of her lap and yelled, nearly in tears,
"Claudia, where are you!"
STILINSKI FAMILY HOME
Claudia was slowly backing away from David. Her arm out and her phone against her chest.
"What have you done to me?!" He screamed, tearing at his hair. He picks up a vase of flowers and throws it at her. She quickly moves it away with her hand to shatter on the wall before it could hit her. While she was distracted, David was walking towards her. He was almost on her when she flicked her wrist and he went flying. He hit the wall where the vase broke and landed on the glass.
David was momentarily knocked unconscious. She lifted the phone to her ear while still keeping an eye on him.
"Melissa? Melissa!"
She wasn't there.
MELISSA'S CAR
Melissa was asleep at the wheel, the phone once again in her lap. The Dream Sorcerer was back. He gently lowered her head to where it rested on the steering wheel. He kept his hand on the base of her neck, smiling.
"Say good night, Melissa."
He's laughing as she heads for a utility pole.
STILINSKI FAMILY HOME
Claudia screamed when she heard the impact. She collapsed on the stairs, shaking. Above her, she could hear the thunderous pounding of the boys and Malia coming down the stairs.
"Mom!" Stiles shouted. He knelt down by her. "Mom?"
She looked up at Scott.
MELISSA'S CAR
The front of her car is completely smashed, wraping around the pole. The windshield was cracked and there was glass everywhere from the windows. Melissa had her head resting on the airbag. Unable to move, she kept muttering to herself,
"I can't fall asleep. I can't fall asleep."
BEACON HILLS MEMORIAL HOSPITAL
Melissa was strapped down on a stretcher and rolled into the E.R. Her head was in a bright orange brace and she was covered in a grey shock blanket. There was a bloody bandage on her forehead, a nasal cannula taped to her nose, and several IVs sticking out of her arms. Nancy Calhoun, an EMT she's friendly with, and her partner Joe are pushing her down the corridor. Doctor Jeffries rushes down the hallway, yelling to the EMTs.
"Trauma one. What have you got?"
Nancy hands the chart to Jeffries as she spouts off the vitals. "Melissa McCall. One-on-one; car versus utility pole. Bp 80 over 40. Pulse 110. Semi-conscious at the scene."
Jeffries shines a pin-light in Melissa's eyes. "Pupils are responsive. Melissa, hang in there.
"Must stay awake…must stay awake." Melissa was muttering to herself. She could see the overhead lights rushing by her, but everything else was blurring.
Jeffries runs into trauma room 1 and spouts off orders to a male nurse. Nancy and Joe push Melissa in moments later. They roll her to the bed and clear the area. Jeffires and the male nurse were on one side of the gurney and Joe and Nancy were on the other. They gripped the handles and counted down.
"Ready, 3, 2, 1."
They lifted her on the bed and hooked her up to the machines.
A second doctor came into the room to assist. "Resps are down to thirty-five. Pulse-ox is falling."
"How can that be?" Jeffires asked, astonished. She snaps her fingers and points at a nurse. "Give me five hundred mics of dopamine, and get ready to intubate." She leaned over and touched Melissa's shoulder. "Stay with us, Melissa." She flipped open and eyelid to check response. "Damn, she's unconscious!"
DREAM
The trauma room spins into her nightmare. When she opened her eyes, she was lying on a gurney with the bandage no longer dripping blood and the nasal cannula still in her nose. She slowly looked around, her eyes fluttering.
"How did I get here? I'm not-"
"Asleep?" The Dream Sorcerer walked up to her gurney. He smiled down at her. "Actually you're unconscious. You fell asleep at the wheel. Hit a pole. Terrible, terrible thing." The smile dropped from his face. "Speaking of pain, you really hurt me last night." He gently touched the stitches on his neck. "And not just my feelings."
"Suffer," Melissa growled.
He chuckled. On the instrument table beneath the IV drip, he picked up a glass of wine. He held it out to her with a condescending smile. "A little wine with your death?"
Melissa smacked it out of his hand. All humor dropped from his face. He prowled around to the edge of the gurney.
"You shouldn't have done that."
He gripped the handles at the bottom and began to run, pushing the gurney closer to the edge.
UNIVERSITY DREAM LAB
John and Parrish are standing in the observation room, arguing with the technician. Behind the glass, Berman laid in a gurney with probes attached to him. His eyes were rolling beneath his lids and his heartbeat sounded rapidly on the machine.
"Mr. Berman insists that he's not to be disturbed during his experiments!" The technician yelled again.
"I don't care, we want to talk to him." John took a menacing step forward. "Just wake him up."
The technician shifted uncomfortably. "I-It's not gonna be easy. He's heavily sedated."
"Just get to work." Parrish told him.
The technician huffs as walks into the room. Parrish puts his hand on the glass and leans into it. He watched for any wrong move the tech made.
"I hope you're right about this." John said. He pulled up a rolley chair and sat down.
"I know I am. Question now is if Berman is gonna kill again. But who?"
MELISSA'S DREAM
Melissa's shock blanket had been ripped off her. Her bandages and wires had disappeared, along with the pain. She looked down and saw she was wearing a slinky black dress encrusted with silver.
"Do you like the dress?"
"I've worn better."
He smiles cruelly down at her. He leaned down and wrapped his arms under her. She tried fighting him, but again she was powerless. He picked her off the bed and held her to him, slowly swaying as if there were music.
BEACON HILLS MEMORIAL HOSPITAL
Claudia, Scott, and Isaac were hurriedly rushing through the hallways, trying to find someone that could help them. Stiles and Malia stayed behind to get rid of unconscious David and clean up and repair what they could. Finally, they found a nurse's station.
"Excuse me!" She flagged down a nurse that was leaving. "Excuse me."
"May I help you?" He asked. He looked her up and down, judging her. She looked like a clubber with two young boys. Claudia didn't have time to deal with that.
"Melissa McCall. Where is she?"
"Honey, if you're not family, I can't let you anywhere near her."
"We're her sons, honey." Isaac growled. "Is that family enough?"
Scott slapped his hand down on the desk. "Where is she?"
"Trauma one." He pointed to the small waiting room a couple doors down. "Wait in there and a doctor will be out."
"Is she okay?"
"Wait for the doctor." The nurse picked up his files and walked away.
Claudia glared at the nurse's back. She had half the mind to use her power to wrap that stethoscope around his neck and not let go until he was purple. But she didn't have the time for that.
They backed away from the nurses' station. Claudia gestured for the boys to follow her. They pretended to walk towards the waiting room, but when no one was looking, they ran down the restricted hallway to trauma one.
UNIVERSITY DREAM LAB
Parrish was banging on the window.
"Mr. Berman! Mr. Berman, wake up!" Parrish angrily walked over to the technician. "I don't care what it takes, just wake him up. Now!"
John started to bang on the window as Parrish dealt with the technician. "Berman, wake up!"
MELISSA'S DREAM
Melissa's back was pressed to the Dream Sorcerer's chest. He held her head to the side, exposing her neck so that he could kiss it. Around them, they could hear someone banging on a window and shouting,
"Wake up, Berman! Wake up!"
"John?" Melissa looked around. She was slipping faster and faster.
BEACON HILLS MEMORAIL HOSPITAL
TRAUMA ROOM 1
Melissa was lying in her hospital, unconscious and connected to multiple machines. They quietly beeped, filling the silent air. Claudia stood over her, stroking her hair and holding her hand, careful of the wires.
"I'm here, Mell, right beside you."
Outside, there were loud thundering of feet and the shouting of hospital staff. She didn't bother to look, knowing it was probably the rest of the pack. Stiles must have called them. It got quite as they reached the room. Claudia looked up and saw mixed emotions in their faces – horror, shock, confusion, panic.
Claudia continued to whisper, "Your sons are here, Mell."
"Mom?" Scott asked. He stood on the other side of her and picked up her hand. Isaac sat at the foot of her bed, his hand on her leg.
"Can you hear us?"
MELISSA'S DREAM
"Mom?" A voice drifted through the air.
"Scott….Isaac…." She tried pushing herself off the Dream Sorcerer, but he chuckled.
"They can't help you. You're mine, now." He picked her up around the waist and spun her. Her head lolled back onto her shoulder. He carried her like that to the edge.
BEACON HILLS MEMORIAL HOSPITAL
TRAUMA ROOM 1
"I'm scared." Isaac said, looking up Scott. Scott kept his eyes on Melissa, stroking her hand.
"I know," Claudia offered him her hand and a weak smile. He took her hand and squeezed. "Me too."
"What do we do?" Scott asked barely above a whisper. "Why'd this happen?
"How was that guy back there?" Isaac asked.
"The most important thing is that we don't let her give up." She squeezed Isaac's hand and glanced between the two of them. "I'll explain everything later, but for right now you have to trust me. Can you do that?" When they both nodded, she looked back at Melissa. "Mell, listen to me. You've got to fight with this guy."
"Don't leave us." Isaac said.
"You can do it." Scott whispered in her ear, kissing her cheek.
"We need you."
"Come back to us."
MELISSA'S DREAM
She could hear her son's voices around her, encouraging her to fight, to come back to them.
"You can do it, Mell," Claudia's voice was added to the mix. "You can fight him."
"You're powerless." The Dream Sorcerer reminded her. He hand her standing on the ledge, her face in between his hands.
"Mom, you can do it." Scott pushed her on. "Mom?"
"You're stronger than him…." She could feel Isaac's hand in hers, yet when she looked down it wasn't there.
"Shall I say good night?" He kissed her forehead.
"Mom, don't leave us," Scott begged.
"No, let me." She raised her hand slowly and deliberately. He was too stunned to say anything. She laid it on his cheek. "Good night."
With all that she had behind her hand – her hatred of him, her love for her children, and the primal desire to live – she shoved him away. Caught off guard by her sudden ability to resist him, he stumbled back. He took too many steps and fell backwards over the edge of the building.
She closed her eyes and turned away.
UNIVERSITY DREAM LAB
In the experiment room, Berman was screaming in his sleep. He thrashed violently, tearing out tubes and knocking over machinery. As suddenly as it had begun, he flopped back on the gurney. Motionless. The monitor beside him flat-lined.
"I don't believe it." Parrish said, leaning in closer to the window.
"He's dead." John looked away.
BEACON HILLS MEMORAIL HOSPITAL
TRAUMA ROOM 1
Amid the flourish of beeping machines, Melissa wakes up. Her eyes are glancing around the room, trying to find a familiar face in the haze.
"Mom?" Scott took her hand and squeezed, leaning over her so that she could see him.
Claudia moved out of the way and motioned for Isaac to take her spot. He eagerly took his mother's hand.
"Are you okay?"
"Yeah," She slowly nodded her head, squeezing her sons' hands reassuringly. "I'm okay."
"And the man?" Claudia asked softly.
Melissa hesitated for a moment. A few tears rolled out of the corner of her eye. "He's gone."
BEACON HILLS MEMORIAL HOSPITAL
THE NEXT DAY
Claudia was hazardously rolling dozens of flowers into Melissa's room on a plastic grey trolley. Melissa put down her trash magazine and laughed.
"Please tell me those are the ones from my house?"
"No," Claudia stepped out from behind the cart. "My landlord was pissed when these cluttered up the hallway. There's more still in his office."
"If you're not careful, he'll evict you."
Claudia waved that off as she sat on the edge of Melissa's bed. "When are the boys picking you up?"
"Tomorrow, before they head out for their party." Melissa groaned. "Jeffries says one more day of observation."
"Well, it wouldn't kill you to get some rest….." Claudia cheekily said, looking away.
Melissa swatted her with the magazine. "Very funny." She leaned back against her pillows. "Did you reverse the spell?"
Claudia nodded. "This morning. I think we both learned our lesson."
"What? Not to tick off the 'powers that be' or whatever they call themselves."
"That's one lesson," Claudia smiled. "Another could be that love can't be conjured or synthesized. What we did, it's just... it wasn't right."
"That's that last time I listen to you," Melissa pointed at her, fake scolding with her eyes.
"It was your idea, Miss I-Found-This-On-The-Internet!"
They were laughing too loudly to hear someone come up to the door.
"Knock, knock." Someone said as they knocked on the open door. Claudia's back stiffened slightly hearing the familiar voice. Melissa's face fell, glancing between Claudia and the new comer. "Oh, Claudia, I….I didn't know you were here."
Claudia turned around and smiled pleasantly. "It's okay, John. You can come in."
John walked around the trolley of flowers and into the room. He looked different. He was out of his uniform and wearing plain trousers with a navy sweater. In one hand he held take-out and in the other were daisies.
"I was actually on my way out," Claudia said quickly.
"Claudia-"
Claudia mustered up a smile for Melissa on her way out the door. "Bye John."
He waved as she left. After a silent moment watching his ex-wife leave, he turned back to Melissa. "I can go-"
"No." Melissa said a bit louder than intended. She softened her voice. "You're fine."
John gave her a small smile. "If I had known you had this many flowers, I would have stuck to the take-out."
"Don't be ridiculous; I could never have too many flowers." She sniffed the flowers and smiled. She could tell they were from Telly's by the sweet peach smell. That was her favorite flower shop. She looked around for something to put them in. She put them neatly in her water cup.
John shook his head and chuckled. "And I brought your favorite."
He places the bag in her lap and she looks in it. She sighs contently. "Oh, cheeseburgers and fries."
"Good thing I'm the Sheriff or else the docs would have me escorted out of here."
"Good thing," she repeated, handing him a fry. It was one of the soggy ones, his favorite.