It's the last chapter of the season meaning time for the long author's note. Thank you all so much for sticking with this story. It's been such a great time writing it and the fact that this was my first story ever and you all loved it so much means a lot to me. We've laughed together and we've cried together. You've all been angry with me at least once and you've all given me so much compliments, it's unreal. I love each and every one of you and I hope you all love the last Stilinski Tuesday of season 3. Enjoy, loves!

I ran, following the people who were wheeling my body in…well, my body bag. I hurried down the hallway, chasing them to the morgue when a sight in the hallway distracted me. My friends were huddled together, crying about my death. Scott let silent tears fall down his face as he pet Stiles's back. Stiles was bawling. I was his twin, and he had lost me. He lost the one thing that could never be replaced. Both the women in the Stilinski family were gone, and I knew both of then men wouldn't be able to function.

Allison and Lydia were across from Scott and Stiles, crying on each other as Chris Argent stood next to them, looking down. Isaac, Peter and Gabe were leaning against the wall next to Scott and Stiles. Silent tears were falling down all of their faces, Gabe looking like a complete zombie. There was the sound of shoes sliding on the tile floor, and when I turned around I saw my dad, accompanied by Mason. My heart completely fell at the look on his face. It was like he had hope, but knew it wasn't real.

Everyone was looking at him, giving him sympathetic stares while he was searching everyone's faces. He gulped nervously, hands obviously shaking. I was right there. Standing right in front of him, but he couldn't see me. I wanted so bad to jump into his arms and celebrate the fact that I was alive. That we were all alive, but I wasn't alive. I was dead. "Bree?" He asked slowly, in almost a whisper.

Chris walked forward while shaking his head, his eyes growing watery. "I'm sorry." He told him as he put his hand on his shoulder. Dad's face immediately fell. "But your daughter is gone."

Dad shook his head right before his head fell back, letting the tears being to pour out of his eyes. Mason put a hand on his back as he looked over at Gabe, utter shock on his face. Stiles walked up to Dad and they pulled each other into a tight, tear filled hug. I walked up to the two, wanting to just scream. "Stiles?" I asked. He couldn't hear me. "Stiles!" I tried again, but he still didn't acknowledge me. "Come on," I began in a desperate voice. "You're my twin!"

He still didn't say a thing, and I was about to try again until I saw Derek, Ethan and Aiden turn into the hallway with worried faces. Derek looked around at everyone crying, but he didn't stop until he checked everyone's face, and I knew he was looking for me. Peter walked up to them, but Derek didn't look at him, he kept searching the area. "Derek," I began as I moved to him. "We're connected. Please tell me you can hear me or see me," I put my hand on his arm, but he didn't even acknowledge it. "Feel me. Something!"

"Derek," Peter began as he got right in front of him. Derek finally looked up at him, searching his face and studying the sadness in his eyes. "Bree didn't make it."

Aiden and Ethan looked at each other and then back to Peter. "What?" Aiden asked in a shaky voice.

Derek looked like he had just been shot. There were so many emotions swirling around on his face. Sadness. Shock. Anger. Confusion. Despair. Regret. A tear rolled down his cheek, and I moved even closer to him, putting my hand on his arm. "Derek, tell me you can feel that. Tell me you can feel me."

"I'm sorry." Peter told Derek as he put his hand on his shoulder.

"She turned in the order form for her class ring a few weeks ago." I heard Allison say. Everyone looked over to her. She wore a slight smile like she was reminiscing. "She was so excited because she felt like having a class ring was like a milestone that she had lived that long in Beacon Hills." I smiled a little bit, remembering the conversation we had. "And now she'll never get it." She mumbled as she looked down.

"She already had her prom dress picked out." Lydia mumbled while looking off into space. "She didn't buy it or anything, but she could describe it perfectly." I smiled thinking about the blue dress I had wanted. "But now she'll never wear it."

There were footsteps ahead, so I looked over to see Melissa walking towards the group. She had a tear stained voice, causing me to put a hand to my stomach, hating seeing her like this. Everyone looked at her as she stared at each individual, giving them a sympathetic stare. "Bree is in the morgue." She said once Dad and Stiles got out of the hug, their arms still around each other. "I can let you see her before…" She trailed off, and everyone nodded while looking down, wanting to see me, but at the same time, not wanting to.


Chris, Ethan, Aiden and Isaac took Allison and Lydia away, so it was just all the rest of the boys and Melissa in the room. A solemn silence rested in the morgue, everyone looking down at my dead body. It reminded me a lot of a funeral. I looked to Scott whose eyes were now shut from how hard he was crying. He turned around to fall into Melissa's embrace. My dad had tears falling down his face; I had never seen him cry this hard in my life. Not even when Mom died. He leaned down, putting a shaky hand on my cheek and kissing my forehead. A few tears landed on my cheeks and rolled down my face. "I love you, Bree." He whispered so softly.

I shut my eyes, wanting all of this to be gone. I couldn't see this anymore. I didn't want to hurt this bad again. Dad moved away from my head and put his arm around Stiles, letting him cry into his chest as he cried onto his head. "Depressing," I heard Giulietta comment from behind me. "Isn't it?" I turned to glare at her. "Watching your family react to the news of your death." She gave me a face like she was thinking. "I'm sorry. Your pack."

"What the hell are you doing here?" I asked as I looked back to everyone crying.

She sighed happily. "Revealing in my winnings."

"You're not in my body yet." I taunted.

"No," She agreed. "But I will be soon." I rolled my eyes at her and looked to Derek, noticing he was moving to a chain around his neck. A chain I had seen since we got back from Santa Monica, but I never actually questioned him about it. "Oh," She said in a fake voice. "Derek is about to go."

When he took off the chain, I noticed that around it, the one thing that was always tucked into his shirt was a diamond ring. He took it off the chain and stared at it. "Is that an engagement ring?" Gabe asked in a shaky voice while looking at it.

Everyone turned over to look at Derek just as a tear rolled down his cheek. "Yeah." He admitted. My mouth opened slightly as I felt a tear roll down my cheek. "I got it in Santa Monica." He looked up at Dad and shrugged. "I wasn't going to give it to her right away, but I just knew that I wanted to marry her." He looked down at my hand, taking it in his. "She'll never get to answer my question." He whispered sadly.

"Wow." Giulietta commented. "He was going to marry you."

"She would have said yes." Scott told him.

Derek looked up to Dad as if to ask for approval which he nodded to. Derek picked up my hand and slipped the engagement ring on my left ring finger. "Yes." I whispered, knowing it was useless, but I just had to say it.

"Hm," Giulietta began like she was thinking. "Maybe I'll make Derek and everyone else think that I'm you for a few weeks." My hands curled into fists, absolutely done with Giulietta and everything she had done to me for an entire month. "I wouldn't mind sleeping with Derek." She was taking it way too far. "Then again, I could just kill him."

I turned around quickly and slammed her into the wall, holding her by the neck, and she looked completely shocked. "Giulietta," I began, giving her a fake thinking face. "Did you know that when witches die they still have all of their power, but it fades over time, but is always buried within her?" Her eyes grew wide with panic. "Even if all her power has been stolen from her."

I let go of her neck, causing her to fall to the floor. I grabbed Giulietta by the hair and joined her on the floor, making sure she wasn't able to go anywhere. "Stop," she pleaded. "Bree, please don't do this."

I shook my head at her and grabbed her hands violently; I was too strong for her to even try to squirm. "You shouldn't share so much, Julie." I focused all my power on sucking out hers. She squirmed as the pink light traveled from her veins and into mine. I felt this sick rush of power, giving me a smile. Giulietta had a lot of magic.

When I finally got all of her magic, I released her hands, causing her to cry. "Bree," She tried through her tears. "Please, don't take my magic. It's-"

"The thing that lets you communicate with the living." She stared up at me in defeat. "And now that you have no ounce of power left, you can never bother me, the people I love or any other doppelgänger ever again." She continued to cry as I moved closer to my body, leaving her broken on the ground. "Did you know there's a spell to put a spirit back in someone's body?" She shook her head at me. "You really shouldn't underestimate me because it turns out I do know that spell."


My eyes shot open and I sat up, gasping for breath. "JESUS CHRIST!" I heard Stiles yell right next to me. I coughed a little as I got used to the air filling my lungs again. It felt like forever since I had breathed.

I felt someone behind me, wrapping me into a huge bear hug, so I just pat their arms, not being able to see who it was. When I looked to the head resting on my shoulder, I noticed it was Peter. "Hi, Peter."

"You got back in." Gabe said with a growing smile, causing me to smile back at him as I nodded.

"How do we know it's really Bree?" Scott asked, looking at me skeptically.

I rolled my eyes at him. "Scott's favorite sex position is do-"

"That's Bree." He chipped in quickly, cutting me off before I could finish my sentence.

"Got back in?" My dad questioned, going back to Gabe's statement from earlier before.

I looked over to him who was standing on my right side. I knew I had to tell him all about this, but it was going to be a long talk. "Peter, let go." I whispered. He released his arms on me, and I turned to look at my dad. He seemed to be fighting every single urge in his body to wrap me into a hug. "Giulietta was never going to get my body unless I did something about it, and the only thing I could do was kill my body." He shut his eyes, hating the thought of me dying. "I was going to do it quietly after all of this nogitsune stuff was over, but I couldn't let Allison die in there."

He pulled me into a hug right when I finished my sentence, causing me to bury my face into his shoulder, letting a few tears escape out of my eyes. I had died before, but this time was so different. This one was having an even bigger effect on me than last time. This time, it was more drastic and more scarring. "You are grounded." Dad told me, causing me to smile a little. "Until next year."

I tightened my hug around him, knowing that this was the closest he had ever come to losing me. "I would ground me too."

When I pulled away from him, my eyes went straight to Stiles. I got down from the metal table, taking a huge breath, not knowing how he was going to react. "I am so sorry I put you through this." I told him with tears flowing down my face.

He didn't waste any time after that. The tears collected into his eyes again as he pulled me into a huge hug. I grabbed a fist full of his hair, trying to hold him as hard as I could. I had almost been torn away from my baby brother, nothing was going to keep us away from each other ever again. "You died." He cried into my shoulder. "I thought I lost you."

I shushed him as I continued to stroke my back with his other hand. "I'm here now. It's okay." He rocked me from side to side as we cried all we could into each other.

While I was rubbing his back, I saw the ring still on my finger, remembering Derek was standing right behind me. Remembering Derek had seen me dead and the last time I saw him he was slamming my head into my brother's doorway. I broke away from my brother and ran to the other side of the table as he met me halfway there in an embrace. I was on my tip toes as my arms were wrapped around his neck and his around my waist, raising me slightly. There was nothing to say. This wasn't the first time we thought we would never see each other again. We breathed each other in, touched each other's faces, hair, every part we could get our hands on to let us know we were real, and that this wasn't a dream. When we broke away, I looked down at the ring and then back up at Derek. "We need to talk." I told him before grabbing his hand and walking towards the door, giving everyone I hadn't talked to yet a slight smile, trying to tell them in some way that I loved them and I would talk to them soon, but right now, Derek and I had to talk some things out.


I leaned up against one of the walls in the hospital as we both looked down at the ring. People were running around, doing what they normally do at a hospital, but all of that seemed to fade in the background. We were just the two there. My clothes were still stained with blood, but the wound was closed. Scott had called Allison, Lydia, Isaac, Ethan and Aiden to tell them I was no longer dead, and they were now on their way back to the hospital. "You took all of Giulietta's power?" Derek asked me, our eyes still resting on the ring.

"Yeah." I answered blandly. "She can't hurt anyone again." I looked up at him, causing him to look up at me for the first time since we had been out here. "Can we get to what we need to talk about?"

"I wasn't going to ask you right away. I was going to wait." He told me angrily.

I shook my head at him. "I'm not mad at you."

He studied me like he was getting annoyed. "Well you look it."

"Well I'm not." I bit back at him. Why the hell was he acting like this? "Derek, I want to get married, but just not now." He shook his head at me while looking away, making me angrier than ever. "What the hell is your problem?!" I screamed at him.

"You want to know my problem?" He screamed back, getting closer to me. "You almost died." He was pointing at me forcefully, his neck moving only in the way it did when he was upset. "Do you get what just happened?"

"Yeah," I yelled back. "Especially since I was the one that died!"

He shook his head at me as he looked away. "And it hurt all of us even more than it hurt you." He mumbled. I looked away from him. He would never understand it. He would never get what it was like to die and come back to life. He had no idea about the PTSD which was already developing. "Right when we get rid of this nogitsune I'm leaving town."

I looked up at him with wide eyes, now knowing exactly what he was doing. He was leaving to get away from me. To try and keep me safe. To try and keep himself safe. "None of this was your fault." I whispered to him, feeling my heart breaking.

He nodded and looked back to me. "You'll be safer without me."

"Really?" I challenged. "Because once you left, Giulietta started fucking with my mind!"

"I know you don't understand it-" He began as he gripped my arms, trying to look me right in the eye, but I pushed him off of me

"No, I understand it perfectly. It's the reason you always leave me. The reason you always screw us up." He studied me, his face softening. "You're afraid." He looked away, not trying to make eye contact. "You're afraid of how much you love. How much we mean to each other. You're afraid of me getting hurt, well guess what," I moved closer to him, grabbing his arm, forcing him to look at me. "I'm afraid too, but I put up with it because I love you."

"I don't want you to put up with anything." He looked down at the ring and pulled it off of my finger, putting it back on the chain and around his neck. "And I know you'll be better off without me." I looked back up at him with tears flowing down my face. "Be a teenager." He told me while studying me sadly. "Have fun. Be with Scott. Actually, marry him." More tears began to fall, and I knew in that moment that this was really it. This was our goodbye. "Be happy with him and forget about me. Forget about our connection and forget about how much you love me."

I shook my head at him as I looked away. "This is it." I told him without looking at him.

"This is it." He said in agreement.

I looked back to him, taking a deep breath before saying, "Goodbye, Derek." My voice was so shaky from the tears, it was almost impossible to distinguish.

"Bye, Bree." He said in almost identical voice wavering.

I moved past him, walking towards the hospital door, feeling my heart breaking with every step I took. The tears were becoming physically painful. How could I possibly enjoy anything again? I got my life back for everyone I love and now I wished I had stayed dead. This had hurt more than anything. This was a real goodbye.

As I walked, I saw Allison and Lydia run into the hospital door and stop dead in their tracks when they saw me. It was like they had seen a ghost. I looked at my girlfriends, knowing I needed them after what had just happened. Just them. I ran to them, and they enveloped me in a hug. We all cried on each other, appreciating that we were here. That no matter what was happening in our crazy world, we were all together. We would always have each other.


We had all split up after the hospital. Stiles went with Kira's to talk with her mother. Dad went back to the station. Allison, Isaac and Chris went back to the apartment to melt as much silver as we needed tonight. Scott and Lydia went to talk with Deaton. Ethan, Aiden, Peter and Derek went back to his loft. I think. I didn't really have the energy to ask Derek where he was going. Gabe and Mason took me back to Mason's, giving me a full checkup after everything that had happened.

Mason shined a flashlight and I had to follow it with my eyes. He was checking for any possible injury that could have happened while I was dying. I got a chance to swing by my house and change out of my blood soaked clothes before we went back to Mason's. He pulled the flashlight away from my face, and my eyebrows furrowed with a thought. "How do you know how to do all of this?"

He looked back up at me after he put a hand on my back. "I was a nurse."

I blinked a little. "A play write, a nurse and a teacher. What haven't you done?"

He gave me an annoyed face. "Just breathe." I let out a deep breath as he moved his hand to another place on my back. "Breathe." I let out another deep breath and by my mistake, my mind began to wonder. "Breathe." This time my breath was shaky as I thought about Derek. Mason stopped what he was doing and took his hands from my back. "What happened at the hospital?"

I shrugged as I took a deep breath to steady my voice. "Nothing."

"Don't pull that crap." Gabe said as he moved over to us. "I have never seen you talk as little as this." I gave him a slight smile as he bumped into me with a smile. "What's wrong?"

I looked back down at Talia's bracelet, spinning it around, feeling my heart break all over again. "Derek's leaving after we defeat the nogitsune."

They both looked up at me as a few tears fell, and I twirled the bracelet faster. "Why?" Mason asked like he was truly concerned for my wellbeing.

I shook my head as I looked back up at them. "He thinks he can protect me that way. He thinks he's a danger to me and he's afraid."

I felt Gabe put a hand on my shoulder and began to rub it. "I'm sorry." He whispered.

I looked away from them, hating that they were watching me cry. Hating that all of this was happening. My heart felt like it was crumbling every second and it was hard to breathe knowing Derek would be gone soon. He would be leaving me. I fell into Gabe's embrace as Mason rubbed my back as I cried. I knew Mason manipulated me, but honestly, he had become a great ally for us. I don't know what we would have done without him or Gabe. Honestly, I loved both of them. My phone began ringing so I pulled it out, wiping my tears away and clearing my voice before answering it. "Hello?"

"Hey, Bree," Scott's voice came through the phone. "Are you still at Mason's?"

"Yeah." I answered as my eyebrows furrowed. He sounded like this topic was urgent. "Why? What's going on?"

"We need an expert on Giulietta and the nogitsune." I looked over at Mason who looked like he heard everything Scott had just said. "We need you and Mason."

I looked over to Mason with a shrug. "I'll get my coat." He said before walking off.

I smiled at his back as I looked back to the phone. "We'll be there in a minute."


"It's the Nematon that kept the nogitsune trapped." Mason argued with Deaton as we all made our way into one of the checkup rooms.

"The problem is," Deaton argued back calmly. "This isn't even a person you're fighting. It just looks like one. It's a spirit that's taken the shape of a human."

"The shape of my brother." I told him.

"Somebody caught it once." Gabe said as he looked to Deaton. "Somebody can do it again, right?"

He shook his head like he had no idea. "I don't know." I blinked a couple times. This was actually a first. "This thing was trapped a long time ago before the Nematon was cut down. It doesn't have the same power anymore."

"Is there anything that does?" Lydia asked desperately.

He kept silent for a moment before nodding. "Possibly." I turned my head to the side, waiting for more. "When the tree was whole, its wood was sometimes used to create powerful objects, but those objects are very rare."

"What a second, powerful objects?" We all looked to Lydia whose eyes were squinted like she was thinking. "Like an alpha's claws?"

Deaton's eyes squinted as I looked to him, hoping this was our one good move. "Which alpha?"

"Talia Hale." My eyes grew wide as I turned back to Lydia. "Peter had them in this wooden box with a triskele carved on the lid."

"That's how Derek talked to his mother." I whispered as I looked to Scott. "That's how he got in contact with Talia. He told us at the hospital, remember?" Scott nodded excitedly, like it was all finally making sense.

"What if it was made from the Nematon?"

We all looked to Deaton as Lydia finished her sentence and he seemed to be a little ashamed. "It was." My eyes widened and I looked to Gabe, sharing a shocked face before turning back to Deaton. "I know because I made it."

"We have to call Derek." Scott said while looking to me.

I shook my head at him. "Don't look at me. Derek ferociously ripped my heart out for the millionth time in a row." He moved closer to me as if he was going to see if I was alright so I put my hand in front of him, trying to tell him I didn't want to be touched or comforted because right when it started I knew I would start crying again. "Just call him. He is your beta."

Scott pulled out his phone and called him. I could barely hear his voice, and even that was a knife in the heart for every word he spoke. Once Scott was done with the conversation, he put the phone down and looked to Deaton. "Derek's got the triskele box. He says he's gonna meet us."

I nodded and I was completely there with the conversation, but the next second, I got a rushing feeling, causing me to start to fall over. Hands steadied me, and I opened my eyes to see Gabe. "What's wrong?" Deaton asked as he looked back and forth at Lydia and I.

When I looked over at her, I noticed Scott's hand on her back as Gabe's was on mine, keeping me up. "Something's happening." I told them.

"I had this sudden rushing feeling." Lydia said while looking down.

"So did I." I told her eagerly, wondering how this was even happening to us. "Like we're running out of time."

She nodded while studying me with a confused face. "Yeah." We all looked over to see Kira helping Stiles into the room. "I kind of got that feeling too."


We all met at the school. I got out of Mason's car with all of my weapons to see Derek, Peter, Ethan and Aiden get out of Derek's and Scott, Stiles, Lydia and Kira getting out of Stiles's. We all moved to each other, Derek and I sharing an uncomfortable glance before looking back to our alpha for our instructions. "Gabe and Mason," They both looked to him. "You're with them."

I nodded and looked to Gabe. "Allison, Chris and Isaac should be here any minute to help you all out." He nodded and moved over to the wolves with Mason. I moved over to Lydia who was supporting Stiles with her shoulder. I put his arm around my shoulder, mirroring Lydia and looking to all the others. "No one get killed."

With that, we all turned the ways we were going, Kira, Scott, Stiles, Lydia and I to the school. Stiles was hurrying as fast as he could, but Lydia and I were still doing all of the work. "Scott, hold on." Stiles said once we got to the door of the school. "I know what you're all thinking." I looked over to Scott nervously and then back to Stiles. "That if it works, it might kill me too, but even if it does, you have to go through with it." I gave Stiles a panicked look as he gave me an apologetic one. "Stick with the plan, okay?"

"The plan is to save you." Scott told him.

"That's the plan we're going with." I said as he looked away from me while shaking his head.

Scott looked to me and I gave him a slight smile as he opened the door to the school and we all walked in. There was snow falling all over the place, and it looked like some garden covered in the whiteness of winter. We continued to walk forward, Lydia and I staying close to Stiles and Kira staying close to Scott. Behind us, the door slammed shut, causing us all to turn around, knowing there wasn't going to be an easy way out. Stiles walked ahead of us, looking around. "This is definitely not part of the plan."

We all had no idea what was happening. We didn't say a word as we all looked around, trying to find something to tell us what was happening or even where we were. There were footsteps coming from behind us, and when we turned around, the bandaged nogitsune was walking creepily. Kira and I turned around as it advanced towards us and got our weapons ready. "Like I promised, Stiles," I moved back a bit so I was right in front of Stiles, strictly trying to protect him. "We're going to kill all of them. ONE BY ONE!"

An oni appeared right by Kira, but she didn't miss a beat, their swords clashing instantly. Kira stepped back with all of us, but when I looked around I noticed the oni had us surrounded. I pulled out my dagger and placed it in front of me, ready to defend myself and my brother if I needed to. "What the hell is this?" Scott asked quickly while looking around, voicing all of our confusion. "Where are we?"

"Between life and death." I turned back to the nogitsune, feeling like it was looking right at me.

"Bardo." Lydia whispered.

"But there are no peaceful deities here, Lydia." He shook his finger from side to side as slow as possible. "You're dying, Stiles." I backed up even closer to my brother, dagger ready for the nogitsune. "And now everyone you care about is dying too."

I looked back to Stiles, but he looked just as confused as I did. "What?" He asked. "What do you mean?"

"I've captured almost all the territories of the board, Stiles. The hospital," My eyes widened as I pictured his oni slaves wrecking the hospital. "The sheriff station." I looked back up at the nogitsune, my eyes even wider than before. My dad was there. Stiles put his hand on my shoulder, pulling me even closer to him. "And now the animal clinic." I looked to Scott who seemed to be having an internal panic attack. "Do you know the ritual of seppuku, Stiles?"

"No," Stiles answered angrily as he moved even closer to us. "And I don't want to."

"When a samurai disembowels himself with his own sword to maintain his honor, but that's not the cut that kills him." I squinted my eyes at him, wondering what point he had with all of this. "The killing stroke is made by his kaishakunin, who beheads the samurai with his own katana." He put a shaky finger up to me causing me to step back even further as if that was possible. "Bree. Bree is your kaishakunin. Just like Giulietta was to me." I looked up at him with my eyes wide. "History has a funny way of repeating itself, doesn't it, Bree?" I turned around to give Stiles a teary stare which he returned. "I'm going to make your sister kill you, Stiles, and you're going to let her because, like you," He was getting insanely close, backing us up to what looked to be a fountain covered in snow. "They're all going to die. Everyone touched by an oni's blade." I was pressed so close to Stiles, my dagger was almost touching the nogitsune as he put his finger right in front of Stiles and I. "Unless Bree kills you first."

I glared at him, wanting to send the dagger right in his chest, but I knew it would do nothing and would be a waste of my energy. "Why?" Stiles whispered. "Why are you doing this?"

"To win the game." He growled right before the oni began slashing their swords at us.

I moved ahead, taking a bow out of my pouch, aiming it at the closest oni. Scott wolfed out ready to fight and Kira positioned her sword as the oni stopped, preparing themselves for another battle. Hopefully I wouldn't die this time. I shot my arrow off, hitting one of the oni in the shoulder, but all it did was slow it down. I turned around, kicking another oni before placing a dagger in its back and kicking it down again. I caught a glimpse of Stiles and Lydia crouching down behind the fountain before another oni came up to me, trying to stab me again. Not this time. I moved out of the way quickly and with the pink light, blast him all the way to the other side of the room. Damn, Giulietta's powers were strong. I backed up so the three of our backs were pressed to each other as the oni circled us. "How is this happening?" Scott yelled. "How are we in this place?"

"You're asking me?" Kira asked surprised. "A month ago I never even touched a sword."

The oni began to go after us again so I kicked one of them right in the chest before driving an arrow into its head which it just pulled out before successfully knocking me to the ground. I wished I had one of Allison's silver arrow heads now. The oni climbed on top of me, trying to drive the sword into my head, but I blocked it as best as I could with my bow. My arms were shaking with all the strength I was using, getting weaker as the sword got even closer to my head. That's when I saw a foot kicking the oni off of me and Kira's hand reach down to pull me up. "Thank you." I told her quickly.

"Don't mention it." She yelled out and she clashed swords with another oni as I clashed my bow with the oni's sword.

I began focusing on my own fight with my oni when I looked over and saw that Kira's sword had been knocked out of her hands.

I dove down to get it, but right when I got to it for her, Stiles was picking it up in his hands and pointing it down at his stomach. "Stiles, stop!" I yelled at him.

"Stiles!" I heard Scott behind me. "Don't!" I felt Scott move right next to me, placing his arm around my waist and pulling me close to him. "Stiles!"

"What if it saves you?" He asked as he looked back up at us. "What if it saves all of you?"

"What if it's just another trick?" Lydia asked him desperately.

"No more tricks, Lydia." The nogitsune growled from behind us, sending a shiver up my spine. "End it, Bree." I let out a shaky sigh as I leaned even further into Scott's chest. "Let your brother fall on his own sword." I shut my eyes as a tear escaped. "Do for him what he cannot do for himself." I shook my head as Scott pulled me in even closer. "Do it, Bree." I was gripping Scott so tight my knuckles were white. Be his kaishakunin." I studied Stiles desperately as he was shaking with the sword in his hands. "Give up the game." Then Stiles's vision focused on something in the sword, then his eyes focused on something lying in the snow. I followed his gaze to see a business book and a desk not far from it. I looked over at Stiles with my eyes wide as he did the same. "You have no moves left."

I gave Stiles an encouraging nod as we stared at each other wildly. He put down the sword and began studying it. "I do." He threw the sword back to Kira, and she caught it like it was nothing, but stared at him in confusion as I gave Stiles a smile. "A divine move."

"Stop fighting them." I said looking to Scott, still in his grip. "It's an illusion. We have to stop fighting them."

"It looks real," Stiles continued. "And it feels real, but, Scott, you've got to trust us. It's an illusion."

Scott and I turned around, still holding onto each other to see the oni lined up, waiting for us to pass through to get to the door out. We walked forward, Scott getting slashed by an oni first and then me. I bit on the inside of my cheek, trying to keep from yelling out in pain as the swords slashed into me reminding me of a few hours ago when the sword had killed me. I could hear Kira's yells from getting slashed behind me as Scott began to fall so I caught him, helping him stand up and keep walking as they kept slashing. When we made it past the last oni, the nogitsune was standing in front of the door so Scott and I pushed him back and out the door making it into the school.

I looked around, finding it hard to believe that all of that was just an illusion. I began to check my body which had no slashes on it. "We're okay." Scott whispered to me like he also found it hard to believe. I gave him a slight smile and nodded.

He opened his mouth to say something to me when he was torn out of my arms and thrown in to a locker. Stiles pulled me back as I looked up to see the nogitsune Stiles push Kira right next to Scott. "This was my game." He told the two on the ground, but then he looked to us with his wild eyes, causing me to pull my dagger out again and grab Stiles's hand from behind as Lydia moved in closer to him. "You think you can beat me at my game? Divine move?" He began to advance towards us as we stumbled over each other to back up in time to get away from him. "Divine move? You think you have any moves at all?" He leaned forward and knocked the dagger right out of my hand. I looked down at it helplessly as Stiles pulled me back even faster. "You can kill the oni. But me? Me?" I felt myself starting to trip, but Lydia helped me stand back up, and we were even faster backing up after that. "I'M A THOUSAND YEARS OLD! YOU CAN'T KILL ME!"

"But we can change you!" Lydia yelled out, causing me to get rid of my fear filled face and place a smirk on it, seeing Scott moving close to the nogitsune.

"What?" He asked, completely thrown.

"You forgot about the scroll." Stiles said.

"The Shugendo scroll." I told him with a smirk.

"Change the host." The nogitsune whispered in a terrified voice.

"You can't be a fox and a wolf." Stiles growled at him like we finally had the upper hand because for once we actually did.

Scott leaned forward and bit him on the arm as the nogitsune screamed. When Scott finally let go, Kira moved forward, sticking her sword into his back. Thunder clapped in the sky and the lights flickered as she ripped the sword out of him. He fell to the floor when a fly escaped out of his mouth. We all watched, wondering where it was going to end up when red finger nail polished hands came out and caught it in the triskele box. Allison looked up at us, breathing heavily as she twisted the cap shut.

There was the sound of gasps, and when I turned around, the nogitsune was twitching and flailing violently, but then got insanely still as his skin cracked. He opened his mouth, looking right at me, "They," He whispered out before falling to the ground in a pile of dust which disappeared quickly.

I kept looking at where he had kneeled thinking about his last words. They. Was he trying to warn me? Threaten me? My train of thought was disrupted easily when Stiles began to fall, taking me down with him. "Stiles!" I yelled once he hit the floor, his head in my lap.

Everyone got down on the floor, Lydia holding Stiles's hand, Scott kneeling down right next to him and Kira and Allison standing above him. "Stiles." Lydia began as she started to shake him.

A few long seconds past as we all watched him, and then his eyes fluttered open, causing us all to let out a deep, relieved breath. "Oh god," Stiles said as he looked around. "I fainted didn't I?"

I let out a little laugh as I nodded. "You fainted like a total girl."

He rolled his eyes, letting out a little laugh while looking up at me, then looked to everyone else. "We're alive." He looked up at me, thinking about my death. I kind of missed reading minds. "We're all alive."

"We're okay." Scott said with a nod as he looked up at me, and I gave him a shy smile.

Lydia stood up with a thinking look on her face as she looked to the door, leading out. "Lydia," I began. "What is it?" She just kept looking as I stood up. "Is someone dying?" She still didn't say anything. I began to panic, wondering about Derek out there. "Do you know who?" She still didn't say anything, and I just couldn't wait there anymore.

I took off to the door, throwing it open and running down the stairs. I stopped when I got to the bottom step, seeing everyone crowded around someone, but I couldn't clearly see who it was with all the fog swarming around. I ran again until I got to the large group, seeing it was Aiden who had black blood pouring out of his mouth. I put a shaky hand to my mouth as I watched Ethan putting his head to his twin brother while crying. I felt someone put their arm around me, and when I looked up, I saw it was Isaac, causing me to lean into his chest as I watched. "It's okay." Aiden whispered as he nodded. "Lydia and Bree never believed I was one of the good guys anyway."

My eyes began to water as I moved out of Isaac's grip and got down on the ground, right in front of him. He looked at me and I stroked his face. "Bree already believes." I heard Derek say from right next to me. "And Lydia will believe me."

I leaned forward and placed a kiss on Aiden's head as he let out his last gasps. When he finally stopped breathing, I shut my eyes tight as I let go of him, and Ethan eased him to the ground, crying on top of him.

I looked across from me to see Gabe, Chris, Peter and Mason watching sadly as I stood up. I looked back down at Aiden. Lydia and I were his last words. He loved us. He didn't have the best way of showing it, but he loved us. I had died today. Aiden and I died today, the names of the people we loved were the last on our lips. I wasn't giving up on Derek that easy. I turned around and jumped into Derek's arms as he picked me up off the ground. I wasn't going to let go of him. Not with how hard we had fought to be together over all the years. I didn't care if this relationship was toxic or ended in my death. I didn't. I needed Derek just as much as I needed to breath. He was my life, my future and my heart. "Don't ever leave me." I whispered into his ear. "Because I'm not letting you go." I shook my head as I cried into his shoulder. "I'm never letting you go. Derek, I love you."

He was rubbing my back soothingly and I could feel him breathing me in. "I won't ever leave you again." He promised. "I love you." He whispered into my ear.

I buried my face even further into his neck once he said those words as he spun around, having me now facing in the opposite direction. I took my face out from Derek's neck when I saw something down on the track field. It was a man, wearing a long black jacket. His face was covered by a mask. It was a dark brown and seemed to be leather sacks sown together. The part that was covering his mouth though, looked like very long teeth of a skull. It had reminded me of a Jack-o-lantern.

Derek was putting me down, getting rid of my sight of the strange man. When I reached the ground and he let go of me, he leaned in and gave me a passionate kiss. I wanted to enjoy it, I really did, but I wanted to know what that thing was even more. I opened my eyes as I kissed him back, but the man was no longer on the track. I closed my eyes again, enjoying the kiss, pushing the thing to the back of my mind. It had to be a hallucination from my second death. I just had to close the door in my mind. It shouldn't be as hard as the first time. I hope it's not.


Derek was lying on top of me in my bed, kissing me gently and lovingly. He moved down to my neck, planting little kisses there as I ran my hands through his hair. I was so glad Derek was mine again. I knew we wouldn't be able to stay apart for long. We were physics. We were literally born to be together and one day we would be married. I didn't know when, but it was going to happen one day. The chain was around his neck even know, bouncing back and forth as he kissed my neck, the diamond glistening in the moonlight from the window.

The fact that we were here together after everything that had happened to us in the past few months seemed like a miracle to me. It showed me how strong our love was. That even though it had been dragged through the meat grinder, it still came out of it in one piece. Our love was still in one piece. "What are you thinking about?" He asked me as he pulled away from my lips.

I smiled up at him, tracing a random scar with my fingers. "Just how much I love you."

He got down, smiling widely, only centimeters away from my lips. "I love you more."

I scoffed at him as I shook my head. "Debatable."


Allison and I went to the salon the next day. I was going back to a brunette and she was getting new highlights. Our hair had been colored and we were just waiting to get the dye washed out. I turned to Allison with a smile and she rolled her eyes at me. "What now, ball of sunshine?" She asked like she was annoyed since I had been smiling all day.

I sighed as I leaned back into my seat. "I'm just happy." I told her with a nod. "Genuinely happy."

She smiled back at me. "Well, I'm glad."

"So," I began while looking back to her. "What are you doing for winter break?"

She looked back to me, giving me kind of a sad smile. "My dad, Isaac and I are getting away for a while."

My face kind of dropped at that and she gave me a sympathetic smile. "Are you coming back for the second semester?"

She gave me a little shrug and I looked down, feeling really sad. "I haven't decided yet, but I'm coming back to Beacon Hills." She told me seriously as I looked back up at her. "I can't leave my baby sister." She said, giving my leg a slight pat. I laughed a little while she shook her head, her face growing serious. "My dad and I have to take care of some…family stuff." My eyebrows furrowed, but I knew Allison wasn't going to tell me exactly what that meant until I was ready to know. "I could never leave Beacon Hills." She told me, her smile growing again. "I couldn't leave you or Lydia or…"

"Scott?" I finished for her.

She sighed like she was embarrassed and nodded. "When you were dying," She whispered. "And some of your last words were about Derek made me think and I knew that if I was in your situation, my last words would have been about Scott."

I gave her a smile and nodded. "I always knew you two were going to end up together."

"That doesn't mean we're going to end up together." She scoffed at me.

"You're the one talking to a person who can see into the future." I taunted.

"It's not gonna happen." She told me in an annoyed tone. I nodded like I didn't really believe it, and she hit me in the arm. "Shut up."


I pounced on my bed right where Derek was sleeping, fully dressed and ready and it wasn't even six yet. Derek's eyes shot open and I smiled at him playfully. "Wake up." I told him in a playful voice.

"What are you doing?" He groaned in that gruff sexy morning voice as he looked over at the clock. "Bree, its five thirty."

"I have something I need to show you."

"You can show me later." He groaned as he rolled over, trying to cover his head with my blankets.

I pressed down on his back continually while whispering, "Wake up."

He rolled over again, knocking me down so he was on top of me. I laughed as he smiled down at me. "What is so important?" He asked.

"It's a surprise." I told him. "Get up."

He sighed, finally getting out of bed and getting dressed. I took him out of my room, trying to be quiet, knowing everyone was still asleep. We got in his car and I made him drive me to the cliff right next to the preserves. "What are we doing out here?" He asked as I got out of the car and sat up on the hood.

I pat right next to where I was sitting, and he sighed like he was annoyed that I wasn't telling him what we were doing, but he sat up there anyway. "I want to show you something." I told him. "What time is it?"

He looked down at his watch. "Just turned six."

I nodded and looked at the sky, noticing the sun was just starting to rise. "Watch this." As the sun rose, I focused my new power on the flowers. They began blooming all around, as a bright lavender and Derek looked around awe. I stopped, but the flowers were still there. He looked back to me with his eyes wide. "I have so much power now." I told him with a smile. "I have all of my power from before and now Giulietta's. She was the most powerful witch in the world." He looked at me in wonderment as I shrugged. "Derek, now I'm the most powerful witch in the world. I don't even need spells anymore. I just have to think it and it happens."

He smiled as he put his hand on my cheek. "I love you, Bree Stilinski."

"I love you, Derek Hale." He pulled me in for a kiss, and I kissed him back as hard as I could. When I pulled away, I looked down at the chain around his neck. "Do you love me enough to put that ring on me?"

"Bree," He sighed out with a smile still on his face. "I'm not putting this ring on your finger until a few years later." I let out a little sigh and pouted a little with a smile still on my face. "Don't look at me like that." He said while shaking his head. I continued to stare at him like that, but he just shook his head. "Put your lip back in your mouth and get in the car. You have school in an hour."


When Derek dropped me off at my house, I walked into the Stiles's room immediately. He was up, taking all the papers on his bulletin board off and I sat down on his bed, picking up the baseball sitting on his desk, smiling at the memory that Giulietta had forced me to relive. I knew I should have hated her, but I really did feel sorry for her, and still do. "Hey." I told him as I began to throw the baseball in the air.

"Hey." He answered back as he put one of the newspaper pieces on his bed.

"I have to ask you a question." I told him as I got into big sister mode.

He looked to me and shrugged. "Okay?"

I shut my eyes, taking a breath before I spoke. "Did you lose your virginity in Eichen House?"

Stiles stopped what he was doing and looked to me. "No. I did make out with Malia though." He answered slowly. "Why?"

I turned my head to the side. "When Derek and I were looking for you there, he said he could smell you." I made a face. "You get what I'm saying?"

"Oh." Stiles said slowly. "I didn't lose my virginity there, but I did…you know a little early."

My mouth dropped as I put the baseball down on his bed and put my hands to my ears. "Okay, I don't need to hear anymore." I took my hands from my ears and smiled at him as I shook my head. "You are disgusting."

"You're the one who asked." He countered as he continued to take down newspaper clippings.

I smiled as I picked up the baseball again and began throwing it in the air. "Malia, huh?" He nodded as he stopped and looked to me. "You like her?" I asked teasingly.

He rolled his eyes at me. "No, I just made out with her for no reason."

I gave his shoulder a little push with a smile. "Loser."

"Bitch." He said with a smile, pushing me back so hard I fell back on the bed.

I laughed as I sat up when there was a small knock on Stiles's doorway. It was Dad. "Hey." We both looked to him and smiled as Stiles continued taking down the newspaper clippings. "Whatcha doing?"

"Uh," Stiles began, turning back to him. "Just clearing my head."

Dad nodded with a smile before walking out the room. I looked back to Stiles with my eyebrows furrowed, worried about him. "Are you okay?" He looked back to me, giving me the same concerned look I was giving him. "Really?"

He sighed and shrugged. "Are you?" I gulped and shook my head as he also shook his head.


I walked into Mason's classroom in the morning to see him and Gabe talking, but right when I walked in, they both turned to me, smiles still on their faces. "So," I began as I moved towards them. "What did I get on that paper?" I asked Mason jokingly.

He let out a small chuckle as he rubbed his eyebrows. "Honestly, with being put in jail, a nogitsune possessing your brother's body then making a copy of his body, you dying and one of my other students dying," I looked down at the mention of Aiden. "I haven't had time to grade any papers." I looked back up to him with a smile. "Which is pretty bad since grades are due tonight. I'll probably give everybody hundreds."

I let out a little laugh, looking to the two who were now standing in front of me. "So now that Giulietta is gone what are you going to do?"

Mason let out a breath and looked down. "I don't know. Teach eleventh grade English?"

I looked back up at him with wide eyes. I thought he would be gone right at three. "You're staying?"

"Of course I am." He laughed out. "You want me to leave?"

"No." I said quickly. "I just thought that you would have been scarred for life by Beacon Hills and left the second you could."

He shrugged as he leaned against the desk. "I like it here."

I shook my head at him with a smile then looked over at Gabe who was smiling brightly at me, his icy blue eyes practically shinning. "What about you?"

He shrugged, giving me a wide smile. "Who else is going to teach you about what to do with all that power of yours?" I smiled at him and he hit my arm lovingly. "I'm just really glad you're not dead, Stilinski."

I smirked at him and hit his arm. "Back at you, D'Amore."

He stared me for a moment smiling when I turned back to Mason. "I don't think I've thanked both of you enough for what you've done."

Mason shook his head at me. "I think we've got to thank you."

I furrowed my eyes at them in confusion. "You showed us the true meaning of strength." Gabe told me as I looked back and forth, smiling at them.

"I love you guys." I told them quickly.

"We know." They both said at the same time before I wrapped my arms around them.


It was the Friday before winter break and Lydia, Allison and I were talking by my locker, spending our last day together before Allison went on her top secret family mission. It probably wasn't that top secret, but that's what I called it. "You know," Allison began with a smile. "There is one thing I want Bree to do before I go."

I furrowed my eyebrows at her in confusion and she looked across the hall. I followed her gaze and saw that Kira was across the hall at her locker. Lydia began laughing. "That's a good one, Allison." She commented.

I rolled my eyes at them and nodded. "I can be her friend." I told them. Sure, Kira and I had our differences at the beginning, but she had stood and fought with me. She had actually saved my life a couple of times. I was grateful for her, and the least she deserved was my friendship. I walked over to her, taking a deep breath before saying, "Kira." I knew Allison and Lydia were behind me, smiling like idiots as she turned around, causing me to roll my eyes. "I just want to say thank you for everything you did for my brother and for me."

She nodded with a smile. "No problem."

I sighed as Allison nudged me. "And I want to try…" I paused as I closed my eyes. "Being your friend."

"Really?" She asked like she was really excited.

"Maybe." I said while looking at her. Kira squealed excitedly as she threw her arms around me and I stiffened. "I don't think I'm ready for a hug yet." I told her quickly, but she kept on hugging me. "Okay." I sighed out as I pat her back awkwardly.

She moved away from me, still smiling brightly as I gave her a slight smile back. "Thanks." She told me sincerely. "But even with all of you guys, I still feel like just the new girl in school."

"Not for long." Lydia spoke in a small voice.

We all looked over as Malia walked with Coach talking to her about sports. Lydia gave her a smile and Malia smiled back. I knew that took a lot for Lydia, especially since she was finally realizing her feelings for Stiles. I gave Lydia's back a little rub and she nodded like she was okay, the smile still on her face. I knew Lydia was going to accept Malia, but I also knew she was always going to feel a pang of hurt when she saw her and Stiles together.


Derek had joined Scott, Stiles, Malia and I at Scott's after school. Malia was trying to figure out how to control all of this werewolf stuff and Scott and Derek were going to be her teachers. Derek was sitting with me on Scott's computer chair and Stiles on Scott's bed as Scott stood in front of Malia. He grew out his claws right in front of her and she nodded, closing her eyes and tried throwing her hand out like Scott did, but it didn't work for her. She sighed out in defeat as she tried a second time and it still didn't work. "It's okay." Scott told her as she looked up at him. "Don't think about it too much just try to let it happen."

"Find an anchor." Derek instructed.

"That always works." I agreed, turning around to smile at him. He leaned forward and gave my shoulder a little kiss as I leaned back even further into him.

"What's your anchor?" She asked as she turned to us. Derek and I looked at each other and then back at her, letting her figure it out for herself. "Oh." She said with a smile. I was really going to like Stiles's first real girlfriend. She closed her eyes again, and this time, when she threw her fist down, her claws were out. I smiled at her and when she opened her eyes, she turned to Stiles excitedly who started moving away from her sharp claws. I couldn't help but laugh a little. "Oh my god!" She yelled with a smile, not being able to hide her excitement. "I am so sorry." She laughed happily as she looked at her claws, and I knew she was really proud of herself. I was really proud of her too.


I laid in my bed with my feet in the air, looking at my painted toes. One good thing that came out of having no new problems was that I actually had time to do my nails. Allison had already left and I was waiting on Derek to pick me up. We were going to dinner tonight. An actual date. I can't even remember the last time we had an actual date. I looked to the clock on my bed, and it was now nine. Derek was supposed to be here thirty minutes ago. I pulled out my phone and called Derek's number which went straight to voicemail. "Hey," I began as I left the voicemail. "I don't know what's keeping you, but you were supposed to be here thirty minutes ago. If you got caught up with something, I won't be mad, but just call me and let me know you're alright, okay? Love you, bye."


It was now nine thirty and Derek still hadn't called. I was tapping my foot impatiently as the phone rang in my ear. "Hey, this is Derek. Leave me a message."

I sighed as the beep sounded. "Derek, where are you? I'm starting to get worried." I looked down at my stomach and began rubbing it. "And my stomach really hurts. I'm starting to worry that it's something going on with you. Please call me back, Derek. Please." I sighed, wishing I knew what was happening. "I love you."


I was shaking as the phone rang this time. "Come on, Derek." I whispered. "Pick up. Pick up."

"Hey, this is Derek. Leave me a message."

"Derek," I practically yelled into the phone with a panicked voice. "It's eleven and I still haven't heard from you, so now I know something is really wrong." I took a deep breath, concentrating my feelings. "To whoever took him or hurt him or whatever you did to him, I hope you're listening really close. I'm going to find my boyfriend. And I'm going to find you." I shook my head as I gritted my teeth. "And when I find you, you won't spend too much time breathing after that because I am the most powerful witch in the world and I will kill you."

I hung up the phone, still shaking, knowing I had to do something. That's when something caught my eye out the window. It was the man again with the mask. This couldn't be happening. "Death has come again," I heard in a whisper causing me to look around, but no one was nearby. When I looked back out the window, the man was gone.

I shook my head, knowing I had to focus on Derek and finding out what happened to him. I ran out my room and down the stairs. "Dad!" I called out. "Dad!" I yelled once I reached the bottom.

"Bree," He said in a panicked voice, coming from the living room. "What's going on? Are you okay?"

There were sounds of footsteps on the stairs and when I looked over, Stiles was there with a panicked face, waiting for what I had to say as I turned back to Dad. "Dad, something's wrong with Derek." This time, he believed me the second I said it.

Bree Stilinski returns July 29th :)