A/N: IM BACK BABY~! With an extra loooooong chapter for my lovely loyal people who still get pumped about this. Im back into writing again and this story is always where i come back to. Please review, next chapter youre gonna see some intense derek/hayley action hehehehe
Chapter Song: Six feet under by Billie Eilish
Standing in the back room of the animal hospital, I watched with wide eyes as Isaac, Derek, and Scott poured bags of ice into a metal tub filled with water. They continued tossing the empty bags aside and continuing the process with new ones. I swallowed loudly, fully regretting this idea.
"Are you sure you want to do this?" Deaton asked, taking a step beside me.
"No." I shook my head. "But for everyone's sake I don't have a choice." I paused, watching Isaac dump another bag of ice into the tub. "Do you think it's going to work?"
"I can't say for sure. This is a situation I…I haven't exactly seen happen before. When did you say the dreams started occurring?"
"Not too long after the Kanima first showed up."
"It makes sense now why the wolfsbane effected you." Deaton mused. I looked to him, confusion plastered across my features. "When Derek brought you and Scott in after you tried to catch the Kanima." He elaborated.
"The rave? He brought us in here?" Deaton nodded.
"You had a burn on your hand. He said you were effected by the wolfsbane almost like Scott was." Immediately I shook my head, recalling the fuzzy memories of that night. Derek had accused me. I remembered.
"I'm not a werewolf."
"Wolfsbane doesn't effect only werewolves. Scott had exposure to it for a while. Derek told me you were effected by it almost immediately. You didn't have that healing speed like he does."
"So what are you trying to say?"
"I think you already know what I'm saying, Hayley. Normal people don't just dream up the future." I opened my mouth to speak but nothing came out. Deaton's words were spinning in my mind as he rose a brow my way. Normal people didn't dream up the future. He was right.
"Okay, that's the last bag." Scott grunted, tossing the empty plastic to the side. The boys stood back up straight, staring down at the tub in front of them. I walked towards the icy water, glaring it down. The sight of it chilled my bones.
"Good." Deaton said, following me farther into the room. I crossed my arms over my chest, stepping closer to the tub. "So now if we can slow your heart rate down enough, you'll slip into a trans like state. You said this only happens when you're asleep, right?" I nodded.
"So it's like being hypnotized." Isaac commented.
"Exactly."
"Except with waterboarding." I added, pursing my lips.
"It'll let us access your subconscious mind. Think of it like dreaming but allowing us to guide where you go." I swallowed the lump that formed in my throat. Controlling my dreams? How was Deaton supposed to do that when I couldn't control my own mind?
"This has all already happened. How am I supposed to see something where I never was in the first place?" I wondered, crouching down in front of the tub. My fingers curled along the edge of the cold metal drum, hovering over the icy water.
"That's where Isaac comes in. He'll share what memories he does have by—"
"I know how it works." I interrupted, remembering when Peter had sunk his claws into my neck and visited my own memories.
"Okay—" Scott ran his hands over his face, "How slow does her heart rate have to be?"
"Very slow." Deaton dryly answered.
"Yeah, well, how slow is very slow?" Derek barked in a low voice. He leaned forward, his knuckles wrapping around the metal drum tightly.
"Nearly dead." Deaton casually answered. My eyes widened even more, my teeth gritting together. It was like drowning all over again.
"Nope. No. No! Absolutely not." Stiles interjected. "No. Cant we—we can just knock her out. See if she'll dream up where they're hiding. Seems a lot safer!"
"It is safe though, right? For a human?" Isaac added.
"Do you really want him to answer that honestly?" I sighed.
"No, no not really." He sheepishly replied. Isaac reached forward and grazed the icy water with his fingers, immediately retracting them in pain.
"It's too risky, you don't have to do it." Derek refused, looking me straight in the eye. I looked back at him, weighing my options.
"I'm not comfortable with this." Scott nodded in agreement with the Alpha.
"Yeah well, you're not the one going in the water. Besides, we need to find them and Stiles' friend."
"We can find another way." Derek agreed. Elsewhere in the room, a piece of elastic snapped. We all glared up, finding Stiles playing with a long, large rubber glove.
"What?" He asked innocently. Scott sighed.
"Okay enough." I muttered, stripping myself of my jacket and kicking off my boots. I was only left in my jeans and tank top and already, I felt cold. I felt a knot form in my stomach and my heart began to race. The clock was ticking and if we wanted to find out what happened to Isaac, the Beta's and Heather, I'd have to take one for the team. I made my way to the front of the tub, my fingers trembling inside my fist. I looked down to the water then back up at Deaton, who gave me a reassuring nod. Scott wrapped his hand around mine and squeezed it.
Now or never.
I lifted my leg over the edge tub and into the water. A shaky, pained breath escaped my lungs as my foot submerged into the ice. I chomped down on the inside of my cheek until I tasted blood. The water was painful—so cold it felt like it was burning my skin off. I gulped and tensed my body as i swung my other leg into the tub. The freezing water soaked through my jeans. I clenched my teeth even more. With all my strength I lowered my body into the tub, my knuckles turning ghostly white as I held onto the tubs rim. My breathing became labored as the glacial water bit at my body. Tremors shook my body as I tried to focus on absolutely anything but the cold—fire, summer, the surface of the sun…anything. Every single second thought I had about this ran through my mind. I couldn't do it. My body was going to freeze to death. This was going against every natural instinct a human had.
A warm hand firmly placed itself on my bare shoulder. I looked over, feeling Derek's hot skin on my own. It took my mind off the pain for a split second, calming my pulsating heart. I had to do this.
"I don't like this." Scott shook, placing his own hand tightly on my other shoulder. I looked over to him and Isaac, my lips trembling from the raw temperatures numbing my body.
"See you on the other side." I nodded. With his face plastered with reluctance, Scott nodded as well. I turned my head to the side to look at Derek, who also was hesitant. I nodded assuringly, attempting to give him a smile through my shaking. The grips on my body grew stronger and my breaths grew deeper, knowing what was about to happen. With one last deep breath, I felt the two wolves push down on my body and submerge me into the ice.
At first, it was like a punch in the face. It was nothing but shock. The water was even colder underneath and it caused every inch of my body to scream. It was a burning pain, like being set on fire.
The shock soon wore off as I felt the air in my lungs deplete. Then, it was full panic mode. My throat tightened, remembering the burning sensation of drowning just a few months prior. Whatever I did, I couldn't take a breath in. My heart began racing faster than ever as I tried my hardest to ignore every instinct in my body to keep below the water.
What was I doing?
Every thought of trusting Deaton escaped my mind the second my body began flinching and fighting the strong hands that held me down. The hands grew tighter, and another set reached into the water to hold down my legs.
I was letting them drown me.
No matter what Deaton had said about me not being one hundred percent normal, I was still human. I wasn't a werewolf. My body couldn't handle this. I could hear muffled yelling on the surface mixed with my own silenced cries.
My body fought harder, trying to shake the wolves grips on my body to no avail. They kept me under. My mind grew fuzzy, the images when I opened my eyes doubling and spinning. An overpowering tiredness took over my body as I began to feel heavy. I begged myself to keep my eyes open as I tried resisting the hold on my body. To no avail, my body fell limp. My eyes slipped closed the same moment Isaac managed to slip his claws into my skin.
My eyes shot open and I gasped awake, my heart racing when I realized I didn't know where on earth I was. My clothes were soaking wet and I was barefoot. Where was I? I blinked a couple times, adjusting to the darkness that surrounded me. Wherever I was, the building seemed abandoned. It was quiet—so quiet it sent a shiver down my spine. It was dark, the only light coming in was through the cob web covered windows. There wasn't a soul in sight. Pitter-patters of my wet clothes dripping onto the marble floors echoed through the large building. It felt so loud I was scared someone would hear.
"Hayley." A calm voice called. I whipped myself around, finding myself alone. "This is Doctor Deaton. Can you hear us?" Another shiver ran down my spine as I realized I was dreaming. I had never left that tub at the clinic.
"Deaton?" I quietly called.
"If you can hear us, find Isaac." He calmly requested. Just like clockwork, as I began walking, I watched as Isaac came off the stairs and his himself behind a pillar.
"Isaac?" I called to him. He was scared. His chest was heaving. "Isaac!" I began rushing over to him. "Isaac?" I called, only a few feet away from him. He didn't hear me. He didn't even look my way. I walked over to him, grabbing his arm, but not getting a single response. I was a ghost, he couldn't see me. "No, no, no." I whispered under my breath, running a hand over my face.
My body came to a complete stand still as a voice other than Deaton's floated into the air.
"Look, I can't control it and neither of us will." The voice sighed. I knew that voice.
"Boyd." His name escaped my lips as I put the connection together.
"When the moon rises we're going to kill each other. I'm just as worried as you are. We have to figure out something." My pace quickened as I left Isaac and followed Boyd's voice. I quietly approached a door—a large, round, steel door.
"I know. I'm scared." Boyd quietly admitted. I walked closer to the door to investigate. The door was decorated with a symbol—an intricate design of an open cross that sat inside a circle. I had seen the symbol before, it was an exact replica of the bruises imprinted on Lydia and Allison's arms. Engraved below the symbol were the words Beacon Hills First National Bank.
It wasn't a symbol—it was a logo. The round door hadn't been a door at all, it was a vault. We were in the old bank that had closed down years ago. After all this time, Boyd and Erica had been kept in Beacon Hills by the Alphas. I went closer to the vault, my feet coming to a screeching halt as a middle aged man stood in front of me. Though sunglasses covered half the mans face, his gaze bored right into me. His hands laced themselves together, his head cocking. My lips quivered and my body shook…could he see me? There was no way he could. It was a dream. But by the way he stood so still as he starred, I felt my blood run cold. This was the man who took Boyd and Erica.
Before I could step any further into the vault, Isaac began screaming. I looked back up to find him being attacked. With one last look at the mysterious man, I ran through the halls back to Isaac as he was brutally beaten by a female Alpha. The two growled and yelled and finally, she threw a weak and beaten Isaac into a dark room. His head hit the ground with a loud crash.
"Isaac!" I gasped. It was clear the female couldn't see me. I rushed towards him as the Alpha stood in the doorway, taunting the Beta. I crouched to the ground beside Isaac, watching him struggle to keep consciousness.
"Now don't you move." The Alpha giggled. "Or you'll end up like your little friend here." She taunted before slamming the door shut. Friend?
"Erica?" Isaac whispered before slipping unconscious.
My eyes trailed up to see a figure leaning against a wall. Her skin was ghostly white, her body lifeless. Bloody and knotted blonde hair covered the deeply sunken in and bruised face of the girl. And the second I recognized that girl as Erica, a scream ripped from my chest.
I felt the scream tear through my throat before I felt the stinging of the water against my skin when I came to. The water burned in my lungs as I inhaled. I shot up in the tub, water splashing everywhere. My chest heaved up and down as I attempted to inhale as much air as my lungs would take.
"What happened? What did you see?" Stiles yelled over the others who were questioning the same. Scott and Derek grabbed my arms and lifted my quivering body to stand me up. They helped me out of the tub, where Deaton immediately rushed over a towel for Scott to wrap me in. My brother wrapped me in the soft fabric, which I could hardly feel against my numb skin. My heart sank inside my chest, unsure of how to tell the group of what I had just seen. Lightning flashed and lit up the dark room, illuminating the worried expressions plastered upon Derek's face when I finally laid my eyes on him. I looked over to Isaac, who stood up from the floor with blood on the tips of his claws. He looked perplexed, like he knew something was wrong.
"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." I mumbled through tears to the Beta.
"Hayley, what happened?" Isaac asked. Tears burned my eyes as I leaned against the wall and slid down to the floor. I ran my hand threw the hair sticking to my face as I snuffed out the crying. I buried my head into my shaking hands, images of Erica's decaying body flashing through my mind.
"Hayley, what happened?" Scott crouched beside me.
"Do you remember anything?" Derek directed to Isaac.
"I—I don't know." He quietly replied, awaiting to find out what he couldn't remember. I felt Scott's warm hand wrap itself against my arm.
"Hey, hey. Hale." My brother cooed. I took a deep breath in, removing my hands from my face. "What happened?" He wondered.
"There was a body." I quietly admitted, looking to my brother with teary eyes. He tried to hide the shock that contorted his face. I managed to look up to Derek and Isaac.
"It was Erica. I'm sorry." A silence took over the room as Derek turned stone cold and Isaac looked like he had the wind knocked out of him.
"She's—she's dead?" He asked in disbelief. Thunder rumbled overhead.
"It's not possible." Derek sternly stated. I nodded slowly.
"She has been for a while."
"You saw her?" Isaac asked.
"You did. You were there with her."
"Not to change the subject," Stiles reluctantly spoke up, "But where is there?"
"Beacon Hills First National Bank." I announced, my voice cracking. I wiped away the tears with the edge of the towel.
"The bank?" Scott muttered under his breath.
"He's keeping them in the vault. They've been in town the entire time." And to think, this entire time we could have saved Erica.
"No! She's not dead." Derek yelled.
"Derek, she said there was a dead body, it's Erica. It doesn't leave us much room for interpretation." Stiles frustratingly explained.
"Then who was in the vault with Boyd?" Derek retorted.
"Someone else, obviously." Stiles shrugged.
"Maybe it was the girl on the motorcycle. The one that saved you." Scott suggested.
"No, she wasn't like us and whoever was in the vault with Boyd was."
"What if that's how Erica died? They pit them against each other during the full moons and see which one survives?" Stiles offered. "It's like werewolf thunder dome!"
"Stiles, shut up." I quietly groaned, running a hand over my face as I tugged the warm towel closer to my body.
"Then we get them out tonight." Derek stated.
"Be smart abut this, Derek." Deaton warned. "You can't just go storming in."
"If Isaac got in then so can we." He disagreed.
"We don't know how he did. I didn't see it and he doesn't remember." I added.
"And he didn't get through a vault, did he?" Deaton added.
"We need a plan." Scott concluded.
"How are we going to get a plan to break into a bank vault?"
"And in less than 24 hours?" Derek added.
"Uh—I think someone already did." Stiles alerted as he scrolled through his phone. "Beacon Hills First National closes its doors three months after vault robbery." He read. "It doesn't say how it was robbed but it probably won't take long to find out."
"How long?"
"It's the internet, Derek." Stiles chuckled. Derek rose a brow, awaiting an answer. "Okay, minutes." Stiles elaborated.
"Guys!" A mans deep voice boomed and jolted me awake. My vision slowly focused on Sheriff Stilnski standing in the doorway. I rubbed my eyes and looked around to find myself in Stiles' room surrounded by hundreds of papers and yellow highlighters. Stiles was hanging off the bed and rolled out of it as his father scared him awake while Scott jumped awake in his chair at the desk.
We had looked all night for an answer. Those minutes turned into hours. The three of us found nothing of how the robbery was carried out. We were still out of luck.
"I'm not even going to ask." He sighed. "I've got to get to work, you three get to school." The Sheriff turned on his heel and walked out.
"Wai—dad!" Stiles called as he peeled a piece of paper from his cheek. "Heather?" Stiles asked with reluctance in his voice. Sheriff sighed and frowned to his son. His head shook much to Stiles' dismay.
"Nothin' yet." He announced and walked out. Stiles loudly sighed, throwing a couple pieces of paper to his side as he stood up.
"Ten hours and nothing!" He shook his head.
"We're gonna find something." Scott assured.
"Finding something doesn't make Erica any less dead or Boyd any less about to be dead." I sighed, running a hand over my face and collecting the papers that were at my side.
"We still have time." Scott assured once more.
"Is this whole remain optimistic even in the face of complete and utter disaster a part of your be a better Scott McCall program?" Stiles asked.
"Not if it doesn't work." Scott frowned.
"No, it works." Stiles sighed as he admitted.
"It's just a bad time." I agreed, blowing a piece of hair out of my face. I reached for my phone to see Derek had texted around 4:30 asking if we found anything.
"Oooh—oooh! Dad!" Stiles yelled as he threw one of the articles in his hand to Scott and sprinted out of the room. Scott glared at the paper before lifting it up to show me. It was Stiles' dad arresting the suspects that had broken into the bank.
The three of us found ourselves in Derek's loft while we all hovered over a table looking at the blue prints of the bank with Peter watching us from the stairs.
"Can we even fit in there?" Scott asked, cocking his head as he looked at how small one of the vents is.
"Yes we can but very, very barely. Also, they patched the wall so I'm thinking we're going to need a drill of some kind. I'm thinking maybe a diamond bit—"
"This isn't going to work, Stiles. You realize they're going to hear you before you step foot into the place?"
"Well—"
"Look, forget the drill." Derek interrupted. Stiles paused.
"Sorry?" He asked, wondering if he heard correctly.
"If I go in first, how much space do I have?" Derek questioned. Stiles face turned red hot.
"What—what do you think you're gonna do, Derek? Punch through the wall?"
"Yes Stiles. I'm going to punch through the wall." Derek spat back, trying to concede an angered smirk on his face.
"Okay, big guy. Let's see it. Let's see that fist. Big ole fist. Make it. Come on." Stiles egged as Derek slowly lifted his fist up. "Get it out there. Don't be scared. Big bad wolf! Look at that!" Stiles continued. Unamused, Derek looked over to me. I rolled my eyes and shook my head, crossing my arms over my chest as I leaned up from the table.
Stiles placed his palm near Derek's and grabbed onto his fist. "Okay, you see this?" That's maybe three inches of room to gather enough force to punch through solid—" Stiles was cut off by Derek using the fist Stiles was holding to punch the hand in front of him. Stiles fell onto the table top, grabbing his hand and crawling away to safety away from Derek.
"You know you deserved that, right?" I asked the whimpering teen.
"He can do it!" Stiles cried. "Jesus Christ, control him."
"I'll get through the wall." Derek assured. "Who's following me down?"
"I'll go with you." I stated.
"No." He immediately refused as Scott shouted a 'hell no'.
"Yes." I snapped back.
"No. You heard me the first time."
"I'm the only one besides Isaac who's seen the place, Derek."
"Not the inside of the vault!"
"So?"
"This is dangerous, Hayley." Scott said.
"Then I have the perfect person to go in my place." I suggested, looking over to the stairs. Peter looked around a shook his head.
"Don't look at me, I'm not up to fighting speed yet. And honestly? With Isaac out of commission you're not looking at very good odds for yourself."
"So I'm just supposed to let them die."
"One of them's already dead." Peter quipped.
"We don't know that." Derek grunted.
"Do I have to remind you what we're up against here? A pack of Alphas. All of them. Killers. And if that's not enough to scare your testicles right back up into your stomach, try to remember that two of them combine their bodies to form one giant Alpha." He shook his head. "I'm sure Erica and Boyd are sweet kids and they're gonna be missed."
"Okay can someone kill him again please?" Stiles asked, walking back over to the table. Peter looked to the teen in shock.
"I'll volunteer myself." I offered, glaring daggers at the former alpha. He shot back the same look until his focus went to Derek.
"Derek, seriously? Not worth the risk." Derek deeply sighed at Peter's warning.
"What about you?" He asked.
"Me? I mean sure—" Stiles shrugged.
"Not you." Derek grunted. Stiles looked to Scott realizing the question was directed to him.
"I don't know about Erica, but if Boyd's still alive we got to do something. We got to try." Scott sighed.
"But…" Derek awaited seeing the look on Scott's face.
"But...Hayley's got a point."
"Yeah, an absolute ridiculous point." Derek corrected.
"She's the only one of us who's seen the place. She can find Erica."
"We can find Erica just as well." Derek retorted.
"She knows the place, Derek." Scott urged. Derek puckered his lips in anger as he looked over to me.
"You're staying on the roof until it's all clear."
"No. You can't make me."
"Yes, we can." He disagreed.
"Remember the fist?" Stiles brought up. "He definitely can." Stiles reached into his backpack on the ground and rummaged around before pulling to an object and placing it on the table. "You can bring this with you." He slid the small gun across the table to me. My brows raised as I caught there weapon.
"Stiles, where'd you get that?" Scott shockingly asked.
"My dad's the Sheriff we've got at least five of these hidden in the house." He shrugged. Derek, Scott, and I looked at the teen in shock. "What? You never know when you'll need one! For instance, now." He exclaimed, motioning to the blue prints on the table.
"It's Alpha's, not Matt." I reminded, examining the weapon closely. I looked up to the boys surrounding the table. "Just a reminder that when Peter was Alpha I shot him twice and it took getting his throat slashed to take him down."
"Yes. Thank you for the lovely reminder, Hayley." Peter quipped from the stairs.
The air was silent as we stalked the back alleyway of the bank. The three of us were silent, Scott occasionally glancing at Derek as we trekked on in search of a way up to the roof. We came to a pause, finally finding the rusty fire escape. I looked up, attempting to make calculations in my head of how high off the ground the latter was and how I was supposed to get up there. A bad feeling had manifested itself in the pit of my stomach. I didn't feel comfortable with the plan. Who's to say the Alpha's couldn't attack them the second they got into the bank? I attempted to shake the feeling off, telling myself Derek knew what he was doing and he wouldn't do anything to put my brother and him in that kind of danger.
"What?" Derek barked, finally catching my brother eyeing him.
"It's just something that I can't get out of my head." Scott sighed, shaking his head.
"The moons rising, Scott." Derek reminded impatiently. "What is it?"
"Risk and reward." Scott thought.
"Which means what?"
"We're not measuring the risk with enough information. We don't know enough."
"We know times running out." Derek shot back.
"Yeah well think about it! They put the triskele on your door four months ago. What have they been doing all this time? Why wait until now?"
"Maybe because they knew we were closing in, especially with Isaac finding them." I suggested.
"We don't have time to figure out every little detail." Derek exclaimed.
"But what if this detail—the reason why they waited—what if it's the most important one?" Scott paused, turning to me. "You've been having that dream for four months now of only that door. There has to be a bigger detail we're missing." I shook my head.
"Then we do nothing and Boyd and Erica are dead." Derek seethed.
"I think you're right but the door didn't lead anywhere here. It lead to the school." I admitted.
"What?" Scott cocked his head. I looked over to an impatient Derek who was curious about the information as well. He shook it off.
"I know what I'm risking." He assured. "My life for theirs." My brows rose. Maybe I was wrong about Derek having enough common sense to not put himself and my brother in danger. Derek couldn't be actually preparing to die tonight for them. There was no way. My lips parted to speak but before I had the chance, Derek jumped his way off a wall and onto the fire escape. Show off. Derek situated himself on the latter before looking back down at us.
"I won't blame you if you don't follow me." Derek began climbing up. I looked over to Scott who had reluctancy plastered across his face. I took a few steps closer to the latter.
"Help me up." I ordered.
The two had managed to break into the air duct. Derek had gone down first to scope the situation out and finally came back up, informing us down the duct and to the right he found the wall to break.
"Stay." Scott demanded.
"I'm not a dog, Scott." I shot back.
"Listen to him." Derek added.
"How do we know the Alpha's aren't there?"
"I didn't hear them. At least not yet." Yet. Derek's words didn't help make me feel any better.
"Please be careful." I told them, the bad feeling continuously gnawing away at my stomach. The two nodded before lowering themselves down and disappearing into the darkness. They'll be okay, I assured myself. It wasn't so assuring.
The roof got uncomfortably quiet as I stood there alone. As much as I should have been, I wasn't worried about an Alpha finding me up here. I was worried about the situation going on below me. I paced, my heart racing as I could hear Derek begin punching through the vault walls. I wondered what they'd find down there—who they'd find down there. With Erica dead, I wondered who the girl down in the vault was and just how she managed to get caught up in this situation with Boyd.
Erica. Her name stung as it passed through my mind. The vision of her dead body was engraved in my brain. I prayed that my dream had been wrong. I prayed so hard. But a feeling in the pit of my stomach had continuously told me my dreams have failed to be wrong yet—especially if they came straight from Isaac's memory.
A buzzing in my pocket ripped me out of my silent mantra. I slipped the phone out, seeing Stiles' name and picture flash across the screen.
"I don't have an update yet." I answered, knowing Stiles was anxiously waiting news about Boyd and Erica and the mystery girl.
"Hayley! Hayley you have to stop them!" Stiles yelled on the line.
"What? What are you talking about they just went down there."
"You've got to get them out of there." Peter pleaded as his voice got on the line.
"Look the walls of the vault are made of a mineral called Hecatolite." Stiles informed.
"Hecatolite?" I repeated.
"Moonstone." Peter elaborated.
"It scatters the moonlight. It keeps the moonlight out! They haven't felt the full moon in months." Stiles added.
"Think of it like the gladiators in the colosseum. They stave the lions for three days making them more vicious, more out of control. Deucalion has kept them from shifting for three full months, diminishing their tolerance to it." Peter yelled.
"They're gonna be stronger" Stiles exclaimed.
"More savage, more bloodthirsty. Hayley, they're the lions and Scott and Derek just stepped into the colosseum." The blood rushed from my face as Peter's words registered in my brain.
"Oh my God." I whispered breathlessly. "They're gonna get killed."
"Hay—" I hung up the phone and slid it back into my pants.
"Scott!" I yelled down the vent. There was no response. I quickly jumped into the duct and fell to the next level, maneuvering my way through the small spaces and breaking into a full blown run.
I could hear growls and bellows as I approached the crater of an entrance Derek had made.
"Scott!" I yelled.
"Hayley, we've got a problem." Scott replied back as him and Derek backed up from the snarling wolves before them as they finished throwing them across the room.
"You guys need to get out of there. The walls are made of moonstone they haven't felt the full moon in months!" I cried. I tried stepping into vault but a strange sensation hit me. I couldn't step in—it was like it was being blocked.
"What the hell?" I anxiously muttered, holding up my hand to the invisible wall in front of me. I looked down, seeing a line of black surrounding the room. Mountain ash. "No, no, no." I muttered.
"Look out!" A voice yelled from the vault entrance. My head peaked up to see Allison standing there in fear. Before I knew it, Scott was thrown across the room. Boyd had rushed over to my brother, sinking my claws into his torso and lifting him in the air. Blood dripped out of Scott's mouth.
"No!" I yelled. I grabbed the gun Stiles had loaned me out of the waistband of my pants and centered it above the beta. Without thinking, I pulled back the trigger and was jolted as the gun went off. The bullet hit the metal wall behind Boyd as he ripped through my brother. Closer to me, Derek was attempting to hold off the female wolf attacking him. I leveled my gun at the snarling girl, my hands shaking.
"No! No! Don't shoot her!" Derek yelled. "It's my sister!"
"What?" I cried, my finger taking itself off the trigger. Behind him, Allison crouched down to the ground as she watched my brother have Boyd's claws continuously sunken into him.
"Allison, what are you doing!" I yelled as her hands hovered over the mountain ash line.
"No, no, no! Don't break the seal!" Derek cried as he realized her intentions.
"Boyd!" Allison screamed, capturing his attention. Her hands swiped over the black line of mountain ash, scattering it across the floor. Boyd immediately retracted his claws from Scott and I ran through the opening.
"No!" I yelled as the girl—Derek's sister—slipped through his grasps and ran out the front of the vault with Boyd. Derek, in a rage of red hot anger, stomped out of the vault and grabbed onto Allison.
"Don't touch her!" Scott bellowed.
"What were you thinking?" Derek yelled in her face.
"I had to do something!" She defended. Scott and I reached the opening of the vault. He leaned against the wall as he slowly healed. Dried blood caked his chin and mouth.
"She saved our lives." Scott breathlessly said.
"Yeah and now you just let two rabid werewolves out into the open." I spat. While I was thankful Allison's actions had saved my brother, we had lost Boyd and the girl once again.
"What do you think they're going to do out there?" Derek yelled.
"Jesus, Hayley! I just saved their lives and you can't even side with me?" She cried.
"Saved their lives?" I sarcastically laughed. "Do I have to remind you how you were the one who put them in jeopardy in the first place?" I screamed.
"Do you have any idea what you just set free?" Derek bellowed.
"You want to blame me? Well I'm not the one turning teenagers into killers." Allison seethed.
"Don't you start." I spat.
"No, that's just the rest of your family." Derek hissed.
"I made mistakes." Allison quietly admitted. "Gerard is not my fault."
"And what about everything else? Are you going to blame that all on Gerard?" I added, my lips snarling.
"I told you I'm sorry. I said I made mistakes." She repeated.
"You shot Scott!" I yelled. "You ripped apart Isaac." I emphasized. "You watched me bleeding to death when I got shot, and all you cared about was getting to Derek." I spat.
"And what about your mother?" Derek asked, his head cocking. Allison paused. "What do you mean?" She wondered. I looked over to Scott, realizing he never told Allison about her mother trying to kill him and Derek.
"What does he mean, Scott?" Allison timidly asked. My brother avoided her gaze and stayed silent. "What does he mean?" She repeated.
I walked away from the scene, leaving Scott to talk to Allison about all her mother had done prior to her death. The dark hallways of the bank were silent. It was clear the Alpha's weren't here and I silently thanked God they hadn't been. Derek had followed in my footsteps, watching me intently as my eyes recognized the hallways I had been before. I carefully walked the bank, looking at doors and signs I remembered from my dream with Isaac.
There was very little hope I had in finding Erica alive. When the girl in the vault had turned out to be Derek's sister of all people, most of the hope it could have been Erica in there had abandoned me. The thoughts of how she died wandered into my mind. Did she try to escape? Was she caught too soon? Had she pissed off the wrong Alpha?
She wouldn't get the chance to answer any of my questions.
Sure, Erica hadn't been my favorite. But, she didn't deserve to die. She was someones daughter, someones friend—Isaac and Boyd's friend. She was Derek's beta. None of them deserved this either. Although they were already aware, it worried me how Derek and his pack would take the confirmed news once we found her body. I knew it wouldn't be well.
My feet stopped as the familiar door to the room Isaac had once been locked in came into view. My throat constricted, preparing myself for what I was about to find. I breathed in deep, a strong chemical smell burning my nostrils. My head craned back, in search of where the strong smell originated from. A puddle of liquid pooled on the floor from underneath a utilities closet. My eyes darted up to look at the ajar door of the closet. The door sent shivers down my spine, sending an uneasy feeling through my body. I turned on my heel and walked towards the door, reluctantly placing my hand on the knob. I paused for a moment, bracing myself, and finally pulled the door open. The closet was dark but, sure enough, in the corner of the room sat the decaying body of Erica Reyes. I felt all the air leave my chest as my trembling fingers pressed themselves against my lips.
She was dead. Erica was really dead.
