Merry Christmas and happy holidays, everyone! I gift you with a new chapter! I hope you enjoy!
No one had heard from Harvey nor Braeden after that. Both Derek and Anabelle tried to get in touch with anyone they could that knew their friends. So far, no one else had any news on them either. Not even their families. Of course Anabelle feared the worst. Harvey was one of her dearest friends. And she really liked Braeden as well. The two really complimented each other and had practically fallen in love from the moment they met at the shooting range, which was fitting for them both. Love at first sight, as people might say.
Whether they were dead or alive, Anabelle could only hope that they were at least together. It was almost romantic to think about. Death in itself was awful, of course. But hopefully if they did die, it was in the arms of their loved ones and they were protecting each other.
Damn, those dreams she had been having lately were turning her into such a sap. Maybe she needed to stop reading those romance novels before bed.
Because Harvey wasn't around, there wasn't anyone else to run the music store. There was Harvey Sr., his father and the original owner of the store, but he was unfit to be on his feet for long periods of time. He had served in the military years ago and his leg was blown off, leaving him amputated. So Anabelle decided to step up and take charge. She had tons of experience in music and had been a really good employee over the past few months. She could do it. Plus a little extra cash wouldn't hurt either so she could make sure Isaac had everything he needed. Also to pay her dues back to Derek for taking them both in and giving her the piano and tattoo.
Tonight Harvey Sr. had decided to give Anabelle a proper rundown on how to manage the store. Despite being a war veteran, the man was very kind and also patient with her. He took his time to really make sure Anabelle understood everything, which she was pretty quickly.
"It's basically just the same old routine you've already been doing," he told her, limping over to the cash register, "Now with just a shit ton more paperwork."
Anabelle chuckled. "I can tell. But I think I've got it all under control for the most part."
"I know you do, Anabelle," Harvey Sr. smiled, "You'll do great."
"Thanks." For about the millionth time that night, the veteran checked his phone and frowned. Anabelle sighed in sympathy. "Still no word from them?"
"Neither him nor Braedon. And his phone's dead so I can't find his location either. I did go to the sheriff's station to file a missing persons report for both of them and they said they haven't found anything yet either."
"They'll turn up. I know they will."
Harvey Sr. nodded, still not too convinced. "Yeah. I hope you're right." He patted the glass counter. "I should get going. If you have any questions about anything, you give me a call, alright?"
"Will do, sir," Anabelle said, giving him a small salute.
That made him chuckle. "Have a good night, Anabelle."
"You too, sir."
And then there was one.
It was pretty quiet throughout her shift. The store was never really that busy to begin with, despite being the only music store within a ten mile radius in this town. Anabelle still wasn't sure how this place managed to survive all these years. But she was glad it did. This had been one of her safe spots ever since she was a little girl and her mother brought her here for her first piano lesson from Harvey Sr. Now she was running the place. Under unfortunate conditions, but Anabelle appreciated how everything came full circle- a job at her favorite place, returning to her hometown, and even rekindling her relationship with her childhood best friend. Even though there was something underlying there that she had yet to decipher.
Five hours into her shift and only a handful of customers came in. All that was sold was some records and a new mouthpiece for a trumpet. Some might have thought it was boring, but Anabelle didn't mind it at all. She appreciated having this time to herself and away from what was going on outside that door. In her downtime, she decide to make some HELP WANTED flyers to leave next to the register and hang all over the store. It would be nice to have some extra help and maybe even have someone to talk to whenever it did get lonely in here. Maybe one of the teenagers would be interested in getting a job here. Anabelle liked them enough. They were entertaining.
As she taped one of the flyers on the window, the bell above the door rang, followed by the sound of heels clicking on the floor. Anabelle turned towards the customer. She looked to be somewhat around her age, maybe a few years older. Dark brown hair, darker than the she-wolf's newer color, fell in soft waves past her shoulders. Her skin was much paler than Anabelle's and she was also much more slender than she was. But there was no denying she was beautiful.
It was enough to make Anabelle compare herself to the woman. She didn't know why, but she swallowed down whatever insecurity that started to bubble within her and shot a friendly smile to the customer.
"Hi, welcome in," she said.
The woman smiled back. "Thank you."
Then she went about her business as did Anabelle. It wasn't until she put up the last flyer on the bulletin board when the woman spoke up again.
"Do you have any good recommendations on what album to get?" she asked, "I'm trying to expand my music taste."
"Hmm," Anabelle hummed to herself, "What sort of music are you normally into?"
Shrugging her shoulders, the woman said, "The Beatles, Elvis Presley, Rolling Stones. That's about as far as it goes."
"Ah, so you're more into the classics," Anabelle said, "You can't go wrong with those. How do you feel about Fleetwood Mac?"
"I don't really listen to much of their stuff," the woman said, "But they're good."
Anabelle gestured for the woman to follow her to the records. She watched the younger woman flipped through the many albums until she found the one she was looking for.
"Here. Bella Donna by Stevie Nicks. She's just as amazing solo as she is in the band. Plus it seems like you could use a little girl power in your music library."
"Wow, thanks," the woman said. She furrowed her eyebrows. "I hope you don't take this the wrong way but you don't look like a Harvey."
"Oh, no," Anabelle chuckled, "That's the owner of the store. I'm just an employee. Well, manager now, I guess." She held her hand out. "I'm Anabelle."
"Jennifer," the woman introduced herself as she shook her hand, "Nice to meet you."
"You too." Anabelle walked around the counter so she could ring up the order. "Are you new to Beacon Hills?"
"How'd you know?"
"It's a small town. You start to get familiar with faces after a while."
"Yeah, I just moved here a couple weeks ago," Jennifer answered, "I started teaching English at the high school this week. It's been… interesting, to say the least."
Clicking her tongue, Anabelle nodded. "Yeah, that's Beacon Hills for you." Her phone started to ring. "Excuse me." She pulled out her phone and raised an eyebrow at Derek's name and picture on the screen. "Hello?"
"Where are you?" Derek asked right away.
"What do you… I'm at work. Where else would I be?"
"But it's Tuesday," Derek pointed out, "You don't work on Tuesdays."
"Did you memorize my work schedule?" Anabelle asked incredulously.
Derek got quiet for a few seconds. "Yes."
God, this man was so strange. It seemed that he didn't grow out of his overprotectiveness over the years. Anabelle found it kind of… sexy. But she didn't want to fantasize about him while she was at work. That was going to have to wait till later.
"Well, I had to take over Harvey's position since he and Braeden are still missing," Anabelle told him, "Anyway, what do you want?"
"I just don't want you staying out too late," Derek said, "You know the alpha pack is still on the loose and we need to find out where they are. You're not safe outside the loft without me."
"Well, some of us have to work, Dad," Anabelle said sarcastically.
"Anabelle-"
"I'm fine, Derek," the she-wolf promised him, "Look, I'll be home in a couple hours, okay? Now I gotta go deal with a customer."
"No, don't hang up-"
"Bye, Derek." Anabelle rolled her eyes as she hung up the call. She smiled apologetically to Jennifer, who had been watching the whole thing in amusement. "Sorry about that."
"Boyfriend?" Jennifer asked.
"Oh, no," Anabelle said, "he's just a friend… who happens to be a boy."
"Ah." Jennifer nodded in understanding. "Just going based off your end it sounds a bit more than just friends."
Sighing, Anabelle raked her hands through her dark brown hair. "It's complicated. We've been best friends since birth. You don't mess with your friends."
Jennifer shrugged. "It's not always a bad thing. I saw his picture when he called. He's pretty hot. You'd be lucky to be with a guy like that."
It might have been the way her heart beat just a second faster when she talked about Derek, but Anabelle wasn't too fond of the way this stranger spoke about him. Which was ridiculous because it's not like Jennifer knew the guy. And even if she did, who was to say that Derek would be interested in her? If that was ever the case by some sort of twisted fate, he was a big boy. He could date whoever he wanted. It's not like Anabelle was his keeper. Nor his girlfriend for that matter.
Overthinking really was her weakness. She couldn't jump to conclusions. So she just shook her head and plastered that stupid customer service smile on her face.
"That'll be 9.47," she said. Jennifer handed Anabelle her debit card and the she-wolf completed her transaction. She then handed back the card along with the record. "Here you go."
"Thanks," Jennifer said, "I know we don't know each other, but I also know how hard it is to make friends at our age. Maybe someday we could get together for coffee or something?"
Fuck it. What did Anabelle have to lose? It wouldn't kill her take make a new friend.
"Sure. Coffee sounds great."
"Great," Jennifer smiled. She took out an old receipt and pen out of her purse and wrote down her phone number. She handed Anabelle the receipt. "I'll see you around, Anabelle."
"You too, Jennifer."
With that, the woman left. Leaving Anabelle alone with her thoughts. Her very obnoxious thoughts. Mainly concerning Derek especially after the comment that English teacher made about her trying to be more than friends with him. Did this stranger have a point? Would mixing friendship with pleasure be such a bad thing?
The she-wolf thought back to their almost kiss a few months ago. If you had asked her in that moment, Anabelle would have been 90 percent sure that Derek felt something for her. But she also remembered that that was the only time he had ever tried to kiss her. That had to have been a spur of the moment thing or else Anabelle would have been much more confident in thinking about exploring the possibility of them actually becoming… something.
Dating your best friend was such a risky thing. Even thinking about your best friend as more than your best friend was a risky thing within itself. And Anabelle didn't know if she wanted to take that risk. Not after he came back into her life after six years. So she decided she wasn't going to do a damn thing about it. It shouldn't be too hard for her. Besides, it wasn't like Anabelle actually had feelings for the man…
Right?
At their loft the next morning, Isaac had came home from spending the night at Delilah's. She stayed because they had a plan. Well, Peter was the one with the plan. Derek and Anabelle just had to go along with it because obviously the former alpha has had more experience with this than they did. It didn't make them feel any less uneasy about the situation, especially when it came to the two teenagers in their living room. Anabelle was concerned for their safety, but she had to act like she had full confidence in Peter, no matter how punchable his face was. She was an actress so she should be able to do that with no problem.
Currently, she was leaning against the table Delilah was sitting on top of and Derek next to, staring down at the book in his hands. Isaac was pacing back and forth next to the window. His girlfriend watched him as her knee bounced. Must be due to her anxiety. The poor dear.
"Stop pacing," the hybrid told her boyfriend, "You're making me nervous."
"Oh, I'm making you nervous?" Isaac said sarcastically, "Well, how do you think I feel? You know, I'm starting not to like this idea. Sounds kinda dangerous." He stopped for a moment. "You know what? I definitely don't like this idea, and I definitely don't like him."
"You'll both be fine," Anabelle assured him, "We'll be here to make sure nothing goes wrong."
"Does it have to be him?" Isaac questioned.
"He knows how to do it," Derek told him, "Anabelle and I don't. Be more dangerous if we tried doing it ourselves."
"You know Scott doesn't trust him, right?" Delilah said, fiddling with a random book, "Well… I'd personally trust Scott."
Derek looked up at the teenagers. "Do you trust me? Both of you?"
"Yeah," Isaac answered with hesitance. When the alpha looked at Delilah, she just slowly nodded. Isaac shook his head. "I still don't like him."
"No one does," Anabelle scoffed.
Right then, the door to the loft slid open, revealing the one and only Peter. Anabelle shook her head and pinched the bridge of her nose. These Hale men really were so damn theatrical.
"Boys," Peter said as he walked into the room, "and ladies. FYI, yes, coming back from the dead has left my abilities somewhat impaired, but the hearing still works. So I hope you're comfortable saying whatever it is that you're feeling straight to my face."
"We don't like you," Derek said with a straight face. He slammed his book shut and stood up. "Now shut up and help us."
Peter shrugged his shoulders. "Fair enough." He flicked out his claws. "So who's my volunteer?"
"I am," Isaac said, meekly raising his hand, "I don't know how this works but I am not letting you do this on Delilah."
"Well, isn't your boyfriend a nice guy," Peter smirked at Delilah, making her roll her eyes.
The former alpha had Isaac sitting on a chair in the middle of the room. Delilah stood anxiously against a pillar off to the side while Derek and Anabelle sat on the couch. Both of the teenagers looked so nervous and to be completely honest, Anabelle wasn't liking this either. But unfortunately, they had no other choice.
"Relax," Peter told Isaac, "I'll get more out of you if you're calm."
"Isaac, I really don't want you doing this," Delilah said.
"Well, if you want to take his place-"
"No." Isaac was quick to cut Peter off. He looked at Delilah and raised his hand out. "Stay there. I'd rather it be me than you." His girlfriend stepped back, not saying another word. "How do you know how to do this, again?"
"It's an ancient ritual used mostly by alphas," Peter said as he aligned his claws along the back of Isaac's neck, "since it's a skill that requires quite a bit of practice. One slip and you could paralyze someone. Or kill them."
How comforting. "You- you've had a lot of practice though, right?" Isaac stuttered.
"Well, I've never paralyzed anyone," Peter replied.
"Oh, fuck," Anabelle grumbled under her breath. Even Derek wasn't looking too pleased about this either.
Isaac scrunched up his eyebrows. "Wait, does that mean that you-"
His sentence cut off with a grunt as Peter dug his claws into the back of his neck. He struggled under the man's grasp but he just kept him in a headlock as he tried to unlock his memories. Peter started grunting as well and his eyes kept flashing from blue and back to his normal eye color. His head began to twitch. Derek and Anabelle shot up from the couch, ready to intervene if they had to.
"Wait, I see them," Peter said.
When Derek and Anabelle looked over to Delilah, she was grabbing the back of her own neck as if Peter had dug his claws into her as well. She let out a pained cry and fell onto the floor. Her eyes turned violet. Anabelle was about to run over to the hybrid but Derek grabbed her arm to stop her. Whatever Peter was seeing, Delilah could see it too. That's what happened when she felt the strongest energy in the room. So Derek and Anabelle just had to let it happen. No matter how scared and in pain the girl was.
"Stop!" Delilah screamed after a few minutes, "Stop, stop, stop, stop!"
And he did.
As soon as Peter took his claws out of Isaac's neck, both he and Delilah slumped forward. She was able to stop herself with her hands before she could hit the floor. Her breath was coming out in short pants as was Peter's.
"What'd you see?" Derek asked his uncle.
"It was confusing," Peter panted, "Um, im-images. Vague shapes."
"But you saw something," Derek pressed.
Peter furrowed his eyebrows. "Isaac and Delilah found them."
"Erica and Boyd?"
"I barely saw them," Peter stammered, "I mean, glimpses."
"Jesus Christ," Anabelle groaned, growing impatient with the man, "You did see them though, didn't you?"
"And worse."
Anabelle looked at Derek. "Deucalion." The alpha sat back down and rested his forehead against his hands.
"He was talking to them," Peter said, "Something about time running out."
"What does it mean?" Isaac asked Derek and Anabelle.
"He's gonna kill them," the alpha said.
"No, no, no, no, no, he didn't say that," Peter told him, "He did make them a promise that by the full moon that they'd both be dead."
"The next full moon?"
"Tomorrow night."
Derek shook his head in defeat. When he looked back up at his uncle, he could see the man was still looking confused about something. "What else?"
"He was saying something about a cure," Peter said.
"A cure for what?" Anabelle asked.
"I don't know," Peter told her, "but whatever it is, it involves her."
They all looked over at Delilah, whose eyes were now back to normal. But they were still fixated on her hands. She did not look okay. Carefully, Isaac stood up and walked over to her. He knelt beside her.
"Baby?" he said softly.
She squeezed her eyes shut. "I think I'm gonna be sick." She swiftly got up and ran to the bathroom, Isaac following after her.
"What do you think all this means?" Anabelle asked Derek.
"That whatever Deucalion's planning, we have to figure it out now," he said, "And we can't let Delilah out of anyone's sight."
Soon after that, Anabelle received a call from Scott, asking her and Derek to come to the school so he could show them something. Apparently at school the day before, a man and a woman, who the she-wolf was certain were Harvey and Braeden, had come up to Allison and Lydia, asking for Scott. The woman had left bruises on the girl's arms, creating some sort of strange pattern. Of course Scott believed there had to be a message behind it and wanted the older werewolves to take a look at it themselves.
Anabelle had both Allison and Lydia's forearms in her hands. She was still apprehensive at letting these two 'help', if that's what they were really trying to do. More so Allison. While she knew it was mainly Gerard's fault that Allison was trying to kill Derek and the rest of the pack, that still didn't change the fact that she was still an Argent. The girl was destined to be a killer. Maybe even more than Anabelle was.
"I'm still not really sure what I'm seeing here," she said as she looked at the bruises.
"Look again," Scott told her.
"How is a bruise gonna tell us where Boyd and Erica are?" Derek asked. He and Allison were staring each other down, having an obvious dislike towards each other.
"It's the same on both sides," Scott said, "Exactly the same."
"It's nothing."
"Pareidolia," Lydia said, "Seeing patterns that aren't there." The werewolves looked at each other. "It's a subset of apophenia."
Scott could see that Derek and Anabelle still weren't so convinced. "They're trying to help," he told them.
"These two," Derek said in disbelief. He pointed to Lydia. "This one, who used me to resurrect my psychotic uncle. Thank you. And this one-" he turned to Allison, "who shot about thirty arrows into me and my pack."
"Okay, all right, now, come on," Stiles said, "No one died, all right?"
"Was there a bit of maiming and mangling?" Natalie asked. She shrugged her shoulders. "Sure."
"But no death," Stiles continued, "That's what I call an important distinction."
"My mother died," Allison directed at Derek.
Natalie scoffed. "Yeah, Stiles. So insensitive." Her boyfriend gawked and then glared at her.
"It was your family's honor code that killed your mother," Anabelle said to the huntress, taking a step in front of Derek, feeling very protective of her best friend, "Not him."
Then Allison stepped up to the she-wolf. Neither of them were backing down from each other.
"That girl and guy were looking for Scott," Allison told her, "I'm here to help him. Not you. And certainly not Derek."
"You wanna help?" Derek said, "Find something real." He grabbed his mate's wrist. "Let's go." Then they headed towards the door.
But Scott went after them. "Derek, Anabelle… give her a chance. Okay, they're on our side now."
"Well then maybe you should tell her what her mother was actually trying to do that night," Derek said harshly. Then he walked out the door.
It was no secret that the alpha was still angry about Victoria trying to kill Scott for no good reason. What he was most upset about was the fact that she was trying to kill Anabelle too. While the objective wasn't to kill Victoria, Derek would have done whatever it took to protect his mate, even if that meant going that route. Scott knew that. And a part of him understood it because Anabelle meant the world to Derek. She meant a lot to everyone.
"Anabelle…"
Said woman turned to Scott. "I know it's not easy, kid. But it's time you start being honest too." With that, she followed Derek out the door.
It was time to go to plan B, which was coordinated by Scott and Deaton. When the teen wolf called them to meet them at the animal clinic when school let out, Anabelle wanted to shut down the idea almost immediately. Peter's method might have been dangerous, but this… this was borderline if not already deadly. And it involved pain for both Isaac and Delilah. None of this was okay with Anabelle. Even Derek was feeling iffy about the whole thing. But this was all they had left. So they had to just go along with it.
Two large metal tubs were placed in the center of Deaton's office. Water filled them up more than halfway. And now the two older werewolves and the trio were dumping bags of ice into each tub. Isaac and Delilah were standing off to the side, watching them at work.
"Obviously, it's not going to be particularly... comfortable," the veterinarian told them, "But if we can slow both your heart rates down enough, you'll slip into a trance-like state."
"Like being hypnotized," Isaac said.
"Exactly." Deaton led him into the room as everyone else finished up their task, "You'll be half transformed. It'll let us access your subconscious mind."
Isaac knelt next to his tub, gazing down at the large amount of ice floating around. Delilah, on the other hand, never moved from the doorway. The poor girl looked scared to death. And Anabelle didn't blame her. She would be terrified too if she was the one who had to do this.
"How slow do their heart rates need to be?" Scott asked.
"Very slow," Deaton said vaguely.
"Well, how slow is very slow?" Derek asked.
Deaton shrugged. "Nearly dead."
"What?!" Anabelle exclaimed.
Okay, she was really starting to not like this plan. And Derek wasn't looking to thrilled about this either. What the hell were they thinking?
As soon as Isaac dipped his fingers into the water, he drew back his hand even faster with a hiss. "It's safe though, right?"
"Do you want me to answer honestly?" Deaton asked.
"No," Isaac sighed, "No, not really."
Snap!
They all turned around to see Natalie pulling on the rubber glove Stiles was now wearing. The couple were laughing up until they noticed all of the eyes on them.
"What?" Stiles said dumbly.
Derek just gave them a stern look. Natalie smacked her boyfriend's arm lightly.
"Stop messing around," she told him. Glaring at the redhead, Stiles hastily ripped off the glove and threw it down to the side.
Isaac stood back up. He exhaled, still feeling nervous about this.
"Honey, if it feels too risky, you don't have to do this," Anabelle told the boy. Scott nodded in agreement.
But the beta didn't respond. He just pulled his shirt over his head and set it on the table behind him.
Derek noticed how quiet the hybrid was and he looked over at her, actually looking concerned for her. "Delilah?"
"I, uh…" the girl sputtered, "I…"
"She's afraid of the water," Isaac told Derek, "Her stepfather would try to drown her in her bathtub as punishment."
"Why didn't you tell me?" Scott asked with wide eyes.
"I didn't think this is what you had in mind!" Delilah shrieked.
Stiles snorted. "It's a good thing we never thought you were the kanima then."
Both Isaac and Delilah shot dirty looks at the human boy. But Natalie was already pinching his arm before they could snap at him. Stiles yelped at the intrusion and rubbed his arm.
"I apologize for my idiot boyfriend," Natalie said.
"Like Anabelle said, we're not gonna make you do this if you feel like you can't," Derek told her.
She shook her head. "No. I h-have to do this. For Erica and Boyd. I have to do this." She then unbuttoned her cardigan, leaving her in just her bra and denim shorts.
"I'll be right here with you," Isaac said softly.
He took Delilah's hand and kissed it to help her relax. She nodded, taking deep breaths. Isaac helped her into the tub and she gasped as soon as the ice chilled her skin. Slowly, she sat down. She still looked petrified, but she wasn't backing out of this. Both Derek and Anabelle were proud of her. What a warrior. Then Isaac got into his tub, gasping at the temperature as well.
Anabelle and Natalie pushed Delilah back deeper into the tub as Scott, Derek, and Stiles did the same to Isaac, causing the water to overflow. They were both finally underwater.
Soon the young couple were both struggling under everyone's grasps. The water was just way too cold and they couldn't take it. When they shot up from the water, both of them were starting to shift. Isaac's eyes turned yellow while Delilah's violet. They screamed, flashing their fangs.
"Get them back under," Deaton instructed. Everyone tried to hold them back down but they were both putting up a fight. "Hold them."
"We're trying!" Derek snapped.
Finally they were able to keep them still. Isaac and Delilah stopped thrashing and just lied at the bottom of the tub. Soon both of their bodies rose to the top. Their skins were now pale, almost blue. Their eyes were also shut. It was like they were in a deep sleep.
Deaton held up a finger. "Now, remember, only I talk to them. Too many voices will confuse them and draw them out. Isaac? Can you hear me?"
"Yes, I can hear you," the boy responded.
"Delilah, can you hear me?" Deaton asked the hybrid.
"Yes," she answered shakily.
"This is Dr. Deaton. I'd like to ask you a few questions. Is that alright?"
The young couple answered in unison. "Yes."
"I want to ask you about the night you found Erica and Boyd. I want you to remember it for me in as vivid detail as possible, like you're actually there again."
Isaac began to panic and tried to free himself from the males' holds. "I- I don't wanna do that. I don't- I don't wanna do that. I don't wanna do that."
Thunder was clapping outside the building. Lights were flickering. All of this was just adding onto the suspenseful ambiance this experiment had. Delilah was starting to hyperventilate as well. She could probably feel her boyfriend's energy inside her body and it was making her freak out too.
"Isaac, it's alright," Deaton soothed him, "Just relax. They're just memories. You can't be hurt by a memory."
But that wasn't helping. "I don't wanna do that. I don't wanna do that."
"No," Delilah begged, shaking her head, "No, no, please, no."
Anabelle tightened her hold on the whimpering hybrid to keep her still. She wanted nothing more than to pull the girl out of that tub and comfort her. But she had to keep in mind of what the mission was here. Pushing her emotions to the side, Anabelle just took a deep breath and rubbed Delilah's shoulder.
"Relax," Deaton told the teenagers, "Relax. If you need to, find each other."
Simultaneously, they both reached towards each other and grabbed each other's hands. That seemed to comfort both of them. Everyone in the room looked at each other in surprise. It amazed them that all it took was each other's love and support to bring them to peace.
Derek and Anabelle looked at each other. As his green eyes stared into her brown ones, the she-wolf could feel herself melting. She wanted to read his mind so bad to see what was going on inside his head as did he. But they both needed to get back on track. They looked back at the tubs, both of their faces feeling warm.
"Good," Deaton praised Isaac and Delilah, "Now let's go back to that night. To the place you found Erica and Boyd. Can you tell me what you see? Is there some kind of building? A house?"
"It's not-it's not a house," Isaac said, "It's stone. I think marble."
"That's perfect. Can you give me any other descriptors?"
"It's dusty… so empty."
Before Isaac could continue with his description, Delilah began to whimper again. Everyone looked over to her and her face was scrunched up, like she was in pain.
"Delilah?" Deaton tried to get her attention. "Delilah?"
"Someone's here," said girl panted. She dug her fingers into Anabelle's arm. "Someone's here."
"Delilah, relax," Deaton soothed.
"No, no, no, they see us!" Delilah cried, "They see us!" She let out a scream as she writhed in the water.
"Just memories. You won't be hurt by your memories. Just relax and hold Isaac's hand. Relax." Delilah squeezed her boyfriend's hand gently, bringing her back down. Deaton nodded in approval. "Good. Now tell us what you see. Tell us everything."
Slowly, Isaac's eyes opened. "I hear him. He's talking about the full moon, about being out of control when the moon rises."
"Is he talking to Erica?" the veterinarian asked.
"I think so, I can't-I can't see her, I ca- I can't- I can't see either of them," Isaac stammered.
"Can you hear anything else?"
"They're worried," Delilah spoke up, eyes now open as well. She had gained everyone's attention. "They're worried what they'll do during the moon. They're... worried that they're gonna hurt each other."
"If they're locked in together on the full moon, they're gonna tear each other apart," Derek said softly enough so Isaac and Delilah couldn't get distracted but everyone else could still hear them.
"Isaac, Delilah, we need to find them right now," Deaton told them, "Can you see them?"
"No," Isaac answered.
"Do you know what kind of room it is? Is there any kind of a marker? A number on a door? A sign?"
Furrowing his eyebrows, Isaac then said, "I hear other voices. They're talking about… they're talking about her. Talking about her fixing him. She's the cure."
Everyone gave each other weird looks. "Who are they talking about?"
"Me."
When Delilah spoke up, her eyes were dilated and glued to the ceiling. Her chest was heaving up and down. Oh no, she was about to freak out again.
"They're talking about me," Delilah breathed out.
Deaton focused on his adopted daughter. "Delilah, what are they saying?"
"I can't see them," she said, "but- but… they keep talking about how I can fix him… the leader… Deucalion. I don't know what it means…"
Suddenly Isaac shot up out of the water with a gasp. Everyone jumped back at the sharp movement. "They're here… they- they-"
"It's alright," Deaton said.
"No."
"Just tell us-"
"They see us," Isaac whined, "They found us. They're here!"
Impatience was kicking in Derek. "This isn't working. Isaac, Delilah, where are you guys?"
"I can't see them," Delilah cried, "It's too dark!"
"Just tell me where you are," Derek demanded.
"Derek, shut up!" Anabelle snapped at her best friend, "You're confusing them!"
"I can't see!" Isaac yelled.
"Isaac, Delilah, where are you?" Derek continued, "Just tell me where you are."
"Stop!" Anabelle yelled at him.
"Their heart rates-" Deaton scolded the alpha, "They could go into shock."
"Derek, let them go!" Scott ordered when he realized he was now gripping Delilah's shoulder as well as Isaac's.
Of course, Derek ignored him. At this point, the lights had shut off after going crazy. The poor kids were having a nervous breakdown and if the alpha didn't stop interfering, he could possibly kill them. So Anabelle released her hold on Delilah and tried to yank Derek off of her and Isaac. But he wouldn't budge.
"Isaac, Delilah, where are you?" he yelled, "What do you two see?"
"A vault!" Isaac finally answered, "It's a bank vault!"
"They got us!" Delilah cried, "They're taking us to a room-" She cut herself off with an agonizing scream, causing the windows to crack. "There's a body! It's- it's Erica! Erica's dead!"
Both of the older werewolves' hearts dropped down to the pits of their stomach. No… it couldn't be true… this couldn't be happening. Erica couldn't be dead… could she really? Going off of the tears pooling at the bottom of Delilah's eyes, they all feared it was true.
That was when Isaac and Delilah snapped out of their trances. They sat up with gasps.
"I saw it!" Isaac said, "I saw the name." He stood up from the tub, Scott and Derek helping him up. Deaton wrapped a towel around him as Anabelle wrapped one around Delilah, who was sitting on the floor. "It's, uh- B- Beacon Hills First National Bank. It's, um... it's an abandoned bank, and they're keeping them locked inside, inside the vault."
The room grew silent as they all processed the information that was released to them. They looked down at Delilah, who was shivering as she was struggling to breathe, probably due to her PTSD of being drowned by her stepfather. When she finally settled down, she noticed everyone's eyes on her.
"What?"
"You don't remember what you said right before you came out of it, do you?" Stiles asked her.
She shook her head. "No."
"You said when they captured you that they dragged you into a room and that there was a body in it," Stiles said.
"What?" Delilah asked, "What body?"
"Erica," Natalie told her regretfully, "You said it was Erica."
A tear fell down the hybrid's cheek. "No…you're lying. That's not true… that's not-"
Then she broke down when she realized it was. Anabelle caught her before she could fall. Not caring that she was getting wet, the she-wolf held onto Delilah as the girl grieved over her best friend. She sobbed into Anabelle's shoulder and all she could do was just try to shush her.
Derek still refused to accept it. After Isaac and Delilah had dried off and put their shirts back on, the alpha started to pace back and forth.
"She's not dead."
"Derek, she said, 'There's a dead body. It's Erica.'" Stiles said, pointing to Delilah, who was being held by Isaac, "Doesn't exactly leave us much room for interpretation."
"Then who was in the vault with Boyd?" Derek wondered.
"Obviously it was someone else, dude," Natalie told him.
"And maybe it was the girl on the motorcycle," Scott suggested. He turned to Isaac and Delilah. "Okay, the one who saved you?"
Isaac shook his head. "No, she and her husband weren't like us. And whoever was in the vault with Boyd was."
"What if that's how Erica died?" Stiles questioned, "They, like, pit them against each other during the full moons and see which one survives."
"Basically like a werewolf battle thunder dome," Natalie scoffed, "How fitting."
"Then we have to get them out of there before the full moon," Anabelle said, "Tonight." Derek nodded in agreement.
"Be smart about this, Anabelle," Deaton told her, "You can't just go storming in."
"If Isaac and Delilah got in, then so can we," Derek said.
"But they didn't get in through a vault door, did they?" the veterinarian challenged.
"We need a plan," Scott said.
Sighing, Anabelle reminded him, "Scott, the full moon is in less than 24 hours. How are we gonna come up with a plan in that time?"
"Uh, I think someone already did," Stiles announced, reading off his phone, "'Beacon Hills First National closes its doors three months after vault robbery.' Doesn't say here how it was robbed."
"It shouldn't take too long to figure it out," Natalie shrugged.
"How long?" Derek asked.
Natalie snorted. "How long?" She nudged her boyfriend. "You believe this guy?"
"It's the Internet, Derek," Stiles told the alpha in a 'duh' tone, "Okay? Minutes."
The next morning, Anabelle did her morning routine, which consisted of showering, putting on some makeup, and getting dressed. She was adjusted her black off the shoulder sweater with lacy straps as she walked into the main room. When she looked over to the bed off to the side of the room, she stopped in her tracks.
Derek was laying on his back, staring up at the ceiling. He was already dressed for the day and his bed was made, but he did not seem to have to motivation to start his day yet. He was quiet. Yeah, he was always a quiet guy, but right now it was more so than normal. Anabelle knew he was too deep in thought. It was one of the things they both had common, thinking too much. He was getting frustrated, more so with himself. Especially now they knew Erica was dead. Derek was still in denial but she knew the truth. The she-wolf didn't like seeing him like this. It made her inner wolf whimper in sympathy.
So she plopped herself on the bed as well and laid right next to Derek. He didn't react in any sort of way, but he could already feel himself getting less tense at his mate's scent. Hopefully once they finish their mission tonight, that sweet vanilla smell would be embedded into his sheets and help him fall asleep peacefully.
Anabelle sighed. "You okay?"
The alpha nodded.
"Are you sure?"
He nodded again and the she-wolf was starting to get annoyed at the lack of words on his end. She knew a part of him was grieving over his beta but she didn't want him to be like her and hold it all in.
"Can you at least talk to me?" Anabelle asked him impatiently.
"And say what, Anabelle?" Derek finally snapped.
"I don't know," his mate replied, "Anything that lets me know that you're capable of having some sort of emotion."
"What do you want me to do?" Derek asked, "Hm? Cry? Feel sorry for myself? I don't have time for any of that, Belle. That's not gonna get Erica, Boyd, and whoever the hell is in there with him out of that vault."
"It's okay to be upset and feel something, Derek," Anabelle told him.
"Coming from someone who never lets me in?"
Not waiting for Anabelle to say anything back, Derek pushed himself up and walked over to the table. He leaned against it as he rubbed his forehead. Anabelle had sat up but stayed on the bed, afraid to upset her best friend even more by going after him. Derek took a deep breath.
"That was uncalled for," he realized.
"It's okay," Anabelle said softly.
"No, it's not," Derek shook his head, "None of this is. I was too late. Erica could be gone and I… I can't help but feel like it's my fault because I was her alpha. I should have protected her better. Then maybe she and Boyd never would have went off in the first place."
It had been a long time since Anabelle had seen him be this vulnerable. She liked knowing Derek never lost his heart, even though past events had turned him cold. He just needed help digging it up. Both of them did. And Anabelle decided that she wanted to be the person who helped him rediscover his heart.
Getting up from the bed, the she-wolf finally walked over to Derek. A part of her hesitated to do so, but she eventually gave in and placed her hand on his scruffy cheek. Electricity radiated off each other, especially when they made eye contact.
"We're gonna find Boyd," Anabelle promised, "You can't blame yourself for this. It's not like you never stopped looking for them. You've been searching your ass off these past four months to find them. That alone shows how much you care about these kids. So don't give up yet. We may not be able to save Erica, but we can still save Boyd."
Derek refrained himself from nuzzling his cheek in the hand that was cradling him. So he just opted for placing his hand on top of hers and holding it. Anabelle almost let a gasp slip out at how hot his touch was. It was almost like it was burning her skin. But she didn't want to move away from it. Instead, she wanted to come a little closer to that fire.
Oh god… he was pulling her deep into wherever the hell he was taking her to. And Anabelle really fucking liked it.
"You better be right," Derek said, bringing her back to the present.
She gave him that smirk that drove him mad. "I always am, Mr. Alpha."
The day had gone by quick. Before they knew it, five o'clock had rolled around and Scott, Stiles, and Natalie were standing in their living room. Even Peter was there listening on them go over the plan. What his purpose was for being there, nobody was sure. All they knew was that nobody wanted him there so Anabelle just told him to stay quiet and stay in the corner. So that's where he was, sitting on the staircase while everyone else went to work.
Natalie laid the blueprint of the bank on the table. "Alright, if you guys look up here, we have the rooftop air conditioning vent. This is how the robbers got into the building. It leads down into the wall of the vault, which we have here." She drew a circle around the word 'vault' with a red sharpie. "One of the robbers was lowered into that shaft. Got that?" She passed the sharpie to Stiles. "Take it away, babe."
"Thank you, pretty lady," he smiled at her, "Now, that space is so small, it took him about twelve hours to drill into that wall, which is stone, by the way. Then throughout the rest of the night, they siphoned the cash up to the guys back on the roof through that one little shaft in the wall." He tapped the sharpie at the top of the blueprint. "Boom."
"Can we fit in there?" Scott asked.
"Yes, we can," Stiles answered, "but very, very barely. And they also patched the wall, obviously, so we're gonna need a drill of some kind. I'm thinking maybe a diamond bit-"
"Look, forget the drill."
They all looked at Derek, who had interrupted the boy. Natalie raised an eyebrow. "Qué?"
"If I go in first, how much space do I have?" Derek asked.
The trio exchanged glances at each other, Stiles trying to hold back a laugh. "What do you- what do you think you're gonna do, Derek? You gonna punch through the wall?"
"Yes, Stiles," the alpha said, crossing his arms and smiling smugly, "I'm gonna punch through the wall."
"Okay, okay, big guy," Stiles challenged, "Let's see it. Let's see that fist. Big, old fist. Make it, come on. Get it out there. Don't be scared." Derek made a fist and held it up, looking annoyed as hell. "Big, bad wolf. Yeah, look at that."
Smirking to herself, Anabelle leaned against the pillar as she prepared herself to watch this go south for the twitchy teenager so fast. From the corner of her eye, she could see Scott and Natalie actually bet on whether Derek would hit Stiles or not. They were lucky she wasn't in on it or else she'd win no questions asked.
"Okay, see this?" Stiles held his hand up a few inches away from Derek's. "That's maybe 3 inches of room to gather enough force to punch through solid co-"
He was cut of when of course, Derek punched his hand so hard Stiles hit the table. The boy yelped as he held onto his hand and walked away from the table.
"He could do it!"
It was when Scott cringed as he handed Natalie a ten dollar bill Anabelle actually started giggling. Yes, giggling. Like she was sixteen years old herself. She covered her mouth to try to contain herself but the laughter just kept bubbling out of her. Not that Derek cared. Actually, and he never used this word ever in his life and most likely never will ever again, but he found it to be adorable. And when he turned around to look at Anabelle, her dimples imprinted her cheek like he always adored. When Derek looked at her, she started to become shy like she really was a teenager, but she still smiled at him. He just shot her a small back, proud of himself that he could get that reaction from her.
"I'll get through the wall," Derek said, focusing back on the plan, "Who's following me down?"
The room became silent.
"Don't look at me," Peter said, "I'm not up to fighting speed yet, and honestly, with Isaac and Delilah out of commission, you're not looking at very good odds for yourself."
"We can't just let them die, Peter," Anabelle argued.
"One of them is already dead," the former alpha reminded her.
"We don't know that," Derek said.
"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 back into your stomach, try to remember that two of them combine bodies to form one giant Alpha. I'm sure Erica and Boyd were sweet kids. They're gonna be missed."
Stiles rolled his eyes. "Could someone kill him again, please?"
"Derek, seriously?" Peter said, ignoring the humans, "Not worth the risk."
"What about you?" Derek looked at the teenagers.
Shrugging her shoulders, Natalie said, "I mean, if you really want me to help-"
"Not you."
"Geez, alright," the redhead pouted, "So snappy." Everyone looked at Scott.
"I don't know about Erica," the teen wolf said, "But if Boyd's still alive, we have to do something. We have to try."
"But?" Derek questioned.
"Who's the other girl?" Scott wondered, "The one locked in there with Boyd?"
"Well, I guess we'll find out, won't we?" Anabelle said, stretching her arms out in front of her and cracking her knuckles. She started to head towards the door but Derek caught her arm.
"Uh, what are you doing?" he asked her.
Anabelle raised an eyebrow. "Going to save Boyd and the mystery girl?"
"The hell you are," Derek scoffed, "Don't start with me, Anabelle. I'm not gonna fight you on this."
"Good, because I'm going with you."
Both of them looked at everyone else in the room and realized that they were staring at the best friends. Derek wasn't about to argue with Anabelle in front of them so he loosened his grip but made sure to still hold her.
"Come with me."
He pulled her outside the loft and slid the door shut behind him. When he looked at her, she had her arms crossed like a defiant teenager. Which is what she was acting like right now.
"You're fucking crazy if you think I'm gonna let you go to that bank with us," Derek told her.
"And you're delusional if you think you have a say in what I do," Anabelle shot back.
"Listen to me. They're going to be like wild animals in there. They won't stop at nothing just to try to kill you."
"That's a risk I'm willing to take if it meant saving them."
"Why don't you understand that I'm just trying to protect you?"
"Didn't you ever stop to think that I'm trying to protect you, too?"
They were both taken aback by Anabelle's confession. And Derek could see it in her eyes that she meant it, too. Was it because of their bond or just the fact that she was a good friend? He still couldn't tell. But the way she was looking at him so gently made him want to kiss her so fucking bad.
How much longer could he hide this from her for?
She grabbed his hand. "You said that this is my pack too. So I'm going to do everything I possible can to keep my pack safe. No matter how dangerous it is." When Derek realized that Anabelle wasn't going to take no for an answer, he just sighed. Then his eyebrows furrowed as he heard something. "What?"
Derek held up his finger. He then banged his fist on the door.
"Ow!" they heard Natalie yell while Stiles followed with, "Son of a bitch!", making Derek smirk.
"You take pleasure in other people's pain, don't you?" Anabelle asked.
"Only theirs," Derek shrugged. His mate shook her head but then she laughed anyway.
An hour had passed since then. The full moon was starting to come up and there was no time to waste. They had to put the plan into action now. Scott, Derek, and Anabelle found their way to the back of the abandoned bank. All three of them looked up at the top of the building where the entrance to sneak inside was.
The alpha looked over at Scott, looking weary like always. "What?"
"There's just something I can't get out of my head," Scott said.
"The full moon's rising, Scott," Derek reminded him impatiently, "What is it?"
"Risk and reward."
"Meaning what?" Anabelle asked in confusion.
"We're not measuring the risk with enough information," Scott told them, "We don't know enough."
"But we do know that we're running out of time," Anabelle tried to reason.
"Yeah, but 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?"
It was a good point, Anabelle had to admit. The alpha pack surely had some sort of plan of their sleeves as well. Now the she-wolf was feeling stuck in the middle. Would she listen to logic or follow her heart and fight for those betas?
Her best friend was definitely choosing to fight, no question about it. And he was ready to fight now. "We don't have the time to figure out every little detail," he told Scott.
"Okay, but what if this detail, the reason why they waited... what if it's the most important one?" Scott wondered.
"Then we do nothing," Derek answered, "And Boyd and Erica are dead. I know what I'm risking. My life for theirs."
"Even if that means risking Anabelle's life too?"
That was a key element to their bond. If one dies, so does the other. Derek would die for his mate in a heartbeat, but did he really want that to result in her death as well? Sometimes this true mate bond could be so damn complicated. Anabelle may not know what the two males were talking about, but she knew how to respond to Scott's question.
"Not if I'm willing to risk it myself."
She jumped and grabbed onto the bars on a window. Then she hopped onto a ladder hanging from the scaffolding.
"You boys coming?" Anabelle asked them.
Derek didn't hesitate to follow her lead. He looked down at Scott. "I won't blame you if you don't follow us." Anabelle nodded her head and they both climbed up to the top of the building, Scott eventually going after them.
They followed the path Stiles and Natalie had gone over with them until they reached that wall. It took Derek a few tries, but he was eventually able to punch through the wall, just like Anabelle knew he could. He rolled out of the large hole he created and crouched down, taking in his surroundings. Anabelle and Scott stepped through the hole after him. Suddenly they heard low growling in front of them.
Boyd was lurking in the shadows before them, very much alive. And very much feeling the effects of the full moon. Derek, Anabelle, and Scott proceeded with caution.
"Boyd?" Derek said calmly, holding his hand out, "Boyd? It's me. It's Derek."
While that was happening, Scott felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. He answered the call. "Stiles, now is not the best time."
"We're here to get you out, okay, honey?" Anabelle told Boyd motherly. This didn't seem to help. The beta just continued to growl. "Does he not recognize us?"
"No, he does," Derek said to her, "I just don't think it matters to him who we are."
"Derek, we got a problem," Scott told him, "a really big problem."
Another person stepped out from behind the pillar. This time it was a girl. She had to be around the same age as Boyd. However it wasn't Erica. But the older werewolves knew exactly who she was. And they couldn't believe what they were seeing. Anabelle's light brown eyes became sorrowful.
"Oh my god."
"Cora?" Derek breathed out.
"Who?" Scott asked.
But Derek never broke his eyes away from the girl standing across the room from him.
"Cora?"
This time, his voice cracked as he started to get emotional. He was filled with relief, confusion, heartbreak, and sadness. Anabelle ached to reach out and hold Derek's hand, but she was frozen herself as she too couldn't stop staring at this girl she hadn't seen in six years.
"Derek, get out," she growled at him, "Get out now!"
Something on the floor caught Anabelle's eye. Her vision traveled around the room and her stomach fell. Mountain ash was surrounding them. The vault door opened, revealing a woman Derek and Anabelle had never seen before. Scott seemed to recognize her though. She bent down and sprinkled more mountain ash, completing the circle.
"No," Scott tried to stop the woman, "No, wait!"
But it was too late. Boyd and Cora started to shift and growl at the werewolves standing in front of them, almost like rabid dogs. Then they started to attack. While Derek, Anabelle, and Scott were putting up a good fight, it wasn't enough. The two betas were just so much stronger than the three of them. They were being thrown around and beaten up too easily.
Scott was thrown and he fell on the floor. Boyd went at him but Anabelle pushed him out of the way and punched him in the head. Meanwhile Cora was swinging wildly at Derek but was soon knocked out by Scott.
"You know her?" Scott asked as the three of them backed into the wall.
"She's my sister," Derek told him, "My younger sister."
"What the hell is she doing here?"
"Like I have a clue. I thought she was dead!"
Allison, who none of them had no idea she was even in the building, ran up to the vault door. "Look out!"
Grabbing Scott, Boyd threw him across the room repeatedly. Cora tried to attack her older brother again but Anabelle jumped on her and pinned her down to the floor.
"Cora, listen to me," the she-wolf begged, "It's Anabelle. Remember when we were younger and how we always complained to each other about being the babies in our families. You're still that same girl, Cora."
She was scratched in the face by the beta. But Derek had come to his mate's rescue and thrown Cora away from her. He then saw Allison looking down at the mountain ash.
"No!" Derek yelled, "Don't break the seal!"
However Allison seemed to have already made up her mind.
"Boyd!"
The huntress made a break in the mountain ash, setting the betas free. Boyd and Cora ran out of the vault and made a mad dash out of the building. Fuming, Derek stormed at Allison and grabbed her arm.
"Don't touch her!" Scott yelled at him.
"What were you thinking?" Derek demanded. Anabelle placed her hand on his chest and pushed him back slightly.
"That I had to do something," Allison said.
"She saved our lives," Scott told the older werewolves.
"Yeah, and what do you think they're gonna do out there?" Derek snapped.
"Do you realize what your stupid mistake is going to cause now that they're free?" Anabelle yelled, getting Allison's face.
"You want to blame me?" the huntress exclaimed, "Well I am not the one turning teenagers into killers."
Pointing her finger at the girl, Anabelle seethed, "That is not what he's doing and you know it."
"No, that's just the rest of your family," Derek said.
"I've made mistakes," Allison admitted, "Gerard is not my fault."
"And what about your mother?"
Allison didn't seem to understand. "What do you mean?"
The alpha looked at his mate and then the teen wolf. He had enough of keeping secrets. Allison needed to know the truth about the night her mother tried to kill the boy she loved. And the woman Derek had fallen for.
"Tell her, Scott."
"What does he mean, Scott?" Allison asked.
Said boy remained silent.
"What does he mean?"
I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! PLEASE leave a review and let me know what you think! Also be sure to check out the other two stories in the saga, Awake and Alive and Scars! I hope to update soon. Happy holidays! Xoxo, Maddie