CHAPTER 12: LUNAR ELLIPSE
A few seconds.
One, two, three.
How many is a few anyway?
Does it matter?
A few seconds turned to several seconds which turned to a number that I could no longer count to.
We had all taken turns yelling at Deaton about how long they had been out. By hour three, it was useless to yell. At hour six, we considered leaving to go find the Nemeton ourselves. Deaton had convinced us not to. Hour eight was making everyone triple check exactly how much time we would have until the next full moon and lunar eclipse.
There was no other way we could help aside from waiting. No one bothered to leave and instead took phone calls about our whereabouts to our respective parents. I was pleased to hear from my mom that she would likely have to spend an extra day or two consulting. I assured her it was okay and even managed to finally get out my apology. I think I was more jealous than anything that she could just leave her main priority for another. At least, I think I was a main priority. Or maybe that was hour fifteen talking.
Maybe Jackson is right about that therapist. It certainly wouldn't hurt.
"You seem surprisingly calm," Boyd announced as he stepped into the door of Deaton's office. He took a seat in Deaton's chair as I pulled my feet and legs into the chair I had been sitting in way too long.
"I'm just trying to decide if I want to ask Jackson about his therapist again," I said in the lightest tone I could muster. I ended up sounding really flat and sarcastic.
Boyd was silent as he tried to figure out how to take that. "I think we could all use a few thousand hours."
I managed to lift the corner of my mouth at that. "I think Derek is a better listener than he leads on to be."
"Derek is 100% a better listener than he pretends to be," he confirmed. "This is the most I've heard him talk since the bite. Cora coming back really changed things for him."
"Can you imagine thinking your sibling was gone forever and then it turns out they're not?"
"I can," Boyd agreed in a quieter tone that I anticipated. In my typical selfish fashion, I forgot his sister was dead. His perfectly innocent sister. "I do, actually."
There wasn't much I could say. I didn't want to talk about my dead sibling coming back to life. We already have enough PTSD. And I knew there was nothing I could say to Boyd that would comfort him about his sister.
"What was she like?" I asked. There was a really long pause of silence from Boyd. I hoped the question wasn't too invasive, but I felt like he wouldn't have come back here if he didn't need a distraction.
I was shocked to see a small smile appear on Boyd's face. "Like any other sibling. Loud, annoying, clingy, basically my shadow most days. Thought she was made of rubber bones—always climbing trees and hanging off anything that looked like monkey bars. Super smart, though. Really good at math for her age group. My parents always made us do homework together and she would always finish before me. I thought she was cheating once and told my mom. I got extra chores that week. She still wanted to hang out and follow me around all day after that. She didn't care."
I took a deep breath and tuned in to my senses to try and gather what Boyd was feeling. A familiar scent of flowers came first. Melancholy. Something incredibly sweet like cotton candy came next. My best guess was nostalgia. The sweet was stronger than the flowers.
I dropped my legs to the ground to relax my body language. "Did she really follow you around that much?"
Boyd shrugged at that question. "I guess I was looking for her most of the time."
"So, you didn't take the bite to get even bigger." He shrugged again and leaned back in his chair. "Are you still looking for her?"
"Are you?"
It was my turn to pause as I contemplated his question. No, I wasn't looking for Matt. He always seemed to find me in my dreams (nightmares), though. I laughed once when I realized I sounded exactly like Boyd. Maybe I was looking for him. If I could only find out why.
"It's only fair you answer—you've asked me a ton of questions already," Boyd said.
I sighed at that. It was undeniably true. "I don't know."
"Wow, you really are a bad liar. I thought everyone was exaggerating," he deadpanned.
I threw my head back to let out a few silent laughs. "Everyone is exaggerating." I composed myself and shook my head. "I guess. I dream about him a lot. I don't know what it means."
"There's something else," he prodded.
"You have really good intuition. Derek was really looking out when he offered you the bite," I mused, dodging his attempt to dig deeper. "Scott would really appreciate that."
As if Scott heard us, the sounds of splashing water and racing heartbeats brought Boyd and I out of our seats and back to the exam room. The three of them were standing straight up in their tubs as if they hadn't spent the last 16 hours under ice water.
"I know!" Scott gasped as he stepped out first. "I know where it is."
"We passed it," Stiles clarified as he also stepped out. I was quick to move with a dry towel as he continued speaking. "There's—there's a stump, this huge tree. Well, it's not huge anymore. It was cut down. But it's still big, though, very big."
"It was the night we were looking for the body."
"Yeah, the same night you were bit by Peter."
"I was there too, in the car with my mother," Allison added. Isaac was also there to meet her with a dry towel. "We almost hit someone."
"It was me. You almost hit me," Scott clarified.
This town is so fucking bizarre I almost couldn't stand it.
"We can find it," Scott reassured with confidence. So much confidence for someone who had no idea how much time we actually had left.
Allison seemed to notice that the rest of us weren't as excited as the other three. "What?"
"You guys were out a long time," Lydia explained.
They studied our faces and waited for an answer. No one seemed willingly to give it to them. "How long is a long time?" Allison finally asked.
"Sixteen hours."
"Six—sixteen hours?" Scott repeated.
"And the full moon rises in four."
"I need to go back."
Before anyone could think about the group's next move, Scott was ready to throw us for a loop. Of course, there was a chorus of denials from everyone at Scott's idea. We just got him back.
"No, dude, you are not going back with him," Stiles protested once we all calmed down.
"But I made a deal with Deucalion," Scott argued.
"Does anyone else think that sounds like a deal with the devil?"
Without hesitation, we all raised a hand in agreement with Stiles. Well, all of us aside from Deaton.
"Think about it," Scott began. "How are we supposed to beat Jennifer without their help?" There were a few sounds of agreement.
"Who's to say they won't kill us and take you once she's dealt with?" I shot back. There were also a few mumbles of agreement from that.
"Hasn't that always been their plan anyway?" Jackson added.
"That's not happening, I won't let it," Scott assured once again. "I don't trust Deucalion, but we need him as bait for Jennifer. I think I have a plan after that."
"Circumstances like this sometimes require that you align yourself with people you'd normally consider enemies," Deaton said.
I sighed at that. Maybe they were right. Because if they weren't, we'd all be dead.
The bell ringing out in the lobby put us all on edge. We were all here already—who else could possibly be here?
Deaton was the first to move, Scott wasn't too far behind him, Stiles and Isaac were close behind.
"I'm looking for Lydia," a familiar voice announced. A frown worked its way on my face once I placed the voice. It belonged to Eiden. Allison mirrored my expression before leaving to investigate.
"Stay here," me, Boyd, and Jackson chorused at the same time to Lydia. Lydia rolled her eyes but made no move toward the front. In fact, she crossed her arms and let out a short huff. We quickly made our way to the front to see only one of the twins.
In typical Lydia fashion, she brushed her way through the group to face Ethan. "What do you want?" She snapped.
"I need your help convincing my brother and Kali not to kill Derek," he explained.
The initial reaction was confusion, paranoia wasn't far behind. It was Ethan after all. How do we know this wasn't a part of Deucalion's plan? Did he really care that much? At all? What is this really about?
I must have asked myself these questions out loud based on the looks I was getting. I thought I was making a few good points.
"It's about me giving you guys a heads up," Ethan clarified. "Kali isn't going to wait for the playing field to level during the lunar eclipse. She's coming—tonight."
There wasn't a reason for Ethan to lie. In fact, we knew Kali was coming back for Derek.
"Scott—what do you think?"
Scott shook his head in thought as he turned around to face the group. "I don't think this is a set up. We already know about Kali's deadline."
"So, we just let Lydia go with him alone? Absolutely not," Stiles objected.
"Okay, fine, whatever, let's go," Jackson insisted. There wasn't room to argue based of his tone and the lack of time.
With Jackson and Lydia on the way to Derek's loft, the rest of us made a plan to split up into groups to find the Nemeton. The first step in that plan was getting a strong sense of the parents' scent to help us track down the Nemeton faster.
I wasn't absolutely confident on Scott's mom and Stiles's dad scent, but I was completely sure I had no idea what Allison's dad smelled like. That's how I ended up with Scott, Allison, and Isaac piled into my car and driving to Allison's apartment. A storm was brewing but it hadn't started to rain yet.
I managed to get us there without any surprise interruptions. With a quick text to Jackson about any updates about Derek, we all headed inside of the apartment building. "Boxers? Now way, Stiles. I'm not smelling your dad's boxers," Scott denied. There was a noise on the other end of the phone I didn't recognize. "Okay, I'll smell the socks."
Scott hung up the phone before Stiles had any more ideas. "Socks? Seriously—that's the best he could come up with?" I asked in an annoyed tone. I was regretting not going with Stiles instead of sending Boyd. Maybe Boyd could talk him out of socks and into something else. I sent a text to Boyd just in case Stiles took the socks seriously.
"Socks aren't that bad," Isaac defended as we entered the Argent residence.
"Awesome, you can have them all," I declared. "Allison, which way to your dad's dirty socks?"
"You didn't say anything about dirty socks," Isaac argued back.
"Laundry is down the hall and to the left, his room is on the right, and his office is this way when you guys are done," Allison explained. She took Scott's hand as the disappeared in the direction of her dad's office.
I turned to Isaac with a smug smile. "Lead the way then," I offered with a gesture toward the hallway. Isaac mimicked my smirk and instead walked over to the couch and grabbed a jacket that looked like it belonged to Allison's dad. My smile fell off my face as Isaac tossed over the jacket. It definitely belonged to her dad. I could halfway recognize the scent since it closely resembled Allison's. I brought the jacket to my nose to take a deep breath as I lead the to his office.
"Isaac was too scared to smell socks, so here we are—" my sentence was interrupted when I stopped in the doorway to see Agent McCall and several other FBI agents. I reactively stepped out of the doorway to warn Isaac even though I made eye contact. Instinctively, I tossed him the jacket which he immediately dropped.
"Charlotte Daehler, Isaac Lahey, you're welcome to join us," Agent McCall called out.
"That didn't really sound like an invitation," Isaac whispered to me.
"No, shit," I agreed in the same tone. I looked down the hallway to see two other agents walking out of Allison's dad's room. "This probably won't take that long. Plus we aren't the only ones who came with backup."
Isaac frowned but turned around and realized what I was talking about. He struggled back and forth before I grabbed him by the wrist and led him into the office. "I have a curfew, so let's just get this over with," I insisted with a level of confidence that surprised me. I'm not sure what surprised me more, my confidence or the arsenal of weapons laid out on Allison's dad desk. What did half this stuff even do?
"Does your mother know what you and your friends are up to?" Agent McCall asked.
"Absolutely," I said. "Do you know what your kid and his friends are up to?" I asked with no hesitation. I wanted to gauge Scott's reaction, but I held my eye contact with Agent McCall who could only look embarrassed. He cleared his throat and sat up straighter in his chair.
"I'm…disturbed at the number of parents that have gone missing. Don't think I haven't noticed that they belong to half the kids in this room. Including Stiles who's in this little clique."
"Mine are both dead," Isaac reminded.
I raised my hand. "Half dead."
"Save the cliched teenage apathy for your high school teachers. The four of you know more than you're saying, And I'm fully willing to keep you here all night if I have to."
None of us could entertain that last part. We didn't have time.
We all turned to look at Scott. "You can't keep us here," he said.
"Not without some kind of warrant," Allison added.
"I've got a desk full of probable cause," Agent McCall gestured to the weapons in front of him.
"My father is a highly respected private security consultant and federally licensed firearms dealer," she argued back. She stood up and opened a cabinet that blended seamlessly into the wall. As expected, there were more weapons that hadn't yet been found. "That means he has to own a few weapons," she shut the cabinet and took in the surprise expressions of the other agents.
I wonder if Allison's dad had a secret liar. Gerard practically did. Perfect for everyday werewolf torture.
Allison walked back over to the desk and pointed to the biggest crossbow I think I would ever see. "Like this 175-pound draw tactical crossbow," she described. "Or this carbon steel marine combat knife, .50ae desert eagle," she listed. She pointed to something that I had seen in the police station before. A smoke grenade. "Smoke grenade with pull ring igniter."
As soon as the words left her mouth, she swiped the grenade and pulled the ring. I tugged Isaac by the wrist as Allison yelled at us to go. We took the stairs out of the building in record time. I didn't look back as I started the car and took off to the preserve.
"Is everybody okay?" Allison asked as she turned around in the front seat to properly look at Scott and Isaac.
"I didn't know what to say to him," Scott stuttered with a wave of his hands. "I couldn't come up with anything."
"That's okay—your dad isn't exactly super fun and friendly to be around these days," I offered in a light tone. "I'm sure even his coworkers have a hard time talking to him."
I saw Scott rub the tension from the back of his neck. "Maybe—I'm just glad you guys were there. I can't believe I basically froze."
"You're never alone, Scott," Allison said in a quiet and serious tone.
"Allison's right," I agreed as I sat up straighter to look him in the eye through the rearview mirror. "I'll never miss an opportunity to talk shit to your dad, okay?"
"We," Isaac corrected. "We won't."
My Camry did better in the brewing storm that I thought it would. Or maybe it was new and improved reflexes. We made it to the preserve with only an hour to spare. Scott was currently leading us to a short cliff that overlooked the city. Scott was supposed to meet Deucalion here soon. And as soon as Boyd and Stiles arrived, we would go look for the Nemeton.
"Kali's dead?" Isaac shouted as he stopped in his tracks.
"What?" We all chorused at the same time.
"Are Lydia and Jackson hurt?"
"What about Derek? And Pe—"
"Seriously who cares about Peter?"
"Jackson said that Jennifer killed her. Something about power," Isaac explained. The four of us exchanged looks at that explanation. Similar looks of confusion. "Twins are also dead. They're on the way to Deaton's right now to see if he can help."
"And Derek?" I asked again.
"Is not an alpha anymore." We all exchanged looks again at the new information. I didn't know if I wanted to let out a sigh of relief just yet.
"I don't know if I should laugh or cry," I offered.
"Agreed," Allison, Scott, and Isaac said in unison.
"Anything from Stiles or Boyd?" Scott asked. Isaac pressed a few buttons on his phone and scrolled before shaking his head side to side. "I don't get it."
"How much time do we have?"
I watched Isaac as he checked the timer on his phone. "Forty-five minutes."
"Yeah, there's no way we can wait any longer," I said. "Maybe Boyd can track us down."
Scott stood in thought silently as he considered his very limited options. "Okay, fine. Let Stiles and Boyd know you're leaving and get to the root cellar. We can keep Jennifer away long enough for you guys to get out of there."
I wanted to ask exactly how, but I figured I wouldn't get a response past, "it's part of the plan."
Allison led the way to the Nemeton as I tried to find a scent that would stick. The wind from the brewing storm was making it more than difficult to place anything other than Isaac and Allison.
Eventually 15 minutes passed, and I could tell that the anxiety was creeping up. Not to mention the full moon putting Isaac and I even more on edge. "Are you sure we're going in the right direction?" Isaac asked for the fifth time.
Allison stopped in her tracks to take a deep sigh. "I know it's around here somewhere."
"Positive?"
I couldn't get into with Allison since my sense of direction was awful. I could only follow at this point since I had given up on trying to catch a decent scent.
"Can either one of you pick up a scent?" she asked in a hopeful tone.
"It's too windy," I admitted. "Someone would have to be bleeding out in order for me to pick up anything."
Allison dropped her shoulders at that. She looked to Isaac for any insight. Isaac simply shook his head silently.
"Maybe we just need a different point of view," I offered. I quickly scanned the area for a climbable tree. No need to remind anyone of what happened the last time I was hanging out in a tree. I could only hope any, and all spiders were peacefully hiding from the storm.
I found a decent tree and started to scale it with ease. The exertion was doing wonders in suppressing the urges from the full moon. Plus, the wind was making it more challenging. Still, I was at the very top before I knew it.
"See anything?" Allison called out.
Luckily, I didn't have a fear of heights (not yet anyway) and pushed my way through the thick branches and leaves at the very top to get a good view of the area around us. Unfortunately, there were several cut down trees in the area. "What is it supposed to look like again?" I yelled down to Allison. Hopefully Isaac could translate through the rustling leaves.
"Um, giant and old," Allison shouted back.
The unhelpful answer sparked agitation in me. I felt the warm glow behind my eyes at that. This helped elevate my vision as I scanned the ground.
And holy shit—there it was.
I pointed to the general direction. "It's that way, I can totally see it!" I started to make my way back down as gracefully as I could. I caught a couple of splinters on the way, but eventually my feet made it back to the ground. I was surprised to see Allison and Isaac both waiting on me. "You guys go. I'm gonna call Boyd and Stiles."
"Are you sur—"
"Yes, go save the day before Jennifer shows up."
Neither one of them argued as they took off in a run toward the root cellar. I checked my phone to see nothing from Stiles nor Boyd. Before I could switch apps to call, it began ringing. Boyd's name popped up and I immediately answered.
"Boyd?"
"Listen," he greeted in a sharp tone. I could hardly make out anything with the background noise of the wind from both ends. There was another repetitive sound along with the sound of leaves and sticks breaking.
"Are you running?"
"Charlie, I really need you to listen right now, okay?" He repeated in his same sharp tone. I didn't say anything as I headed toward the direction of the Nemeton. Something wasn't sitting quite right. "Stiles crashed his car."
I stopped in my tracks at that. All of the air in my lungs was suddenly gone and I was on the ground before I could help myself. I couldn't say anything even if I wanted to.
"He's okay, but he's unconscious."
He's okay?
"Did you hear me? I said he's okay."
The ground still felt like it was spinning under me so I could only manage to nod.
"Charlie, c'mon, I actually need you to talk now."
"Yes."
"Okay, good. So, he wouldn't wake up, so I just grabbed him and left. We're in the preserve now, but I need your help finding the root cellar," he explained.
I finally mustered up the strength to sit up. I shifted my eyes and looked in the direction that I last saw Allison and Isaac. It was a bit easier to spot the Nemeton now. "I have no idea where I am," I admitted in weak voice. I wiped my tears away and started to stand. "I—i—i—there's no way I can do that—it'll take forever."
"Are you alone?"
"No—well, kinda." I began running to the root cellar on weak knees. The pull from the moon helped me recover as I was soon at the Nemeton. I didn't notice it at first, but now that I'm here, it was impossible to ignore the familiar ringing from an emitter underground. "I have an idea. I need like two minutes."
I went down the stairs and stopped halfway when I saw all three parents perfectly alive. "We have a problem," I greeted. I was met with wide eyes and concerned expressions. "Not a Jennifer problem," I clarified. "I need that annoying whistle thing."
"The emitter?" Allison's dad asked. I nodded my head quickly. "It's nearly dead."
"I have an extra," Allison offered as she pulled it from the inside of her jacket.
"Oh, my god, yes!" I cheered as I caught it. I quickly turned to leave and only made it up a few steps.
"Wait!" Isaac called out. "Did you hear anything from Stiles?"
Technically, I didn't hear anything from Stiles. Just about Stiles.
Before I could get my lie out, the wind picked up harder than it had that entire night, and the foundation of the root cellar began to shake. The stairs under me quickly lost their integrity and I began stumbling up the steps backwards as they fell to pieces. All that was left was a gap between the root cellar and the ground.
"What was that?" Boyd asked from the phone. I almost forgot he was on the other end.
"Uh, stay h—never mind," I cute myself once I realized they had no choice. "I'm going to find a ladder. It was easy to tell that the small group underground did not have any confidence in my words. Where's Scott to inspire confidence when you need him.
I ran back to the tree I originally climbed and pressed the phone back to my face. "Okay, where are you?"
"About 40 yards north from the entrance of the preserve," Boyd answered.
"What?"
I heard a deep but short sigh from the other end of the phone. "When you guys got to the preserve, which way did you go first?"
"Oh, easy—to the left, but that was to meet Deucalion. We meet at a clearing that overlooked the city and then went down and to the right—is any of this making sense?"
"Perfect sense, actually. I'm turning around and going back to the clearing now."
"Oh, awesome!" I cheered. "I have something to help you find us. It's really annoying, but—"
"I'll take anything because it's so hard to track a scent right now."
I quickly scaled the tree and climbed it again. I reached the top and turned on the emitter. "I'm gonna hang up, don't call me back if you can hear it." I shoved the emitter into the bark and began climbing back down. As soon as my feet hit the ground, I took off back to the root cellar.
"Bad news," I announced as I crouched over the gap. "I couldn't find a ladder."
"Imagine that," Isaac quipped.
"But Boyd and Stiles are on their way," I finished.
"With a ladder?"
"No, but with Boyd we can totally just toss everyone out," I offered.
"Toss?" Isaac repeated. His rhetorical question was answered when the storm picked up again and the foundation of the Nemeton began to crumble even more.
Waiting on back up to come would have a terrible outcome. Not to mention the lunar eclipse was minutes away and soon we wouldn't have our strength to rely on. I didn't need to relay these things as Melissa guided Allison to the gap first. "Okay, honey, you first," Melissa insisted. The gap looked a lot bigger now that Allison was standing directly under it. I could barely reach her hands and even laid on the ground to extend my arms further.
Isaac stepped up behind her and easily gave her a boost. I was able to scoop her from under her arms and out of the hellhole. Once above ground, Allison dusted herself and immediately went back to business. She turned and reached out for Melissa's arms next.
This rescue was much more graceful as we both took an arm and pulled Scott's mom to safety above ground.
"Charlie!"
I snapped my head to the sound of my name and was immediately relieved to see Boyd carrying a half-awake Stiles. Melissa instinctively reached out for Stiles as Boyd caught up to us and gently laid him on the ground.
"How long has he been out?" Melissa asked as she examined the wound on his head. Stiles mumbled something none of us could make out.
"Is that my son?" The sheriff asked. I forgot how tall he was.
"Could you?" I asked Boyd as I jerked his head over to the Nemeton. He nodded silently and went over to help the rest of the group out of the cellar. I took his spot next to Stiles and gently grabbed his hand. I had never taken anyone's pain away before. It didn't look like he was in a lot of pain. I softly stroked his face. A small smile crept on my face when he leaned into it.
An intense headache suddenly erupted in my head. I was surprised to see gray and black crawling up from the tips of fingers and all the way up my arm. Stiles seemed to relax even more.
"Is he okay? What happened to my son?" The sheriff asked as he dropped to his knees next to Melissa.
"Boyd said they crashed on the way here," I said. I glanced over to see Allison and her dad reuniting with a long hug. Boyd gestured me to come over so we could help Isaac out.
The storm picked up again as the sky suddenly turned golden.
The lunar eclipse.
I could feel a switch inside me flip. The outside seemed a little less sharp. But my inside finally had some relief. No more pull from the moon. I felt normal again. Like I could take a punch to the face and actually feel it. Pain makes you human after all.
I looked over at Boyd who looked less excited than I did about the moon. I could only imagine that he felt less powerful. Like he couldn't help anyone. I watched as he balled his hands into fists and back over and over again.
"Um, could I get some help down here?" Isaac called out.
Right. He lost his powers too.
Boyd and I shared a short look before simultaneously reaching out for Isaac's arm. Naturally, the weight from Isaac made him slip from our hands. Of course, Boyd was still jacked. "I'm sorry," I cringed. "I didn't eat my Wheaties this morning."
The storm picked up again. It was loud enough to drown out Isaac's words. The sound of wood splintering and splitting in half came shortly after. Allison was over in a second when we all realized that the cellar was one blow away from collapsing. Allison and I both reached the same arm while Boyd started to tug at the other. The three of us worked together to pull Isaac out as the cellar began collapsing in. His feet barely made it above ground as the dust and dirt rose in the air from the fallen debris.
"Thanks," Isaac huffed out.
I didn't bother to say anything back since I was also out of breath. This part I don't miss as much. The storm suddenly stopped, and the woods became eerily quietly for the first time that night. Despite the bottom caving in, the Nemeton remained in place.
Stiles sat up for the first time and looked around. "Is it over?"
"It's over," Scott confirmed from the other end of the phone. Jennifer was dead. Kali was dead. The twins were alive thanks to Deaton. Cora was alive thanks to Derek giving up his alpha powers. And Derek and Scott decided to let Deucalion walk free without pack. Something about how he's seen the light before. There was a lot to unpack, but it was easier to go confront Derek myself.
Stiles and his dad went straight to the hospital to make sure Stiles was as okay as he insisted he was. Melissa went with him to make sure he was properly assessed. Allison and her dad went back to their apartment. Me, Boyd, and Isaac all decided to go to Derek's to see if it was really true.
"How much did that eclipse suck for everyone else?" Isaac asked as we took the elevator up to Derek's floor.
"So much."
"I kinda liked it."
Boyd and I answered at the same time.
"Felt like a normal person again," I elaborated as I stepped off the elevator.
"I felt like I was getting ready to get my ass kicked again," Isaac huffed.
"Agreed," Boyd said. "I'd rather eat a jean jacket than feel like that again. It reminded me of the vault," he added. I saw the goosebumps rise from his arms at the mention of his horrible summer. I reached out and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.
"What the hell," Isaac said as we approached Derek's loft. The door was ajar and there was broken glass scattered all over the floor. There was a puddle of blood that was currently being mopped (smeared) around by Cora. Derek was placing clothes into an open suitcase.
"Don't you have neighbors?" I asked as I stepped all the way into the loft. Cora dropped her mop and greeted Boyd with a hug. She then went to Isaac and did the same. She broke apart and made eye contact with me. She didn't immediately glare or show a complete face of disgust.
"Not anymore," Derek answered.
"Can't imagine why."
"So, you found the missing parents?" Derek asked as he shut and zipped his suitcase.
"Yeah, finally after 16 hours in another ice bath, another hour of figuring out what to next, and then another hour of trying to find the damn thing—we finally found it," Isaac relayed.
"Weird vibes, though," I added. "Some strange things have definitely gone down there."
"What are you gonna do? Leave a Yelp review?"
"Oh, a hundred percent. Do not recommend."
Derek handed Cora the filled suitcase and she set it in the doorway.
It was hard to ignore the elephants in the room. Whose suitcase was that? Was Derek no longer an alpha? Like seriously? "Are you guys leaving?" I blurted. Time had been so scarce lately that I didn't want to waste it anymore.
Cora didn't answer and instead turned to Derek. "Yes."
"Are you coming back?" Boyd asked.
Cora and Derek looked at each other again. "I don't know," he answered honestly.
That I genuinely couldn't be angry about. Derek had been pretty consistent with that for the past month anyway.
"What happened to you tonight?" I asked next.
"I had to give up my alpha status to save Cora," Derek explained. Also, couldn't be mad about that. Cora had a better brother than me—that's for sure.
"Why did you guys let Deucalion go?"
Derek sighed in annoyance. Surely, he knew we were coming to ask tons of questions. "Deucalion wasn't always bad. He even tried to make peace with some hunters a long time ago. It didn't work, everything went south from there."
"What if he decides to come back with a bigger pack?"
"He won't."
"What if he does?"
"Then Scott will take care of it again."
I guess that answer was good enough. I always had more confidence in Scott than I did in Derek. Well, maybe not always.
"I'm sorry," I apologized.
"It's fine, I'd be more worried if you didn't ask a thousand questions," Derek admitted. He turned around to open another suitcase and began to throw more clothes into it. "I'm getting used to it."
I walked over to his bed. "I mean I'm sorry for acting like a…"
"A brat?" Cora finished.
"A dick," I corrected in a miffed tone. "I'm sorry for acting like a dick."
A mix of confusion and amusement appeared on Derek's face at my bizarre apology. "You weren't making it easy for me to trust you, but you were just trying to put your family first. I get it, okay? I was ready to hitch and leave town after that whole thing with my brother."
"It's fine," Derek repeated. "You obviously weren't ready, and I pushed you into it. It wasn't fair. You were right to fight me about it that night." I never thought about it like that. I was in a horrible headspace then and Derek pushing me into fighting Gerard certainly didn't help. There were several red flags signaling that I hadn't properly grieved my brother or dad yet. "Promise me you'll keep fighting."
I stuck out my pinky for Derek to take. He looked down at it for a moment before scoffing. "We could have made it rule number nine, but you're making me prosmise, so…" I wiggled my pinky around and reached my arm our further. It was ridiculous, I know. But a pinky promise was sacred, okay? Plus, this was a promise I could keep. I had done it this long—aside from a couple of slip ups. Still, I was standing.
School was unfortunately the following Monday. Stiles's Jeep was still in shop being repaired. My Camry had driven us around town for the majority of the weekend and Monday was no exception. My driving had improved drastically since Stiles was having some PTSD from the wreck.
I listened as he said goodbye to his dad and opened the front door. There was a big smile on his face as he shut the front door behind him and made his way to my car. I couldn't help but notice that his smile didn't quite reach his eyes. His eyes were normally bright and clear, but today they looked noticeably darker. I let down my window as he approached it. "Did you sleep okay?"
He didn't answer me but instead leaned down to kiss me. Something felt off with him, but I wasn't able to place as he pulled away too quickly. He then jogged to the passenger side and got in. My face twisted into a frown as I got ready to ask him the same question.
"No, I didn't sleep that well last night," he admitted. "But I'm okay," he reassured. I still didn't quite believe him. I think Stiles could tell that I didn't quite believe since I hadn't bothered to drive yet.
"Are you sure? I have a great rapport with the school nurse. She'll totally let you sleep in her office all day if you tell her that you have a headache."
"A headache?" Stiles repeated with raised eyebrows.
"It might have something to do with my lack of luck this year, but yes—a headache."
Stiles leaned over to place a kiss on my cheek before putting on his seatbelt. I decided to let it go for now. I shifted the car into drive and pulled away from the curb to head down the street. "Speaking of this year, I talked to my mom about going to counseling. Maybe I'll actually have time since we solved a 2 for 1 supernatural disaster."
"I think that's the best idea you've had all year," Stiles said as he took my hand and gave it a light squeeze.
"Um, I'm filled with fantastic ideas, Stilinski. We just execute them poorly," I defended.
"A good coach never blames his team."
We shared a short laugh as I merged onto the highway.
"Seriously, counseling is a great idea. I wish my dad and I had done it sooner," he said in a more serious tone.
"What's it like?"
"Super, super weird."
I frowned at that. My suspicions were totally right.
"But then it's awesome. You meet all these people who can relate to. I can't explain it—you just feel normal again. At least for 45 minutes a day," he continued.
I could work with that. Maybe not lunar eclipse normal, but I would take anything to feel like my old self again.
"Thank you," I said as I kissed our intertwined hands.
"Scott and Allison say they don't feel any different. Not yet, anyway," Stiles read from his phone.
I squeezed his hand at that as we slowed to a red light. "That's good news. Maybe being a surrogate sacrifice doesn't have that many side effects after all."
"Still worth it," Stiles mused. He was quiet as we approached the school zone. "Can I ask you a question?"
"Just did," I answered without missing a beat. Stiles didn't laugh at that. I noticed his hands become noticeably sweaty. "What is it?"
"Why couldn't you bring me back?"
His question rung in my ears as we entered the school parking lot. I took my time finding a parking spot as I thought about his question. Once I found a decent spot, I shifted into park. I stared down at our interlocked hands. I didn't want to project my insecurities on Stiles again, but he asked, and I wanted to communicate with him. "I wasn't sure if I could, Stiles. It wasn't worth risking."
"What do you mean you weren't sure?"
"I wasn't sure if I was strong enough."
A look of genuine confusion washed over Stiles's face. He then let out a short and humorless laugh. "Char, of course you are—that night at the rave," he explained. "You told me to me to be the spark when there was nothing."
"Stiles, that was different, okay? That was all you and pure willpower."
"Oh, so the kiss had nothing to do with it?" He asked rhetorically. "What if I stood there all alone that night?"
I shrugged at that. I still didn't believe what Stiles was saying. And it wasn't his fault and I wanted to appreciate him for trying to convince me otherwise. "I think this might be a more productive conversation for my counselor," I admitted. "Obviously I'll have to cut out the supernatural part, but I think we might get somewhere."
Stiles sighed at that. I could tell he wanted to talk about this more, but also wanted to respect my boundaries. "I guess I do have a little bit of bias," Stiles eventually confessed. "Can I just say one more thing?"
I rolled my eyes playfully and smiled. "Go on."
"There's no way someone as unlucky as you would have made it this far without being strong enough."
I didn't know whether to laugh or cry at that. I somehow found myself doing both. Stiles awkwardly reached for me, and I tried to settle in his arms as my bizarre laugh cry settled down. "Are you sure you don't wanna skip school and sleep in the nurse's office all day?"
Stiles laughed and lifted my head by gently tugging on my chin. I returned his smile that noticed that his eyes looked a little bit brighter. He leaned in to kiss me softly. Our lips moved together to deepen the kiss. I reached to grab a small handful of hair at the nape of his neck. Stiles reached around and slid his hand under my shirt and pulled me closer by the waist.
Knock, knock, knock!
"Seriously, guys, I'd rather eat an entire jean jacket than watch you two make out all day," Jackson interrupted. Stiles turned to pull way, but I tugged on his hair to grab his attention again. I even slipped Stiles some tongue to keep his undivided attention.
Knock, knock, knock!
The knocking was followed closely by a very loud whistle. "Stilinski! Daehler! Detention—both of you!" I instantly pulled away and buried my face into my steering wheel with my face and eyes hot. "I know you probably lost a few brain cells, but I need to know that you heard me," Coach Finstock yelled again.
"Yep."
"Loud and clear, Coach."
With another obnoxious whistle blow, I heard Coach Finstock leave. I lifted my head up to see Jackson and Lydia impatiently and patiently waiting on us.
"Totally worth it, by the way," Stiles mused. I let out a short laugh but didn't disagree with him. We both exited my car with our school bags and greeted Lydia and Jackson.
"Nice of you two to finally join us," Lydia greeted as we headed toward the school. "I honestly didn't know you had it in you, Charlie."
"She's always wanted Stilinski in her," Jackson said without missing a beat. Lydia stopped in her step to swat Jackson square in his chest. She didn't bother to wipe the smirk off her face, though.
I felt my face turn hot again. Stiles didn't bother to say anything. He swung an arm around me and pulled me in as we walked alongside each other. "Where's Boyd to keep the peace when you need him?"
"He's with Scott," Isaac answered as he and Allison stepped on to the sidewalk.
"Thank god," I sighed. The six of us took up the sidewalk as we approached the front of the school. Scott was easy to spot as he sat on the steps with Boyd. I couldn't help but to smile as Scott let out a big laugh at something Boyd had said. He caught us and stood up to motion us over.
Being surrounded by a group of people that I knew had my back when things got dicey made me think about what Stiles had said about luck. Maybe we were lucky, maybe we were strong, but we would never stop fighting.