New school year, new all of us. Stiles' hair finally grew out and Scott dragged him to see him receive a tattoo which was a new attitude for Scott.
Mom finally saved up enough to get a new car and gave me her previous one which was no problem for me, since I liked it a lot better than her new one.
A few new details on the car and it was finally mine for real. In the three months of the summer, I learned a few new things since the whole Gerard thing.
The voices I've been hearing… They were the voices of Greek goddesses. I thought it was weird considering I've never really dabbled too deep into Greek mythology. It was interesting and all, but it wasn't something I was focused on. Guess I've got no choice now. So far, I've heard three voices and they've been helping me with these new powers.
Well, helping me come to terms that I can now manipulate shadows. I haven't told the other two yet… I haven't even told Derek. Speaking of which, we haven't talked for a while since the whole pack of alphas thing is happening.
I let him know that whenever he needed us, that we're always down to help. Scott's got no choice in the matter since his girlfriend continuously tried to kill us.
Speaking of which, Lydia and I are friends now. Stiles was right. Regardless of everything that had happened, I ended up being friends with her, turned or not. She wasn't all that bad. Preppy, very preppy, but she was cool.
I've even gotten along with Isaac more. I didn't know it before but he was pretty funny. A little unstable, but funny. He hasn't heard anything from either Boyd or Erica which worries him. But I reassured him that they'll be okay as long as they stay together.
I shifted my car into park after finding a free spot in the parking lot at school.
I grabbed my bag out of the passenger seat and walking into the building looking for my friends. The vibe of school was different. Jackson wasn't here, he moved to England with his parents after traveling with Lydia and Scott's girlfriend.
We had to get a new photographer…
And we ended up getting our old principal back. Lacrosse was even changed to Cross Country. Finstock was still coaching even if it wasn't for lacrosse. He was now coach of the Cross Country team that included everyone from the lacrosse team.
I grinned seeing my favorite chuckleheads. "My boys!", I cheered, running up to them. They grinned, hugging me. "How're you guys feeling about this year?", I asked.
"Not too bad.", Scott responded.
"Are you ready for this?", Stiles asked, slinging his bag over his shoulder.
"Ready for what?", Scott smiled.
"First day of the end of our lives. College prep, SAT's, no social life?", Stiles listed.
"Already dreading it, huh?", I asked, smiling. I turned to Scott. "Lemme see it!", I say, tugging at his sleeve. Scott sighed and looked down to the floor. "What, your mom said no?", I asked.
"No, that's not it. I— I got it.", he corrected. "Then lemme see. What's wrong with it?", I asked.
He rolled up his sleeve to show me nothing. "What'd you ask for, invisible ink?", I joked. "It healed. I got it, and it healed. I freaked, I don't know what to do.", Scott stressed.
"Maybe Derek knows something about that…", I mumbled. "He got the triskelion on his back. Maybe it healed and then appeared."
"Derek's a little busy trying to find Erica and Boyd at the moment.", Stiles said.
"You didn't let Gerard kill him," I say to Scott, "He kinda owes you one."
"Yeah but I kept my plan from him. He's probably still pissed.", Scott said, rubbing the back of his neck..
"Welp. Then, you owe him one.", I say, smiling. Scott rolled his eyes as we went off walking to our first English class. We all sat down, Scott across from Stiles and me in front of Stiles.
I frowned as I recognized a familiar face. Allison looked around for a place to sit; the only spot left was in front of Scott. Next to me.
My luck.
Scott told us how she avoided him all summer too. I didn't like that. Your mother tried killing your boyfriend and his best friend and you're not even upset by that? Then you try to kill them both?
Allison glanced at me and I glared at her before looking out the window. I felt my phone buzz in my pocket and I pulled it out. What bothered me was that everyone else's phones seemed to be doing the same thing.
The hell…
I looked at the screen to see an unknown number. The text was some quote. I read the text to myself and perked up to hear someone reading the last line of the text.
"…seemed to lead into a heart of immense darkness. This is the last line to the first book we are going to read. It is also the last text you will receive in this class. Phones off everyone.", A woman walked in, holding her own phone. She must've been the teacher.
I've never seen her, though.
She seemed so young for a teacher, I'd almost mistaken her for a teacher's assistant.
She wasn't bad looking either. Not on a Lydia level of "jaw dropping", but still pretty.
The principal came in and whispered in her ear. She looked up and around the classroom."Mr. McCall?", she called.
Scott looked up and she motioned with her finger for him to follow her. Me and Stiles looked at him before looking at each other. We just got here. What did Scott do?
A few minutes passed and Stiles was in a heavy, quiet conversation with Lydia. I tuned it out, mindlessly doodling. It's good that they got along, but what the hell was Stiles so pressed about?
I heard a familiar feminine voice. Chaotic and almost playful. "They're coming…"
A thump coming from the window yanked me out of my thoughts. I thought it was nothing really, but I slowly turned my head to the window, furrowing my eyebrows to see a splat of blood on the window.
The entire classroom's vibe shifted. It was normal and quiet, but now it's tense and quiet. What the hell was that…?
My eyes widened as I sat up straight to see a bunch of birds swarming. That's never a good sign.
Ms. Blake slowly made her way over to the windows as we could hear caws of birds becoming louder. Everyone was thinking the same thing.
This isn't good.
Hundreds, if not thousands, of birds were flying straight towards us. Another bird mindlessly hit the window, leaving a blood stain. Then another, and another. More seemed to be coming.
"Stiles, get up.", I rushed as I stood up, flipping my desk toward the window as they all suddenly shattered. All the birds rushed in, forcing everyone to duck and get down.
Ms. Blake was screaming repeatedly for everyone to get down. I pulled Stiles and Lydia over to me as we barricaded behind my desk while the birds and other students screamed and flailed.
It seemed to go on for an hour but finally stopped.
Stiles, Lydia, and I slowly got up from the ground along with everyone else in the room. We looked around the room in shock. Notebooks, backpacks, black feathers and dead birds covered the floor.
I glanced over at my notebook that was open. The page I had doodled on was still open and a small drawing of a feather was in the middle of the lined paper.
I drew that…?
The cops, ambulances, and fire trucks immediately arrived at the scene. Some kids were injured due to the birds relentlessly attacking them.
I grabbed my phone from my bag and texted Scott's number asking where he went and texted him what happened. I got a response a few seconds later.
Isaac emergency. About to go to Derek's, ttyl
Wow. He didn't even think to tell any of us. And what the hell happened to Isaac?
After school, Stiles and I went to the Hale house, taking note of the new painted over door. He must've tried to get rid of that symbol.
We walked in to see Scott and Derek sat in front of each other in the broken living room.
Derek's eyes were red as he was examining Scott's arm, where he pointed out his unseen tattoo.
"Yeah, I see it. Two bands, right?", Derek asked, tilting his head.
I looked at Scott in disbelief. "You're getting a tattoo of two bands?", I asked. Derek looked at me in confusion.
"What does it mean?", Derek asked. Scott sighed.
"I don't know. It's just something I traced with my fingers." He ran his finger on a dusty table beside him.
"Why is this so important to you?", Derek looked at him, curious. Scott's mouth opened and closed, lost for words. He looked at Derek. "Do you know what the word tattoo means?"
Stiles stepped in. "To mark something." I gave the back of his head a slap.
"Well, that's in Tahitian.", Scott corrected. "In Samoan, it means open wound."
I looked at Scott with a tilt of my head before I realized what he was talking about. I gave Scott a sympathetic look as Derek's head turned to look at Stiles and I.
Scott's choice… he really thought hard about this. I respected even though I didn't respect who he was doing it for.
"I knew I wanted to get a tattoo when I turned eighteen, I always wanted one. I just decided to get it now to make it kind of a reward.", Scott told Derek.
"For what?", Derek asked softly.
"For not calling or texting Allison all summer. Even when I really wanted to. Even when it was so hard not to sometimes. I was trying to give her the space she wants.", I gave Scott's shoulder a rub. "And four months later it still hurts. It still feels like an, an um—" Scott struggled to finish.
"Like an open wound.", Stiles finished.
"Yeah.", Scott nodded, swallowing. "You wanna remember it. Remember why you did it.", I say, making him look up at me. "No regrets, yeah?"
Scott nodded, firmly.
"The pain's going to be worse than anything you've ever felt.", Derek mumbled.
"Oh, that's great.", Stiles commented.
Scott let out a soft sigh. "Do it." I patted his back, only to stop as Derek picked up a blowtorch.
"Uh…", I start.
"Yup, that's a lot for me so I'm going to take that as my cue. Um, I'm just gonna wait outside!", Stiles began walking but Derek stopped him by pulling the back of his shirt.
"Nope.", Derek says, pushing him back. "Help hold him down. Both me and Stiles took hold of Scott as Derek readied the blowtorch.
Derek leaned in slow, the flames almost touching Scott's arm and once they did, Scott was screaming and writhing around.
It was keeping everything for me not to get caught in the flames.
"Hold him!", Derek ordered. I looked at him in disbelief. "Uh– you try holding him!", I retorted.
Scott continued screaming and squirming as the flames of the blowtorch burned through his skin. Scott had phased, his eyes gleamed of gold and his fangs extended. Suddenly he stopped and passed out.
Derek had finally finished and Scott was still out. I shook my head at the boy.
I saw him stir awake before waking up. Scott looked around for a minute and finally his eyes landed on his tattoo.
"It worked!", he cheered. I smiled. "I'm glad you're happy about it.", I say then grabbed the front of his shirt. "Don't make me go through that again."
He smiled before he got up and put his shirt back on. I walked up to the front of the house, noticing Derek avoiding eye contact with me. I lagged behind as the other boys walked to the door, talking.
Derek quickly turned his back to me and went the opposite way. I followed.
"Hey.", I say. He turned to me, looking at me like how he did the first time we talked. Slight malice. Irritation. Stressed.
"What's up with you?", I asked. "As I said before," he says, walking over to the table. "Nothing you should be worrying yourself over."
I frowned. I walked up to him, standing by one of the sides of the table as he looked down at the table. "When has that ever stopped me?", I asked.
Derek looked up at me, this time his face completely changed. He looked almost sad. It made me worried. "What's wrong?", I asked.
"You painted the door." Scott called, his eyes examining the door.
Shit.
Derek and I looked at each other before looking at Scott. Scott took note of that as he looked at us. "Why'd you paint the door?", Scott asked Derek.
Derek's jaw clenched. "Go home, Scott." Scott ran his hand over the door.
"And why only one side?", he asked. Scott flicked his hand out and extended his claws.
"Scott.", I called, walking over to him. He took a clawed finger and scraped the paint off the door slowly. Scott began clawing furiously at the door, shredding the paint.
"Scott!" I yelled as Derek and I quickly rushed forward to the door and watched Scott destroy the door.
Scott was grunting furiously, his eyes filled with anger. He finally stopped, panting as he looked at the Alpha symbol.
"The—the birds at school, the deer last night just like the night I got trampled by the deer…I got bit by the Alpha. How many are there?", Scott growled at Derek.
Derek sighed through his nose as he crossed his arms. "A pack of them."
"An Alpha pack.", I said. Scott and Stiles looked at me in disbelief. "All of them?" Stiles shook his head. "How does that even work?"
"I hear there's some kind of a leader. He's called Deucalion. We know they have Boyd and Erica," Derek paused, "Peter, Isaac, Sam, and I were looking for them for the past four months.", he confessed.
"You were in on this?", Scott yelled at me. I looked down in shame. "Yes."
"So this whole time you told me Derek was giving us a break, it was just to hide this, but you were in on it anyways!?", Scott pressed.
"No. He wanted me out of it.", I explained. "Out of what?", Scott yelled.
"The Alpha situation, Scott! What else!? He wanted us to have a normal life for a couple of months until he could figure out what the fuck was happening.", I explained, frustrated. "We weren't doing this to keep you out in the dark completely. You just went through a lot of shit. All of us did!"
Scott sighed harshly through his nose as he focused on Derek. "So you find them…" Scott began, "how do you deal with an Alpha pack?"
"With all the help I can get.", Derek says.
"Where is she?" We heard and turned around to see Isaac awake and dazed. "Where's the girl?"
All our brows furrowed in confusion as we walked up to him.
"Where is she?" Isaac repeated, "Where's the girl?"
"What girl?", Derek asked. Derek finally sent us home, us being Stiles and I as he and Scott interrogated the poor dazed and confused Isaac.
As I got home and freshened up, I looked over my notes from over the summer on how to make alters and such. Just small stuff.
Putting away my stuff in my closet, I paused as I heard a small creak behind me. I picked up an abandoned comb, and rushed to throw it at whatever was behind me.
There stood Derek who easily caught it before the tail poked his face. "You're getting better. But, a comb? Really?", he said, walking over to my desk, setting it down.
I stood from my closet floor, turning off the light and leaving it. "I don't exactly have weapons in my closet, Derek.", I retort.
"Make one. Make something. Anything is better than nothing.", he says, sitting down at my desk, facing me. I frowned as I walked over to him. "What's wrong with you today? What're you so concerned about?"
"I don't want them to know about you. For that to happen, you'd have to stay away from Scott.", he says.
I raised an eyebrow. "You want me to stay away from Scott? The last time you asked of this, it didn't work. I told you before, we're still friends with Stiles, so it'll make it even more difficult because we go to the same school."
He didn't say anything, focusing on his shoes instead. I nudged his foot with mine. "Why are you actually here…?", I asked, crossing my arms.
He sighed. "I don't trust your vulnerability right now.", he said, finally looking at me. I shook my head. "What did I tell you about having faith in me?"
"I'm not saying I don't—"
"But you aren't saying that you do.", I cut off. He closed his mouth. "I'm... Happy that you're worried about me and all, but I'm a big girl, D. I can handle a couple of scraps here and there now that I've got powers.", I waved dismissively.
He scoffed. "You say that, but you haven't even seen the alphas. I'm just...worried that you'll get caught up into some shit you shouldn't.", he said frowning. "It was enough with you being bitten. I still don't know why you haven't changed yet."
I shrugged. "Whatever happens, happens. All I know is that I got a pro on my side.", I grin.
He gave me a half smirk with a raised eyebrow. "A pro, huh?"
I nodded. "You're the only one I can trust with werewolf type stuff. I can't exactly rely on Peter... His trust with me is... pending."
He chuckled lightly. "He's like that with everyone."
"He's so– I can't even call him mysterious. We don't even know what's going on with the alpha stuff and I know he knows something.", I say.
"It's been over a month and there hasn't been any leads, so I kinda doubt he knows much.", he shrugged.
"So… that means we're okay?", I asked. He sighed through his nose. "For now. I'm not getting my hopes up that they won't be around."
"That's good enough for me.", I smiled. He rolled his eyes as playful as he could. It was better than the look on his face he had before.
He looked like he wanted to say more but finally decided. "I wanna show you something.", he suddenly says.
I tilted my head in wonder. "That would be?"
He got up. "Get dressed in something comfortable since it's just a little trip.", he says, ready to jump out my window again.
Once he leaves, I get dressed in sweats and a regular shirt before putting on my shoes and leaving with him.
He led me to an old apartment building but once we walked inside, I looked around in wonder. "Woah…", I smiled as I saw the big window ahead of us.
All he had at the moment was a couch and table but that was a work in progress.
I caught his smile. "You like it?", he asked. I nodded. "It's nice. You're missing a few things, but it's pretty nice.", I say, making him give a small chuckle.
"It would be better if he had better things.", I hear a familiar voice and turned to see Peter standing in the kitchen. I narrowed my eyes. "You.", I sneered.
"Hi.", he greeted, sipping on a cup of whatever he had. I sighed, rolling my eyes. Of course he was here.
I shook my head and turned around in the almost empty place. It was pretty huge. "It's really not bad.", I say, smiling.
Derek gave me a bigger smile. Almost like he was proud of himself. And for a moment, it was the best one I've seen.
"So, what was up with Isaac the other day?", I asked the next day I came back to the loft, writing down my notes.
"I have someone coming to help him get his memory back.", Derek informed.
"Wow, we got werewolf memory emitters now?", I asked.
"No," he paused, "I have Peter." I stopped my writing and looked up at him. "Peter?", I asked in disbelief.
He nodded. "Derek, how the hell is he gonna help Isaac? He lost his powers as alpha. Wouldn't that make him unstable and potentially kill Isaac?", I asked.
"Don't say that!", Isaac exclaimed nervously as he paced back into the room.
"Sorry!", I grimaced then turned to Derek. "Derek, we're talking about Peter here. He killed your sister, tried to kill both you and Scott, tried to kill me, tried to turn me and Lydia and took over our bodies to bring himself back to life…. That's not exactly what I would call reliable. That's just out for self."
"I know.", he said. "But it's the only choice I have to finding Boyd and Erica."
"I'm starting to not like this idea. Sounds kinda dangerous. You know, I definitely don't like this idea, I definitely don't like him.", Isaac pressed, nervously.
"You'll be fine.", Derek reassured.
"Does it have to be him?", Isaac looked from the window to Derek, who was sitting down on a chair, reading.
"He knows how to do it, I don't. It'd be more dangerous if I tried doing it myself.", Derek informed him.
Isaac walked over to the steel table I sat on and began nervously playing with a book.
"You know Scott doesn't trust him, right? And I know Sam definitely doesn't either. Personally, I—I trust both of them."
"Do you trust me?", Derek looked up at his beta, raising his thick eyebrows. Isaac looked at me for confirmation and I nodded at him with a smile.
"Yeah.", Isaac answered and picked at the book, "I still don't like him."
"Nobody likes him.", Derek replied. The sound of the metal door scraping together sounded through the apartment as the door opened as Peter Hale walked in.
"Boys," he looked at me. "And lady." he began as he started sashaying towards us, "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.", he finishes, smiling.
"We don't like you.", Derek and I simultaneously said boredly. Derek tossed the book he was reading on the table and stood up.
"Now shut up and help us.", Derek ordered. Peter looked at him and shrugged. "Fair enough." And with the flick of his hand, his claws came out. I'm surprised those still worked.
Isaac sat in a chair, hugging its sides tightly, while Peter walked and stood behind him.
"One slip and you could paralyze someone. Or kill them."
"Y-you've had a lot of practice though, right?", Isaac hopefully wondered.
"Well I've never paralyzed anyone."
"And you won't.", I bluntly said, closing my book as I crossed my arms.
Peter turned to me. "Do you want to take his place, Samantha? I'm sure it'd be—"
"Again, piss off.", I say, clasping my hands together with a fake smile.
"Wait, does that mean—", Isaac started but Peter sunk his claws into the boy's neck. They both began twitching as if they were struggling to sit still.
"Wait, I see them!", Peter exclaimed. Peter pulled away, nearly knocking into the table while Isaac lurched forward, panting heavily.
I got off the table and made my way over to Isaac while Derek and Peter talked.
I rubbed Isaac's back as he calmed down. "You okay?", I asked. He swallowed and nodded, relieved that he survived.
"Isaac found them. I-I barely saw them, just—just glimpses—", Peter started, rambling on and on.
"But you did see them?", Derek firmly asked his uncle. Peter nodded.
"And worse."
"Deucalion.", Derek said, realizing. So the bigger alpha had the two betas locked up somewhere…
"He was talking to them, something about time running out.", Peter rushed, making my eyes widen. "What does it mean?", Isaac asked. Derek sat on his chair, his hands clasping tightly together.
"He's going to kill them.", I say, settling myself on the table, in thought. Peter shook his head. "No, no, no, no, he didn't say that. He did make a promise that by the full moon they'd both be dead."
"The next full moon?", Derek asked, staring at Peter.
"Tomorrow night.", his uncle responded grimly. We all jumped to the sound of my phone blaring as Scott called me. Scott asked both for me and Derek to show up at the school.
After showing up, we walked into a classroom that had Scott, Stiles, Lydia, and unfortunately Allison.
Scott explained himself and I looked at him in disbelief. "A bruise, Scott? Really?"
Allison and Lydia had their arms stretched out, an identical strange shaped bruise was on both of their wrists.
"How is a bruise going to tell me where Boyd and Erica are?", Derek looked at Scott, frustrated. Allison glared at him.
I glared at her. "On both sides, exactly the same.", Scott said.
"It's nothing.", Derek dismissed, glaring right back at Allison.
"Paradolia," Lydia spoke up, "seeing patterns that aren't there. It's a subset of apophenia."
"That means…?", I asked, confused. "Sam, they're trying to help.", Scott scolded. I looked at him in confusion. "I didn't say they weren't!", I say, shrugging.
"These two?", Derek asked and pointed a hand at Lydia, "this one, who was one of the girls who used me to resurrect my psychotic uncle. Also, thank you for that." Derek pointed at Allison, "And this one, who shot about thirty arrows into me, my pack, and your best friend."
"Hey now, come on, no one died. Alright? Look there may have been a little maiming, ok…a little mangling, but no death. That's what I call an important distinction.", Stiles tried reassuring.
"My mother died.", Allison argued.
"Your family's little "honor code" killed your mother. Not me.", Derek said.
"A girl's looking for Scott, I'm here to help him—"
"Please.", I sneered.
"—not you." She finished as she glared at me.
"You want to help? Find something real.", Derek turned around, dragging me with him as we began walking out. Scott followed.
"Give her a chance.", Scott pleaded. I sighed as Derek glared at him.
"Scott, she is a hunter. Okay? That shit her mom pulled and the shit at the police station was enough for me.", I hissed.
"They're on our side now.", Scott assured.
"Well then maybe you should tell her what her mother was actually trying to do that night.", Derek pointed. Scott looked at me with pleading eyes.
"Sam, please.", Scott pleaded.
"Scott, she shot me with an arrow and then tried to do it again, and then tried to stab me.", I expressed with wide eyes. "I don't even trust her dad at this point.", I shook my head.
He sighed. "Well, can you trust me? I just need that.", he says, practically giving me his stupid puppy eyes.
I frowned, deflating. I sighed. "Fine.", I say. Derek looked at me in disbelief and I turned to him, fixing him a look. "I'm trusting him. Not her. Completely two different people."
Derek rolled his eyes as he shook his head and left.
I turned to Scott. "This is gonna be my last time. She's on thin fucking ice with me.", I say and he hugs me. "Thank you. That's all I ask."
I hugged him back. I loved that he was always trying to see the good in everyone he liked, but sometimes it wasn't worth it. He didn't know how to let go of someone who was barely down for him.
I backed away as I left them in the classroom and followed Derek.
Me and Stiles went to Finstock's class only for his dad to come in, excusing Stiles for some unknown reasons that made me and Stiles look at each other in confusion.
Apparently, Heather, a girl whose birthday party Stiles dragged me to, disappeared. Stiles was the last to be seen with her so people immediately thought he was a suspect.
The two had been together from the second we walked into the party. Heather bluntly ran up to Stiles and pulled him in for a kiss, which kinda shocked me because I didn't think he was over Lydia.
Not only that, before he left, a condom flew out of Stiles' pocket. An XXL condom to be exact.
Since when was Stiles having sex? The boy was practically a statue for virgins.
After all that, we ended up at Deaton's hospital while Derek, Stiles, Scott and I poured several pounds of ice into a metal tub full of cold water.
"Like being hypnotized.", I hear Isaac say as he and Deaton enter the room.
"Exactly," Deaton said. "You'll be half transformed. It'll let us access your subconscious mind." Isaac crouched down, leaning his arms against the rim of the tub.
"So, how slow does his heart rate really have to be for this to work?", I asked, rubbing my cold hands together for warmth.
"Very slow.", Deaton answered.
"Yeah well, how slow is very slow?", Derek asked.
"Nearly dead.", Deaton corrected.
"Wow.", I say, placing my cold hands in my pockets as I look at the ice filled tub.
Isaac's hand reached down for the water and immediately recoiled away. "It's safe though, right?", Isaac asked the vet.
"Do you want me to answer honestly?", Deaton looked down at the nervous Beta with a smile.
"No, not really.", Isaac mumbled. We all looked up to hear a snapping noise and saw Stiles playing with a long, large rubber glove he put on his hand.
He noticed our stares. "What?", Stiles asked.
Derek raised his eyebrows, giving him an unamused look. Stiles pouted, yanking it off, and throwing it on the floor.
Derek sighed before looking at Isaac. "Look if it feels too risky you don't have to do it.", Derek reassured.
"Regardless, we still have to figure out where your other two betas are.", I say. Isaac sighed then he pulled off his shirt and prepared himself.
Isaac's breath hitched as he entered the tub. He submerged his entire body in the water and began breathing heavily. Derek and Scott wrapped their hands around Isaac's shoulders and submerged him in the tub completely.
Suddenly Isaac emerged from the ice cold water and began thrashing. He roared as his head broke the surface. Derek and Scott struggled to push him down.
I rolled up my own sleeves, helping them with Isaac and winced at the cold feeling. What my arms are feeling is nothing compared to what he went through.
As Isaac thrashed, the freezing water and ice splashed out of the tub, on to the floor and on us.
He was surprisingly stronger than Derek which threw me off. I placed a hand on Isaac's chest and another on his forehead, firm but not hard enough to make him panic.
It was enough. The water stopped splashing and Isaac stopped moving. We all let go of his body and watched as he slowly rose to the surface. Derek, Scott, and I kept our paling hands above the water just in case Isaac decided to thrash again.
He was pale, almost purple. He reminded me of Matt and how dead he looked. I shook my head out of those thoughts and watched as he looked calm enough.
"Now remember, only I talk to him.", Deaton quietly said. "Too many voices will confuse him and draw him out." Deaton leaned forward to the tub. "Isaac, can you hear me?", Deaton called.
"Yes." Isaac replied. "I can hear you."
"This is Doctor Deaton. I would like to ask you a few questions, is that alright?"
"Yes.", Isaac replied calmly despite shivering.
"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." Once Deaton said that, Isaac frowned, immediately tensing up.
"I-I don't wanna do that.", he whimpered. The lights in the room began going in and out, making me glance at him and the lights. Isaac mumbled, panicking slightly.
"Just relax. They're just memories. You cant be hurt by a memory. Relax.", Deaton reassured. Isaac's tense body went limp. "Now let's go back to that night when you found Erica and Boyd. Can you tell me what you see? Is there some kind of building? House?"
"It's—it's not a house. It's um, it's stone. I t-think marble.", Isaac stuttered.
"That's perfect. Can you give me any other descriptors?"
"It's dusty. Empty.", Isaac described.
"Like an abandoned building?" The lights began flickering again as he went quiet. "Isaac?" Deaton tried to get his attention.
Isaac's hand tightly grabbed my arm for protection. "Someone's here, someone's here!", he yelled. I nearly buckled at the grip on my arm, keeping a sound of pain from exiting.
"Isaac, relax.", Deaton warned. "No, no, no!", Isaac yelled. "They see me, they see me!" I winced and bit my lip as his grip tightened.
"They're just memories. You can't be hurt by memories. Just relax. Relax." Isaac calmed once again, slowly letting go of me. "Good.", Deaton muttered. I gently pried his hand off of me and let it settle in the water. "Now tell us what you see, tell us everything.", Deaton ordered. Isaac's golden 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?", Deaton wondered.
"I think so, I can't—I can't see her. I can't, can't see either of them."
"Can you hear anything else?", Deaton asked.
"They're worried, they're worried what they'll do during the moon. They're worried that they're going to hurt each other." Where are they…?
"If they're locked in together during the full moon, they're gonna tear each other apart.", Derek whispered, shaking his head.
"Isaac," Deaton said even louder this time, "we need to find them right now! Can you see them?"
"No."
"Do you know what kind of room it is? Is there any kind of a marker? A number on a door? A sign?" Isaac's face changed into a state of panic.
"They're here.", he whimpered. He began submerging himself in the water. We kept him upright as he screamed, nearly drowning himself. "They're here! They see me! They found me! They're here!"
"This isn't working! Isaac, where are you?", Derek yelled.
"Derek, stop!", I harshly whispered.
"I can't see them! It's too dark!"
"Just tell me where you are!", Derek shouted.
"I can't see!", Isaac screamed. "They captured me! They have me! They're dragging me to a room!"
"Isaac, where are you?", Derek demanded. "What do you see? Tell me where you are!"
"He's going to go into shock!", Deaton warned Derek angrily.
"Derek, let him go!", I say, backing up.
"Isaac, where are you? What did you see?", Derek yelled.
"I see, I see a dead body! It's Erica's! It's Erica's!", Isaac's eyes looked around. "It's a bank vault! I saw it!" Isaac gasped, snapping out of it. "I saw it. I saw the name!"
Isaac jumped out of the tub and was immediately wrapped in towels. "It's, uh, Beacon Hills First National Bank. It's, um, it's an abandoned bank and they're keeping them locked inside, inside the vault."
We didn't say anything, all shocked. Derek backed away, despair plain on his face.
"What?", Isaac asked as he looked at us. "You don't remember what you said before you came out of it, do you?", Stiles asked.
"No.", Isaac shook his head.
"You said when they captured you, they dragged you into a room and that there was a body in it."
"What body?" Isaac looked from Deaton, to Stiles, to me. I swallowed, blinking back unshed tears. "Erica's.", I say. "The body was Erica's."
We all stood in disbelief, all but Isaac who was still so confused. Derek was pacing, Isaac was sitting in a corner with Stiles, and Scott, of course, was trying to reassure us.
"She's not dead!", Derek exclaimed, still in denial.
"Derek, he said 'there's a dead body, it's Erica's. Doesn't exactly leave us much room for interpretation.", Stiles said. Derek glared at Stiles.
"We can't say that it isn't because we weren't the ones that saw what happened.", I say.
"Then who was in the vault with Boyd?"
"We'll figure that out too.", I reply.
"And maybe it was the girl on the motorcycle. The one that saved you.", Scott suggested to Isaac.
The blond shook his head. "No, she wasn't like us. And whoever was."
"What if that's how Erica died? They—they, like, pit them against each other during the pull moons and see which ones survives. It's like werewolf thunder dome!"
"Then we get them out tonight.", Derek declared.
"Be smart about this Derek, you can't just go storming in.", Deaton reasoned.
"If Isaac got in, then so can we.", Derek disagreed.
"So? That doesn't mean you go storming in there like you know the place. At this point, that vault is their territory and you'd be stepping in it with a big disadvantage.", I shook my head at his ignorance.
"We need a plan.", Scott said.
"How are we going to come up with a plan to break into a bank vault in less than twenty four hours?", Derek asked, turning to him.
"Uh, I think someone already did.", Stiles brought up, staring at his smartphone. "Beacon Hills First National closes its doors three months after vault robbery." Stiles read. I looked at his phone.
"Doesn't say how it was robbed.", I say. Stiles shrugged. "It probably won't take long to find out."
"How long?", Derek asked.
"It's the internet, Derek." Stiles scoffed. Derek raised an eyebrow at him. "Kay, minutes.", Stiles clarified with a smug smile.