Once the day had ended, I was once again being flanked by two teenage boys who were worried that if they let me go off on my own, I'd somehow end up in trouble. It hadn't occurred to them until recently that I might ignore any warnings they gave me and proceed to do things independently. Right now, they were half-convinced that I would find a way to get my own ticket to the rave seeing as Isaac had gotten them two tickets after harassing a boy in the locker room this morning. Slightly infuriated that they had only gotten two, I had raged on for a solid five minutes about how I should be just as welcome to go as Stiles. Now, Stiles was practically dragging me across the parking lot towards his Jeep with Stiles in tow.

"Stiles, I want to go home!" I argued, giving him a sharp glare.

"Well, if you stopped acting like you were going to throw yourself on a grenade every three seconds, we might be able to trust you being alone." Stiles responded entirely unconvinced by my arguments. "Plus, we thought we could include you on our trip to the vet clinic."

"You can call me later." I pointed out, finally jerking my arm away from him as we made it to the Jeep. I turned to face both of the boys who looked slightly terrified by my presence. "You two are making this such a big deal. If you would've just included me on this sting operation in the first place, I wouldn't have the temptation to do it myself."

Scott let out a sigh and adjusted his backpack on his shoulder. "Why can't you just see that we're doing this to protect you? Argent is already starting to get suspicious of you and going to the rave would only make it even worse." He pointed out, gesturing at me with his hand. "Plus, you said you have a test to study for."

"We all do!" I exclaimed, swinging my arm around at the boys and bouncing slightly on my toes. "I could be studying before the rave tonight if you stopped treating me like a child and took me home. I'm safe there, you know that."

Stiles growled in frustration and then pinched the bridge of his nose. "You know, this picking and choosing when you want to hang out with us when it's something considerably important is making it really difficult for us." He told me. "We said no to the rave, but we said we'd take you to go talk to Deaton with us."

"The rave is so much more interesting, and you need more bodies. Deaton isn't going to transform into a murderous lizard and paralyze you two dorks from the waist down." I argued, gesturing at both of them. Each of their expressions took on a somewhat offended look. "You guys just don't have a plan yet so you don't know where I would be useful to fit in."

Stiles and Scott both began to stammer out random words, their mouths opening and closing like fish out of water. They struggled to come up with a defense, looking between each other. Finally, both of them let out noises of exasperation and began to climb into the Jeep.

"Just get in the car, Tessa." Stiles told me and pulled back the driver seat so that I could climb into the back. I decided to view this as a small victory and remained without a sarcastic comment for the duration of our trip.

Upon arrival, I felt my phone buzz inside of my pocket. Both boys jumped out of the Jeep, speaking with each other as they waited on me. I pulled my phone out to see that I had received a text message from Andre.

Just got word of a rave tonight. Derek came by.

I glanced up to see that the two of them were talking quite excitedly and decided to respond. Scott and Stiles got tickets. Are you going?

If it means we catch the kanima, yes.

"Shit." I swore out loud, catching the attention of Scott who looked through the front windshield of the Jeep at me. His lips twitched downward, and he held up a hand to stop Stiles from speaking any further. Ignoring his look, I quickly typed back to my sister.

I'm going with you.

No, you're not.

I can't let you go alone. How are you going to get a ticket?

Derek handled that already.

An aggravated growl left me, and I placed my hand on my forehead, digging my fingernails gently into the soft skin. I was unable to think of a respectful response and shoved my phone back into the pocket of my jeans. Clambering out of the backseat, I tried to reign my emotions back in to avoid any confrontation, but I had a feeling that was inevitable.

"Everything okay?" Stiles asked, cocking up an eyebrow as he analyzed my body language.

I shook my head and looked down at the ground. "Derek told Andre about the rave and got her a ticket to go."

"What? Andre?" Scott repeated, his mouth hanging open with shock. He blinked a few times. "Why would he do that?"

"You think I have any idea? Why has Derek ever done half the crap he's done?" I asked them rhetorically and then shoved some loose hair behind my ears. "Now that my sister is going, there is no way I'm not going. I don't care if I have to sneak in."

Stiles let out a huff of air and then ran a hand over the top of his head. "Can we discuss this later? There is a very wise vet inside waiting to talk to us." He wondered and jerked his cranium curtly in that direction. Then, he turned on his heel and stomped inside.

I glanced at Scott who held up his hands in a submissive gesture before following his best friend. With a somewhat agitated grunt, I continued in after the two boys.

"I believe I've found a toxin that might be able to immobilize the kanima for a short time." Deaton was explaining as I entered the operating room with the three men. I glanced around, taking in the scenery seeing as I had never actually been here before. Last time I had seen Deaton, he had been unconscious in the back of Derek's Camaro. I was still shocked he had forgiven us for that entire situation. "Ketamine."

"Ketamine?" Scott repeated, sounding somewhat confused as Deaton held up a small vial with a blue label on it. I squinted my eyes to read it better and came to stand beside Stiles, crossing my arms over my chest.

"It's the same stuff we use on the dogs, just a higher dosage." Deaton reminded his employee, moving to pick up what looked to be a very large syringe. He then placed it down on the operating table for us to take. "If you can get close enough to Jackson, it should slow him down enough to buy you some time."

Scott picked up the small bottle and the syringe.

"This is some of what you'll use to create the barrier." Deaton continued. He had now picked up a jar that contained what looked to be some sort of black powder with a symbol I didn't recognize taped to the front. "This part is for you, Stiles, and you, Tessandra. Only you two."

"There we go. That solidifies that I'm going." I hummed in triumph, thrusting a fist into the air as Stiles rolled his eyes heavily. He then reached out to grab the small jar from the vet.

"Uh, that sounds like a lot of pressure." He admitted, eyeing the glass in his hand. "Can we maybe find a slightly less pressure-filled task for us?"

Scott turned his head to give Stiles a pointed look, the human boy feigning innocence.

"It's from the mountain ash tree." Deaton spoke up, obviously ignoring any of Stiles' pleas. "Which is believed by many cultures to protect against the supernatural. This office is lined with ashwood, making it difficult for someone like Scott to cause me any trouble."

"Okay, so, then what?" Stiles questioned, shifting on his feet somewhat. I could tell he was uncomfortable and considerably more nervous than before. I wasn't sure if it had to do with the fact that he now had an actual task on his shoulders or that Deaton had wrapped me up into this. Regardless, I'd try to be less annoying and more comforting. "I just spread this around the whole building and then either Jackson or whoever's controlling him can't cross it?"

Deaton nodded confidently. "They'll be trapped."

"Doesn't sound too hard." Scott encouraged, his eyes glancing between the two of us with a comforting smile perched upon his lips. I admired his undying effort to see the positive side of every situation-never straying for his good-natured personality.

"Not all there is." Deaton piped up, holding up a hand as if to physically stop us from venturing down any path that led us to believe that we had a simple task. "Think of it like gunpowder-it's just powder until a spark ignites it. You need to be that spark, Stiles."

"If you mean light myself on fire, I don't think I'm up for that." Stiles mumbled, his face turning a lighter shade of white at the prospect. "I am also very against lighting Tessa on fire."

"I appreciate that." I choked out, patting him lightly on the shoulder.

Deaton snorted softly and shook his head, glancing down at the metal table briefly before back at us. "Let me try a different analogy. I used to golf. I learned that the best golfers never swing before first imagining where they want the ball to go. They see it in their mind and their mind takes over. It can be pretty extraordinary what the force of your own will can accomplish."

"Force of will." Stiles repeated and he sounded less worried but rather more incompetent. I got the sneaking suspicion that he didn't entirely trust himself to do this. He was just as afraid of failure as I was.

"If this is going to work," Deaton told us and he caught both of our eyes, as if sensing our uncertainty. "-you two have to believe it."

Stiles had dropped me off just as he promised and told me that he'd be back to pick both Scott and I up later in the evening. Andre had returned home and, after much arguing, agreed to show up to the rave separately. Considering the fact that Derek had gotten her a ticket and had urged her to go, she would arrive with him. I hated to admit that I approved of the idea of Derek keeping tabs on Andre, obviously taking the initiative to make sure that she was safe. She told me that Derek thought that we would be stronger in numbers and even though Scott had tried to convince Derek that I wasn't going, he was smart enough to anticipate that I would somehow find a way to go to the rave tonight. Now, almost every single person involved was going to be underneath one roof, excluding Lydia for obvious reasons, and I was starting to get anxious. Matt was also an innocent party as much as he irritated Stiles and I. Allison had practically begged me to essentially third wheel with her and Matt, but I kindly refused. There was no way I was going to put myself in a secluded vehicle willingly with that creep. I was also confident that Allison could hold her own if he decided to be extra weird with her.

"Derek is meeting me in the Preserve." Andre announced as she came down the staircase, dressed in a pair of tight black pants and t-shirt complimented with a pair of sturdy looking boots. Her hair was clasped up in a tight ponytail and a coat covered her arms to protect them from the cold. It made me slightly uneasy to see my sister armed and ready for whatever was to come tonight and her involvement in the supernatural never became familiar. "Stiles still coming to get you?"

"Yeah, he's on his way. He got caught up talking to his dad." I answered, nodding my head and gesturing to my cell phone. In stark contrast to Andre, I had dressed myself in a pair of jeans, a lighter orange long-sleeve shirt and sneakers. Insistent on not drawing any attention to myself, I also lacked the appropriate attire for a rave. However, I didn't dwindle on the fact considering I was trying not to let myself or any of my friends befall the fate of the kanima.

Andre let out a deep sigh and then looked down at the floor, suddenly looking somewhat worried. "Tessa, before Stiles shows up, there's something you should know." She murmured and then her eyes returned to my own. "I went to the station to talk to Mr. Stilinski today, but he was talking to someone. When he left, he put his gun and his badge down on his desk."

My brows twitched and my stomach sank, a sick feeling spreading across my entire body. "What?" I murmured weakly.

Andre pressed her lips tightly together while a shine came over her eyes. "They put him on a leave on absence. Something about Stiles stealing the police van and the restraining order against him." She explained, shaking her head. "None of which is his fault, but they said it wouldn't be a good look for the county."

A shaky breath fell from between my lips, my shoulders sagging with the weight of the information. My eyes glanced around for a moment as I tried to collect my thoughts. "He—He can't lose his job. It isn't fair."

"Trust me, I agree. It isn't fair from our point of view." Andre affirmed, nodding her head curtly. "But, from the outside looking in, Stiles looks like a delinquent kid getting into trouble. No one knows that it's for a purpose."

"We're—We're just trying to protect people." I defended weakly, pushing some hair out of my face. "God, this is terrible."

"It'll be okay." Andre assured me and reached out to place a gentle hand on my arm. "Once this is all done, things will blow over. Mr. Stilinski will get his job back and things can go back to normal, alright? Try not to worry about it too much. We have the kanima to focus on."

I nodded and she bent down to press a kiss to my forehead. She bid me farewell before sneaking out the front door and across the street into the woods. I saw the light in Scott's room switch on and his form come up to the glass, watching my sister as she left. From the open door, I sent a curt wave up to him which he returned with a comforting smile.

It was only a few short minutes later that the powder blue Jeep rolled up to a stop on the curb, Stiles' anxious body in the driver seat. I could see that he was moving somewhat frantically, his shadow darting around in the shadowy light of the streetlamp just a couple feet away. My heart swelled with sympathy, knowing that was probably why he'd gotten held up earlier.

Walking to the Jeep slowly, I carefully opened the door and lowered myself into the passenger seat. I could see Scott shuffling around inside his house and then turned to look at the boy next to me, his golden eyes poised on a spot on his dashboard. I could see that there was a thin shine over his orbs and his lips were clenched into a straight line. One of his hands gripped the steering wheel while the other clutched at his gear shift.

"Stiles—"

"It's my fault." Stiles choked out, his voice overlapping mine. "If I would've just—just used my brain for one freaking second, he wouldn't be in this position."

"Stiles, you were protecting him—protecting everyone. This isn't your fault." I assured him, turning my body to face the boy. "You have to know that."

"You should've seen the look on his face. You know, he didn't even yell at me." Stiles continued, shaking his head. "Somehow, that made it even worse. I sort of wanted him to yell at me or—or ground me. I would've taken anything over him just feeling helpless."

"I'm sorry." I whispered, knowing that it was all I could say. There was nothing we could do now to change what we had done. "Stiles, I'm so sorry."

"Don't tell me that you're sorry. Pity is literally the last thing I need right now." Stiles responded sharply. "Just…"

He held up a hand and then dropped it with a somewhat defeated sigh. I swallowed anymore words that threatened to come out of my throat and then turned away from him, somewhat twinged by his actions.

My eyes sensed movement across the street and saw Scott coming out of his garage. After making sure it was shut behind him, he jogged over to the Jeep and climbed in, lumbering into the backseat.

We began to make out trek towards the warehouse, the nerves protruding from all of us. It forced the car into silence, and I chewed on the inside of my cheek, fiddling with the sleeves of my shirt up until the moment we arrived at the rave. It was already crawling with teenagers and the gentle thud emitting from the base of the music inside made the ground vibrate. My thoughts were cynical, wondering darkly if any of these people had any clue what was amongst them. I tried to scan the ground for any familiar face but came up empty handed.

As the boys went to retrieve items from the back of the Jeep, I felt my phone begin to buzz in my pocket. My lips turned down slightly when I saw Allison's contact light up on the screen and immediately answered it, checking over my shoulder to make sure that Scott was distracted. The last thing he needed was to worry about Allison on a date with some other guy.

"Hi, are you okay?" I answered almost instantaneously.

"Yeah, I—I'm fine. Matt stepped away for a second and I just wanted to call you." Allison replied, her robotic voice sounding somewhat stressed. "It's so weird being out with someone else. It—It almost feels wrong."

"I can't even imagine." I mumbled sympathetically. "It's for the greater good and, hopefully, we never have to do this again."

"I hope not." Allison agreed and she paused for a few moments. "Tessa, promise me you'll be careful tonight, alright? I—I'm really worried about you."

My lips twitched up slightly, somewhat warmed by the idea that Allison cared. "I will. I've got my back covered. The same goes for you, okay? I want to have coffee this weekend and that won't work if we both get brutally murdered by a homicidal Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle."

Allison laughed, the noise sounding genuine much to my pleasure. "God, you're such a dork. I don't know what I would do without you." She responded, the tone of her voice slightly elevated. "I just felt like I needed to call my best friend before all of this."

"I'm always here to talk." I assured her, nodding my head. "I'll see you soon, okay? Everything is going to be fine."

"I'm sure it will be. Love you, Tess."

"Love you, too."

The line went dead as we both hung up and I let out a deep sigh. I heard the back door of the Jeep close, and I finally climbed out. Suddenly, a gust of wind went soaring past me and I turned to see that Scott had taken off in the other direction. Stiles was yelling after him and I blinked a few times, slightly stunned by the action.

"Scott, what am I supposed to—" Stiles trailed off once he realized his friend wasn't turning back around and then looked to me. "What the hell is going on?"

"No clue." I admitted, shaking my head and shrugging my shoulder. The boy disappeared around the corner without another word.

"This plan officially sucks!" Stiles exclaimed, flailing his arms wildly. I flinched at the motion and then blew out another blustery breath. He tossed the bag to the ground and then turned away from me, leaning against the Jeep. I didn't take any of his actions to heart, knowing that there was more going on beneath the surface than just Scott ditching us outside the warehouse.

"We're going to be okay." I assured him, my voice come out softer than I had anticipated. I supposed my nerves were beginning to settle in, knowing that Allison was also inside. For a moment, the idea dawned on me that Scott might've not known that Allison was going to be here tonight. I also hadn't told him about the contents of my conversation with Allison yesterday at lunch.

"Tessa, I just…I need a moment." Stiles told me, his voice sharp as he held up a hand and maintained his position away from me. "Please."

Nodding silently, I wrapped my arms around myself and turned around to look back up towards the rave. People were still pouring in, and I could hear the music thundering out every time the door opened. Lights flashed excitedly from every crevice and a tight feeling entered my stomach. I felt out of place and alone outside of the warehouse, wondering where my sister was. I wondered where Allison was and about the two betas who were running headfirst into immediate danger. I'd caught no sign of Derek and wasn't even entirely confident that we could pull this off.

"I need to use the restroom." I told Stiles weakly, glancing at him over my shoulder. He nodded, his eyes poised at the concrete beneath his feet. Even though I was slightly thrown off by his absent protest, I continued with my action. We'd been standing out here for nearly ten minutes and the curiosity of what was going on inside scratched at my skull. Nothing had happened yet, and I knew that I could make it in and out of the rave in nearly five minutes. I would be back outside to help Stiles as soon as he needed it.

There was a small metal ramp that led up to a set of double doors, highlighting themselves as the entrance to the party inside. I pushed it open and was met with a warm wind, the scent of sweat and different perfumes hitting my senses. The sound of rave music and loud voices mixed to create an almost impenetrable force, making me wince slightly. A slew of partygoers made my path to the restroom that much more difficult considering I had no clue where to even go. I decided on following a small group of girls down a narrow hallway, a curtain of plastic at the end of it. Realizing it was the entrance to the dance floor, I made a move to turn around but the crowd behind me made it virtually impossible. Suddenly, I was being nearly swept out into a giant room housing the main event of the evening.

I held an arm up to protect myself from elbows that bounced up and down rapidly in time with the bass blaring over the speakers. Different colored hues darted across my eyes and the oxygen around me became a lot thicker. Collecting my senses, I began to push my way through the crowd and find an exit. Unfortunately, I had been shoved right into the center and any sort of release from the crowd seemed distant.

"Scott!" I cried out almost as if it were instinct. My body sensed that I was in danger and my first reaction was to call out for the first person who I knew might be in the general vicinity to help me. "Shit. Get off of me!"

I shoved at least three people out of my personal space, eliciting a few swears and dangerous glares in my direction. Ignoring them, I spun around in a circle and felt the area closing in on me again. Then, a hand wrapped around my bicep and tugged hard, my feet scrambling to keep up with their pace as I was suddenly dragged out from the center to an open space on the outside of the crowd.

"Tessa, what the hell?"

I looked up to find Isaac towering over me, his blue eyes the size of saucers. His face was somewhat darker in the dim light of the warehouse, but he was still entirely recognizable.

"I—I was looking for the bathroom." I stammered out, feeling like a kid caught with their hand in a cookie jar. I knew I wasn't supposed to be here and somewhat he had told me that Derek hadn't mentioned my participating to his betas either.

"What are you—why are you—" Isaac stammered, gesturing at me before letting out a sharp exhale and shaking his head. "Whatever. Where are you supposed to be?"

"Outside with Stiles." I answered, pointing to where I had entered from. "I—I was giving him some space and I wanted to make sure everything was okay in here."

"Giving him space? Since when does Stiles need space from you?" Isaac asked, his light-colored brows furrowing together.

I clenched my jaw, not fully enthused with having this conversation with Isaac. Figuring it was inevitable, I shrugged my shoulders slightly. "I don't know. He's just got some stuff going on."

Isaac was quiet for a few seconds, and I glanced away, not intending to covey any sort of emotion to him. I was worried that if Isaac caught wind of an actual problem between Stiles and I, he'd do his best to make it even worse.

"Everything is okay in here." Isaac then assured me; his voice somewhat more tender than is had been before. He then ducked down marginally to try and meet my gaze. "Is everything going to be okay out there?"

"Yeah, o—of course it is." I responded automatically, nodding my head rapidly. "It'll be fine."

"Look, if he's being a jerk to you then—"

"Then what?" I cut him off, crossing my arms over my chest and ultimately meeting his eye. "It's not safe for me in here, Isaac. I can't just hide from Stiles. He needs my help."

"It's safe for you in here if I'm here." Isaac told me sternly, a serious expression overtaking his features. "I know I've been a jerk—a big one. It isn't fair to you, and neither is anything that I've done or said. I know you'll never forgive me for going after Lydia and for hurting Stiles, but I would never let anything happen to you. Ever."

Stunned, my mind swirled with all the information Isaac had just put onto me. For a split second, I refused to even digest it—worried this was just going to end like all our other conversations. However, for the very first time, I looked to Isaac and saw nothing ingenuine. His blue eyes stared down at me the same resolve as a brick wall, unmovable and inferior.

"Thank you." I responded softly, swallowing hard and nodding my head. "I hope you really mean all of that."

"I do." Isaac replied intently. "God, I swear I do."

"Then, why do everything that you've done? If you care so much, why did you do all of that other crap with Derek?" I asked him, shaking my mind and letting my hands drop down to my side. "Isaac, you know that I have always cared about you and that I—"

All the noise from the party suddenly went silent and every single light became brighter as Isaac bent down. All my limbs felt frozen, and it was though I had been paralyzed. For a moment I was worried that the kanima had snuck up behind me or that I was waking up from some sort of dream—rather a nightmare. In this nightmare, Isaac Lahey had, without warning, pressed his lips against mine. My eyes were wide with a mix of shock and terror, my arms splayed out at my sides as if I wanted to make sure I didn't touch him. Once it registered that Isaac was kissing me, my brain finally caught up with my senses.

Blaring music slammed into my ear drums and colored lights assaulted my vision, my hands swinging out to shove Isaac roughly in the chest. He stumbled back a few feet, his pale complexion suddenly a bright shade of red.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" I squealed, wiping the back of my hand over my mouth and trying to keep my rage down to a minimum. "Isaac!"

"I had to do it. Just to know." Isaac responded, his expression a mix between defeated and resolved. "I had to know it would never happen."

"What would never happen?" I demanded, clenching my fists at my sides.

"Us." He admitted with a soft movement of his shoulders. "I had to do it at least once before you never looked back."

"I—I—" I blinked a few times and then let out a conquered breath before turning on my heel. I maneuvered my way out of the party and back towards the exit of the rave.

Tears had collected into the corners of my eyes, and it felt as though I were walking away from something personal. A sense of guilt settled in the center of my chest and made me nauseous as I shoved through crowds of people. Once I made it outside, I gulped in breaths of fresh air, allowing it to weaken the burn in my lungs. Stiles had opened the bags and had begun pouring the mountain ash on the outside of the building. He hadn't made it far and looked up when he noticed that I had approached.

"Hey," He greeted softly, stopping his pouring for a moment as he stood up straighter. Golden orbs glanced around my form as if assessing me and his lips turned down into a frown. "You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." I answered quietly, clenching my teeth together. Walking over to the duffle bag, I pulled out another smaller bag that held the black powder. "Let's just get this over with."

Without another word, I began to pour the ash in the opposite direction of Stiles. Every so often, I glanced up to make sure that we were undetected. The last thing we needed was Jackson or the master catching us in the act. Something about locking all the werewolves in with the kanima unsettled me deeply, but I knew that we had no other choice. Once we closed the seal, we could break it whenever we needed to. That also risked letting the kanima loose.

I backtracked to make sure there were no open spots, covering the space if there was. Knowing that I was responsible for trapping the kanima was a heavy burden, but I had been willing to accept it. Finally, I made it to the other end to connect my line of ash with Stiles'. That was when I realized that there was still at least fifty feet of space left to fill.

"No!" I exclaimed, trying to dump more powder into my hand but coming up empty. "No! This can't be happening!"

I heard Stiles also trying to shake his bag and, by the sound of his growl, I concluded that he was also unsuccessful in his attempts. "Dammit!"

"What—What do we do?" I asked, looking to him wide eyes as panic tried to settle in. "There's not enough powder to complete the circle."

"Okay, uh, hold on." Stiles told me and then placed a hand on the back of his head, pacing for a few moments as he tried to think. "I—I thought we measured it out. I'm calling Scott."

I nodded in agreement and then glanced around the area, worried someone would come popping out of the shadows to brutally murder us. Stiles tried to call Scott at least three times, each time the line going directly to voicemail.

"Shit," I swore underneath my breath and push loose strands of hair behind my ear, trying to think of something else we might be able to do. It wasn't safe for either of us to leave and the vet clinic was too far to make it back in enough time.

Three loud blasts and ferocious snarls ripped through the air, startling both Stiles and me. I whipped around to see where it was coming from but was also unproductive. My heart thumped against the inside of my ribcage and the coldness of the night air made each inch of my skin frigid. Shutting my eyes against the noises and the cold, I urged myself to think of a solution.

"Believe." I murmured, Deaton's voice floating into my memory. "You have to believe."

"I have to believe." Stiles repeated as though we had been on the entirely same wavelength. Opening my eyes, I turned around to face him and there was a familiar gleam in his eye. "I—I just have to picture it. I have to believe."

The boy shut his own eyes and then let out a deep sigh, clenching his hand tightly around the bit of black powder he held in his palm. I stepped off to the side, making sure I was out of his way and watched him as he began to drop the powder once again. My mouth dropped open with awe as the powder seemed to miraculously multiply, carrying across the distance we still had yet to fill. It was as though there was more mountain ash appearing from within his hand. It slowly began to fizzle out and my heart sank as I started to realize it wouldn't go the distance. With a defeated groan, I placed my hand over my eyes.

"Tessa," Stiles called out, his voice quiet. I removed my hand and looked at the line of mountain ash which had now connected to the other end.

We had completed the circle.

"Oh my God!" I gasped, a grin spreading across my features. "Oh my God it worked!"

Stiles let out a cheerful laugh, pumping his fist in the air. He moved towards me rapidly, arms circling my waist as he spun me in an excited circle. Putting me down, his hand clasped either side of my face and pressed his lips against mine. I accepted the notion eagerly, relishing that just for a moment Stiles wasn't upset or angry at the world. I also decided in that moment that now wasn't the time to talk to him about Isaac. It would have to be when tensions weren't high, and they weren't in the same general vicinity.

"I—I really didn't think that was going to work." Stiles admitted as he pulled away from me, planting his palm on his forehead and staring down at the barrier in awe. "Maybe Deaton isn't as crazy as I thought he was."

"What do we do now?" I asked him and Stiles glanced down at his phone, a beep emitting from it in his pocket. Pulling it out, he read the screen and his eyes widened once again.

"Go. We have to go now." Stiles informed me anxiously, grabbing my hand and then pulling me towards the building. "They've got Jackson."

"Oh, what?" I spluttered out and forced my feet to move as quickly as Stiles. We pushed through the doors and, once again, were thrown into the party. Instead of going the way I had gone, we turned to the left and went down a dark hallway before coming up to a door.

Stiles opened it and we both ducked as a clawed hand came swinging at our faces. "No, no, no! It's just me!" He yelled out as Erica and Isaac both took a large step back. "Don't freak."

My hand now released, I wandered into what looked to be a bathroom. A chair had been placed on the other side, a sink just off to the right of it. The walls were lined with random pieces of sheet metal and a fluorescent light hung from the ceiling. Jackson was sitting upright and unconscious in the chair, his head leaning on his shoulder. For a moment, it almost looked as though he were peacefully sleeping. However, I knew that wasn't the case.

"Is he…alright?" I asked softly, swallowing hard past the nerves in my throat and making sure to keep a safe distance between me and him.

"Well…" Isaac began and went to stand just on the other side of Jackson. "Let's find out."

Isaac raised his hand and jerked it slightly, claws suddenly protruding from each of his fingertips. Raising his arms back, he swung it down to slash across Jackson's chest, but he was stopped. With his eyes still shut, Jackson came up to grip Isaac's wrist. I began to hear what sounded like bones cracking and Isaac let out yelp of pain, his knees buckling beneath him. Stiles placed his arm across my chest to guide me back further as I stared with wide eyes. Finally, Isaac managed to pull away from Jackson and stumbled backwards, clutching onto his wounded wrist.

"Okay, no one does anything like that again!" Stiles ordered, wagging his arms around and looking between the two betas. Erica nodded, her face hiding nothing.

"God, I thought the ketamine was supposed to put him out." Isaac admitted weakly, still doubled over at the waist.

"Yeah, well, apparently this is all we're going to get." Stiles responded flatly, gesturing at the unconscious kanima and then back to Isaac. "So, let's just hope that whoever's controlling him just decided to show up tonight."

As if on cue, Jackson's eyes suddenly snapped open, and his body jerked back to existence. "I'm here." He spoke and it was though his voice weren't his own. It was deep and raspy which made it much more unsettling. It also sounded like it was mixed with another person's voice, someone I couldn't recognize. His gaze was vacant and lifeless. "I'm right here with you."

"Ask and you shall receive." I hummed, my tone shaking what with the nerves that were raiding every inch of my body. "Somehow I hate this even more than him being an actual lizard."

Stiles carefully took a few steps closer to Jackson, bending at the knees so that their gazes were at the same level. My fingernails dug into my palms, the anxiety of Stiles being so close to Jackson making it harder to even breathe.

"Jackson, is that you?" Stiles asked softly, watching the lacrosse captain carefully.

"Us." Jackson responded, despondently staring off into a random part of the room. "We're all here."

Stiles glanced over his shoulder at the three of us worriedly before returning to Jackson. "Are you the one killing people?" He then inquired.

"We are the ones killing murderers." Jackson corrected, his tone sharp and almost angry.

"So, all the people you've killed so far—"

"—deserved it." Jackson interjected through gritted teeth.

"See we've got a little rule book that says you only go after murderers." Stiles informed Jackson, keeping his speech balanced.

"Anything can break if enough pressure's applied." Jackson responded matter of factly.

"So, the people you're killing are all murderers, then?" I then spoke up, unable to keep myself silent for much longer. The thoughts were pondering at the front of my head, begging to release themselves. This was the closest we had ever gotten to speaking with whoever was controlling the kanima and the closest we had ever gotten to getting real answers.

"All." Jackson repeated. "Each. Every. One."

"Well, who did they murder?" Stiles probed further and I could hear slight apprehension in his voice. Jackson's words were unsettling, to say the least, and I could feel everyone in the room twitching.

"Me."

A/N: First off, I'd like to apologize for such a late update! I had planned to upload at least a few days after Thanksgiving, but I got super busy with work. I finally got the time to sit down and pump this chapter out. I decided to let it run a bit longer and add some spice to it for making everyone wait!

As always, please leave updates, I love them so very much!

- Laura