"Call me the underdog gonna make you a believer yeah

I don't ever ever wanna look back

The future's blurry but the past is a trap

I might be staring at my last chance"

Cold-Blooded by Zayde Wølf

Stiles and I knelt on either side of Derek's unconscious body. Stiles shook him forcefully, calling out his name, then slapped him, but nothing happened. I shoved Stiles away before he slapped him again. He was just wasting time. Placing a hand on Derek's arm, I felt the familiar surge of power course through my veins as I sent a small burst of fire to my hand.

Derek sat up with a start. He looked around, his confusion turning into anger. "Where is she?" he asked.

"Jennifer?" Stiles said. "Gone, with Scott's mom."

"She took her?"

"No, Derek, Melissa was taken by another psychopath," I said sarcastically. "Yes, your ex-girlfriend took her." At least, I hoped Ms. Blake had become his ex. If not, Derek needed to sort out his priorities.

"If that's not enough of a kick to the balls, Scott left with Deucalion, okay?" Stiles added. "So, we gotta get you out. The police are coming right now, and we gotta get you the hell out of here." Stiles and I helped Derek off the floor.

"Whoa, what about Cora?" Derek asked.

"Hopefully, she's long gone with Isaac and Peter," I answered. "Now, let's go."

Stiles and I stayed at the hospital to talk to the cops while Derek left. Stiles handed me his flannel, and I buttoned it up to cover the bloodied mess that was my shirt after using the small clean part to clean the blood off my face.

I folded my arms over my chest as we sat down in the chairs in front of the nurse's station. My body involuntarily twitched a few times as I shivered due to the draftiness of the hospital.

Stiles noticed and frowned. "Hey, are you okay?" he asked.

"I'm cold," I told him simply.

"What? That's impossible. You always feel like you're burning up." I shrugged in response, and he reached over, wrapping his arm around my shoulders and rubbing my upper arm. "You feel like you're at a normal human temp. Is it because of what happened earlier, do you think? You know, what Peter said about becoming one with your fox-spirit or whatever?"

"Maybe it is. I wouldn't exactly know what a normal human temperature is anyway. And it's not like I have my mom to tell me."

It grew quiet between us, neither of us wanting to talk about what had happened. Scott left, Melissa and Noah were missing, my mom was something, Ms. Blake had escaped, Cora was still sick, and Riichi and Boyd were still in comas. But wow, at least I had become one with my fox at long last, at least, I assumed. I hadn't felt my fox-spirit stirring or wanting to be in control since we had faced off against the twins. That was a crappy bright side to the shithole we had landed ourselves in.

When the police and FBI arrived, at first they really only talked to us to make sure we were okay while they checked out the rest of the building. Then Stiles tensed up, his arm still around me as he looked towards the door. I turned to see what he was looking at. A tall man in a suit with his FBI badge hanging around his neck was looking over at us then started walking over.

Stiles sighed and muttered, "Just perfect."

"What, do you know him?" I asked quietly, but I didn't get an answer as the agent stopped right in front of us.

The agent looked down at us, particularly at Stiles. "A Stilinski at the center of this whole mess," he began. "What a shocker. Think you can answer some questions without your usual level of sarcasm?"

"If you can ask the questions without the usual level of stupid," Stiles retorted.

Since Stiles didn't like him, I automatically didn't like him, too. "And it seems like you're already at that level, so sorry for your loss," I added.

The agent ignored me, continuing to stare at Stiles. "Where's your dad, and why has nobody been able to contact him?"

"I don't know. I haven't seen him in hours," Stiles answered. That was actually the truth.

"Is he drinking again?"

I furrowed my eyebrows at the agent's question. Insensitive, rude, and utterly douchey. No wonder Stiles didn't like him.

Stiles sighed. "What do you mean 'again?' He never had to stop."

"But he did have to slow down," the agent corrected. "Is he drinking like he used to?"

That's when Stiles lost all politeness and semblance of cooperation, extracting his arm from my shoulders and glaring at the FBI agent. "Alright, how about this, next time I see him, I'll give him a field sobriety test, okay? We'll do the alphabet. Start with F, end with U."

The agent smiled at Stiles's snark. "How about one of you tell me what the hell happened here?"

"We were stuck in the elevator the whole time," I answered so Stiles didn't have to. "That doesn't exactly breed much opportunity to get into trouble, Agent. . ." I trailed off to allow him the opportunity of giving me his name. I wanted to think of something clever.

"McCall."

My eyebrows sky-rocketed, and I leaned forward in my seat. "You're Scott's dad?" I pointed at him, completely confused as to how that was even possible. "Adorable, puppy dog Scott McCall is the son of Agent Douchebag?" I shook my head and leaned back. "And I thought I had parental issues."

Agent McCall gritted his teeth. "You're not the ones who put the name on the doors, are you?"

"What name?" Stiles asked.

"Argent."

Stiles and I met up with Chris and Allison the moment we were able to leave the hospital, and we explained what had happened and how their name was on the elevator doors.

Chris unlocked their apartment door and we followed him inside. "The word is 'guardian,' Allison," Chris was saying. "More than anyone, you know that's a role I haven't exactly lived up to lately."

Stiles closed the door after us and we followed the Argents into Chris's office. I almost blushed at the thought of what happened last time I had been in their apartment, but I forced myself to push that thought aside.

"But she took Scott's mother and Stiles's father," Allison argued. "That's not a coincidence."

"Yeah, I'd also consider the fact that someone put your name up in large block letters on the elevator doors," Stiles added, using hand motions as emphasis. "That kind of felt like a warning to me."

"And she's clearly had access to my parents but didn't deem them worthy enough of guardianship to kidnap," I continued, taking a seat in one of the chairs. "She probably wanted something more meaningful and symbolic."

"I think Morrell put up the name," Allison said. "She knows a lot more than she lets on, and she might even be trying to help us."

"Probably because what Ms. Blake and the Alpha Pack are doing is considered unnatural even in the supernatural world," I pointed out. "And Druids are supposed to be protectors of nature. And non-violent."

"Well, she needs to get on that a lot faster, okay? Seeing as that the lunar eclipse is less than two freaking nights away." Stiles sat down in the other chair, looking dejected and hopeless.

"Stiles, don't give up hope," Chris told him.

"He could already be dead," Stiles said.

Chris shook his head. "I don't think so. There's something about Jennifer's tactics. It's like she's still positioning, still moving pieces into place."

"And you're one of them," Allison said.

"Then let's not wait around to see her next move." Chris pulled out a map of the town and currents and laid it out on the desk. "Everything she's done has been on a telluric current. So Melissa and the sheriff have to be somewhere on one of those currents, right?"

I suddenly had an epiphany, sitting up in the chair. "What if that's why she did something to my mom? My mom knows where they are. She's not enough of a guardian to be a sacrifice or maybe killing a kitsune wouldn't be the same as a human, but she has the ability to foil Jennifer's plans."

"That would make sense," Allison agreed. "She couldn't let someone know that without doing something about it. That's why Harris was taken and Danny was puking mistletoe. They both knew something." We both looked at Chris who was looking at Stiles.

"Stiles, if we're gonna find them, we need your help," the veteran hunter said.

"You seriously wanna go after her?" Stiles asked, bouncing his leg. "And what if she just takes you like the others, huh? No offense, but what's the difference between you and them?"

Chris pulled out a gun and readied the bullets. "I'm carrying a .45. Maybe she can heal from a shot to the leg and a few slashes to the face, but personally, I'd like to see how she holds up with half her skull blown off." He set his gun down on the desk. How is he so attractive? "We've got one priority right now, and that is to find Melissa and your dad. We've got a map and every clue we need to figure this out. The only thing we don't have is time. Which is why I need all three of you."

I wasn't sure how much help I'd be considering I'm not the best with mysteries. Games, yes. Mysteries, no.

Stiles sighed and looked up. "Where do we start?"

Chris grinned and pulled out the blacklight to show the hidden markings on the map. Stiles and I stood up and leaned against the desk next to Allison. "The place where the sacrifices have been committed have usually been different than where the bodies have been found," Chris explained, shining the light on the map. "I think the placement has to do with the strength of the current. So, there's the school, the animal clinic, the bank."

"Wait a sec," Stiles said, letting his detective gears run. "She wouldn't use the same place twice, would she?"

"Only if she didn't succeed the first time."

"Deaton at the bank," I said.

"It was her only failure," Chris agreed. "That could mean something."

"That's just one place so far," Stiles said. "We're gonna need a lot more help."

Allison looked at Stiles and I. "What about Lydia?"

"Lydia?" Chris repeated. "What can she do?"

"Uh, Lydia's got sort of a talent," Stiles explained. "She somehow ended up finding a couple of the bodies, um, without actually looking for them."

"Well, what is she? Psychic?"

"She's something."

Allison looked at me again. "What about your brother? He's a kitsune right?"

I shook my head. "He's still in a coma, like Boyd. Until they come out of it, they're not going to be of any help." She opened her mouth to ask something else, but I cut her off before she could. "And no, my dad isn't supernatural. He's human and not very handy in a fight. And Derek and Peter won't be leaving Cora's side anytime soon unless they find a way to heal her. We're on our own."

"Personally? I still like those odds," Chris said with a grin. "Allison, let's do some unpacking."

I watched with a bizarre fascination as Allison and Chris began unloading various weaponry, setting guns on the desk and pulling out knives. Meanwhile, the sun was coming up and none of us had gotten any sleep.

Chris picked up a rather large gun, and Stiles said, "Whoa," and took a step back. I looked over to Allison to see her twirl some knives. Stiles eyed the gun that Chris set down. "I thought you guys retired."

"Retired, yes. Defenseless, no," Chris corrected. "Now, make sure your phone's on. If you hear from Scott, you let us know immediately."

Stiles pulled out his phone and looked at it. "Yeah, I'm thinking that's gonna be kind of unlikely."

"And mine's dead, so. . ." I chimed in. "But I'll try to charge it at school."

"All of you, try to remember he's just doing what he thinks is right," Chris said, hands on his waist.

The floor in the hall creaked, and we all turned to see Isaac standing in the doorway. "I can't shoot a gun, use a crossbow, or shoot fire from my hands, but, well, I'm getting pretty good with these." He held up his left hand, flicking out his claws.

Chris nodded. "Alright." He looked at me. "You should probably shower before going anywhere. Get that blood off."

Allison held out her arm as I nodded, and she led me to the bathroom. "I'll get some clothes you can borrow," she said. "Towels are in the closet."

"Thanks, Allie."

I hadn't realized just how much I needed a warm, relaxing shower until I stepped under the water and washed away all the blood. But the moment I left it, I felt cold, colder than I ever remembered feeling. Allison let me borrow a pair of leggings, a black top, and a sweatshirt, knowing I'd prefer it over her dresses and skirts and floral blouses. The warmth of the sweatshirt was nice. It was strange to actually feel it.

Before the incident at the hospital, the temperature never really affected me. I could wear as many or as few clothes as I wanted and still feel the exact same. I kind of missed it, but there was something about curling up in the warm sweatshirt that I liked.

With Stiles, we drove to Lydia's house and explained what happened. I was briefly surprised she hadn't covered up the nasty bruise around her neck from the garote Ms. Blake had used to strangle her until I remembered Lydia had a new sense of confidence since she and Jackson had broken up.

The three of us sat in Lydia's living room. "I don't believe it," Lydia said. "Scott can't really be with them. He can't be."

"He is," I said. "He didn't think he had a better option. The look on his face was. . . It was heartwrenching. It reminded me of the night at the motel."

Lydia nodded, understanding completely. "Then what can I do? I mean, I get that I'm some kind of, like, human Geiger counter for death. But I don't know how to turn it on and off yet. All I know is that she tried to kill me because of-" She cut herself off, remembering something.

"Because of what?" Stiles pressed. "Hey, Lydia, what?"

"When she called me a banshee, she was surprised by it. What if that's not why she tried to kill me?"

"Then why did she?" I asked. "She had to have a reason."

Lydia nodded, a look of determination coming on. "That's what we need to find out."

Once at school, I got separated from Stiles and Lydia when charging my phone. Thankfully, I had learned in middle school to never leave the house without my phone charger, but having to sit in the library during my open hour to charge it, thus being separated from Stiles and Lydia who were searching for the twins, didn't exactly set me up for a better day.

I sat there silently grumbling and attempting to do homework as my phone inched from twenty-one percent to twenty-two percent when my phone vibrated. I had already swiped aside the missed call from my dad that I decided to deal with later because school wasn't the place I wanted to be to figure what happened to my mom, along with the missed texts from Isaac, Stiles, and Derek from last night, so I picked up my phone to see what the new one was.

Moon Moon: Argent gave himself up. Jennifer took him.

I scowled. He what? I immediately packed up my things and went in search of Stiles and Lydia. It took a few good minutes to find them rushing through the halls. I caught up with them. "You got the text, too?" I asked, noticing how they both looked frantic.

"Yeah," Stiles answered. "Now we're going to Morrell's office."

The three of us got there and Stiles opened the door without knocking, but Morrell wasn't there. Instead, Danielle, another junior, sat in the empty office. I had seen her around the school and had a few classes with her, but that was the extent of our acquaintanceship.

"Are you here for Ms. Morrell?" Stiles asked her.

"No, I thought this was gym class," Danielle replied.

"Sweetheart, we're not in the mood for funny," Lydia said. "Do you know where she is?"

Danielle gestured to the desk. "If I did, I wouldn't be waiting here for twenty minutes. So how about you three back out the door and wait your turn."

"We're not here for a session."

"Well, I am," Danielle said. "And I've got some serious issues to work on."

"Hey, wait, wait," Stiles cut in. "You're Danielle. You're Heather's best friend."

"I was Heather's best friend," Danielle corrected. "We've been working on that issue three times a week."

"Hold on," Lydia said. "Did you say Ms. Morrell was twenty minutes late?"

"And I don't know why either. She's always on time."

Lydia turned to Stiles and me. "I was seeing her at the beginning of the semester. She was never late."

"Then she's not late, she's missing," Stiles said.

"What if we're not the only ones who think she knows something?" I asked.

Stiles looked at her desk. "Then I wanna know what she knows." He walked over to Morrell's desk, pushing aside the chair and kneeling behind it.

"What are you doing?" Danielle asked.

"Trying to find her," Stiles answered, opening the desk drawer and sorting through the folders.

"Those files are private," Danielle said.

"Yeah, she's kind of right," Lydia agreed.

Stiles held out a file. "That one's yours."

"Let me see that." Lydia snatched her file away and opened it.

He then pulled out another file. "And Sara's."

I made a small happy noise and grabbed my file with a grin. I wanted to see what the unreadable woman had to say about me from the single session we had last semester. I opened mine as Lydia sorted through hers. My eyes drifted away to Lydia's and I spotted a drawing of a tree. It looked exactly like the one I had seen her draw in class and the one she started drawing when we were trying to use her to find Deaton.

Lowering my file, I said, "Hey, Lyd, that's your drawing."

She glanced down at it, uninterested. "Yeah, I know. It's a tree."

"Yeah, it's good, too," Danielle praised, looking at it.

Stiles saw where I was going with it. "No, Lydia, that's the same one."

"Same as what?" Lydia asked.

"It's the same one you're always drawing in class," I said. "Like always. It's the same exact tree."

Stiles moved behind Lydia and pulled her notebook out of her bag, opened it, and set it on the desk in front of us next to Morrell's copy of the drawing. "There, see?" Stiles pointed at the trees. Stiles began turning the pages, revealing multiple copies of the same tree.

"Okay, you can have my session," Danielle blurted, grabbing her bag. "You've got bigger issues." She then left the room, leaving us alone with an ass-load of tree drawings.

"Wait, tree," I mumbled. I grabbed the notebook, shooing Stiles's hand away. I then turned the drawing upside down. The drawing matched roots a lot better than a treetop. "What if it's not a tree, but its roots?"

"The Nemeton," Stiles said. "That's where they are." We then left the room, leaving the files there. "That's where she's keeping them. It has to be."

"Stilinski! Todd!" a voice called out from down the hall. Near the front door were Agent Douchebag and two deputies.

"Ugh," Stiles groaned. He turned to Lydia. "Alright, go to Derek, okay? He and Peter, they've been there, so they'll know where it is. Tell them it's the root cellar, alright? They'll know." Lydia didn't look too happy, but she left anyway. Stiles and I turned around to see Agent Douchebag right behind us.

"Can we help you?" I asked.

"Did you know your dad's car is in the school parking lot and has been since last night?" Agent McCall asked Stiles.

Stiles shook his head. "No. What does that mean?"

"It means he's officially missing." He finally looked at me. "And so's your mom. Apparently, she didn't show up to any of her client meetings yesterday or today. So, let's go find a place to talk."

Stiles and I followed Agent Douchebag to an empty classroom. Scott's dad sat on the teacher's desk while Stiles sat on the students' desk in front of him and I leaned against the one next to it.

"Stiles, Sara, why am I getting the feeling you know something that could help us find your parents?" McCall asked. He wasn't wrong, but there was no way we were going to tell him an evil Druid kidnapped or transfigured our parents. He'd think we're insane and send us to Eichen House. Then there would be no one to actually fix all this.

"If we did, why would we not tell you?" Stiles countered.

"If it meant helping your parents, why wouldn't you?"

Stiles nodded. "So, you're asking me to tell you what I wouldn't not tell you?" I blinked a few times, trying to understand what he said.

Agent Douchebag didn't quite understand either. "First, I have no idea what you just said. Second, how about you just help me help you?"

"Well, I don't know how to help you help me tell you something that would help you if I don't know it."

"Are you doing this on purpose?"

I pinched the bridge of my nose. "I swear, if I ever have children, I hope they're not like you," I said.

"As long as it's Scott you have children with," Stiles muttered.

"What?" I asked.

"What?" he replied.

I narrowed my eyes at him and raised an eyebrow, and he eyed me back, almost like he was daring me to say something, but I decided against it, turning back to Agent Douchebag who still looked confused. "We don't know anything," I told Agent McCall. "Can we just go?"

"Where are your other friends?" McCall asked.

"You mean Scott?" Stiles said.

Agent McCall opened a small notepad and began reading from it. "I mean Scott, I mean Isaac Lahey, Allison Argent, these twins, Ethan and Aiden, Vernon Boyd, who has gone missing yet again." He put away the notepad. "I've been told your whole little clique didn't show up at school."

"We don't have a clique," Stiles said, venom dripping from his words. Nah, it's more of a pack, and Ethan and Aiden are definitely not in it.

"Stiles, Sara, come on. There's been a pretty disturbing amount of violent activity in this county in the last few months. Several murders tied to this school. I don't know what's going on, but it's serious. And. . . Hey." He spotted Stiles staring off, not particularly paying attention. "Your parents are missing." Neither of us responded, simply looking away. Agent McCall stood. "Fine. But I don't want you going home alone. You have someone you can stay with tonight?"

I was about to say Stiles was staying with me, but another voice cut in before I could. "He's with me." We turned to see Dr. Deaton standing in the doorway of the classroom.

"Fantastic," I said and waved. "Hey, Doc!"

Deaton nodded curtly. "Sara, Stiles, come on."

Stiles and I picked up our bags and quickly left Agent McCall behind, following Deaton.

"It has to be on a telluric current, or maybe even at the axis of two, or where they all intersect," Stiles explained. "I just know it's where Derek took Paige to die."

We stood in the exam room at the animal clinic with Lydia, Isaac, Allison, and Deaton. Lydia had told us Peter and Derek didn't know where the Nemeton was located because Talia had taken away the memory from them so they wouldn't go back to it. She said my mom knew, but I told her something had happened to my mom, and with everything going on, I still hadn't called my dad or gone home.

"And my mom obviously isn't here to tell us where that is," I said not-so-helpfully. "She never told me where it was either, probably so I wouldn't get curious."

"Then how do we find this place?" Isaac asked.

We all turned to Deaton, expecting the Druid to know where the Druid meeting place would be. "There might be a way," Deaton said. "But it's dangerous. We're gonna need Scott."

"Just how dangerous is it?" I asked, standing up straight and folding my arms over my chest. "Like ballpark, scale of one to ten?"

Deaton met my eye with a grave look on his face. "Eleven."

"Well, that sounds horrifying," Stiles said. "What's the plan?"

"Remember at the beginning of the semester, the ice bath we put Isaac in to unlock his subconscious mind?" We nodded to answer the vet. "It's sort of the same process, except instead of hypnosis, you'll need to go a step further and basically be dead." Before we could all ask a question, Deaton continued. "Essentially, Stiles, Scott, and Allison will need to be surrogate sacrifices for their parents."

"But it's not permanent, right?" I clarified, waving my hand. "Like it's just long enough to find their parents then they'll be kicking and breathing again, right?"

"Theoretically."

"The-" I cut myself off, shaking my head. "Never mind. I'm not going to ask. If this is the only option, I'd say let's do it, but I'm not the one dying." I clapped my hands and huffed, glancing between Stiles and Allison. "What do you guys say? It's your choice."

Slowly, they both nodded. Allison looked up from the table. "What do we need to do?"

Deaton instructed us to get ice from various gas stations, but before we could leave, he grabbed me by the arm, keeping me back in the exam room.

"What's up, Doc?" I asked uncomfortably as he eyed me skeptically.

"Something seems different with you," he answered vaguely. His grip loosened on my arm but didn't let it go completely. Deaton looked down at his hand on my arm. "You're colder than you used to be. Your spirit, is it. . ."

"Hidden? I think so."

Deaton nodded, a budding sense of pride filling his expression. "You released your grip on it. Good. Did you have a weapon on you when you hid it?"

"Just a kunai, why?"

"I think you'll find it's not the same as it was."

I walked to my car to find Isaac waiting for me. Allison and Lydia were already pulling out of the parking lot.

"Everything alright?" Isaac asked as I neared. "What did Deaton want?"

I unlocked the doors of my car. "He recognized something had changed," I answered. Opening the door, I climbed into my car. Isaac sat down in the passenger seat.

Isaac looked at me oddly as I started the vehicle. "What changed?"

Reaching into my jacket pocket, I pulled out the kunai I had at the hospital. The moment I gripped the black knife, I dropped it in shock.

"Sara?" His voice was small and filled with concern at my reaction.

Gingerly, I picked up the weapon. It definitely had changed. With one hand I held the kunai and with the other, I grabbed the kunai-necklace. Breaking out into a grin, I huffed, shook my head, and turned to Isaac. "It's another tail. At the-at the hospital, I listened to Peter's advice to release my control and fear over my spirit, and now. . ." I looked down at the kunai. "I have another tail."

"I can't believe we're doing this," Isaac said as I drove to the nearest gas station.

It had taken a little too long for me to get over having earned another tail, but once I did, Isaac and I left the clinic to go purchase bags of ice.

"What can't you believe?" I asked, glancing over at him. "We've done plenty of dangerous things before. And remember, it's not even us doing it. It's Scott, Stiles, and Allison." I watched my best friend chew on his bottom lip, and I remembered what I had noticed at the hospital. "That's just it, isn't it?" He turned to me, confused. I smirked and fully focused on the road. "You like Allison."

"What, no," he answered quickly, his voice rising. "I-I don't. No, I don't like Allison."

I nodded, still smirking. "Uh, huh."

Isaac cleared his throat. "How'd you know?"

"You only cared about her opinion when you said Ms. Blake is hot. And you kinda keep following her around."

He winced, probably not having realized that himself. "I'm sorry."

My eyebrows pinched together. "Why are you sorry?" I asked. "You have no reason to be."

"We literally, like, just broke up."

"And how long had our feelings not been truly romantic?" He didn't reply. "That's what I thought. It was romantic for all of like five minutes. All the feelings were before we got together. I thought we went over this. We stayed together despite the disappearance of romantic feelings because we were comfortable, that's it. I'm not going to be jealous or offended at you liking someone else now. Instead, I'm going to do my duty as your best friend and tease you about it. But we should probably stop the forehead kisses and practically cuddling if you ever want anyone to not believe we're still dating."

"You've got a point," he said. "It's just so natural, you know? We've been at it for like six years."

I snorted and nodded. "Tell me about it."

After buying as many bags of ice as we could, we all met back at the animal clinic. Before returning, Allison, Stiles, and Scott had grabbed something personal that belonged to their parents in order to connect them through whatever mystical realm or thought they were going into. Magic was weird.

Isaac, Deaton, Lydia, and I poured bags of ice along with herbs into three giant tubs like Isaac had been in about a month and a half prior. As we were finishing up, Stiles and Scott arrived.

With all three surrogate sacrifices present, Deaton asked, "Alright, what did you bring?"

"Um, I got my dad's badge," Stiles said first, holding the metal in his hand. "Jennifer kind of crushed it in her hand, so I tried hammering it out a bit. Still doesn't look great."

"It doesn't need to look good if it has meaning," Deaton assured.

Isaac looked down at what Allison had in her hand. "Is that an actual silver bullet?" he asked.

"Yeah," Allison answered. "My dad made it as kind of a ceremonial thing. When one of us finishes learning all the skills to be a hunter, we forge a silver bullet as a testament to the Code."

Deaton then looked at the last to reveal their item. "Scott?"

Scott opened his hand, showing a brown leather and gold watch. "My dad got my mom this watch when she first got hired at the hospital," he explained. "She used to say it was the only thing in her marriage that ever worked." That made sense considering his dad seemed like a total douchebag. Wait, does Scott know his dad is in town?

"Okay. The three of you will get in. The others will each hold you down until you're essentially, well, dead," Deaton explained. "But it's not just someone to hold you under. It needs to be someone who can pull you back. Someone that has a strong connection to you, a kind of emotional tether."

I frowned and glanced at the three. I didn't think I had a particularly emotional connection with any of them, but if Lydia went with Allison, it'd make sense for Isaac to go with Scott and me to go with Stiles. I guess we had a bond through our shared sarcasm and wit? I hoped that was enough.

Lydia moved to go with Allison, but Deaton's voice stopped her. "Lydia, you go with Stiles." We all grew confused, glancing between each other. That threw a wrench in the plans.

"Are you sure?" Allison asked. "I mean, Scott and I both have to go under."

"And as awesome as Allie is, we don't exactly share a bond," I added.

Deaton didn't falter, and Allison's eyes drifted up to Isaac's. We all realized what he was implying.

"I knew I wasn't the only one thinking it!" I exclaimed, pointing at Isaac and Allison with an 'I told you so' grin. My excited nod then slowed to a stop. "Wait, that means. . ." I trailed off as I turned to Scott. His eyes widened, and he quickly looked away. I opened my mouth then closed it, not sure what to say. I guess that explained the closet.

Isaac's face grew red as he fought off a smile, so I glared at him. The asshole wanted to laugh. I wanted to stab him.

It was silent in the room as everyone became extremely awkward, except Deaton it seemed since he just outed secrets across the board. The three surrogate sacrifices took their spots at each of the tubs with Stiles in the center one and Allison and Scott on either side of him. They each took off their shoes, socks, and jackets, setting them aside as they mentally prepared themselves for what was about to happen.

I stood behind Scott as they all climbed into the freezing cold tubs, each of them shivering. They sunk into the water.

Stiles looked at Scott. "By the way, uh, if I don't make it back and you do, you should probably know something," Stiles said. "Your dad's in town."

Scott didn't say anything. It seemed like he couldn't say anything. He faced forward again. I couldn't tell if he was shivering because of the cold or because of the news since he looked shaken.

Deaton motioned for Isaac, Lydia, and I to get ready. We took a few steps forward, and I rolled up the sleeves to the hoodie I was wearing. I put my hands on Scott's shoulders, and together, all three of us pushed them under, holding them down.

Before Scott became unconscious, I saw his eyes open and flash the bright yellow I had come to know.