Scott called Derek and told him what we'd found whilst I stood as far away as I possibly could, relaying what was going on to Stiles but so far, he hadn't answered any of my messages, or Scott's apparently. Of all the times to not be near your phone, Stiles, this is probably the worst! Lifting my head from where I'd perched myself for the time being, I listened as Scott described Jackson's condition, unable to hear the response due to my unfortunate lack of super hearing. I guess it was kind of unfair that Scott and Isaac had such conveniently useful abilities that I lacked.
Super speed, super strength, enhanced hearing, sight, smell and so on. They could heal themselves almost instantly and without even needing to think about it, and they could grow claws and fangs which could dispense with pretty much any opponent who came their way. So far, I had no enhanced hearing, my eyesight only improved in pitch black conditions, my speed and stamina were the same as they've always been, and if I wanted to heal, I had to sit in a bathtub and sing to myself. Not exactly convenient, considering I might not always be near water when injured.
Though, I had discovered some other cool new talents that they couldn't do, but I was saving those for another time. Right now, I think the only useful thing I might be able to do is sing one of Melusine's songs to Jackson if he were to wake up. It was a song to invoke peace among listeners, dispelling all inclinations of violence and threat, something that we sirens had apparently practiced for millennia in times of naval war. An interesting fact, I admit. At least it wasn't all about dragging sailors to the depths of the ocean to devour them. Mythology really gave us a bad name.
"I'm not sure if we have time for that." Scott was saying, drawing me out of my thoughts. Staying silent a few moments more, Scott finally put his phone away and nodded towards Jackson. "We're getting him out of here. Help me Isaac."
"Are you sure we can trust them?" I asked the million dollar question, giving pause to everyone in the room. "I mean, they have both tried to kill things they couldn't solve. Are we really going to entrust Jackson's life to them?"
"We don't exactly have that many options at the moment." Granted, he had a point. So together Scott and Isaac steered the gurney that Jackson was resting on whilst I scouted ahead, making sure the coast was clear. Scott said a quick goodbye to his mom, promising to be careful at her request before pushing Jackson's cocooned body out of the morgue. "Let's just hope Derek and Peter have a plan."
"Somehow, I doubt their plan extends past 'just kill him and be done with it'." I noted quietly, lifting my hand to make them stop as a couple of nurses walked past. At least it was late at night so there were less people in the hospital to notice a couple of teenagers running around with a dead body. "But whatever's happening to Jackson right now, I have a feeling it's not good. He kind of looks like he's cocooning himself like a caterpillar, and although caterpillars turn into butterflies, I think it's unlikely he'll be transforming into something cute and fluttery."
Waving them forwards, we got Jackson out one of the back entrances before the boys had to carry him themselves, keeping out of sight before we hurried to get to my car. I can't believe we're going to put that think in my car. Gross. Just as we got to the car park, Scott dropped his end of Jackson and the resounding squishing sound was just vile and rather sickening to the ear. This has to be one of the most disgusting things I have ever done in my life.
Before we could make any further progress, a car turned into the parking lot and stopped right in front of us, making me tense up as Mr Argent got out. At first I worried that he might be here to kill Scott and Isaac, but when I took a moment to register his intentions, I found a surprising amount of purity in his heart, a resolution of conflict which had driven him to do the right thing. He was here to help us. "You're alone."
"More than you know." Mr Argent nodded, looking first at Scott, then Isaac and then me. I gave a shaky smile and timid wave, hoping he wouldn't presume that I too was a werewolf. Scott remained on edge, asking what Mr Argent wanted whilst keeping a firm stance in front of Jackson's body. "We don't have much in common, Scott, but at the moment, we have a common enemy." Thinking that he meant Jackson, Scott gestured to him.
"That's why I'm trying to get him out of here."
"I didn't mean Jackson." I think I knew who. Gerard. The sooner somebody gets around to putting that old man six feet under, the better I'd feel sleeping at night. That guy was a catastrophe waiting to happen, and I had a feeling his endgame was in sight. "Gerard has twisted his way into Allison's head, the same way he did with Kate. I'm losing her, and I know you're losing her too." Mr Argent nodded towards Scott who understood entirely what he meant.
"You're right. So can you trust me to fix this?" After a moment's pause, he inclined his head acceptingly. "Then can you let us go?"
"No." Hesitating only a moment to let us stew slightly, Mr Argent jerked his thumb behind him. "My car is faster." Oh thank god, now we don't have to use mine. Mr Argent opened up the back doors so that Scott and Isaac could put Jackson in, watching as I quietly walked up and awkwardly said hello. "Cordy, I didn't expect to see you here."
"Trust me, I didn't expect to be here, but you know how it is. Someone has to keep an eye on those two." I answered weakly, trying to make a joke but failed miserably. I shifted nervously, concerned about what Mr Argent would think but he merely smiled at me kindly, reassuring me that I wasn't going to become a target just because I hung out with werewolves. "Oh thank god, because I'm not actually a werewolf at all."
"I also know you're not normal."
"Oh, crap." Cracking a small laugh, Mr Argent let me ride shotgun before peeling out of the hospital parking lot, heading towards the address Derek had given them. "Has someone texted Stiles? He should probably get Lydia to come. If anyone can get through to the real Jackson then it'll be her."
"Yeah I'll let him know." Scott quickly set to it as I turned back around then sighed, trying to ignore the twitching body bag in the back. It was an awkward journey, no one really knowing what to say so when we pulled up at the deserted warehouse, I was glad to get out of that confined space of awkwardness.
"Where's Derek?" Mr Argent questioned, seeing no sign of the alpha. I leaned out the door whilst standing up in the car, gaining a height vantage as we all saw Derek come lolloping, yes, lolloping towards us on all fours before he pushed off the ground and landed a summersault, eyes blooming deep vermillion in a rather flashy entrance which I'm fairly certain was a tad excessive. Derek immediately looked at Mr Argent with suspicious and caution, the pair not having the best in terms of personal history. "I'm here for Jackson. Not you."
"Somehow, I don't find that very comforting." Derek returned curtly, the two of them sharing a frosty exchange before he turned to Scott. "Get him inside." Mr Argent drove the car further into the warehouse so that we were completely out of sight and I jumped down, hugging Danny's sweater against me for warmth and comfort as Derek approached Jackson's body.
"Where are they?" Stopping beside him, Derek faltered slightly before questioning who Scott meant. Hold on, hold on something's not right. This feeling I'm getting, it feels like Derek has made some kind of decision, and not a good one either. His heart was clouded, as if his decision had warped his sense of self somewhat. "Peter and Lydia." Ignoring Scott, Derek began to open the bag and I started forwards, hand jumping upwards unintentionally and the movement was caught by both Isaac and Mr Argent. "Whoa, hold on a second. You said you knew how to save him."
"We're past that."
"What about…?"
"Think about it, Scott. Gerard controls him now." Derek raised his voice, trying to get Scott to see it his way as he stood over him, ready to claw him to pieces. To kill him. "He's turned Jackson into his own personal guard dog, and he set all of this in motion so that Jackson could get even bigger and more powerful."
"No." Mr Argent shook his head in denial, hearing this for the first time. "No, he wouldn't do that. If Jackson's a dog, he's turning rabid, and my father wouldn't let a rabid dog live."
"Of course not." Hearing Gerard's voice was the last thing I expected at that moment, so when we all saw him standing there, I felt my pulse quicken and sweat begin to dampen my skin. "Anything that dangerous, that out of control…is better off dead." Taking his chance, Derek had lifted his clawed hand in order to slice Jackson open, but before he could even make his attack or anyone could stop him, Jackson woke up and suddenly thrust his hand up into Derek's abdomen, causing me to shriek in horror and clap my hands to my mouth as Jackson lifted Derek clean off the ground, blood already dribbling from his mouth.
Jackson stood up, holding Derek aloft with just the one arm then tossed him away like a ragdoll. Mr Argent quickly pulled out a gun and armed it, ushering me to stand behind him and I gripped onto his jacket as he then gripped his gun with both hands for a steady aim. "Well done to the last, Scott. Like the concerned friend you are, you brought Jackson to Derek to save him." Gerard drawled victoriously, already celebrating his victory over us for having made us play right into his hands. How did he even know where we were? Did he track Mr Argent's car? "You just didn't realize that you were also bringing Derek to me."
A sudden hiss in the air caught my ears and before I knew it, Isaac had dropped to the ground with an arrow protruding from his shoulder. "Isaac!" Rushing to him as Scott quickly hauled him to his feet, I pulled his arm carefully over my neck to get him out of there faster whilst Mr Argent started unloading bullets into Jackson to try and stall him. Killing him was probably unlikely at this point in time, so I'd settle for stalling. "What do I do? Will it heal? Do I pull it out?" Flustered and unsure of what to do, Scott held Isaac still and told me to pull it out as fast as I could all at once. Feeling bad for hurting Isaac even when I just gripped the damn thing, I had to close my eyes and wrench with all my might in order to pull the arrow free.
Immediately he roared in pain, eyes flashing golden yellow but thankfully, the wound did heal. With the arrow in my hand, I turned around to see Mr Argent be thrown across the room by the kanima, now fully shifted into its ugly reptilian form. At first I was terrified, but seeing Mr Argent be thrown like that, well it kind of just pissed me off. Derek was already back on his feet, vaulting back into view as Scott and Isaac stepped up as well, both of them fully shifted and looking like they were ready to throw some good punches. Go get 'em boys, beat the crap out of him!
I stayed back, sliding along the wall before running over to Mr Argent to see if he was alright. He was a little out of it for a moment, so I guessed he must have hit his head when Jackson threw him so I stayed put, biting down on my lip as I nervously watched the fight unfold. Quite honestly? Even with the three of them fighting together, they were getting their asses handed to them. Jackson was just too fast, too deadly and nothing they did seemed to work. They could barely land a scratch, getting in only a few good blows before Jackson returned it tenfold on them.
He threw Derek against a flat upstanding board, shrieking viciously as Scott kicked him in the back but only turned on him and kicked him with so much force that Scott cleared the room and smacked into the opposing wall. Oh god, they were getting pulverised. Derek swung his claws at Jackson but he merely went low and swept his own talons across Derek's gut, causing him to drop and fall still as the paralysis toxin slowly began to spread. Unable to hold back, I released a scream.
The sharp ringing sound burst outward and echoed across the entire warehouse, causing all windows and glass to shake, shiver and quake before shattering all at once as Jackson whirled around, clasping his hands over his ears and turned full attention onto me. Baring his teeth, I clamped my mouth shut, seeing that I had got his attention. Breathing deeply, I flexed my fingers and allowed my body to shift just as I had practiced, slipping Danny's sweater off so that my bare arms shimmered with the appearance of scales and my eyes glowed in the dark.
My nails turned into sharp little talons, straight and deadly like knives as I began to circle with Jackson, keeping his eyes focused on me. Where I moved he followed, so I hoped one of them would catch onto the fact that I was only distracting him and had no intention of actually physically engaging with him, however just as Isaac began to get up, I saw Allison approaching him with two knives in her hand. "Allison!" Before I could stop her she slashed at Isaac's front then ducked under his arm, slashing across his back also. Frozen in disbelief that my friend, sweet Allison of all people, was capable of doing such a thing to anyone, I totally forgot about Jackson.
His tailed whipped out and lashed itself around my neck, cutting off my air supply and lifting me clean off the ground. I scratched at the tail with my cute little claws but only scratched against hardened scales, whilst mine were delicate and frail. My form shifted back, unable to sustain it any longer under the lack of oxygen reaching my bloodstream. "Cordy!" Someone shouted my name, I wasn't too sure who. Everything was going blurry and out of focus, and the next thing I knew I was on the ground.
It hurt to breathe, but the mere fact that I could breathe was a blessing, so as I carefully pushed myself up, I found myself looking at Allison being restrained by Jackson before she could get to Derek with her intent to kill. "Not yet, sweetheart." Gerard called to her calmly, walking forwards now that the fighting had all settled.
"What are you doing?" Allison gasped, Jackson keeping a tight grasp on her throat, making mine throb in empathetic pain. I couldn't scream or sing. At this point, I was worse than useless.
"He's doing what he came here to do." Looking up in surprise at Scott, Gerard praised him for his astuteness, though Allison still didn't understand what they were talking about. Neither did the rest of us, for that matter. At least, I certainly didn't. Still struggling to inhale enough air into my body, I started to drag myself over to Isaac who was bleeding out on the ground, reaching over and rolling him onto his back so that I could press against his more severe wounds as he laboured for air just as much as I did, exhausted from the fighting.
"It was the night outside the hospital, wasn't it? When I threatened your mother. I knew I saw something in your eyes." Gerard was saying to Scott, his voice carrying in the warehouse. "You could just smell it, couldn't you?" Now healing and feeling more recovered, Isaac turned on his side and inhaled deeply in order to catch Gerard's scent as his arm almost naturally came around me, pulling me close to him as I wiped his blood off on my jeans.
"He's dying."
"I am. I have been for a while now. Unfortunately, science doesn't have a cure for cancer yet, but the supernatural does." Okay, I know I'm fairly new to all of this, but to me this sounds like Gerard was intending to cure his cancer by getting the bite from an alpha and healing himself. Wouldn't he then become the very thing that he had dedicated his whole life to destroying? I would have laughed at the morbid poetry of it all if my throat hadn't just been crushed.
"You monster." Mr Argent accused, disgusted by his own father's greed and desperation to extend his own life even at the cost of others.
"Not yet."
"What are you doing?" Allison gasped but was forced to be silent by Jackson tightening his grip on her neck again.
"You'll kill her too?" Looking his son directly in the eye without shame or remorse, I felt all lingering warmth drain away from me as I heard Gerard's declaration.
"When it comes to survival, I'd kill my own son!" Gasping against the pain in my throat, I instinctively scooted closer to Isaac who lifted his other arm to cross over me, forming a sort of desperate circle of protection around me.
"You don't…need the bite…" I rasped, somehow managing to force from my throat as I cowered away from the pure evil which eclipsed all other impressions around me. Both good and bad. "You're already a monster." Gerard merely smirked at me, seemingly pleased by my inference before addressing Scott, an understanding seeming to exits between them. Looking at Allison one more time, Scott allowed himself to shift back into his normal appearance, slowly making his way over to Derek before grasping him by the back of his neck.
"Scott, don't. You know that he's gonna kill me right after. He'll be an Alpha."
"That's true, but I think he already knows that, don't you, Scott? He knows that the ultimate prize is Allison. Do this small task for me, and they can be together. You are the only piece that doesn't fit, Derek, and in case you haven't learned yet, there is just no competing with young love." This was just too sickening, I couldn't bear to watch. Hiding my face against Isaac, I whimpered slightly as the insatiable greed for power continued to ascend in Gerard's heart. The black beating corpse that it was.
"Scott, don't! Don't!"
"I'm sorry, but I have to." Scott forced Derek to stay still whilst Gerard shed his jacket and pulled back his sleeve, pressing his arm into Derek's mouth so that his fangs buried into his skin, forming the bite of an alpha which was going to make him far more dangerous than ever before. That's it. We're all going to die. I hid my face again, holding onto Isaac like he were my only lifeline, but when I felt him nudge me gently and whispered for me to look, I lifted my head to see black blood seeping from Gerard's new wound.
"What? What is this? What did you do?!" Everyone looked expectantly at Scott.
"Everyone said Gerard always had a plan. I had a plan too." Quickly realising what he meant, Gerard searching in his pockets before pulling out a small round pot, opening it up to tip several prescription pills into his hand, several dropping to the floor and when he crushed them, a black cloud puffed out between his fingers.
"Mountain ash!" Whatever the hell that was, it was making Gerard bleed from every orifice, black blood continuing to weep down his face from his eyes, ears, nose and mouth. All at once he suddenly projectile vomited and I retched at the sight of it but thankfully Isaac was quick to turn my head, arms jumping back to tightly hold onto me as Gerard fell to the floor.
"Why didn't you tell me?" Derek stared up at Scott with what seemed like a newfound respect, the younger wolf already having clearly marked himself out as a distinguished and very capable leader.
"Because you might be an alpha, but you're not mine." Before anyone else could make a move or say anything, Gerard spat out another mouthful of the bile like substance before commanding Jackson to kill all of us, intending to take us down with him. Immediately Isaac was on his feet and holding me behind him, watching Jackson carefully as he looked towards Gerard's now still body with a perplexed expression.
Allison took her chance to ram his face with her elbow but she was quickly pushed aside, Jackson turning in order to select his fist victim but when a beat up jeep suddenly burst through the warehouse metal slats and hit Jackson full on, I exhaled a laugh of disbelief as Stiles yelled. "Did I get him?" Almost instantly Jackson was back on his feet and leaping onto the jeep's hood, causing both Lydia and Stiles to scream and quickly vacate the vehicle.
"Jackson!" Calling out his name, Lydia faced Jackson head on as he dropped off the hood of the jeep and lifted a clawed hand in order to slash her open. Both Stiles and I yelled and pulled forwards in order to stop her but we were restrained, kept at a safe distance as Lydia shakily called his name one last time then help up a single gold key, the key to his house.
The moment Jackson looked at it, a sense of recognition began to form in him. His heart gradually began to remember how to feel the more of himself he remembered, body shifting back as I started to feel impressions and flashes of emotion from within his heart. Unexpectedly, I felt a great deal of love there, though repressed and carefully guarded, it was there. Taking the key from her hand, Jackson stepped back from Lydia, a sense of understanding flickering within him as he raised his arms and nodded his head in Derek's direction.
With a start, I only then realised what it meant. Before I could protest and not even able to scream to make everybody stop, Derek rushed at Jackson the same moment Peter appeared from where he had been skulking, both of them driving their claws deep into Jackson's body in order to kill him once and for all. Lydia cried out as she watched Jackson begin to die whilst I just stood there in stupefied bewilderment, not knowing how to respond.
Lydia rushed to catch him as Jackson fell, breathing heavily through her tears as he looked right at her, barely able to speak. "Do you…do you still…?"
"I do. I do still love you. I do…I do still love you. I do. I do. I do still love you, I do." Grieving for Jackson and under an infliction of immense pain that I could feel in my own chest it cause me to double over, grasping at my chest as I felt it seemingly rip my heart in two as I felt exactly what Lydia felt, sobbing as she held Jackson in her arms as he took his final breath.
"Where's Gerard?" The spot where Gerard had fallen was vacant, meaning that he had somehow managed to not only survive whatever it was Scott had done to him but he'd escaped too. I hope he crawls into a gutter and dies there. It's more than he deserves.
"He can't be far." We all fell into silence, simply standing and staring dumbly as Lydia lay Jackson down to rest, turning away in order to start towards someone to seek comfort and consolation, but when we all heard the scraping of claws against concrete, it became apparent that Jackson was very much still alive. He rose up like he had been reborn, eyes glowing icy blue as he released a powerful roar, fully reformed into a werewolf.
I just stared at him blankly until he shifted back, massaging my throat as Lydia ran back into Jackson's arms with a sweet relief which allowed the pain in my chest to disappear as her own heart was mended by Jackson's rebirth. Was coming back from the dead actually a common thing in the supernatural world? I feel as if I need to do some reading into all this stuff, because I am already way in over my head. To be honest?
All I wanted right now was to go to sleep and pretend this was all just one never ending nightmare.