They finally drive into Beacon Hills at half-past eight. Cooper is seriously rethinking his plan about not finding a motel first. He is bone-tired. He's only had about two hours sleep before Sam woke him but at least he finished it. Pamela's journal has been proofed-read to an inch of its life. He spent the rest of the evening creating several copies and uploading it on his, Sam's and Blaine's Dropbox and Google drives as well as emailing copies to himself, Blaine, Sam plus to three more email addresses he made that night, just to be safe. He did sleep in the car for the rest of the trip only taking over from Blaine an hour ago but he's still exhausted. Blaine is sleeping in the back, having done most of the driving today letting him and Sam rest. But unlike Sam, Cooper doesn't really sleep well in a moving car.
Seeing an open diner, Cooper happily compromises. He quickly parks the car in an open space. They need to eat and it might just give him the energy boost he needs. Plus they'll have coffee.
Sam looks up from the map he was studying but doesn't say anything at the change of plans. He just reaches over the back and gently nudges Blaine.
"Wake up B, we're stopping for dinner and coffee."
Blaine's eyes whip open. It always unnerves Cooper to see it, and a little envious. Blaine can go from deep sleep to instant wakefulness, a trick he seemed to have passed on to Sam—probably through their connection.
"We can also get directions to the Hale property," Cooper adds. "No sense in stumbling around in the dark, especially them being what they are. We want them seeing us coming a mile away."
Sam nods in agreement as the three of them get out of the non-descript SUV that Cooper bought all those months ago when they started this trip.
The three of them walk in the diner. Cooper could remember the time when he wanted everyone to see him when he first walked in a room. Now he prays that no one looks up when they do.
Not that they'll see anything unusual. He still remembers bleaching his hair the first month they were on the run. They were looking for two brunets and a blond. So he and Blaine went for the bleach. Seeing Blaine as a blond was one of the few truly funny moments during that harrowing time. After shaving their hair and letting it grow back in the ensuing months, he and Blaine are now back to their dark colors and it is Sam who's sporting light brown hair.
People do look at them when they come in but they don't seem to take any special interest and Cooper breathes a quiet sigh of relief. Blaine gives him a knowing smile and then gives a subtle hand-sign indicating that he doesn't sense any of the others. It's only when Blaine gives the sign that Sam starts to relax, not that he ever does relax completely.
They make their way to an empty table and order dinner. Without having to say a word, Cooper holds out his hand to Sam who quickly gives him the map. Cooper makes his way to the counter, catching the eye of the man behind the cash register.
"What can I do for you, son?" the man asks.
Cooper can't help but smile inside. He's probably only about six to eight years younger than the guy but people tend to think he's half his actual age.
"I just need some directions," he says, smiling his best 'be a bro and help another bro out'-smile. "I'm heading out to the Hale property and I just want to make sure I don't get lost."
Cooper immediately sees the man tense up. He was told that the Hales are a big deal here, even without people knowing they were werewolves. But this is different. Human behaviour is his stock and trade, he may not be the best actor out there but having to rely on his acting skills in life-or-death situations recently has made him at least a good reader of body language. There is something off here.
"Why do you want to go out there?" the man asks suspiciously and, to Cooper's surprise, incredulously.
"I have business with the Hales," Cooper says neutrally. He figures it's better to give out the truth, or part of it, and be vague than to be specific and lie. Something is different from what they were told and until he figures out what it is, he has to be careful and not say something that will bite them in the ass later. Figuratively and literally.
"Oh," the man says and relaxes a bit, "well you're a bit late. Derek Hale left town a few weeks ago and no one has heard from him. Least, that's what I heard."
Cooper keeps himself from showing surprise. Derek Hale? Pamela told him that the leader of the Hale pack was a Talia Hale. Cooper wonders who the hell Derek Hale is and what happened to Talia?
"That's a pity," he says playing along. He was never good at improv, but that too has improved by leaps and bounds; nothing like the danger of death to motivate a person to become better at something. "I was warned that if I take my time that I would lose my window."
The man has completely relaxed by now, thinking he's figured Cooper out, and then happily for Cooper jumps to the wrong conclusion. "I never thought Derek Hale would sell but I don't really blame him."
Cooper blinks then leans forward a bit. Something has happened. And he has to find out what. Blaine's life, his sanity, his very soul is at stake. Not to mention that if anything happens to Blaine, Sam would surely follow. "Yeah," Cooper says, trying to fish for more information, "pity about what happened."
And he gets a bite. Oh boy, does he ever.
About twenty minutes later Cooper rejoins Blaine and Sam at their table. His food is already there and thankfully still warm. Cooper forces himself to eat, no sense in wasting it. Sam is as alert as usual, keeping a quiet eye on everyone. He can see Blaine suppressing his worry for Sam's sake but he keeps his peace until Cooper has finished eating.
After Cooper has eaten enough to take the edge off his hunger and drank enough coffee to wake him up a bit, he looks at Blaine and sighs.
"It's not good," he starts. "The Hale pack is non-existent. A fire burned down their house ten years ago and killed most of them. The only survivors were an uncle and two of the kids, a boy and a girl—although they ought to be adults by now. The uncle, Peter Hale, was, until recently, a catatonic suffering from third-degree burns. He has since made a 'miraculous' full recovery. Of the two kids, the girl Laura, was found dead last year and the other, Derek, left town a few weeks ago."
"Well...shit," Sam says.
"Dead?" Blaine asks. "Was she murdered?"
"They found her cut in half so that's pretty likely," Cooper says, barely repressing a shudder. "And that's not all, there have been a lot of killings in the past year and the latest was pretty gruesome. The guy I talked to, Tony, thinks it was a serial killer."
"A serial killer?" Sam asks flatly.
"Who they haven't caught," Cooper says, making Blaine grimace. "The good news though is that the killings have stopped. Or at least there haven't been any reported deaths in the past few weeks."
"Would it be safe to assume that the deaths were caused by supernatural stuff?" Sam asks.
"I think that would be a safe assumption," Blaine says. "I think I should do a more thorough sweep. We don't want to find ourselves caught in the middle of something." When Sam scowls, Blaine hastens to reassure him, "I didn't feel anything active right now so either whoever they are have left or they're lying low. They won't even notice I'm here."
"If the Hales aren't around to police the area," Sam says with a frown, "how safe are we?"
"Actually this isn't necessarily a bad thing," Cooper says. "We needed the Hale Alpha's permission to use the Nemeton but without the pack, we can deal directly with the druid."
"Is the druid still around though?" Blaine asks.
"We can look him up," Cooper replies. "If he's still around he would have stayed and become a part of the community. Remember what Pamela said."
Blaine nods. "A druid will either take up a healing, teaching or guiding role in a community. Besides, if the druid is still alive, pack or no pack, he or she will not leave the Nemeton unguarded."
"So we'll look at the phone book and, if he's unlisted, check out the schools and hospitals and clinics nearby."
"Luckily this place isn't too big," Sam adds, "so it shouldn't take long."
"And if the druid has moved on?" Blaine asks. "I'm not being negative," he adds quickly before either two could say anything. "I just want to know what Plan B is going to be."
Cooper picks up Sam's untouched coffee. It was still warm. Blaine always orders three cups but Sam never touches his and if Cooper doesn't take it, Blaine does. He thinks about what Plan B can be. They need the Nemeton more than they need a druid. If push came to shove, he could perform the ritual. Pamela talked him through it, having a druid was better only because it lessened the chance for something to go wrong.
"We don't have time to find another pack, who may or may not have an Emissary," Cooper starts. "Any time we waste just gives Them more opportunities to find us. They might even block this option from us. In fact," he says with conviction, "I think we should just head out there tonight and get it done."
Sam looks at him sharply while Blaine tilts his head to the side. Cooper, however, gets more excited as he thinks about it. "Seriously, the only reason we had to talk to the Hales was out of courtesy but there are no Hales left, at least no one living in the Hale property."
"What about the uncle?" Blaine asks.
"No one has seen him since Derek Hale left," Cooper answers. "Maybe they left together?"
"If they left then they have given up their claim on the Nemeton," Sam says firmly. "If the uncle is around, well, he's just one werewolf, right? It's not like we're dealing with a pack. It might be easier to deal with him...and then only if he can prove he can keep his claim on the Nemeton."
"Sam..." Blaine says worriedly.
"He's right, B," Cooper says softly. "The rules about this sort of thing are thousands of years old. The strong have to stay strong to keep what they have, if they don't, they lose it. Besides," Cooper adds brightly, "it's not like it has to be a fight to the death. We can call for first blood or something."
Blaine finally nods in acceptance but everyone on the table is aware that if this man is all that stands between Blaine and a cure and if it means that he would have to die, Sam would not hesitate. And Sam these days could actually do it, too. Blaine isn't the only one who's changed.
"So we go tonight?" Sam asks.
"We go tonight," Cooper confirms, but he still looks at Blaine.
Blaine nods. "Tonight. Let's get this done."
