XIII

DÉATH-JÀ VU

She has been looking the whole morning, and there hasn't been any success in her search, she found Stiles' jeep next to the road in the woods, but there is nothing, no clue of where he might be, she has been trying to reach him through his phone but as usual the little bastard won't answer the calls. After a couple of hours she has been able to slow down her heartbeat, she is still scared, and confused there are so many things that she still can't get and that don't make any sense in her theory, but now she can breathe, and think with a clear mind.

The night was swallowed by the gold sunrays, it is a cloudless and bright morning, the reflection of the sun in the snowed streets is beautiful and soothing. Something is about to happen, she can't tell what or explain it even to herself but she feels trapped, haunted by a big dark shadow, something horrible is about to happen and this beautiful morning is the way the universe mocks at her with mischief.

When she gets inside home, she almost drifts away in the porch, she so tired and exhausted, this situation overwhelms her, she can't even believe that she hadn't tell sheriff what she found out about her son and probably Stiles, and at the same time she can't actually believe that she really considered on telling the sheriff about it, what anyone else would do in this kind of situation? Who she must be right now? An officer? A mother? A good citizen? She must tell the sheriff the truth about Carlson and Patrick, she needs to protect her son, they must pay for what they have done! She gasps as she gets inside the house, her eyelids are too heavy, she can't keep them open, this is it, she needs to get some rest.

She needs to recover some energy, and maybe some sleep hours will give her the answers that she needs so desperately, it doesn't matter if Scott is missing isn't like he's going to die, he's the town's murderer after all, she can't believe she raised a serial killer, this is her fault, all her fault, for neglect him for not being around, for being focused on her work instead of her son, after all the pain they came thought she had to take care of him, take care of his wounds hug him even if he was almost a grown up, children no matter of which age will never be old enough to feel safe on their mother's arm, and she let her boy alone with an abusive father, that ruined their lives.

She stumbles on her way to the stairs, tears climb to her eyes to the thought of what she has done, she takes the first step and the world spins around, she's broken and tired if she could only…get…some…slee, there is blood in the steps… she stops short, that is the unmistakable dark crimson of blood staining the first step of the stairs, she hesitantly touches the splotch with the tip of her fingers, it is warm, for a second she thinks she might be wounded, but when she is about to inspect her body gets sight of the snaky red line that climbs to the upper floor.

Mellissa takes her gun out of its holster and slowly climbs up the stairs, a thud upstairs makes her jump on her place and almost fall back down, she quickly gets up following the blood trace that guides her to Scott room.

She kicks the door open and aims with her gun.

"What are you doing?" She asks sharply staring at Scott who suddenly freezes carrying some clothes in his arms, there is a backpack half-opened on the bed.

Scott looks at her as if she was an stranger, his eyes have an eerie light on them as if they could glow, his look isn't rounded and warm as it always have been, instead it is sharp and cold, she can feel a dark void growing in his chest, the anger scorching him from inside with every breath, he's not a boy anymore, but a criminal, the blood trickling down his forehead damping his cheek and neckline confirms it to her, yet…

Mellissa shoves her gun back in its sheath.

"I'll leave" Scott says with a deep and short voice, he's not asking her permission, he's not making an announcement he's just establishing a fact.

He knows that she knows, she can see it in his eyes, he's not looking at her as the authority or his mother, he's just looking a person who knows too much.

Mellissa tries to swallow the lump in her throat and almost choke.

"Did you kill anyone else?" She says in a mutter, her eyes fixed on him, she won't cry, not again, her eyes are too swollen and her head and heart ache hard enough… She won't let him see her crumble.

"NO!" Scott suddenly yells making a strange sound with the back of his throat that makes her shiver.

Mellissa addresses him in a blink and slams his cheek with her palm.

Scott doesn't seem to even feel the touch of her hand but she definitely did, her hand swells in seconds and starts throbbing, it was like slapping a wall.

Scott remains still staring at the same spot where she was seconds ago before slapping him, why is he acting this way?

"You're a murderer!" She cries loudly feeling her chest burning, "You're a murderer!"

"SHUT UP! SHUT UP!" Scott cries covering his ears with his hands.

"Don't there you to tell…" Mellissa reproaches swinging her hand again but Scott stops her short with his burning hand, the touch scorches her skin she tries to break free but she can't, he's too strong… she's… she's is…is he going…to?

Mellissa looks up and gaps.

Scott's eyes aren't amber as usual but some shades more orange, the outlines are light red and it is rapidly spreading… his eyes… are… changing their color.

Scott lets her go and cries out a deafening moan of pain and makes Mellissa shudder falling openmouthed on her back.

….

Allison whips the tears away from her face and stands when she hears the screams at the other side of the room, she crouches in the computers line and slowly crawls to the nearest bookshelf to hide. Voices echoes in the room and for a second she feels trapped, but then realizes that there is only two of them and both seen to belong to old women so there is no need to freak out.

She slowly cranes her neck in the corner of the shelf toward the front door where two ladies are standing on the other side of the gap she made in the glass door just a couple of hours ago, they can't get in, which is good, but… it also means that she can't get out, at least not until they step out of the door which seems unlikely considering that they might be awaiting for the police already, there must be another option.

Allison tilts her head, behind her are the bathrooms, therefore there must be windows and a way out, so making sure to not let the ladies see her she crawls toward the door at her back, when she's face to face with the door she pushes it open and rolls inside, as she expected there is a window next to the sinks so she hurries to pass by them to break the glass and jump outside.

Her face meets the cold snow and some arrows poke her in the back, gosh! She forgot she was carrying the bow she stole from her dad's apartment, she opens her leather jacket dusting away the snow and gets the bow and the quiver and hides them inside and then looks around, she's in the parking lot, it is empty except for a car, she takes out her phone it is almost midday… What? Did she drifted away or something? Or was she too busy mourning for her dead mommy that the time passed by her, she skipped school and it doesn't matter, tonight is Sadie Hawkins dance and its Friday, she's pretty sure most of the guys at school have better things to do and get in class today, like Stiles for example who is busy saving a murderer's life.

It starts snowing again, Allison covers her head with her hood and shoves her hands in her pockets, she walks crestfallen away from the library, when she's out of the crime scene she hears the police's sirens and smirks, she feels a little guilty for breaking in, but it was a thing she had to do, anyway why do they open this late? People in this town aren't much friends of books, they are ignorant, that's why they are dying, because they lack of the knowledge of what has been happening for years in this town, they live happy because they don't know anything about it, oh God! She envies them, she wishes she could forget everything she knows and come back to the world where her mom died in a car accident and her dad was only and architect and Scott looked at her as if she was the most beautiful thing in the whole planet, but she's not pretty and her dad isn't just an architect and her mom didn't die in a car accident so now she must do something about it.

Her stomach groans as she walks by the city square, she's starving! So she gets inside the first coffee she addresses to get a sandwich and a hot and steamy chocolate mug.

….

"Two and zero is two"

"Two and one is three"

"Three and four… is Seven"

And seven is a butterfly, because one day crawled and the next flew, when is seven nothing reminds still, seven are the cardinal sins, seven are the notes in the musical ladder, seven is the number of days in a week as the seven Roman gods from whose names they come, the colors in the rainbow, the number of days that God needed to create the world, seven heavens and seven hells, seven heads for a dragon, the candlestick of Hebrews, snow white and the seven dwarves, Seven is the neutral pH value that lies between acidity and alkalinity, seven continents, seven wonders, the magical number seven in psychology theory, seven is the luck and seven is the wolf that lies below.

There are certain things he wants to ask, more and more references to the number come to his mind and its meaning but there is something that puzzles him but just the thought of it makes him shiver, maybe he would ask about it later, he doesn't feel ready to whatever Deaton might say, seven after all… is a number of luck and luck isn't bad or good it is just fate.

"What?" Deaton asks arching a brow.

Stiles clears his throat.

"What is a Binder?" Stiles frowns, he has been hearing Derek and Deaton himself say the word for a while now and thought he can picture it in his mind he needs a clear explanation of the meaning of the word to understand better what's going on in the town.

Dr. D scratches his chin thoughtful.

"Umm… I think you have an idea already don't you?" The man says a little confused.

"Wizards and witches, the friggin lord of the rings' cast living in the woods, I'm not sure"

"Wizards?" Deaton chuckles, "Don't be racist"

"Then…" Stiles stars but Dr. D cuts him.

"There is people with knowledge, they gather information, learn and transmit it to their offspring, the same happens for centuries some last names die, but the knowledge never dies and remains with us awaiting to be rediscovered, they are part of us, it is what bind us to what is beyond"

"What do you mean?" Stiles asks completely lost.

"Through ages people have learned things, and they have claimed themselves superior to other humans, they got all kind of names, Wiccans, Druids, Alchemists, Wizards and Witches, Masons, Crafters, Silvers, Hunters, Zionist, Zoeists and many other more, it is all the same, Binders, people with knowledge it arts, medicine, science, gunplay and war, metalwork, psychology and of course aware of the others that live among us, but at the end of the day they were and are just humans with knowledge and great will power"

"Will power?" What does he mean?

"The energy that keeps you alive" Marin interrupts. "You exist because you believe you do"

Stiles frowns, what?

"See Stiles, all this cultures have lots of things in common but they all agreed in only one famous sentence "If you can see it then it is real" it is the believe that everything in this universe exist because humans believe it is real, is the incertitude that there were things that we forgot and stopped being real" Dr. D tries to explain.

"So according to your theory, God must be real because millions of people believe he does" Stiles says confused.

Deaton and Marin nod.

"But it doesn't make sense, he created us but he exists because people think…."

"Don't occupy your mind with paradoxes like that one, it was just an example I never said god was real in the first place"

"Are you fucking kidding me? You believe in werewolves and people that live in the shadows but don't think god is real?" Stiles asks scandalized.

"Well I haven't see him before" Dr. D says sternly.

"Maybe… one day enough people will believe in him" Stiles says more to himself than someone else.

"Maybe" Dr. D agrees with a grin, "Now, would you like to follow me?" The man says standing up and getting from the living room a pair of boots over his pajamas and a long coat and a scarf.

"Where?" Stiles asks a little dizzy he's so tired.

"We need to have a little talk alone, I think you need fresh air"

He wants to go back home and have some rest, he needs to check up Scott and bring him food and eat himself, and Derek… He is still downstairs healing, it is a long day and he's so tired, but Dr. D's offering seems so tempting, he have learned so much about everything with just having a couple of hours talking to the guy, it is amazing to think that after all these years he lived next to this man, is like a complete different person than the Dr. D he used to know. So though he will probably end up drifting away in the snow, Stiles wants to walk with him and learn some more about the Binders and ask him so things that have been disturbing him since he got in his home carrying Derek's body with him.

When they start their way Stiles isn't surprise that they're heading toward the woods, it is the most evident place they could go, because it isn't like they're going to a cafeteria to talk about monster and queen orchids and dying people, though he is a little scare they might run into Erica and Vernon, they are looking for Scott after all, so they might… well he's not sure they can hurt him anymore, Dr. D… there is something disturbing about him, he might be an oldster but he's pretty sure he can kick Erica and Vernon's asses without any problems, so he feels uneasy but safe what a weird mix, when they get in the wood line Stiles stops short.

"Take it easy, the woods won't change this time" Dr. D chuckles.

"Why not?" Stiles asks reluctantly following him inside, and he can confirm it as soon as he steps in and looks back, he's still in the wood line instead of some random place inside the forest.

"I just plugged it down, you keep distorting it and will get so exhausted you will eventually die" Explains the older.

"I don't do anything it just happens" Stiles says embarrassed.

"Of course you do, your willpower is big, it has always been, I still remember your mom's face when your toys wandered around your house in the middle of the night" The man chuckles as they start their hike.

Stiles arches a brow. "What do you mean?"

"It happened often while you were asleep, some of your things…. Became…. Alive"

"My mom told you that?" Stiles says shocked.

"Who else would she say? I was her best friend and your dad would have believe that she was crazy"

Something plunges Stiles' stomach down, he did things, when he was a kid, but he doesn't remember and his mom, she saw them.

"She knew about you?" Stiles asks thrilled, did his mom knew? About the Binders and all those stuffs?

Dr. D shakes his head. "I made her believe it were all dreams" Says with pity.

"Why?" Stiles says deflated.

"I was concerned that if she talked to somebody Bathilde might eventually end up coming back"

"But she did right? When Derek…." Stiles starts.

"Yes she was interested in meeting Allison, a daughter from Longshot and Victoria, she wouldn't admit it but she desperately wanted to get her girl in her hands and rise her as a her own"

"What? That's why she killed Allison's mom?" Stiles stops short. "Wait… Allison she can do things too?"

"Isn't that obvious? I thought you knew it already" Dr. D chuckles ducking a low branch continuing their walk.

Ahead Stiles can see how the trees grow thicker, where is he taking him?

"So…" Stiles starts. "I need to ask you something" The boy says uneasy.

"There is something going on between Allison and I, I can't explain it but when he touch, I feel something in my chest, in my heart it's like an electric shock I can't breathe and I don't know where I am and I feel like I'm falling, have you seen something like it before?"

Dr. D shakes his head, "But I noticed it, I saw you both in the game in the Halloween, perhaps it has something do to with your bodies acknowledging each other"

"What do you mean?" Stiles says confused as he pull dodges a heap of snow just ahead of him.

"It ever happened to you that you're alone in a room with your eyes closed and you can feel when someone is coming in and you can tell who that person is though you aren't actually seeing them?"

Stiles thinks about it for a minute and then nods it happened at least once or twice in his life he's sure of it, especially with Scott and his mom.

"It is pretty much the same, I think your bodies are telling each other that you have a great willpower within"

There is something in Dr. D voice as if he just hesitated, he's not telling Stiles the whole thing.

"Then why I don't feel it with you or Marin?" Stiles points out squinting.

Dr. D sighs, "I depends, it is a skill that needs a lot of practice to master, you can get information about the person you just know using it, specially their mood, which is useful when you need to get something from them, you can use their feelings on your favor" The man snickers, "But… you're right"

Stiles looks around, they just arrived in the cliff, his stomach squirms just to the thought of falling down again, it was so scaring, is Dr. D planning on shoving him again?

"What are we doing here?" Stiles says with shaky voice.

"Sixteen years ago, on July Seven…

Stiles' heart quiver in his chest, he feels like he just woke up, what did he say?

"Victoria was giving in birth a girl, as I said we were all good friends, and your mom was concerned, actually frightened, we lost Thalia giving in birth after all, and now Victoria…"

"What happened?" Stiles asks dumbfounded.

"There were some complications with, you were… noisy even in your mom's womb, you were too eager to be born, your mom cried so loud…" Dr. D chuckles as he looks up with longing.

"I don't get it" Stiles says confused.

"Didn't your parents tell you you were a premature baby?" Deaton asks with curiosity.

Stiles shakes his head, premature? Is he telling the truth?

"Your willpower was… so… your determination…you are problems for everyone around you"

"That's what the wolves said" Stiles agreed with sadness. "But I didn't do anything wrong" Complains relaying his head against a naked oak.

"Are you sure?" Dr. D says suspiciously.

...

After breakfast-lunch or whatever she took Allison is ready she has been wandering the whole day in the town so her legs are starting to hurt, but it is good to fight the coldness off. She is not sure how she feels anymore, but part of her is just resigned that she won't be able to trust her dad anymore. As she strides in the walkway she squints at the school's windows, there is people in there, of course there are, but not as much as usual, many are getting ready for tonight's dance, the girl with the big dresses fighting for a crown and the guys renting some suit and hoping to get laid that night, somewhat she feels sick to the thought of it, their lives are so simple, so easy, she hates them all.

Instead of walking in carrying a bow and a quiver with her, she heads to the playing field, as expected it is empty, it is too early for the team to practice, oh Scott… will he come to the dance tonight? Some girl for sure had ask him already, Allison feels so miserable right now, it is like a conspiracy to destroy her life and take everything away from her, she has nothing now, she lost her family, her friends and her love all at once and now the only thing she has is herself.

She comes through the snowed playing field in long strides, she doesn't want to be seen from anyone, she just need to do this, and then everything will make sense, she is sure of it.

….

"What do you mean?" Stiles says fearsome.

"That afternoon, there were too much movement in the hospital, I remember the nurses coming and going, there was a storm outside, the thunders, the rain were so strong, a storm in July in Beacon Hills, no one could understand was going on but I knew what was going on, it was a little bastard who couldn't wait his remaining two months to be born"

Stiles flushes, damn he really did that?

"They brought your mom at five, she wasn't able to hold on anymore, in the next room Victoria was giving in birth too, as I said there was a lot of concern for her daughter, they thought she might die, because she was a premature baby too"

Stiles' heart shudders and his head spins.

"A..Allison and I were born the same day?" He says almost choking with his words.

Doctor Deaton stares at him puzzled, "Didn't you know? I thought you were friends"

"Yeah I mean no!" Stiles tries to explain, "I mean yeah we are friends but isn't like we got much time to talk those stuffs I've been busy trying to get what the hell is going on in this town" Allison and him share their birthday… they share their birthday and the spark… there is something scaring about all this.

Dr. D. makes a pause to dig his hands in the snow and take some withered leaves from the ground, then he clears his throat, "Actually, you should share your birthday" Starts.

"What do you mean?"

"When they finally got Allison out of Victoria she was… cold and quite she wasn't breathing and her heart beat was weak" Dr. D says with sorrow.

Yeah it is stupid to say but, suddenly Stiles feels like trapped, a lump climbs to his throat and starts choking him, the thought of Allison dying being just a baby is too painful.

"I was with your dad when I heard the yells in the hallways, Chris was out of himself, the storm was fiercer outside and they feared for your life too, I wanted to be with Chris and Victoria but couldn't let your mom alone I was so scared and then they pulled you out, and for a second everything went silent, for a brief moment everything stopped and we stared at your naked and blooded body before you opened your mouth and shrieked, an ear-piercing cry that lasted a full despairing minute, everyone thought there were something wrong with you, but no it was just you being finally born, they started to clean you when another cry as loud as yours filled the air in the next room, it was a miracle" Dr. D says wryly. "She was alive, something saved her from dying"

Something?

"It was you, you were life itself coming in the world, you were so determined to live that you make her want to live too, you both cried for an hour in unison, it was insane the sound was so high pitched that people had to use earplugs near you, by eight the storm calmed and all the lights in the hospital went out, that's when I knew you too were trouble"

Stiles is amazed, what the hell happened between them when they were just babies?

"What….what… are we?" Stiles

"You are two kids with a deep connection, you both were born on July seven sixteen years ago, both left the town, both lost your moms, and recently got back, both had to learn how to take care of your dads, both are constantly crying inside and feeling scared and angry at the same time, both can bind, both are strong and have great wills, both have wolves that care about you, both have names with seven letters each"

Stiles takes a second to count Allison's name, oh shit but…

"Stiles doesn't have seven letters" He corrects the man.

"I'm not talking about your nickname but your actual name you know A…"

"Ok, ok I get it you don't have to say geez" The boy complains.

"Both were the missing pieces of this puzzle"

Stiles heart races in his chest, hitting his ribcage, god! He hadn't notice it before but he is right, Allison and him have so much things in common but why? Are they meant to marry each other? No way! He couldn't do that to Scott.

"What do you mean with pieces of the puzzle?" The more he learns about all this and himself, the less he gets.

"It is something your mom used to say when she was writing a new story remember? That missing piece that spark that helped everything to make sense?"

Stiles nods.

"It is pretty much the same, you did this Stiles, you both did it"

The ground beneath Stiles vanishes and suddenly he feels like falling again, his fault? Why?

"I…" He starts.

"Imagine you wouldn't have come back, Scott would eventually learn he was a werewolf without so much drama, because he wouldn't have to worry about you and your problems and that he needed to protect…"

"He doesn't have to protect me" Stiles protests angrily.

"Tell that to him, he feels like you are his responsibility and that's what made so hard for him to get control over his instincts"

Oh shit it is his fault!

"Derek would have spare time to get the remaining wolves in his pack, and the seven would be ready at time…"

"But…"

"Let's ask the faces in the wind" The man proposes and shiver runs down Stiles' spine.

"The what?"

Dr. D takes the withered leaves in his palm and in astonishment Stiles gaps at them as they uncurl and become greener as if they were coming back to life, then the man let them fall and the wind caught them taking them away from the boy and the binder.

"What did you just did?" Stiles says confused.

"The faces see everything" The man explains sternly.

"What faces? I didn't see anything" Stiles says losing his patience.

"The wind is alive, they are messengers they carry information and answer my questions when I need their guide, the wind that comes from the north brings the yet to come, when it comes from east brings a possibility, the same for the west, but when it comes from the south is to remind us something we forgot"

"Amazing" Stiles says to himself thinking about what Deaton just said. "What did you asked them?"

"About you, I have lots of questions about you" The man admits with shining eyes.

Stiles looks around, the woods are silent, the snow covers every branch of the trees and all the soil, making it impossible for him to see the ground, at his back is the cliff and ahead nothing but air, the gray line of the lake meeting the a shade darker sky.

In matter of seconds a rush of air came from head, Dr. D stretched his hand and closed it in a fist and suddenly the wind faded, Stiles approached him. The man lowered his hand and opened it before him, inside there were two leaves, one green and healthy and other withered and brown almost grey the blade is all crouched but you still can see a tiny hole near its apex just in the middle of the veins.

"What does that mean?" Stiles asks confused.

"This leaf is you" Dr. D says seriously.

"What will happen to me?"

"She's going to kill you" Deaton explains dryly, he knew this, he knew all this from the beginning Stiles can see it, in his eyes, there not surprise on them at all.

"It must be a mistake, Allison is my friend and you said we both are connected from our birthday and everything else"

Suddenly the air is starting to lack in his lungs, how is this possible? Allison and him are friends.

"You are the remaining pieces, two stubborn kids, that fooled death and death doesn't like to be fooled" Dr. D says severely.

"What do you mean?" This is not okay, this is not okay.

"One of you should have died that day Stiles, it was a seven after all, one of you had to die but none did, so… since that day the death has been chasing you both"

"Isaac says I smell like death" Stiles mutters swallowing hard, the death…he is being hunted since the moment he was born.

"Bad things happen around you, and it won't end until one of you two die"

"Do I have a choice?" He asks a little hopeful.

"Kill her before she kills you" Dr. D advises.

Stiles shakes his head, "This is not happening this must be a mistake, I can't kill Allison she's my friend, she wouldn't hurt me, she doesn't even know about the werewolves and her mom why would she…"

How can he be sure she doesn't know anything? Maybe she knows and didn't tell him, maybe she came back to the town to kill Derek… Scott! She might hurt Scott! And Stiles himself!

"That thing you feel in your chest every time she is around is a warning, it's your body recalling something that hasn't happened yet, it's your body telling you how she's going to kill you an omen of death like…"

"A Déath-Jà vu" Stiles says eloquently thought he's squirming with fear inside.

"No… you're wrong, Allison wouldn't hurt me, she wouldn't do that"

….

She throws the coins up high and they spin in all directions in the air, reflecting the sun rays, becoming tiny glistening dots in the distant, she spins on her feet, holding the bow, close her eyes, her fingers already fidgeting with the arrows in the quiver, she holds her breath and the arrows start flying, don't wasting time in looking at her shots, she continues firing until she's out of arrows, when she's done she takes another breath and determined she saunters with her face low, when she reaches the fourth hundred feet or so she looks up and faces the tree and snickers staring at the twenty coins pierced by ten arrows writing the letter A on the trunk.