Chapter 12
Derek curled up in the corner of the hotel room, breathing through clenched teeth as the rest of the men argued the best way to locate Stiles and put down the demon. Scott knelt down in front of him, holding onto his shoulder in a reassuring manner.
"You doing ok, man?" he asked anxiously. "Is there anything I can do?"
Derek looked up at Scott, his eyes flashing back and forth between their normal hazel and the bright, electric blue of his wolf. His claws flexed in and out as he struggled to reign in the wolf that was howling for him to find Stiles. Save Stiles. Kill enemy.
He shook his head tersely. "The pain isn't so bad right now. I think she's stopped torturing him for now."
Scott let out a low whine, pained at not being able to do anything to save his best friend. Jonathan's eyes met Derek's, his face taut with anger and pain.
"We need to find my son. NOW." The Sheriff said, turning to the Winchesters. "I say we start at the old Hale house and work our way out from there."
Castiel nodded. "That seems like the most likely place that Stiles would be held. There is a lot of negative energy there, from...the incident." He trailed off, unsure of how to explain further without bringing up the burning elephant in the room.
"There is a reinforced basement that we used to use on full moons when it wasn't safe to run," Derek said grimly. "It's where the majority of my family was trapped when the house was burned down."
A loud crack! sounded from across the room. The back of the chair Peter had been gripping was splintered in two. His face was an unreadable mask.
"Well, that's as good a place as any to start looking," Dean said, grabbing the duffle bag at the foot of the bed. "Sam, Cas, we'll take the Impala and Sheriff you can take-"
Derek yelled as his side was invisibly sliced open and began pouring blood. Both Scott and the Sheriff paled and Peter reached out for Derek when they heard a shout from across the parking lot.
"Help me!"
All the air seemed to be sucked from inside the motel room. Everyone froze, unable to believe what they were hearing.
"Somebody help me!"
"Stiles!" Both the Sheriff and Derek gasped out. And like an electric shock shot through the entire motel room, everyone jumped into action at once.
The Sheriff was out the door before Derek even had time to think about what was happening, agony still tearing through his side as it healed slowly, Dean and Sam following with their guns drawn.
"Stiles!" Jonathan yelled from outside as he spotted his son slowly dragging himself across the half-dark parking lot, bleeding heavily from his side. "Stiles!"
"Dad, help me!"
Something is wrong, Derek thought. He looked down at his side, the gaping wound slowly healing into shiny pink scar tissue. How is Stiles here, if he was just stabbed?
His eyes widened and he scrambled to get to his feet. It's a trap!
The Winchesters were only a few steps behind Jonathan, guns raised, when they saw the shadow behind Stiles move towards him.
"Sheriff, watch out!" Sam cried out, as Dean fired a round towards the figure.
Derek leaned heavily on the door frame, panting from the exertion as his body still healed. The eclipse hadn't yet reached its totality but the penumbral shadow was already beginning to affect Derek's healing.
"NO!" he yelled. "It's a trap!"
Scott and Peter turned to look at Derek, but they were all momentarily blinded by a flash of light as Kate reached Stiles and grabbed him around the waist.
When their vision cleared Kate and Stiles were gone, the sound of tires squealing in the distance, and Castiel was nowhere to be seen.
"Dammit!" Dean exclaimed. "That sucker carved a banishing spell into Stiles' side. It must have been activated when that bitch grabbed Stiles."
"What does that mean?" Scott asked. "Is he gone forever?"
Sam shook his head. "No, he'll be back. Problem is we just don't know when."
"Now we're down an Angel, and all we're left with are the Sheriff and three near-powerless werewolves, two of which are friggen' teenagers," Dean said, holstering his gun. "Great. That sonuvabitch is craftier than we anticipated."
"I wouldn't say I'm completely powerless," Peter growled, eyes flashing red. "And I won't need my teeth or claws to tear that bitch apart."
Peter threw back his head and let out a howl that echoed throughout the woods surrounding the motel. Derek followed suit, tipping his head back and letting the wolf he'd held so carefully at bay rise to the surface. Scott couldn't resist the call of his Alpha and joined his voice to the fray.
The scent of Stiles' blood drifted across the parking lot on the breeze and Derek growled, low and angry at the audacity that someone would hurt his Stiles. The wolf inside him was clawing at him to let go, tear them apart, avenge him.
"I have the scent," he said carefully around a mouth full of fangs. "We can track where she's taking him."
"Alright then, let's go get my son back," Jonathan said. "Scott, Derek, with me. Peter-"
"I ride in no Hunter's car," he growled, slipping further into the Alpha shift. He howled once more and took off into the woods, his shape bending and twisting until he resembled more animal than man.
And just like that, he was gone.
Derek locked eyes with Scott, nodded once and turned to the Sheriff. "Let's go."
/
The Sheriff drove as fast as he could down the centre of the deserted road leading up to the Beacon Hills Preserve and the burned-out Hale house, high-beams catching a dark figure darting in and out of the trees along the road. Derek held on carefully to the frame, careful not to let his claws puncture the door as he leaned mostly out of the moving vehicle, tracking the scent of Stiles' blood in the air and directing Jonathan where to go.
Scott sat in the backseat of the police cruiser, eyes flashing bright yellow, holding on for dear life as the Sheriff broke several traffic laws with the Winchester brothers close behind.
Jonathan tapped the brakes and started to slow as they came up to the lane-way that led up to the Hale house, but Derek shook his head.
"They didn't turn here," he said around the fangs. "They headed straight into the Preserve."
The Sheriff gunned the engine again and roared faster down the pavement, cruiser bouncing Scott in the backseat as the road turned to gravel, and again as it became a worn dirt path. They passed the broken wooden gate that marked the entrance to the Preserve, closed to the public after dark.
They travelled along the bumpy dirt path, deeper and deeper into the woods of the Preserve. Suddenly, the headlights caught the glint of a dark SUV pulled to the side of the path. The Sheriff pulled up behind it, blocking it in and preventing any possible getaway. The Impala roared up behind them, engine cutting and both men exiting the vehicle. Dean headed to the trunk to grab an extra gun, which he tossed to Jonathan, and the demon killing knife stored back there. He looked at Derek who shook his head and flicked out his claws.
"Suit yourself," he muttered. "Sheriff, you and wolf-boy head north north-east, Sam and I will head north north-west and we'll if we can come at them from either side."
"What about me?" Scott asked worriedly.
"You stay put," both Dean and Jonathan said simultaneously. Scott opened his mouth to protest, but the Sheriff cut him off.
"This is no place for a sixteen-year-old, Scott, werewolf or not," he said grimly. "Stiles would never forgive either one of us if anything was to happen to you."
"Not to mention, your gifts are untrained and you don't have any control," Derek said, sternly. "We'll work on that but for now, you're better off to wait here."
Scott whined again but a low growl from the dark woods and a flash of red eyes quieted him down. He crossed his arms and huffed. "Fine, I'll stay here and out of trouble. Just go save Stiles."
The pairs of men nodded and headed off into the woods.
/
Stiles shivered, curled up in the back corner of his mind, a passenger in his own body as he watched the demon drawing elaborate symbols in his own blood on the surface of the huge tree stump that sat in the middle of the clearing Kate brought him to. Although he couldn't understand what they meant, he could feel the demon starting to radiate energy, black and cold, as he completed the markings.
"I hear them coming," Kate said, walking over to the stump from where she had been watching the woods.
"You know what to do," the demon replied.
Kate picked up the knife resting on the stump, crossed behind him and held it to Stiles throat. The demon went limp and began crying as a dark figure burst out of the woods. The monstrosity threw back his head and howled. An answering howl came from deeper in the woods, getting closer.
Derek? Stiles thought. How? :no, not Derek,: came the response in his mind, slimy and cold. :the Alpha:
Just then, the man in question crashed through the underbrush, partially shifted, the Sheriff close behind.
Derek! Stiles screamed in his head, arms straining to reach him despite not being in control. To his surprise, Stiles' arms did reach out. Realizing that he was able to control his body once again, Stiles fought against Kate's hold, kicking and stretching but he was no match for her in his weakened state. "Derek! Dad!" he yelled. "No, it's-"
Kate hoisted the knife higher up, the wicked sharp edge digging into Stiles' throat and drawing a tiny droplet of blood. :that's enough,: the voice came again. :we can't have you ruining everything by giving away our plan:
No, you can't do this, Stiles sobbed. Don't hurt them. Take me instead, just leave them alone.
:oh, I think I'm going to have my cake and eat it too, thanks: the slimy voice said, smug. :now, sit back and enjoy the show:
Taking back control of his body, the demon pretended to struggle weakly against Kate. "Help me! Please!"
The Sheriff levelled his gun at Kate. "Let go of my son, you monster. I won't hesitate to shoot you dead, so help me God."
"Now, now Sheriff. God can't help you here," Kate laughed. "And I don't think you're in any position to be making demands."
The Sheriff sighted and pulled the trigger. Kate waved her hand and Stiles felt the demon deflect the bullet without so much as moving a muscle. It's all theatrics, Stiles thought, horrified. Part of the ruse that Kate is still the demon. Kate laughed again, and flicked her hand the other way. The demon flexed its power and Jonathan flew through the air, into a tree and went still.
Dad, NO! Stiles screamed. DAD!
Derek and the Alpha squared off in front of Kate, growling and eyes flashing.
"Let him go Kate," Derek said, forcing his shift back. He locked eyes with Stiles, and Stiles was shocked to see pain in the other man's eyes. "It's me you want. Let him go, and I won't even fight you."
The Alpha turned to Derek and growled a warning. The shift was receding in both of them as the shadow falling across the moon muted their powers.
"No Peter, I have to do this. I started this mess, I killed our whole family," he said quietly. "I can't let her hurt Stiles even more."
"Aww, what's a matter, Derek?" Kate purred, turning her head to the side and nosing up the side of Stiles' neck, eliciting an even louder growl from Derek. "You 'wolves are so territorial, you don't want to share your pretty toy with me anymore?"
Suddenly, Sam and Dean emerged from the woods, guns drawn and pointed at Kate.
"Ooo, now, who are these tall drinks of water," she said, gesturing to the brothers. "You didn't tell me you brought company, Derek."
"Listen here, you sonuvabitch. You let Stiles go right now, and we'll only exorcise you back to Hell. If you don't, we'll kill you and there's no coming back from that one," Dean said, chambering a round in the Colt.
"Oh, sweetie. You try to shoot me, and Stiles is already dead," Kate said, digging in the knife a little further to prove her point. "Give me the werewolves and I'll let him go."
"Listen, normally I'm not one to fight against killing off monsters," Dean said. "But the way I see it, you're a bigger monster than both of them, and I sure as Hell ain't letting you open a Gate to Purgatory to let out an even bigger monster. I'll say it one last time: let Stiles go."
Kate tsked. "Aww, you figured out my surprise," she pouted. "Such party poopers. Still. You boys aren't going to stop me. Here, with the help of the Nematon and what passes for a soul in those mangy mutts, I will open this portal, and what I let loose upon this Earth will make Hell look cozy in comparison."
"Exorcizamus te, omnis immundus spiritus" Sam chanted. "Omnis satanica potestas, omnis incursio infernal-"
The runes on Stiles side pulsed and started to glow red, but Kate's laughter cut off Sam's words.
She wagged a finger towards the men in front of her. "You can't exorcise a human."
The looks of confusion on Sam, Dean and Derek's faces were brief, as Kate dropped her arm from around Stiles' throat and took a step back. The demon stood up straight, dropping the wounded act and Stiles' amber eyes flicked black.
"Hello boys," he said, waving his hand and sending Dean and Sam crashing into the same tree the Sheriff had been thrown into.
There was a shout, as Peter took advantage of the momentary distraction and tackled Kate off the Nematon. Vicious growls and the sound of an electric taser came from behind the stump, but all Derek could focus on was the boy in front of him.
"Stiles," he said, pained, reaching towards the boy. Derek! Stiles cried out for him. The demon only laughed, harsh and ugly, not at all how Derek remembered Stiles' laughter.
"Well now, what do we have here?" the demon said, a curling smile on his face. "This is better than I could have expected. You actually care for him, don't you Derek? You would do anything to save him, like you weren't able to save your own family." He paused, head cocked to the side as if listening. Don't you dare touch him, Stiles screamed, fighting with every fiber of his will power to take control of his body again. I will kill you if you hurt him, leave him alone. Take me instead.
"Would it surprise you to know that he feels the same?" the demon laughed. "I can see inside his head, I have seen all his feelings and thoughts about you. Silly human. Even I know that someone like you, despite being a mutt, is still measures outside of his league. He was in love with you from the moment he laid eyes on you, and the foolish boy was too stupid to even realize it until now. How quaint. Too bad he's going to die, and it will be all your fault Derek."
Derek clenched his fists, heart pounding inside his chest as he struggled to control his emotions, even though the penumbra of the moon was rendering him more human by the minute and he was in no danger of fully wolfing out. His emotions still threatened to drown him in their ferocity, feelings that he had tried – and failed – to silence rising up to the surface once more.
He knew what it meant, that the runes were carved into his body just as they were carved into Stiles'. He knew what it meant that he could have effortlessly tracked Stiles here, to the middle of the woods, without the scent-trail of blood.
He knew what it meant that he would gladly trade his own, worthless life for the beautiful boy in front of him.
Mate, his wolf howled. Protect.
Faintly behind him, he could hear one of the men begin to stir. Quiet enough that Derek was just barely able to make out with his werewolf hearing, he heard two words.
"The runes."
He would gladly lay down his life to protect Stiles, but he had to try to save them both first.
Derek unfurled his fists, set his shoulders and looked up at the black-eyed demon in front of him. "You can have me, my soul, everything. Just let him go."
"Your soul in exchange for his life? I can't say that it's an even trade but it will have to do," the demon said, gesturing for Derek to come closer. "Quickly, the eclipse is almost complete. It's time."
The demon pulled out the red pendant from Stiles' pocket and picked up the knife that Kate had dropped. The sounds of snarling continued from behind him, occasionally punctuated by electric zaps and grunts from the Alpha, who was no match for the seasoned huntress without the full abilities of his powers.
Derek approached Stiles slowly, with tears in his eyes. No, Derek! Don't! he sobbed. Don't do this!
The demon raised the knife high, ready to plunge it into Derek's chest, pendant clutched in his other hand. Derek locked eyes with Stiles, and for a brief second, he knew it was Stiles he was looking at. "I'm sorry," he said, with tears in his eyes.
And with that, he swiped what was left of his claws over the right side of Stiles body, cutting through his shirt and slicing into the skin underneath.