In which we get some answers and even more questions

The bell above the door jingled.

Stiles tensed, looking over his shoulder warily. Ever since he read Crystal's ominous text, he kept half expecting an Alpha to come prowling down the hallway.

"Stiles?"

He relaxed at the sound of Crystal's familiar, if slightly irritated, voice. "Back here!"

"I thought I told you to wait for me," she grumbled as she followed his voice back to the exam room. A large paper cup of coffee was clutched between her hands. She brought it up to her pale lips and sipped it.

A girl about his age walked in behind her. She had her reddish brown hair pulled over one shoulder to show off the blonde ends, and she was wearing a black hoodie unzipped to reveal a silver shirt that was a little too large for her. Stiles recognized the shirt: Lydia bought it for Crystal on one of their shopping trips as a joke. The shirt with the howling wolf silhouette and the girl's familiar scowl gave Stiles a pretty good idea of who she was.

Crystal didn't let just anyone borrow her stuff.

"Actually, you just told me to meet you here." Stiles frowned worriedly as he took in her snow white face. "What happened?"

"I'm fine," she insisted, pulling her leather jacket tightly around her with one hand. With her other, she took another sip of her coffee and shuddered.

"The Alphas decided to pay us a visit. Crystal didn't appreciate that."

Deaton's eyebrows rose. "What did they want?"

"You know what, Doc? No. Today's not your day for questions," Crystal snapped before anyone could answer (not that the youngest Hale even bothered to open her mouth). "Today's the day we actually get some answers out of you. And believe me, after the shitshow with the Alphas, I've got a laundry list." She tilted her head in Stiles's direction, taking a third, longer sip of coffee. "Stiles, you first."

"Okay, so, all the symbols and things we've been seeing－the triksele, the bank logo, the mountain ash－it's all connected to Celtic druids. And anyone who's ever looked up human sacrifices knows the druids had…" Stiles cast a wary glance at the girls, who both raised an eyebrow at him, just daring him to finish his sentence.

No, thanks. He liked certain body parts firmly attached, and he was already on thin ice－Crystal wouldn't have forgotten his comment about her and Derek that quickly.

"Well, let's just say they really liked their human sacrifices. You ever hear of the Lindow Man?"

Crystal shook her head. Cora raised her eyebrows, silently ordering him to continue.

"Also known as Pete Marsh. It's a two thousand-year-old body found in an England bog. He was strangled, his head bashed in, and his throat cut." He turned back to Deaton. "It's called the three-fold death. They also found pollen grains in his stomach. Guess what favorite druid plant that was."

Deaton opened a jar next to him and pulled out a small stem of leaves with white berries on it. "Mistletoe."

Cora glared at the poisonous plant. She stepped away from Deaton's end of the table, forcing Crystal to move closer to Stiles. Crystal sneezed.

Stiles narrowed his eyes at the vet. "I'm just telling you everything you already know, aren't I?"

Deaton nodded as Crystal sneezed again.

"Then why aren't you telling us?!" Stiles and Crystal snapped, glaring across the table. Crystal's usually terrifying glare was lessened by her abrupt sneezing fit. She had to set the coffee cup down on the exam table so it didn't spill all over her.

Cora's glare was somehow worse than Crystal's. "Put it away," she snarled.

The hairs on the back of Stiles's neck rose. If there was ever a doubt that she was a Hale, it was gone now. Especially when she immediately wrapped an arm around Crystal's shoulder and steered her into the corner, which was as far away from the mistletoe as they could get without leaving the room.

Deaton dropped the mistletoe back into the jar and screwed the lid on tightly. "When you've spent the last seven years trying to push something away," he said over Crystal's sniffling, "denying it…lying about it…it becomes a pretty powerful habit."

"So who－" Crystal pulled the collar of her shirt over her mouth and sneezed into it. "Whoever's killing everyone－" She sneezed again, oblivious to Stiles's and Cora's worried frowns－ "they're a druid?"

Deaton frowned. "No. They're copying an ancient practice from a people who should have known better. In Gaelic, the word 'druid' means 'wise oak'. See, the druids were close to nature. They kept it in balance. They were philosophers and scholars－not serial killers."

Crystal let out her biggest sneeze yet. "Tell that to the bastard who－achoo!－who just strung up a kid with his dog's leash."

"Okay, what the hell's going on?" Cora snapped at Deaton as Stiles's phone buzzed. "What did you put in that jar?"

"Just the mistletoe," he assured her.

Stiles checked the caller ID and frowned. It was still halfway through their last class, and Ms. Blake had that strict no cellphones policy.

"Lydia? Hey, it's not really a good time－"

"Stiles," she breathed. The sheer terror in her voice made his stomach sink. "Mr. Nelson's gone."

"Wait, what?"

"He's gone, Stiles!"

"Okay, are you sure he's not just missing?"

"Not just missing," she whispered with certainty. "He was taken."

Stiles ran a hand through his hair. "Okay. We'll be right there."

"Who was taken?" Deaton asked.

"Mr. Nelson, the band director."

"What the hell do a band director and a high school senior have in common?" Crystal sniffled.

"You okay?" Cora muttered as they hopped in the back of the Jeep. She was still glaring daggers at the back of Deaton's head.

"I'm fine," Crystal assured her. The moment they were out of the exam room, she'd stopped sneezing. "I had no idea I was allergic to mistletoe." She sighed miserably. "I'm more upset about my coffee."

Her coffee had lost most of its warmth before they even reached the clinic. By the time they left, it was ice cold. There was no point in trying to finish it.

"We'll pick you up some more on our way back."

"So, uh, Crystal," Stiles began as he pulled out of the parking lot. "I see you brought a friend."

She gestured between them. "Stiles, Cora. Cora, Stiles."

From Stiles's lack of reaction, he'd already figured it out.

"It seems more Hales survived than we realized," Deaton said neutrally.

Crystal narrowed her eyes. She was still pissed at him for almost killing Isaac during his little hypnotism. "We have Taylor and Satomi to thank for that."

"Who's Satomi?" Stiles asked.

"A werewolf Alpha who lives a couple towns over." Crystal waved dismissively, ignoring Cora's flashing gold eyes.

"Wait, wait, wait. There are more werewolves?!" Stiles cried. He pressed a little too hard on the brake as they approached a red stoplight. Crystal grabbed the back of the headrest. "We could've been asking for help from her the entire time?!"

"No," Crystal and Cora disagreed. They didn't speak again until the light turned green.

"That probably wouldn't be the best idea," Deaton explained. Oh, now he was willing to share information. "Werewolves might not be as territorial as regular wolves, but unknown werewolves, especially an Alpha, still can't show up unannounced."

"Not unless you want a bloodbath on your hands," Cora added.

"How do you announce an Alpha?" Stiles wondered. "Like, do you just howl? Do the Alphas have to do a ceremonial ritual or something? Is there a binding magical contract?"

Cora and Deaton stared at him in silence.

Crystal, far more used to her friend's rambling tangents, merely shrugged. "Honestly, they'd probably just pick up the phone. If we need Satomi's help, I'll call Taylor."

"We don't need Satomi's help." Cora's soft protest was drowned out by Stiles's next question.

"Why would you call your family's lawyer to meet another werewolf?"

Right. Taylor didn't have a necklace like Crystal did, so Stiles wouldn't be able to make that connection. "She's Satomi's pack friend."

"But she's your lawyer."

Her lips twitched. "She's also Peter and Derek's lawyer."

"Tha－wha－how－that doesn't make any sense!"

Crystal's smirk only grew when Cora huffed and said, "Or, if you don't want to call Taylor, you could always go through Satomi's emissary."

"Okay, now you're just being cryptic on purpose." Stiles took the next turn a little too sharply. "What the hell's an emissary?"

"Those are the guides Talia mentioned, right?" Crystal asked as a faint memory came back to her. "They help keep…balance." Her eyes widened in disbelief as she realized exactly how Deaton knew so much about werewolves and other mythical creatures. "You're an emissary, aren't you?"

Deaton glanced over his shoulder and met her eyes briefly. "I was."

Cora scoffed. "Why am I not surprised?"

"Are you a pack friend, too?" Stiles wondered.

Deaton shook his head. "Some emissaries are granted pack friend status. I was not one of them."

Stiles found Crystal's eyes in the rearview mirror. His face scrunched up in confusion. She just shrugged, preening on the inside.

They pulled into the high school parking lot, away from the black sedans and cop cars, and hopped out of the Jeep. Crystal was amazed nobody tried to stop them as they made their way through the halls. The final class was almost over, but surely the administrators would have seen them? Or one of the cops or FBI agents lurking nearby? And they weren't even sneaking around!

They reached the band room to find Lydia pacing by the piano, twisting her hands anxiously. Her eyes widened when the door opened, but she sighed in relief when she saw who it was.

"Stiles. Crystal."

Crystal half expected Stiles to dash across the room and try to sweep Lydia into a hug, but he surprised her with his restraint. He strode across the room and rested a hand on her shoulder, allowing her to pull away if she chose.

"You okay?"

She shot him a look. "Obviously not." Her voice was trembling. She didn't protest when Crystal pulled her away from Stiles to wrap her in a hug. In fact, Lydia hugged Crystal tight enough to hurt. "I was on my way to English, and then I was just…here." She released Crystal but didn't step away as she gestured to the empty classroom. "And Danny said Mr. Nelson didn't show up, and I found this." She held up a phone Crystal didn't recognize. "He was recording, and then…"

She hit play.

Mr. Nelson's voice came from the tiny speaker. "Recording piano, part three."

Crystal didn't recognize the song Mr. Nelson was playing, but it was pretty. Lydia skipped ahead. A few moments later, Mr. Nelson's gentle piano piece was interrupted by a sharp, discordant banging of the keys.

The strange chanting that followed sent chills up Crystal's spine.

Cora's eyes flashed. "What the hell is that?"

"Whatever it is, it's definitely not good." Stiles headed for Mr. Nelson's desk and began tearing the drawers open.

"What are we looking for?" Crystal asked as she followed. She grabbed a stack of papers on the desk and flipped through them. Office notes, detention slips, sheet music. Nothing jumped out at her.

"Anything that tells us why Mr. Nelson was the fifth victim." Stiles didn't look up from his search. "Hey, Doc, any time you wanna jump in and help, that'd be great."

Crystal's eyebrows rose when Deaton immediately opened his mouth. It seemed like all their cryptic bastards were being willingly helpful today.

"Each grouping of three would have its own purpose. Its own type of power. Virgins, healers, philosophers, warriors…"

"Wait, wait, wait. Warriors－could that be like a soldier?" Stiles asked, staring at a picture frame on the corner of the desk.

"Absolutely."

He grabbed the picture and turned it around. The first thing Crystal noticed was the military dress blues Mr. Nelson wore. The second thing she saw was the beautiful blonde in a wedding dress standing to him, their arms wrapped around each other. Both of them had bright, happy smiles.

Crystal's heart sank as she stared at the photo. "Oh, no."

"What?" Cora whispered.

"That's Mrs. Nelson," she breathed. "She was my art teacher at Beacon Hills Elementary."

"Kyle was from a military family, and he was in ROTC with Boyd."

Crystal's heart almost stopped as an icy wave of fear crashed over her. She and Cora whipped their heads around to gape in terrified disbelief at Stiles.

"I'll text Boyd. He might still be in class." Crystal yanked her phone out of her pocket with shaking hands and scrolled through her contacts until she found Boyd's name. Her fingers flew over the keyboard.

Another sacrifice was taken. We think they're going after military connections.

"Lydia?"

Crystal looked up. Lydia had a look of horrified realization on her face. "Lydia, what is it?"

Lydia blinked up at them. "N-Nothing."

Stiles set the picture back on the desk. "Lydia?"

"I just…I thought of someone else with a military connection."

"Who?" Crystal asked.

Lydia's face twisted awkwardly. "Harris."

"Oh." Crystal relaxed immediately. "I thought it was someone we actually cared about." Then she realized exactly what Lydia was implying. "You mean Harris might be the next sacrifice?" she clarified. Her lips twitched.

"I don't see what's so funny about an innocent man－"

Cackling laughter erupted from her throat, drowning out the rest of Deaton's sentence. Harris was many things, but he definitely wasn't innocent.

"Crystal?" Stiles took a hesitant step forward like he was approaching a wounded animal. "Is there…something you wanna tell us?"

"Yeah," she snorted. "I can't think of a more perfect sacrifice."

That wasn't entirely true. If she could choose anybody to be a human sacrifice, Gerard Argent would be first on her list. But the geriatric psychopath had disappeared, so she was stuck with Harris as the next best choice.

"Why don't we make sure he's actually dead first, before you start celebrating?" Cora suggested.

Lydia, Stiles, and Deaton all shot her looks mixed with horror and outrage. She ignored them.

Crystal nodded. "Right. Sorry."

The final bell rang, allowing them to blend into the crowd as they made their way to the science labs.

Crystal scowled. She thought graduating meant she'd never have to come back to this hellhole.

The door to Harris's classroom creaked as Stiles cautiously pushed it open. There was no immediate insult or threat of detention or bodily harm thrown their way, so he scurried inside.

Another quick glance down the hallway proved nobody was paying them any attention. Crystal waited for the others to duck inside before she followed, closing the door behind her. She took great pleasure in laying flat across her lab table from last spring. Cora leaned against the table between her and the door, keeping an eye on the other three surrounding the abandoned desk at the front of the room.

Crystal pulled her curls up over her head to drape over the edge of the table. She was tempted to put her feet up, but old habits were hard to break (plus she didn't need her parents' ghosts scolding her again). She left her legs dangling as she pulled out her phone to read the one word response from Boyd.

Thanks.

She frowned worriedly. She'd expected Boyd to have more questions. Then again, Boyd had gotten quieter than normal over the last few days.

She sent another message before she put the phone down by her hip.

Stay safe. Call me if you need anything.

"Crystal, you wanna give us a hand over here?"

She turned her head to smile brightly at Stiles. "I'm good."

"He could have simply left for the day," Deaton offered.

Stiles pulled the chair away from the desk and picked up a familiar black briefcase. "Not without this."

From the corner of her eye, Crystal saw Cora's head tilt like she'd heard something.

"What?" Crystal breathed.

"I'll be right back. Stay here."

As Cora passed her, Crystal noticed her nails had lengthened to claws. Cora usually had better control than that. Why would she partially shift in public? Especially when there were still students and teachers in the hallway?

"Cora?" she called worriedly. But by the time she'd rearranged herself into a sitting position, Cora was already gone.

Lydia pointed at the closed door. "Cora Hale?"

"Yep," Crystal said distractedly.

"This test is graded 'H'," Stiles said.

Lydia looked down and picked up another paper. "This one's an 'R'."

Crystal tilted her head in mild curiosity as her friends rearranged the papers so they were all lined up next to each other. Harris was a dick, but he knew what letters to use when he graded their papers. She was still bitter about the grade he gave her final essay.

Had she put a whole lot of effort into it? No. Had she picked Stiles's brain when she was writing it at three in the morning? Absolutely. But Stiles was a fountain of knowledge about things he cared about, and one of those things involved forensics. And she'd even had Lydia double check it! Her paper definitely deserved better than that sixty-eight percent.

Deaton looked up, his dark eyes worried. "You remember how I told you 'druid' is Gaelic for 'wise oak'?" When Crystal and Stiles made sounds of acknowledgement, he continued. "If a druid went down the wrong path, a wise oak would become a dark oak. There's a word for that as well. Darach."

Lydia and Stiles jumped when the door swung open.

Scott and Isaac staggered into the room. Cora was right behind them. She closed the door harder than necessary and locked it. Crystal raised her eyebrows.

She'd have to ask Cora what happened later.

Scott straightened and smiled at them. "Hey, guys. What are you doing here?"

"Investigating." Stiles sighed heavily, running a hand through his hair. "The good news is, we know what's been sacrificing people. But we still don't know who's sacrificing people."

"That's great! What is it?"

"It's called a darach. Basically, it's a dark druid, hence the Celtic symbols and the ritualistic sacrifices." Stiles shot Isaac a look that screamed "I told you so".

"And it took Harris," Crystal offered cheerfully. Maybe a little too cheerfully, judging by the suspicious looks almost everyone sent her. She shrugged. "What? It's not like anyone's gonna miss him."

"Oh my God," Isaac whispered in amazed disbelief. "She finally did it."

Scott frowned. "Crystal, you didn't actually…"

Crystal rolled her eyes so hard she swore she saw the back of her skull. "No, I'm not the darach." She held up a hand, listing off her points on her fingers. "One, I don't kill people just for fun. Two, I liked Mrs. Nelson and I like Stiles, so why would I kill her husband and his friend? Three, if I was gonna kill anybody, I would have started with Harris. And I wouldn't kidnap him first."

"And if she killed anybody, we'd know about it." Cora leaned against Crystal's table and glared at the rest of the room with wolf gold eyes. "Besides, there's no way she could have kidnapped your science teacher. She was with me and Derek all day."

"Oh. Speaking of Derek…" Crystal picked up her phone and called him, putting it on speaker for the sake of the three other humans in the room.

Derek answered almost immediately. "What did Deaton say?"

"We're looking for a dark druid. They're the one committing all the sacrifices."

"They took Harris," Isaac said.

"And the band teacher, Mr. Nelson," Lydia added.

"Wait, you were at the school when they were taken?"

Crystal looked over at Lydia. "What time was Mr. Nelson taken?"

"Two-eighteen," she said promptly. They all sent her surprised looks. "What? I did the math."

"And Harris?" Derek asked before anyone could ask exactly what math Lydia was talking about.

"We're not exactly sure," Crystal admitted.

He growled. "Crystal－"

"I didn't kill him!" she protested. "I'm not stupid enough to kidnap a teacher in the middle of a school day, especially not with all the damn cops crawling around!"

"Well, someone did," he snarled. "And if they took him after they took the band teacher, that means they took Harris while you and Cora were in the building."

"Oh," she said weakly. She hadn't thought of that. And by the anxious looks on their faces, neither had Stiles or Lydia. "But…it's not going after virgins anymore, and none of us are related to anybody in the military," she added, trying to reassure them. "So we should be okay."

"Do you want to take that chance?"

Scott turned to his boss. "Deaton, what other kinds of people could the darach be going after?"

"Healers, philosophers, guardians." Deaton shook his head. "The problem is, we're still looking at a massive list of potential victims. A philosopher could be a teacher or an author or a therapist. A guardian could be someone like Derek or Crystal."

Cora and Derek snarled. Crystal reached down to tangle her free hand with Cora's.

"Hey," she whispered. "It's gonna be okay. I'll be okay."

She really hoped she wasn't lying. If she became one of the darach's sacrifices, nothing would stop the Hales from tearing Beacon Hills apart.

Crystal squeezed the extra water out of the towles and stared at them in despair. Honestly, it might be easier just to get new towels, but then they'd have to ruin more perfectly good towels if any of them got hurt.

With a frustrated snarl, she tipped the rest of the hydrogen peroxide over the pile of towels in the bathtub. She'd have to tell Isaac they were in there before he freaked out.

She hesitated as voices drifted up the stairs and into the open bathroom door. She was surprised she could hear them over the rain pummelling the roof.

"It's just not gonna work with both of you here. I've got Cora now."

She winced at the ice in Derek's voice. Derek, what the hell?

"I need you out tonight."

He was kicking Isaac out?! He couldn't do that! Isaac was his Beta, his pack! Derek was supposed to take care of him, not abandon him! She dropped the empty bottle in the tub, pushing herself up off the cold tiles.

He's scared. It was Laura's voice. He can't run from the Alphas, so he's pushing everyone away. If he doesn't have a pack, then he can't kill them.

Dumbass, Crystal hissed bitterly as she stormed across the upper floor to reach the staircase. You don't just abandon your pack when there's a threat.

She didn't realize how angry she still was at the dead Alpha until Laura sighed.

I'm sorry. I didn't have a choice.

There's always a choice.

"Did I do something wrong, Derek?" Isaac's voice cracked.

Her heart ached. She remembered that feeling. She'd just woken up in the hospital, and everyone was gone. And then she found out Laura and Derek had left.

"No," Crystal snapped over a crash of thunder, racing down the stairs. "You haven't done a damn thing wrong, Isaac. It's the fucking Alphas."

"Crystal," Derek snarled. He was over by the window holding a glass in his hand, but at her voice he turned just enough for her to see his face. His eyes flashed red.

She ignored his anger in favor of her own. "Deucalion wants Derek in his pack. The only way that happens is if Derek－"

"Crystal!"

Glass shattered. Isaac flinched violently, squeezing his eyes shut. Cora gasped from the other side of the room. The loft fell into uneasy silence.

Crystal stared in horror at the blood covering Derek's hand.

She did that. Derek may have broken the glass with his bare hand, but Crystal was the one who pushed him to his breaking point. And instead of throwing it at her, his pack friend, he'd allowed himself to get hurt. Because of her.

"Isaac," she whispered. She dug her keys out of her pocket and held them out blindly. "Go wait in the car, please. Make sure to turn the heat on so you don't get cold."

A trembling hand took the keys from her.

"Oh my God, Derek, I'm so sorry," she apologized the moment the door closed. She rushed forward. "Are you－"

"I'm fine," Derek snarled. He was already picking shards of glass out of his skin with his claws.

Crystal changed direction, heading back upstairs to grab the first-aid kit from under the bathroom sink. By the time she came back down, Derek had a small pile of shattered glass on the table in front of him. Cora was over by the window, shifting from foot to foot uncomfortably.

"Here." Crystal set the first-aid kit and opened it. "Let me－"

"You've done enough."

Crystal blinked at him in disbelief. "What?"

Cora straightened. "Derek," she growled.

Derek's eyes glowed red. "Just go, Crystal."

Crystal shook her head. "No." What the hell had gotten into him? "I'm trying to help you, you arrogant－"

"God, you never listen to anyone, do you?" he snapped.

"Not true," she whispered, her heart in her throat. Did Deucalion or Kali do something to him? "Derek, what－"

He turned away from her. "What's the point of being pack friend if you won't listen to me?"

Oh, God. Her hand went up to her necklace, remembering the night she'd had her pack friend status revoked. Even if it hadn't been for long－not even a week－she'd felt like he'd carved out her heart with a dull spoon. He wouldn't do that again, would he?

He's scared, Laura reminded her.

Oh.

Derek wasn't just pushing his pack away. He was pushing everyone away, including his pack friend.

She held back the tears burning her eyes by sheer force of will. Carefully, she set the tweezers and a pack of disinfectant wipes on the table, refusing to look up. If she met either Hale's eyes, she was positive she'd lose control.

"We're－" She cleared her throat and tried again. "If you don't want me here, I'll go. But we're stronger together. We're safer together. And I am still pack friend," she added almost desperately. Her voice cracked. "You can't get rid of me that easily."

Please don't take that from me again.

Seeing movement in the corner of her eye, she hurriedly turned on her heel and headed for the stairs. "I'll stay away from the loft, if that's what you want. Isaac can stay at my house."

She'd have to stay at Peter's apartment, since the McCall house only had three bedrooms, but Peter wouldn't mind.

Probably.

She shook her head as she dragged Isaac's duffel bag out from under the bed and began throwing his stuff inside. She'd deal with their housing arrangements in the morning. Anything was better than throwing Isaac out on the street, especially on a night like tonight.

When Derek decided to pull his head out of his ass, he could come find her and apologize.

Isaac sat perfectly still as Crystal threw two duffel bags in the back seat and closed the door harder than necessary. Then she slid into the driver's seat and let out a heavy sigh.

He finally worked up the nerve to ask, "So…what just happened?"

"Derek's being a dumbass." She rolled her eyes. "Okay, fine, he's not being a dumbass. He's just scared."

"You said it had something to do with the Alphas."

Crystal twisted the key in the ignition. The engine purred to life. She flicked on the headlights and the windshield wipers. She didn't look back at the loft, but Isaac saw her hands tighten on the steering wheel as they drove away.

"Deucalion paid us a little visit today."

"Yeah." Isaac nodded slowly. "Yeah, Scott mentioned that." Right before they came up with the plan to fuck with the Alpha twins.

"He wants Derek as part of his pack." Crystal's face looked like it was carved from stone, but she was biting her lower lip worriedly.

"That's not gonna happen," he assured her. "Derek said no, didn't he?"

"Yeah," she sighed. "But Deucalion…he's too much like Peter. He's playing games."

She fell silent. Isaac waited, his impatience growing. They were almost at Scott's house when he couldn't stand it anymore.

"But what does that have to do with him kicking me out?"

Crystal parked the car outside the house and turned to him. Her eyes were more green than gold. "To join the Alpha pack, Derek has to kill his old pack."

His head spun. He felt like he'd just been kicked in the gut, which was only slightly better than the kick to the heart he'd felt earlier when Derek told him to pack up and leave. "Derek wouldn't do that."

She nodded. "That's why he wants us away from the loft. Away from him." She cleared her hoarse throat. "If he doesn't have a pack, he can't kill them."

"But－but Cora's there. And what about pack friends? They wouldn't make him try to kill you, would they?"

Gold blossomed across her irises, brightening her eyes. "Derek doesn't want to take that chance." A cold smile crept onto her face. Isaac shivered. "But, honestly?" Her smile grew sharper. "I'd love for that bitch to try."

"Scott!"

Scott's head shot up at Crystal's holler. "Up here!"

"Hey, Crystal, I was just about－" His mom hesitated. "Hi, Isaac. I wasn't expecting you."

"Hi, Ms. McCall."

What was Isaac doing here? Scott threw himself out of his chair and hurried downstairs.

"Hang on, I think Scott should hear this, too," Crystal was saying. She looked up when he jumped the last three steps, landing lightly on his feet. "Nice."

"Thanks." Scott's eyes flickered between her, his mom, and Isaac. "What's going on?"

"Isaac needs a place to stay. I told him he could stay here." Crystal shrugged like it was no big deal, but Scott saw her quick glance at Mom.

Mom took a deep breath. "Okay…why does Isaac need a place to stay? I thought he was living at Derek's?"

Crystal nodded. "Oh, he was, until the Alphas stopped by today."

"Alphas?" Mom repeated. "As in, more than one?"

Crystal threw her hands up and she turned to Scott, an exasperated look on her face. "Do you not tell your mother anything?"

"I told her about the Alphas!" he argued. "I told her they were the ones who kidnapped Erica, Boyd and Cora."

"Okay, well, there's a whole pack of them. One's the muscle－don't know his name－but then there's Deucalion, the leader of the Alpha pack, and a pair of twins that morphs into a giant werewolf. And Kali." Crystal's face darkened. "That bitch is one step away from me carving her heart out with a wolfsbane dagger."

Mom frowned warily. "Okay, Crystal. Remember, we don't actually want to kill anyone. That's illegal and leads to jail time."

Crystal blinked and smiled at her. "Don't worry. I'll make sure not to get arrested."

"That's comforting."

"And you wonder why everyone is convinced you killed Harris," Isaac muttered.

"I didn't－you know what, never mind," Crystal grumbled, ignoring Mom's wide eyes.

"They haven't found his body yet," Scott hurried to reassure her. "We think he's the next sacrifice."

"You think the Alphas are the ones killing people?" Mom shook her head. "But none of the victims look like they've been mauled by a wild animal." She glanced over at Isaac. "Well, there was the one victim at the high school."

Isaac ducked his head, clenching the strap of his duffel bag tightly as waves of sorrow and fury rolled off him. Scott stepped closer and laid one hand on his shoulder in an attempt to comfort him.

"No, the Alphas definitely killed the girl who rescued Isaac," Crystal said softly. "But the others…head bashed in, throat slashed, garrotted? Those are the work of a darach."

His mom sighed, rubbing her temples. "What's a darach?"

"It's a dark druid. We don't know who it is yet," Scott told her. "But it took Harris."

"And no, it wasn't me," Crystal said before anyone else could speak. "If I killed him, there wouldn't be enough of him left to bury."

"I don't think the police or Taylor will accept that argument," Scott told her.

Crystal groaned loudly. "Damn it. The moment they find his body, the cops are gonna be all up my ass."

"You're just realizing this now?" Isaac asked softly.

"I'm sorry, I was a little distracted." Crystal took Isaac's bag and threw it on the couch. "Back to the Alphas. Basically, Deucalion wants Derek to join the Alphas by killing everyone in his pack, which includes Isaac and may or may not include me. Derek decided the best thing for everyone was to kick Isaac out and ban me from the loft."

Her scoff and eyeroll showed everyone what she thought of that idea.

Scott stared at his sister in disbelief. "And you just…let him kick you out," he said slowly.

Who was this girl and what had she done with Crystal? There was no way she just let Derek kick Isaac out and ban her from the loft without a fight.

Crystal made a face. "That is another long story, and I don't think we have time for it right now." She turned to Mom. "So, can Isaac stay here?"

"Sure," she replied immediately. "But I don't know where he's gonna sleep."

"I can sleep on the couch," Isaac offered immediately. "It's no trouble."

"And until Derek stops being such a scaredy-cat－" Crystal's lips twitched in sudden, unexplained amusement－ "I can stay at Peter's apartment."

"Are you sure?" Mom asked.

Crystal shrugged. "Yeah. It'll be fine."

Isaac chuckled. "You're probably the only person in the world who's okay with sleeping at that maniac's place."

"It's actually probably the safest place in Beacon Hills."

"Only for you, Crystal," Scott chuckled.

Crystal winked. "I'm his favorite." She headed toward the kitchen. "What's for dinner?"

"Uh…I was gonna call you and ask you to pick up something, but it's coming down pretty hard out there," Scott's mom said slowly. Crystal paused. "I didn't really have a chance to go shopping yet."

Crystal shrugged. "That's fine. It's only－" she checked her phone－ "just after seven. I can run to the store real quick."

And before anyone could argue, she dashed upstairs.

Mom frowned. "Is she okay?"

Scott nodded. "She'll be okay."

She sighed and turned to Isaac with a soft smile. "Well, let's get you set up."

Crystal appeared at the top of the stairs wrapped in a long, dark red coat that had three buttons on each side. Her keys spun around her finger. "What do you guys want for dinner?"

"Not pizza," Mom warned.

Scott shrugged. "Subs? We haven't had those in a while."

Crystal frowned. "It's too cold for that. But I can grab burgers or Chinese."

"Chinese sounds good," Mom agreed. "Isaac?"

Isaac blinked, still surprised they would include him. "Yeah. Chinese sounds great."

"Text me whatever else we need." Crystal's phone buzzed. She looked at the caller ID and brightened. "Hi, Peter!"

Mom's eyebrows skyrocketed as Crystal stepped out into the downpour. "Isn't Peter Hale supposed to be dead? Or is there another Peter I don't know about?"

Scott winced. He'd forgotten to tell his mom about Peter's miraculous return from the dead.

Crystal leaned back as far as she could go. Her dark blonde curls brushed the ground as she pointed her legs high in the air, allowing her momentum to swing her back and forth.

"Crystal!"

At the sound of her mom's voice, she rolled off the wooden swing in a perfect backflip. She smiled at the black wolf curled up at the base of the tree.

"Come on, Laura! Let's go!"

The wolf opened her red eyes and yawned. She took her time getting up, stretching her front legs, then her back legs.

"Laura!" Crystal laughed. "Come on, I'll race you!"

The wolf took off with an excited yelp. Crystal ran after her, but her legs were too short. She quickly lost sight of the black wolf as she moved through the woods. For a split second, her chest tightened with fear.

Why did Laura leave her? Why hadn't she come back?

"Crystal."

Crystal turned around.

Her mother was sitting on a set of stone steps that led from the woods to her childhood home: a two-story house with light blue wood siding, a small garden with a little pond in the backyard, and the tree with her wooden swing in the front yard.

"Mom."

Jessica Braddock smiled, tears in her eyes. "Hey, baby."

As Crystal ran, her footsteps grew heavier. Her limbs grew longer. Her heart pounded in her chest.

And she remembered.

She hesitated just inches away from her mother, afraid that if she touched her, Jessica would disappear and the dream would end.

Her mom smiled, green eyes shining in the afternoon light. "What? You'll say hi to your father, but not me?"

"Is this real? You're not gonna disappear like Dad did, are you?" Crystal asked, almost choking on her tears.

Her mom sighed and rose from the stone steps. "I'm sorry about that. I've never tried sending someone through the veil before."

She reached out and brushed Crystal's hair away from her face.

Crystal tightened her hands into fists, struggling to keep herself composed. She didn't realize that tears were running down her cheeks, or that the gasping sobs were actually hers, until her mom wrapped Crystal in a tight hug, one hand rubbing her back gently. Crystal returned the hug fiercely.

"It's okay, baby. I'm right here." Her mom pressed a kiss to her hair.

"How?" Crystal wailed, hiccuping. "I just…I don't…" Another sob stole her words.

If possible, Jessica's hug got tighter.

"I'm a Dreamer, sweetheart."

Thank you for reading! Hope you liked it