CHAPTER 6

The combination of the memory probe and the emotional toil of the past was causing Scott to tire. The memories were beginning to blur.

"We're almost there," Deaton said into the phone.

"Scott's mom was the first one to be taken just like the seer said...Julia has the others now as well."

Deaton paced back and forth in the examination room.

"Yes...I'm going to make the suggestion tonight...I'm sure he'll agree...no reason for him not to if he thinks it'll save his mom and the parents of his friends."

Deaton's memory faded out and Scott was once again trapped in his own past.

The kanima was going to be a problem...it now had wings and it appeared to be protecting the Nemeton.

"It must have a master," Scott replied.

Derek nodded his head, "That's what I thought...not much justice against murderers taking place when you're camping out around a tree."

"You think we can get past him?" Scott asked.

"We're going to have to try...if this works it could put an end to all this madness."

Derek poured the purplish substance into the glass containers. A portion of it splashed on the ground and onto Scott's shoe.

"Watch it!" he yelped as he shook the excess off.

Derek half-laughed.

"It's for killing plants, not Nike's," he replied.

"Sorry," Scott said, "I wasn't thinking."

"It's okay...we're both on edge."

"Is Peter coming?" asked Scott trying to take the edge off his nerves.

"He's not ready yet...it's only been a week...he's still adjusting."

Derek avoiding Scott's gaze as he answered but Scott pushed ahead anyway.

"You know I don't like to pry, but it's been bothering me..." Scott began.

"You want to know what was going on between Peter and Lydia," Derek stated bluntly.

Scott looked down and simply said, "Yeah."

"I don't know...there was something...I saw it...you saw it...everybody saw it, but what it was I have no idea. The only thing I could get out of him was that he felt connected to her...who knows maybe he actually was."

Derek clamped down the lids on the containers and nodded to Scott that he was done.

"Small talk over?" Derek asked.

Scott nodded.

"Let's get this done then."

As Scott approached the Nemeton, he thought of his mom. She should be well out of town by now. Scott had promised to join her as soon as he and Derek were through destroying the Nemeton. He had left out the part about the Kanima guarding it. No need to worry her unnecessarily.

"You want the right or the left?" asked Scott.

"Doesn't really matter...guess I'll take the left," Derek answered.

"Just on the roots right?"

Scott asked for confirmation.

"Yeah...it should be enough, but if we spill too much, we may not have enough to do the job and with that kanima around..."

"I know...a second shot at this might be too dangerous," Scott finished.

Derek nodded at Scott that he was ready and the two of them moved silently and slowly to the Nemeton, with the poison containers in hand.

Sweat broke out on Scott's forehead and he could hear his heartbeat pounding loudly in his chest. They had barely defeated Jackson when he was the kanima and only because of the connection he had with Lydia. They didn't even know who this kanima was and this was no longer an ordinary kanima...over the last week it had become an alpha.

As they reached the tree, Derek turned to Scott and put his finger on his lips. Scott nodded and listened. Silence. If the kanima was near it wasn't moving. Scott put his container down and began to unscrew the lid. Derek squatted down next to the tree on the other side and began to do the same.

They had only gotten the lids halfway off when the creature came screaming out of the bushes. It veered to the left towards Derek who quickly shifted and fled into the brambles. They had arranged it before hand. If the kanima showed up and went after one of them, they would lead it away while the other one poisoned the tree.

Scott wasted no time. Unscrewing the lid, he lifted the container and began to pour the poison around the edge of the tree. The foliage that shaded him from overhead seemed to mock him accusingly.

"How could a stump grow into a tree this size in just two years?" he wondered.

Scott quickly changed containers as he came to Derek's side. With haste, he finished the task. Looking behind him he could see the liquid seeping into the ground as the tree soaked it up.

Scott breathed deeply. No time to waste...he had to find Derek and he had to find him fast.

His let his nose lead him. Down the trail he ran on all fours, bush branches slapping him in the face as he went. Ignoring the pain, he ran like the wind. The freshness of Derek's scent increased as he closed in on his target. He was close and then he stopped dead in his tracks. A new smell assaulted his nostrils...the smell of blood.

Scott froze. He began to shake. He wasn't sure he could take anymore.

Slowly he forced himself to push through the group of bushes that stood between him and the strong smell of blood before him.

Derek lay sprawled out on the ground like a ragdoll...like Lydia, he had cuts running the length of his torso. And like Lydia, his throat had been slashed.

Scott dropped down beside him. His expression was the worst...his face was frozen in a grimace of pain and Scott couldn't imagine the hell he had gone through before the kanima finished him off.

He placed his hand on Derek's forehead and began to weep. His weeping gave way to sobs and his sobs to howls. Scott had lost another one of his brothers. He no longer cared...let the kanima come...let him finish Scott off with the rest of them...very little of it mattered now. But the kanima did not come...it had retreated to the Nemeton to keep guard as it's master had commanded.

The day became night and then day again and Scott finally moved, gathering up the remains of his friend's body and carrying him out of the preserve.