A/N:
Nearing a finale now - Now you should be warned, the next story has been a work in progress for almost a year now, and to be honest, I really screwed up the plotline so I'll probably spend some time rewriting most of it but it's in the works. Also, I have finally decided a fourth installement of the Resurrection Series will be the last story, and will be named Don't Look Back. Stay tuned my lovely readers, and I again you have no idea how much it means to me if you're reading this.
Eva gasped when the burning sensation returned to her chest, and she immediately jerked her body forward. Her head broke through surface just in time as hands gripped her arms and pulled her out of the ice bath. She coughed and gasped as Derek immediately sat her down and Stiles moved to drape a towel over her figure. "Hey," Stiles whispered, the weakness obvious in his voice as he reached out to hold her face and lift her head, "Breathe, you're out. Just breathe."
Eva opened her eyes slowly, her hands moving to push her wet hair back as she finally regained control on her breathing, and started shivering. Stiles' eyes flickered across her face as he gripped the edges of the towel and wrapped them around Eva, "I know where the body is." Eva whispered quickly as she looked up at Derek. Eva finally allowed herself to look at whoever was in the room. Except she realized it was only Derek and Stiles, "Where's everybody?"
"Scott's at the hospital with his dad…The Oni got him too." Derek muttered, glancing down at Stiles, "Stiles' dad is at the hospital too, as well as Deaton. Morrell has some kind of…remedy that will hold off the effect of the poison." Derek explained, "Kira's outside with the twins, keeping watch."
Eva's eyes drifted to Stiles' eyes – the exhaustion was manifest on his face. No, not exhaustion. Illness. He looked ill – his eyes sinking into his skull, the sweat breaking on his forehead. Eva swallowed thickly as she reached out to touch his forehead, "You're on fire." She whispered, her eyes meeting his tired ones. He let out a weak chuckle, "Says the girl who has just been in an ice bath." He muttered.
Eva looked up at Derek, "The body's at the school." Eva whispered, "But I highly doubt we'll be able to just get in there. And he has the oni now."
"The twins and I will distract him, and you go with Kira to finish this." Derek finished for her and Eva nodded once as she pushed herself off the chair she was seated on. Stiles blinked as he stood up as well, "You're not going anywhere," Eva turned to Stiles, shaking her head. "I can't risk that."
"But I can?" Stiles shook his head once, "If you go, there's a big possibility you might…" Stiles stopped, biting his tongue as he shook his head once, not really wanting to believe what had happened that same very night, and refusing to say the words out loud. "You might not come back."
"Someone has to do something before we lose more people, Stiles." Eva whispered, shaking her head once. Stiles' eyes flickered to Derek, who nodded once as he turned to leave the clinic. Stiles turned to Eva again once Derek was gone, "Are you absolutely sure you know what you're going to do?"
"I am." Eva nodded firmly, "Allison died saving my life, and I will not let her death become vain." Eva whispered as her eyes welled up, "I know what I'm supposed to do and I'll do it even if…" Eva stopped as she looked up at Stiles and pursed her lips sadly, "Even if it kills me, Stiles."
Stiles swallowed thickly before he shrugged out hoodie he'd managed to get on his way here and stepped closer to drape it over her shoulders. Eva looked up at him as she pushed her arms through the sleeves and smiled a bit, "But you're going to do something as well." Eva started, before she gestured for Stiles to lean down. Eva stretched onto the tips of her toes to whisper into his ear, before she stepped back and lifted both brows as she looked up at Stiles, who nodded once.
"Can you do this?" She whispered, and Stiles nodded again, "I can."
Eva took a deep breath and stepped closer again to press her lips to Stiles' – the kiss was quick and abrupt, they didn't have time. With the words caught in Stiles' throat, he watched Eva turn around and leave the clinic.
Eva walked out to see Kira standing alone, holding up her katana, the new one, or the old one. The one she repaired. "Derek and the twins left?" Eva asked, and Kira nodded once. Eva blinked slowly as she thought of this one person, and she turned to Kira, "Where's Isaac?"
Kira turned to Eva and frowned, "I…I haven't seen him after we left the station." Kira whispered, "I think he's with Alli- he's with Argent." Kira muttered as she turned to face forward again. "Do you know where he is?" Eva asked again, glancing back at the clinic once before she turned to Kira again, who shook her head slowly.
Eva nodded once, "We need to go to the school and find that locket." Eva mumbled, and glanced sideways at Kira, who took a deep breath and shoved the katana back into its sheath. The two girls jogged towards the parking lot before it dawned upon them that they literally had no mode of transportation. Eva closed her eyes when she realized that Stiles' jeep was left back at the social services building, or at least, that's where she thought it was. Maybe Argent had moved it.
They turned around when the headlights illuminated their path, and stepped aside as Lydia parked her car in front of the two girls, "Come on, we need to hurry." She whispered, not lifting her gaze from the windshield. Eva glanced sideways at Kira before she hurried to sit in the back seat, not ready to face Lydia now.
It wasn't long before they were parking in front of the school – all the way Eva's heart was going faster than a train's engine within her chest, almost breaking through her ribs, or that's how it felt like to her. She took a deep as she flickered her gaze to the rearview mirror, her eyes momentarily meeting Lydia's before she quickly turned away and pushed herself out of the car.
"Eva," Lydia called out as she rolled down her window, and Eva turned back to the girl. "Someone is going to die tonight." Lydia whispered as she turned to look up at her. Eva swallowed thickly and let her eyes flicker to the ground, "Make sure it's Cole." Lydia whispered, and Eva looked up at her again, "Don't let Allison's death become vain."
Eva swallowed thickly and nodded once. "You have to stay away from this." Eva muttered, her eyes flickering sideways to Kira who stood beside Eva with her sword in hand, "You have to leave."
"You really thought you can just come here and have your werewolf friends create a distraction to get the locket? You really thought it was that easy?" Eva whirled around immediately to stare at Cole, who stood there, a look of disappointment on his face, "I really though you would be smarter than that." He muttered as he stepped forward. Kira moved to stand beside Eva, taking a step forward protectively in front of Eva.
"Lydia, go." Eva whispered as she rammed her fist against the car's door, urging Lydia to just press her foot down on that gas pedal.
"No one's going anywhere." Cole whispered just as one of the Oni appeared out of nowhere and sunk its sword into the engine of Lydia's car, causing the red head to let out a panicked shriek as she hurried out of the car. Eva grabbed Lydia's wrist and pulled her away from the car, the two girls backing away as Kira moved in front of them.
"Is that's adorable?" Cole lifted a brow as he turned to the three girls, "Girl power, right?" He lifted a brow before he shook his head slowly, "What are you going to do now? Stay busy with protecting each other, or actually do something?" He tilted his head as he moved around them, "Because I can easily just kill the three of you."
"Not on my watch, you won't."
Eva glanced over her shoulder at Scott, and felt a weak sigh of relief leave her lips as he lunged at Cole, Kira using the chance to lunge at the oni. Cole disappeared into thin air, as well as the oni did. "Where did they go?" Lydia whispered, her eyes widened, and Scott shook his head furiously, "We don't have time to wonder on that. We have to find that locket."
Eva turned to Kira, before they took off into a sprint across the parking lot and into the school, Scott and Lydia following close behind. Only when Kira and Eva burst through the doors, they were no longer staring at the school hallways.
Eva turned to Kira, only to pull her brows into a frown when her eyes fell onto the dress Kira was wearing – the shoulder padding and the belt around her waist, until eventually they found the end of the dress at her knees. Eva frowned, her eyes flickering to Kira's face, the hair that was tied into an up-do Eva was more than familiar with. Kira was the split image of her mother during Oak Creek.
But Kira wasn't the only one with a changed appearance – when she looked down at herself she saw a dress that too ended at her knees, the fabric striped with deep red and white. Her hands moved up to touch her hair, and she frowned before she turned to Kira, "What happened?" She whispered, and Kira shook her head. At least she still had her katana.
The two girls glanced around, trying to recognize where they stood. "Have you been here before?" Eva whispered, and Kira shook her head as they both moved forward.
"February 19, 1942 was the date President Roosevelt authorized the internment of Japanese Americans along the Pacific Coast. After the bombing of Pearl Harbor." Cole voice echoed throughout the hallways, and the two girls tried to turn towards the source of the voice – but the echoes bouncing off the walls made it all but easy. "Do you know when exactly was Pearl Harbor bombed, little druid?"
"December 7th, 1941." Kira whispered, and Eva glanced back at her as they both slowly moved backwards.
"Correct." Cole whispered, and both Kira and Eva turned around to stare at him hovering above them. "My brother was a medic. All he ever wanted to do was help people, save their lives, and when he heard about the internment camps, he jumped at the chance to serve there as well, because he wanted to help keep them safe there." Cole whispered, before he looked down at Kira, "Then your mother ruined everything."
"Are we supposed to feel bad for you?" Eva whispered and shook her head slowly, "You killed people. Innocent people who had absolutely nothing to do with what happened to your brother." Eva pushed forward despite Kira's body tensing, trying to keep her from passing through. "I'm going to make sure you're dead tonight. This time, once and for all."
A smirk tugged at Cole's lips, "I guess the darkness does run among you, Baccaris." He whispered, and Eva locked her jaw. Her eyes flickered from his hardened gaze to catch something on the ground, just behind Cole, and she lifted her eyes to his face again. "This is not real." She mumbled as she stepped back slowly, holding her arms up to push Kira backwards as well, "You have a shadow." She muttered, and swallowed thickly.
"Of course it isn't real." Cole commented, his voice a mixture or satire and mockery, "How in the world did you think you changed into these clothes. God, kids these days. Social networks are the main reason your IQ has become so limited, right?"
Eva glanced back at Kira, who shrugged helplessly, before Eva turned back to Cole again, "What are you going to get out of putting us in a figment of your past anyways?" She whispered, eyes narrowing. Since the villains always had a knack of revealing their 'plans' especially when they thought they were winning, Eva pushed her luck.
"I'm buying time." He whispered, "So your loved ones would die, and you would no longer have a reason to live." He shrugged once, "It's really simple."
Eva didn't need to hear more, "Run." She whispered as both she and Kira turned around the sprint across the tunnel, not daring to look back. The tunnel ahead of them seemed to stretch the faster they ran, and soon Eva was beginning to tire, her body still not quite fit for such effort – she was after all still recovering from a chest injury.
It was when they heard a howl that they stopped, and Kira glanced sideways to a passage of stairs that appeared out of nowhere. She didn't hesitate, following the howl with Eva descending quickly after her. Kira pushed her hands against the barred door, and when it opened, they were no longer in the tunnels.
Kira and Eva ran forward and almost into Lydia and Scott, both of them stopping with a miracle. "It worked." Lydia sighed, relieved, and Eva frowned. "What worked?"
"We saw you running and we called for you, but you didn't hear us." Scott muttered as he stepped forward to take his place beside Kira. Eva let them ramble on explanations as she took a few steps away from them, her wide, hazel hues flickering across the vast and completely white room they stood in. It stretched on either sides, no walls containing it, but no doors or windows, or even anything to signal and exit.
"We're losing time." Eva whispered as she quickly turned around to Scott, "He's messing with us. He wants us to waste time…" Eva shook her head, "Enough time for the poison to…" Eva pressed her lips into a thin line, before she glanced around, "How the hell do we get out of here?" Lydia whispered, and Scott glanced sideways at Eva, "You've been here, right?" He asked, and Eva nodded slowly, "Deaton's ice bath."
"When I was here, I had to find the nemeton, so it was right there and I moved right towards it." Scott whispered, and Eva blinked once as she tried to pick up the pattern, "I was looking for Rhys' body and I saw him running so I followed him."
"Well, we're still looking for Rhys' body." Lydia whispered, and Eva shook her head, "This is different." Eva whispered, "I told Rhys to show me. But Cole has us locked here. We have to be smart."
"If none of us is unconscious then we're still at the school." Kira pointed out, "This isn't real. We're just seeing what he's putting in our heads, right? If we can find a door, any door, we'll just be where we want to be."
Eva stared at Kira before she nodded slowly, "She's right." Eva let her gaze dance between Lydia and Scott's faces, before she whirled around again at the double doors that embedded themselves in a wall Eva could have sworn was not even there. She glanced over her shoulders at her friends, before Scott nodded and moved forwards, the three girls following after him.
Scott reached out a careful hand to push the door forward, and they walked through, they were in the school hallway.
"That was too easy." Lydia pointed out as she stepped forward to stand beside Scott, "Way too easy."
"Finally someone with a good head on her shoulders." Eva turned around to see Cole standing there with two of the Oni behind him. "The fun only starts now."
The Oni sidestepped and lunged at the teenagers. Scott pushed Lydia behind the row of lockers as he crouched in defense in front of her, while Kira at one of the Oni was well, using her Katana to block his attack, and his way too.
"Eva!" Scott called out as he aimed a well charged kick at the Oni's chest, "Go find that locket! We don't have time!"
Eva's eyes flickered between her friends before she bit her lip and turned around to take off in a sprint, trying her best to block out the sounds of the sight happening behind her – the battle cries and the metal clashing on metal sounding like the melody for a twisted end Eva was not about ready to face.
She pushed her legs to the limit, feeling the muscles begin to ache and contract in protest, but she didn't have time to get cramps now. Her side ached where the surgery had been done but there was no time. She was gasping, forgetting all about how to regulate her breathing as she ran, eventually she almost rammed into the door that led to the stairs to the boiler room. Eva grabbed the knob and pulled at it, "No, no, no…" She whispered under her breath as she tugged with sweaty hands at the door – but it was locked. She glanced around helplessly, before she turned to the door again.
It was all going to end because the door was locked.
Then she remembered what her mother had told her about channeling power into physical strength, "I used to break stuff with your grandmother. It was the only way you could learn."
Eva had had her fair share of reading. It was time to act upon all that she's learned – to prove not only to herself but to her mother, and her aunt, that she wasn't the weak girl they thought she'd be. Eva swallowed thickly as she closed her eyes, her hands tightening around the knob. She needed to focus all her concentration and all her power into doing this, into pulling the door free.
She needed to imagine it.
With determination she opened her eyes, the silver glow recurring, burning brighter than before she let out a strangled cry through her teeth, pulling at the knob with all her might. Eva could feel the knob begin to take the shape of her palm, and she felt the muscles in her arms burn – but she didn't stop. She pulled at the door relentlessly, until it finally came free, the remains of the lock clashing against the floor as Eva staggered backwards.
A disbelieving chuckle left her lips as she quickly gathered her bearings and almost tumbled down the stairs. She almost reached out in attempt to break the other door as well, but it was unlocked. Eva hurried into the boiler room, her eyes flickering across the pipes and the pumps that she was sure were scorching hot, the heat radiating off of it. Eva could already feel the sweat break on her body.
She realized she stood where Stiles, Scott, and Lydia stood in her dream, and she frowned as she glanced around, her eyes searching for the wall – the one that was so obviously out of place. As soon as her eyes found it, Eva saw Cole materialize out of thin air in front of her, "You're becoming such a thorn in my side, Eva Davis." He muttered, all the satire gone from his voice, his dropping to such a menacing frequency it ran shivers through her spine, despite the heat they stood in. "You should have died in Eichen House."
"But I didn't." Eva whispered as she stepped towards him slowly, daringly, in her mind she had no plan of action but one goal – how she was supposed to reach the wall behind Cole, break it, find the locket, and destroy it.
"But you will now." He smiled, almost sweetly, as he reached out to wrap a steel grip around his neck again. Eva staggered backward but tried to hold her ground, in her mind she recalled how she tried to rip his hands off her neck the last time and couldn't feel them when she tried to. Eva shut her eyes tightly when she realized that this was just like all of Cole' other tricks. Her own duplicate on the car, dead. The white room. The tunnels. None of it was real. And Cole wasn't really choking her right now.
Eva gasped and stepped back, gasping and coughing to stretch her airways, "Look who's grown smarter." He sighed, and Eva quickly stood up again, straightening her back as she flexed her fingers at her side.
"Fool me once, right?" Eva whispered as she stepped forward again, her step wider, steadier. Dauntless.
"It was more than once." He corrected, and Eva shook her head, "But this was the last time." Eva resolved as she held her palm up, and flicked her wrist to the side, watching as Cole flew into one of the pipes. She was surprised when she heard the sizzle of his skin against the scorching metal, but wasted no time trying to figure out how a ghost could get burned as she hurried towards the wall. Her eyes flickered sideways, before she realized she was going to have to using her hands again.
It was easier, this time the adrenaline too fueled her endeavors. Her fingers curled up into fists as she rammed them continually against the wall, easily imagining the poor wall begin to crumble underneath the force of her swings. She saw the cracks begin to web through the dull, gray surface, before she felt someone grab the back of her hair and pull her backwards, "I'm not going to go easy on you. Not anymore." Cole whispered through his teeth as he pushed Eva forward, her face inches away from one of the burning pipes.
She couldn't help the whimper that left her lips when the heat began to make her eyes water and her skin flush. She tried to reach out with her hands to push herself off, but found nothing to hold onto. Eva almost reached out to push off the pipes themselves, knowing well her hands would get more than just burned in the process, but she had no other option.
Until the pressure on her head was gone, and when Eva turned back, Isaac was holding a container of mistletoe – an empty container of mistletoe, while Cole curled on the ground in pain. Eva quickly pressed herself back against the wall, before Isaac hurried towards her, "Is it behind that wall?" He asked, and Eva nodded quickly, stepping back to let someone with actual superhuman strength break the wall. And it crumbled from the first strike.
Eva didn't have time to stand in shock as she stared at the body propped up against the wall – maybe the burrow in Eichen House looked familiar, but this was the place she was in. Swallowing down any trace of claustrophobia, Eva climbed into the cramped space, her eye blindly searching the body for the locket until she found it in the pocket of his jacket. She grabbed it and pulled back, stepped out of the wall, Isaac helping her onto her feet.
"Don't you dare…" She heard Cole growl between his teeth, his voice turning inhuman. Eva blinked once as she stared down at the locket, before she swallowed thickly, felt the metal in her hands begin to heat up as its temperature began to rise, and she let it drop to the floor when it was too hot for her hands to hold onto. When it dropped to the floor, it went up in flames, just as Cole' body did. His screams sent chills through Eva's body, echoed throughout the whole school.
Eva eventually had to turn away as his body crumbled into ashes then into air, disappearing as if it never existed. So did the fiery locket. It was all gone. It was all over.
Eva glanced up at Isaac, hold took a deep breath and nodded slowly, his expression still sullen, the pain still fresh on his every feature. They quietly moved away from the broken wall, from the body of the dead medic, before Eva stopped and turned back slowly to stare at it, an idea springing into her head before she followed Isaac back to the school hallway.
She let him lead the way, since she could no longer hear the sound of the fighting echoing throughout the school anymore. "It was the arrow head." He whispered, his voice choked. Eva looked up at Isaac and blinked slowly, "Allison made six silver arrow heads. The one she used, the one that killed the oni, it was made from silver."
Eva took a deep breath as she recalled her last moment with Stiles in the clinic,
"But you're going to do something as well." Eva started, before she gestured for Stiles to lean down. Eva stretched onto the tips of her toes to whisper into his ear, "Allison said something about the arrows before she died…and she said she needed to tell her dad. I know Scott thought she meant to tell her dad that she loved him, but I think it has to do with the fact that it killed one of those things. You have to tell him that. Maybe he knows something."
She stepped back, knowing too well how insensitive and rude what she wanted had sounded – but it was one of Allison's last words, and it was a message they were entitled to deliver. "Can you do this?" Eva lifted both brows as she looked up at Stiles, who nodded once. "I can."
Eva felt the air get heavier again, and she knew there was something Isaac was not telling her. They stepped out onto the front halls, standing a few meters away from the stairs that led to the below-ground level court yard that made the school's design somewhat special. But it wasn't the place. It was from where she stood, Eva saw Ethan knelt down beside Aiden, whose mouth was tainted with black blood – black blood that only meant one thing. He was dying.
And she knew it was Aiden because Lydia was on her knees beside him as well, her eyes swollen with tears. Stiles turned his head away just to meet Eva's gaze, and it was almost like a pull that made Eva move slowly towards him. Argent and Derek stood a few steps away, and Isaac didn't even want to be any closer than he already was, his wounds still too fresh to watch another pack member die.
But Eva had finally reached Stiles, and he pulled her into his side like his life depended on it, and her hands gripped his shirt, the blood on her knuckles already beginning to dry up. No words needed to be exchanged. Kira stood helplessly behind Lydia, while Scott stood behind Ethan, his face having lost its color, and the self-reproach drawing every aspect of his face.
It was when Ethan finally laid Aiden's limp corpse on the ground, that Lydia finally screamed – in agony, in grief. As a friend, as a girlfriend, as a sister, as a banshee. Eva turned her face away to bury it into Stiles' side as the tears burned in her eyes. Another friend was dead. Another member of the pack.
Another member of their family.