Chapter 58

Derek waited until Stiles and Lydia had been tended to before asking them exactly what happened.

"Can we eat first?" Stiles grumbled. He smacked his lips together like a starving

Derek huffed, rolling his eyes. Danny offered to go get food and alert the sheriff while out. Stiles demanded four cheeseburgers and two large sodas. Lydia tried to order a less amount that was more suitable but ended up wanting twice as much.

"Now, start talking," Derek said.

"Okay," Stiles snapped as he rubbed his sore arm. "We were trapped in this small room in Eichen House-"

"Wait, the asylum?" Derek said. His face twisted with confusion.

"Do you want me to tell you or not!?" Stiles exclaimed, seething and making his nostrils flare.

Derek said nothing. Taking that as a yes, Stiles continued.

"Anyway we were in Eichen, like at the very bottom of it, and it was this dark, stuffy room. Lydia had unlocked the door." he said

"We're checking out, crazy bitch."

"I can't have that. See, I need you to get to Derek and Scott. I need them."

Lydia's nails dug into Stiles's hand. He made a dash sideways and was flung against pipes that ran vertically along the wall. He exclaimed at his skin breaking open from a sharp point along the pipe line.

"Stiles!" Lydia screeched.

Jennifer's face contorted, shifting until she became the familiar distorted sight each of them knew. Her true face. Some that was truly feared, not because she was gruesome but because that face was the last one a lot of people saw. It wasn't going to be so for Stiles and Lydia.

Stiles staggered but stayed on his feet. Pushing from the wall with all his might, Stiles kicked Jennifer. She lashed out as she fell, clawing his upper leg. Stiles yelped. Lydia helped him stay on his feet, putting her arm around his waist and his around her. She pulled him along and they ran.

Stiles tried to keep up. His leg stung with an inner dull throb.

"Come on," Lydia egged him on.

"I'm trying. I have a huge gash in my leg. It's making this whole running thing a little difficult," Stiles said sarcastically.

Lydia pinched his tender side in response. He yelped as her fingers dug between two ribs. They turned left at a set of steps. Blinking lights blinded them. Lydia looked around. The lights, as dull as they were, illuminated the thick iron doors and bullet proof windows that held patients-the screamers. They pounded on the glass calling out lewdly to Stiles and Lydia with pleas and threats. All of them were different, supernatural different. Some had snake-like eyes that were hungry. Others had eyes that glowed a bright, hypnotizing green, fiery orange and blue. This ward was for special patients.

Lydia jumped, frightened that one would break through the glass at them. She ran faster her legs threatening to give out. A male nurse that was large enough to be a bouncer walked around the corner.

"Who are you? You can't be on this floor!" he hollered.

"Stiles?" Lydia's voice quivered with question.

"Keep going," Stiles said, limping beside her.

The male nurse charged at them. Lydia dropped to the floor as he reached her for her. Stiles swung his hand, punching him. Losing his balance, he fell into the guy, causing the two of them to stumble and hit the wall. The nurse's head made a solid thump and blood smeared down the stale wall.

"Stiles," Lydia called out terrified. She helped him up quickly and they rushed down more halls.

The alarm went off as they reached the courtyard. The loud buzzing felt like electroshock therapy rattling them. Lydia stopped to catch her breath. Stiles winced as he tried to stand on his own.

"How do we get out of here," he asked.

"I don't know," Lydia replied, "but we have to hurry."

"Unwawrranted visitors on the premises. Find them," A nasally voice said over the loudspeaker.

Eichen illuminated until there was no dark place left.

"Come on," Stiles said. "We can't stop. If they catch us, who knows what they'll do. You saw those things."

"We ran into a doctor and another nurse before getting out through the front door," Stiles said. "We came straight here. This place-it's like a safehouse, right? We figured we'd be safe here rather than the hospital or home."

Derek noticed Stiles stare off at the cabinets unfocused. He wasn't here anymore. His thoughts went elsewhere quickly as if lingering on the memory, making him shift restlessly. The shadows that took residence under his eyes months ago had grown. This was taking a toll on him. Even his attitude had changed from the stress.

Allison and Lydia left the room, whispering amongst each other. Not even Derek could hear them.

"Stiles, you were very lucky to get out of there," Deaton said.

Stiles shook his head, coming out of his funk.

"Where's Scott?" he asked.

"He went to L.A." Deaton said. "There are people there who can help us."

"Who? Can we trust them?" Stiles frowned.

"No." Derek replied.

"Who are they?" Stiles was more demanding. He looked from Derek to Deaton.

"Stiles, we're in over our head," Deaton said, his tone inching towards nervousness.

"You didn't," Stiles sighed, wheezing a little. But they did.

"You should not be going through this at your age. None of you should," he said. "Your mother would be-"

"Proud." Stiles said. "She would be proud that we're helping our friends."

Flashes of that moment in the courtyard were embedded into his head. Jennifer had caught up with them and they almost didn't get away. Now, Scott was going to L.A. and bringing the war to the home front. Calling him now would be too late.

The entire drive was spent in silence. Chris drove and Isaac and Cora took the backseat, leaving Scott to take the passenger's seat. Marin had given them directions on where to meet them, adding that she'd meet them there.

The lights were bright and alive when they entered the city. Like a dream, a paradise, each teen stared at it in wonder. Lavish shops lined the streets, freshly lit and waiting to pick the pockets of customers. The paradise rotted into darkness filled with lurking people down alley ways and graffiti soon enough however. Windows were boarded up or broken. The sidewalks were dimly lit by orange streetlamps in some spots but were mostly dark. In an instant the paradise had vanished as if crossing the border into a new country.

They pulled into an empty parking lot. Grass split up through the cracks. In the back corner a tall field of grass was slowly taking over as if nature was slowly taking back its home. Chris shut off the ignition. The GPS shut off, blanking to a black screen. He turned his head, looking up at the abandoned hotel across the street. The building still held the glamour it possibly had when it was open. The exterior paint was chipped and aged in a dusk-like beauty.

"Everybody armed?" Chris asked, cocking his silver pistol. It glimmered, ready to play.

He looked over at Scott whose eyes glowed red then in the rearview mirror. Isaac and Cora's faces had already shifted.

"The place is big and I'm not so sure this isn't a trap. Do exactly as I say," Chris continued. His voice was the cold-the hunter in him.

The steps up to the double doors were chipped and cracked in sprigs of lightning. Chris nearly told them to go back to the car, but decided against it since it wouldn't have done any good. They weren't rebellious. They were determined. So determined. Determined for all of this to end, for the deaths to stop, for some sort of normalcy and they were damned if they weren't going to fight for it. So they weren't going back to the car.

It was dark inside without an echo to be found. There was a golden rot balcony that ran around the second floor, showcasing deep red doors. Numbers were missing from most of them for what Chris could see. The loosely 'L' shaped counter was dusty. There were lesser dusty parts in the form of handprints. A chill crept down the back of his neck.

Scott turned sharply, a growl erupting from his chest as he looked up toward the balcony. Chris turned slowly, looking to every little cranny. They were here.

"I saw something," Scott said low.

"You're here. Good." Marin appeared from the office behind the front desk. "They're up in the penthouse suite."

She pointed her manicured finger at the elevator. It dinged upon the doors opening with a grinding sound. They stepped into it. Each of them hid away their nervousness. Chris did so by tightening his grip on his gun. He shot it up as soon as the doors opened with the same haunting sound and pointed left then right. The foyer hosted a small table with a vase of lilies on its surface. They stepped out and moved through the suite until reaching the main room which had two sets of stairs leading up to what Chris could only guess was the master bedroom.

"I have been informed that you wanted to meet, though the last time we met, you told us to leave and never return. Why shouldn't I do the same or maybe…just kill you," Deucalion's sadistic voice rang out.

He showed himself, coming out to the balcony. He held himself together with seemingly impenetrable dignity with his walking stick. His head remained straight ahead. Kali inched from the side room, her feet pressing into the faded red carpet. Scott growled, crouching defensively.

"Scott, there's something different about you," Deucalion said. "What could it be…hmmmm."

He grinned happily, making Chris even more unnerved. His hands were clammy as he stared Kali down. It would take nothing for this to go wrong.

"We're here because we need your help," Scott snapped.

Kali's eyebrow quirked up slowly. She looked up at the leader of the small pack then back at Chris.

"You got Aiden and Ethan to leave my pack. Don't think we aren't looking for them. I plan on shredding them myself. You also killed Ennis," Kali looked at Isaac as she finished her sentence, her eyes narrowing.

"It's okay, Kali," Deucalion said with deep reassurance. "We're rebuilding. Refreshing our forces per say. There were apparently faults before."

He came made his way down the stairs with particular ease. His cane didn't move from its relaxed position in his hands to study the floor ahead of him. He stopped beside Kali.

"We will help you. There is something we want in return," Deucalion said. He turned toward Scott. "You will join us after this is finished. You will graduate high school first of course. I am not one to take away good education."

"What?" Isaac snapped. His eyes flushed blue. "No."

"I was not speaking to you. Be quiet. I do not want to rip your spine out," Deucalion said, tightly through is teeth.

"Fine." Scott answered.

"This isn't the kind of proposition you can back out of."

Chris faltered, looking over at Scott.

"Scott…" he said.

Scott's eyes softened with hopelessness.

"We need help," he croaked. He looked back at Deucalion. "Don't hurt my friends and leave Beacon Hills right after this is through. That's the only condition."

"Alright."

"What!?" Kali exclaimed. "You said I'd get to kill that one."

She pointed at Isaac with her sharp claw with sanguinary eyes.

"Kali," Deucalion said sharply. She backed down, seething. He turned his direction back to Scott. "We have a deal."

Allison watched as Lydia ate with as much etiquette as a lion running its teeth through an antelope. Her fine eyebrows pressed together. As hard as she tried, she couldn't peel away from her innate ability to put so much into her mouth. Squirrels and chipmunks of the world would be jealous.

"Be careful," she said. "Don't choke."

Lydia nodded as she took another bite of her hamburger.

"Call Scott," Lydia mumbled. A piece of hamburger flew from her mouth. "I really need a shower."

"I'll call Scott. You go ahead and take her home," Danny said as he handed Lydia a paper napkin. She snatched it greedily.

Allison helped her stand and they left the clinic and pulled her phone out. Scott's phone went straight to voicemail.

"Scott, turn back. It's their fault. They're the ones who she is getting revenge on. You can't bring them here."

Isaac stepped out into the muggy night. The stench in the air made him wrinkle his nose. His nose hairs could be singed off from the amount of exhaust wafting around. He let out a heavy exhale.

"This is all kinds of wrong," he said at hearing Cora's light footsteps behind him.

"I know," she said. "I don't trust this at all."

"You don't trust Scott," Isaac corrected.

"He just gave his soul to the devil. Do you?"

"Yes," he replied. "He's doing what an alpha is supposed to do, right? He's leading."

"Leading us to our graves…" she grumbled low. She crossed her arms over her chest angrily.

"So is Derek." Isaac retorted.

He took in another deep breath. Though Cora was still grumbling, Isaac took in the dismal sight of this abandoned part of town wondering if this was the only taste of freedom he'd ever have. He said he was going to leave Beacon Hills after all of this, but all of that were just words. Whether there was any power to them or not was still a mystery. That power would only come from action. And, he wasn't sure if he was ready to truly leave. So, for now, they were just words as all words were…a figment of the mind that helps people understand their emotions and the emotions of others.

He breathed in deeply again. His eyes widened as his head suddenly swirled dizzily and his eyes did something they hadn't done in a long while. Cora gave him an irritated look because he wasn't responding, but then gasped lightly. His sad eyes glowed fuchsia.