Chapter 44: Amplification
Zach had made it back to Stiles' place as he finished up the final touches to the cloak he needed to mask his supernatural or 'fauxnatural' frequency from the Dread Doctors. He then turned it on and he quickly started picking up a soft humming sound coming off it. With any luck, this counter frequency would conceal and mask his personal frequency and keep him virtually invisible to anyone trying to sense him out. Which meant that he could finally leave Beacon Hills and escape from both the Dread Doctors and Theo Raeken. He had a backpack stuffed with some essentials as he made his way to the roof of his apartment building.
He checked his watch and saw that everyone was probably beginning their raid on Eichen House to free Lydia Martin. Theo Raeken and his fellow chimeras would also be heading there and those Dread Doctors might not be far behind them. That meant if there was a good, safe time to leave then this would be it. He just hoped that Stiles and Virgil were going to be okay. A part of him felt scummy to just cut and run like this but what could he do? Too many wanted him dead and it seemed just two would try their hardest to make sure they wouldn't get the chance, with the rest ready to just step to the side at the behest of the so-called True Alpha.
Zach moved to stand up on the side of the roof and looked down. The streetlamps were all lit up but there was hardly anyone moving about down there. Even if there were, none of them were really looking up. Good thing or someone might think that there was a jumper on the roof, which he guessed technically he now was. He then let himself focus and then move to focus and felt a pressure at his back. He then heard a ripping sound and he then saw his wings extend pass his shoulders. He then moved to flap them and he could actually feel the air move through them and it felt...weird. Weird, but a good weird. Zach found himself letting out a small, happy laugh at the feeling. But when he looked back, he saw that his bag was now on the ground, the straps broken. His wings had stretched the straps and snapped them. He then felt around his back to find that his wings had broken through it and there were two giant tears where his wings had popped out. Zach let out a sigh as he let himself sober up from his previous excitement. Seemed like he still had a lot to learn about his new chimera self.
He grabbed his bag and decided to just carry it in his hand as he moved to step up on the edge of the roof. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He didn't want to feel like he was jumping off a building, even if he was. He then leapt off and he let his wings carry him into the air. As he felt himself become weightless, Zach opened his eyes to see that he was flying to the air. It still boggled his mind. He could fly.
"Peter Pan, eat your heart out!" he cried out in the night.
As he flew across the town, he saw that the streets of Beacon Hills looked almost desolate. Even for a small town, there didn't seem much going on. Guess even the normal people in town could sense something was out here. If he was lucky, Zach would be far away from it all. As he approached the town line, he braced himself. His sonic cloak was still going off and everything was about to come down to this. He then dipped down and headed out pass it...which he did. He was out of Beacon Hills. He was free. He laughed out loud in the night. He was free! The Dread Doctors would never be able to get him now. He started to keep flying off but let himself hover up. He let himself look back in town. Towards the direction of Eichen House.
A part of Malia couldn't stomach the fact that she was back here, in Eichen House. Roughly six months later and the old chill she constantly had being in these walls was back. The only difference now was...Stiles wasn't there to warm her now. Just the thought of him sent that new pain straight to her heart as she visualized her first meeting him in the courtyard. When it passed though, a sad sort of smile creeped up on her as she then remembered how she had struck him down as he had first tried approaching her. After learning the truth about her werecoyote nature, her dad quickly apologized for having sent her there. But she told him that it wasn't all bad, as it led to her and Stiles finding each other. That had been the one good thing to come out of Eichen for her but, now...she didn't have that anymore.
When they were next in the line, Malia caught a glimpse of the orderly at the front desk. She didn't recognize him so she assumed he was a new hire. Probably sent to replace Brunski and this guy seemed to have a harsh and creepy vibe that matched Brunski's to a tee. She let herself wonder if he was a secret serial killer too.
"How are we going to get to the electrical room?" Kira whispered to her. "The way is down there," she said pointing her gaze behind the front desk. "But that guy is keeping his eye on everyone like a hawk."
"We could always knock him out," she suggested with a firm tone.
Kira just gave her a nervous and concerned look. However, it was a mute point as suddenly one of the patients starting walking into the hall, without any clothes on. Despite the reactions of everyone there, he had a nonchalant expression as though nothing was wrong. The front desk orderly quickly moved out from his position, with a small taser baton at the ready. Taking that as their cue, they quickly dashed over behind the front desk and made their way down the corridor to the electrical room, the screaming echoes of the nudist being stunned and pinned down by the orderly making their way to them as they went in and shut the door behind them.
"We're in, we did it," said Kira triumphantly.
"Don't get too excited. Getting in was the easy part. Getting out's the hard part." She looked at her timer and saw that it was nearly time. "Twelve minutes," she said more to herself than Kira. She found the breaker box and pried it open. "Okay Kira, you can do this."
Kira let herself look on inside at the switchboard. The chaos of the different colored wires and circuits made the homemade circuit she practiced on at the school look like child's play. This was far more complicated than she was expecting. But, she knew that her friends, and especially Lydia, were all counting on her to do her part. She stepped closer, pushing away her doubts as best as she could. She let her gaze look over at Malia and saw that she had a resolute look as she gazed back. Malia really believed she could do it. She pulled out the schematic that Stiles made for her and compared it with everything in the box. She then made out a match.
"I think it's these," she said pointing to the right circuit. "But's it's covered in rubber." She needed direct contact in order for her to overload it for the brownout. She heard movement and saw Malia heading over with a pair of thick scissors. "What are you doing?"
"Cutting open the rubber," she answered simply.
"With those metal scissors? Do you want to electrocute yourself?"
"I'll heal," she shrugged off.
"You can't heal if you're dead."
With that, Malia tossed away the scissors and brought out her claws. She then slash on open the rubber casing but the contact made deep sparks shoot up and the werecoyote quickly back away. Bringing her hands up, they saw that the upper parts of her fingers were all burnt black. "I didn't die," she told her.
Kira gave her a small smile. Even now, Malia could still find a positive spin on getting a near fatal shock. But, the good news was that she had succeeded. The thick copper wiring was now exposed and she could channel her foxfire and make the brownout. That is, if she did it right. She would have about four minutes left to see if she could.
"Okay," she sighed.
At the thirty second mark, she had started to wring her hands together as she kept her gazed locked on the circuit breaker's exposed wires. Malia grew concerned as Kira's thick chemo signal flooded through her nostrils.
"I could smell how nervous you are," she told her.
"Not helping," Kira said, keeping her gaze on the breaker.
"Okay...you can do this," Malia said more softly than before. "It's going to be just like we practiced."
"You mean when I caused the major blackout?"
Malia shook her head. "Not like that, no." She then saw the timer and it was closing in. "Ten seconds. Nine. Eight."
"Please stop counting," Kira quickly told her. She then moved to grab the wires and shut her eyes.
Malia bated her breath but quickly saw that nothing seemed to be happening. "Why isn't it working?"
Kira opened her eyes to see that while she wasn't getting shocked like Malia had been, her foxfire wasn't making an appearance. An appearance that remained absent for over three minutes.
"Nothing still is happening," she told her.
"I'm aware of that," Kira sighed out. "I'm afraid. Too afraid that I'll fry the system because I'm going to lose control."
Malia let herself understand that fear all too well. She then moved to be directly in front of her. "Stop worrying about what you're going to do. Or might do. This isn't about you Kira. Or about me. This is about Lydia. We're here to save Lydia. We're here to save our friend."
Kira let herself nod. That was why she was here. Not just in Eichen House, but here in Beacon Hills. It's why she fought so hard to get back here from the skinwalkers. Because her friends needed her. If she just stood there and did nothing, then what had been the point of it all? With that thought, she moved to tighten her grip on the wires and moved to pour her foxfire through them. Sparks started to shoot around as her eyes let their orange like glow loose.
Around the room, everything started to dim and then turn off. Malia looked over at the nearest computer screen to see that it was flashing an alert. The plan had worked. A brownout was happening.
"Kira, you did it," she gasped out.
Kira looked away from the circuit breaker with her eyes still glowing bright, but she was smiling. "Yeah, I guess I did."
When it was finished, the two girls moved to head on out to wait at the rendezvous point but Malia quickly backed the two of them back into the room. Not only was the orderly was back at the desk but some security guards were now walking in through the main doors.
"What are those guards doing here?" asked Kira nervously.
"I don't know," Malia gasped out.
"We could get passed them, right?"
"We could...but we don't want to be sounding any alarms until they get Lydia out."
"So, what do we do?"
Malia shut the door as they moved back into the electrical room. For now, it looked like they were staying put.
Outside on the main quad, the team of Theo, Corey, Josh and Tracy were watching the building in rising anticipation.
"Everyone clear on the plan?" Theo asked the three of them.
They all responded with a small nod.
"When can we go in and start?" Tracy moved to complain.
"Soon," Theo said, not breaking his calm composure. "Just wait."
"Wait for what?" she spat impatiently.
He then moved to look at her with a hardened expression. "Wait for me to tell you when it's time," he said, unsubtly threatening.
"Are we really going to have to fight them?" asked Corey nervously. After their last encounter with Scott and Stiles, he wasn't eager for another round.
"If we meet before the mountain ash then it will be unavoidable, especially if we come directly against Stiles." Theo smiled over at him. "It's okay Corey. Don't worry, nothing is going to happen. Scott will be seeing to that."
"And Stiles?"
"Let me worry about him."
Josh moved to tug in his arms as he leaned against the nearby wall. "Why couldn't Hayden be here along with us again? We'd stand a better chance with all of us together."
Theo rolled his eyes. He was tired of everyone's stupid questions. "I told you. Someone has to stay behind and guard Deucalion."
"And why was it Hayden?"
"Because she's the perfect one for the job. Can we leave it at that?" he said shortly to him.
Josh sighed but kept silent now. Theo let himself look out but narrowed his eyes as something caught his eye. For a moment, he could've sworn there was someone there. He focused his sight out but he could clearly see there was nothing and nobody there. But he shook his head. Maybe everyone's anxiety was starting to get to him.
He turned away to look back at Eichen, but as soon as he did, someone peered out from their hiding spot in the shadows. Lori kept her gaze firmly on Theo and his so called pack. While Satomi ordered that they couldn't directly engage them until the full moon, she knew they still needed to be watched. Lori was the one doing the recon tonight. A part of her didn't know if she should be happy or not that Hayden wasn't there. She wondered where she was.
Hayden was staring off at random parts of the room, from the cracked pieces of the wall to the instruments left over on the tables lost on what their purposes were. Anything to distract her from putting any real thought to what was happening out there tonight. Theo had chosen her to stay behind and guard Deucalion while he took the others over at Eichen to try and retrieve Lydia before Scott McCall and his pack got to her first. She just hoped that Liam came out of this okay.
Eventually, staring off lost its effect so she was reduced to pacing. Though, she made sure to keep her gaze away from the man lying at the corner of the room.
"Do I make you nervous?" Deucalion suddenly asked her, breaking the silence.
She stopped to finally look over at him. Hayden had to admit that she found the blind alpha to be kind of creepy. While she had seen a blind person before, it wasn't half as unsettling as it was to be in Deucalion's presence. For one thing, his eyes were a constant red but were nothing like Scott's own red eyes were. For one thing, they seemed to be constantly red without any real supernatural glow. They also felt like they were both unseeing and seeing everything around him at the same time. It almost felt like she was gazing into the eyes of a demon. So, naturally it was quite unnerving to someone who'd only been part of this supernatural stuff for about a month.
"Shouldn't you already know the answer to that?" she said back.
"Well, I thought it would be more polite to ask, but yes. A girl of your age shouldn't have a resting heart rate of 110 beats per minute." He then gestured out to his restrained hands. "How about you unshackle me from this thing and then we could both be more at ease?"
Hayden gave him a sneer, pointless though it was as he couldn't see it but she hoped he could at least feel it. "How stupid do you think I am?"
"Well, since I highly doubt you want me to answer that question honestly, let me propose an alternative. You set me free, and I'll tell you a secret about those talons in the jar over there." That instantly made Hayden nervously look over to where the talons were sitting exactly as he said. Deucalion smiled at her. "I may be blind but my other senses paint a very detailed picture. I know the talons were created by the Dread Doctors."
"So what?"
"So...Theo believes he can fit them onto his own claws like a couple of press on nails," he answered condescendingly. "Use them to try and siphon the power from the Beast. Any Beast be it Gevaudan or...Beacon Hills. Good luck with that," he finished with an amused smirk.
"What do you mean?"
"The Dread Doctors would have designed them to vibrate on a specific frequency. For a specific person. As a genetic chimera yourself, I would've thought that you Hayden would understand how often the body rejects an organ. Especially from an outside donor."
"Then...if he puts them on-"
"Yes Hayden," he said cutting her off. "They will kill him." He then tilted his head. "Why, I dare say you seem somewhat troubled by that."
"Of course," she spat at him. "I don't want him to die. Theo, he's...he's my...alpha," she finished quite meekly.
That got him to make a small chuckle. "Is that what he has you thinking? You and the rest of your genetic band? Well, I suppose it is easier to believe something when you make those who surround you believe it as well."
"We owe him. He brought us back," she said in his defense. "Without Theo, then Corey, Tracy, Josh and I would all be dead right now."
"Yes, I heard about that. But tell me, what good is restored life, if it leads you to an even more gruesome demise if you stay by his side. Why, one might argue that you probably were better off staying dead."
"Well, that person isn't me."
"Such effort and strength to proclaim loyalty and trust," he said, smiling over at her. "Under normal circumstances, I would respect that. Except Hayden, loyalty and trust by their very nature goes both ways. You and your fellow chimeras claim to be loyal to him. But, ask yourself, is he loyal to you? Does he trust you?"
"Yes," she quickly answered.
"Then why do you think he chose to leave you here with me? Was it because he trusted you to watch me, or because he didn't trust you would stand with him against a certain special someone over at the godforsaken institution?"
She froze in place as an image of the young man she tried not to think about appeared in her mind as clear as day.
When Parrish had finished dropping off the bodybags, he moved the van off down the block before he went and headed off for Stiles' jeep where Malia and Kira had left it. He then moved to drive it down close to the spot where everyone planned to escape with Lydia for their quick getaway. Leaving the keys in the ignition, he then ran off for the van and let himself loose a big heaving sigh. Everything was up to the others now. But he had faith in them. In Scott, Stiles, Liam, Kira, Malia and Virgil. They would save Lydia. He just wished there was more that he could do for her.
On that note, something seemed wrong. His nerves, and breathing were still building. He then felt that the air around him was starting to grow hotter. He felt it happening again. He was...changing. He closed his eyes, tightening his grip on the steering wheel as he tried to suppress it but when he again opened his eyes, the fiery glow of the hellhound emerged. His gaze focusing on Eichen House.
The hellhound knew that there lay the one that needed his help. And...one that needed his judgement.
There was a sturdy punching bag set up in the basement of an apartment building that was getting the stuffing punched out of it right at that moment. Charlie Harris was laying punch after punch at it, making the chain holding it slightly jingle from each impact. Each blow, Charlie let himself visualize that he was throwing them at either Oscar or his second beta Dean. He could feel that their eyes had been watching him more closely lately. Well, on all of the betas in the pack but it was clear that it was towards the more newer recruits. Charlie figured that they guessed that someone was slipping information on their activity to Maggie and the Hales. As well as their intention to gain access to Cora's baby. Though it looked like they still didn't know that the informant was him...yet. He was sure it was a matter of time and, when it came, he needed to be ready for what was to come.
Charlie usually did this twice a week, for a little less than an hour. At least that was before he had been bitten and turned into a werewolf by his alpha Oscar. Now, he would do this every other day for twice as long. It had started as a good way to handle pent up aggression and anxiety after coming back from his tour but now it seems that he had been building up nothing but aggression and anxiety these days. The result of which was, well...the final ravaged growl he loose followed by giant pop spoke for themselves. Charlie's eyes let out their shifted glow as he stared out at the destroyed punching bag, leaking out sand from the fist sized hole punched into it. The sound of the pouring sand echoed in the basement, competing with his deep exasperated pants.
"That's four damn bags down the drain," he said through his pants to himself.
"Don't worry, I've stopped keeping track after the seventh time it happened to me."
The unexpected voice made Charlie stiffen in alert as he quickly turned around but he let himself settle a bit at the familiar sight of the older Hale. "Derek? How long have you been there?"
"Long enough," he simply answered. "You should've noticed my presence. With your enhanced senses you should've been able to hear me coming down the stairs or at least pick up my scent. You didn't sense here at all?"
Charlie gave a heated sigh. "Sorry, but I'm still not used to smelling and hearing for people coming. Next time, just say something like a normal person," he spat back as he moved to grab a nearby bottle of water.
Derek rose an eyebrow at him. "Is that how you were trained to spot enemies in the marines? Wait for them to announce themselves?"
"What do you want?" Charlie asked before moving to take a sip from it.
"Well, Maggie says that I should trust you. But, it's not really my style to trust someone that I don't really know."
"Oh, so you want to go to a bar and shoot some pool then? Talk shop and compare basketball teams. Sorry, but you're not really my type," he said with an impulsive sassiness.
Derek's eyes widened as he saw the ghost of someone he hadn't though of in years appear before him. He blinked a few times before the image faded and Charlie was before him again. He then let a small smile and let a chuckle loose to the confusion of Charlie. "Sorry, it's just now, you sort of just reminded me of someone."
"Someone good, I'm hoping."
"Well, depends on who you ask. But, most would probably say yes."
Charlie let himself relax and he moved to sit down at the nearest chair. "Look, you don't have to worry about me. I'm not going to do anything to hurt your sister or her baby. One of the things I took from my time in the corps are the values of honor. And there is no honor threatening a teenage girl and a baby. Especially when the baby happens to be hers."
Seeing and hearing Charlie speak like that, it made that picture in his mind from before reappear and it was clearer than before. His guard then loosened and he went to lean back against one of the support pillars. "I guess I can let myself trust you after all Charlie Harris."
"Well, glad I have the Derek Hale stamp of approval then. But, I still don't even understand what is so damn important about your sister and nephew that Oscar would be going through all this for them."
"Maybe that's for the best."
"The best for whom?" Charlie challenged. "You came to see if you could give me your trust? Well, what about my trust? If I'm going to be risking my life over this then I should at least know why and what this is all really about. I believe I deserve that much."
Derek was tempted to deny Charlie any more information but the image of the past was staring him down through Charlie's eyes. The more he wanted to turn away, the more fierce it seemed to get. His resistance seemed to deflate away until he found himself starting to speak.
"My sister and I come from one of the oldest werewolf bloodlines in the country. Maybe even the world. The Hale line stretches back generations. Roughly three hundred years."
"Doesn't really sound that old," Charlie shrugged.
"Well, it's old by werewolf standards. Most purebred lines don't get to live that long nowadays. Enemies tend to try to snuff out families before they could get along too far."
"So, it's about blood?"
"Partly," Derek sighed. "Cora's son Jason is the first in this new generation. The first Hale to be born after it was thought our family was all but wiped out. But, that's just from his mother. When you factor in his father, that's when it gets more complicated."
"Who is his father?"
The halls of Eichen House still gave off that eerie vibe that made goosebumps start crawling all over the skin of the werewolves trying to silently navigate them. Liam had never been here before but he'd heard the stories like everyone in Beacon County had about Eichen House. As he trailed behind the others there seemed to be some kind of...energy in the air. It was making goosebumps crawl up his arm the further they went down these eerie halls.
Honestly, Virgil was hardly fairing better. This was bringing back some memories from Juvie that he had been working to suppress for years. Something about this place was dredging them all back, but worse. But he moved to bury them. This wasn't the time to let himself fall back on godforsaken times.
A distant cry then started to travel the halls. Not a cry but more like a cackle. It began to bounce around and linger in the halls like an echo, almost.
"What is that?" Virgil breathed out, looking about for the source.
"A patient is having a breakdown," Stiles told him nonchalantly. "Pretty common here. Probably a patient laughing at a joke no one said." He stopped just short of a junction and gave a look around. The coast was clear and he directed them down the next hall they had to go down. "So far, so good," he muttered off.
Stiles may be acting determined and controlled right now but Scott knew better. He could smell the anxiety coming off of Stiles in waves. It had been leaking from him since they had left the morgue. "You okay?"
"Huh. Yeah, it's just...I really don't like being back here. Everytime I am, someone is either trying to kill me or someone I care about. Usually both."
"Well, it's never worked, right?" Stiles stopped as he shook his head. Scott nodded. "Alright. Let's make sure and keep up that streak then."
Stiles checked his phone and saw that they only had four minutes left before Kira initiated the brownout. Any electrical security and alarms would be offline soon so they could get into the closed ward. Once they had her, using his swiped keycard, they could take the direct way to the back exit where his jeep would be waiting. Assuming Parrish got it there but he knew he didn't have to worry about that. At least, he hoped he didn't. But Stiles quickly shook that thought out of his head. The last thing he needed was to jinx them. Which of course, he just did.
He moved to turn into the last corridor to take them to the secret ward but quickly jumped back and stopped everyone. Right in front of the gate door, there were a pair of orderlies.
Scott went to stick his head out and take a look. "What are they doing there?"
Stiles shook his head. "I don't know. Their rounds should've ended five minutes ago." He let his hearing reach out and heard that the two of them were talking about some trip that one of them had recently took. "Are you kidding me?" he said almost inaudibly. It seemed that those guys were still there because they got caught up in their small talk and lost track of time. And theirs was running out. "The brownout's going to happen any second."
Liam went to nod his head. "I can take them," he said as he seemed to psych himself up to do just that. "Let me handle this."
Scott, Stiles and Virgil gave the young beta a look.
"What?" Stiles muttered.
Virgil gave those orderlies his own look over. He saw them with batons as well as radios on their belts. "You can't," he whispered to Liam.
"I'm stronger than I look," Liam said a bit indignantly.
"I'm sure, but it takes only one of them to sound an alarm. Go for one of them, the other will then radio for help and we're screwed. Better let me help you. We go in together and charge at both at once so neither has the chance."
Liam's jaw tightened for a moment but he let himself find the logic in his words. "Fine. We charge them, take them out and then hide the bodies."
"No," Scott hissed at them.
"Fine then you go with him," Virgil said, stepping back.
"No, I mean no one's taking out anyone."
But Stiles moved in for their defense. "Scott, relax, they're not saying to kill them. They're just going to knock them out and get them out of the way."
"A good solid punch to the right temple usually does the trick," Virgil moved to tell Liam who nodded in understanding.
Scott blinked. "What, no. Liam don't listen-"
"Unless the Fool has any actual ideas instead of complaints, we're doing this," Virgil hissed out.
Stiles narrowed his eyes at Virgil's word choice there.
Scott moved to get into Virgil's face. "I'm sorry if I don't think attacking people left and right is my answer for everything."
Virgil stood his ground. "Hey, if this bothers you so much. Go. No one's stopping you."
But they were all spared more arguing when a slight bang made them all jump. They looked to see it was from a patient's room right across from them. A young man had hit against his glass wall and was looking erratic right at them.
"Did you take the doctor?" he asked them, to their confusion. "Did you take the doctor? I haven't had my medication. I need 10 milligrams at 8am. 15 milligrams at 1 pm and at least 20 at dinner."
Scott and Stiles both stiffened as they could smell confusion and alert coming from the orderlies down the hall. The guy's behavior was attracting their attention.
"We'll get the doctor," Scott muttered, trying to quiet him down.
"Doctor Fenris," he told them.
Stiles quickly turned his head to look at him directly. "Fenris?" he asked. Or more accurately, Dr. Valack.
"Did you take him? Did you take Dr. Fenris?" the guy asked, getting more impatient and starting to hit the glass again. "I need to see the doctor. Get Dr. Fenris!"
"Someone shut him up," Stiles hissed, nervously casting looks over at the orderlies who were starting to turn their full attention in their direction. "Shut him up," he hissed again when they started to walk over.
Virgil went to brace himself to charge the orderlies and Liam moved to mimic him as his eyes began to flicker their beta gold glow. They steadied their breathing, preparing themselves to attack.
Scott was feeling the pressure and anxiety of everyone begin to mount up and he quickly moved to let out his alpha red eyes and let out a low snarl towards the patient. The sight of it made him stop banging on the glass and back away in terror. With the patient now calm, the orderlies then stopped and moved to leave through another door. With that, they all heaved out a sigh of relief.
"See?" Scott went on to say to both Liam and Virgil.
Liam bowed his head slightly but Virgil just rolled his eyes.
"Don't act all cocky," Virgil muttered to him. "You were just lucky. Only fools count luck for skill."
That made Scott let out another small growl under his throat.
"Let's go," Stiles huffed before they could take this further.
As they came upon the gate, the lights all went out and the emergency lights kicked in.
"She did it," Liam said joyously. "Kira did it"
"Alright Liam, don't wet your pants," Stiles said as he reached in for the keys in his pocket. The ones he stole from the orderly during his visit with Peter. He handed the gate key to Virgil. "You're on."
Virgil took and easily opened the gate and moved on in. He then froze as he noticed something down the corridor, on the wall. "Security camera."
"It's okay," Stiles told him. "The brownout should've taken them all out." He then held up the other key he took. "Lydia's room. Take it and get her back here. Remember, we've only got about five minutes. Take it."
And he did. "What about Valack? What if he's there? I mean, I can take him on if I have to."
"No, he might not be alone. And he might decide to take Lydia away if he sees there's trouble. Don't worry. Just go. I'll be right behind you."
Virgil stared back for a moment before he nodded his head and started to head off for the room labeled on the key.
"You're going to be right behind him?" asked Liam. "How? We can't get passed the mountain ash."
"You can't," he said to him.
Stiles then straightened up, closed his eyes and went to take a deep breath. He then opened his eyes to show their blue glow as he moved step up to the mountain ash barrier. Stiles' palms went flat against the now lit up supernatural barrier as he began to push against it.
"Stiles!" Scott cried out, moving for him with Liam right beside.
"Get back Scott!" Stiles shouted back. "You too Liam. Stay back. I'm pretty sure I got the hang of this. Just...still kind of new...at it," he grunted out. He turned to give Scott one last look, his blue eyes staring back him. Scott seemed uneasy at his gaze but he kept it on. Stiles kept it on him for a moment longer before he turned back and then threw himself forward.
Scott and Liam moved to stay back as they watched Stiles' struggle against the mountain ash. Scott wondered if that was how he seemed to others when he had struggled against the barrier before. However, he noticed that there was a major difference. Stiles was actually starting to get through. The barrier seemed to be stable but Stiles was slowly moving his body passed the line. His head managed to get passed the perimeter and slowly but surely, the rest of his body began to get on through.
"My god," Liam gasped out beside him.
Scott felt Liam took the words right out of his mouth as his breath seemed to caught for him to speak himself. The light from the barrier was shining more brightly and casting Stiles shadow back on them. A shadow that Scott and Liam saw seemed to resemble that of a wolf, complete with a tail at the end, though the one casting it still had the shape of a human. The sight made their eyes glow red and gold as Stiles gave out one last gasp as he finally fell through and landed face first in the ground, at the other side of the gate.
Stiles had passed the mountain ash barrier.
When the lights all went dark from the outside and the emergency spotlights went on, Theo finally let out a smile.
"It's time," he told his chimera pack.
Tracy and Josh smiled as they went out to execute their parts of the plan. Finding the perimeter guards and taking them out of the equation. A couple of guards noticed Theo walking for the main entrance. While one stayed behind, the rest went in to help deal with the power issue.
"I'm sorry son but there's been a blackout. If you're here for a visit, you'll have to come again another time."
Theo just stared back with an amused smirk that confused the guard before he went flying back and the back of his head hit the wall. He fell to the ground in an unconscious heap. A moment later Corey appeared out of thin air, having been staying by Theo's side, invisible. Nodding at his beta's good work, the two of them then moved on in through the main front doors.
A/N: Let me just say Happy Holidays to you all. I'm sorry for the wait but I hope it was worth it.
The next chapter will have the battle begin to save the life of the Banshee. The chimeras invade Eichen and Valack moves to begin his work on Lydia. In trying to save her, Stiles goes and comes face to face with the Hellhound. Could the two of them begin to enact the scene sketched on the epitaph at the Dread Doctors lab. Scott and Liam try to move and help but find the way blocked by mountain ash and guards. But, they get some surprise help.
