Ghost | Derek Hale

WEIRD KIDS

"I'm freaking out right now!"

Maia rolled her eyes. Currently, the three of them were treading in a small alcove that had an air pocket. They'd swam through the reef and into an underwater cave. They stopped to get rest before navigating through the difficult part.

Scott was, as mentioned, freaking out the whole time. They'd passed by a small pack of sharks that swam near the very bottom of the sea floor. Even though they hadn't come into contact with the animals, it still terrified him.

"Sharks only bite if provoked, right?" Lydia asked optimistically.

They both glanced at the woman for confirmation.

Maia shrugged, "Don't look at me. You're the smart one."

She pointedly looked at Lydia. The banshee's eyes widened a fraction before turning to Scott with a forced smile that represented a calm manner.

"We'll be fine."

He shook his head adamantly, "I've been bitten before and we all know how that's going."

Maia splashed water at him to get him to shut up.

"Quit whining and let's get it done," she said curtly, "Now, once we leave the alcove there's a reef about twenty yards away. The reef's grown over itself so it'll look like a small igloo almost."

"Twenty yards away where the sharks are at?" Scott asked nervously. She ignored him for the sake of their continuation of the mission.

"Inside the reef, I buried a box in the sand. It shouldn't take long to get it out."

They nodded in understanding.

"You guys still have oxygen?" Lydia asked.

They checked their tank monitors and nodded. Maia glanced at them to see if they were completely prepared to begin. They gave her firm nods in response.

They placed their oxygen pieces in their mouths and sunk back under the water. Maia led the way out of the alcove, checking both ways for sharks.

Once she saw it was clear, she pushed out and slowly kicked over to the reef in her sight. Lydia and Scott followed, staying by each other's side for protection.

They stayed close to the bottom, avoiding the sharks that had floated higher. It wasn't long before they reached the reef. In the center of the coral, the large igloo-like shape sat.

Maia motioned for them to keep going. They stopped just outside the small opening in the igloo. There wasn't enough room to fully fit a body in there, but it was enough to stick her arm through.

Scott and Lydia anxiously waited as she got closer. She tentatively reached her arm out, feeling the temperature of the water turn cold where the coral hunched over.

As soon as the tips of her fingers were emerged in the darkness, a small school of silver fish darted out.

Maia retracted her hand and jerked back, feeling the bodies of fish hit her as she tried to get out of the way. Scott and Lydia jumped back too, using their fins to powerfully push them away.

Once every fish fled, Maia stuck her hand back in. With every movement, her hand got cut up and scratched by the tough coral.

She kept feeling through the sand for any ridges or corners. She knew she buried the box deep down, but with the currents and the time she'd left it, certainly it had to have been exposed.

And she was right. Her fingers hit the corner of the box near the back of the small igloo. She brushed her hand over it to expose it more and dug it out.

She victoriously pulled it out and smiled as she saw the familiar box. She went to turn around and show it to her friends, but they were preoccupied with something else.

Scott and Lydia had their backs to her, fearfully staring straight ahead. She followed their gazes and saw a large shark coming right at them.

Her friends peddled backwards, trying to get her attention. She quickly swam forward to meet them and pushed them behind her.

Just as the shark came within a ten feet distance, she allowed her werewolf eyes to glow. The red reflected in the eyes of the shark, challenging the animal to come closer.

But a mutual understanding exchanged between them; possibly from the animal and part animal similarity. Either way, it saw her eyes and sharply turned to the left.

They didn't relax completely until it was at least twenty feet away. Scott's sigh of relief floated up to the surface in the form of bubbles.

Maia turned back to them and pointed up, signaling that they should go back to the boat. The pair spotted the box in her hands and nodded.

With zero shark contact, they swam back to the boat. Once the anchor was in sight, they pushed up and resurfaced.

The rest of the pack was instantly looking over the railing for them. Derek lowered the ladder and helped pull them up since he had the strength to do so.

All three of the swimmers thumped down on the floor of the boat in exhaustion. They slipped off their oxygen tanks and removed their goggles, sighing when the extra weight was off them.

Malia handed them towels to wrap around themselves.

"Did you get it?" Stiles asked.

Maia nodded and held up the box. She flipped the lock switch and opened it, revealing a small piece.

Scott and Lydia looked at the simple object in disbelief.

"We could've be eaten by sharks...for that?"

They all examined the circular metal that served as a structure for the gears they'd retrieved earlier. It looked like a useless part, but was in fact very important.

"Wait, you guys actually saw a shark? Dude, I'd be so terrified. I wouldn't even jump in there if someone had paid me a thousand dollars," Stiles commented, crossing his arms.

Maia paused and laid on her back. She smirked up at the boy, "Somehow, that makes me want to push you in even more."

Everyone cracked a smile.

"So now we just need the third piece," Argent said.

She nodded, "Which will probably be the hardest to get."

"Harder than climbing a mountain and swimming with sharks?" Lydia gaped.

Maia merely gave her a lazy thumbs up before rolling her head to the side, seeing Derek sitting beside her casually. She didn't even realize that the whole pack had just taken a seat in a circle on the slippery deck.

"Well...let's get it over with," Malia said plainly.

They all glanced at each other tiredly, silently agreeing to leave the adventuring for tomorrow morning.

From his spot at the wheel, Sam looked over at the pack with furrowed brows. He shook his head in amusement,

"You kids are weird."

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