Unbroken ▹ Teen Wolf [02]

40; power struggle

A bit of a problem was a bit of an understatement.

Ever since Rachel had finally admitted that she'd done the stupidest, most idiotic thing she could've possibly done, she couldn't stop dwelling on it. Love was a menace; a stupid, useless menace that she absolutely loathed because more than anything, it was a weakness. She saw what it did to Derek, to Scott.. and she could already feel what it was doing to her.

It didn't feel all that different from what she'd felt before, aside from the dull ache of emptiness caused by the knowledge that the person she loved was in a coma, due to her best friend being possessed. That was mostly because it wasn't a new feeling, it was something she'd grown used to over time. The only thing new about it was the realization. The feeling of being in love never had a chance to feel new to her, because the onset was so gradual, like every cliché teenage girl, she failed to noticed until it was too late. Only, unlike other cliché teenage girls, the boy she was in love with didn't move onto the next pretty blonde cheerleader.

He died.

A coma wasn't dead to most people, but to someone like Rachel, who'd watched her uncle rot in a catatonic state with near identical burns for six years, it was the equivalent. It was hopeless, like everything else— Stiles was missing, Isaac was dead & Rachel was probably going to unwillingly pull an Edward Cullen and die too, whenever the psychotic scientists caught up to her.

She'd fight them, of course. She fought everything, but there was no point. She wouldn't win. No one won. The only thing that could ever truly be considered a win in Beacon Hills was getting out alive and never coming back. Scott liked to think that keeping everyone alive for the time being was a win, but it wasn't— it was a stalemate. Hell, it was challenging whatever else lurked in the shadows to a best two out of three match, and even if they did manage to survive all three rounds, it wouldn't be without casualties.

The threats didn't stop. They would never stop, because Beacon Hills was a beacon without an off switch. Every time they took one out, another would replace them sooner or later— it was like Sir George Pearce trying to control the emu population in 1932 Western Australia, and everyone knows how that went. Horribly. Emus like Australia, supernatural homicidal maniacs like Beacon Hills, and no one's getting them out or controlling them anytime soon, if ever.

Rachel was in a daze, walking down the school hallway. She trailed a few feet behind Scott, and used him as a guide so she didn't run directly into anyone. She was fairly certain he was talking to Kira, but she couldn't be bothered to catch up with them and join the conversation; she was too focused on overthinking. She had to have been able to consider it her hobby by now, because lately it was all she did.

She noticed Scott and Kira part ways up ahead, the alpha heading to the boys' locker room whilst Kira went to the girls' down the hall. Rachel should have followed her, the only reason she was at school this early in the first place was for track, but she couldn't find the will to do so. Isaac had been the one to sign her up for track. There was no point in going anymore.

The brunette trudged down the hallway to her locker, spinning the small dial to unlock it but froze on the last number. An all too familiar sound caught her attention and snapped her out of her daze in an instant— it was an ultrasonic emitter, one used primarily by the Argents, and it was coming from inside the school. The sound hadn't been there moments prior, Rachel was certain of it; meaning someone had just now turned it on.

Rachel followed the sound down the hallway, stopping in front of the door to the basement stairs. It was coming from down there, without a doubt, and whoever had activated it was still down there. She soon found hadn't been the only one to hear it, as she glanced over her shoulder to see Scott, Aiden & Ethan, all looking as confused as she was.