A duffel bag filled with random articles of clothing and bathroom necessities lies open on Charlie's bed. When she first walked through her door, she blazed through her house in search of items she might need while in Ireland. Now that she has everything, she finds herself staring at the bag and unable to move.
There's only been one time in her nearly twenty-three years of life that she asked about her mom. She had been twelve and wondered why she and her sister, Ana, looked nothing alike. Ana is a tall raven haired beauty with dark eyes and olive skin. She has the same dangerous look in her eyes that most werewolves carry around with them. There was never any doubt that Ana would take the bite and join the family legacy. So, Charlie asked her father and that's when he told her the truth. She was barely two days old when her mother disappeared into the night without so much as a backwards glance. For a twelve year old, it smarted a bit but she moved on and never asked again.
It seems odd that she's flying several thousands of miles and across an ocean to meet the woman who walked out on her. What's even more odd is that she's nervous about it. Charlie Kavanagh doesn't get nervous. It's not a part of who she is but she can't shake this one off. Not when her stomach is in knots.
She takes a deep breath and exhales slowly. And then she does it again and again and again until she finally finds her feet underneath her. She zips up the duffel bag and pokes her passport into the front pocket. Her answers are merely an ocean away and a continent away.
During her time in her house, the sky above opened and emptied a torrential down pour of rain. Charlie stands on her porch and stares out at the woods that make up most of her yard. Her friends are out there right this moment. Some are fighting for their lives. Other's are fighting for their family and she's going off to hopefully find a way to fight for her own. In the meantime, she leaves them in the capable hands of her father.
The road is harder to navigate than she thought it would be. Rain pelts her windshield and the wind threatens to take her control over her car but she keeps going. Until she hears something that cuts through the rain and wind and the music on her radio. It's a high pitch whistle. One that she's never heard before. It sounds high tech and it sounds like something an Argent would use.
Charlie pulls her car over to the shoulder and listens. It's definitely a high tech whistle. If she's guessing correctly, it's one hunters use to corral werewolves. She glances over at the duffel bag in her back seat and then to the woods. Without so much as another thought, Charlie flings her door open and disappears into the woods.
A part of her is aware that she could be running into a trap but she can't find it in herself to care. No, all she can seem to find is excitement and that excitement feeds her limbs a speed she's only ever witnesses before. The trees around her blur around the edges and their branches all but disappear into the darkness.
By the time she reaches the clearing where the whistle is coming from, it's stopped raining but the wind is still blowing like crazy. She strains her ears to listen past the wind and the whistle and she hears the faint sounds of people talking and moves towards them.
The nemeton is just as she remembers it. Large and concealing a darkness she would rather not deal with. She walks closer to find the ground beginning to crumble around it. The voices? They're coming from directly under her feet.
Charlie looks around, struggling to see through the flying dust. Finally she finds the one thing she was looking for; the entrance into the root cellar. She sprints to it and flings it open. Panicked yells meet her ears and she takes the stairs two at a time.
"Charlie?" Isaac stares over at the blonde when she appears beside him. She edges in to help the others hold the weight of the boards collapsing in on them.
"I thought you were leaving!" Allison yells over the noise.
"What? And miss this?" Charlie yells back. "No way!"
Whatever werewolf strength Isaac is using isn't enough to prevent the ceiling from caving in a little bit more. Up until now, Charlie has kept what happened at the hospital to herself. Mostly because she didn't understand it. But now Isaac's strength is failing him and soon the Eclipse will be high in the sky. Soon he won't have any power at all.
Charlie closes her eyes and for the first time in her life she feels the power of the full moon. It ignites a fire in her veins and wakes the sleeping beast within. She let's out a strangled yell as she feels the power of the animal surge through her and offers her a strength she's only ever dreamed about. When she opens her eyes, she finds Isaac's yellow ones staring into her now glowing, silver irises.
Together the lift and for a few minutes their combined strength seemed like enough. Until the moon disappeared and the beasts inside the two supernatural creatures went back to sleep. Charlie and Isaac continue to strain as the others join them. It's no use, though. Only a supernatural creature would be stand a chance and they no longer have that advantage.
Charlie's knees hit the ground and she groans against the weight above them. Fifteen minutes. That's all the time they need to hold onto. Fifteen minutes and Isaac will be a werewolf again and Charlie will be whatever the hell she is. Just fifteen minutes longer.
"Aghh!" Argent yells from the other side of Isaac. " We have to do something."
The sheriff grunts. "We're open for suggestions."
"Can anyone see a way out?" Charlie asks through clenched teeth. A chorus of no's escape the mouths of those around her. Another spasm rocks the ground above them and the group is pushed even further into the dirt below them.
"We just need to hold on," Isaac yells. "Just a little bit longer!"
And they do. Somehow, from somewhere inside themselves, they all manage to hold on long enough for Isaac and Charlie to regain their strength. They push with all their might, beads of sweat rolling down their foreheads. Even so, they are no match for Jennifer's power of the storm. Not in this position.
Just when Charlie fears the worst, everything seems to stop and it has little to do with the boy or the baseball bat that suddenly appeared. The boards above them stopped groaning and straining to fall and the sounds of the wild wind outside disappeared.
"I always said aluminum is better than wood," the sheriff says before hugging Stiles.
With the danger of being crushed to death, everyone slumps down and rests against each other. Stiles stares past his dad's shoulder and he pulls away. It's then everyone turns their attention to the blonde unaware blonde.
"Charlie?"
"Hmm."
"Your eyes are glowing," Stiles says and she blinks. "And now they're not."
"Don't bother asking because I don't have any answers," she says. "Not yet, at least."
Whatever response Stiles had is lost in the ringing of his phone. "Scott? Hey, yeah. Do you think you can come and get us?…. Um, uh, bring a ladder."
And like that, all the tension in the confined space evaporated. Relieved laughter flowed from everyone as they struggled to get comfortable while waiting for Scott to come help them. Charlie stares at each of their faces, committing them to memory. Scott, Derek, the people surrounding her; they are the ones she would fight to death for. They are also the ones she will fight to live for.
A/N: And next is the epilogue. I really wanted this book finished before Christmas and I'm so happy that I'm actually going to accomplish that.
