Chapter 5:
Race Against Time
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Lori had shown up at Scott's house to ask for his help in finding her brother. Scott had called his friends to help him track Brett down. Isaac, Malia, and Liam joined him. Meanwhile, Lydia and Allison were at the school with Mason and Corey to find out if Brett was still alive. As for Imogen, she was figuring out which spell to use to track Brett down faster.
"Here." Liam said, pointing to the phone on the ground, "I think he set a trap."
"He's fighting back." Lori exhaled, still worried about her brother.
Malia pursed her lips, "And now we know he's alive."
"But he's still hurt." Lori pulled out the arrow from the tree, smelling the lingering blood that belonged to her brother. "We need to find him, he needs to know we're here."
"You want the hunter to know we're here, too?" Malia reminded her, not wanting the hunter to come after them.
"He's new. We can take him."
"What if Brett howls back? He'll lead the hunter right to him."
"No, we could find him first." Scott said, glancing at them. "There's no human that can track sounds faster than we can. And we've got the advantage, we've done this before. We know what we're doing, guys."
Isaac glanced at Lori curiously, "How come I can't catch his scent?"
"He's masking it." She said simple, although she wished her brother would release his scent so they could find him faster. It wasn't like the hunters were supernatural.
"Can someone tell him not to?" Malia complained, it would be much easier if they could catch his scent.
"He went this way."
They realized that Brett hadn't been able to get his trap to work and was still on the run, "His trap didn't work. Maybe this hunter is not such an amateur."
"Or maybe he's learning."
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Imogen stayed back at her car in the parking lot while the others went ahead to try and hopefully find him. She glanced around in hopes that no one would catch her performing magic. She was going to use an upgraded tracking spell she had been working on. Luckily, she had Bretts blood which would hopefully make things easier. She had also asked Lori for her blood as a backup plan in case his blood wasn't enough.
The spell she was using was similar to the one she had used at the Glen Capri to find Scott except it was also a combination of astral projection as well. Except no one else will be able to see her except for Brett. This way she'll know where he is and how to find him.
She shot a text to Omar to come meet her since she was going to need his help.
Using magic she pulled the blood from the pole that had Brett's blood on it and allowed it to fall into the small bowl she brought with her. She began whispering the spell and kept whispering it. She blocked all the noise as she focused.
She didn't hear Omar arriving as he had already been asked by Allison to come help find the missing teenager while she was with Lydia. He kept his footsteps light as he watched her perform the spell. He saw the bowl in her hand and watched some steam come out of it.
Imogen gasped, finding herself in a familiar place. She was in the tunnels. She glanced around but found no sight of Brett.
Then she looked up and she grinned, her spell had worked. Though her smile fell when she saw he was bleeding black blood. That was never a good sign. "Brett?" She called out to him and he looked down at her.
His eyes widened with recognition. "How did you find me?" He asked in disbelief, he had made sure to keep an ear out for any footsteps or heartbeats approaching. He could faintly hear the two pairs of footprints coming after him. "You have to hide before they show up."
"It's fine. You're the only one who can see me. I just needed to find out where you were and how you were doing." She explained, her eyes taking in his condition.
"I got shot and it was laced with wolfsbane." He told her in a weak tone. He didn't know how much longer he could keep running and hiding from the hunters.
She pursed her lips, "Well now I know where you are and I'll let the others know." She flinched, at the sudden jolt of pain she felt in her abdomen.
"What's wrong?" He noticed her body flicker.
"It's Scott. Look, I need you to hold on okay. I know you're scared but you have to trust me when I tell you that we're going to do everything we can to save you okay?"
Brett nodded slowly and she smiled at him before disappearing.
"Oh my god!" Omar yelled out when Imogen's eyes suddenly opened and she stared at him with equal shock.
"Why are you so close!?" She exclaimed, shoving him away as she set the bowl with Bretts blood in it in the trunk of the car so as not to spill it. She grabbed her notebook and started writing, "Look, I'm going to astral project to Scott and meanwhile I need you to try to find this spell so we can save Brett. He's been shot and I need to tell Scott where to find him exactly."
Omar took the notebook she handed to him, "Why can't you just speak to him through your bond?"
"Because he's hurt and I need to make sure he's okay." She said as she placed her hand on her bond mark. She had practiced with Scott a couple of times during their time away from Beacon Hills to see how well it worked. She began saying the spell while Omar started flipping through her grimoire.
Scott who had urged his friends to go on ahead, while he stayed behind to heal, laid back against the wall. He flinched when his girlfriend suddenly appeared in front of him, "I'm fine." He said, seeing the worried look on her face, "Did you find Brett?"
She noticed they were in the tunnels, "It shouldn't be long before the others find him. He was shot but just in case they can't catch up to him, I thought of a contingency plan that might save him."
"That's good." He whispered, feeling a little more relieved.
"I don't think these are amateurs." She said, noticing the spikes coming out of the poles. "There aren't a lot of people who spend time in these tunnels. Who was the last hunter we saw down here?"
He furrowed his brows, trying to think back, "Argent..." He scoffed, "And Gerard."
"The trap wasn't lethal." She said, noticing that he was starting to heal much faster now that she was here. "It slowed you down."
"And split us up." He muttered, suddenly worried.
She pursed her lips, "He's planning something else, another trap."
"And the others are walking right into it." He got up, only to wince in pain. "I need to catch up to them."
"You need to heal first. You won't be much help if you're still injured." She reminded him as she cupped his face. "Let me help." Because of their bond, it was easier for her to touch him without exerting too much energy. She used their bond to heal him faster so he can catch up to their friends.
He exhaled, no longer feeling anymore pain. "Thanks." He whispered, looking down at his shirt that had a hole in it.
"I have to go. Love you." She said.
He smiled, "Love you too." He watched her disappear from his sight and looked in the direction his friends went in and sighed. He began his trek to catch up to the rest of his pack.
Meanwhile, Imogen stood next to Omar who had found the spell they needed to save Brett. "It won't be easy, especially if he's moved."
"I know, but the hunters going after him include Gerard." She said, making him realize just how much danger Brett was in. "We need to do the spell fast before something happens."
"Okay. I'll go first and make the marking at our house so we can take care of the wolfsbane in his system." Omar said, chanting the spell and he disappeared from her sight. She nervously fiddled with her ring as she waited for him. She sighed in relief when he appeared in front of her. "Okay, the marking is done. All we need is his blood to teleport to him and we'll appear back at the house together."
"Alright." She grabbed the bowl with Brett's blood and shut the trunk of her car. She told Scott what her and Omar were going to do and he told her that he managed to catch up to Isaac and Malia but Liam and Lori had gone off somewhere else so they were still split up.
Imogen and Omar both had their hand on the bowl and began chanting the spell.
Meanwhile, Brett could feel himself begin to lose energy as he climbed up the ladder with his sister behind him. Liam had urged them to go ahead. He fully believed Imogen when she promised to save him.
Once they made it to the top, Lori and him both were suddenly blinded by a white light and then everything went black.