xvii. A TOKEN
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Foster felt her heart begin to hammer in her chest violently and rapidly.
"Foster?" Isaac's voice filled her ears in a blur, almost as though she was underwater and couldn't hear him properly. In fact, she felt like she was underwater, losing air. Her lungs were suffocating her, her head pounding violently.
"He's - he's - " she barely gasped out, her breaths becoming choppy and quick. "Isaac, he's - "
Isaac's hand wrapped around her wrist, turning the blonde around so she's facing him. A determined look was on his face, but she could see past it, she could tell that he was just as terrified as she was.
"We're going to save him," he promised, tears breaking past her eyes and dribbling down her cheeks at this point. Her father just willing gave himself to the Darach, he was on his way to the bank as they spoke. "I swear to God we'll save him."
"What if we can't?" she practically screamed, it feeling as though her heart was shredding into two. "What if I can't?" she then breathed out softly, her whole body trembling rapidly. She honestly felt like she was going to pass out, knowing that her father wants to give himself up to her. Why would he do that? How could he do that to her? She won't be able to go on without him, she needed him more than she needed air.
"Foster, we have to go," Isaac breathed out, his voice wavering as his grip on her shoulders tightened. She was spaced out, though, his words going in one ear and out the other. "Foster."
Finally, she slowly nodded, allowing the blonde haired boy to slowly lead her out of her apartment.
And all she could think was that they were already too late.
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When Foster and Isaac finally made it to the bank where Erica, Boyd, and Cora were held captive only weeks prior, Foster found herself tugging the rusted and already broken chains off the doors before pushing them open in a rush.
She could hear her heart beating in her ears, her body feeling as though it was on fire. It felt like time was running out, and she knew that it very well could be for her father right now. Foster couldn't let Jennifer take him, she refused to let it happen.
Her footsteps echoed throughout the abandoned bank, dust and scattered papers littering the floor around her. It was dark all around her, her blue eyes adjusting to the dull lighting. She couldn't hear anything, and she felt panic course through her veins rapidly.
Rather than thinking, she found herself running straight into the heart of the bank, searching for the vault. It was too difficult to find, thankfully. It was a large, empty room, a large circular door hung wide open.
The vault.
Her eyes set in on it, her feet thinking for her as she sprinted toward the opening. Isaac was quick to follow, watching as his best friend sprinted in sheer terror. He had never seen her liked this before, and she looked as though she was about to lose it altogether. He wouldn't have been shocked if she had a mental break down in one of the next few seconds.
She practically leaped over the piece of the wall that lead into the vault, the girl rushing inside. Her breaths were shaky, anxious for what she was bound to see. Her eyes scanned the inside of the vault, feeling her chest collapse inside of her when she say her father's wallet lying on the floor, Mr. Foster no where to be seen.
At this point, she couldn't even hold herself up anymore, her legs buckling under her. She was going to lose her father, too. She was going to lose everyone, but at this point, she should have known that. Everyone she touched, she destroyed.
She was going to be the downfall of all of her friends.
A pained sob escaped her lips, it burning her throat as she let it out. Her whole body was on fire, Foster barely able to see Isaac crouch down beside her through her tear blurred vision. He held onto her tightly, pulling her into his chest as she let out a pained sob, almost like a scream piercing the air.
She didn't want to lose her dad, she already lost her mom. Who was going to be next? Isaac? Scott? Stiles? Allison? Lydia? Everyone in her life left, and it was almost as though she was the poison in their lives. She knew that now.
Isaac held onto her, Foster unable to move her arms to hold onto him, too.
Instead, she barely choked out, "They're all going to die, aren't they?" He tightened his hold on her, refusing to answer. They all knew the answer, and it was going to do more harm to her than good. "Aren't they, Isaac?"
He shook his head, getting out shakily, "There's still time."
She pulled away slowly, Isaac noticing a new look in her eyes. It was on that held no hope, one of the girl who had nothing left. The one that made you feel pain just by the sight.
"We both know that there's no more time," she breathed out. "And there never will be."
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Foster found herself in the back corner of Deaton's clinic, silent as Stiles spoke, "It had to be on a telluric current or maybe even at the axis of two. All I know is that's where Derek took Paige to die."
The young girl, Paige, was a girlfriend of Derek's back in high school. She captured Derek's attention, and soon enough, Peter manipulated him into allowing Ennis to bite the girl, leading her to her death down in the root cellar. And apparently rather than drawing a tree, Lydia's actually been drawing the place where Jennifer is keeping their parents. Also know as a Nematon. The only problem was that none of them knew where the hell it was.
Allison made her way over toward Stiles, explaining, "My Dad and Gerard had been there once. But both of them said it was years ago and they can't remember where it was."
From beside Foster, Isaac demanded, "Then how do we find this place."
Isaac had just as much as the others riding on the line here, the man who had taken him in like his own son being on the verge of being ritually sacrificed. Foster's family was now his family. And the fact that Eric Foster was even willing to die for him was enough to make him want to risk his own life to save him.
All of them looked toward Deaton, the man who was silent in front of them. He was practically their Yoda or whatever Stiles called him. . . Foster didn't know the exact term. Maybe it was Obi-Wan? Either way, he was the one who knew everything, if anyone's going to have a plan on finding the Nematon, it's going to be him.
"There might be a way," Deaton offered, nervously, "but it's dangerous. We're going to need Scott."
It wasn't as hard to get a hold of Scott as they all initially thought, but seeing as though Stiles, Deaton, and Foster are now out in the middle of the woods facing the teen wolf, it felt as though there might be a slight bit of hope in saving their parents.
Foster found herself hesitantly walking toward Scott alongside Deaton and Stiles, her hands stuffed into her pockets as she thinks over the plan that they're all about to take part of. What Deaton revealed to her definitely shook her to the core, knowing that she's about to die.
She couldn't just let her father get sacrificed, she had to do this. This was more than just her now, she couldn't let anyone else get hurt. Even if that meant she was the one who had to pay the ultimate price in the end.
"How did you guys find out?" Scott questioned, referring to the Nemtaon.
Letting out a sigh, Stiles revealed, "Lydia."
Who they all are now aware of being a banshee, the wailing woman as Jennifer said it.
Nodding toward him, Foster questioned, "How about you?"
"Morrell," he explained, Foster choosing to simply not question it. He shook his head softly, explaining, "None of the other alphas know where it is, either."
"So, if this works, are you going to tell them?" Stiles inquired to his friends, Foster wanting to just keep this between themselves. The last thing they need is for the alphas to create more trouble for them, which they wouldn't have a problem doing. It was almost as though they fed off of the pain they all felt from their heinous actions. They enjoyed it.
Scott let out a soft sigh, explaining, "I can't stop Jennifer without them."
Looking at the three teenagers individually, Deaton cut in, "How about we concentrate on finding your parents first?" Foster nodded softly in agreement, as did Scott and Stiles. Foster kept her gaze away from Scott, unable to really look at him right now. She was in a far too fragile state, looking at him and knowing that he left them for Deucalion was going to make her break.
"What's the plan?"
"Essentially you, Foster and Stiles have to be surrogate sacrifices for your parents," Deaton explained, Foster letting out a shaky sigh. She wasn't going to lie, she was absolutely terrified.
Scott's eyes widen, questioning in shock, "We die for them?"
Stiles is quick to cut in, though, explaining, "He can bring us back." Looking toward Deaton, Stiles questions, "You can - you can bring us back, right?"
"Remember the part where I said it was dangerous?" Deaton questioned, Foster nodding softly. She's pretty certain the whole idea of them dying is enough danger in itself. "If it goes right, the three of you will be dead for a few seconds. There's something else you need to think about, this is dangerous for more reasons than one. You'll be giving power back to the Nematon that hasn't had power for a long time. This kind of power is like magnet, it attracts the supernatural." Foster felt her eyes flicker toward Stiles, the two of them sharing an equally nervous look. As if things in this town couldn't get anymore screwed up. They've already had a Kanima and a Darach for crying out loud. "The kinds of things a family like the Argents can fill pages of a bestiary with. It will draw them here, like a beacon."
Stiles had a quizzical look on his face, pointing out, "It doesn't sound any worse than anything we've already seen." Foster couldn't help but nod in agreement.
"You'd be surprised with what you have yet to see," Deaton assured, making Foster gulp nervously. Because that was totally reassuring.
After a moment, Scott then questioned, "Is that it?"
Deaton lets out a sigh, responding, "No. It'll also have an effect on the three of you. You won't see it, but you'll feel it. Everyday for the rest of your lives. It'll be kind of a darkness around your heart, and permanent. Like a scar."
Quietly, Scott breathed out, "Like a tattoo."
All three of them preparing to soon feel the consequences of a heart filled with an immense darkness.
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Foster watched as more ice and mistletoe was poured into a metal tub like the one they originally dunked Isaac in only weeks ago. It felt like a lifetime, now. Foster was taking deep breaths in order to calm down, her hands trembling slightly as she paced back and forth. In her hand was a bracelet of her mother's that her father bought a long while back, her fingers curling around the edges of it.
"Alright," Deaton's voice sounded, Foster feeling her heart beat quicken. It was almost time for her to die. Looking toward the three teenagers, he questioned, "What did you bring?"
Stiles looked down toward the slightly dented Sheriff's badge in his hand, explaining, "Um - I got my Dad's badge. Jennifer kind of crushed it in her hand so I tried hammering it out a bit, but it still doesn't look right."
"It doesn't need to look good if it has meaning," Deaton assured, then looking toward the blonde haired girl clutching onto her mother's bracelet. "Foster?"
The young girl looked down at the silver bracelet in her hands, an intricate design carved into the metal. "I uh - I brought my Mom's bracelet. It may be my Mom's, but it still has everything to do with my dad. After the accident, something just left him and I know he doesn't know that I've uh - that I've seen this, but on hard days I know that he carries it in his pocket to work. It's almost as though it's the only thing that he has left of her to hold onto now."
Deaton sent her a soft smile, nodding toward her. The veterinarian then looked toward Scott, asking, "Scott?"
The boy with the crooked jaw looked up from his mother's watch, beginning to explain, "Uh - my Dad got my Mom this watch when she first got hired at the hospital. She used to say it was the only thing in their marriage that ever worked."
Once he was finished, Deaton began, "Okay, the three of you will get in and someone will hold you down until you're essentially. . . well. . . dead. But it's not just someone to hold you under, it needs to be someone who can pull you back. Someone that has a strong connection to you, a kind of emotional tether."
Foster felt her eyes fall upon Isaac, the boy who's practically her brother at this point. She couldn't see anyone else besides him bringing her back, it had to be him. She knew it deep down that it had to be him and only him.
He nodded softly, gulping nervously as he realized that he needed to be the one to keep his best friend from getting the oxygen that she'd be craving in the next few minutes.
Foster slowly took a step up toward the tub she would be seated in only moments, stripping out of the cardigan that she had over her t-shirt. She wore light clothes, knowing that she wouldn't be feeling a thing in a matter of moments.
She let out a deep breath, gazing down at the freezing ice water in front of her, the place that she was going to die. Beside her, Stiles and Scott were doing the same thing as well, Foster slowly raising her foot.
Slowly, the blonde dipped her toe into the water, it sending a sensation of needles pricking into her leg. It shoot up and throughout her. She let out a pained gasp, her fingers curling around the sides of the metal tub.
She glanced back toward Isaac, the boy resting a hand on her back as she slowly dipped herself farther into the water. The bracelet was securely around her wrist, the girl instantly shivering when her whole foot was placed inside, and soon to follow, her ankle.
Taking a deep breath, she slowly plunged her whole body into the water, the only thing sticking out being her head. Within seconds, her teeth were smacking against one another, her whole body trembling due to the extreme temperatures.
Behind Stiles stood Lydia, and Scott, Deaton. All three of them having the one person who can pull them back, bring them back from the depths of death.
The three shaky breaths filled the room of silence, Foster glancing over toward Scott and Stiles. Her eyes made contact with Scott's for a split second before leaving, it hurting her to know that the possibility of them all not making it back was there. She couldn't manage losing Stiles or Scott. If anyone had to die tonight, it should be her.
"By the way," Stiles' voice broke the air, making Scott turn to look at him, "if I don't make it back and you do, you should probably know something. Your Dad's in town."
Scott's eyes widen, soon enough, all three of them looking forward as they braced themselves for the deed they're about to endure.
Isaac's large hands soon fell upon Foster's shoulders, the girl stiffening up as Deaton utters the words. "Okay, let's begin."
Soon enough, Foster was rapidly sucking in breaths, feeling as Isaac slowly pushed her under the surface, her face feeling the sensation of needles pricking it shoot throughout her, her lungs burning as they begged for air.
Her head was pounding, a lot like the way Matt's must have been while he drowned. Soon enough, her body gave in, inhaling a large quantity of water as everything around her faded into nothing but black.
Her soul no longer connected to this world.
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AUTHOR'S NOTE: okay so the next chapter is definitely my fave of 3a by a long shot. anyway, how'd you guys like it?? i'm excited for her plot in 3b. this is basically what starts it, so if you think this is bad just wait. it gets bad. like so bad. bad x 30000. whoops.