Chapter eighteen
Blood In the Cut
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Everything happened pretty fast.
The pack didn't even need to look for Tracy because she showed up at school, harming a girl named Hayden - at least that's what Liam said.
Then it went fast, Flora argued with Lydia if she should go with her and Kira to look for some clues to Tracy's house or if she should go with the rest of the pack to the Animal Clinic to try to figure out what was wrong with Tracy because apparently, a silver liquid came out of her mouth before passing out.
Lydia was very persuasive and convinced Flora to go with the rest of the pack, assuring her that they were able to sneak into Tracy's room by themselves.
Flora almost didn't listen to her but when Malia came in, asking for her, she gave in and went to the Animal Clinic with them.
Flora was the first to speak up when they laid Tracy's unconscious body on top of the silver table. "Is she dead?" She asked and kept her stare on the girl with a trail of silver fluid coming from her mouth while Deaton checked her reaction to a flashlight.
The blonde recognized the girl, knowing that she was in the same year as Liam and she most definitely saw her on one of the games but that was it.
"Pupils dilate under normal conditions." The man spoke up, looking concerned.
At that moment Tracy let out a heavy breath, signalizing that she was alive, just unconscious.
As Deaton explained what he thought was wrong, Stiles noticed the look on Flora's face - exhaustion. He didn't bring any attention to them, he just reached for her hand and squeezed it, showing her support.
Flora took a deep breath and squeezed his hand back, she knew that the precious stress-free summer was too good to be true, they had to run into trouble one way or another.
"It almost looks like mercury."
At that Tracy moved a little on the table, making Everton take a step back.
"Can't you just give her a shot of something?" Malia shrugged, watching the interaction from the corner of the room.
Deaton looked at the girl on the table. "She doesn't look to be in any pain." He pointed out.
"I meant a shot to kill her." Malia specified, receiving disappointed looks from the group.
Flora looked at the girl and motioned to her that she should cut it out.
"I generally prescribe to a code of ethics that frowns on such measures," Deaton answered.
"Malia." Scott finally spoke up as he looked at the werecoyote. "You know we're not going to do that."
Malia looked from Scott to Flora, showing her that she didn't mean it in a bad way. "How do you know she's not going to kill us?"
At that, Stiles pointed at her. "She makes a decent point." He shrugged. "Eventually I'm going to have to let my dad know she's here."
Deaton agreed with Stiles and pulled out a jar full of Mountain Ash, throwing it around them, keeping them protected.
While the boys stayed close to Tracy, Malia tried to touch the Mountain Ash, and Flora was texting Lydia, telling her that if she and Kira figured something out, they should let her know.
"Don't worry Stiles."
The blonde lifted her head, noticing the anxious look on Stiles' face.
"Tracy won't be able to cross a line of Mountain Ash," Deaton reassured him. "She's not going anywhere."
Stiles continued to stare at the line in front of them. "That's kind of what I'm afraid of." He admitted.
The older man shrugged. "You and I will be able to get out with no problem." He then looked at Scott, Malia, and Flora. "You three, not so much."
"Weird." Malia pulled back when she tried to touch the Ash and for a weird feeling on her body instead.
A soft smile played on Flora's lips, ignoring Deaton's and Scott's attempt to hold Tracy down.
"You too," Stiles mumbled to Flora, showing her that she should help him hold the girl down.
Truth be told, Flora didn't really want to stay near the girl, but the three male gazes didn't give her much of a choice.
Her fear shows to be rational when the blade on Deaton's scalpel broke off when it touched Tracy's skin.
"I think you're gonna need a bigger blade," Stiles piped up, receiving an annoyed stare from the man.
"Ew." Flora gulped when something moved inside Tracy's neck. The girl stood behind the man while Scott and Stiles talked in the corner. "Don't touch it." She whispered to Deaton when his hand started to reach for the...thing.
"Malia," Deaton called for the girl standing by. "Help us turn her over, please."
The werecoyote did what she was told and helped the two of them.
"Do you care to enlighten the rest of us?" Deaton spoke up when he heard Stiles' claim to know what Tracy was. "Because this doesn't look too good." He pointed at Tracy's exposed back.
Something was moving inside Tracy's back and it seriously made Flora nauseous. She had to put her hand in front of her mouth when she saw Deaton touching it.
The girl jumped back when Tracy's back splashed open, squirting a dark liquor on Deaton and Scott.
The blonde had to grab Stiles' arm, feeling dizzy by the sight of Tracy's moving spine in front of her. She saw a lot of disgusting things in her life but this was a whole new level. "Why is it moving." She mumbled.
And just as she spoke up a long tail burst pit of Tracy's back, whopping in the air before slashing Stiles' shoulder, Deaton's chest, and Flora's arm, sending them to the ground.
Next were Malia and Scott and then Tracy did something nobody thought was possible - she got through the line of Mountain Ash, escaping the Clinic.
Flora squinted her eyes as she laid on the cold floor of the clinic with the rest of the group. It's been a while since she was paralyzed by a Kanima.
"How the hell did she get through the Mountain Ash?" Stiles spoke up, his face on the floor.
"I don't know," Deaton spoke up with a shaky voice. "It's a barrier no supernatural creature should be able to cross."
If she could, Flora would look at Deaton's face to see his reaction but for now, her only view was the ceiling.
"Scott did it," Stiles argued, his voice muffled thanks to his face being pressed to the floor.
"Once," Scott spoke up. "But it almost killed me."
The girl wished she could turn around and look at the Alpha but instead, she just grunted as her attempts were unsuccessful.
"We should've killed her!" Malia barked from the other side of the room.
"Meanwhile, she's probably on her way to killing someone else," Stiles said.
For what felt like hours the group tried to concentrate on moving their fingers so they could slowly start moving but all of them were useless.
Scott and Malia tried to focus on healing, thanks to their powers they would be able to move sooner than Flora, Stiles, and Deaton while Flora stayed silent and continued to gaze at the ceiling, knowing that there was nothing she could do.
The last time she was paralyzed from a Kanima venom she saw a guy being crushed to death and now she was on the floor of an Animal Clinic while Tracy was probably on a killing spree.
"Mal," Flora spoke up when she heard Malia panicking. "Calm down, it's going to be okay."
"I can't calm down." Malia panicked. "I can't move."
"It won't last long," Scott assured her. "We're going to be okay."
Then, there was a silence, the two supernatural beings focusing on healing while the rest of them just laid there.
"I'm pretty sure I just felt my right leg move." Stiles breathed out, catching everyone's attention. "Like a twinge or something."
Flora snorted. "You didn't feel shit." She mumbled. "You're still stiff as a board." Her eyes on Stiles' legs.
"Malia." Scott acknowledged the fact that the girl was now able to move her fingers.
It took the girl maybe five more minutes until she was able to lift herself.
"What's happening?" Stiles asked while the rest watched Malia get up. "I can't see!" Stiles complained again when nobody answered him.
"Malia, wait for us." He warned her when he figured out that she was standing up.
"There's no time." She insisted and slowly stepped over Scott's and Flora's bodies. "She has a scent, I can find her."
"Save her," Scott said to her, watching her leave the clinic.
Somehow Theo showed up in the next couple of minutes, helping Flora up when he saw her struggling with getting up.
"Hey!" Stiles groaned as he tried to get up as well, not liking seeing Theo's arms around her waist.
"How did you find us?" Scott asked, ignoring Stiles' warning voice.
Theo carefully held Flora up, smiling at her quiet 'thank you'. "Because you work here." He answered. "I heard about Tracy, I've been looking for you." His grip left Flora's body and helped Stiles up next.
The sarcastic boy tried to fight his hands off but at the end of the day, Theo was a werewolf which meant he was way stronger than Stiles so he ignored his struggled and helped him up.
"This is Theo?" Deaton asked when the teenager helped him as well.
"Let me help." Theo threw his hands in the air dramatically. "It doesn't have to mean I'm part of the pack."
"Just let him help." Flora rasped next to Stiles, stretching her legs.
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The pack stumbled into the police station and gasped when they saw paralyzed officers on the ground.
While Stiles, Scott, and Theo immideately hurried to help Stiles' dad and other officers, Flora saw the trail of blood leading into the Sheriff's office. "No." She cried out and fell on her knees when she saw Lydia with a slash wound on the side of her stomach.
"How l-long..." She couldn't even finish her question thanks to the sob forming in her throat.
"A couple of minutes, I think," Kira answered, pressing her hands to Lydia's side, trying to stop the bleeding.
"Lyds." Flora hiccuped, carefully stroking her strawberry blonde hair. "You'll be okay, I'll call the ambulance, okay?" She was about to pull out her phone but her hand reached into an empty pocket. "Fuck." She cursed when she realized it must've dropped out at the Clinic.
"It's okay," Lydia spoke up, seeing the tears on Flora's face.
The blonde refused to answer and helped Kira with putting pressure on the wound, not caring if her hands were covered in blood. "You'll be okay." She whispered, trying to assure herself. "I refuse to lose you too." Her voice came out scratchy as she tried to hold her sobs in and focus on saving Lydia.
"Flora move."
The girl looked up, seeing Theo pulling out his belt and carefully putting it over her upper abdomen, tightening it.
Flora stood up, pulling on her hair, staining the blonde locks with a deep shade of red. "You'll be okay." She assured the girl again.
"Tracy." Lydia croaked out. "In the basement."
Flora shook her head, wiping away her tears. "I'm not leaving you." She argued.
"They got her." Stiles gently grabbed Flora's shoulders. "Come on."
The blonde looked at her best friend again.
'Please go.' Lydia mouthed, tasting her salty tears.
"She's alright," Theo convinced Flora. "I called the ambulance."
Flora sniffled but nodded. "I'll be right back." She stroked Lydia's cheek before jogging out of the office and towards the basement with Scott, Stiles, Noah, and Deaton.
There was another sight in the basement that the pack didn't want to see.
"It wasn't me." Malia put her hands up when they found her standing next to Tracy's dead body.
"What the hell happened to her?" Noah asked, kneeling next to the body.
Flora gently pulled Malia aside, waiting for an explanation.
"There were these people." She started, her voice was tight. "They had masks." Malia shakily looked around, her eyes filled with tears. "They were three of them, at least I think." She mumbled.
"What are you talking about?" Stiles asked, stopping Malia's rambling.
Malia stammered, finally looking them in the eyes. "They were strong." She trembled. "They had a weapon, I didn't do this." She grabbed Flora's hand, shaking. "I didn't do this Flora."
Flora gave the girl a heavy nod. "I hear you." She squeezed her hand, neither of them caring that it was covered in blood.
Noah and Deaton started arguing about what to do with Tracy's body while Flora held trembling Malia in her arms, trying to stop herself from shaking and crying.
Deaton and Scott won, dragging the body out of the place, needing to figure out what was Tracy and why she didn't change back after her death.
Flora's head snapped up when she heard the voices of medics upstairs. "I need to go with Lydia." She spoke up. "You going with me?" Her eyes glanced at Malia, who refused to leave the girl's side.
So the girls left with Lydia and her mom in the ambulance while the rest of the pack followed them to the hospital in cars.
"I'll see you later." Flora kissed Lydia's forehead when they prepped her for surgery.
"You're going to be okay, sweetheart." Natalia Martin spoke up, watching the two girls interact. "I'll find you." She patted Flora's shoulder and then left her standing in the middle of a hospital hallway while she walked with her daughter towards the OR.
Flora watched them leave and when the last door closed behind them, she let out a sob, burying her face in her bloody hands, not even caring. She sniffled and tried to pull herself together before walking back to the reception to the pack.
She wasn't the one who was hurt, she didn't get to cry.
"Flora?"
She straightened up when she heard Melissa's voice. "Yeah?" She squeaked out, wiping away the tears on her cheeks.
"It could've been worse." She comforted the girl and sat her down on one of the empty hospital beds. "Let's get you clean up."
Flora sniffled and gave in underneath the warm sponge on her face as Melissa cleaned the blood. "Nice ring." She complimented when she opened her eyes and saw a golden ring in a shape of a bee on Melissa's index finger. "I have a similar one." She showed off a small flower ring. "My dad gave it to me."
Melissa stiffened when Flora mentioned the ring. "Thank you, it was a gift." She smiled and moved on to her hands, wiping away the blood.
"That's what your name means in Greek." The girl continued to speak, not even noticing that she started drifting out of fear for Lydia. "Bee." She specified. "Melissa means Bee or Honey in Greek."
"I know." The woman grinned and looked at the ring. "You have a flower because Flora means flower am I right?"
"Yup." The girl sighed and then she looked at the woman. "Who gave it to you?" She asked, suspicious about the similarity of the rings.
Melissa cleared her throat and put the sponge into a bucket. "You're all cleaned up, come on, the others are waiting."
Flora scrunched her eyebrows but followed the woman. "You know I will find out eventually, right?"
"Oh." Melissa put her arm around Flora's shoulder. "I have no doubts about that." She gave her a side hug before calling out for the group that was waiting there.
"How bad it is?" Stiles asked when the two came.
"Could have been worse." Melissa sighed and then nodded at Theo. "Nice going on that tourniquet, you probably saved her life."
When Flora heard that, she pulled the boy into a hug - to everyone's surprise, especially Stiles'. "Thank you." She whispered and gave him a thankful smile, which he repaid.
"She's going into surgery, it's going to be a while." Melissa put her hands on her waist and looked at the teenage group in front of her. "Any other supernatural details that I need to know about or do we just stitch her up and hope for the best?"
"It was the tail," Kira spoke up, explaining what injured Lydia. "Tracy cut her with a tail."
The older woman nodded and left the group alone, ready to help in the surgery.
Flora leaned against Stiles' shoulder, ignoring his stiffness.
"It wasn't just Tracy, there were others," Malia spoke up and looked at the couple in front of her. "The guys in the masks."
Stiles looked away from Malia, not believing her while Flora kept her stare on the girl, showing that she believed everything she said.
Malia had no reason to lie.
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Lydia and Flora are the OG #yolo queens