CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO:
WHAT WE JUST SET FREE
"OKAY, YOU SEE THIS?" STILES asked, pointing to a part of the map. "This is how they got in―︎it's a rooftop air conditioning vent, leads down inside into the wall of the vault, which is here. Okay?" He pointed to everything as he spoke, showing it to the three supernatural creatures. "One of the robbers was lowered into this shaft. Now, that space is so small, it took him about twelve hours to drill into that wall, which is stone, by the way. Then, throughout the rest of the night, they siphoned the cash up to the guys back on the roof through that one little shaft in the wall. Boom!"
"Can we fit in there?" Scott questioned.
"Yes, we can, but very, very barely. Besides Gwen, she could easily squeeze through. And, they also patched the wall, obviously, so we're gonna need a drill of some kind. I'm thinking maybe a diamond-bit. . ."
"Forget the drill." Derek cut him off.
"Sorry?" Stiles raised an eyebrow at the man.
"If I go in first, how much space do I have?" Derek questioned.
"What do you. . . What do you think you're gonna do, Derek? You gonna punch through the wall?" Stiles asked.
"Yes, Stiles. I'm gonna punch through the wall." Derek blankly answered him.
"Okay. Okay, big guy, let's see it! Let's see that fist. Big old fist. Make it, come on! Get it out there! Don't be scared, big bad wolf!" Derek held up his fist. "Yeah, look at that! Okay, see this?" Stiles held up his hand. "That's maybe three inches of room to gather enough force to punch through solid co―︎" The boy was cut off by Derek punching his hand, sending him toppling over, leaning over the table with a groan of pain before walking away as he cried out.
"I'll get through the wall." Derek assured. "Who's following me?"
"Don't look at me!" Peter spoke up, making Gwen roll her eyes. "I'm not up to fighting speed, yet. And honestly, with Isaac out of commission, you're not looking at very good odds for yourself."
"So, I'm supposed to just let them die?" Derek asked.
"One of them already is dead." Peter answered with a shrug.
"We don't know that!" Derek snarled. Gwen felt bad, she had talked to Isaac, who had made her promise not to to put herself into any danger whilst he wasn't able to protect her―︎even though he knew she could protect herself. But standing here, listening as Derek was practically begging for help, she bit the inside of her cheek as she started to have a silent debate with herself.
"Do I have to remind you what we're up against here? A pack of Alphas, all of them killers. And, if that's not enough to scare your testicles back into your stomach, try to remember that two of them combine bodies to form one giant Alpha." Peter reminded the man. "I'm sure Erica and Boyd were sweet kids. They're gonna be missed."
"Can someone kill him, again, please?" Stiles requested.
"Ooh, me, I'll do it!" Gwen raised her hand and Scott grabbed it, pulling it back down and sending a look towards the girl. She stared at Scott for a moment before huffing and crossing her arms over her chest.
"Derek, seriously? Not worth the risk." Peter warned.
"What about you?" Derek asked.
"Yeah, if you want me to come―︎"
"Not you." Derek cut Stiles off before looking towards Scott.
"Got it." Stiles muttered.
"I don't know about Erica. . . But, if Boyd's alive, we have to do something. We have to try."
"Agreed." Gwen mumbled, before sighing and nodding her head as she looked at Derek. "I'll come too, even though I'm going to hear a mouthful from Isaac when we get back."
"But?" Derek asked, glancing between the two.
"Who's the other girl? The one locked in there with Boyd?"
━︎━︎━︎━︎━︎
The moon was rising, she could feel her blood start to boil with unknown rage as she clenched her jaw. She was mostly in control of her shift―︎mostly. But sometimes that wolf in her was tired of being hidden and wanted to break out, and sometimes Gwen didn't have the power to control it. She clenched her jaw, Scott glancing towards the girl before reaching out and grabbing her hand. She looked at him, noticing the worry in his eyes. She managed a small smile and nodded her head in reassurance.
When they made it to the back of the bank, a sigh fell from Derek's lips. The entire time they had been making their way towards the bank, Scott had this look on his face that was starting to annoy the alpha. "What?"
"There's just something I can't get out of my head." Scott told him.
"The moon's rising, Scott. What is it?" Derek quickly asked.
"Risk and reward."
"Coach's lesson?" Gwen cocked an eyebrow at the boy.
"Which means what?" Derek snapped.
"We're not measuring the risk with enough information. We don't know enough." Scott answered him.
"We know time's running out." Derek argued.
"Yeah, but think about it―︎they put the triskele on your door four months ago. What have they been doing all this time? Why wait until now?" Scott asked, turning to look at the alpha.
"We don't have time to figure out every little detail―︎"
"Okay, but what if this detail―︎the reason why they waited―︎is the most important one?"
"Then we do nothing, and Boyd and Erica are dead." Derek answered. He then glanced between the two wolves. "I know what I'm risking―︎my life for theirs." He then jumped up, grabbing the bars on the window before jumping and grabbing onto the ladder that was hanging from the balcony above. He then glance back towards them. "And I won't blame you if you don't follow me."
Gwen and Scott exchanged looks with one another with before Scott nodded his head and the two followed after him. The trio made it inside with Derek successfully punching a hole through the wall, allowing them access. They paused for a moment, looking around before their eyes caught sight of a figure.
"Boyd?" Derek carefully questioned. They watched as Boyd cam from the shadows, his claws out and growls falling from his lips. "Boyd, it's me. It's Derek." That's when Scott's phone buzzed, the boy quick to answer it. Gwen couldn't pull her eyes from Boyd, he looked absolutely feral. She was starting to regret not listening to her boyfriend.
"Stiles, now is not the best time." Scott hissed at his best friend.
"Scott! Scott! No, listen to me, okay? Look, you gotta get outta there. Look, the walls of the vault are made from a mineral called hecatolite―︎it scatters the moonlight."
"What does that mean?" Scott questioned.
"We're here to get you out, okay?" Derek spoke, holding his hand out as to show no harm as he looked at Boyd, completely ignoring Scott and Stiles' conversation.
"Look, it keeps the moonlight out, okay? They haven't felt the full moon in months―︎" Stiles explained.
"Okay, think of it like the gladiators in the Roman Colosseum. They used to starve the lions for three days, making them more vicious, more out of control. Deucalion has kept them from shifting for three months, diminishing their tolerance to it." Peter told him.
"Scott, they're gonna be stronger." Stiles told the boy.
"More savage, more bloodthirsty." Peter continued. "Scott, they're the lions! They're the starved lions, and you, Gwen, and Derek just stepped into the Colosseum."
"Derek, we got a problem." Scott called, making Gwen look at him with a small frown. "A really big problem."
Just when Gwen was about to open her mouth to ask, another wolf emerged, a female, one Gwen nor Scott had ever seen before. But Derek had. "Cora?"
"Who?" The two questioned in unison.
"Cora?" Derek repeated the question.
"Derek. . . get out." Cora warned. "Get out now!"
Scott nudged Gwen's side, grabbing her attention before he nodded his head towards the line of mountain ash. That's when the vault opened, forcing a bright light to emerge that made them squint their eyes. Gwen frowned when she saw the school's guidance counselor standing there. She bent down, allowing the last of the mountain ash to fall from her hands.
"No! No wait!" Scott yelled, running forward. The two wolves attacked, and luckily it was two on three. Before she knew it, Gwen was being thrown across the room, slamming into the wall and falling to the ground. She grunted before her eyes started to glow as she forced herself up and started fighting Boyd along with Scott. When they had managed to get Boyd away from them for a moment, they turned towards Derek who had managed to get the female away from him.
"You know her?"
"She's my sister, my younger sister." Derek quickly answered.
"What the hell is she doing here?" Gwen furrowed her eyebrows.
"Like I have a clue? I thought she was dead!"
That's when Allison suddenly appeared in the door way of the vault. "Look out!" Derek and Gwen were quick to move out of the way whilst Boyd grabbed onto Scott, throwing him around roughly, before managing to pin Scott up against the wall. Boyd stabbed his claws into Scott's stomach, making Gwen's eyes widen.
"Scott!" Gwen scrambled to get up just as Allison leaned down, about to break the seal.
"No, don't break the seal!" Derek quickly yelled out.
"Boyd!" Allison yelled out before quickly doing the opposite of what Derek said. The wolves claws immediately were ripped from Scott's stomach, his attention turned towards Allison. He ran out of the vault with Cora following him. Gwen was quick to run over to Scott, pulling up his shirt in order to look at his wounds. She clenched her jaw before grabbing onto him and pulling him from the ground. The two were quick to turn their heads towards Derek who stormed out of the vault, heading right for Allison.
"Don't touch her!" Scott yelled.
"What were you thinking!" Derek growled, grabbing onto Allison.
"That I had to do something!" Allison snapped, shoving the wolf off of her.
"She saved our lives." Scott told Derek.
"Yeah, and what do you think they're gonna do out there? Do you have any idea what we just set free?"
"You want to blame me? Well, I am not the one turning teenagers into killers." Allison yelled at him angrily.
"No. No, that's just the rest of your family." Derek shot back.
"I made mistakes. Gerard is not my fault."
"And what about your mother?" Derek challenged.
"Derek." Gwen warned.
"What do you mean?" Allison frowned.
"Tell her, Scott." Derek said, snapping his head towards Scott. Gwen and Scott exchanged looks with one another, neither of them having told Allison what her mother had done to them.
"What does he mean, Scott?" Allison asked, turning towards the boy. "What does he mean?" After a few moment, Scott started to explained everything, making Allison look at him with wide eyes. "She tried to kill you? Both of you?" She glanced towards Gwen who met her eyes before looking away.
"Uh. . . yeah. Yeah." Scott nodded.
"Why didn't you tell me? Either of you?" Allison whispered.
"I'll tell you everything, okay? I'll tell you a-anything that you want to know, but right now-"
"Just tell me why." Allison tried.
"I. . . I couldn't. Allison, we couldn't let that be the last memory that you had of her." That's when Derek appeared, Erica in his arms, dead. A tear slipped from Gwen's eyes as she felt her heart shatter. She was really dead. Isaac had been right.