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Chapter Thirty-Seven
🦊 Anchors 🦊
Azalea stood in front of her desk, staring at a Newton's Cradle that she had going. For the past few weeks she's been trying to get her powers back by trying to make the balls freeze. She concentrated for a while be groaning in frustration, sitting down in front of her bed and putting her head in her hands.
"Still nothing?" Stefan asked making her look at him and sighed, "Nothing. Not even my original Necromancer magic." She said. He sighed softly before walking over and sitting down next to her, "I need to get them back before the end of the month." She said and he nodded.
"I know... Have you told the others?" He asked and she sighed and shook her head, "I haven't really talked to anyone other than you, Isaac and Deaton. The only people who know is you three." She said and he looked at her. "You need to tell them. Especially Scott..." He said as he grabbed her phone off her bed, looking at it, "Who you have many unread texts and missed calls from." He said making her sigh.
"You figure out you might have a crush on him and you start ignoring him?" He asked and she shook her head, "Like I said, I've only talked to you and Isaac. I'm ignoring everyone." She said and he raised his eyebrows as he scrolled through her phone.
"Really? Cause I'm seeing you've been texting Allison and Lydia." He said and she rolled her eyes, "Can you stop looking through my phone? How do you even know my password?" She asked and he cocked an eyebrow at her. "Anyone who knows you would know to try damonsalvatore first." He dog and she rolled her eyes, "You don't have to ignore anyone. You know Scott, Stiles and Allison are all going to be having side effects from the sacrifices. They'll understand." He said and she shook her head slightly.
"This is different. This isn't a side effect, this a price for me using heavy dark magic. Prices can be permanent, side effects be temporary." She said and he set her phone down and looked at the slight dark circles under her eyes. "You need to tell them. Especially because of what will happen if you dont get your powers back within the next week." He said and she sighed and nodded.
"I know."
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"No, you're not. It's happening to you too. You're seeing things, aren't you?" Stiles asked making Scott's eyes widen slightly, "How'd you know?" Scott asked Stiles as Lydia, Allison and Azalea and Stefan walked up to them. "Because it's happening to all three of you." Allison said making them all look at each other.
"We have another problem." Stefan said making them look at him and he glanced at his sister, "Azalea doesn't have her powers anymore." Stefan said making all of their eyes widen. "What do you mean? How?" Allison said and Azalea sighed, "I used dark magic to resurrect and heal Stefan, theres a price and apparently the price was me losing my powers. I don't even have my original Necromancer magic." She said.
"That's not all." Stefan said, giving Azalea a pointed look making her look down, "What is it?" Scott asked making Azalea sigh. "My powers are what brought me back, they're what keep me from aging... If I dont get them back within a week, times gonna catch up to me. Quickly." She said.
"You mean one-hundred and fifty-four years..." Stiles said and Azalea nodded, "I was supposed to be dead one-hundred and fifty-four years ago. It's going to catch up to me unless I get my powers. I could die by the end of the week." She said and they all glanced at each other shocked.
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"Well, well, look who's no longer the crazy one." Lydia said as they walked into school making Azalea chuckle. "We're not crazy." Allison said Lydia hummed and turn to them. "Hallucinating? Sleep paralysis? Yeah, you guys are fine." She said sarcastically making Azalea chuckle..
"We did die and come back to life. That's gotta have some side effects, right?" Scott asked looking over at Azalea who nodded. The bell rang making Stiles turn to them, "We keep an eye on each other, and make sure Azalea doesn't drop dead. Okay? And Lydia, stop enjoying this so much." He said walking past her.
Azalea was about to walk over to her locker but Scott grabbed her arm making her stop. "Why didn't you tell us sooner? It's been over two weeks." Scott asked and Azalea sighed, "Because I was hoping I could figure everything out so then it wouldn't become a huge problem and no one would have to worry." She said.
"You should've told me, I could have tried to help you." Scott said and Azalea raised her eyebrows in amusement, "No offense, Scotty but you're not exactly the brightest when it comes to powers or losing them." She said and he sighed.
"You still could have told me." He said and she sighed softly, "You just became and Alpha and finally got a break after the Alphas and Jennifer. I didn't want you to have to worry about my problems." Azalea said and Scott gave her a look.
"I'm always going to worry about, Azalea." Scott said making Azalea stare at him for a moment. "Please start telling me these things. I want to be able to help you." Scott said and Azalea signed and nodded, "Okay." She said.
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Azalea sat down next to Scott who sat behind Stiles and looked up at the new teacher wearily, the school had to get a bunch of new teachers since Jennifer killed three of them and then died herself. "Good morning, everyone. My name is Mr. Yukimura. I'll be taking over for your previous History Teacher. My family and I moved here three weeks ago. I'm sure, by now, you all know my daughter, Kira. Or you might not since she's never actually mentioned anyone from school. Or brought a friend home for that matter."
Azalea cringed, feeling the second hand embarrassment slap them in the face with a leather glove. She was glad Stefan knew better than to do something like that. A loud thud came from the back of the class making everyone turn to see a dark haired girl with her head on the desk, "Either way, there she is." He said pointing at her.
She slowly lifted her head up, giving a shy smile when she saw everyone looking at her. She made eye contact with Azalea who smiled at her making Kira awkwardly smile back.
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"Right at her head?" Azalea asked as she, Scott and Isaac walked into Azalea's room. Apparently Lydia had taken Allison to target practice in the middle of the woods. And Allison hallucinated and almost shot Lydia with an arrow.
"Almost right through it. And she keeps saying the same thing, that she keeps seeing her aunt. Whatever's happening to you guys is getting worse. If I hadn't been there, then Lydia would be dead." Isaac said and Azalea smirked at him and raised her eyebrows.
"What were you doing there?" She asked and his eyes widened slightly, "Uh..." He said and she smiled in amusement. "Are you keeping a distant eye on your crush instead of making a move?!" Azalea said, getting more dramatic and Scott looked at them confused.
"Did you guys break up?" He asked and Azalea looked at him, "Where have you been the past three weeks?" She asked and he raised his eyebrows. "Being ignored." He said making her purse her lips and nod, "Right." She mumbled.
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"Okay, so what happens to a person who has a near-death experience and comes out of it seeing things?" Scott asked as they all sat around outside at lunch. "And is unable to tell what's real or not?"
"And is being haunted by demonic visions of dead relatives?" Allison asked and Azalea chuckled, "I know how that feels." She said making them look at her confused and she just shrugged and waved them off.
"They're all locked up because they're insane." Isaac said making everyone give him a look while Azalea slightly nodded in agreement. "Ha. Can you at least try to be helpful, please?" Stiles asked. "For half my childhood, I was locked in a freezer. So, being helpful is kind of a new thing for me."
"Hey, dude, are you still milking that?"
"Yeah, maybe I am still milking that."
"Hi." A voice said making them all turn to see Kira standing at the end of the table, "Hi, sorry. I couldn't help overhearing what you guys were talking about. And I think I actually might know what you're talking about. There's a Tibetan word for it. It's called "Bardo." It literally means "in-between state." The state between life and death." She explained, looking at the six friends nervously.
"And what do they call you?" Lydia asked but this time Azalea answered, "Her name is Kira." She said making everyone look at her with raised eyebrows and she shrugged slightly. "She's new. She's in our History class." Azalea said and Kira smiled awkwardly, "Are you talking Bardo in Tibetan Buddhism or Indian?" Azalea asked and Kira sat down next to Stiles.
"Either, I guess. But all the stuff you guys were just saying? All that happens in Bardo. There are different progressive states where you can have hallucinations. Some you see, some you just hear. And you can be visited by peaceful and wrathful deities."
"Wrathful deities? And what are those?" Isaac asked, "Demons." Azalea said with an amused smile, making all their eyes widen slightly. "Demons. Why not?" Stiles said looking at everyone, "Hold on, if there are different progressive states, then what's the last one?" Allison asked.
"Death. You die." Kira said making everyone take a deep breath looking around at each other while Azalea chuckled. "Well, I'm nearly there." She said making all her friends give her a look and she raised her hand, "No jokes about my upcoming death. Got it."
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"It sounds like your subconscious is trying to communicate with you." Deaton said as he, Scott, Stiles and Azalea walked into the clinic. "Well, how do I tell my subconscious to use a language that I actually know?" Stiles asked, "Do you remember what the sign language looked like? The placement and movement of the hands?" Deaton asked and Scott raised his eyebrows. "You know sign language?" He asked and Deaton nodded, "I know a little."
"Okay, the first one was like this. Then." Stiles said, demonstrating what he saw. "That's "when." Deaton nodded then Stiles did another one, "Then there was this, twice." Stiles said and Deaton nodded, "That's door." He said. "And this in between it." Stiles said as he did another sign.
"That's it?" Deaton asked and Stiles nodded, "When is a door not a door?" Azalea said and Deaton nodded making Stiles squint at them. "When is a door not a door?" He asked, "When it's ajar." Scott said. "You're kidding me. A riddle? My subconscious wants to tell me a riddle?" Stiles asked incredulously.
"Not necessarily. When the three of you went under the water, when you crossed from unconsciousness to a kind of super-consciousness You essentially opened a door in your minds." Deaton explained, "So what does that mean? The door's still open?" Scott asked.
"Ajar."
"A door into our minds?"
"We did tell you it was risky." Azalea said and they sighed, "What do we do about it?" Scott asked and Deaton sighed, "Well, that's difficult to answer." He said and Stiles pointed at him. "Oh, no, wait a second, I know that look. That's the "I know exactly what's wrong with you", "but I have no idea how to fix it" look." Stiles said and Deaton sighed, "One thing I do know is that having an opening like that into your mind, it's not good. You each need to close that door. And you need to do it as soon as possible." He said before looking at Azalea.
"Anything on the powers?" He asked and she sighed and shook her head, "Nothing. I can't find anything in my books, cant trigger my powers no matter how hard I concentrate. I'd try seeing if my mother knew anything but I can't do that." She said and he sighed. "I'll keep trying to figure something out. The end of the week is nearing." He said and she nodded before her and the guys walked away.
Stiles, Scott and Azalea walk out of the animal clinic to see Stiles' dad pull up, "Dad, what are you doing here?" Stiles asked. "I'm here because I could use some help. Actually Your help." He said looking at Scott, "Why me?"
"Because eight years ago, almost an entire family died in a car accident. One of the bodies, a young girl named Malia, was never found. There's enough evidence to have me thinking that That a werewolf could have caused the accident, and then dragged her body away. If you could somehow get a lock on her scent if you could somehow help me find her body, it might provide the missing clue." He explained.
"But what if it was a werewolf?" Azalea asked and Stilinski sighed slightly, "Well, there's somebody out there who murdered an entire family. Someone who still needs to be caught." He said
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Slowly, Scott, Stiles and Azalea walked over to Mr. Tate's back door that lead into Malia's old room. Stiles started to open the door but it made a creaking sound making him freeze while they all cringed. He went to open it more and it squeaked making Azalea rolled before swating Stiles's hands away from the door and quickly opening it which only made a short small creek.
They quickly walked into the room and Stiles instantly started tossing stuffed animals to Scott for him to smell. "All I'm getting is some animal smell." Scott said with a sigh, "What kind if animal?" Azalea asked and almost instantly she was answered by a growling sound.
They froze for a moment before slowly looking over to see a rottweiler staring in front of him. "Dog." Scott whispered as the dog growled at them again, "Hi puppy." Scott whispered slowly. "Get rid of it." Stiles said.
"Me?"
"Yes, you! Glow your eyes at it! Something! Be the Alpha!" Stiles whispered as the dog growled again, "I can't... I don't have control..." Scott said making Azalea sigh and close her eyes for a moment. "Why must with both have power difficulty at the same time." She mumbled, "Okay, buddy, you're going to have to try something." Stiles said.
Scott held his hand out, taking a step forward, "Nice doggy." He said making Azalea look at him in disbelief. All of the sudden the dog started barking making them all jump. "You guys are terrible at breaking in." Azalea said as Tate yelled for the dog to shut up, "Oh and you can do better?" Stiles asked and Azalea shrugged.
"Probably."
"Okay then you try." Stiles said gesturing to the dog. "Okay." Azalea said before taking a step forward towards the dog as he was still barking. "Apollo! Shut up!" Tate yelled as Azalea slowly crouched down in front of Apollo.
"Hi buddy." She said in a soft but high voice and the dog stopped barking and walked over to her. She smiled as she pulled her head back to stop the dog from licking her face as she petted it. "How did you?" Stiles asked as him and Scott looked at her in amazement.
"Dogs like me." She said, side glancing Scott making his jaw fell and he huffed as he got her dig at him. "Here, try that." Stiles said, handing Scott something else while Azalea kept the dog distracted. "All I'm getting is the dog." Scott sighed, shaking his head.
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Azalea, Scott and Stiles hopped out of the jeep after pulling over somewhere away from Tate's house, to talk to Stilinski. "I'm sorry. I tried as hard as hard as I could. If it wasn't so long ago, I might have been able to do it." Scott said and Stilinski sighed and shook his head.
"It's okay. It was a long shot. In fact, it was a pretty terrible idea. I think I just ripped a wound open in that poor man. I never should have brought you guys here. I don't know what I was thinking. Thanks for trying, all right?" Stilinski said and Scott nodded. Stilinski patted Scott's arm before turning around and climbing into his car.
"See you at home." Stilinski said, glancing back at Stiles before driving off. "Aren't there a lot of cases that go unsolved?" Azalea asked and Stiles nodded with a slight shrug, "Yeah, I just think this is one he felt like he could've figured out right now."
"Why is it so important now?" Scott asked and Stiles sighed, "He wants to be able to solve one more... while he's still Sheriff." Stiles said making them look at him wide eyed. "What do you mean, 'still Sheriff?'" Azalea asked and Stiles looked at them.
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"I'm trying to help-" Agent McCall sighed, "That doesn't make any sense, Dad. Who are you helping? Just get out!" Scott yelled as Melissa walked into the house to see Scott and Azalea standing in front of Scott's dad. "Scott-"
"What? I can't believe that you'd do this to my best friend!" Scott said and Agent McCall sighed, "I'm not doing anything to your friend- I'm doing my job." He said and Azalea raised her eyebrows as she crossed her arm. "Full offense, your job sucks." She said as Melissa walked up to them, "Some days I can't argue with that." Agent McCall said glancing at her.
"Can somebody tell me what the hell is going on?" Melissa asked making them turn to her, "He's trying to get Stiles' dad fired." Scott said pointing at his dad.
"No. That's not true-"
"What are you doing?" Melissa asked looking at her ex-husband who, "Conducting a case for impeachment." He said and Azalea raised her eyebrows. "Impeachment is a government term for fired. Just say it as is." She said, "The lack of resolution and ability to close cases is what's going to get him fired. My job is just to collect the information, and it's the job my superiors have given me." Agent McCall said and Melissa raised her eyebrows.
"Your job sucks."
Azalea looked over at Scott to see him slightly breathing heavily, her eyes travelled down to his hand to see his claws start to grow out making her eyes widen. "Scott." She whispered, grabbing his hand, hiding it from his father with her's. "Sweetheart, calm down." Melissa said, noticing how Scott was starting to lose control.
Scott's eyes started to turn red making Azalea quickly start to pull him off to the hallway, nodding for Melissa to follow them. "Let it go. Just breathe, and let it go." Melissa said calmly as Scott leaned against the wall, "I'm trying." He said but it obviously wasn't working as his canines started to grow.
"You told me you and Stiles learned a way to control this. You find an anchor, right? Find your anchor." Melissa said and Scott looked at them with red eyes, "My anchor was Allison. I don't have Allison anymore." He said making Melissa sigh.
"Then be your own anchor. You can do this." Melissa said and after a few seconds, Scott slowly started to gain back control before breathing heavily and giving Azalea and Melissa a small nod.
"Sweetheart, let me tell you something that no teenager ever believes, but I swear to you is the absolute truth. You fall in love more than once." She said making Scott and Azalea look at each other for a moment. "It'll happen again. And it'll be just as amazing and as extraordinary as the first time. And maybe, just as painful. But, it will happen again, I promise. And, until then... Be your own anchor."
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"You know, if my dad's right, that means there's another werewolf in town that we haven't met yet." Stiles said as they hiked through the woods, looking for the dead body Stilinski mentioned earlier. "I know."
"If it turns out to be something like triplets that form into, like, a three-headed hound of hell, I'm seriously not up for that." Stiles said and AZ chuckled, "Yeah. Me either. Especially if I can't even control my own transformation anymore and if Azalea doesnt have her powers and is slowly dying." Scott said.
"Well, let's make sure no one gets left behind and bitten again." Azalea said, giving them both a pointed look. Almost instantly after she had said that a coyote howled making Stiles jump and grab onto Scott making him drop his phone down a small rock edge and into a puddle making Scott give him a look.
"Sorry, buddy. I hate coyotes so much. They always sound like they're mauling some tiny, helpless little animal." Stiles said and Azalea laughed. Scott bent down to pick up his phone while Azalea watched Stiles try to climb down and slip making her laugh, "It's like free TV." She said making Stiles glare at her.
"Still works." Scott said before turning to Azalea, holding his hand out to her to help her down. "Let me see the flashlight. I think we found it." Stiles asked Scott handed him the flash light and he started walking forward making them follow.
"Uh Why wouldn't they move it? Isn't it evidence?" Scott asked as they walked up to an upside down car, "Probably too much of a pain in the ass to tow out. Look at this." Stiles said pointing the flashing light at the car. Across the door was four large claw marks, reaching out Scott traced his fingers alongside the claw marks, his fingers not being able to space apart wide enough in between each claw. "See those? Animal claws would be closer together, right? A lot closer." Azalea said.
"Then it was a werewolf." Scott said looking at Stiles while Azalea crouched down, looking inside the car, "So, my dad was right." Stiles said. Azalea slightly hit the side of Scott's leg making them look at her, "What is that?" She asked pointing at something. Crouching down next to her, Stiles shined the flashlight into the car, grabbing whatever she was pointing at. Standing up they looked down at Stiles hand to see an old, dirty baby doll.
"I'm hungry." The baby doll suddenly said making Scott jump, and Stiles scream and dramatically fall. Azalea made no movement as she just looked at the two guys with raised eyebrows. "And they say girls get scared easily." She muttered while the boys tried to catch their breaths. "I think I just had a minor heart attack." Stiles looking over at them.
Scott let out a deep breath until something caught his eye, "Hey guys, Please tell me you see that." He said making them look in the direction at whatever he was looking at. Bright blue eyes stared at them through the darkness. "I see it." Stiles said then the eyed moved and disappeared making Scott quickly run to chase after them, "Wait, hey, Scott! Scott, wait!"
"Scott! This is exactly what I said not to do."