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[TW: This chapter contains graphic descriptions of death on more than one occasion, viewer discretion is advised]
"So you think your dad is the dark druid?" Olive leans in closer to Allison, careful not to be heard through the door.
"Yes, it's hard to explain but I think it's him," Allison shook her head, letting out a shaky breath. "He's been tracking it, methodically, and I went to see Gerard and-"
"Gerards alive?" Olive stopped her and Allison took a deep breath before nodding. "Oh, my god."
"Maybe not for long, he's in a home and he keeps puking that black stuff that he spewed when we were in the warehouse depot," Allison shrugged.
"I guess I'm okay with slow and painful, anyways, continue," Olive gestures and Allison smiles slightly.
"That's it, just a theory," She sighs, shrugging. "What about you? How have you been dealing with everything?"
"Well it would be nice if I had my alpha to answer all of my questions, like why do I turn into a literal dog now, or how do I do it again," Olive trailed off, shaking her head.
"He still hasn't taught you?" Allison furrows her eyebrows and Olive sighs.
"No, and all I have to lean on is Peter Hale, so I think I'll pass on seeking any guidance from the Hales for a while," Olive raised her eyebrows slightly and Allison thought for a moment.
"You could help me keep an eye on my dad, it may keep your mind off things," She shrugged and Olive grinned, nodding.
"Okay, I have nothing better to do," She laughed lightly and Allison nodded, about to say something when her phone rang.
"Oh, it's Lydia, I have to go," She looked at her apologetically and Olive just waved her off.
"It's okay, I was getting tired anyway," She smiled slightly, pulling the covers over her as Allison left the room, turning out the light as she did. Olive rolled over, sighing as she began to drift off to sleep.
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The morning sun poked through the blinds as Chris walked into Olive's room, seeing she was still asleep. He laughed lightly, sitting on the edge of her bed and shaking her awake. She stirred, before turning to face him.
"Hey, sleepyhead, are you going to school?" He peered down at her and Olive sighed, shrugging under the covers.
"I don't know," She shook her head, a far-off look in her eyes. Chris sighed, adjusting himself next to her.
"I heard about the recital tonight, the thing to honor the losses at the school-"
"Not losses, murders," Olive interrupted him and Chris nodded, raising his eyebrows slightly.
"Sorry, I guess I don't need to soften the blow for you, but your friends will be there, right?" He tilted his head and Olive nodded.
"I guess."
"Want me to take you?" Olive sighed and shook her head.
"I'm sorry, I don't think I'm up for it," She gives him a glum smile and he looks down at her, a tinge of pity behind his eyes, as he gets up to leave, stopping at the door.
"Take as many days as you need, school can wait," He gave her one last smile before shutting the door softly. She listened for his receding footsteps and heard the front door shut, signaling that she was alone in the house. She threw the covers off of her, revealing that she was fully dressed and ready to go. She goes to her closet, and grabs a dark jacket and her bag, stopping at her dresser to take one last look in the mirror before she hears a sound from the other room. Her head shoots to the open balcony window and she moves beside it, claws at the ready. A body flies into the window and as soon as their feet hit the ground Olive pounces, tackling them to the ground. Olive looks up to see a very familiar face staring right back at her.
"What the hell are you doing here?" She asks, but she can't help the smile creeping onto her face.
"You weren't at school," Isaac narrows his eyes slightly and she shakes her head.
"Checking up on me now?" She tilts her head and Isaac shrugs from beneath her.
"I worry about you," He shakes his head and Olive rolls her eyes.
"I can take care of myself," She narrowed her eyes at him and he sighed.
"Yeah, I noticed," His eyes flash to her still-deployed claws and she smiles playfully, retracting them. "Multiple times."
Olive giggles lightly before getting off of Isaac, standing and holding out her hand to help him up. He takes it, standing next to her and as she turns to leave, he takes advantage of their still-connected hands and pulls her back, kissing her chastely. Olive smiles, returning the kiss and Isaac pulls away, looking down at her lovingly.
"How'd it go looking for Derek?" He asks and she sighs, shaking her head.
"Not well," She looks up at him and he furrows his eyebrows. "Stiles and I went over there and asked Cora about it, it ended with Peter telling some story about how Derek fell in love and then he had to kill her, I don't know what to believe though, seeing as it's Peter who was talking."
"Yeah, I don't blame you," He shook his head and Olive shrugged.
"I am distracting myself by helping Allison with something," Isaac's face fell slightly and Olive furrowed her eyebrows. "What?"
"Nothing, I just thought we could play hooky together if you were skipping, but I see you have other plans," He nodded and Olive playfully rolled her eyes.
"Would you like to help me?" She asks, grinning up at him. Isaac scoffed, smiling.
"I mean, if you're gonna beg for my help, it's the least I can do, right?" He looked down at her and she laughed, hitting his chest lightly.
"Come on, I got something to show you then," She took his hand, leading him into Chris' office, explaining the situation to him on the way down the hall.
"Wait, so you think Allison's dad is our dark druid?" He narrowed his eyes, coming up next to her behind the desk.
"No, I mean, I don't think he is," She shook her head, looking down at the map. "I hope he isn't."
"You hope Allison's dad isn't a serial killing dark druid who has been slashing people's throats?" He looks down at her she nods.
"Yes. Do you want to help or not?" She returns his gaze and he laughs lightly, nodding.
"Just trying to put all the cards out on the table. So, how can a hunter be a dark druid?"
"From what Allison told me Gerard said-"
"Hold on," He held his hand out, interrupting her. "Gerard is alive?"
"Yes, he's in a home, in a wheelchair," She shrugged and he nodded, raising his eyebrows slightly.
"Not as comforting as if he were dead, but fine. Back to Argent, druid or not druid?" He asks and Olive shrugs.
"I don't really know, he knows a lot about them, enough to maybe pick up on some of their tricks," She shrugs and then looks down at the table, a lightbulb going off in her head. "Then there's the map."
Olive pulled open a drawer and grabbed a blacklight, clicking it on and running it over the map.
"Allison showed it to me yesterday, see these marks? Five more bodies to be found, but it doesn't say who they are," She stared at the map with furrowed eyebrows. Isaac narrowed his eyes for a minute before stepping back and looking at the entire map.
"What are you doing?" Olive looked back at him and he shrugged.
"Just something my dad taught me, you have to take a step back and see the whole picture. Sometimes you see something you wouldn't normally notice if you're-"
"Looking at all the details, yeah he would say that during swim when we had to analyze our competition, it's the reason I'm so good at writing plays," Olive narrows her eyes slightly, stepping back next to him. He smiles slightly, looking down at her, noticing their shoulders are touching. Olive keeps her eyes trained at the map.
"Look at that, do you see that?" She points and Isaac snaps out of his trance, looking back at the map.
"What?" He looks from her to the map and Olive pushes the corner of the map back, revealing a curved line carved into the desk. They both grab the edges of the map, setting it aside to reveal a symbol on the desk.
"What is that?" Isaac narrowed his eyes, turning to Olive who had wide eyes.
"It's a five-folded knot. Peter was telling us about it yesterday, it's a symbol, the druid uses it to mark its sacrificial altar," Olive pauses turning to him and then back to the map. "It's Celtic."
She moves forward to touch it but Isaac's hand reaches for hers, the one still holding the blacklight, and he guides her hand over the symbol. Words glow under it, one word in each of the five circles of the knot.
"Virgins," Isaac says, moving her hand to the next circle.
"Warriors," Olive reads, and their hands move to the next.
"Healers."
"Philosophers," Olive whispers and Isaac moves their hands into the large circle in the middle.
"Guardians," Isaac says, meeting Olive's frightened gaze as the truth sets in: Argent may actually be the killer. The Darach.
"We should call Scott," Isaac whispers, and Olive nods, pulling out her phone. It rings out, no one answering and Olive calls the next best person.
"We found something," She says, eyebrows furrowed.
"What did you find?" Stiles responds, phone on speaker as he's driving.
"The knot Peter told us about, the one that's linked to the Darach, um it's carved into Argent's desk and there are words," She stutters out and you can hear Stiles sigh over the phone.
"What does it say?"
"There are five words, groups of people and they line up with the sacrifices that have already been made. Virgins, warriors, healers, philosophers, and guardians," She sighs, looking over the desk again.
"Philosophers?" Stiles asks, seemingly confused.
"Yeah, and guardians," Olive nods.
"After last night, that has to mean something like police officers or something," Stiles sighs, worry setting in.
"Wait- what happened last night?" Olive looks over at Isaac with furrowed brows and he just shrugs.
"One of my dad's deputies was found dead at the school," Stiles explains and Olive throws her arms in the air.
"Why does no one tell me these things!" She glares at her phone, now on speaker, and Cora snickers on the other line. "Stiles, you have to tell your dad, whatever it takes for him to believe, but you have to tell him."
"What about Scott?"
"He's not answering," She sighs, turning to Isaac. "Isaac's here, though."
"Oh, the day is saved," Stiles says sarcastically and Isaac glares at the phone.
"I'll keep trying, but Stiles, tell him. Tell your dad, warn him," She sighs, her own fear settling in and Stiles lets out an exasperated sigh from the other line.
"Okay- Okay, I know," Olive lets out a shaky breath and hangs up the phone, turning to Isaac who still looked offended. "I'm sure he didn't mean it- he's under a lot of pressure."
"Yeah, okay," Isaac rolls his eyes, but he can't help the smile playing at the corner of his mouth as she walks over to him, wrapping her arms around his neck.
"You're my hero," She says playfully. Isaac shakes his head, blushing slightly as he leans down to kiss her. She gladly accepts it, pulling him closer. Isaac slides his tongue over her bottom lip, earning access to explore her mouth until-
They're interrupted when Olive's phone buzzes again. Olive pulls away, earning a groan from Isaac. She moves over to the desk, seeing a text from Scott.
"Mr. Westovers missing?" She turns to Isaac who shrugs. Olive sighs heavily, a now determined expression on her face. "I have to stop this."
"Maybe this isn't such a good idea, I mean if Argent really is doing it-"
"If? Look at all this, he knows everything. He planned everything," She shook her head in disbelief and turned, grabbing the map and handing Isaac the blacklight.
"What are you doing?" Isaac asked, watching her as she placed the map over the symbol and leaned over it.
"If Mr. Westover was taken from the school there's gotta be another point on the telluric current," She thinks for a minute before disappearing into the other room and coming back with a folded piece of paper.
"You mean where he'll be sacrificed?" Isaac tilted his head and Olive nodded, unfolding the copy of Danny's map and placing it on top of it. Isaac steps to her side, fingers tracing the map as they both scan it for anything new.
"Here, that marks new," He turns to her and Olive meets his gaze nodding.
"That's where he is," She sighs, taking a picture of it, and folds up the telluric current.
"I'm going with you," Isaac grabs his jacket and turns to her.
"I'm not a guardian, plus he's with my mom so I really don't think he's gonna hurt me," She turns to him and Isaac raises an eyebrow.
"Gerard liked your mom, would you say the same thing about him?" Olive stayed silent and Isaac shook his head. "I'm coming with you."
"Fine, but I'm driving," She rolls her eyes and leads the way to her car, handing Isaac the map so he can give her directions.
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Her fingers tap the steering wheel nervously as they get closer to the location.
"Turn left up here," Isaac points to an off-road, and Olive nods, making a left turn. "Perfect, if we go straight we'll be there soon."
Olive sighs, glancing over at him and turning back to the road, watching for the sign for the power station. She chews the inside of her cheek and leans forward slightly, seeing the sign coming up on their right. She turns into it, parking far enough away not to be heard or seen. She sits back in her seat and takes a deep breath. Isaac notices her nervous behavior and reaches for her hand, intertwining their fingers.
"Are you sure you want to do this? We can wait for Scott or-" Isaac started, but was interrupted by Olive shaking her head.
"No, he's-he's in there and he's gonna kill an innocent person, so we need to do something about it, nobody else has to die," She sighed, looking over at him and he smiled slightly, leaning over the console, and kissing her on the forehead.
"Okay, let's go then," He nods and gestures for them to go. Olive unbuckled her seatbelt and gets out of the car, walking into the building with Isaac by her side. She looks around, noticing an SUV parked not too far away from hers. Isaac follows her line of sight and turns to her.
"Chris'?" He asks and Olive sighs, nodding. "Are you sure you don't wanna call Scott?"
"Just stay behind me and stay quiet," She whispered, whipping her claws out as she steps into the building.
"This is so not gonna end well," Isaac sighs, reluctantly following her inside.
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A shaft of light bleeds into the almost pitch-black interior of the power station as Olive steps in, Isaac right behind her.
"You know, if he tries to kill me I'm gonna defend myself," Isaac says hesitantly and Olive rolls her eyes.
"If he tries to kill you, you'll be dead," She whispers and Isaac narrows his eyes.
"Thanks for the vote of confidence," He sighs and she turns back to him and rolls her eyes.
"What did I say about staying quiet?" She whispers again and Isaac scoffs, pretending to zip his lips and hand her the key. Olive looks down at his hand and shakes her head, turning around to continue into the building. They both stop, however, when they catch an unfortunately all too familiar scent.
"Do you smell that?" Isaac places a hand on her shoulder, stopping her from going forward.
"Blood," She nods. "I think it's coming from-" She stops, hearing distant shuffling and turning to Isaac, who shakes his head. She ignores him, wiggling out of his grasp and taking off in the direction of the noise, using her speed to her advantage.
"Olly- Olly! Wait for me!" He yells, taking off after her, trying his best to keep up.
She stops, not because of Isaac, but because she happens upon a figure tied to a column, struggling against its bindings. Eyes glowing and claws at the ready, she darts forward, racing for the victim. Isaac's eyes glow as well, scanning the room and landing on the bindings of the victim. The face of the Darach standing right behind him.
"Olly, don't!" He yells, fear lacing his voice. She stops, turning around immediately at his terrified call.
"Get down!" Another voice booms and the two don't question it, ducking where they stand. Chris bursts out of the darkness, firing a gun at the creature's ashen face. Susan was beside him, emptying her clip into it as well. The Darach, clothed in black, cowers back into the darkness, disappearing into the shadows. Yanking an empty clip out and reloading, Susan turns to the two teens.
"Help him," She nods to the victim and the two of them stand, rushing to his side, even as they're ducking bullets from Chris and Susan.
In the flashes of gunfire, Olive and Isaac stop at the feet of the victim, who slumps down, blood pooling at his feet.
"It's Mr. Westover," Isaac sighs, turning to Olive who shakes her head. Rushing over to them, Chris and Susan see the look on Isaac's face and don't need to ask. "He's dead."
"Fuck!" Olive yells, punching the caged fence nearby and tearing a hole right into it. The three before her share a surprised look, not used to seeing her angry. "We were wrong, how were we wrong?"
"It's okay-" Isaac starts but Olive shakes her head.
"No, it's not okay, when you're wrong people die. I said nobody else has to die!" She's breathing heavily and tears are brimming in her eyes.
"You can't save everybody, honey," Susan shakes her head, and Olive glares at her.
"I can try, I will, I will try. Nobody should go through that, ever," She shakes her head, letting a few tears fall down her face. Isaac instantly knows what she's talking about, shaking his head and turning to her parents.
"Can you guys give us a minute?" He asks, and Chris and Susan nod, going outside to wait for them. Isaac turns his attention to Olive who is running a frustrated hand through her hair.
"Olly, it's not your job to save everyone," She turns to him, shaking her head as she wipes a tear from her eyes. "This is because you died, isn't it?"
Her eyes meet his and a few more tears escape her eyes, she didn't have to answer, that look told him all he needed to know. Isaac shook his head, his own tears welling up as he approached her, wrapping her in his arms.
"I wish I could take it all away, I'm so sorry," He whispers as he rests his head on top of hers. She sniffles, tears soaking his jacket. "You don't have to tell me about it, but when you're ready, I'll listen if you want."
She nodded, squeezing him tighter and holding him close as if he might fade away, as if this is just a dream. She sighed into his chest and pulled away, looking him in the eyes.
"I love you," She said, voice cracking slightly and he smiled, resting his forehead against hers.
"I love you so much," He whispered and she closed her eyes, nodding. She sniffled, stepping back and taking his hand, leading him out to where her parents stood.
"It's philosophers, as in teachers, not guardians as in law enforcement," She said, approaching Chris and Susan, who looked visibly angry.
"What are you two doing here?" Chris asked sternly, folding his arms.
"I could ask you the same thing," Olive narrowed her eyes and her mother sighed. "You guys have been tracking it this whole time, haven't you?"
"Yes, and we were this close. We would've caught him if you two-" Chris starts, sighing as he shakes his head, forming a fist as he picks up some empty shells.
"So this is my fault now? You have been lying to me for the past two months and this is my fault?" She looks between them, glaring.
"You wanna tally up the lies, Olive? I'm not sure you're gonna come out ahead on that one," Susan crossed her arms and Olive rose an eyebrow, eyes flashing yellow. Isaac widened his eyes, stepping between them.
"I don't think now is the best time for a family meeting, okay? There's still another teacher," He turned to Olive, grabbing her shoulders. "You need to calm down."
Olive sighed, nodding. She thought for a minute before turning to all three of them, a lightbulb going off in her head. Chris seemed to have the same one because he beat her to it.
"The recital," He said, looking right at Olive who nodded, laughing dryly.
"Guess I'm going after all," She shook her head
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The car ride to the recital was mostly silent, with mild chit-chat between the two couples here and there, but nothing too serious. The tension in the car could be cut with a knife between the frustration from Olive to her parents and the elephant in the room of her sudden outburst of rage, nobody wanted to say the wrong thing, Olive included. The only person she could really stand right now was Isaac so she figured a smile and nod for everyone else would suffice.
Chris' SUV raced into the school parking lot and everyone jumped out, Olive and Isaac raced instantly inside the school, but Chris and Susan stopped, noticing an odd gust of wind shaking the trees and tearing leaves from branches. They share an unnerved glance before following the two into the recital.
As they enter the recital hall, they pass Lydia who exits in a hurry. They share a glance but continue on seeing Scott and Allison in the audience. Once they see the group at the doors, both of them take an instinctive step away from each other. Olive raises an eyebrow, turning to Isaac who shrugs.
As they all move through the crowd, the band playing quietly in the background, Olive looks up, actually paying attention to the odd singing the band is doing. She stops, listening intently with furrowed eyebrows as the chant rises and rises. Olive turns to Isaac, who has now heard it, both of them looking visually disturbed. Olive opened her mouth to say something when-
-a loud scream interrupts her, piercing through her ears like a needle. Her hands fly up to her ears as she winces, turning to Isaac who shared her expression. Chris and Susan were at both their sides in an instant, the two wolves shaking their head vigorously, not knowing when it would stop or even where it was coming from. Finally, they both relaxed as the scream stopped and they turned to each other, both breathless.
"What the hell was that?" Olive shook her head, looking to the three before her for answers but no one knew the sound's origin. Just as one horrible noise vanished, another came, this time from the stage. The sound of horns blaring and violins screeching filled the room and this time everyone winced, some people even getting up to leave. The piano completely veers off from the rest of this so-called piece and the sound of wires snapping gets everyone's attention, turning to the piano teacher who falls back on the bench, blood pouring from her throat. Olive turns Isaac with wide eyes before darting up to the stage without hesitation.
"Olive!" Chris called after her, hoping she would stop. Of course, she didn't. Isaac shared a look with him and took off after her, both adults not too far behind him. As Isaac reached her side he let out a sharp breath, not liking the scene before him at all.
The music teacher was laying on her back on the stage, with no pulse or heartbeat detected. White orbs spilled from her mouth and her throat was slashed.
"Mistletoe," Olive bends down, careful not to touch the poisonous plant. She turns back to Isaac who looks confused. "It's poisonous, especially to us, it's been kind of a Darach staple."
Isaac nodded his head, eyebrows slightly raised as she stood up, turning to them and sighing.
"Come on, let's get you guys home," Chris turns from the body to the kids before him, guiding Olive off the stage, Isaac, of course, following closely behind her.
"Actually can you take me to get my car? It's still at the power plant," She turns to Chris who nods.
"Why, are you two going out?" Susan looks down at her and Olive sighs.
"There's just something I need to do," She nods, turning to Isaac. "He can come if he wants."
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Chris and Susan drove Olive and Isaac back to the power plant to retrieve her car and left the two there. They got in, buckled up, and Olive started in the direction of the preserve.
"Wait, your house is that way," Isaac turned to her, pointing behind him.
"We're not going home yet, I told you there was something I have to do," She glanced from him to the road and continued driving, parking out in the middle of nowhere. She sighed, getting out of the car and turning to Isaac. "Stay in here."
"What? Why? What're you-" Before he knew it she was outside. He looked in the side mirror to see if he can get a glimpse of her, but all he saw was her jeans flop to the side of the car. His eyes widen as he hesitates, before getting out of the car and running around to the back. Sure enough, there sat a small white wolf.
"Are you kidding me?" He looked down at her, a small grin on his face. "This is not where I thought this was going, by the way." The wolf tilted her head and Isaac laughed lightly, rolling his eyes. "I'm giving you an hour, make it count."
As if on cue, she took off in the opposite direction, running through the woods and out of sight. Isaac sighed, shaking his head and turning to the pile of her clothes on the floor. He picked them up, folding them and placing them neatly on top of the car so they wouldn't get too dirty before getting back in the car and waiting patiently for her to be done. Right on time, an hour later she came back, transformed back into herself, and got dressed again, getting into the driver's seat with a big smile on her face.
"Feel better?" He turned to her, quirking an eyebrow.
"Much," She sighed, nodding. "It's so freeing, running through the woods like that, I don't know, it's like I knew it would make me feel better."
"Maybe it's like a thing like if you don't turn for a couple of days you get irritable," Isaac shrugged and Olive scoffed, looking over at him.
"I am not irritable," She furrowed her eyebrows and turned to him. He raised an eyebrow and she scoffed, rolling her eyes. Isaac laughed lightly before furrowing his eyebrows and leaning forward, plucking a leaf out of her hair.
"You got a leaf, it's right here," He grabbed it, tossing it away, but returning his hand to her face, pulling her in for a kiss.
"I was joking," He said as they pulled away and Olive giggled lightly.
"I know you were," She sighed, looking into his eyes.
"Okay, let's get home, it has been a hell of a day," He sat back, buckling his seat belt and Olive nodded, doing the same and pulling out of the woods and back onto the main roads, heading back to her apartment, where Isaac would inevitably end up sleeping as well.
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