"So you're a walking mirror?"
"Yes, I'm a walking mirror."
Rachel had nearly gone out of her mind attempting to explain the concept of a reflector to Isaac, without an actual demonstration. For the first two hours, she swore she'd explained it six different times, each with an in-depth summary of everything she knew about how & why it was what she became. Each summary had been followed by a "could you explain that again?" which was responded to by a look that got more homicidal each time she was forced to repeat her explanation.
It was only when she'd used the wonderful comparison made by Stiles weeks ago, that the scattered puzzle pieces connected together, to form the very clear picture of exactly what she was. A walking, supernatural mirror.
"Hold on," Isaac muttered, staring at her in confusion. Rachel sighed loudly, leaning back in her chair once more; she swore if he asked her to explain it again, she was going to kill him. It didn't matter what she was; she was still a hundred & fifteen pounds of pure rage. "How did you become a reflector?"
"Like I said; I don't know." Rachel stated, pursing her lips. She'd never found out, and she never wanted to; not unless the explanation provided her with a way to fix it. "And I've accepted that I never will. "
"You're still curious though, aren't you? I mean, I would be." Isaac shrugged, unsure of how else to respond. It was evident that she wanted to know more, but with the knowledge of the Hale fire, he knew her resources were extremely limited.
"You really need to learn when to stop talking."
"I happen to like the sound of my voice, thank you."
"Could you stop being a narcissistic asshole for five seconds?." Rachel huffed in annoyance. She'd had about enough of oversized egos for one day, and the teen wolf in front of her wasn't helping. "It was attractive at first, but now it's just exasperating."
"That's a tad hypocritical, don't you think?" Isaac questioned, raising a brow. Rachel had been the one who'd originally suggested a change of attitude, and she'd been the one walking around like she owned the town setting an example.
"Please. If you'd met me a day sooner, you wouldn't recognize the girl sitting here now." She sighed, taking into account all the shitty things she'd done in the past week. Isaac certainly wasn't wrong about her being a hypocrite in some ways; but not all. "I mean, I'd probably still have a few broken bones & some blood on my face, but I wasn't walking around like Lydia Martin two-point-oh."
"Care to explain?"
"Not really."
"Well, from what I understood about your abilities; you're gonna need my help once you heal enough to use them." He stated, earning a questionable nod in response. "And for all we know, that could take hours. Extremely boring hours. So if you want me to stay & wait it out, start talking."
"I-" Rachel began, but abruptly stopped. She froze still, feeling as though someone (better, something) was tracing a claw across the back of her neck lightly. Her head quickly snapped to the side, glancing behind her worriedly. She was met with the sight of an empty room, instantly sparking a new suspicion in her mind. "We don't have time."
"What do you mean?" Isaac asked, staring at her in confusion. "What just happened?"
"Did Derek ever tell you about the connection between a pack?" Rachel questioned, leaning forward & slowly lowering her foot to the floor. The teen wolf shook his head, about to ask another question when she spoke again. "There's a reason you hear your alpha over anyone else. It's a bond stronger than family, one that can only be broken by death-"
The brunette was cut off as her phone began to ring, the shrill high-pitched tone for Stiles' contact that she'd grown accustomed to. She hurriedly fumbled around in her pockets, pressing answer & speakerphone all in a few seconds.
"Rachel?" Stiles yelled into the phone, sounding as though he were struggling,
"Tell me Derek's okay?"
"Uh-"
"Stay alive." Rachel snapped, ending the call & pushing herself up out of the desk chair. She wasn't about to sit around & talk, when her brother & ex-best-friend were dying. She didn't care if both of them hated her; she couldn't stand to lose either of them.
Seeing that she was about to fall, Isaac hurriedly rushed over & caught her. The brunette glared at him, muttering a few curse words whilst the teen wolf questioned, "Where the hell do you think you're going? You can't even stand on your own!"
"Derek & Stiles need help." She stated obviously, pushing him away as she stood easily with all her weight on one leg. Rachel couldn't say with 100% honestly that she was ready for another fight, but she was fairly sure she could reflect again, and that was all that mattered.
"How are you gonna help them when you're like this? Especially when Derek's the one who caused all of this." He gestured to the array of unhealed wounds on her face, and her broken ankle. "He'll be fine.
"If you haven't noticed, Derek's the only family member I have left." Rachel hissed, narrowing her eyes at him. "He could throw me off a bridge, and I'd probably still love him."
"Probably?"
"If you don't let me go, I'm gonna throw you off a bridge." She spoke firmly, limping over to the doorway. She'd managed approximately three steps before nearly falling, once again being caught by Isaac; who was growing annoyed with her determination. But she wasn't giving up. Anger & determination, a poisonous combination, surged through her veins, and at this point; any arguments became invalid. Rachel knew she could reflect again, she was willing to bet her eyes were already a metallic silver as she spun around to glare at Isaac. "I'm not as helpless as you seem to think."
"Then I'm coming with you." He muttered, watching in amazement as silver turned to yellow & the cuts on her face began to heal. An array of cracks & snaps echoed throughout the hollow room, alongside a pained cry as her ankle healed back together. The pain soon ceased, leading the brunette to stand steadily on both feet without help.
"No you're not. You are going to stay here like the little fugitive you are." Rachel half-smiled, stepping out of the doorway & shutting the door. Before Isaac had a chance to open it, she wedged a chair beneath the handle, then proceeded to jab a bobby pin in the lock. It wasn't that she didn't want or need his help; it was that she didn't want him in a life-threatening situation after what she'd seen this morning.
He was a worse fighter than Erica; and that was saying a lot.
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Rachel arrived at the school not long after leaving the warehouse, still struggling to focus her senses in order to find Stiles & her brother. Between the yells from the lacrosse field, the screeching of brakes from a mile away; she could hear everything. Not only that, she could smell everything, too. Gasoline inside cars, cheap shampoo likely used by someone walking a few blocks away, hell, she could even smell the asphalt beneath her feet. She knew it was tough for new wolves, but if this was really how it was for Isaac; she had no idea how he wasn't insane by now.
In the run of the fifteen minutes she'd been trying to control herself, Rachel had acquired a migraine equivalent to a hammer being slammed against her skull. The worst part, was that not even her anchor could help to keep her grounded. It was different with every person, particularly werewolves; it was easier if she knew them & their methods of remaining in control. She knew Derek & Scott; making it easy for her to reflect them whenever she needed power. But she knew nothing about Isaac, other than his dad; who she really wished she could forget.
He didn't have an anchor, and therefore at this time, neither did she.
That was the downside to being a reflector. It wasn't just about the supernatural ability, it was more than that; she was able to show what a person truly was on the inside. It made her more compassionate than the average person, but in turn, it made for a struggle to stay true to who she was. It was a gift & a curse all rolled up into a supernatural mystery that may very well never be solved.
Correction; a supernatural mystery that she didn't have time to solve, because it seemed as though every five minutes someone she cared about was on the verge of dying. Derek was supposed to be an alpha, and even after beating her to the point of breaking, he couldn't manage to save his own ass, for once. Normally, Rachel would've left him to face the consequences of his actions. Any day, other than today; when a mystery creature was lurking in the shadows (along with a very angry grandpa, wielding a sword) and Stiles was in the same potentially life threatening situation.
Extraordinarily pale, weak & human Stiles; who had a really bad habit of getting caught up in everything & anything dangerous or supernatural. So in a way, she was only here to save Stiles, because it was clear that Scott was preoccupied. Derek would've killed Stiles for even dialling Rachel's number, if the werewolf was capable of doing so, which only added to her worry of what they'd gotten themselves into. She was nobody's first choice, and at this point, it wouldn't surprise her if she was their last resort.
The brunette hurriedly approached the back entrance to the school, noticing a figure moving across the roof from the corner of her eye. Her gaze snapped up, eyes narrowed, but the shadow had vanished by the time she'd had a chance to focus on it. Rachel shook her head, assuming it was Scott finally on his way to retrieve Stiles; but she couldn't have been more wrong.
The two aforementioned boys soon came rushing out of the back door, with very different expressions. Whilst Scott looked relatively pleased with whatever he'd done; Stiles was soaked from head to toe, and looking completely & utterly exhausted. Rachel furrowed her brows, opening her mouth to question before she was interrupted by the tired teen. "Don't ask."
"You called me sounding like someone was strangling you; don't tell me not to ask." Rachel hissed, narrowing her eyes at him. "What the hell happened?"
"It's a long story." Stiles exhaled loudly, soon taking notice of the brunette's appearance. "Wait- what happened to you? You're covered in blood."
"It's a longer story, one of which I'll explain when I'm not covered in blood. Stop changing the subject & summarize the- Scott, stop clicking those fucking keys in your pocket!" She yelled, earning a questionable look in return. Rachel rolled her eyes, ignoring the two as she lowered her voice. "I've got the self control of a beta who nearly ate a cop the other night, cut me some slack & start talking."
⠀⠀⠀⠀↻
Stiles had done a fairly decent job of not only summarizing the night, but the school day as well; which she'd missed along with Isaac. According to the spastic teen, right around the time she'd decided to go all Regina George on them, the new supernatural threat had taken another few victims. Not only that, but the key to unlocking a long list of the town's secrets had been discovered to be held by Satan himself, Gerard Argent.
However, luckily for her, Scott & Stiles had done all the work while she'd been explaining what a reflector was to a very confused beta.
By the time Stiles had finished rambling off an outrageously long sentence, without a single pause of breath of air; Scott had retrieved a laptop from his car, and was in the process of loading the flash drive he'd stolen from Gerard.
It was beginning to worry Rachel, how good they were getting at stealing things, and how knowledgeable Stiles was becoming on the supernatural. They'd only been in the know for a few months now, and they were already in too deep. It was a secret that could destroy relationships, tear families apart due to the inability to ever reveal it; and she didn't want to see that happen to either of them.
Rachel exhaled quietly, opting to make a mental note to talk to them about it later as the flash drive loaded & opened to up reveal an outrageously large word document. The brunette squinted her eyes at the brightness of the screen, quickly observing that the words weren't as expected. Not a single thing was written on the page in english.
"Is that even a language?"
"I think it's latin." Rachel muttered, pushing Stiles out of the way to get a closer look. "It's definitely latin."
"How are we supposed to figure out what the thing is?" Scott questioned, a sense of hopelessness in his voice. They'd finally found the book of answers, only for it to be completely unreadable.
"It's called a Kanima." A voice announced from behind them. The trio spun around, catching sight of Derek along with Erica (who'd apparently regained consciousness recently, as Stiles' recap had stated she was out cold.)
"You knew the whole time." Stiles gaped, staring at him in disbelief.
"No." Derek shook his head, annoyed at the boy's ability to instantly jump to inaccurate conclusions. "Only when it was confused by it's own reflection."
"It doesn't know what it is."
"Or who."
"What else do you know?" Stiles asked curiously, turning back to Rachel. "What about you, do you know anything?"
"A bit." Rachel muttered, biting at her bottom lip. It was vague, but she swore she'd seen the name Kanima written elsewhere; likely on the pages of an old book alongside a poorly drawn illustration. She couldn't pinpoint the exact location of where it was, but she could only assume the book had belonged to her mother. They'd had an entire library's worth of books in the study, most of which Rachel was never able to fully understand. "Nothing useful, though. It's all just a blur of messy scribbles & pictures."
"But it's like us?" Scott wondered aloud, looking to Derek for confirmation.
"A shapeshifter, yes, but it's- it's not right." The alpha explained, thinking for the right word to describe it. "It's like a-"
"An abomination." Stiles nodded.
"Great." Rachel laughed dryly, kicking at a rock in the pavement. She had something in common with a homicidal lizard, who could very well be just about anyone in the town of Beacon Hills; her life had unofficially reached an all time high in outrageous supernatural bullshit. Between the hunters trying to put a bullet between her eyes, and her home becoming a shelter for stray werewolves, she was slowly but surely going out of her mind.
She'd only been back in Beacon Hills for a few months, and already it seemed as though the town hadn't changed a bit since the day her family was murdered. Each day, it was becoming more & more clear that Rachel needed to get out. They were better without her, hell, everyone was better without her & the fact that it took getting beaten to near death by her brother to realize that was pathetic.
Rachel knew subconsciously that it wasn't possible, but she couldn't help feeling like the town was turning them into monsters. Derek was an alpha on a mad power trip, willing to beat his own sister in order to maintain the image of being undefeated; and Rachel had turned into a brunette rendition of Alison DiLaurentis overnight. It was all so wrong, she couldn't even begin to describe it.
Her life had become an inverted reflection of what it used to be, a polar opposite of what she once loved, and every part of that relit the fire that burned her heart to ash. The old Rachel would've never encouraged Erica & Isaac to become the new Barbie & Ken; she would've been the good friend they both so desperately needed. She wouldn't have turned her back on Scott & Stiles, she wouldn't have abandoned Lydia when she needed her most, and she especially wouldn't have attacked Jackson that night.
Rachel was slowly beginning to lose herself within the chaos surrounding her, and the terrifying part, was that she couldn't decide if it was for the better or worse.
Throughout the sixty seconds it'd taken for her thoughts to race at the speed of light, connecting like a murder investigation board; Scott McCall had also been doing an immense amount of thinking. However unlike the Hale girl, his thoughts had been as selfless as always; he'd been overanalyzing the recent murders & escalated amount of Kanima encounters.
All the while, he hadn't even noticed that Derek & Erica had turned to leave; without another word to be said. The teen wolf took a step forward, unable to think before doing as he spoke "Derek, wait. We need to work together on this... Maybe even tell the Argents."
"You trust them?" The alpha snapped back, glaring daggers at Scott. If he'd taken even a second to think, he would've been expecting that reaction on account of Derek being shot repeatedly by the aforementioned hunting family.
"Nobody trusts anybody!" Scott yelled, throwing his hands in the air. "That's the problem! While we're here, arguing about who's on what side, there'a something scarier, stronger & faster than any of us, it's killing people, and we still don't even know anything about it."
Derek stared at him for a moment, acting as though he were considering the words when in fact, he'd already made up his mind. He'd decided the minute he first saw the Kanima, and no one could change his mind. The werewolf stepped forward threateningly, a growl sounding from the back of his throat as he declared, "I know one thing. When I find it, I'm gonna kill it!"
The battle line had been drawn.
⠀⠀⠀⠀↻
fuck this chapter, fuck this episode, cry me a river & drown me in it ok, but please give me a round of applause because i made a gif (the one with this chapter) & i'm super proud
so, uh, i've got a bit of a dilemma, guys. i've been going over the plans for 3a & 3b, and there's two problems. one, is that it's gonna be like 60-80 parts if i don't split it into two books, and secondly:: does anyone know if we've got 100% confirmation that isaac will be in season five? because if he is, i'm gonna write season four AND five. four will have a lot of texting & stuff, it'll be fab. i just need to know, in order to set it up. because if he isn't, the i'm ending this at the end of 3b.
which means, i need to set my [possibly evil] plans into motion a lot earlier than expected. it's all good, i have two different plans set up in case it's a no on season five, but i really need to know because i'll be starting the sequel long before season five airs.
so.. comment opinion? [and let me know if any of the cast have done interviews or answered questions on who's returning, pretty please]