chapter seven
restraint
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Emmey, Isaac and Arabella were with Erica and Derek at the old railway depot. "So, why do we need their help?" Isaac asked Derek as he, Erica, Emmey and Arabella followed him though an old train cart. "Because it's harder to kill than I thought, and I still don't know who it is." Derek said impatiently. "And they do?" Isaac asked again. "They might-which is why I need one of you to get on their good side." Derek said to Erica and Isaac as Emmey and Arabella watched. "Mmm. Scott or Stiles?" Erica said flirtatiously, making Arabella cringe. "Either." Derek said with a sigh.
"You know, the full moon's coming, Derek." Emmey said, hoping he had a plan for the new wolves on the full moon. "I'm aware of that." Derek said irritably as he pulled out chains from a chest. "Oh my. These look comfortable." Erica said sarcastically as she held up some chains. "You said you were gonna teach us to change whenever we wanted." Isaac said, annoyed. "There hasn't been time." Derek said as he continued to pull chains out of the chest. "But if you have to lock us up during the full moon, that means...that means you're and Emmey are alone against the Argents." Isaac said, making Arabella narrow her eyes at him. "No there not," she snapped, making Isaac look at her before looking back at Derek.
"They haven't found us." Derek said, not worried at all, making Emmey sigh as she shared a look with her daughter. "Yet." Isaac shot back. "So, how about we forget about the Kanima?" Isaac asked as Derek walked away. "We. Can't!" Derek yelled back at him frustratedly as he turned to look at Isaac. "There was something about the way Gerard looked at it...He wasn't afraid, at all. I don't know what he knows, or what he's planning. But, I'm sure about one thing-we have to find it, first." Derek said before he sighed.
"Can we talk about the kid?" Erica asked as she looked towards Arabella making said girl narrow her eyes at the beta. "She's my daughter, adopted, but my daughter so watch your tone," Emmey snapped, making Derek raise his eyebrows, not knowing she had a daughter, but didn't say anything, he didn't wanna get Emmey angry. "She's also a witch, like me, but she's also a seer," Emmey informed them before looking at Arabella. "Who's already enrolled in school, to keep an extra close eye on Scott and his friends," she said, making Arabella groan.
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Arabella was eavesdropping on Allison, Stiles and Scott."Allison, if you get hurt while I'm busy with some stupid test, someone's going to need to take care of me. If he does anything-" Scott said urgently. "Like...?" Allison trailed off as Scott shrugged. "Anything weird, or bizarre-anything." Scott said as Stiles put his head in the bookshelf, getting between the two. "Anything evil!" Stiles said, interjecting before Allison pushed his head back just as Arabella walked up to them. "I can help," she said, making the three jump startled as Stiles narrowed his eyes at her. "You're a child," he said.
"Technicalities." she said dismissively. "I can help, more than you can," she said, making Scott and Allison's eye widen as Stiles gaped in shock. "My mother sent me to help," she said, making Scott turn to her confused. "Mother?" he asked as she nodded. "Emmey." she answered, making the friends share a look. "Adopted, obviously, since she can't have kids, but legally I am hers." Arabella explained. "Okay, you can go with Stiles, help get an answer out of Lydia," Scott said and before Stiles could complain, Arabella began dragging him out of the library, making Allison and Scott laugh.
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Stiles followed Lydia as she walked out of a classroom, one where Arabella was waiting so she began following Lydia as well, catching up to Stiles. "I'm not supposed to tell anyone." Lydia said as she tried walking away from Stiles and now Arabella. "Come on! Anyone who ever says, "I'm not supposed to tell anyone" is always dying to tell someone, so tell me!" Stiles said, begging her to tell him. "Why do you wanna know?" Lydia asked them
"We can't tell you that." Arabella said, making Lydia look at her before looking ahead again. "Then I'm not telling you two." Lydia said, trying to walk away from the two of them. "But, you are telling me that you could tell me something if you wanted to tell me?" Stiles asked, making Lydia slow down and in turn Arabella and Stiles slow down as Lydia turned her head to Stiles. "Was that a question?" she asked. "...It felt like a question," he said hesitantly. "Well, tell me if this feels like an answer," she said before pursing her lips. "no." Lydia said sarcastically before walking away from Stiles and Arabella.
"Lydia! Lydia, come on! Ly-!" Stiles called out as he watched Lydia walk away. "Great." Arabella muttered under her breath. "Wait! Ow!" Stiles exclaimed as Erica showed up and shoved Stiles into a nearby wall, making Arabella gasp. "Ah, ah! Hey, Erica..." Stiles said, yelping as his back hit the wall harshly as his gaze settled on Erica Reyes, Derek's beta. "Why are you asking Lydia about Jackson's real parents?" she asked, pressing the palm of her clawed hand into Stiles chest. "Why are you bringing out the claws on camera?" Stiles asked, pointing to the wall, making Erica and Arabella turn, seeing a camera pointed in their direction.
Erica retracted her claws and her hands. "That's right, you wanna play Cat-woman? I'll be your Batman." Stiles said smugly, making Arabella snicker lightly as he walked away from Erica, Arabella following when Erica called out to them. "If you're wondering about Jackson's real parents, they're about a half a mile from here...In Beacon Hills Cemetery." she said, making them turn to her, wide-eyed before Erica walked away, causing Arabella and Stiles to share a look before walking after Erica, for answers to the bomb she just dropped.
"Okay! Okay, wait. wait. wait." Stiles called out as they caught up to Erica. "Do you know how they died?" Arabella asked. "Maybe...If you tell me why you're so interested." Erica said, shrugging her shoulders. "Um..." Stiles said hesitantly, sharing a weary look with Arabella and the lack of response from both made Erica stop and turn to them as they stopped as well. "It's him, isn't it?" she asked. "What? Who? Him who?" Stiles said, alarmed , making Arabella sigh and facepalm as Erica started walking again, making them follow her.
"The test didn't work, but it's still him. It's Jackson!" Erica said with a scoff as she realized as she walked off, leaving a shocked Stiles and an annoyed Arabella until the two ran after her, following her towards the boys locker room. "You can't tell Derek, okay? There's a lot more that you don't know about... And just because you got the Alpha-Bite-Makeover doesn't give you a license to go around destroying people." Stiles rambled before they came to stop as Erica turned to him sharply.
"Why not? That's all anybody ever used to do to me." she responded coldly, making Arabella sigh. "I used to have the worst crush in the world on you." she admitted to Stiles, laughing slightly, making Stiles shocked. "Yeah, you, Stiles. And you never once even noticed me. Exactly how you're not noticing me right now." She said but soon enough Erica and Arabella followed his line of sight, water was coming from under the door to the boys locker room as suddenly Scott's shoved into the door and it opened, making Scott his head on the concrete floor as Jackson came running out, heading for scott.
"Scott! Scott! Scott! Guys!" Stiles yelled as he, Erica and Arabella ran towards them, to pull them apart, no one seeing Mr. Harris running towards them. Stiles grabbed Scott asn Erica restrained Jackson, Arabella went to check on Allison as she walked out of the locker room. "you good?" Arabella asked and Allison shakily nodded. "What the hell's going on?" Mr. Harris asked as he stopped and stared at everyone. "Hey! Enough! Enough!" Mr. Harris shouted.
"What do you idiots think you're doing?" Mr. Harris asked before he looked at Jackson who was still struggling in Erica's grip. "Jackson! Calm down!" he demanded before turning to Scott. "Mr. McCall, you wanna explain yourself?" Mr. Harris asked before turning to Stiles. "Stilinski!" Mr. Harris called out as Arabella watched, not knowing what to say, none of them could tell the truth.
"You dropped this." Someone said, holding a tablet out to Allison, making everyone turn to a guy, one Arabella didn't know but he looked sus and gave off an off vibe, one Arabella didn't like. Mr. Harris snatched the tablet from the guy before turning to everyone in front of him. "You, and you," Mr. Harris said, pointing to Jackson and Scott before he turned to everyone. "Actually, all of you. Detention. Three o'clock." Mr. Harris said, making Arabella groan in annoyance, shooting a glare at the teacher.
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Three o'clock rolled around and Arabella met up with everyone, walking to Detention. Arabella by herself as Jackson spoke up. "Oh, uh, we can't be in detention together. I have a restraining order against these tools." he said, pointing towards Stiles and Scott. "All of these tools?" Mr. Harris asked as he stood in front of everyone. "No, just us tools..." Stiles trailed off tiredly as he pointed between him and Scott.
"Fine. You two, over there." Mr. Harris said, pointing to Arabella's table, making her groan quietly. "I'm gonna kill him." Scott muttered to Stiles and Arabella after he had sat down next to Arabella. "No, you're not. You're going to find out who's controlling him and then you're gonna help save him." Arabella corrected him with a sigh, making Stiles nod in agreement and point to her.
Scott turns back to them after looking at Jackson. "No, you were right. let's kill him." Scott said, making Arabella hit her head with her hand in annoyance as Stiles muttered an 'Oh, no'. "Hey, what if it's Matt?" Stiles asked as he looked at Matt, making Arabella look at him confused. "I mean, this whole thing comes back to the video, right?" he asked, as Scott and Arabella shared a look before looking at Stiles.
"Danny said that Matt was the one who found the two hours of footage missing." Scott noted. "Exactly! He's trying to throw suspicion off himself." Stiles explained quietly as they looked back at Matt before looking back at each other. "So, he makes Jackson kill Isaac's dad, one of Argent's Hunters, and the mechanic working on your Jeep?" Arabella questions, making Stiles nod. "Yes!" Stiles says happily. "Why?" Scott asked.
"Because he's evil." Stiles hissed, making Arabella snicker quietly as they looked over at Matt, who was eating chips. "You just don't like him." Scott told him with a sigh. "The guy bugs me. I don't know what it is. Just look at his face!" Stiles says, leaning back in his seat as they look back at each other once again to see Matt offering Jackson food, who shook his head. "Any other theories?" Scott asked, turning to Stiles when all of a sudden Jackson stood up, taking his bag with him, rubbing his forehead. "You okay?" Matt asked, looking at Jackson in concern.
"I have to go to the bathroom." Jackson said, walking towards the door. "Are you all right?" Mr. Harris asked, standing up. "Hey, you don't look so good..." he trailed off. "I just need to get some water." Jackson said, as everyone watched him leave as Mr. Harris got up as well, turning to them. "No one leaves their seats." he said before going after Jackson, making Arabella frown in confusion, he seemed like a jackass, so why did he care about Jackson.
As soon as Mr. Harris was gone, Stiles, Scott and Arabella got up and jumped into the seats at Erica's table. "Stiles says you know how Jackson's parents died." Scott said, getting right into the topic at hand.
"Maybe." Erica said nonchalantly. "Talk." Scott demanded. Erica put her pen and book down, focusing on Stiles, Arabella and Scott. "It was a car accident. My dad was the insurance investigator, and every time he sees Jackson drive by in his Porsche, he makes some comment about the huge settlement he'll be getting when he's eighteen." Erica explains making Arabella look at her in shock.
"So, not only is Jackson rich now, but he's getting even richer at eighteen?" she asked. "Yup." Erica said, popping the 'p'. "There's something so deeply wrong with that." Stiles said, making Arabella nod in agreement as him and Scott shared a look and shared a look. "You know what? I could try to find the insurance report on my dad's inbox. He keeps everything." Erica offered as she opened up her laptop as the PA System spoke. "Scott McCall, please report to the principal's office." it said, making everyone look at Scott confused before he stood up, walking out the door, heading to the principal's office. After a while Jacksons returns, looking worse than he looked when he left, sweaty too.
"Whoa, look at the dates." Arabella said, leaning into Erica as they read the report while Stiles watched them, waiting for them to say something. "Passengers arrived at the hospital DOA. The estimated time of death, 9:26PM, June fourteenth, 1995." Erica read outloud, making Stiles frown, looking between both blondes.
"Jackson's birthday is June fifteenth..." he trailed off, making Arabella close her eyes sadly at the realization as Erica and Stiles shared a look. He had to be taken out of his dead mother.
As Harris zipped up his bag and got ready to leave, making everyone else get up as well, he quickly looked at them, laughing. "Oh, no, I'm sorry. Uh, yes, I'm leaving, but none of you are. You may go when you're done with the re-shelving." he said as he patted a pile of books. "Enjoy the rest of your evening." Mr Harris said smugly, making Arabella groan loudly.
Moments later, Scott, who had returned from the principal's office, Stiles, Allison and Arabella were standing in a section of the library. "It means he was born after his mom died by c-section. They had to pull him out of her dead body." Stiles explained to Scott and Allison as Arabella put some books away, already knowing the information. "So, was it an accident, or not?" Allison whispered. "The word all over the report is 'inconclusive.'" Arabella said, turning to them, making them look at her. "Then his parents could have been murdered?" Scott asked as Arabella shrugged. "If they were, then it falls in line with the Kanima myth, you know? It seeks out and kills murderers." she said, already knowing enough about thanks to her mom.
"But, for Jackson? Or the person controlling him?" Allison asked. "We have to talk to him. We have to tell him." Scott said, getting ready to walk to Jackson. "He's not gonna li-" Allison started but stopped once she noticed Scott was frozen. As he walked down towards a book that was on the floor, he turned and noticed Matt on the floor, scratch on the back of his neck. Scott went to check on him but suddenly a light burst and books were knocked onto the floor. "Erica!" Scott called out, alerting her that .
Over in the next aisle, Erica, glowed her eyes and roared at whoever it was causing this. Stiles had grabbed Allison, who grabbed Arabella and pulled them down so they wouldn't get hurt as Erica was cut over on the aisle next to them, paralysing her, making her fall to the ground as Scott comes face-to-face with a half-lizard faced Jackson, who growls at him and pushes him away, knocking him into a cart of books.
Scott manages to get back up as he goes back to Stiles, Allison and Arabella, as they watch as Jackson stands in front of a chalkboard, writing a message to them, making Arabella gulp slightly, afraid but is knocked out of her thoughts as Jackson jumps out the window.
Stiles, Scott, Allison and Arabella slowly get up, get a closer look at what Jackson had written on the chalkboard, which was 'stay out of my way. Or I'll kill all of you.' But Arabella's eyes caught Erica, seizing on the floor making her gasp, running to her, gaining the attention of the others. "Whoa, hey, hey, hey, hey! I think she's having a seizure." She yelled out as she gently moved Erica into her arms. While Scott, Stiles and Arabella checked on Erica, Allison checked on Matt.
"He's alive." Allison called out, referring to Matt. "Hey, we need to get her to a hospital." Stiles says, referring to Erica who is now in Stiles arms as she seizures. "Derek... only to Derek..." she says weakley in between breaths. "When we get her to the hospital-" Scott started talking to Allison but Erica cut him off.
"To Derek... to Derek..." she says weakley, making Arabella look at her with a soft recurring smile. "We'll get you to Derek." she said. "Go." Allison said, making Scott get up and run over to Allison. "Hey, Scott!" Stiles and Arabella called out but he wasn't listening.
"I'm staying here with you." Scott said, "He can't take her alone, not like this. And Matt-I've got to call an ambulance for him." she explained. "Just go." she said again as Arabella tried to use her magic to help Erica.
"This doesn't feel right." he said sadly. "It's okay." she insisted. "No, it's not. No, it's not right." he said, whispering now. "It doesn't-it doesn't mean anything." Allison said, looking down at Matt, not wanting to look at Scott. "But it feels like it does..." Scott whispered back to Allison.
"Scott, go." she said, finally looking at him but he's still hesitant on leaving her alone. "Go." she demanded. "Okay." he whispered, kissing her forehead before helping Stiles hold up Erica while Arabella calls her mom, telling her that they were bringing Erica to them, who was hurt badly.
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Stiles, Scott and Arabella rushed into the old train depot, as Derek and Emmey led them to a safe place to put her, which was inside an old train cart. "Hold her up." Derek demanded, making Stiles move behind Erica to hold her as Emmey checked Arabella for any injurings, which there were none. "Is she dying?" Stiles asked anxiously. "She might. I--" Derek said, cutting himself off, grabbing onto Erica's arm. "Which is why this is gonna hurt." he warned before he snapped her arm, breaking it, making Erica scream. "You broke her arm!" Stiles yelled.
"It'll trigger Erica's healing process." Emmey said, making Stiles calm a bit. "I still gotta get the venom out...this is where it's really gonna hurt." Derek said before he started squeezing her broken arm, to get the venom out, making Erica's screams of pain turn into soft breaths as she slumped against Stiles, who's still holding her. "Stiles...you make a good Batman..." she said weakly as she semi passed out due to pain as Emmey pulled Arabella into a hug.
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A little while later, Scott, Derek and Emmey walked away from the train car, leaving Stiles and Arabella to keep an eye on Erica. "You know who it is." Scott said, realizing that they had known who the Kanima was. Derek and Emmey turned to the young wolf. "Jackson." Emmey said with a nod as Derek sat down on a seat. "You just wanted Erica to confirm it, didn't you?" he asked again as they both nodded.
"I'm gonna help you stop him... as part of your pack." Scott said, making them look over at him. "If you want me in, fine. But, we'll do it on one condition. We're gonna catch him, not kill him." Scott said, determined, but they both knew there was more. "And?" Derek asked with a sigh.
"And we do it my way." Scott added. "I think that's fair." Emmey said with a nod as a sleepy Arabella walked up to them, leaning into her mother's embrace. "Now i don't know about you guys, i've gotta get Bel home, so she can sleep, we'll see you tomorrow." she said as she sent both boys a smile, shouting a goodbye to Stiles before walking Arabella out and heading back to their apartment.
⎯ AUTHORS NOTE
new chapter !! also, stiles and arabella's friendship is my favourite friendship in this book so far <3