Deaton stood outside of a building in LA that had collapsed, police, firefighters and paramedics walking around, their cars not far away. "You said it wouldn't bite." A firefighter said, holding his hand as he walked over to Deaton. "I said it wouldn't bite me. But that's also because i wouldn't put my hand in front of the mouth of a frightened dog." He said before walking away.
"Thanks for the advise." The man said following behind Deaton, "You got any idea how we're going to get it out their?" He asked. " I have someone coming who has a special talent for these kind of things." Deaton said looking back at the man, "She runs the animal shelter next to my clinic. Trust me, She's highly qualified. We even have a name for her." Deaton said. "Oh yea? What?" The man asked, "We call her the alpha." Deaton said looking up as a car pulled up. A moment later Emily exits the car, closing the door behind her.
"The girl climbed out, tried to pull it out, lost her footing, and ended up falling in too." Deaton said as they walked through the building, "Is that all you got?" The fireman asked, looking at the leash in Emily's hand. "No protective gear? No gloves?" He asked and Emily shook her head, "I don't get bit. Even if i did i heal pretty fast." Emily said. "Well even so..." Deaton said as they crouched down next to a hole in the ground where a dog was barking and a little girl was laying on the ground. "No! He's gonna bite!" The girl yelled. "Hey, My name is Emily. I'm going to help get you guys out of here." Emily said.
Some of the concrete started to crack before Emily jumped down. The dog kept barking at them but couldn't get any closer to them as his leash was trapped under debris. Emily slowly looked up at the dog, her eyes glowing red and the dog barked a couple times before stopping and laying down.
The little girl looked from her dog shocked and looked at Emily as she started to move over to the girl. All of a sudden the structure started to break and fall."Emily hurry! Come on! Get out of there!" Emily glanced around and grabbed a pipe that started to fall down in the hole, before moving a slab of concrete off the girl's leg. Emily quickly grabbed the dog and lifted him out. The walls around her started to fall making emily duck down slightly as she looked up at deaton who nodded and transformed, pushing against the walls. "Okay come on." Emily said lifting the girl up slightly. "Come on, Alicia." The fireman said as he and Deaton reached down to her. "I got you" he said as they lifted her up and helped her climb out. Emily pushed the walls away with all her strength and quickly climbed out before the hole structure collapsed.
"That was close." Emily said, making Deaton roll his eyes as the girl clinged to deaton making her smile softly.
A moment later they all walked out of the building and Alicia immediately ran over to her parents, who quickly pulled her into a hug. Emily who was holding the dog leash walked over to the family and Emily gently grabbed Alicia's shoulder. "Hey, Alicia? You guys? Let's go see the paramedics, okay?" She said as they nodded before Emily led them over to an ambulance.
"What do you guys call her again?" The firefighter asked looking at Deaton. "The Alpha." Deaton said and the man nodded. "Right, Like a dog." He said and Deaton shook his head, "No, Like a wolf." He said.
Thunder rumbled outside as it rained while Alicia and her family stood around the examination room, watching as Deaton wrapped a bandage around their dog's leg and Emily kept the dog still. "Good boy." Alicia said as she petted the dog, "Okay, come here, buddy." Emily said before lifting the dog off the table and setting him down on the ground. "Do you know why cooper bite the lieutenant?" Emily asked as Alicia kneeled down in front of her dog, "Because he was scared?" Alicia asked and Emily smiled. "He was scared for you. It's one of the best parts about dogs, they fight for us. Remember, the same way that we see them as part of our family, they see us as part of their pack." Emily said, making Alicia smile.
A little while later the family walked out to their car and Alicia glanced back at the door where Emily was and she waved at her. She watched as they drove off before Deaton leaned against the doorway of the examination room. "There still time." He said, making Emily look back at him. "Oh, I know. Yeah I'll have kids one of these day's. after i find someone or someone finds me, i guess." Emily said. "Yeah, I meant there's still time to beat the traffic, But if you want to talk, there's still time for that too." Deaton said as he walked over to Emily. "I think i was just maybe kind of-" Emily said, trying to figure out the right word. "Wistful. It means a kind of long or regret, a sort of melancholy about the past and the choices we've made." Deaton said. "Wistful." Emily said whilst nodding her head.
"Why don't you lock up? I'll get my stuff." Deaton said. Emily walked over to the door looking and flipped the open sign to say closed and locking it. Emily walked away but then she hared knocking turning back around the was a figure a the door and the dogs started barking. Emily unlocked and opened the door and sucked a breath as allison turned around sobbing "I didn't see him. I took my eyes off the road for like, two seconds!" Allison said. Emily turned around "Quiet!" She yelled at the dogs and they stopped barking. she turned back around and Allison was slowly disappear. Emily breathed heavily and sighs before closing and locking the door again.
As she walked away from the door, the dogs started again before she looked up to see a flashing red light over a hole in the wall. She looks confused and glanced around, not noticing Argent until Argent stepped out holding a gun pointed at her. "Oh! Jesus!" Emily said as she pushed Argents arm away, before realizing it was Argent. "Hey." Emily said and hugged him "Shite dude. You know you could just use the front door, right?" She said. "I never use the front door. Especially when it's not safe." Argent said and they pulled away. "Who says it's not safe?" Deaton asked and panicked look crossed Argents face. "You're seeing her too." Argent said looking at emily.
"I mean, I've dreamt about her. You know, now and then over the years I've had images flicker in front of my eyes like blurry photos." Argent said as Emily set a cup of coffee in front of them as the three of them sat in the examination room.
"And then, two weeks ago, something changed. Those random images flickering through my head got clearer. I saw flashes of her crying out, silently screaming in pain, in agony. She was suffering." Argent explained.
"Allison." Emily said."But I started seeing her face more and more. And then I can hearing her voice. And I can hear somebody whispering to me." Argent said and Emily furrowed her eyebrows. "Whispering what?" She asked, "One word, and only one. I hear it every time i go to sleep and everytime i wake up, and I only wake up from nightmares." Argent said. "What word?" Deaton asked but Argent wasn't the one who answered.
"Bardo." Emily said. Argent looked up at her and stood up. "Uh-I-I-uh... I was on the phone the other day and I was writing down a Client's number. But instead of the number, I wrote that." Emily said pointing at something making Argent look over at a whiteboard to see "Bardo" written on it.
"Emily, do you know what bardo is?" Argent asked, looking at her and Emily nodded. "A state between life and death." She said. Argent walked over her "You and I, we're both seeing her. We're both speaking the same word. It's not just a dream. Allison is caught between life and death." Argent said and Deaton shook his head.
"It's that simple." He said, making them look at him, "Bardo is a tibetan word. It means interpreting death and the movements of consciousness between physical states of being. It's just a word. It's just a concept." Deaton said. "Well, this fucking concept is waking me up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat, telling me my daughter is still out there!" Argent said.
"She can't be. I mean she- she died in my arms. I felt her slip away from me." Emily said. "I know we all die. I'm not pretending to know what happens next. But if there was something after this life, some next step, I don't think she made it. And i think she's trying to tell us she never crossed over." Argent said.
"It's been fifteen years." Emily said and Deaton sat up slightly, "Lets say we accept all this. What can we actually do to help?" He asked. "There's a-a-a ritual of some kind. I know a few details. I got a feeling the real answer is in Beacon Hills." Argent said looking over at Emily.
"Okay. What else can you say for certain?" Deaton asked as he sat back, "It has to be done by the next full moon. And if it's not, we don't get another chance." Argent said and Deaton shook his head slightly. "I'm not sure. And I'll admit, I'm a little scared. We're talking about dangerous rituals, thousands of years old. There's going to be repercussions." Deaton said.
"So can somebody say one thing? Are we doing this or not?" Emily asked, glancing around at everyone, "Well the message was for you, Emily. It's yours to answer." Deaton said. "It's more than a message." Argent said as he walked over to the table, pulling out a black brief case he brought. He unlocked it and pushed the lid open to reveal a sword of an oni.
"This is the sword that killed her. Her blood stained the blade." Argent said. "I haven't been to Beacon Hills in a long time." she said and Argent walked over to her, "None of us have." He said.
"But if you drive out tomorrow, I can meet you there by afternoon." Argent said and Deaton stood up, "You're going to need more help." He said. "And more answers" Argent said. "Yeah, I'm going to need to find some old friends." She said.