It had been months since Cassie's death. Chris had taken Allison to Paris along with Issaac, who went with them by choice, because of the fact that it could've been Allison in her place if Cassie hadn't sacrificed her life for her.
Most of everyone had moved on. Kira didn't know Cassie that well. Scott wasn't as close to her, but he still felt a sense of guilt from not being able to save her fast enough. Though they had a short time of friendship, Malia was still saddened by the fact her first friend had died but got over it surprisingly quick. To Lydia and Stiles, if always felt like she had just died in Scott's arms yesterday.
Part of the reason Lydia never fully moved on was because Allison had left her too. Now that Malia was in the pack, she was in a new trio with Kira and Malia. She couldn't say that she disliked them, but she had missed the old trio she was stuck in.
She felt guilty because it felt as if she were replacing both her best friends. Kira was the new Allison and Malia was the new Cassie. For the first time in a while, she felt alone. She missed them so much that it hurt to think about them whenever someone mentioned them.
Stiles had just never moved on, though he acted like he did. But what everyone couldn't see was that he was feeling an enormous amount of guilt. He kept telling himself that the nogitsune was his fault, and that he should've been more careful. He blamed himself for all of it. Her parents also blamed him for her death, so that didn't help with his coping either.
Despite the amount of guilt, he also felt like he had just lost one of the most important people of his life. Cassie had such an impact on him. She was the reason he still had a small percentage of hope that the nogitsune situation would all end without him dying. Somehow, all the hope was thrown out the window the second he saw her lifeless body covered in her own blood and Allison's tears. He hoped that dating Malia would help him move on from not just her death, but from her in general.
It didn't.
--
"This doesn't seem so bad," Stiles said, looking at the scene in front of him.
"It's not the town; it's the plan," Lydia deadpanned.
"What's wrong with the plan?"
"Stiles, this could be the stupidest plan we've ever come up with," Lydia commented. "You're aware of that, right?"
"I'm aware it's not our best."
"We are going to die," the banshee stated dramatically before walking forward with Stiles following behind.
"Are you saying that as a banshee or are you just being pessimistic?" Stiles questioned.
"I'm saying it as a person who doesn't want to die."
"Okay, then would you mind restricting any talk of death to actual banshee predictions?"
"This plan is stupid and we're going to die," she continued to say, ignoring his request.
"Oh, thank you," he sarcastically replied.
--
It was now later on in the evening which meant it was time for the plan to commence. Lydia and Stiles walked down the now empty street as naturally and casual as possible. They finally got to a building where two buff men stood outside of it with their arms crossed across their chest.
Lydia began to speak Spanish to them while Stiles just stood beside her awkwardly. He did not have a clue on what she was saying.
Whatever Lydia had said, one of the men shook his head, declining her offer.
Stiles took that as his cue to do his part of the plan. He took out a thin card from his pocket and showed it to the other guard. The guard examined the card carefully before then looking at the security camera that was in the corner. Stiles followed where his eyes were and lifted up the card so whoever was watching them could see it.
The door then opened, and the guards stepped aside to let them go in. Stiles went in first and Lydia followed.
They ended up walking down a creepy hallway that looked as if it belonged in a vampire's mansion. The door behind them closed, making them flinch a little from the loud sound. Lydia turned to give him an 'I told you so' look and he just shrugged in response.
They continued to walk down the hallway slowly, looking around and scanning each crevice of the room. The lamps on the walls started to rattle which caused them to look at each other suspiciously again.
The two approached a door that was at the end of the hallway. Stiles stepped up but hesitated to open the door. He looked back at Lydia who gave him a single nod. He turned back to the door and reached out for the knob. He opened the door and on the other side of it was something very unexpected.
There was loud, electronic music blasting everywhere with people dancing along to the tempo along with the noticeable scent of alcohol surrounding them.
They widened their eyes in surprise then glanced to each other before stepping into the room slowly. They each looked around the room, examining everything that was inside of it. Lydia stood behind Stiles, following him, as he led her to the bar area.
A couple minutes after they sat down, a bartender came up to them, placing two full shot glasses on front of them. Stiles started to get out his wallet out of his pockets to pay for the drinks but stopped when he felt a strong hand placed on his shoulder harshly.
"No, on the house," he said with a thick accent.
Stiles awkwardly put the wallet back inside his jacket as the mysterious man looked at him and Lydia.
"Most American teenagers don't cross the border to refuse a drink," he informed.
"We didn't come to drink," Lydia spoke.
The banshee took out a golden bullet and dunked it into the shot glass. He stared at it, realizing it was one of his bullets from Derek's loft.
--
"Severo hates this music," Araya informed, not sparing the two a glance as she pulled out the stitching of a cloth with a knife. "Me? I've always loved the music of the youth. This kind especially. It has a savage energy."
"We're here for Derek Hale," Lydia stated, getting straight to the point.
"Is that so?"
"We know you have him." The woman looked at them, paying full attention. "We've heard you can be bought."
Stiles, as if on cue, started to take out multiple stacks of American money from his jacket.
"It's fifty thousand for Derek," he said.
"Now, where does a teenage boy get money like this? Japanese mafia?"
A woman on Lydia's right started cocking her gun, making Lydia slightly flinch before turning her head towards the direction of the sound. A man who was on Stiles' left then started cocking his handgun, making them both turn their heads to him.
Araya leaned onto the desk that separated them, smirking,
"Not smart to come alone."
"What makes you think we came alone?" Stiles asked rhetorically.
Araya's smirk instantly faded and stared at the boy with wide eyes full of anger.
"You brought a wolf into my home?"
Lydia turned to Stiles, sending him a look with a hint of slyness.
"We brought an alpha."
--
Malia was innocently dancing to the tempo of the music in the crowd full of people when suddenly Kira came running up to her.
"Something's happening," the kitsune informed her worriedly.
"I know," she simply replied.
"What do we do?"
"Blend in," she said as if it were obvious.
Kira looked around the room, not really knowing what the were-coyote meant. She looked back at the dirty blonde, completely clueless on what to do. Malia rolled her eyes at her, a playful smile tugging at her lips.
"Dance with me, dumbass."
"Oh."
She began rocking her body back and forth stiffly and awkwardly. Malia stared at her, biting the inside of her lips so she wouldn't laugh at the girl's failed attempt of dancing. Malia figured to take matters into her own hands, deciding that she couldn't bear watching Kira 'dance' so awkwardly.
She snaked her arm around Kira's waist and pulled her in close. Kira almost immediately felt comfortable once she was closer in Malia's proximity. She started to smile once she knew what the were-coyote was doing. Kira began to start moving her body more loosely as it became more relaxed. She wrapped her arms around Malia's neck as she danced to the beat of the music with her.
After a while of dancing closely to each other, the two supernatural girls had almost completely forgotten about the mission they were supposed to be doing. They genuinely enjoyed dancing with each other and had fun.
A crowd of people began to form around them, cheering them on. Their smiles were bright and radiate as their bodies moved in synch with each other. A few long minutes after, the crowd dispersed as Malia and Kira remained dancing.
The fun didn't last long when Malia sensed there was someone coming up to her. Kira noticed and nodded in the direction behind her. Malia took a quick glance back before looking back at the kitsune. An older woman had also appeared behind Kira. Malia pointed her out to her before leaning to her ear.
"Ready?" she asked.
Kira got out her glowing nun chucks that she stuffed up the sleeve of her black, leather jacket before nodding in confirmation. They both turned around and started attacking the people that were creeping up behind them.
Malia grabbed the man's arm before he could strike her and punched him on the face. His head was turned the other side due to how hard she hit him. While he was distracted with her last move, she grabbed the collar of his leather jacket and threw him to the ground. Before he could get back up, she threw one last punch at his face, knocking him right out.
Meanwhile, Kira was skillfully whipping her nun chucks to distract the woman. The moves had worked when the woman couldn't even lay a hand on her as she was just covering herself to prevent getting hit. Kira took that chance of diversion and finally struck the woman in the face. The woman knocked out immediately and fell to the ground.
Kira looked a few meters to her right and saw that Scott was already looking at her. The true alpha gave her a simple nod before walking out of her view.
After Kira had gotten Malia, the two girls had exited out of the room, following after Scott. They were led into a hallway with red everywhere. Literally everywhere. They all walked down the aisle in a line formation, Scott in the front, Kira in the middle, and Malia in the back. The three then walked through an opened door, all of them suspicious that it was opened already.
A gray steam of smoke started to come out from the side of the wall in the middle of the hallway. Scott motioned for them to stay back, so he could check it out. He barely got two steps forward when the same smoke started to come out from the ceiling.
"It's wolfsbane," he realized. "It's wolfsbane! Kira, Kira, get out of here!"
The kitsune obeyed, starting to walk away. Scott then smelled another unfamiliar scent of a human coming to Kira's way. He shouted, trying to warn her, but it was already too late.
Kira tried putting up a fight, but the hunter struck her in the back of her head with a staff. Scott watched as his vision blurred, wanting to help her. But he kept struggling to move any muscle in his body as the wolfsbane got in both him and Malia's lungs.
"Someone who has been an alpha for only a few months should be more careful when facing a hunter of forty years," Araya boomed as she lurked over him.
"All we want is Derek," he panted.
"My Lobito," she started, smirking at the fact that she was winning. "You're a long way from home."
And then it hit him.
"You don't know where he is either."