"This isn't going to work," Adela said. She was walking towards a club in Mexico with her friends, Stiles and Lydia. "I can't possibly pass as seventeen."
Adela was short, about 5'1 but today she was wearing a pair of heels that added about 4 inches to her height. She also had on a green dress and Allison's old, black leather jacket. Lydia had done Adela's makeup and added some silver hoops to her ensemble.
"Yes you can... just, uh, ruffle your hair or something," Stiles replied.
"Del, you act like a twenty year old, you can pass for seventeen," Lydia said, then turned to Stiles. "She's right though. We're going to die and Del ruffling her hair isn't going to change that."
"Guys, can we just be optimistic? Please?" Stiles asked the girls. The both groaned but nodded. "Thank you."
When they walked up to the door though, Adela regretted her promise. There was no way they would be aloud into this club. The two bouncers were big guys. There faces were like stone as Lydia said something is Spanish. One of the guys shook his head. Stiles tentatively pulled a card from his pocket. The man looked at it briefly before gesturing for Stiles to hold it up to the camera. Are these guys not allowed to talk or something? Adela thought.
There was a click and the door opened. The three teens walked in and the door shut behind them. The hall wash shaking which only added to the creepiness. When they got to the door, Stiles pushed it open. They were immediately met with extremely loud music, the smell of alcohol, and of sweat. Adela was never a big partier but she could appreciate the amount of fun everyone was having. The teens walked up to the bar and were handed shots. Stiles looked confused, then started to dig for money in his back pocket when a older man with a mustache put a hand on his shoulder.
"No. On the house." When they didn't pick up the drinks the man spoke again. "Most American teenagers don't cross the border to refuse a drink."
"We didn't come to drink," Lydia said, dropping a golden bullet engraved with a skull into her shot.
•*•*•*•
Five minutes later, the three found themselves sitting across from an older, Mexican woman. She was sharpening a knife.
"Severo hates this music. Me? I've always loved the music of youth. This kind especially. It has a savage energy," the woman said.
Lydia glared at her. "We're here for Derek Hale."
"Is that so?" The woman challenged.
"We know you have him," Lydia said.
Adela decided to try something different. "We've heard you can be bought."
Stiles dropped five wads of cash on the table. "It's 50,000 for Derek."
"Now," the woman began, "Where does a teenage boy get money like this? Japanese mafia?" When she spoke the last words, both guards in the room loaded there guns. Looking from side to side, Adela's heart beat sped up.
"Not smart to come alone," the woman jeered.
Stiles narrowed his eyes. "What makes you think we came alone?"
The woman's smug smile faded. "You brought a wolf into my home?"
Stiles gave a small smile. "We brought an alpha."
The woman's eyes flashed and she looked angry. Adela couldn't really tell though, the expression was gone as quickly as it had come.
"My friends, I don't think you're aware of your poor timing," the woman said. She stood up and walked to the window. "Do you know what the dark moon is?"
"The part of the lunar phase when the moon is least visible in the sky," Lydia said, looking worried.
"But do you know it's meaning?"
Lydia sighed. "Some people say it's a time of reflection. Or grief."
"Grief and loss, mija," she turned around. "I wonder why, when you and your friends have suffered so much loss, you would risk it again for someone like Derek Hale."
"Cause we don't like to lose," Stiles said.
Suddenly Severo's radio went off. Some people spoke Spanish but when he asked about the north end, there was no answer.
Then Adela heard Scott's voice. "Stiles. Take ten off the table."
Stiles leaned over, grabbing one wad of cash.
"Maybe you should just take the deal," Lydia suggested.
The woman gave a small laugh as Severo exited the room. She leaned closer to the three. "While I am keen to follow the warnings of a banshee, I'm going to have to decline." Then she grinned, smugly.
That can't be good, Adela thought.
"Alright, come on, just give us Derek. You don't want them anyway. Haven't you noticed what a downer he is? No sense of humor, poor conversationalist. Just come on, take the money."
Adela started thinking. If the Calaveras had Derek, they should have caved by know and taken the money.
"You don't know where he is, do you? If you did, you would have taken the deal already," Adela stated.
Instead of taking Stiles' advice, the woman grabbed the walky-talky. "Severo? Show them how the Calaveras negotiate."
•*•*•*•
Flashback:
"Okay so how long has it been?" Stiles asked.
Scott, Stiles, Lydia, and Adela were all at the animal clinic.
"Weeks," Scott replied. "He hasn't gotten back to any of my texts."
"Derek ever return your texts?" Stiles said.
Scott sighed. "Once. Defiantly once. But this time it felt different. So I went to the loft, the alarm was on. Everything looked okay. But then I found these." Scott slid over a mettle canister full of gold bullets with skulls engraved on them.
Stiles reached down to examine one. "So I sent a picture of it to Deaton. He said it's the mark of a family of hunters based out of Mexico. Tha Calaveras."
"Why would they want Derek?" Adela asked, pushing a loose strand of dark hair out of her face.
"You don't think they killed him, do you?" Stiles said, looking at Scott.
"I... I don't know," he said, then Scott looked at Lydia. "That's why you're here."
She sighed, pulling the canister towards her. She picked it up, sinking her hand into it, feeling the bullets. She took out a hand full, rolling them around in her hand, then dropped them on the metal table.
"What, is he dead?" Stiles asked when Lydia looked away.
"No," she stated. "But I'm not sure he's alive either."
"What does that mean?" Scott asked her.
"I don't know." She paused, then continued. "There's something not right I just... I don't know."
"So if the Calaveras have him, how do we find him?" Stiles asked. Adela, Lydia, and Stiles all looked at Scott as he picked up a bullet.
"Mexico."
End flashback
•*•*•*•
The teens were in a room. Well it was more of a cell, really. It was a dilapidated bathroom to be exact. Scott was out cold and Lydia had been taken by the older women, Araya.
"He's awake. Guys, he's awake." Kira practically shouted. Adela thought they should probably be quiet but ignored her feeling, heading over towards Scott and Kira.
"Scott, you okay?" Stiles asked. Scott started to sit up but Kira and Stiles pulled him the reast of the way.
"Yeah," he mumbled. Then, realization seemed to hit him. "They don't have him. They don't have Derek."
"We know. But right now they've got Lydia," Kira said.
Scott looked confused. "Lydia? What do they want with Lydia."
•*•*•*•
Scott immediately started to try and break out.
"We already look for a way out. I think a lot of people have," Kira told him. It's true, there were large scratches on the stone near the door and places on that wall were you could clearly see that someone had run into it.
"The one that door opens again we take out whoever is standing in the way and run for it," Malia suggested.
"What about Lydia?" Adela asked.
"What about her?"
"We're not leaving without her," Scott told Malia.
Malia looked confused. "Why not?"
Stiles ran his hand through his hair and walked over. "Because we don't leave without people. Remember, we talked about this? Rules of the wild kingdom don't apply to friends."
"Would you do that as a coyote? Just leave her?" Adela asked, genuinely curious.
"If she was weak and injured, yeah. If hunting has been bad that season, I would eat her. Then I'd leave."
"Mmm. Believe it or not, that's progress," Stiles said, gesturing to Malia.
Scott walked back over. "All right, guys, we're not dead yet. That means Araya wants something."
"But if the Calaveras don't know where Derek is, that means they didn't take him from the loft. Right?" Kira asked.
"Maybe he left on his own?" Stiles guessed.
Scott shook his head. "Or maybe someone else got to him."
•*•*•*•
Adela, Scott, Lydia, and Kira were moved to another room. Scott was chained to a chair. Lydia was chained next to him. Kira was made to put her hand on a dial, and Adela's arms were chained above her head.
"Let me explain what's about to happen," Severo said. "This one," he pointed at Kira. "The fox, has an immunity to electricity, so she's going to turn the dial on the Alpha. If she doesn't, I turn the dial on the banshee and the human."
"No. I'm not doing this," Kira said, stubbornly.
Severo grabbed her hand again. "Are you sure? One of your friends has the power to heal. The others? Not so much."
"What are you doing? Is this a game to you?" Scott asked.
"This is a test, lobito. Let's see if you pass. We're going to ask some questions. You answer them, nobody gets hurt. You don't answer them, we turn the dial." Araya said.
Scott looked at Kira. "Do what they say. Whatever they want, I can take it."
She nodded.
Araya turned to Scott. "So... we don't know where Derek is. We want to find him as well. You know who took him."
"What? How would I know that?"
"That doesn't sound like and answer to me."
"Why would we go through coming here if we knew who took him?" Adela snapped.
Araya sighed, like she was disappointed. "Kira, turn the dial."
Kira shook her head.
"Should we turn the dial on Lydia and Adela instead?" Araya barked.
"No, no! Do it Kira. Do it," Scott told her.
"Let's start at one," the woman said. Adela watched electric shocks run through Scott's body. She'd lost to many people, she couldn't loose him too.
"Tell me, who actually has Derek. Who had a reason, a vendetta particular to the Hales?" Araya yelled.
"I said, I don't know," Scott wheezed.
"Oh, you don't know because you haven't figured it out yet. So think! Who could've taken him?" the old woman snapped.
Severo told Kira to turn the dial to three. She shook her head no.
Scott looked at her. "It's okay," he told her. So she turned it.
By now, Adela had tears streaming down her face, much like Lydia.
"Who had the power? The power of a shape shifter?"
"I-I don't know," Scott groaned.
"Oh! Someone who could've turned without you knowing. Turned, but not by a bite!"
"I don't know!" Scott snapped.
"Diez! DIEZ!" Araya yelled at Kira.
She pushed Kira out of the way and turned the dial herself. Scott screamed in pain. Adela started thinking. She thought about what her uncle Chris had told Kate. When she asked if you could be turned by scratch, he had said yes, if the claws go deep enough. Then the memory of Peter ripping Kate's throat out came to mind. What if...
"KATE! KATE ARGENT!" Adela screamed at the top of her lungs. "NOW STOP! YOUR KILLING HIM!"
Suddenly Scott broke out of his hand cuffs. "She's right. It's Kate."
•*•*•*•
Fifteen minutes later, the six teens were walking out alive.
"So you're just letting us go?" Scott asked Araya.
"I sent four men out to where Kate was rumored to have been seen. None of them came back. Let's see if you can do better."
"You could've just told me she was alive," Scott said.
"You wouldn't have believed me. Now I know what kind of alpha you are. And where your next step lies."
Scott furrowed his brow. "What next step?"
"When you take the bite of an innocent, when you make a wolf of your own, when you do that, then I will cross your border and come knocking at your door."
Scott walked back over to the jeep, where the rest of the gang was waiting. "So, what now?" Stiles asked.
"She thinks she knows were we can find Derek."
"So is she going to tell us where?" Malia asked him.
"Uh, actually, she's giving us a guide."
Just then, a girl rode up on a motorcycle. I immediately recognized her. So did Scott and Lydia.
"You know her?" Stiles asked.
"Braden," Scott and I said at the same time.
Kira looked at Lydia. "Whose Braden?"
"She a mercenary," Lydia replied.
"Right now I'm the only one who's going to take you to la Iglesias." Braden replied.
"The Church?" Adela asked.
"What's the church?" Stiles wondered aloud.
Braden looked at him. "It's not a place you'll find God."
•*•*•*•
As the six of them followed Braden in Stiles's jeep, there was a tense silence. Lydia, Kira, and Malia were sitting in the back seat while Adela sat in between Stiles and Scott.
Finally, Malia spoke. "Okay, I'll ask. Who's Kate Argent?"
"Uh, I'd like to know too," Kira said, raising her hand.
Stiles sighed. "Well, we were at her funeral so I'd like to know how she got out of a casket that was buried six feet under ground."
"She was never in it," Scott said.
"She was my aunt," Adela blurted out.
Lydia rolled her eyes, adding, "And a total sociopath. No offense, Del."
Kira sighed. "You don't have to talk about it now, if you don't want to," she said, looking at Adela.
"Yes she does," Malia said.
Adela covered her face with her hands, feeling Scott's supportive hand on her shoulder.
"Yeah, she's right. You guys should know. You need to know," Adela told them.
Stiles groaned. "All right. Kate was the one who set the fire that killed most of Derek's family. Some of them survived, like Cora and Peter."
"A really pissed off Peter," Adela added, remembering the video store murder.
"Yeah, he's the one who bit and turned me," Scott said, with a small nod.
Lydia sighed. "And the one who finally caught up to Kate and killed her."
"Yeah and we saw here buried," Stiles said.
Scott looked up. "No, we saw a casket buried. When the Calaveras heard that Kate had been killed by an alpha's claws, they wanted to make sure she was really dead. Her body was healing, more and more as she got closer to the full moon her body was coming back. So they switched out the bodies. And they took her. If a hunter is bitten, they have to take their own life before they change. The Calaveras, they treat the code like law. They make it their responsibility to enforce it. She wouldn't do it though."
"Good for her," Malia said. "I wouldn't do it either."
"Would you kill half a dozen people to get out? Because that's what she did," Scott told us.
"Why is this happening? I thought that nightmare was over!" Adela snapped. She couldn't take this. She couldn't take the fact that her aunt she had once loved so much had become a resurrected murderer. Kate should be dead. It was better that way.
Lydia leaned forward, stroking Adela's long brown hair to comfort her. Lydia had become very protective of Adela, especially after Allison had died. "It's going to be okay, Del. We'll find her," she assured.
"So, Kate is a werewolf now?" Kira asked tentatively.
"I don't know," Scott continued, "you know, there's a saying, sometimes the shape you take reflects the person you are."
"What kind of shape is sociopathic bitch?" Lydia asked.
"Lyd... please not now," Adela begged.
Lydia shook her head, mumbling "Sorry."
Suddenly the car was hit by something... or someone. The jeep rolled to a stop and the six teens jumped out. Braden came riding back and jumped off of her motorcycle, running over.
"What happened?" She asked.
Stiles and Scott started to examine the jeep.
"I done know, it felt like we hit something," Stiles told her.
"Scott, we need to get there by night. It's too dangerous otherwise," Braden said, shaking her head. Scott stared at her, then looked back at Stiles.
"Go," he told Scott, motioning towards Braden.
"Not without you," Scott countered.
Stiles stepped closer to Scott. "Dude, someone needs to find Derek. We'll figure something out, we always do, just go."
"Scott," Adela looked the boy in the eye. He was like a big brother to her. "He's right. You have to go."
Scott looked from the retreating Braden, to Stiles, and back at Adela. He sighed. "Okay."
"And Scott," Adela said, "Do me a favor? When you find Kate, kill her. And this time make sure she stays dead."
Scott nodded and took off to were Braden was waiting on her motorcycle. Before he could get very far, Adela noticed Kira stop him. She knew they liked each other. It didn't bother her much though. Scott had to move on from Allison, it's what she would have wanted. Even still, it was strange to watch Scott and Kira go through the same awkward stage that he and Allison went through.
Adela watched her friend Kira hug her dead cousin's old boyfriend right before he speed off to find her aunt who was supposed to be dead. She suddenly found herself wondering what her life would've been like if she was normal. She shot down the thought though. Adela didn't want normal. Normalcy was a lie. This abnormal was her normal.
She stood by Lydia, watching Scott and Braden drive off. Adela turned around to see Malia holding a tusk.
"Stiles," Malia called, causing him to turn away from the jeep's engine. "I don't think we hit something," she said, "I think something hit us."
•*•*•*•
"Maybe we should just walk," Lydia suggested for the third time. Stiles had been furiously working under the jeeps hood but it wasn't doing any good.
"Hey, I will never abandon in this jeep. You understand me? Ever. Ever," Stiles said.
Adela groaned at her friend's stubbornness. "Stiles, if you let us walk I will buy you a new jeep. This," she motioned to his incessant tinkering, "Is ridiculous."
"I'm not gonna just leave the jeep, okay? End of story." Stiles continued to work under the hood of the car, while Lydia handed him the tools he needed.
"Work faster, Stiles," Malia said, out of the blue. "There is something out here with us."
Thirty minutes later, it was pitch black outside. Adela absentmindedly grabbed one of the many daggers she had strapped to different places on her body. She had six strapped to her waist, two strapped to each ankle, and on strapped to each arm. Adela always carried at least two. When Allison found out she was a hunter, her weapon of choice was her bow and arrows, Adela's was her throwing daggers. She was incredibly good.
As Kira walked back from grabbing her Samurai sword, Stiles spoke.
"Lydia, could you please just hold the flashlight still for a second? It's really hard to see anything if you keep shaking it like that," he said.
Lydia have him a look, and said "I'm shaking it like this because we're in the middle of nowhere with your broken down jeep and were being attacked by yet another razor-clawed monster!" She sighed. "And I'm terrified."
"Well just be slightly less terrified!" Stiles told her. He then produced a pice of machinery from the jeep. "And hold this."
"What is it?" Lydia asked, sounding concerned.
Stiles looked up at her. "I don't know. I'm hoping it's not important," he said. Then he continued tinkering.
"Oh God," Lydia mumbled.
Kira walked over to the jeep, using her sword to reflect the headlights out into the darkness.
Adela looked out and saw something. "Did you see that?" She asked. Evidently Malia did, because she roared, charging towards whatever the thing was.
"Malia wait!" Kira yelled, running after her.
"Hey, Malia!" Adela heard Stiles yell. He started to scramble off the hood of his jeep.
Adela snapped her head towards him. "No, Kira and I can go. You, stay here! Fix the damn jeep, Stiles!" She yelled over her shoulder, running to catch up with Kira.
"Where'd she go?" Adela asked Kira, panting. She had a dagger in each hand, ready to fight.
Kira stood with her sword held up. "I don't know," she said. "She was to fast."
They were both breathing heavy as they took tentative steps forward. "Malia?" Kira called. Adela could here the fear in her voice. She felt it too. A twig snapped and Kira swung her sword around, nearly taking Adela's head off.
"Sorry!" The girl exclaimed.
Adela shook her head. "It's fine, just, try not to kill me, okay?"
They continued walking forward when they heard something behind them again. Both girls spun around at lightning speed. Suddenly, there were footsteps coming from the direction they were walking. Adela turned toward whoever it was, holding one of her daggers to the person's throat.
Malia threw her hands up, saying, "Uh, it's me. It's me."
"What happened, what's out there?" Kira questioned.
Malia was out of breath. She glanced behind her before speaking. "I don't know, but it is big and fast. And it cuts deep." She took her hand from her side and Adela gasped. She had seen plenty of nasty wounds since entering the world of supernaturals, but this was extremely deep. Then all three heard the ignition start. Without a word, they bolted for the main road.
•*•*•*•
"You... you, please don't ever do that again," Stiles said, once we were driving again. Adela sat in the backseat with Kira and Lydia while Malia sat in the passenger seat.
"Do what?" She demanded.
Stiles looked back at the road. "I... I thought you just took off. I thought you were running." He sounded upset. Really upset.
"I was running," Malia said as if this was the most obvious thing in the world.
Stiles sighed, and explained. "No, I mean, like, I thought you were leaving."
"I wouldn't leave without you," Malia said, mater of factly.
Stiles looked over at her. "Really?"
"No, I would never leave without you."
Adela watched Lydia pursed her lips and look out the window.
"Them I would leave," Malia said, gesturing towards Adela, Lydia, and Kira.
Lydia and Adela exchanged a look. Stiles turned back toward them.
"Yeah, uh, it's progress guys," he amended.
"Stiles, watch the road!" Adela ordered as they swerved.
Lydia cocked her head to the side, examining Malia's cut.
"That doesn't look so good," she pointed out.
Malia looked up. "It's okay."
"Are you sure?" Kira asked. "It looks deep."
"Yeah I can feel it heeling."
Lydia rolled her eyes. "You didn't see anything?" She asked.
Malia shook her head. "Barely. It had a strong scent, though."
"Like what?" Stiles asked.
Malia looked out the window and paused. "Like death."
•*•*•*•
They finally pulled up to la Iglesias around fifteen minutes later. The jeeps headlights fell on three people walking out of the church. Scott and Braden were carrying someone. Probably Derek.
As the five teens jumped out of the car and ran towards Scott and Braden, Adela realized something. The Derek standing in front of her was not the Derek she knew.
"Is that him?" Malia asked. "Is that Derek?"
Stiles seemed to debate his answer, until he finally shook his head. "Uh, sort of."
Standing in front of them was sixteen year old Derek Hale.
•*•*•*•
A/N: I had a lot of fun writing this chapter so I hope you guys like it! Please vote and comment!
Carmella