Argent's house is a place we've been going to for a long time now. Sure I was still getting used to the new layout of the house that they had bought but it was growing on me. As of right now I was following behind Stiles who was behind Allison and her dad. As we walked through the door of the house Chris turned to Allison with a serious look written on his face. "The word is guardian, Allison. More than anyone, you know that's a role i haven't exactly lived up to lately." Allison shook her head as she watched her father.
"But she took Scott and Jayla's mother and Stiles' father. That's not a coincidence." Stiles glanced at me as he nodded. "Yeah, I'd also consider the fact that someone put your name up in large block letters on the elevator doors. That kind of felt like a warning to me." On the drive to get to Allison and her dad, Stiles had told me about him finding Argent spray painted in red paint on the elevator doors and how that was the biggest clue we've gotten towards Chris being the next to be taken.
"I think it might be Morrell. She knows a lot more than she lets on, and she might even be trying to help us." Stiles sighed and rubbed his eyes with one hand. "Well, she needs to get on that a lot faster, okay? Seeing as how the lunar eclipse is less than two freaking nights away." Chris stopped putting his stuff away and turned to Stiles. "Stiles, don't give up hope." Stiles' eyes fell to the ground as he frowned deeply. "They could already be dead."
My head and mouth moved before I even had a chance to think of it. "No. I refuse to believe that. If anything she's still playing. Moving her pieces into place before she commits the last sacrifice, which seems to be the most important." Chris nodded as he glanced at me. "And you're one of them." Allison was looking at Chris, causing him to sigh. "Then let's not wait around to see the next move. Everything she's done has been on a telluric current, so Melissa and the sheriff have to be somewhere on one of those currents, right?"
He put a map over his desk as he shone a light on it, showing symbols all over. Stiles stood silently by the door and I turned to him. Stiles, we're going to need your help. We need to find them." Stiles bit his nail as he stepped up next to me. "You seriously want to go after her? I mean, what if she just takes you like the others, huh? No offense, but what's the difference between you and them?" Chris reached under the desk and pulled out a gun.
"I'm carrying a .45. Maybe she can heal from a shot to the leg and a few slashes to the face, but personally, I'd like to see how she holds up with half her skull blown off. We've got one priority right now, and that is to find your mom and your dad. We've got a map and every clue we need to figure this out. The only thing we don't have is time, which is why I need both of you."
Stiles sighed and nodded. "Where do we start?" Chris pulled out the light again and held it over the map. "The place where the sacrifices have been committed have usually been different from where the bodies have been found. I think the placement has to do with the strength of the current, so there's the school, the animal clinic, the bank." I furrowed my brows as I glanced over the map "Wait, would she use the same place twice? Chris shrugged slightly as he looked up at me. "Only if she didn't succeed the first time."
"Well Scott's boss, Deaton. Scott and Stilinski rescued him. He was her only failure, that has to mean something, right?" They all glanced at each other until Stiles sighed. "That's just one place so far. We're gonna need a lot more help." Allison let out a slight gasp as she looked at me. "What about Lydia?" Chris looked at Allison with confusion on his face. "Lydia? What can she do?" Stiles stood with a hand on his hip and the other in the air, "Uh, Lydia's got sort of a talent. She somehow ended up finding a couple of the bodies, um, without actually looking for them." Chris turned his attention to Stiles. "What is she? Psychic?"
Stiles nodded. "She's something."
"A banshee. Blake said she was a banshee. And last I checked, banshee's predict death." Chris nodded as him and Allison started moving around the room, taking out weapons. "Woah, I thought you guys were retired?" Chris nodded as he loaded up a gun. "Retired, yes. But not defenseless." Stiles glanced at me and I just shrugged. "Make sure your phone's on. If you hear from Scott, you let us know immediately." Immediately Stiles looked at me. Everybody seemed to be doing that. Making sure that I was okay and that I've been okay since Scott went with Deucalion.
"Yeah, I'm thinking that's gonna be kind of unlikely." Chris continued to load up guns as he spoke. "All of you, try to remember he's just doing what he thinks is right."
"I can't shoot a gun or use a crossbow, but... Well, I'm... I'm getting pretty good with these." My attention, as well as everybody in the room, went to Isaac who was stood in the door frame with his claws out stretched. I nodded and turned. "Okay, Stiles, Allison you go and try to get Lydia to help us. I'll go with Chris and Isaac to the vault and call you if we find anything. Yeah?" Allison nodded and turned to Stiles. "Ready?" Stiles awkwardly nodded and nodded his head for her to follow him.
"Okay, well I don't know how to shoot a gun but I know how to use a crossbow. Allison taught me while we were in France and had nothing to do." Chris rose his eyebrow in shock and I smiled lightly. "I made her, I'm also learning how to use a regular bow and arrow but that may take longer." Isaac let out a soft laugh from behind me as Chris held out a cross bow to me. "Here, stay in-between Isaac and I when we get there."
Holding onto it I nodded, "Alright. Let's go."
"Aw come on. Why does he get to sit in the front?" Isaac rolled his eyes at me as I sat forward. "Because I'm older." My eyebrows rose as he said that and I looked over to him, confused. "You are?" He nodded. "Yup. I was born in January." I pouted and fell back in the seat. Joking around slightly was helping my nerves as we drove to the old bank.
I know Chris couldn't hear it but Isaac probably wanted to suffocate me because of how fast and loud my heartbeat was. It was deafening to me as it is, never mind a sensitive hearing werewolf. "We're here." My head popped up as I sighed and stepped out of the car shakily. Chris went ahead and I followed behind him until Isaac grabbed my arm. "You alright?" Without looking at him I nodded and continued to follow after Chris. We got to the vault that Boyd and Cora had been locked in and I looked around it confused.
"It's empty." Chris nodded and glanced at Isaac and I. "Be careful anyway." I nodded and looked around the room. "I thought you only use that on werewolves." Isaac sounded confused so I glanced over just in time to see Chris nod. "I do." He turned quickly and pressed his electrical stick to Isaac's side, knocking him to the ground. "What are you doing?" My voice was loud and he grabbed my arm to handcuff me to the fence like wall that was on the side of the room.
"I'm sorry. But you're just gonna have to trust me on this. I knew for a long time she didn't just operate on the currents. She was in sync with them." I pulled at the handcuffs harshly and shook my head. "No." A shadow spread across the floor causing me to whimper. My hand without the handcuff grabbed the wrist of the one that was and I pulled harder. "Now this is a sacrifice." I was over come with blackness and wasn't able to see what happened after that but I do know that when I opened my eyes ten minutes later, Isaac was up and pulling at the handcuffs.
He ripped them off and I fell forward, into him. "Why would he do that? Why would he sacrifice himself like that? Now they're all dead. Oh my god. Stiles. I have- I have to tell Stiles." Isaac held out my phone that I had given to him in the car and I dialed Stiles' number quickly.
"Come on. Come on Stilinski pick up." A click came from the other side, causing me to stand straight.
"Jayla, hey what did you find?" I let out a light sigh and glanced up at Isaac. He nodded and I bit my lip. This might be the hardest information that I've ever had to give somebody. "Stiles he's gone." My eyes screwed shut as I waited for his reaction. "What?" His voice cracked causing me to sigh again. "Chris. H-he's gone. Blake got him. He sacrificed himself to her. She has him." His breathing went rigid and I her static as he moved. "Jayla? Jayla, he's breathing weirdly."
Lydia's voice came through as I bit my lip again. "I think he's having a panic attack." My eyes widened as I immediately started to leave the room. "Lydia, Lydia you have to get him to calm down." She started to frantically call Stiles' name and I looked at Isaac. Putting the phone to my chest I looked at him. "Drive us to the school." He nodded as I put the phone back to my ear. "Okay, okay Lydia put me on speaker."
A shuffle was heard and I let out a shaky sighed. "Stiles. Stiles listen to me okay? Listen do you remember the day we officially became friends? In second grade and we both had an actual conversation with each other? You were, you were the happiest little kid then. You were so happy. Stiles, think about that day and how happy you were. Babe you have to breathe okay? Just- just breathe. You're okay. I promise you that you're okay."
I looked up at the roof of the car as I felt a sting in my eyes, hoping that that worked. There was static from a phone being moved and a click, somebody taking it off speaker. "Jayla?" Stiles' voice came through the phone and I let out a sigh. "Yeah, hey it's me." He was still breathing heavily, catching his breath. "You just-" I nodded to myself and let a slight smile form on my face. "Yeah, I did. Look, meet us at the animal clinic okay? But after what just happened I think Lydia should drive."
I could imagine the look of shock on his face as he shook his head elastically. "No, I'm fine. I'm driving." Rolling my eyes, I nodded. "Stiles-" He cut me off with a scoff. "Jayla. I'm driving. We'll meet you at the clinic." I nodded again and sighed. "Fine. But be careful alright?"
"I always am aren't I?"
"Don't push it Stilinski, I'm hanging up now don't die on the way there." Before he could answer I hung up and I noticed Isaac had already gotten us to the animal clinic. "Well, so much for meeting us here." Isaac nodded as I lead him into the building. "Deaton?" He came through the door and nodded, allowing me to open the gate for Isaac to get through. After about twenty minutes Stiles and Lydia finally got there.
We all gathered around the table as Deaton started talking about a nemeton. "It has to be on a telluric current, or maybe even at the axis of two or where they all intersect. I just know it's where Derek took Paige to die." I nodded. "Yeah, he told me about that." Allison bit her lip and looked at Deaton. "My dad and Gerard were there once. But Gerard said it was years ago, and he couldn't remember where it was. And my dad obviously isn't here to tell us now."
"Yeah, mine either."
"I don't think my mom even knows where it is."
Isaac turned his attention to Deaton. "Then how do we find this place?" Deaton glanced over the group and nodded slightly. "There might be a way. But it's dangerous. We're gonna need Scott."
"How'd you guys find out?" I heard Scott's voice as I got out of the jeep and nearly fell onto the ground, I would have if Stiles hadn't held onto me. "Lydia. You?" Scott nodded slightly. "Morrell. None of the other alphas know where it is either."Stiles moved is head slightly. "So if this works, are you gonna tell them?" Scott shrugged and glanced at me. "I can't stop Jennifer without them." Deaton, who stood on the opposite side of Stiles spoke up, "How about we concentrate on finding your parents first?" Scott nodded as I bit my lip
"What's the plan?"
" Essentially, you, Allison, and Stiles need to be surrogate sacrifices for your parents." Scott's eyes widened. "We die for them?" My head snapped up as I bit my lip. This part of the plan had been left out for obvious reasons. "But he can bring us back. You can... you can bring us back, right?"
"You remember the part where I said it was dangerous? If it goes right, the three of you will be dead for a few seconds, but there's something else you need to think about. This is a dangerous thing for more reasons than one. You'll be giving power back to the Nemeton, a place that hasn't had power for a long time. This kind of power is like a magnet. It attracts the supernatural, the kind of things that a family like the Argents can fill the pages of a bestiary with. It will draw them here, like a beacon."
Shivering I cringed and bit my lip. "Well that's terrifying." Deaton nodded as Scott sighed. "Is that it?"
This time Deaton shook his head as he looked from Scott to Stiles. "No. It'll also have an effect on the three of you. You won't be able to see it, but you'll feel it every day for the rest of your lives. It'll be a kind of a darkness around your heart, and permanent, like a scar." Scott looked at me with sadness across his face. "Like a tattoo."
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"What are you going to bring." Scott was rummaging around the house, and in mom's room for something that meant a lot to her and us. Deaton was at the animal clinic, setting up the ice baths, whilst Allison and Stiles were doing the same as Scott. "How's this?" He turned with a watch in his hand and I walked forward grabbing it in my hand.
"The watch dad gave her on the night she got hired at the hospital." He nodded and I bit my lip. "It'll work. She loves this watch." He took it as I looked down at the ground, the small smile that had showed up on my face was wiped away.
"You know he's bringing us back right?" I glanced up at him and nodded. "I know, but either way. It will still feel like I'm losing you." Scott stepped forward and put his arms around me, pulling me into a tight hug. "Well I'll be back before you know it. Now c'mon, Deaton said you had to be there."
I nodded and he drove us to the clinic. As we got there I took a deep breath before going in. We were the last two to get there and Deaton turned as we got inside.
"All right. What did you bring?" Stiles held up something in his hand that I couldn't see but it looked like it meant a lot to him. "Um, I got my dad's badge. Jennifer kind of crushed it in her hand, so I tried hammering it out a bit. Still doesn't look great." Deaton nodded, "Well, it doesn't need to look good if it has meaning."
Allison was next. "Is that an actual silver bullet?" Allison nodded her head at me. "My dad made it. It's kind of a ceremonial thing. When one of us finishes learning all the skills to be a hunter, we forge a silver bullet as a testament to the code." She sadly looked at it and I couldn't even bring myself to try and smile at her, to try and help. "Scott?" Scott held mom's watch in his hand gently. "My dad got my mom this watch when she first got hired at the hospital. She used to say it was the only thing in their marriage that ever worked."
I glanced at Deaton quickly. "Why is Scott the one that has to go under?" As I said that I'm pretty sure everybody's head turned to me. "Because it's safer for him to do it. Besides you have another job."
I nodded as Deaton turned to the baths. "the three of you will get in. Each of us will hold you down until you're essentially... Well, dead. But it's not just someone to hold you under. It needs to be someone who can pull you back, someone that has a strong connection to you, a kind of emotional tether. Obviously, I stepped towards Scott. Him being my brother and all. "Jayla, you go with Stiles."
I looked up at Deaton and bit my lip. "But Allison has to go under, too." He nodded. "Trust me. Go with Stiles." I sighed and stood next to Stiles. Isaac was looking at me and I shuffled my feet. "Okay, so we put them under, they find the nemeton and then what?" Scott looked up at me, "Then we save mom, Stiles' dad and Argent." I nodded and each of them got ready to step into their tubs.
I stood behind Stiles, Lydia behind Allison and Deaton behind Scott. Isaac was stood off to the side watching us. They got in and were all shivering. "By the way, if I don't make it back and you do, you should probably know something. Your dad's in town." Stiles glanced at Scott and I, making my eyes widened. Scott slowly faced forward and I bit my lip, rolling up my sleeves.
Stiles glanced back at me and I nodded. Deaton placed his hands on Scott's shoulders which caused the chain reaction of me putting mine on Stiles' shoulders and Lydia putting her hands on Allison's. Deaton and I glanced at each other and he nodded, letting me look at Lydia with a nod. I took a deep breath as we pushed Stiles, Scott and Allison under.
It only took a couple minutes for them to, well, die. As they were under I felt my throat close up and I started coughing. "Jayla?" I fell to the side and my eyes fell closed.
When I looked around I saw I was in the forest, where we went on the night Scott got bit. I heard voices and turned, seeing Scott and Stiles, only it was them from the night before sophomore year. Right beside them was me. "And um, what if whoever killed the body is still out here?" Sophomore year me stated as she followed behind the boys. "Uh, also.. something I didn't really think of."
"Glad to see you have this all worked out." "Yeah, yeah me too." "Maybe the sever asthmatic should be holding the flashlight."
"Wait, Come on."
Silently I followed the younger of us and cautiously stepped over branches.
"Stiles! Wait up. JC!" Scott's voice made me trip and I fell to my knees, when I looked up I saw a huge tree stump, the stump of the nemeton.
When I opened my eyes Lydia and Isaac were looking at me. "Are you okay? You were out for a good three hours. "I-I saw it." Lydia furrowed her eyebrows at me and I shrugged. "I know where it is, but we have to wait for Scott and them."
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"They've been out a long time. I thought it was going to be quicker than this?" Deaton sighed and nodded. "I did too." As he said that Allison, Scott and Stiles all sat up in the tubs, taking in deep breaths of air. "I saw it. I know where it is." Stiles nodded as he stepped out of the bath. "We passed it. There's-- There's a stump, this huge tree. Well, it's not huge anymore. It was cut down. But it's still big, though, very big."
Scott glanced at me."It was the night we were looking for the body." Stiles shivered as he spoke, "Yeah, the same night you were bit by peter." Allison nodded quickly. "I was there too, in the car with my mother. We almost hit someone." Scott stepped forward. "It was me. You almost hit me." He gasped and turned to Deaton. "We can find it." I exchanged glances with Lydia and Isaac. Allison looked at us confused. "What?"
"You guys, you were out a long time. 16 hours actually. And um, I know where it is." Scott looked at me confused. "How do you know where it is? You didn't go under with us." I nodded slightly and sighed. "I don't know, it could have something to do with what Blake said, but that's not the problem. We have to go and find our parents."
Stiles nodded. "She's right. We'll all go home, change and whatever. Then we meet outside of the reserve." I nodded as Stiles started towards the door. "We have four hours. Stiles, I'm coming with you." He nodded and we both walked out of the clinic. "You didn't have to come with me you know." I nodded but shrugged as I got in the passenger seat. "Yeah, well Scott's going back to Deucalion. Allison and Lydia are going with Isaac. I couldn't just leave you."
"I would have been fine." Turning to him I raised my eyebrows. "Stiles you're soaked and shivering. I would have been too worried that you would have turned into an icicle if I had left you." He glanced at me, smiling and I blushed lightly. "Thank you." Leaning on my hand I turned my attention souly to Stiles. "For what?"
"For caring." I laughed lightly as I watched him. "Shut up, you know I care. It's like what you told me the other day. I've always cared. I'll always care." He smiled and tapped the steering wheel lightly. "Are we ever going to talk about earlier?" I looked over at him confused. "What about earlier?" Stiles glanced at me every few seconds before sighing. "We'll talk about it later." I nodded lightly and got out of the jeep as he pulled into his driveway.
I followed him into the house and upstairs. "I'm gonna go dry off and change. If you need to change, you know where your clothes are." He nodded slightly towards the dresser and I nodded, falling onto his bed. "I might fall asleep actually, I wasn't able to sleep while we waited for you guys to wake up. I was too nervous."
He smiled lightly and grabbed clothes before leaving to go change. Stiles was right though, I was definitely in need of an outfit change. While he was out I grabbed a pair of jeans and one of his t-shirts. I slid out of my current outfit and into the jeans. As I grabbed the shirt off the bed I heard the door open. "Oh my god. I'm sorry, I didn't- whoa." I had turned towards him with the shirt still in my hands and rolled my eyes.
"Stiles. It's fine." An obviously blush covered his cheeks and I slipped my shirt on. "Well I've been dead for 16 hours, you on the other hand, have been awake the entire time. So, we have a few hours and that might not do as much as it could but you need at least a nap." He sat on his bed and pushed himself up to the top of the bed. "So come here."
Stiles opened his arms and I sighed, jumping onto the bed and crawling up to put my head on his chest. "You have two hours. Now sleep." As he said that I shut my eyes and fell asleep.