xx
Elora downed the small portion of coffee she had before throwing it into the garbage bag the passing air hostess had as she flew high above the ground.
With the plane's landing in San Diego already announced, only a few more minutes were left in the travel time.
Tapping her fingers to the beat of the song playing through her headphones, Elora closed her eyes.
But a harsh scream overpowered the music, causing Elora to lurch up and yank her headphones out.
The brunette looked around with an alarmed expression, her heart picked up as she found the plane not only landed, but almost completely cleared out. Swearing under her breath, she made her way off the plane with her backpack and small suitcase.
The airport bustled with a flow of traffic, whether it be those from Elora's flight from Paris or the hundreds of other flights coming and going.
Elora, dressed in a flowy maroon dress and her army green jacket with black, low heeled ankle boots, made her way out of the airport to the pick up and drop off littered with taxis and hotel vans.
The sun had gone down as Elora stayed in a plane for nearly 12 hours, it well below the California horizon.
Elora grabbed a taxi, putting her suitcase next to her in the backseat instead of sticking it in the back.
"Where to?" the San Diego based driver asked as Elora shut herself into his cab.
"Beacon Hills," the witch requested as she felt swarmed by America once again.
The cabbie looked over his shoulder, meeting Elora's eyes. He lifted an eyebrow, "You sure about that, sweetheart?"
Elora hesitated, actually having to take his comment in. "Yeah, I'm sure."
Giving her a questionable look before agreeing, he turned and moved out of the car line up. "Alright, but that place is full of crazy."
"You have no idea."
xx
Allison yawned, stretching her arms as she sat up in her bed. Absently running a hand through her messy bed hair, she peeled away her sheets and climbed out.
As she dressed in a half sleep, Allison smelled an underlying scent of coffee. Excited about the French roast, she quickly pulled on a denim jacket over her black top that faired well with her red skirt and finished her makeup. She did a half up half down with her hair and grabbed her school bag on the way out of her room.
"Hey, Dad-" Allison stopped halfway into the apartment kitchen, finding her father and another at the breakfast counter.
Elora smiled from next to Chris, drop dead gorgeous as per usual. She lifted her mug, "Coffee?"
Allison practically squealed, dropping her bag and hugging the twenty year old happily. "What are you doing here?"
"I got in from Paris last night and I was missing you guys," she replied. Elora gave Allison an extra squeeze before letting her go. "Speaking of," she held out a hand with a box surfacing in it from thin air. "These are for you and this," she zapped a wooden case onto the counter in front of Chris, "needed a cloaking spell to get through customs."
"The great witch Elora comes bearing gifts," Chris taunted jokingly said as he set his mug on the counter.
Allison pulled the red bow off a white box, grinning as she knew what it was. Lifting the lid, an array of beautifully designed chocolates within. "Are these from Jean Luc's?"
"Only your favorite chocolate shop in the world," Elora said with a smile. She looked to Chris, seeing his look of surprise. "And that from your favorite arms store in France."
Argent lifted the silver plated .45 hand gun, delicate detailing etched into the grip. "It's beautiful, Elora."
"I imagine it fires just as pretty," she said as she leaned back on the counter while the Argents were excited over their new gifts.
"Well, hopefully the town won't give me a reason to try it out," Chris said before he drained the rest of his coffee.
Allison picked up her school bag, stowing away her chocolates in the kitchen cupboard. "Dad, it's Beacon Hills."
"Fair enough," the hunter replied before standing up. "Have a good day, girls." Chris kissed Allison's temple and squeezed Elora's shoulder before going into his office with the new addition to his gun collection.
Allison turned to Elora, swinging her car keys around her finger. "Coming with?"
"Why not?" Elora replied as she headed out of the apartment.
"Have you seen your boy wonder yet?" Allison asked as they headed down to the parking lot and reached her car.
El laughed, dropping into the passenger's seat. "Boy wonder? That's what you're calling him now?"
"I could call him your puppy dog-"
"But you can't because you've dated a werewolf, too, smart ass."
Allison couldn't hold back a laugh as she started her car and clipped her seat belt. "Okay, fine Sabrina."
"How many - come on, I'm 20! I can't be Sabrina, I'm not a teenager anymore!" El tossed a hand up, "You and Peter don't seem to get that."
Driving, Allison shook her head with an indented smile. However, it faded.
Elora glanced over to Allison, able to sense her unrest. "You're thinking about Kate."
"I'm thinking about our weird ass hallucinations that involve Kate," said Allison in correction. "And the fact we dreamed about the same memory at the same time in different parts of the world."
El ran a hand along her jaw, "That too."
"It's weird as hell, El. What's going on?" Allison glanced over to the witch as she started to pull into the school parking lot. "Do you know what's going on with us?"
"I think there's a chance we got linked," said Elora with a light sigh.
Allison parked her car, turning to Elora with wide eyes. "Linked?"
"When I put you under the water that night, there's a chance it opened a channel between us." Elora unclipped her seat belt as the car came to a stop but didn't get out. "My tie to you seems to have linked us mentally. I was hoping it wouldn't happen, but it was always a possibility."
Allison turned off the engine of her car, Ramona, and licked her botom lip absently as she processed Elora's words. "But not everything, right?"
"It looks like it's only surrounding a certain thing," El said with a morbid growing tone. "Kate."
With slightly furrowed eyebrows, Allison shook her head "What does it mean?"
Elora bit the inside of her cheek as she dreaded the endgame. "It means something went wrong. Really wrong."
"Y'know what?" Allison climbed out of the car, taking her bag with her. "Let's not think about the impending doom hanging over Beacon."
"That sounds like a plan Stiles would come up with," remarked Elora as she followed Allison towards the bustling high school.
Allison cracked a light smile, pressing a button on her key ring to trigger the lock. "Fair enough."
Elora, getting curious stares from students, went through the school doors with Allison. She was only praying her spell had took because she really didn't feel like teaching science.
"Where's your wonder wolf?" asked Allison as she and the witch stopped at her locker.
Elora tried not to laugh, instead rolling her eyes. "I'm about to figure that out. I'll catch you later, Al."
"Bye, El," Allison replied before the twenty year old went off into the mildly crowded halls.
Elora followed a familiar scent, a smile forming on her lips as she caught the tall frame of a curly headed boy in her sights.
Before Elora could sneak up on him, Isaac straightened up and turned around with a hopeful face. A grin broke out on him, reaching out his arms as Elora weaved through the crowd. He grabbed her waist the moment she was in range and pulled her close.
Elora wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed her lips to his.
If there was an award to be given for a homecoming, it would've been given to the witch and the wolf.
But it would be one of the last happy moments in Beacon Hills for awhile.
xx
Although Elora had begun her morning at the high school, she of course had to let Isaac get to class.
The beta protested that he could miss a day but El was dead set on the supernatural teens actually being able to graduate from high school.
Two hours after leaving the school, Elora had made her way back to the new place she was renting. It was a pretty two bedroom with a back garden and front porch, but something seemed to feel off to her.
It was, no less, the absence of her cousin that made her uneasy.
No one had heard from Derek in over a week, and even Deucalion seemed to be having a hard time finding him.
Elora stepped out of the bright red front door, quickly pulling out her car keys and heading for the loft.
Tracker spells weren't working, so she had another idea in mind.
One that she prayed would work.
In under five minutes Elora had made it to the loft, a building Derek himself owned. She climbed up the staircase, taking in every feeling the complex gave off.
Elora stood in front of the wood panel door, it the only thing between her and the loft. She pressed her palm to the hard surface, closing her eyes.
Flashes of life within reached her, but none of a death.
Not of Derek, at least.
Relieved, Elora slid her hand across the air to open it without a touch. The brunette slowly walked into the loft, looking around the near empty space.
Only the senses of the once powerful Hale pack vibed, no sign of life in days.
Elora put out her arms, veils of black dropping down to cover every window. As the loft was cast into tinted darkness, she sat cross legged on the concrete floor in the middle of the loft.
Around her, candles of black and red wax encircled with high and mighty flames. She hushed the stale air, a bowl of pure wolfsbane dust sitting in front of her.
Elora crossed her wrists, fingers curved in an odd gorgeousness as they were parallel above the purple powder. She crossed and uncrossed her hands loosely with grace.
The powder slowly rose into the air, each particle dancing.
Elora closed her eyes, forcing out her hands and sending the wolfsbane into every microscopic inch of the loft. Slowly and perfectly, she spoke. "Oú tu fulis. A pouvoir la trouver. Yonn souri nan zeb." Her voice grew, the words repeating from her barely moving lips. "Oú tu fulis. A pouvoir la trouver. Yonn souri nan zeb." She slammed her hands together, all flecks of wolfsbane shooting at her and blowing out the candles.
Elora opened her eyes in the dark, dead silent room with complete and utter calm.
Her phone rang in her pocket, but El was already answering with a clear idea of who was calling
Elora barely hesitated, Deucalion on the other end of the line. "Do you know?"
"No," replied the demon wolf, "But I have an odd sense you do."
Elora looked down, a ring of purple dust around her within the black candle circle. She traced her finger in the dust marking out a grim skull.
"Calavera."