x x
Elora's office phone continued to ring every time she stepped foot within the room, making her paperwork impossible as she attempted to work on her desktop.
The calls alternated, bouncing the Russian calling code between the witch's cell and the office phone that she'd never given the number to.
With her hand resting against her forehead as she went through patient files, Elora's eyes shut as her cell phone went off again. She swore verbally, snatching the device off the desk. Her eyes widened at the contact, quickly answering. "Tell me something good, Stiles."
Hesitating on the other end of the line, Stiles didn't have the response she was looking for. "Sorry, Elphaba, I can't help you there."
"Bad news?"
"Bad news. Remember William Barrow?"
El's eyebrow rose, "Bus bomber with the weird present thing, William Barrow? Of course."
"He's been spotted by campus. He escaped from the hospital when a freak thing happened during his surgery."
"Holy shit, Stiles his whole reason for walking on that bus was to kill a pack like Scott. You know that, right?"
"I didn't but I think I just peed a little."
"Do you need me to come to the school?" El sat up in her chair, able to see into Morrell's empty office. "I'm only out in Eichen."
"I-I don't actually know if he's here, but we've got half the police force searching the school," replied Stiles. "I don't want you to show up for nothing. I know you just got that job-"
"I also don't want you all dead, Stiles. Do you want me to come help?"
Stiles made a split decision, "No, no don't. I think we can handle it. But, uh, do you have access to the Beastiary?"
Elora spun her thumb along the pad of her middle finger, a flashdrive appearing in her grip. "Of course, what do you need?"
"Lydia keeps hearing flies, and with what happened with Barrow, it makes sense." Stiles audibly was alarmed, clearly stressed. "I don't know what else to do."
"Just stay safe, okay?" urged Elora. "Any new info and you call me immediately, all right? I'll do the same."
"You got it."
After exchanging goodbyes, Elora immediately opened up the digital file of the Beastiary that Chris had burned for her. "Musca," she softly said to herself.
"What are you looking up flies for?"
Elora's determined expression fell into horror, standing up from her desk sharply. She met eyes with a tall, dark haired figure leaning in the doorway of her office. "What the hell are you doing here, Charlie?"
A grin crossed the handsome man's face, idly holding his phone. "You weren't answering my calls, little sister."
x x
"Dad! Dad!" Stiles bolted down the outdoor stairs of the high school, rushing after the small pack of uniformed men.
Sheriff Stilinski held back at his son's voice, "Yeah?"
"You can't leave yet," said Stiles as he jogged down the flight of stairs.
Reaching the bottom, Stilinski turned. "We got an eye witness that puts Barrow by the train station."
Agent McCall, clearly with places to be, called over his shoulder, "Let's go, Stilinski."
Stiles practically chased after his father, "Woah, woah. Dad, please just - Lydia said that he's still here."
The Sheriff walked up to Stiles, lowering his voice. "Did she see him?"
"Not exactly, no. Well, not at all actually. But she has a feeling. A supernatural feeling."
Stilinski's eyebrows narrowed, glancing over to the strawberry blonde currently poking at the peeling door paint. "Lydia wasn't on the chessboard," he said to his son.
"She is now."
"Kanima?" questioned Stilinski.
"Um," Stiles hesitated, "banshee."
"Oh - God, really?"
"I know," he quickly said. "I know how it sounds. But basically it means that she can sense when someone's close to death."
"Can she sense that I'm about to kill you?" Sheriff Stilinski growled.
Stiles missed the point, glancing back to Lydia. "I don't know."
Lydia waved warmly, both Stilinski boys looking to her.
"All right, look," Stilinski said to his son after shooting a wave back to Lydia, "I'm not saying I don't believe, but right now I'm going with eyewitness over banshee. We're leaving a few deputies here. The school's on lockdown til 3:00. Nobody comes in, nobody goes out." He began to back up, needing to get to his job. "Buddy, that's the best I've got right now. That's the best I can give you, Stiles."
Stiles shook his head, panic in his eyes, "You're leaving me here, that is not - that is the worst." He swore to himself, "This is bad, very bad."
And by very bad, it meant no one would find William Barrow.
Stiles quickly grabbed Lydia, needing to start a hopeless search. They began in the upstairs wing, cautiously looking around the art room for any sign of Barrow.
"Scott and Isaac are in the basement, right?" Lydia asked, following Stiles.
"Yeah," he halfly replied, "with Ethan and Aiden. The plan is we meet in the middle, uh, in the boiler room."
His plan. Their plan.
Lydia's sea green eyes fell across a Man vs Nature mood board, "All of the wolves...All of the ones with glowing eyes are in the basement at the boiler room?"
Stiles' eyebrows lifted, looking back to Lydia. "Oh, my God. An engineer could use a boiler room to blow up the whole school."
"We have to get them out of here."
"We have to get everyone out," retorted Stiles.
Lydia tried to hide her panic, "How do we do that?"
"Come with me," Stiles instructed before practically bolting out of the art room and downstairs. He fumbled to find the right hall, coming across a fire alarm. "Perfect."
"Stiles-"
But he'd already pulled the lever.
Stiles leaned on the wall, glancing around as the alarm blared and students began to filter out of the building.
Lydia kept her arms crossed, briefly looking over her shoulder. As her eyes swiveled around back to Stiles, they widened.
Stiles narrowed his own at Lydia's expression, realizing what she was trying to tell him. He quickly looked to his right, jumping back as Coach Finstock's disapproving face was hovering right next to his.
"You little shit," Finstock uttered, grabbing Stiles' ear and dragging him out the blue double doors into the courtyard. "Pulling a fire alarm on Mischief Night is one thing. Doing it when there's a mass murderer spotted nearby is insane!" he shouted as he let go of Stiles. "If I was four years younger...I'd punch you."
"What?" Stiles questionably replied. "Coach, that doesn't make sense."
"Oh, well it does to me," Coach haughtily responded before heading back into the building.
"Do you see them?" Lydia asked as the pair looked around, taking Stiles' hand subtly.
"There," motioned Stiles, the two taking off to meet up with the wolves. He jimmied his ear idly, it still burning against the ghost of Coach's grip.
"We didn't find anything," Aiden told them as the six met in the middle.
"Not even a scent," added Scott.
"It's 3:00," Stiles' eyes wavered around the group, "so school's over. If there was a bomb, wouldn't he have set it off by now?"
Ethan's focus remained on Lydia, "Does that mean everybody's safe?"
"I don't know," Lydia said, all eyes drawing to her. "I just...I don't know."
But in the back of his mind, Stiles did.
x x
Elora stood stiffly in her office, eyes cautious and alarmed, hiding her pain. "You shouldn't be here."
Charlie smiled, lacking the warmness he once had, "Oh, come on, Ellie. Isn't 5 years exile enough?" In flattering jeans and a pullover hoodie, he moved slightly further into the office. "Russia is so...boring."
"It's called exile for a reason," Elora snapped. "And you were lucky to get what you did instead of being locked in the shadow world like I requested."
"Quite adamantly, if I remember correctly." Charlie absently pocketed his hands, calm and collected despite the disturbance he was causing. "You weren't able to secure my demise."
"Not for lack of trying," Elora retorted sharply.
"That's no way to treat your brother."
El's lips pursed, "You lost my respect a long time ago. Don't act like you can waltz back into my life like nothing happened."
Charlie ignored her momentarily, glancing around her office. "What's with the nut house? It's not like you need a job."
"I'm here as protection," she said in reply. "Why, would you like a cell? There's a special floor that would be incredibly suited for you."
A grin hit Charlie, softly laughing. "Only if there's one for you, too."
"I want you to leave."
Charlie knew what she meant, intent on mocking her. He stepped out of the door, rocking back and forth on his heels in the hall.
The moment Elora was about to respond, her phone started ringing on her desk. She kept her eyes on her brother, answering the call from her cousin. "What's up, Der?"
"Can you come to the loft?"
"You're home?" she asked, her thoughts parting from Charlie briefly. El checked her watch, glancing to the absent look on her brother's face. "I'm out at Eichen. I'll be there soon."
"Puppy party?" Charlie questioned from the door with a pretentious smirk.
"You can come with me on one condition," Elora said, having hung up the phone call with Derek.
Charlie, however, already knew. "Orb me?"
"Damn right." El put out a hand, motioning towards herself. "You're not pulling any shit on me."
"I was already decreased to half power upon exile, Ellie," said Charlie as he spun his hands in front of him, a blue power pulling from his chest and forming a perfect sphere that hovered between his palms.
"I'm not stupid, Charlie, I know you were granted partial renewal." El walked up to him with annoyance in her step, "And upon escaping exile, you have full opportunity to gain them from the high council through your favorite type of magic."
Charlie only made an agreeing noise, allowing Elora to take the item containing his powers. "Don't think I can't tell you've touched the stuff. I can sense it."
"To save my friends," El said as she snatched the orb and snapped it out of sight, "not for fun."
"Only because you don't know how to have fun."
Elora left her office, everything needed in her grasp. She locked the door without touching it, walking down the hall without waiting for Charlie to follow. "I don't find killing people fun, believe it or not."
"Nothing is fun to you, Els," Charlie replied nonchalantly as he followed her out into the courtyard.
"Ripping your tongue out sure sounds like a lot of fun to me," El said with a sigh as she approached the camaro and started the engine from afar.
Charlie's eyebrows lifted, "Wait, why aren't we apparating? Are you really taking commoner travel?"
Elora's jaw clenched, frustration in every inch of her. She spun around, grabbing Charlie by the front of his hoodie and slamming him against the stone wall surrounding the lower level of Eichen House. "If you're going to be here, you're going to mind your own damn business and shut the hell up. I may not like killing people, but you could happily be an exception."
Charlie softly laughed, acting as if he hadn't been startled by her abrasiveness. "By all means."
Letting go of him as she pushed back against his chest, El climbed into the camaro with silent intentions of leaving without him.
Circling to the front of the car, he joined Elora in the passenger's seat and buckled the belt. "You know, you've changed, little sis."
"That happens when you're in Beacon Hills."