In the following week, Riley received a text from Stiles asking where she was, since she wasn't at school. She decided to take the day off, since she didn't really have any important subjects that day. Plus, she was just going to see him that night at the recital that Ms. Blake had organized to honour the losses of the school, which seems like a really nice thing to do. Isaac was at her house as well, so she wasn't about to ditch him for school, especially since they were doing something very important.
That important thing being Monopoly.
Since the two would always play the frustrating game when they were younger in the school library (since no other 9 year olds liked playing such a 'grown up' game), Riley thought that it was be nostalgic for the two and might even bring them back together again.
But of course, with a game of monopoly, no one wins in the end.
Riley was throwing all of Isaac's houses and hotels across the room that were originally fixed onto the board because he collected $200 without actually passing go.
"You don't collect the money Isaac! That's not the rule!"
"I passed Go though!"
"To go to jail! You don't collect $200 when you go to jail!"
The two were quietly screaming at each other, being mindful of her parents in the room at the end of the house. The two put their minds off of the uneventful events that had happened the week before. Derek had to explain to Boyd's family why Boyd was dead, which definitely put a damper in his day. Yes, Riley felt very bad for Derek. First, his betas go missing, then Erica dies, then he dies, then Boyd dies. Honestly, Riley was waiting for Isaac to end up in the dead pile as well. It seemed inevitable. Of course, that just literally break Riley, but still, she wouldn't be surprised if he did die.
While Isaac scrolled through his phone, looking for the instructions on their current problem, Riley leaned back on her bed frame and sighed, as she looked up at the dim light. Little glow in the dark stars and planets littered her ceiling, as well as the tiniest little lights that dangled from little hooks all over the ceiling that would light up in the dark. It looked like the night sky. She looked at Isaac's hard face, as he read from his small screen in his head. Once he came to the last sentence, his face softened as he pursed his lips. He locked his phone and avoided Riley's gaze, and he just shrugged and hugged his knees.
"It's a stupid game. I don't even want to play anymore." He mumbled, and Riley smiled in triumph.
The two packed up the game and picked up all of the houses that Riley threw on the ground and put it away in the hallway closet, where Riley saw the metal box that had Emma's photos and letters inside. She hadn't opened that in a long time, and she wasn't going to any time soon. She didn't need to; she felt like she knew a lot about Emma anyway. She had almost learned how to have full control over her; now all that she had to do was to figure out how to make her so unnoticeable when werewolves have shifted. Riley figured that it was a pride thing or she simply just couldn't do it; Emma shielded and protected Riley, not herself. She couldn't protect herself, which was why she was so bright. Even Emma couldn't control that, but Riley was going to find out how, even if she couldn't find a solution, she'd make it up herself.
"So, what do you want to do now?" She asked, and Isaac ran over to her bed and collapsed onto it.
"Die." His word was muffled by the pillows as he lay there face down. Riley walked over and sat on the bed as she patted him on the back.
"Trust me, you're headed there." She mumbled, and Isaac looked at her in a funny way.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Well, I think just that Derek's pack is... Bad luck. I mean, look at it; everyone has died except you! Maybe you shouldn't wish death upon yourself because it might actually happen." she explained, and Isaac rolled his eyes. He knew that his pack had an unusual pattern of death, but that only because the Alpha pack were ruining their lives.
Isaac received a text from Scott, asking him to check up on Allison since she seemed to take the day off as well.
"I'd better go see her, since we would probably just end up playing monopoly again and fight, again." Isaac joked, and she agreed. She wanted to be alone anyway; she thought that she should read the Bestiary again, to see if it had any information on whatever what happening. Stiles had told her that a thing called a Darach was sacrificing people for some unknown reason, so she wondered if the book had anything on them.
After she said goodbye to Isaac and went back up to her room, she pulled the book out from her bed and looked at the contents, finding the word Darach on the second page.
Darach, meaning dark oak, is a druid (see pg. 477) who went down the wrong path. A darach is often referred to as the opposite of a druid, as seen in its name. The Darach perform ritualistic human sacrifices, using methods such as the Three-Fold Death, and the use of hanging by the wrists. The Darach copy the rituals of the Druid as a means to become like them, but they are not capable of such a transition. Common sacrifices come in threes, which include Virgins, Warriors, Healers, Philosophers and Guardians. These 15 sacrifices give the great power of 100 men. If successful, the Darach can be more powerful than the Demon Wolf or a True Alpha. Very few have succeeded.
Well, Riley already knew most of that from Stiles, but she didn't know that it could be as powerful as that from a few murders. She quickly texted Scott about the five groups of sacrifices, to which he replied that he already knew about it, which annoyed and offended Riley because he didn't even have the audacity to tell her. Well, if she was at school, he probably would have told her. Also, Stiles would have told her anyways.
One thing that she was actually looking forward to was the recital that night. She hoped that nothing bad was going to happen. But, being Beacon Hills, of course something bad happens. It always does.