Chapter twenty-six
A
"Would you just come down here?" I ask Derek over the phone as I walk further away from the others in an effort to have them not hearing me.
"It's pointless." He tells me as I sigh.
"It's better than nothing." I argue, getting slightly agitated with him now. It goes silent for a few seconds before I hear Derek speak again.
"Fine, I'll be there in five minutes." He agrees and hangs up the phone.
I put my phone away and turn back to the others as they all stared at me with expectant looks.
"He'll be here soon." I inform them as they nod.
"He sounded excited." Stiles comments sarcastically as I glare at him.
"Enough." I warn as he holds up his hands in defense.
Eventually Derek walks through the door as he stands in front of us with his arms crossed over his chest. No one said anything so I decided to be the one to get the ball rolling.
"The mark that Lydia and Allison have on their arms," I begin as I walk over to the two girls and turn their wrists around to let Derek see. "Allison thinks it could mean something, like a symbol." I conclude.
Derek walks over to us and looks down at their wrists before looking back at us with a blank expression.
"I don't see anything." He tells us.
"Look again." Scott says as Derek turns to Allison.
"How is a bruise gonna tell me where Boyd an Erica are?" Derek questions as they glared each other down.
The tension between them was killing me. No one liked to see their boyfriend and best friend hating each other.
"It's the same on both sides, exactly the same." I say, trying to get Derek to maybe even try and see what we all saw.
"It's nothing." Derek says, still glaring at Allison.
"Pareidolia." Lydia comments as I look at her with my eyebrows squinted. "Seeing patterns that aren't there." Derek raises his eyebrows at Lydia before turning to Scott. Lydia couldn't see anything with the bruises either.
"They're just trying to help." Scott reassures him.
"These two?" Derek asks, gesturing to Lydia and Allison. "This one," Derek points at Lydia. "Who used me to resurrect my psychotic uncle, thank you. And this one," He points at Allison. "Who shot about 30 arrows into me and my pack." I could tell Allison and Derek were getting more angry by the second.
"Hey, look, come on, no one died." Stiles begins, trying to cool the situation down. "Maybe a little maiming, a little mangling but no death. That's what I call an important distinction." He says as I purse my lips together.
"My mother died." Allison tells Derek, her voice quiet and unhurried.
"Your families little honour code killed your mother, not me." He retorts as I shake my head.
"That girl was looking for Scott, I'm here to help him, not you." Allison informs him.
"You wanna help? Find something real." Derek says as I move between the two and pull Derek by his arm over to the door, Scott following.
"Give them a chance, they're only trying to help." I tell Derek sternly.
"Yeah, they're on our side now." Scott adds to my statement.
"Well then, maybe you should tell her what her mother was actually trying to do that night." Derek whispers to Scott.
Scott bites his lip as he briefly looks to the ground, knowing Derek was right.
Derek looks back at me as he leans down, pressing his lips to my forehead before walking out of the room.
Myself and Scott both turn around and look at the others.
"Well," I say as I clasp my hands together. "That went well."
-
"So, it didn't work?" I ask as I lean against the large desk in Derek's loft.
"Not completely, all we know is we only have until the next full moon to save them." Derek explains from the couch he sat on.
"That's tomorrow tonight." I say as Derek looks over at me with the expression that he already knew.
"Is there any other ritual or something we can try to bring my memory back?" Issac asks as Derek sighs.
"Not that I know of." Derek says, sounding defeated.
"Willow?" Isaac asks expectantly as I smile a little and the two men stare at me.
"I don't, but I know someone who might." I say as I take my phone out and text my father to meet us at the vet clinic. "Let's go."
"Where are we going?" Derek asks as we exit his loft.
"The vet clinic." I say as I text Scott and Stiles to meet us there too.
"Your dad?" Isaac asks as I nod.
Once we arrive, I walk in to see the closed sign already on the door.
"Dad?" I call as I see him exit the back room.
"Hi, sweetie." He says as I give him a quick hug. "What can I do for you all?" He asks with a small smile.
I let Derek explain what happened to Isaac and how we need him to remember what he saw in order to find Boyd and Erica.
It didn't take my dad long to come up with a plan to put Issac into a tub with freezing cold water and ice cubes to try and slow his heart rate down. This would hopefully trigger his memories.
"Obviously it's not going to be comfortable, but if we can slow your heart rate down, you'll slip into a trance-like state." My father explains to Issac and I pour the last bag of ice cubes into the tub.
"Like being hypnotised?" Issac wonders as my father agrees.
"Exactly. You'll be half transformed, it'll let us access your subconscious." My father says as Isaac looks down at the tub.
"How slow does his heart rate need to be?" Scott asks.
"Very slow."
"Well, how slow is very slow?" Derek asks as I purse my lips together.
"Nearly dead." My father shrugs, making my eyes grow wide.
"This is safe though, right?" Issac asks as he looks up at my father from his crouching position beside the tub.
"Do you want me to answer honestly?" My dad asks with a slight smile as Issac shakes his head.
"No, not really." He whispers as I let out a breath I didn't realise I was holding in.
I hear a weird sound behind me as I turn around to see Stiles wearing a large surgical, rubber glove with a small smile on his face.
"What?" Stiles asks like he wasn't doing anything wrong. Or stupid for that matter.
I see all the others glaring at him too as Derek gives him a pointed look.
Stiles rolls his eyes before dramatically taking the glove off and throwing it to the side.
I turn my attention back to Issac who was growing more nervous with each passing second.
"Look, if this feels too risky you don't have to do this." Derek reassures him as me and Scott nod in agreement.
Issac responds by taking his sweatshirt off and climbing into the tub as his breathing gets heavier.
I watch as Scott and Derek push him down by each shoulder.
Issac flies back up in werewolf form, letting out a huge roar as I rush over and push my hands down on his torso to keep him under.
"Keep him under." My dad calls as we struggle to keep a grip on him.
Issac flails around as his tries to get out of the water.
"Hold him." My dad calls.
"We're trying!" Derek shouts back at him.
Note to self: Shout at Derek later for shouting at my dad.
Eventually Issac falls limp as he rises to the surface of the water.
"Now remember, only I talk to him. Too many voices will confuse him, draw him out." My dad says in almost a whisper as we all nod.
"Issac?" My dad calls, his voice louder than before. "Can you hear me?"
"Yes."
"This is Dr.Deaton, is it alright if I ask you a few questions?" My dad asks, his voice calm.
"Yes."
"I wanna ask you about the night you found Erica and Boyd. I want you to remember it for me in as vivid detail as possible, like you're actually there." He requests.
"I don't wanna do that." Issac begins to shake around a little and the light begins to flicker.
We move our hands back down to his body to hold him still.
"That's alright, it's just memories, you can't be hurt by memories." My father reassures him.
"I don't wanna do that, I don't wanna do that." Issac kept repeating.
My father told Issac to relax and eventually he calmed down.
I look at Derek as my father begins to get Issac to tell him about the place Erica and Boyd are in.
Derek looks back at me with a concerned expression as I send him a small reassuring nod.
Issac tells us it was a stone building, almost like marble on the outside. It was empty and dusty.
As my father goes to ask another question, the light begins to flicker again as Issac grips onto my forearm.
He calms down again and his eyes open back up.
My dad tries different things to get Issac to explain but when Issac tells us that they are worried about Erica and Boyd hurting each other on the full moon, I realise just how serious this is.
"Issac, we need to find them now. Do you know what kind of room it is? Is there any kind of a marker? Is there a number on the door? A sign?-"
My father is cut off by Issac gasping and jumping up. We all jump back from fright as we stare at Issac.
"They're here, they're here!" Issac began freaking out as my dad tried to calm him down.
"Dad, it's not working!" I say as we back away from the tub but Derek holds Issac down.
"Issac, where are you?" Derek asks but Issac doesn't respond. "Issac! Tell us where you are!" Derek repeatedly shouts at him as my father feels Isaac's heart rate.
"His heartbeats speeding up, he's going into shock." My dad informs us.
"They dragged me into a room, I saw Erica's dead body!" Issac shouts as I look at Scott, who looked down. I shake my head as I look back at Derek and Issac.
"Derek! Let him go!" I shout as I pull on Derek's arm.
"Where are you?!" Derek shouts once more before I pull him away and Issac sits up.
"The vault! I saw it!" He tells us as he looks around at all of us and stands to his feet.
My father put a towel around him as he climbed out of the tub.
"It's Beacon Hills first national bank, its an abandoned bank and they're keeping them locked inside the vault." He explains as he looks at all of us who stayed silent. "What?"
"You don't remember what you said right before you came out of it, do you?" Stiles asks him as Issac shakes his head. "You said when they captured you, they dragged you into a room and that there was a body in it." Stiles explains as Issac looks confused.
"What body?" He asks.
"Erica's body."
Chapter twenty-six
B
I had been listening to Stiles explain how the bank had been robbed just before it was abandoned, and how this would our way in.
"Obviously they patched the wall up from where they came in, so, we're gonna need a drill of some kind." Stiles informs us as I look up at the three men who stood on the other side of the table from me.
"Forget the drill." Derek tells Stiles as I glance at him.
"Sorry, what?" Stiles asks with raised eyebrows at Derek.
"If I go in first, how much space do I have?" He asks, staring down at the blueprints of the building that were laid across the table.
"What? What do you think you're gonna Derek? D'you think you're gonna punch through wall?" Stiles asks sarcastically as both men stand up straight and face each other, Derek with his arms crossed over his chest.
"Yes Stiles, I'm gonna punch through the wall." Derek tells him in a patronising tone.
I glance at Scott with an amused look who shakes his head.
"Okay, big guy. Let's see it, let's see that fist." Stiles gestures to his hand. "Big ol' fist, c'mon."
Derek raises his hand up in front of Stiles into a fist as he looks at me, completely unamused and I can't help but stifle a laugh.
"Okay, you see this?" Stiles grabs Derek's wrist and holds his other hand in front of his fist. "That's maybe 3 inches of room to gather enough force to punch through solid-"
I jump back a little as Derek punches Stiles' hand, sending him flying back as he grabbed onto the table for support. Stiles walks away in pain as I cover my mouth with my hand to hide my amused smile.
"He can do it, he can do it." Stiles calls.
"I'll get through the wall, who's following me down?" Derek asks as he leans back on the table and looks at myself, Scott and Peter - who sat on the spiral staircase.
"You know I'm coming." I tell him as he glances at me. He looked at me with an expression that I couldn't read but as my hearing focused, I heard his heart rate speed up.
Derek moves his eyes from me to Peter as I turn to look at him too.
"Don't look at me," Peter begins. "I'm not up to fighting speed yet and honestly? With Issac out of commission, you're not looking at very good odds for yourself." I can't help but roll my eyes at him.
"You really know how to keep the hope alive." I tell him sarcastically.
"Am I supposed to just let them die?" Derek asks rhetorically.
"One of them's already dead." Peter retorts.
"We don't know that." Derek says, his voice firm and agitated. I knew Derek wanted to believe Erica was alive but honestly, I didn't believe she was either.
"Do I have to remind you what we're up against? A pack of Alpha's, all of them killers." Peter informs us like we didn't already know.
Stiles walks back over to the table rubbing his wrist and glaring at Derek and if I wasn't annoyed by Peter, I would probably laugh.
"And if that's not enough to scare the testicles back into your stomach, try to remember that two of them combine two bodies to form one giant Alpha." Peter says as I sigh.
I had been dodging the twins like the plague in school. They hadn't seen me and I hadn't seen them. I only knew about them due to Scott and Stiles telling me and I didn't know if the Alpha pack knew I was even in Beacon Hills yet, and I want to keep it unknown for as long as possible.
"I'm sure Erica and Boyd are sweet kids and they're gonna be missed." Peter mutters as I turn back to the boys.
"Can someone remind me why he's alive again before I kill him myself." I ask to none of them in particular.
"He's my uncle." Derek sighs as I look at him.
"Doesn't make him any less of an asshole." I comment as Derek seems to agree.
"Derek." Peter calls and this time I don't turn back to look at him. "Seriously? Not worth the risk."
"What about you?" Derek asks, ignoring Peter completely and looking to Scott.
"Yeah, if you want me to come-"
"Not you." Derek says with an annoyed glance as he looks over Stiles and at Scott instead.
"I don't know about Erica, but if Boyd's still alive then we have to do something." Scott tells him, having the same opinion as me. "We have to try..." He trails off and I could tell there was something else on his mind.
"But?" I ask as he looks at me.
"Who's the other girl?" He asks as I bite my lip and remain silent. I honestly had no idea who it could possibly be.
"I don't know, but the faster we get this done, the faster we find out." I tell them as they nod in agreement.
Stiles and Peter would stay in the loft, while myself, Derek and Scott would go to the vault.
"What was wrong earlier?" I ask as I pull Derek's arm to stop him from walking out of the loft.
He turns back to me with a confused glance.
"When I said I was coming with you, your heartbeat sped up." I explain as he nods and briefly looks at the ground before looking back at me again.
"I know you're an Alpha and you can handle yourself, but it doesn't mean I don't get worried that you'll get hurt." He tells me as I smile a little.
"I get that about you too, but try to not let that be what you focus on." I say as he nods.
I reach up and press my lips to his as I feel him grip my hand tightly in his.
When we pull back from each other, we walk over to Scott and leave for the vault.
"Holy shit, stiles wasn't kidding when he said this is small." I grunt as I push my way through the very small vent.
"It's fine, we're here." Derek calls back to me as he stops. He punches through the wall about four times before it finally breaks open.
He falls through as I climb out, followed by Scott.
"Boyd?" Derek calls as I see Boyd's outline. He walks forward into the small light as he begins to snarl at us.
"Boyd, it's only us." I reassure him as I take a step closer but Derek is quick to put his hand out in front of me, not wanting me to go any closer.
"Hey, Stiles. Now's not the best time." I turn my head back to Scott who held his phone to his ear.
I ignore Scott's conversation and focus back on Boyd.
"We're here to get you out." Derek tells him softly, scared that the wrong movement would trigger an erratic Boyd.
"Derek, Willow, problem." I turn back to Scott with furrowed eyebrows but my attention isn't on him for long as I hear another growl and I look back to Boyd to see a smaller girl with short brown hair move beside him.
"Cora?" I hear Derek say. I turn to look at him as his face showed shock.
"Who?" I ask but he doesn't reply. He only repeats her name.
"Derek, get out. Get out now." She warns through gritted teeth.
The door is suddenly opened, letting a whole lot of light shine through.
I see Miss Morrell at the door as she pours mountain ash to join a full circle around the vault that I only just realised was there now.
"No!" I shout.
"Wait! No!" Scott calls as we run over to her but we are too late to reach her and unable to pass over the mountain ash.
The roars of Boyd and Cora began to get louder as I look back at them.
The two betas sprint for us, Boyd coming straight for me as I was first in his path.
I grab his shoulders and throw him to the ground but he is quick to get up as he punches me, causing me to stumble back.
I growl as I stalk forward, kicking his chest so that he flies back into the wall.
I grab his arms and pin them beside his head.
"Boyd! Stop!" I shout but he only growls in my face.
He manages to push my arms back as I stumble back until I am beside Derek and Scott.
"How do you know her?" I ask, looking at the girl.
"She's my sister! My younger sister!" He tells us frantically as my eyes widen a little.
"What the hell is she doing here?" Scott asks.
"Like I have a clue! I thought she was dead!" Derek exclaims.
"Look out!" I see Allison appear at the door but my shoulders are grabbed by Cora as I'm flung against a wall, landing on the ground.
I look up at Cora growling at me as she walked towards me.
She tried to slash her claws against me but I rolled over and kicked her legs out from underneath her before getting back onto my feet.
Cora runs at me again but Derek appears and grabs her by the shoulders, throwing her back against the wall.
I hear Scott cough as I turn back and see Boyd with his claws in Scott's stomach.
I run over to the them and pull Boyd's claws out of Scott before punching him and making him fall to the ground.
"Allison! break it!" I shout to her as she kneels down.
"No! Don't break the seal!" Derek shouts as he glances at me with an angry expression.
"We don't have a choice!" I shout before looking back at Allison. "Do it!"
In a second, Allison breaks the circle of mountain ash, causing Cora and Boyd to rapidly run out of the room.
"What were you thinking?!" Derek shouts at Allison as he grabs her arms tightly.
I push him off of her as he angrily stares me down. "Don't touch her! It was me, I made the decision!" I tell him, his expression of pure fury never changing.
"And what do you think they're gonna do out there?" He asks me before looking back at Allison. "Do you have any idea what you set free?!"
"You wanna blame me?!" Allison exclaims as I sigh and walk away from Derek, running a hand through my hair. "Well, I am not the one turning teenagers into killers."
"No, that's just the rest of your family." Derek retorts.
"I made mistakes, Gerrard is not my fault." She says with shake of her head.
"And what about your mother?" Derek says as I look up at him with slightly wide eyes.
"What do you mean?" Allison asks, her face turning worried.
Derek looks back at Scott as he looks over at us. "Tell her, Scott."
Scott stayed silent for a few moments before sighing and looking right at Allison.
"She tried to kill me." Scott says reluctantly as I purse my lips together.
"Why didn't you tell me?" Allison asks as Derek walks away.
I sigh and walk after him because I no longer wanted to hear the conversation between Scott and Allison and I also need to talk to Derek.
"Hey," I say softly as I catch up to Derek who only shakes his head. "You're really that mad at me?" I ask him as I stop walking. He also stops walking as he turns to face me.
"Do you have any idea what you've done?" He asks as I furrow my eyebrows.
"Yeah, saved our lives." I say like it's obvious as he laughs sarcastically.
"They could be out there killing innocent people because of what you did!" He exclaims as my eyes go wide.
"Boyd was killing Scott! What else were we supposed to do?!" I ask as he shakes his head.
"If he was killing you, I would've called the decision to break it a whole lot sooner!" I shout, fed up with how he was acting.
"You shouldn't have called it." He tells me quietly but his voice hard.
"If he was killing me, would you have broke it?" I ask, my breathing shallow as he doesn't reply.
We stare at each other for what feels like forever but when he doesn't say a word, I press my lips together and try to swallow the lump in my throat.
"You don't have to answer, your silence is enough." I state as I walk past him and out of the vault.
Hey partay people... so I haven't updated in while but that's only because I gave myself alcohol poisoning so I haven't been feeling great (worst feeling ever 🔞drink responsibly🔞) but yeah I'm feeling better now so should get more frequent updates done 💯
I made this chapter longer to make up for not posting a chapter in a while so I hope yous enjoyed 🌚