"I can't believe you let Aiden kick your ass." Sara laughed slightly, as she walked into her room to change into a warmer sweater, noting that it was going to be cold out.
"Yeah, well, it's not like I had much of a choice." Scott said, standing in the doorway of her bedroom at the McCall residence.
Scott watched as Sara put on a sweater, turning so they could go meet with the rest of the pack at the trail's entrance. But when Scott looked over his shoulder, expecting Sara to be walking right behind him, he saw her reaching underneath her bed for something. Scott watched confused as Sara pulled out a big black case. It looked like something out of a spy movie or something.
Sara unlocked the bag, opening it to reveal a sword. But not just any sword. It was her mother's, the one her dad gave her the night they went to fight Gerard and Jackson when he was the Kanima. She never felt more connected to her, or more powerful than when she wielded this sword. Sara stared at the sword in her hands, sighing to herself before going to pick up her father's dagger.
"This is what I needed before we left." Sara said, quickly putting the dagger in her belt and shoving the bag back underneath her bed. "This was my dad's. Thought since we're going to be risking our lives going out into those woods...I might as well have something to protect myself with."
Scott nodded his head, choosing to stay quiet since he wasn't sure what to say. Scott watched as Sara put her hair into a ponytail, turning to look over at him with this certain look on her face that he couldn't describe.
"Come on, we have a werecoyote to catch."
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"Does anyone think we're doing more harm than good?" Lydia asked as everyone got out of their cars at the trail entrance.
"We're trying to keep a father from killing his daughter." Scott reminded Lydia and everyone as they stood around trying to come up with some sort of plan to stop Mr. Tate from killing Malia before they had a chance to save her.
Isaac gives everyone that knowing look, saying the words everyone else was too afraid to think or say out loud. "Actually, we're trying to keep a guy from killing a coyote who actually is his daughter, who we don't know how to change back from a coyote into his daughter." Isaac reminded everyone that what they're attempting to do was not going to be as easy as Scott was making it out to sound.
"And again with the not helping." Stiles groaned, already annoyed by the sound of Isaac's voice.
Sara shushed him, telling Stiles now wasn't the time to argue over Isaac's bluntness. Stiles rolled his eyes at Isaac but pulled Sara to his side to keep himself from smacking the look off of Isaac's face. Scott sighed, shaking his head at Stiles before turning to Allison and asking her if she brought "it." Allison stayed quiet, only nodding her head as she opened her trunk and taking out the huge tranq sniper she would be using to tranq Malia.
"So what's the plan exac--" Sara began asking before she was interrupted by the sound of gun shots in the distance. Everyone looked confused before Scott took off on his bike, heading off toward the sounds of the gun shots. "Scott! Scott, stop--" Sara tried yelling after him but he just kept going.
"We still need a plan!" Stiles quickly added as they watched Scott take off, no use in trying to stop him. They'd never catch him. Stiles sighed, everyone trying to wrap their heads around what was happening before Isaac quickly took off after Scott.
"Isaac! Isaac, stop! We need to stick together! Ugh, son of a bi--" Sara cursed, throwing her hands up in defeat as their search party was down two werewolves. Everyone was left standing there, looking stunned and confused as none of them have an even slightest plan in motion.
Finally, Stiles broke the silence, sighing in slight defeat.
"Okay, we need to hurry and split up. No sense in trying to stay together now that Scott and Isaac ran off. Now, you two go after Scott and Isaac while Sara and I try to find Malia before her dad does." Stiles said, instructing everyone on the plan he had come up with.
Allison nods her head. "What happens if you find her? I only brought one tranq gun and we only have three vials." Allison asked Sara and Stiles.
"Don't worry, you're not the only one in this pack that has wicked aim." Sara said, going to pull something out of her bag, showing off a small gun. Everyone looked at Sara with wide eyes, asking what she thought she was doing. Sara rolled her eyes, replying, "Don't have your panties all in a bunch. It's a tranq gun I got from my dad's safe. It probably won't be able to knock her out like what Deaton gave us but it'll help slow her down long enough for you to get your shot in, Argent. So, better make sure you don't miss."
Then Lydia asked the question they all should be asking.
"And if both you and Allison miss your shots? What happens then?" Lydia asked.
And Sara answered Lydia in a monotone voice, as if it didn't matter.
"Then this Malia girl is as good as dead." Sara answered nonchalantly, causing everyone to stare at her shocked. "What? I'm only saying what we're all thinking. It's a possibility, we can't go into this half cocked like we're just gonna succeed without any complications. Sometimes you have to plan accordingly for the endless possibilities of failure." Sara said, rolling her eyes at the expressions that were shooting her way.
Stiles then went to stand in front of Sara, not wanting to a fight to ensure when there were more pressing matters at hand. "Okay, let's just focus on what's important. Saving Malia and making sure her dad isn't the one who kills her. Okay? Now, you two go ahead. Go." Stiles said, shooing at Lydia and Allison while the two of them ran off after Scott and Isaac.
Sara and Stiles exchanged a look, sighing while the two of them were quickly going off in a different direction in hopes of intercept Malia before Mr. Tate. While the pair were walking rather quickly, Stiles suddenly heard his phone going off and seeing his dad was calling him.
"Hey dad...-what? She took the doll again? What the hell is so important about this freaking doll?" Stiles asked, sounding frustrated over the phone as him and Sara kept walking at a brisk pace.
Suddenly, a thought popped into Sara's head. What if the doll is the key to where Malia is going and where she's been?
"Wait, babe. What if it's the doll? What if the doll's the freaking clue here on where Malia is or is going?" Sara said, patting Stiles on the shoulder as he looked at her slightly confused, hanging up with his dad.
"It's the doll?" Stiles asked, confusion all over his face. "All right but why would it go all the way to the school and then all the way back to the house just for a doll? One that was in the car crash in the first place? We didn't find it in the coyote den, remember?"
Sara shrugged her shoulders. "So it likes the doll? We know know one of two things so far. It really likes the doll so much it willingly went to populated areas for the first time in...forever? just to get it back. But we don't know why it's willingly to risk it's life for a doll?"
Stiles helped Sara over a small hill, the pair walking quickly as they were trying to figure out why this doll was so important. It's like this doll was so important like it was Harry Potter, the thing everyone wanted but didn't quite make sense at times. "What did this hideous doll look like again? Besides looking like something from one of my nightmares?" Sara asked Stiles, grabbing onto his arm as the pair stopped.
Stiles stopped, taking out his phone and scrolling through his pictures before he landed on the one they were looking for. Stiles handed his phone to Sara who looked at the picture with him, seeing that it showed Malia and her sister when they were younger.
"That's Malia. That's the jacket and scarf that was in the den." Sara pointed out, pointing to the brunette haired girl in the picture.
"Wait, she's not holding the doll." Stiles pointed out, zooming in to show that it was in fact, Malia's sister that was holding the doll.
Sara squinted, zooming out a bit to see the face. "That's Malia's younger sister, the one that died in the crash. It's her doll...." Sara said, staring at the picture for a few more moments until something suddenly popped into her head. "I know what she's doing!" Sara let out a sigh of relief, quickly handing Stiles his phone back and grabbed his hand while they started rushing off in the direction of the Tate Car Wreck.
"What? Where?" Stiles called out, following along side her.
"I know where she's going." Sara repeated. "Malia left the doll at the car for her sister, kind of like leaving flowers at a grave. That's all she's trying to do. Bring the doll back to the grave--the car wreck. Its where she's going to go now. I know it--"
"--How can you be so sure?" Stiles asked, walking a bit ahead of Sara now.
"Because-..because it's what I'd do...for my family." Sara said rather quietly, avoiding Stiles apologetic look.
Before Stiles could say anything to comfort Sara who was starting to feel down again obvious by the look on her face, they were ripped from their conversation by the sounds of a loud scream/growl echoing throughout the woods. Sara and Stiles exchanged a quickly worried look, trying to hurry towards the car wreck.
But while they were walking, Stiles heard Sara gasp and felt her stop behind him. Stiles noticed her stop, turning to ask her what was wrong but his eyes went wide when he saw that she had stepped on a trap, her foot directly on the button as it hadn't gone off due to her not moving.
Stiles let out a sharp breath, slowly stepping closer to Sara with his hands in front of him. "Okay, babe...Don't worry, we're going to get you out of this without you losing a foot. You're gonna be fine." Stiles tried comforting Sara who looked visibly shaken.
Sara felt tears in her eyes as she nodded her head, taking a deep breath while trying her best to not move in case she set it off. "Lo-look for a warning label." Sara told Stiles, glancing towards him.
"What? A warning label?" Stiles questioned.
"Directions on how to disarm it." Sara restated, not taking her eyes off of Stiles as she could see the confused look on his face.
"Why would they put instructions on how to disarm it at the bottom of a trap?" Stiles questioned her thinking.
"Because animals can't read!" Sara shouted, starting to feel more anxious as she stood in the trap longer and longer, fearing that it would go off any second.
Stiles could see Sara was shaken, nodding his head while telling her to remain calm. Stiles took a deep breath, slowly bending down to look at the trap and search for the warning label Sara was talking about. Suddenly, Sara notices Stiles get stiff and knowing something was going around in his head that was worrying him.
Sara took a deep breath, looking up at the sky for a quick second in an attempt to keep herself calm. "What's wrong? Is there no label?" Sara asked, Stiles shaking his head in response and informing her that there was in fact one like she suggested there was. "Then what's the problem?" Sara asked, her voice sounding more and more anxious the longer she was forced to be in the trap.
"I-I can't read either.." Stiles announced, his voice breaking as Sara could see he was visibly shaking now. Sara stayed quiet for a moment, letting out a sharp breath as she wanted to put on a brave face for Stiles. Sara took deep breaths, not letting the tears fall from her eyes as they so wanted to, instead telling Stiles everything was going to be okay.
"I-I don't..I don't know how to--I can't read. I can't read--I don't--I don't know what to do.." Stiles voice breaking, sounding more and more panicked. Stiles began panicking, visibly shaking as he couldn't get his hands to stand still. Stiles kept mumbling his worries, the obvious tears now in his eyes as he couldn't think of what to do, paralyzed with fear.
Stiles took a deep breath, looking down at Stiles. "Babe--babe? Babe! Look at me, look at me." Sara told Stiles, trying to get him to look at her but Stiles was still panicking, breathing hard as he felt like he was going to pass out. "Listen, everything's going to be fine. All right? We're fine for now, it's all good. No need to pass out from worry." Sara said, her voice not sounding convincing as she was panicking as well.
"This is my fault--this-..I-I can't..This is my fault. Everything's my fault--if you die..if you're hurt.." Stiles panicked, his voice breaking as he felt like it was getting harder and harder to breathe.
Sara wanted nothing more than to comfort Harry during this hard time, despite being the one who was stuck in the trap but she was terrified. And as Sara began to panic, she suddenly started hearing all the voices in her head, taunting her and making her panic even more.
It was like these voices fed on her fear and chaos.
Sara was breathing heavy, tears filling her eyes as she felt like she was going to end up losing her foot if they didn't do something quick. But as she was panicking, something quickly entered her mind. What Derek told her to do when this happened to her, to be exactly what was now on her mind.
Sara remembered his words, the words that helped her panic attack in the woods where he found her.
Sara had her eyes closed, remembering what Derek told her to do as she was calming down. Sara reopened her eyes, looking down at Stiles who was still panicking and mumbling to himself how it would be entirely his fault if you got hurt. Stiles had tears in his eyes, his hands shaking as he kept saying how he couldn't breathe.
"Babe--babe! Listen to me, listen to me...Whatever you're thinking, whatever's in your head..just block it out and focus on me. Listen to the sounds of my voice, focus on my voice, focus on me--Stiles, block everything else out and only focus on me, only on my voice. Take deep breaths, slow breaths--Every breath you exhale, you tell yourself everything is going to be fine. Count backwards from ten, it'll help, trust me." Sara said, instructing Stiles on the lesson Derek had thrusted upon her, hoping it'll help Stiles.
Stiles was still breathing heavy as he looked up at Sara, listening to her words. Stiles was breathing hard, not being able to catch his breath which didn't go unnoticed by Sara. But Stiles was doing the first part right, looking at her and trying to focus only on her.
"That's right, just focus on me. Just keep breathing, in and out, slowly." Sara said, commenting on how good Stiles was doing as she looked directly into his eyes. "Now, listen to me, Stiles. You don't need the instructions, okay? When was the last time you ever used instructions? Am I right? Certainly not when you offered to help me put together my vanity dresser, eventually I just had to toss it considering it was basically firewood at that point, broken beyond repair." Sara let out a sharp laugh, trying to remain calm as she continued looking directly into Stiles eyes. "Despite the tragedy that was my vanity dresser, you don't need instructions. Because you are too smart to waste your time with them, okay? You're going to figure this out, because you are the one who always figures it out. I mean, we'd all be dead ten times over if it wasn't for you and that beautiful, magnificent brain of yours. Okay? You figured out way more complicated things than this trap in just the past two years alone. So, I am not worrying because you are going to figure this out."
Sara let out a small sigh, offering Stiles a reassuring smile. "Now, take a deep breath, pull yourself together...and figure.this.out."
Stiles let out a sharp breath, nodding his head as he wiped his eyes with the end sleeve of his jacket. Stiles took a deep breath as he looked up at Sara, who offered him a sly confident wink to remind him that everything was okay and she wasn't doubting him. Ever.
Stiles began looking at the trap, trying to figure this thing out. And that's when he noticed something finally. "Okay, I'm going to turn this and when I do--you're going to pull your foot as fast as you can. Okay? Get your foot out as fast as you can before it snaps."
Sara nodded her head, telling Stiles a quick 'I love you' and how she believes in him. Stiles returned the gesture, saying he was going to make-out hard core with her when this was over. Sara blushed, saying Stiles could do a lot more if he finally got her foot off the trap and away from being potentially amputated. Stiles took deep breaths, telling her that he was going to do it after they counted down from five.
Sara and Stiles exchanged looks, nodding in belief in the other while they starting counting down. After five, Stiles turned the nob, pulling back while Sara quickly picked her foot up and stumbled back into Stiles arms as the trap went off, only managing to miss her by a centimeter or two. Stiles quickly caught Sara, making sure she didn't fall over as the two embraced one another.
The two were breathing heavy, holding onto one another as if it was the last time they would see one another.
Sara sighed in relief, pulling back from the embrace to look into Stiles eyes. "I knew you'd save me..or my foot to be precise." Sara laughed slightly, earning a admiring look from Stiles.
The two laughed together before pulling the other into a passionate kiss. They clung to one another, the kiss becoming more passionate and being fueled by the fact that they just avoided something terrible.
But their kiss was soon interrupted by the sounds of a loud growl, one they recognized as Scott's, echoing throughout the woods followed by another growl. The two pulled apart, laughing as they sighed in relief, falling into the other's arms to embrace.
"Now that's what I'm talking about."
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Sara and Stiles stood, hugging one another as they watched Stiles dad reunite Malia with her dad. Scott managed to shift into werewolf form, howling in order to make Malia shift back into her human girl form.
And as Sara stood there, watching the joy on both Malia and her dad's face as they were reunited...stirred something in her. It was like her heart was breaking even though she knew this wasn't about her. She should only be focused on the good, the fact that they managed to reunite a man and his daughter but her mind couldn't help but wander to her own father.
"Hey, babe...You'd been quiet for a long time, still upset about the whole trap thing?" Stiles asked Sara, turning to face her as he knew something was wrong. He knew by the look on Sara's face alone that something was hurting her inside, and by the fact that she had been so oddly quiet.
Sara shook her head to his question, still remaining quiet as you could see the hurt in her eyes.
"Than what's wrong?" Stiles questioned.
"It's nothing.." Sara tried saying but she knew Stiles wouldn't buy it.
Stiles gave her a knowing look before saying, "I know you better than that to know you're lying. What's wrong? Talk to me."
Sara sighs in defeat, wiping the tears that had formed in her eyes before turning to look over at Stiles. "It's just--...seeing Malia reunite with her father, it just--....It just reminds me that I'm never going to see mine again.." Sara said, her voice breaking as tears formed in her eyes, it was like her heart was being crushed into dust. "I know it's depressing but..it's jut how I feel so..." Sara said.
"I know, babe...I know.." Stiles said, trying to comfort Sara by pulling her into his arms and reminding her that everything was going to be okay.
author's note:
update for yall. Happy Halloween. I'm gonna be busy the next few weeks with work and school. I'm taking midterms currently but i'll update whenever I can. Hope you enjoyed this chapter, im so excited for you all to read where this book is going
talk soon, stay golden
-J