CHAPTER FOURTEEN:
"okay, so, what does this kids homework have to do with finding deaton?" cora asked.
"because it's not just homework, okay? it's a project on geomagnetic fields. they flow through the earth. they can even be affected by lunar phases, all right? now look at this. this is a note from harris on danny's proposal." stiles said showing everyone.
"i strongly advise you to choose another subject. the ideas here, while innovative and thoughtful, boarder on pseudo science. not suitable for class." lydia read off the paper.
"harris wasn't just a sacrifice. he knew something." scott said.
"now, check this out. allison's dad wasn't the only one with a map, all right? danny had one too." stiles said folding it out and placing it in the metal table.
"danny marked all the telluric currents, okay? now, the weird thing about beacon hills is that it actually is a beacon. you wouldn't believe how much energy flowing through this earth is around this town." stiles said as scott played around with some of the map.
"stiles, look, they match. all right, there's three places, right? where they're kidnapped, and then the place where their body was found." scott said circling both places on the map.
"look, that's right on the telluride current." lydia said.
"so, maybe where he was sacrificed is somewhere in between." scott said.
"but where?" marcie asked.
"let me see that." stiles said as scott passed him the marker.
"you said there's six more bodies to be found. deaton's one of them. got to be somewhere in between, right?" stiles said.
"stop." cora said putting her hand on top of his as she moved it over the bank.
marcie couldn't help but feel jealousy take over after seeing cora grab stiles' hand.
"he's in the vault. he's in the same vault." cora said.
everyone started to put the stuff away and they were going to the vault to save deaton.
"guys, hold on." lydia said.
"what? why?" marcie asked her.
"lydia, we don't have time." scott told her.
"it's boyd. the plan didn't work. they cut the power." cora said.
everyone was silent for a moment and they looked over at scott.
"it's just like he said. go. i can save deaton myself." scott said.
"what? scott, what about us?" stiles asked.
"cora can't get there fast enough without you. go. we can save both of them." scott said running out.
"all right, let's go." stiles said and they rushed out.
stiles sped down the road and he looked over at marcie who was sitting in the front seat.
they got to derek's apartment and got to the electrical room.
"okay, what do we do?" stiles asked.
"we pull them. pull all of them." cora said so that's what they did.
they started to pull them until that lights came back on.
then they ran up to derek's apartment and marcie saw isaac with ms. blake and derek was kneeling beside a body. boyd's body.
"no." marcie whispered.
stiles and cora ran over and cora cried over boyd's body while stiles placed his hand on derek's shoulder.
"goodbye, boyd." marcie whispered.
-
cora was telling stiles and marcie the story of when derek and peter were hunted when they were younger.
"they were there for two days, waiting, hiding. that's what we're taught to do when the hunters find us. hide and heal." cora explained.
she was looking outside of the window, watching the rain fall from the sky.
"okay, so is two days standard, then, or are we thinking derek's on, like, some extended getaway?" stiles asked.
"why do you care?" cora asked turning around to face the two.
"why do i care? let's see... because over the last few weeks, my best friend's tried to kill himself. his boss nearly got ritually sacrificed. a girl that i've known since i was three was ritually sacrificed. boyd was killed by alphas. i- do you want me to keep going? cause i can, all right? for, like, an hour." stiles said.
"you think derek can do anything about that?" cora asked walking toward them.
"well, since he's the one everyone seems to be after, it's more like he should do something about it, yeah." stiles argued.
"i don't know. there's something different about him now. he wasn't like this when i knew him." cora said.
"well, what was he like?" marcie asked from her spot sitting on the steps.
she heard foot steps and looked to see peter, he was walking down the stairs.
marcie got up and walked over to stiles. it wasn't that she was afraid of peter, she just didn't like being around him.
"a lot like scott, actually. a lot like most teenagers... unbearably romantic, profoundly narcissistic, tolerable really only to other teenagers." peter said as he reached the bottom of the steps.
"so what happened? what changed him?" stiles asked.
"well, the same thing that changes a lot of young men... a girl." peter replied.
stiles looked over at marcie, before stiles turned his gaze back to peter.
"you're telling me some girl broke his little heart? that's why derek is the way he is?" stiles asked.
"damn." marcie mumbled.
"do you remember derek before he was an alpha had blue eyes? do you know why some wolves have blue eyes?" peter asked and stiles shock his head.
"i just always thought it was, like, a genetic thing." stiles replied.
"if you want to know what changed derek, you need to know what changed the color of his eyes." peter explained.
"i know what changes the color of a werewolves eyes." marcie said.
"now, let's not spoil the story." peter said as marcie rolled her eyes.
-
allison lead scott to go see someone they hadn't seen for a long time, gerard.
"did you bring them? oh. oh, come in, scott, and give an old man a little something for his pain." gerard said.
"you don't have to do this." allison told them.
"if you want me to talk, this is how it's going to happen." gerard replied.
"if we do this, you have to tell us everything you know. everything." scott said as gerard nodded.
scott grabbed one of his hands. gerard was dying from cancer so they were taking away some of his pain.
allison noticed that scotts eyes were started to glow and gerard wouldn't let him go.
-
"they found a third body?" gerard asked.
"another doctor, right after scott found deaton." allison told her grandfather.
"right after? almost like it was expected he'd survive." gerard said glaring at scott.
"what's that supposed to mean?" scott asked.
"how do you know your dark druid isn't your wise veterinarian himself? maybe he knew you'd find him. maybe he planned it that way." gerard said.
"he would never let anyone innocent die." scott said.
"don't be so sure. you'd be surprised how far some people would go to get rid of someone like deucalion." gerard said.
"or someone like you?" allison asked as gerard chuckled.
"i don't go easily, though, do i? you know, scott, you've made me something of a celebrity here. i'm a medical mystery. the cancer is now virtually undetectable, but the doctors have no clue why my body keeps producing and ejecting this bizarre black fluid." gerard said wiping his nose.
"we did what you wanted us to do. now, tell us how to beat him. you can't. i've tried." gerard replied.
"then this is a complete waste of time. he doesn't know anything. sorry you two did this. let's go." allison said as she went over to the door.
"wait. i can tell you one thing. deucalion may have lost his eyes, but he's not always blind." gerard replied.
-
peter was now sitting on the couch and cora, stiles and marcie were sitting at a table.
"okay, so if derek was a sophomore back then, how old was he? how old were you? how old are you now?" stiles asked peter.
peter was telling them the story of when derek feel in love with a girl named paige back in high school.
"not as young as we could have been, but not as old as you might think." peter replied.
"okay, that was frustratingly vague." stiles said.
"how old are you?" marcie asked cora.
"i'm seventeen." cora replied.
"see, that's an answer. that's how we answer people." stiles said looking at peter.
"well, 17 how you'd measure in years." cora said.
"all right, i'm just gonna drop it. what happened to derek and the cello girl?" stiles asked.
"what do you think happened? they were teenagers. one minute, it's, i hate you, don't talk to me. the next, it's frantic groping in any dark corner they could manage to find themselves alone for five minutes. their favorite dark corner was an abandoned distillery outside of beacon hills." peter said continuing the story.
"but, how do you know all of this? you just said that they were alone." stiles asked him.
"yeah, that's kinda creepy." marcie said.
"back then, i wasn't just derek's uncle. i was his best friend, his closest confidante. that's how i know." peter replied.
then peter went on to explain how the alpha pack showed up but before they could find derek and paige, he took paige somewhere to hide.
the alpha was there to find a member of their pack. but he had been killed by the argents.
ennis would stop at nothing to get revenge.
-
"they were all there. ennis, kali, deucalion... each with their own packs, before they'd killed them all and decided to form their little all star team." gerard told them as they sat down and listened to him.
"but they didn't all live here, did they?" allison asked.
"no, but there was an exceptionally powerful alpha who did live here. she had a capacity to shape shift that was rare among her kind. that made her something of a leader, the kind of person that they would go to for advice and guidance. talia hale." gerard told them.
-
peter walked up to the window and drew something with his finger.
"our mark for vendetta." peter said.
"man, you guys really take that revenge thing to, like, a whole new level, don't you?" stiles asked folding his hands together.
"it's not just revenge. losing a member of your pack isn't like losing family. it's like you lose a limb." cora explained.
"they wouldn't even let him see the body." peter continued.
"i don't get it, what does this have to do with derek?" cora asked.
"everything. it's never just a single moment. it's a confluence of events. personally, i looked at ennis's circumstances, i saw profound loss. derek saw something different. he saw opportunity." peter said walking over to the table.
"opportunity? to do what?" stiles asked.
"to always be with her." peter replied.
"the thing was, he had this constant fear. he was obsessing over it, thinking about it all night, all day, always on his mind." peter went on.
he meant that derek was afraid paige would find out that he was a werewolf.
"i kept telling him not to do it. every day the more he thought about it, the more convinced he became. you know teenagers. i bet he even blames me. he's probably convinced himself the whole thing was my idea." peter said.
"derek wanted to turn her." marcie said realizing what peter was saying.