The pendant gifted to Elise by her aunt has kept her outbursts at bay, but the faceless woman continues to creep closer. A crack has begun to form in the pendant, formed by the pressure of trying to contain Elise's power. One night, in the midst of a storm, Elise and Derek were awoken by a banging on the loft door. They opened it to find Lydia, who's banshee cry shook the walls of their home and shattered the glass of their windows. When the girl came to, she had no clue how she'd gotten to the loft, not who her cry was for.
During the stress of the war with Kate, Jenessa and Braeden grew closer, eventually developing feelings for one another. The sleuth and the mercenary: an odd duo, but a good one. They kept each other safe and worked to protect those under threat from the Deadpool.
After a lot of pestering and a lot of working along side the pack, Mare eventually revealed why she'd come to Beacon Hills. She was a selkie, a shapeshifter who lived her life below the ocean waves. One night, after transforming into her human form, she'd discovered that someone had stolen her selkie skin, leaving her trapped as a human in a world that wasn't hers until she could recover it.
After discovering that her brother and Kira were missing, likely taken by Kate to be transformed into one of her beasts, Elise experienced a vision. She felt a fire hot pain and saw only blinding white flashes. She could hear the cries of a woman, broken only by the far-away sound of someone calling her name.
It was then that Elise knew who Lydia had cried for. The crack in her pendant had grown, nearly splitting the iron in half. All it would take was one slip up for the only thing stopping Elise from being devoured by her vestige to shatter.
She told no one. Instead, she silently boarded the van headed for Mexico- headed for her brother- and slipped her hand into Derek's, flashing him a reassuring smile as they started down the road.
15 ↬ WHITE LIGHT
The vans rumbled into the clearing near the church. Isaac sat across from Nancy and Harper. More than once, Elise caught the boy flashing her cousin reassuring smiles as the teen girl bounced her knee in anticipation. Liam sat next to Stiles, sweat dripping down his brows.
The boy was still learning control, and the rising moon was proving difficult for him without Scott there to guide him through it.
"For a minute there, I thought I was going to tear all of you to shreds," he said, chuckling dryly.
"That would have made for a very awkward ride home," Stiles grimaced.
"Do you think you can use that same amount of strength and control inside la iglesia?" Derek asked, his lips forming a thin line. He'd lost all of his abilities, and Elise knew it was forming a knot inside of him. She'd taught him as much as she could about fighting without superhuman strength and agility, but they simply didn't have enough time.
Liam nodded, flicking his hand to reveal his claws- brought out by his own will. Elise offered the boy a small smile. "You're really getting the hang of it," she said.
The vans pulled to a stop, and the engines whirred for a moment until they went silent. Stiles and Liam turned to face Isaac and the other Kidwells to remind them of their strategy as Derek moved toward the back door of the hunter's van, intending to open it and step out into the courtyard. Elise grabbed his arm, stopping him.
There was an uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach. It wasn't her magic- that was still quelled by the pendant. This was something she hadn't felt in a long time. Fear. Pure, sour fear curdled in her stomach, clawing it's cold way to her chest.
"Be careful," she said softly. He would be fine, she assured herself. The scream wasn't for him, she knew that now. She'd made her peace with it. That didn't stop the fear.
Derek smiled softly. "I always am, right?"
Elise forced a slight laugh as she loosened her grip on his arm, and he opened the van door.
What happened next was a thing of nightmares.
It had been waiting for them. Listening to each of their words as it sat on the other side of the door, waiting for it's time to pounce. A berserker. Derek hadn't even had time to open the door fully before he was pulled out, the berserker's armored claws being driven into his chest almost instantaneously.
Elise didn't know when her knife had been pulled out from it's holster at her thigh, or when she'd jumped from the back of the van and onto the berserker's back, driving the small blade into the kinks between its armor. She did feel the air leave her lungs when it shook her off and her back slammed onto the hard ground.
The injury didn't phase the berserker, as it turned to Elise. Suddenly, the sound of gunshots split through the air, echoing in Elise's ears as someone behind her opened fire on the berserker. Braeden. Elise thought. Or Jen, or Chris.
She didn't know who it was, and she didn't turn to look as the berserker stumbled back, running from the bullets that assaulted it's armor but didn't pierce it. The second the space between her and Derek was open, she rushed to his side as he sunk to the ground next to the crumbling stone wall.
"Hey, hey," she whispered, her hands trembling as they rested on his shoulders, steadying him as his head leaned back against the wall. "Hey, you're okay," she said. "You're gonna be okay." A small amount of blood dripped from the corner of his mouth, trailing down his cheek. She moved her hands to cover the bloodied wound on his chest.
"How bad is it?" Stiles asked as he and the rest of the group climbed out of the van.
"I'll be fine," Derek said through clenched teeth. "Go get Scott and Kira."
"El-" Jenessa started, taking a step forward.
"You heard him," Elise said, her voice cracking as she turned her head to look at her friend. "Get my brother. Keep the rest of them safe, please."
Jenessa nodded as she turned to the rest of the group and she and Braeden ushered them inside the church. The courtyard fell silent as the group filed through the church doors, leaving only the sound of the wind and Derek's shallow breathing.
Elise turned her attention back to him, finding that his eyelids were slowly sinking. "Hey, hey, you've got to stay with me, okay?" she said shakily as she brushed the hair from his forehead. "You're going to be okay, I promise."
"At least now we know who Lydia was trying to warn," Derek said. Elise could tell that just speaking was a strenuous labor.
A lump formed in Elise's throat as she shook her head, her lips trembling. She blinked rapidly, trying to fight back the tears that brimmed her eyes. "No, no. It wasn't supposed to be you. It can't be. We can heal you, Harper can-"
"Elise, it's a mortal wound, there's nothing anyone can do," Derek said softly. He forced a weak smile as he lifted a pale hand and rested it on Elise's cheek. "I'm glad it was me."
"What? Derek, you don't understand, it was... it was supposed to be me," Elise stammered, her lips trembling and her tears falling freely now.
Derek shook his head weakly. "You made me a better person. You made me want to be good. I've done a lot of things I regret, but you pulled me back, Elise." His voice came out as little more than a whisper.
Elise covered his hand with hers as a sob shook her shoulders. The air around them felt too cold and stiff for the middle of the desert. She was almost choking on it. "You were supposed to make it, Derek. This isn't fair. It was going to be me," she said softly, the words tasting like metal on her tongue. She closed her eyes and shook her head. "I'm not going home, Derek. I saw what happens. It's supposed to be me."
She felt his hand go limp in hers as she opened her eyes. She watched as his lidded eyes stared at the stars above, glossed over and empty. "Derek?" she breathed, her shaking hands moving to grasp the sides of his face. "Derek, please, don't do this to me," she said, her voice cracking as she shook him slightly. Her shoulders shook as sobs racked her chest, pulling the air from her lungs as she gasped for air.
The sound of shuffling, unsteady footsteps approached. Elise tried to ignore it, but it echoed in her ears, drowning out every other sound.
"What do you want?!" She shouted, jumping to her feet and spinning to face the woman. Her tangled brown hair matched Elise's and tears streamed down from where the woman's eyes should have been. Elise's next words died on the tip of her tongue as she saw the woman's tears. The woman wore the same pendant as Elise, though hers was cracked and brittle. It was broken. This woman wasn't the enemy. She was Elise's warning. The warning of what would come next.
Suddenly, a growl tore through the air, making even the ground rattle. Elise blinked, and the woman before her was gone. Instead, a few yards away, stood Kate Argent and her Berserker. Anger surged in Elise's chest as she watched the smirk on Kate's face.
"What's the matter, honey," she cooed venomously. "Bad day?"
A set of armored cars sped into the courtyard, and a large group of hunters led by Chris Argent and Araya Calavera leapt out, their machine guns leveled at Kate and her berserker.
Kate's narrowed eyes scanned the new crowd of hunters as blood dripped from the claws of her berserker.
The hunters opened fire, and Elise felt the anger bubble under her skin, growing hotter and hotter with every second. Her hand moved upward, and she grasped the pendant that hung from her neck. She pulled, snapping the cord of the necklace and letting the broken iron pendant clatter to the ground.
The hot anger surged forward, building in her chest like a whirlwind of energy. It took the air from her lungs as she stumbled forward, gasping for breath.
"Elise?" A familiar voice called.
The brunette turned her head toward Chris Argent, who was watching her with concern. He saw the bloodied wall next to her, and her tear stained cheeks. What he didn't see were her eyes. They were devoid of color, completely white. The rest of her face was changing too, in a way he couldn't quite place his finger on. Minute changes, seemingly imperceptible in the darkness.
"Keep firing," she called. Though her voice was nearly drowned out by the rapid gunfire. Chris watched in shock as the brunette moved forward, her feet carrying her into the midst of the fight. The bullets ricocheted, bouncing off of the air around her and landing on the desert ground. She continued, unfazed.
Elise watched as Kate and her berserker tore apart all hunters within range, snapping their bones and tearing them limb from limb. The anger surged forward, and this time, Elise didn't try to hold it in. Her tears turned red as the energy flowed from her limbs, echoing in her ears.
Kate and her berserker stumbled back, their footing being pulled out from beneath them and the air being pulled from their lungs.
It wasn't enough, though.
She closed the distance between them in just a couple of steps. "I hear this armor's supposed to be impenetrable," she hissed, her voice trickling out like water. "Why don't we test that out."
She grabbed the berserker's mask, feeling the energy bubble beneath her skin, burning to get out. It felt like it was eating her from the inside. She needed to let it out.
↬
It felt like hours before the hot pain subsided and Elise was able to open her eyes. All she found was white. It wasn't a blinding, painful white. It was light and warm, like cotton. Once her eyes adjusted, she looked around, finding the space around her empty, save for a table and two chairs.
A woman sat at one of the chairs, her brown hair hanging in long, smooth waves down her back as she stared at the space in front of her. The woman's hands were folded on the table in front of her, and Elise could make out a small smile on her face.
"You're here a lot sooner than I expected," the woman said, turning her head to look at Elise. "Though, I admit, time does move a bit strangely here. Come, sit." The woman motioned to the seat sitting on the opposite side of the table from her.
Elise moved to stand, but found that she was already on her feet. The woman seemed a fair distance away, but Elise had only needed to take a single step to reach the table. The brunette looked around, her brows furrowed in confusion as she sat in the chair. "Where am I?" she asked. "Who are you?"
"I'm not surprised you don't remember me," the woman said wistfully. "We never formally met."
Elise's eyes widened with recognition. The brown hair, the honey eyes. She was older than the photos, but it was certainly her. "Mom?"
Everett smiled.
"What are you doing here?' What am I doing here?" Elise asked, though the second the words left her mouth, the memories came flooding back. "Am I dead?"
Everett's smile disappeared. Her eyes shifted down to her hands and her head tilted to the side as she considered her words. "Yes," she said. "And no. This is the place between."
"Between what?"
"Physically speaking, yes, we are dead. The vestige has taken the life from your body, feeding on it," Everett said softly. Elise's breath caught in her throat. She couldn't remember anything past them getting out of the van, not even the sound of the engine being turned off. "But in all other regards, we are still alive."
"Why can't I-"
"Not remembering what happened is for the best," Everett interrupted. "It wasn't pleasant. I spent most of my time here trying to remember what happened. All I learned from that time was that it's best not to dwell."
Elise's lips parted in shock. "Have you been here this whole time? Alone for all these years?"
Everett nodded, her eyes mournful. "Sometimes it feels like I've only been here for a second, other times it feels like an eternity." The sound of shuffling footsteps drew the pairs attention, and they both peered over Elise's shoulder to find the faceless woman. Everett took a deep breath, her eyes refocusing on Elise. "Well, I suppose it's time."
"Time?" Elise asked, "Time for what?"
"When I first got here, I was too weak to save myself. I won't let the same thing happen to you," Everett said, a sad smile forming on her lips.
"You mean," Elise said slowly. "I-I can go back?"
"Unless you want to stay. It's not all that bad here. There's no pain, no suffering," Everett said. Elise could see in her eyes that her mother already knew what she would say.
"I can't," Elise said softly. "My family, I can't leave them like this. I have to at least try to get back to them."
Everett nodded, a proud smile forming on her lips despite the mournful look in her eyes. "I understand." Everett got to her feet, gently pulling Elise up with her. Elise's vestige shuffled closer, her tangled hair matted to her head and scratches littering her face.
"Wait," Elise gasped. "What about you? Can't you come?"
Everett shook her head solemnly. "I've been here far too long to claw my way out," she said.
"I-I don't want to leave you," Elise said. "There's so many things I need to ask and I-"
Everett smiled sadly. "You'll find the answers, honey. You always have." She placed a hand on Elise's cheek, wiping away the tear Elise hadn't felt fall.
"I'll find a way to get you out, I promise," Elise said, her voice cracking. "I'm going to get you out of here."
Everett nodded, pulling Elise into a hug. "I know you will." She pulled back from the embrace and took a deep breath. "This is going to hurt, honey. You're going to be killing a major part of yourself. Other things that your magic stifled will come to the surface. Just know that I'll be here with you. You'll always have me by your side."
"Thank you, Mom."
↬
Elise awoke gasping for air. It felt as if her body had been torn apart and pieced back together by a child playing doctor with their broken toys. She coughed, her yellow eyes darting open as she jerked upward, her chest rising and falling rapidly. Then, before she could so much as register where she was or who owned the startled, tear-stained faces looking down at her, she was engulfed in a tight hug.
↬
Elise watched as Chris Argent boarded the van with the Calaveras. The sun had risen, making the desert air hot and dry- a stark contrast to the night. Chris had promised the Calaveras that he would work with them in return for aid in the battle against Kate and her berserkers.
The van sped away, leaving a cloud of dust in it's wake as the rest of the group began ambling back to their own vehicles. Elise leaned against the side of the van, staring at the desert landscape before her.
"You know, I really thought I'd lost you," Derek sighed as he came to stand next to her. When Elise had awoken, his was one of the first faces she'd seen. His death had been a transformation of sorts. The mortal, human body he's been trapped in following Kate's curse has been destroyed, leaving him in his original state, with a few new abilities.
Elise's death hadn't left her unchanged, either. Her powers had surfaced because they'd been triggered by the introduction of something else into her blood when Peter Hale had scratched her. With it gone, new abilities would start to surface- hopefully ones that were easier to control than her previous ones. "I could say the same for you," she said, a small smile making it's way across her face. "How about we make a deal?" She prompted, turning to face him. "No more dying. At least, not for a long, long time."
Derek nodded, a small chuckle rising in his throat. "I think I can get behind that."
"Come on, you two," Stiles called from the back of the van. "If we leave now we can make it back before dark, which would be great considering we have two new wolves coming back with us, now."
As Elise and Derek climbed into the back of the van, Harper glanced at her niece, a small smile forming on her lips.
"So, what's next for you guys?" Elise asked.
"I think we'll stay in town," Harper said, earning a grin from her daughter. "It seems like Beacon Hills might need a few witches to keep everything in line."
"What about you?" Nancy asked, her blue eyes alight.
"Everett's still trapped somewhere," Elise sighed. She glanced to her left, offering Derek a small smile. He nodded in return. "We're going to try to find her. To bring her back."
With that, the van rumbled to life, and Elise turned to look out the back window of the can as they left the desert behind.
↬
My biggest regret for skipping chapters is that I didn't get to write enough Braeden/Jenessa moments. I was originally planning on having Elise only go after the berserker because for some reason I thought Derek killed Kate in the s4 finale, but he didn't? Because this story isn't being continued to 6b, Kate dies here! Derek kills her while Elise is ~dead~ but Elise puts her pretty close to death and actually does kill the berserker (in case I didn't make that clear). Also, I'm really upset because I've been planning this ending since I started the first book in this series and I just don't feel like I really did it justice. Like I just feel like I wasn't able to communicate Elise's thoughts and emotions or even just her actions as well as they were laid out in my head. I guess that's just how writing is, though. You can't ever make it exactly how it is in your head. That said, if y'all are confused about anything, please just comment and I'll try to explain it. I probably left some things out in the filler at the beginning of this chapter, but honestly, I wasn't sure what I included and what I didn't because it's been so long since I've written. I feel like I made it seem like Elise was fine just walking to her death, and I think that's mostly because of the missing chapters. Basically, I've been trying to build up to this for the entire book. Elise's power was always going to kill her, and she knew that. She basically decided that she might as well go out trying to protect others and get revenge for those she'd already lost. Also, to clarify: Elise's powers were awakened when Peter scratched her as an Alpha. Because she already had magic, she didn't become a werewolf. When that power was taken away, however, the ability to stifle the effects of the scratch also was lost, meaning that she is now a werewolf rather than a witch.
I don't really know how to end this note, because it's going to be the last. It's kind of ycrazy, like I've been working on this story for years and now it's finally over. Not in the way I'd wanted or the way I'd planned, but the final chapter had been published.
I have a couple of things in my OC book (Serendipity) that have been sitting there for the better part of a year to give you guys some clues as to what happens after this, but I might post a short epilogue giving you guys a little peek at where Elise and Derek are after this story ends.
I guess all I can say is thanks for reading and interacting with me and this story. Your support and feedback has meant more than you guys know and is the entire reason I'm finishing this story.
Words: 3834
Feedback is most appreciated <3