We're nearly at the season 3A finale!
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As we sat, I noticed Stiles staring at me. "What's going through your head?" I asked him quietly.
"I just-" He started. "You can choke someone with the air around them, you obviously have some control over air. Why not use that to slow my breathing yourself."
Biting my lip, I shrugged somewhat, "This had to be something you had to do by yourself. I'm not going to force you out of a panic attack. Plus, I don't think I'd know how to do that."
He nodded slowly, thanking me again. He didn't have to, but he did anyway.
Stiles and I left the locker room hand in hand, meeting Lydia on the way out and heading directly to the parking lot.
"Hey, Ri, didn't your sister say you had an appointment with Morell today?"
My walking pace slowed for a moment, before I continued, "I think there are more pressing matters."
Stiles nodded at first, before he decided to slow. His eyebrows were pulled inwards, eyes focused in thought.
"Stiles? What are you thinking?"
He looked up at Lydia and I, eye widening somewhat, "Morell."
Without bothering to go into depth about whatever it was he was thinking, he turned around and walked away quickly, dragging me with him. I could hear Lydia's heels tapping fast as she tried to keep up.
When we reached Morell's office, Stiles pushed the door open without knocking, walking into the room. Lydia and I followed without question, knowing nothing would stop Stiles when he had an idea.
Stiles looked around, actually noticing that there was already a student waiting for the counsellor. "Are you here for Ms. Morell?"
"No. I thought this was gym class," she answered sarcastically.
Lydia rolled her eyes, whipping around to face her, "Sweetheart, we're not in the mood for funny. Do you know where she is?"
"If I did, I wouldn't be waiting here for twenty minutes," she answered, throwing her hands up. "So how about you three back out the door and wait your turn?"
Putting my phone back in my pocket, I smirked a little, "Technically, my turn is next."
"Riley, not right now," Lydia said beneath her breath. She then looked back at the girl, "We're not here for a session."
"Well, I am," the girl replied simply. "And I've got some serious issues to work on."
Stiles took half a step back, taking a better look at the girl. "Hey, wait, wait. You're Danielle. You're Heather's best friend."
"I was Heather's best friend. We've been working on that issue three times a week."
She looked away from us, most likely thinking about Heather. I couldn't say for sure, but I think I did see her at Heather's party that first night. The night everything began.
It felt like so long ago.
"Hold on, did you say Ms. Morell's twenty minutes late?" Lydia backtracked
She glanced up at Lydia, shrugging, "And I don't know why either. And she's always on time."
Thinking back to my sessions with her, I noticed the pattern that Heather's friend was pointing out. "I have to agree there," I told Lydia and Stiles. "She was never late. Not once."
Lydia nodded, "I was seeing her at the beginning of the semester. It was the same for me."
"Then she's not late. She's missing," Stiles concluded.
"What if we're not the only ones who think she knows something?"
Stiles glimpsed over at our counsellor's desk, before walking over to it, "Then I want to know what she knows."
He pulled open the desk door and began to rummage through her files.
Heather's friend leaned forward in her chair, "What are you doing?"
"Trying to find her."
"Those files are private."
Nodding, I dropped a hand onto his shoulder, "There's a line, Stiles."
"And she's kinda right about those being private," Lydia pointed out.
Stiles dropped two files onto the desk, one after the other, "Here are your files."
Lydia and I quickly snatched up our personal files, forgetting all about what we had just. I opened mine quickly and began to read.
Riley Winters
- Was at the Sheriff's station with Matt Daehler
- Witnessed her mother's death
- Minor PTSD as a result
- Sarcasm as a defence mechanism
- Trust issues
- Won't talk to me
- Has missed at least half of our sessions
And that was just the highlights considering the file contained many more pages. I didn't have time to read them all, unfortunately, as Lydia and Stiles began leafing through hers.
"Wait, Lydia, that's your drawing," Stiles pointed out as Lydia turned a page. And indeed, it was the drawing I had seen over and over.
Lydia looked confused, "Yeah, I know. It's a tree."
Stiles went over to Lydia's side of Morell's desk, leaving me on the other. I closed the file drawer, looking at the drawing.
"Yeah, it's good too," Heather's friend complimented.
"Thank you."
"No, but that's the same one, though," Stiles said quickly.
Resting my hands on the edge of the table, I looked at the drawing. "What do you mean?"
"It's the same one I always see Lydia drawing in class. Haven't you noticed?"
"I mean, yeah I noticed, but it's a tree," I shrugged.
Lydia nodded, confused, "It's a tree. I like drawing trees."
Realising that we weren't catching on to what he meant, Stiles grabbed the piece of paper and also pulled Lydia's book out of her bag. "No, but it's the exact same one. Don't you guys see?"
He flipped to the first page of Lydia's notebook, sitting it beside the one in Morell's file.
"There, see?"
Analysing the drawings better, I began to see what Stiles was saying. Each branch and limb were in the same spot, the same length, pointing in the same direction.
"Holy shit," I muttered. "A coincidence maybe?"
Stiles shook his head, turning page after page, revealing tree after tree, each the same as the last.
Heather's friend stepped back and picked up her backpack, "Okay, you can have my session. You got bigger issues."
She was out the door moments later, leaving us three staring at the pages.
Lydia was beginning to freak out, her eyes wide and her breath shaking, "What is this?"
Staring at the drawing from my vantage point, I took into consideration that maybe I wasn't the one looking at this drawing upside down.
"I don't know," I said as I picked up a drawing and turned it around for the other two. "But, what if it's not a tree?"
Stiles' eyes grew as he examined it before making eye contact, "I know where they are."
Lydia shoved her book back into her bag as I returned the files back to the drawer. I couldn't think of anywhere in Beacon Hills that looked like that, but Stiles had seen more of this town than I had. Plus, he was able to connect dots better than me.
"It's the Nemeton," Stiles explained as we left Morell's office. "That where she's keeping them. It has to be."
"Stilinski," Someone called from the other end of the hall, interrupting him before he could continue. Looking past the lingering students, I saw Scott's dad walking towards us.
"Of course," I sighed, rolling my eyes.
Stiles pursed his lips, turning to Lydia and I, "All right, look, go to Derek, okay? He and Peter, they've been there before, so they'll know where it is. Tell them it's the root cellar, all right? they'll know."
When Stiles went to meet McCall half way Lydia waited for me to follow, before I shook my head, "I'm staying here. I'll text you."
"Okay. Be careful," she told me.
"You too."
We went our separate ways, me speeding up to catch up with Stiles. When he looked at me with confusion, I grabbed his hand. "Like I told you, I'm not going anywhere."
I felt him squeeze my hand as we stopped walking, coming face to face with Scott's father.
"And Winters. Of course," he sighed. "Stiles, did you know your dad's car is in the school's parking lot and has been since last night?"
Stiles hand stiffened in mine as he shook his head slightly, "No. What does that mean?"
"It means he's officially missing," Detective McCall said, almost seeming sympathetic. "Would you mind if I asked you a few questions?"
"Only if Riley can come with me," He responded. McCall nodded, leading us into an empty classroom. He leaned against the teacher's desk, while Stiles and I sat on the desk in front of him.
The man took a moment to assess us both before putting his attention onto the boy sitting beside me. "Stiles, why am I getting the feeling you know something that could help us find your dad?"
"If I did, why would I not tell you?" Stiles almost bit, his tone walking the line of harsh.
"If it meant helping your dad, why wouldn't you?"
"So you're asking me to tell you what I wouldn't not tell you?" Stiles asked him. I bit back a smile at the boy's attempt to confuse the detective.
McCall's mouth opened, before closing, before he finally spoke. "First, I have no idea what you just said. Second, how about you just help me help you?"
"Well, I don't know how to help you help me tell you something that would help you if I don't know it."
The detective cocked his head to the side, "Are you doing this on purpose?"
Even I was a bit lost, to be honest.
Stiles sighed heavily, "I don't know anything, okay? Can we just go?
"Where are your other friends? Not including Riley," He asked, ignoring Stiles' question.
"You mean Scott?"
"I mean Scott," He nodded, flipping through his small notebook. "I mean Isaac Lahey, Allison Argent, these twins Ethan and Aiden. I've been told your whole little clique didn't show up at school today
Stiles squinted, "We don't have a clique."
"Stiles, come on. There's been a pretty disturbing amount of violent activity. In this county in the past few months, several murders tied to this school. I don't know what's going on here, but it's serious. Your dad is missing."
The boy remained silent and as did I, both of us not ready to talk to Scott's sad excuse for a dad. Stiles was avoiding eye contact, staring down at his hands. We needed to get out of here so that we could help the people the Darach had taken.
McCall stood up, placing his notebook back in his jacket pocket. "Fine. But I don't want you going home alone. You have someone you can stay with tonight?
I was just about to answer, when someone at the door took the words right out of my mouth. "He's with me."
The three of us glanced over to see doctor Deaton. I think this was the first time I had seen him without his veterinary coat on. He stood in all black, a serious look on his face. Doctor Deaton always seemed to know what was going on, and now he was here to help us.
♡♢♤♧
Deaton took us back to the veterinary clinic where we met up with Allison, Lydia, and Isaac. All we knew was that the missing parents - or 'guardians' - were at something called the Nemeton.
"It has to be on a telluric current, or maybe even at the axis of two or where they all intersect," Stiles told us. He was still terrified about his father being missing, but he had managed to pull himself together to try and find him.
"I just know it's where Derek took Paige to die."
Allison stepped forward and placed her hands on the metal table. "My dad and Gerard were there once. But Gerard said it was years ago, and he couldn't remember where it was. And my dad obviously isn't here to tell us now."
"Yeah, mine either."
I wrapped my arm around Stiles' shoulder, hugging him from the side. "We're going to find them."
"Okay," Isaac said. "So, how do we find this place?"
Doctor Deaton finally broke his silence from the corner of the room. "There might be a way. But it's dangerous."
"Of course it is," I sighed.
"We're gonna need Scott."
"We'd better go and get him then." Grabbing my phone out of my pocket, I dialled Scott's number as Stiles, Deaton and I headed out of the clinic.
♡♢♤♧
Stiles drove us to the woods and we waited for Scott there, standing in front of the Jeep with the headlights on. When Scott finally arrived, the first thing he asked us was how we found out about the Nemeton.
"Lydia," Stiles answered simply. "You?"
"Morrell," Scott told us. "None of the other Alphas know where it is either."
"So if this works, are you gonna tell them?"
The werewolf hesitated, shifting on the spot. "I can't stop Jennifer without them."
"How about we concentrate on finding your parents first?" Doctor Deaton suggested.
"What's the plan?"
"Essentially, you, Allison, and Stiles need to be surrogate sacrifices for your parents."
"We die for them?"
I held up a hand, "I'm starting to not really agree with this plan anymore."
"It'll be fine," Stiles tried to reassure me. "The doc can bring us back." He turned to Deaton for a moment, words fumbling, "You can- you can bring us back, right?"
Deaton looked at him, taking no time to mince words, "You remember the part where I said it was dangerous? If it goes right. the three of you will be dead for a few seconds, but there's something else you need to think about.
"This is a dangerous thing for more reasons than one. You'll be giving power back to the Nemeton, a place that hasn't had power for a long time."
"So, what does that mean?" I asked quietly.
"This kind of power is like a magnet," Deaton explained. "It attracts the supernatural, the kind of things that a family like the Argents can fill the pages of a bestiary with. It will draw them here, like a beacon."
Like Beacon Hills.
Stiles squinted in thought, "Doesn't sound any worse than anything we've already seen."
"You'd be surprised at what you have yet to see."
"I think that werewolves and killer lizards are plenty enough, thanks." I tightened my jacket as a breeze began to shift through the forest.
"Is that it?" Scott asked.
Deaton almost looked like he wasn't going to answer. "No. It'll also have an effect on the three of you. You won't be able to see it, but you'll feel it every day for the rest of your lives. It'll be a kind of darkness around your heart, and permanent, like a scar."
"Like a tattoo."
Realising we didn't have much of an option, I walked over to the Jeep and opened the passenger door. "We should probably get going then."
♡♢♤♧
We went back to the veterinary clinic and began to put Deaton's plan to action. We were setting up three bath tubs just like we had done for when we tried to get Isaac to remember what happened at the bank.
Lydia, Deaton, Isaac and I had now just finished filling the baths with water, ice, and mistletoe. Allison, Scott and Stiles had just gotten back to the clinic.
Deaton had sent them each to find a something special that belonged to each of their parents.
"What did you bring?" Deaton asked them all.
Stiles held up a small gold star. "Um, I got my dad's badge. Jennifer kinds of crushed it in her hand, so I tried hammering it out a bit. Still doesn't look great."
"Well, it doesn't need to look good if it has meaning."
After looking to see what Allison had brought, Isaac spoke aloud, "Is that an actual silver bullet?"
The girl nodded. "My dad made it. It's kind of a ceremonial thing. When one of us finishes learning all the skills to be a hunter, we forge a silver bullet as a testament to the code."
Deaton acknowledged her item, before turning to the last replacement-sacrifice. "Scott?"
He opened his hand to reveal a woman's watch. "My dad got my mum this watch when she first got hired at the hospital. She used to say it was the only thing in their marriage that ever worked."
"Okay, the three of you will get in. Three of us will hold you down until you're essentially. . . well, dead. But it's not just someone to hold you under. It needs to be someone who can pull you back, someone that has a strong connection to you, a kind of emotional tether."
Deaton looked at us all, knowing we already knew who we would be paired with. Stiles and I stood side-by-side as Lydia walked over to Allison, leaving Scott with Isaac.
The Doctor nodded, silently agreeing with out choices. The three of them then prepared to step into the baths.
They all stripped themselves of their jacket, shoes, socks, and Allison took down her hair. I could hear each of their heartbeats beginning to speed up as they walked over to stand behind a bath each.
Since I was going to be with Stiles for the rest of this, I went to give Allison a hug, and then I went to Scott.
"See you on the other side," he smiled.
With a small laugh, I hugged him tightly. "Good luck, Scottie." I gave him a small kiss on the cheek, before going over to my boyfriend.
I grabbed Stiles' hand as he stepped closer to the bath. "I'm still not too sure about this."
Stiles put his free arm around me and pulled me towards him. "I've got you to keep me tethered, I'm going to be fine."
We stood hugging for a moment and I felt safe in his embrace. I just hoped I could be as strong for him as he always is for me. "I love you, Stiles."
"I love you too, Riley."
He then kissed me lightly on the lips, before the three of them began to climb into the baths. They each gasped as they touched the water, the freezing liquid shocking them all.
As per Deaton's instructions, Isaac, Lydia and I began to slowly push our friends under the surface of the water. I watched as Stiles took a deep breath just before his eyes and mouth closed and his face went under.
When he began to need air, he started to struggle. His hands grabbed at mine, trying to push them off of his shoulders where I was holding him down. I bit down on the inside of my cheek to stop myself from reacting, holding myself together as I held him in place.
Finally, all three of them stopped moving.
I had actually drowned my boyfriend.