Chapter 12 : The 16 Hours
Hour One
"Okay, you can let go." Deaton told us. I removed my hands from the water.
I took a seat in between Scott and Stiles. Both of them were lifeless. It made me want to choke. The sight of two of my best friends almost dead. I leaned onto the bin that Scott was in. I made fist with my hands, my short nails scraping over the floor. "You said it would only take a few seconds, right?" I asked from the floor.
"It should only take a few seconds, yes." Deaton told me. "And Caitlin, put the flames away."
I looked down to my hands, both of them were on fire. I closed my eyes, holding them closed for a few seconds. When I opened them my hands were no longer a blaze. But Allison Scott and Stiles were still in the water. My breath went from quick to normal to quick. Like I forgot how to breathe.
"Cait." Isaac took a seat next to me. "We have to keep our hopes high. Especially you, because when you're sure, then so is everyone else."
"Yeah. Yeah okay."
I looked at the clock. Trying to match my breaths, make them normal. Every three seconds I took a breath in, held it for four seconds, then let it go. I repeated that, over and over again. I watched the clock for at least 10 minutes. "I thought Deaton said only a few seconds." Isaac put his hand over mine on the floor.
"Hey, I'm sure they're fine." Isaac said.
I leaned on Isaac's shoulder. I watched as Lottie started to pace behind the bins. I closed my eyes, for once wanting a vision to pass over my mind to take the idea away that they were dead. But nothing came, just the black dots that come when you close your eyes.
I opened my eyes again, nothing had changed. "Caitlin."
"Yeah Doc?"
"Why don't you take a walk." I nod and stand from the floor. Isaac passes me his phone.
"Don't get taken this time." I laugh a bit looking back at Scott's body.
I stopped laughing when I looked at him. I just shaked my head trying to get the fear out of my veins. I step outside the clinic. Immediately the wind picks up, my hair bushing over my face. I take a few steps, the winds get quicker. I hold my breath, trying to get the winds to stop. I walk back into the clinic. Scott Stiles and Allison still lay at the bottom of each tub. I went back to my seat on the floor in between Scott and Stiles.
Hour Two
"Deaton, it's been a little over an hour." Evlynn said, checking her phone.
"They should be fine." My heart was still going crazy. If it all ends right here Scott would never find out who I was. I promised him I would explain.
Let's think about that, right? That will take my mind off everything.
When I tell him what being the doppelganger is, I'll start with explaining what even is the mulit-verse. Then I would tell the story of how we ended up on earth 40. Then I would explain who I wasn't related to either the twins or Lottie. I would tell him everything. Even small things like why Deaton thinks I have visions.
Oh who am I kidding? It's been more than an hour, Deaton said it would only take a few seconds. All three of them were still under. The water was still, and I could no longer see any of their faces under the ice.
I kept thinking about the two times I saw Scott's eyes go from gold to red. The one time with Deaton, when he almost died. I thought of the look of guilt on Scott's face when Peter guessed that Scott was a true alpha. The way Derek wouldn't look at anyone, like he couldn't believe I was right. I thought about how right before Scott's eyes closed under the water they shinned red.
I leaned my head back on the lip of the tub Scott was in. The cold metal still managed to warm my skin. I felt Lottie lay her head in my lap. She had stopped pacing around four minutes ago. I started to play with her hair. It was like when we were back home. When the two of us and the twins would have movie night. How we talked about everything from how Chloe thought my brother was hot, or how Evlynn was such a girl-next-door and how even as a sophomore Lottie was kind of a player. How I never did anything when it came to boys. I smiled looking down at Lottie, I knew she couldn't remember the thoughts covering my mind.
I tilted my head to the side. Isaac was sitting chris crossed, Evlynn in his lap. Deaton and Lydia were playing a game of chest at the one table in the room. Chloe had taken it upon herself to sharpen all of Allison's weapons. I check the clock. 1:16. Tonight was the lunar eclipse. Me and Jennifer would be the only people with power.
"Isaac?"
"Yeah Cait?"
"You know what happens tonight, right?"
Isaac looks back to Evlynn, "No I don't."
I lean my head back against the tub. 'Just come back to me, okay?' I hear my own words playout in my mind. They blend with Ethan's 'We need the true Alpha in this fight. We need the doppelganger in this fight.' Even Stiles voice comes into my head, 'Cait keeps having those fortune telling visions, like a lot of them. And at this point it looks like it's physically hurting her.'
Hour Three
"You kids should go home. I'll watch the three of them." Deaton said.
"No." "No way." "I'm not leaving." "Not happening." "Nope." "I'm staying." All six of us mutter an answer.
"Then at the very least try to sleep." Deaton told all of us.
Not much had changed in the last hour. Stiles, Scott and Allison were still under. Lottie and I haven't moved, and neither has Isaac and Evlynn. Lydia and Deaton had finished their game, now Lydia was just trying to make the pieces look pretty. Chloe had laid herself on the table with all of Allison's weapons, but most nothing changed.
I was still looking at the clock every three minutes or so. I yawned once or twice, but I would not sleep. I noticed Lottie had fallen asleep. Even Deaton began to drift. It seemed only Isaac Lydia and I were the only ones awake. "Isaac?"
"Yes Caity?"
"Why is my sister in your lap?"
"Uhh- well - we were talking and she fell asleep."
"I'll tell you what I told Stiles when he flirted with Evlynn. Friend code, no siblings. EVER."
"Off limits got it." Lydia laughed at my loonacy.
"You think they're gonna wake up?" Lydia asked, standing from her chair.
"They have to. Innocents will die otherwise."
"Yeah Isaac's right. We need Stiles brian. Allison's recklessness. And maybe most of all Scott Leadership. I mean, we'd all be dead without these three."
"And now they might be dead because of us."
"God. Lydia don't say that please."
"Yeah, I mean they can't be dead, right?"
"Right." Isaac says, all three of us with half smiles.
"Yeah, they're not dead. I mean Deaton said it would only take a few seconds, and we are going on hour four and none of them are awak."
"Lydia! Don't worry about it, for all of us please?" I asked, playing with Lottie's hair once more.
"Cait?"
"Yeah Lydia?"
"What Does Scott look like with red eyes?"
"Much of the same. A little scarer, a little more sure of himself. They glow, almost beautiful, if you ignore the fact that fangs and claws come with them." Lydia strikes a laugh.
"Well I think I might crash myself. If they wake up, wake me up."
"Sure thing."
Hour Four
Isaac had fallen asleep soon after Lydia. I was the only person awake anymore. Slowly I moved Lottie's head from my lap. I kneel on the floor next to Scott. Some of the ice had melted so I could now see his face.
"Am I about to do this? I'm talking to myself anyways why does it matter. Okay, here goes, my sanity. Scott, for the love of god come back to us. Come back to Me. I can't- I can't leave this world if I know you won't be in it. Scott, people need you." A tear slips from my eyes. "You can't be dead. I mean I never got the chance to tell you the truth. Or do normal best girl and guy friend things, like getting drunk making out. I just- I just can't leave knowing you didn't wake up. Knowing you didn't wake up when I pushed you under. Scott please, just wake up."
"Miss Roads you can't rush it." Deaton's voice came from behind me. I nod and sit back on the floor.
"Deaton, why did you call me by my last name? My real last name?"
"Because we don't need Caitlin Holmes the witch. Right now we need Caitlin Roads the doppleganger. The protector of worlds."
"Well I'm not very good at that job."
"You'll get better. Get some sleep Caitlin. If they wake up I'll wake you first."
I nod, closing my eyes. As I start to drift one image covers my mind. Scott, red eyes, sitting in my room, a smiler brighter than the sun covering his face. But the image subsides as I felt my head slip down the lip of Scott's tub.
Hour Five
When I woke up only an hour had passed. I had my head on Lottie's shoulder as she played with her phone. The whole room smelled like mistletoe. I guess it mixed with the water.
Lydia was once more messing around with the chess board. Isaac was playing with Evlynn's hair as her and Chloe were just talking. I stood from the floor, my legs shaking from not standing in over five hours.
I walked over to Allison. Her eyes were closed and her hair was floating to the top of the water. Her body shivered every once and a while, but it didn't look like she was breathing.
I turned to look at Stiles. His eyes were half open. The water swept the little bit of hair away from his face. His pale skin was even paler from the water. A few pieces of ice still floated around on the top of the water.
I walk around the side of the tub by Stiles head to look back at Scott. The black lines of his tattoo were now visible under the wet blue martial of his shirt. There was a piece of mistletoe stuck in his hair. And his pants floated around his ankles.
All three of them would shiver every few seconds, as if they were connected. I looked at my hands, the small flame burning in both. I hear Isaac whisper something to Evlynn, as he stood up.
I felt him warp one arm around my shoulders turning me so my head was in his chest. He put his other arm around me, a silence sob shaking my body. I didn't even know I was crying till I felt the material of his shirt on my check.
"They're gonna wake up." Isaac whispered in my ears as a new set of tears found their way to his shirt.
Hour Six
Blake lines from mascara still lined my cheeks. I didn't want to think about what may be the truth. They had been under for over five hours, it was meant to take seconds. They could be dead. Allison's hair was still floating to the surface of the water.
I could feel my heart against my chest, as I wrapped my hands around the edge of Allison's tub. I leaned over her head, I was all too hopeful she would feel my presents and wake up. But she didn't, her body stayed still on the bottom of the metal bin.
My knuckles started to turn white on the edge of the bin, prompting me to let go. "Deaton, do you have a notebook?"
"Out front."
I walk out of the back room. There was a pile of spiral notebooks in one of the cabinets. A good third had Scott's name on the inside of the cover. I took a pen from one of the baskets. I took a breath and started to write.
Dear Scott McCall,
Scott I'm sure you have questions for me. Starting with 'what the hell is the doppelganger?' I am. My Family is the Roads, protectors of the mulit-vesers. Yeah that thing Lydia went on about that one time, it's real. I'm the only one of my family who can travel from earth to earth. Yeah you heard that, I'm from a different world. That's what the visions are, showing me the world I'm meant to protect. To be fair they usually only happened to my Mother, but once I got here and stayed for a few months I started to get them as well. I also want to point out that Aiden doesn't die tonight. He's killed by something called an Oui, they respond to a kitsunna. There's something you don't know that I do, you fall in love again. A kitsunna named Kira, she's sweet and innocent. Until she finds out her mom wished for death and pain. Life gets better, but only if you wake up. I know I pushed you under that water with a thousand questions running around your head about me. I just want you to know you can still trust me. I still have emotions. I'm still human.
With Hope and Love,
Caitlin
I picked up my pen from the page looking at my name. Slowly I put the pen back on the page.
With Hope and Love,
Caitlin Roads
Hour Seven
I wrote the last letter of my name and looked back at the clock. We were entering hour seven of the three of them being under. I folded up the letter and walked out into the dark of the night.
I took a few breaths in before lighting my hand with a flame. I brought the paper over the fire light and set it on fire. I turned paper over so the fire light set a small orange glow down my arm.
The paper cracked and turned black as the flames moved down the paper. The small blue lines turned yellow then black as the burning page. When the only thing left in my hand was ash I went back into the building.
As I opened the door Deaton stood waiting for me. "I saw what you were writing."
"You gonna call me out?" I ask, pulling my hair into a ponytail.
"Just going to ask if you wanted me not to say anything why do you believe he would have questions for you?"
"Deucalion referred to me as the doppelganger in front of him."
"I see." I nod and walk back to the back room.
I take a seat back in between Stiles and Scott. Now the twins have taken over the chess board and Isaac was toying with one of Allison's knives. Lottie was kneeling over Stiles.
I looked back out the small window. The moon hung overhead, you could see some of the creators even in the dimly lit room. Life was on puse as the seven of us waited. Seven hours had felt like seven year, and we just refused to bury the bodies.
As that thought crossed my mind I remembered what taught me from the confinement of my cell.
"Lottie." I turned to grab one of the jars from the shelves. "I need you to make a mountain ash circle."
"How big?"
"Four inches in diameter. Not big."
She took the jar from me and did what I asked. Slowly I placed my hand against it, pushing, and pushing till my veins went yellow. I started to black out as the vision took me over.
The room stopped spinning and I stood before the Alphas. And Scott. Ms Morell stood in a mountain ash circle. I turned at the sound of growls from behind me. The twins stood there, eyes red. I turned back to where Scott was. Deucalion opened his mouth but unlike last time I couldn't hear anything. He took the top of his cane and threw It at Ms Morell making her fall from the mountain ash circle. Scott imdity ran to her side. Standing over her so none of the Alphas would hurt her. (Little flaw in Deucalion's plan. If you wanted to kill everything with a heartbeat and made a true alpha you apprentice he really wouldn't approve of anything you did.) Scott pulled the cane from Ms Morell's shoulder as a white light spread over the scene.
I was now standing in a distillery. Much like the one Peter described to Stiles and I. Jennifer was standing in a ring of mountain ash. The orange shadow of the lunar eclipse above us. Scott was the only person to rise from the ground. "You sure you want to do that Scott? It didn't really work the last time." Jenifer said as Scott placed his hands on the barrier. Scott doesn't care much as he pushes forward. The room glowed blue as Scott took a step forward. The blue light soon swallowed me and brought me back into Deaton's clinic.
Hour Eight
I sat up from the floor gasping for air. Everyone was standing over me. "What did you see?" Deaton asked in his normal calm tone.
"I'm not sure. The scene was clear as day but it ended abruptly."
"What could you make out?" Isaac asked as he helped mr from the floor.
"Uhh, Scott and the Alphas. There was this one where the Alphas tried to kill Deaton's sister and Scott stopped it. But that one didn't have words. And there was a second one, that had the lunar eclipse overhead. Jeniffer was taunting Scott as he tried to push past a circle of mountain ash. The room started glowing and then I woke up."
"The lunar eclipse. Wait, that's tonight." Elynn said walking over to the tub that held Scott. "That means they wake up."
Lydia walked over to Evlynn, "So I guess now the only question is, when will they wake up?"
"In time. But as long as we know they do." Chloe said joining the two on the other end of the room.
Hour Nine
I was still pacing around the room, even once and a while looking down at Scott, Stiles, and Allison's blank faces. My feet grew heavy from the weight of my shoe's sole. I took my seat in between Scott and Stiles once more.
I exhaled a few breaths without taking more air in. I still felt weak from the whole mountain ash circle thing. I gave in and laid my head in Lottie's lap, letting my tired eyes fall closed.
Hour Fithteen
I woke up to Lottie playing around with my hair. I sat up rubbing away the last bit of exhaustion. When I stood up I wanted to fall back down. Scott Stiles and Allison were still under even as the sun was starting to show.
I walked around to the other room where Lydia and Chloe were sleeping, a coloring book in each of their laps. Isaac was passed out on the other side of the hall, an unwrapped crayon in his left hand. I laughed as I walked by to the dogs.
As soon as I walked into the overnight clinic a small golden retriever puppy ran up to me. "Hi cute." (I mean maybe this is hypocritical, but like why talk to animals they don't talk back.) The puppy moves around me as I pet it.
Small little paw prints came off the dirty paws as I followed the small animal to the back of the room. There were a few other dogs in the room but the only one awake. The small animal was the only thing distracting me from the fact that my best friends were underwater.
Hour Sixteen
I walked out of the dogs clinic. Lydia was now awak and had left the hall. Chloe and Isaac were still asleep on either side of the hall. The brick wall of the back room caught my attention, as it looked like a five fold knot was painted on. But just like in my cell when I blink the symbol is gone.
"Caity?" Evlynn said coming up behind me.
"Yeah?"
"You okay?"
"Yeah." I smile, shaking off the thought of a five fold.
I walked over to the far side of the room, next to Scott's tub. I placed my hand on the side of the metal. For a split second the room turned whit and I saw a tree stump. Quickly I removed my hand and the white room was gone.
All the ice above Scott had melted by now. The small mistletoe pieces still floated in the now lukewarm water. The green plant felt like the only color in the room as I thought about the bright white room. I don't even know what that was, there wasn't even anything in the room. It was just LED white with a huge tree stump in the middle of it.
Suddenly Scott's hand comes out of the water, damping my hair. Immediately I stand running to get him towle as he pulls the rest of himself out. Stiles and Allison were doing the same as Chloe and Isaac came back from the other room. It was like dominos as their heads came up. First Allison, then Stiles and finally Scott.
Scott stands from the water as I wrap the towel around him "I saw it. I know where it is."