The temple of Tezcatlipoca, Mexico
"I was told I'd find you here," Chloe's voice echoed through the debris. Finding the church had been the easiest part of this journey. Now she was inside the church, she rethought her decision to come here alone. The place emitted a strangely familiar aura. It was warm and welcoming to her. She had to leave here soon.
The church was empty, covered in debris, but she went further down the stairs. There was no one in sight, only cobwebs and dust. Chloe kept moving she knew she was here and she could hear every sound she made in here. This was her territory.
She pushed on, listening for the slightest movement. Her target was on the run, but she was in no shape to face beserker if she finds one. She was dressed to fight in comfortable jean and combat boots, degrading of her status but after all she has been through, it didn't matter.
The spiral of stairs led to a cave looking basement. It had been several minutes, and she heard nothing. Chloe moved through the almost narrow part till she felt a rush of air go past her. Whatever that was, it was fast; too fast for her. The wolves were used to fighting but for her kind they just need food and for that they would do anything.
Chloe halted her steps. She understood the message; here was far enough. She did not want to go any further. This place was just too odd.
"I have not come to kill you." She yelled, hearing her voice resound back to her. "I have a deal for you, I can help you get what you want."
Chloe felt the rush of air again. It was working.
"I can help you kill Scott McCall." she told her.
In two seconds Chloe was shoved at a nearby wall, followed by the roar of a wounded animal. She gasped for air. The stone was hard, but she pulled herself to her feet. Through the reflection of the moonlight and the glowing green eyes in the darkness, she knew it was her; Kate Argent, the bone woman. Chloe glanced through her form angry yet weak, keeping a comfortable distance.
"That's right, you haven't fully healed and it only matter of time before your brother comes for you. The reason he's not here right now is I kept him busy. You're the least of their worries." Chloe loved it when she had the upper hand. She took steps closer.
"If you died here, no one would care, no one is coming for you, Kate."
The ground shook, causing Chloe to drift towards the ground. It didn't have to repeat itself, there was a Beserker here. She should have expected it; Kate was too weak to fight she would need protection while she healed.
"You get nothing if you kill me." She told her now aware that she could die too.
"I don't want to kill Scott McCall." Came a soft defeated scratchy voice in the shadows. It sounded nothing like her roar. What a pity.
"Then I will give you the one thing you need, Help me and I will give you your freedom."
"Who the hell are you?" Katie question. Chloe could tell she was not used to accepting favours.
"Just a woman filled with hate and anger, just like you. We're the same you and I. Killing your father didn't help, but it gave you a sense of peace. You could have had a normal life. Had kids, little hunter. But because of your sins, your own brother locked you away. All because you turn into something monstrous."
"You're wrong." Kate cut in. "I have alway been this monster, Chris was the only one who saw it. He could have saved me too if Gerald didn't encourage me."
"I agree, so prove it. You could have gone back to you cage, yet here you are. You still want a chance to live, don't you? We're too old for second chances."
Kate did not reply she weighed her options and Chloe let her think. She did not know this woman. How could she trust her?
"If you're going after Scott McCall, then you're on a suicide mission. You won't have a second chance." Kate finally spoke.
"You're mistaken," Chloe told her. "I already had my second chance and this is a path I chose. This way I will make my enemies suffer."
"What do you want?"
"Your family has a place where no human or supernatural can penetrate, where is it?"
"That would be the cage I was in, there's no breaking in or out."
"Then how are you here?"
"Make no mistake, Chris Knows I'm here. He hasn't sent someone because he knows I deserve this break, but I don't want to go back there. I didn't get out. It was Allison's death anniversary, and they flew me in so i escaped. It has been weeks, easy to assume he won't come but i know he will. He hates me too much to let me go."
Chloe hated that she had to listen to this sob tale but she let Kate finish before asking the most important question.
"Where is the prison?"
"I don't how to get there, but it's in Spain." Kate told her.
"One more thing, where do they keep it?" Chloe dared to go closer, they had an agreement now she was safe. She got close enough to see Kate's reaction to her question.
Katie's eyes widen. She realized what this woman wanted. She never saw it herself, but she heard tales of the chaos it brought.
"You want to resurrect the demon that KILLED ALLISON!!" Kate shouted, suddenly finding strength.
"Thank you for your help, miss Argent. I will keep my promise." Chloe said and turned away from her. She wanted to be sure it was in that prison. Now he knew. She entered the car waiting for her outside and they drove off, hearing Kate's screams of agony. Once again, she would betray her family.
* * *
Five years ago, Spain.
"What's that thing Scott says." Isaac muttered to himself.
He sat next to Derek by a slightly dim fire. They were in a small town far from the city. This place was deserted at night time. Derek brought him to this pack far from civilization. It was safe for him after what he had to do. Their Alpha was strong, and the pack had numbers.
The Argents used him for a lot of undercover work. And this time Derek was around to save his ass. Derek caught him up with everything happening in Beacon Hills. It was painful to realize that even if he wanted to go home; it wasn't safe. He moved around so much he could not understand what home meant.
It has been years, and things remained in the middle; not too good and not too bad. Isaac wondered when the balance would come. Derek did not reply answer; Scott said a lot of things as a teenager. How was he to remember?
"Something about regression to the mean." Isaac added, and Derek looked up from the floor.
Derek saw Isaac differently now. Like Scott and the others, he had to grow up quickly. It surprised him that the small boy he bit made it this far. He brought him here in good faith. The Alpha was good friends of his family he would be safe here. He wondered what Isaac was afraid of. Derek listened and waited for Isaac to finish before he told him anything else.
"Things have been great, but I have a feeling were about to leave the middle." Isaac raised his eyes to meet Derek's. The rest of the pack were within hearing distance and they knew they were being watched.
"I still have nightmares of that night Derek." Derek was catching on. He suspected there was something between Isaac and Allison. "Argent says nothing about them if he knows." He hugged himself.
"I miss her so much" He continued. "I keep thinking, what if someone used me to release it from its cage, Allison would have died for nothing?"
Derek did not like the Isaac he saw now. It was too familiar to the sixteen-year-old who blamed himself for things he had no control over. It was the same man he saw when he saved him earlier. He wasn't fighting back; almost like he wanted to be killed. He trained him to survive not die like a dog.
"Derek," He called, but Derek only looked away, knowing what he would ask. Why was he always put in this position? There was no way he would take the life of his former beta. Not again.
"I thought you would be smarter by now," Derek said. "I was wrong."
Isaac gasped. So he knew what happened at the abandoned mall. Derek knew he was going to let them kill him.
"It's better this way." Isaac said, even though he didn't believe it.
"Nothing will change if you die Isaac. Someone will find it and release it, and you won't be here to stop them. Then Allison would have really died for nothing. Isaac, I know it hurts, but you must live. If you want to let it go, there's another way. Don't be stupid, Isaac. Not now when Scott is relying on you."
Isaac did not expect this from Derek. He expected he would see things from his point of view. But Derek was right, he was being pathetic. He was being weak, and he swore never to be weak.
Derek didn't have to spell it out, he knew what his options were. He looked in the direction where the Alpha of the pack sat, talking with a native from the town down the hill. He would have to trust a stranger to enter his memories and get rid of it. He would have to trust they would not kill him by accident. But then he forgot one thing: this Alpha has to agree to take away his memories.
* * *
Present Day, San Francisco.
Hayden was pulled into a deep hug the moment the door swung open. It was Lydia. Hayden hugged her back, feeling a sense of peace. The longing in her heart she pushed back often climbed back to the surface. Was this what it meant to be part of a pack? They had been separated almost ten years and yet here she was.
Listening to Lydia's recording in the car, she could tell she had grown into a beautiful woman and looking at her now that was an understatement. Lydia was beyond beautiful. She looked even more beautiful than when she was in highschool.
"Was he hard on you?" Lydia asked her, referring to Isaac. She turned to Isaac who had an eyebrow raised at her.
"I knew it!" Lydia exclaimed.
"Oh good, you're here." Chris says walking in.
"Mr Argent?" Hayden questioned as he dropped two bag packs. Only then did she notice the tall man standing behind Chris. He was older now and looked slightly different, but she would never forget what he's done.
"What is he doing here?" Hayden gritted out.
"We need everybody we can get." Chris told her bluntly, going back inside as Theo dropped the bags he held.
"I'm not working with him." Hayden turned to Isaac. "I don't even know you and I have to work with him?"
"Hayden, calm down," Lydia pleaded.
"Lydia, we can't trust him, it's Theo! Stiles wouldn't want this."
"Stiles is the one who recruited him." Isaac told her sitting on the couch.
"What?! What is really happening here? He's a murderer!"
"You seem to forget the part where I saved your life." Theo said, making Hayden turn back to him.
"You killed Byran and Tracy. Not to mention your own Sister!!" Hayden shouted.
Tear were forming in her eyes. When was the last time she cried? She never thought she'd see Theo again after leaving Beacon Hills.
"Collateral damage." Theo replied bluntly, making Isaac look up. "I know I'm a bad man, but I'm not the same Theo, believe me Hayden."
Hayden walked away inside the Hotel to find a bathroom. She felt like she was going to lose her lunch. Reaching the bathroom, she washed her face. Pushing back her memories from Beacon Hills. It was hard because there was one person there she really wanted to see.
She walked back into the room to talk to the only sane person here.
"I don't trust him." she tells Lydia.
"I don't trust him either." Isaac said from the couch.
"Your case is not different." Hayden turned to him. "You weren't there, you did not live through it like we did."
"I know that, but he tried to kill Scott. One day I'll pay him back for that."
"You guys!" Lydia called out. "The nogitsune will take advantage of your weak point and kill all of you. This is what he does; chaos. If things are like this now, how would it be if someone frees that thing. It will kill all of us, including Liam and Scott."
"What do we have to do?" Hayden asked after a moment of silence.
"We work as a team. For this mission we must trust each other."
"Fine." Hayden growled.
"Are you kids ready?" Chris asked as he walked back in, stressing the fact that they behaved like kids just now. They ignored him, but Isaac stood up.
"Chris will be taking us to the Prison, we have to leave tonight." Isaac explained. As they gathered round the table, she sat at.
"Why the hurry?" Lydia asked. "We haven't found Kira yet."
"We're out of time. The Kitsune that knocked us out has been in Beacon Hill the past few days we spent getting this two. They will know where the prison is by now." Isaac caught Lydia's reaction. Something was wrong.
"How? Lydia said you don't know where it is in the recording." Hayden cut in.
"Kate. She has been on the run for months. She would tell them if the price was good." Chris said, dropping a picture of Kate on the table.
"We have to be there day before they arrive so we can stop them from getting in and we need a good plan." Isaac continued.
"What about Kira?" Theo asked suddenly remember she could send him back to his prison.
"For now, she's Plan B. Liam and Stacy are trying to find her right now. If it doesn't work, we're on our own. Let's hope this doesn't get back to Beacon hills."
"You think this demon wold go there?" Hayden asked.
"That is where it was born." Lydia answered.
"One more thing, Chloe Whitmoore. She's the brain of this whole thing. She will come for me. When she does Back down." Isaac says.
The room was silent as if they knew if it came to it he would give his life for them, but they did not know it wasn't just for them.
- # # # -
I noticed Nogistine has hit 100 reads i'm so happy! Thank you for the love you've shown this story so far. There's more to come.
Apologies for the late update. We're nearing Christmas season so things are a bit loud. Next chapter will be published on Thursday.
Much love,
Tonia ❤️