Odette's outfit
Chapter Four
⊚ Unleashed ⊚
Odette lied deep asleep in her bed, seemingly peacefully until she started breathing heavily. Flashes of a guy and a small dog ran through her mind, "He's got two brothers at home named Beretta and Trigger- military family." The words echoed slightly as the dream changed.
Now, instead of seeing flashes, it was almost as if Odette was living it in the guy's perspective.
She could feel that she was leaning against a tree as her head throbbed. All of the sudden the feeling of something tighting around her throat made her gasp out as she actually felt like she couldn't breathe. Her hands flew up as she tried to pull against whatever was around her throat but then a knife came into view and the perspective changed again.
Now she was standing in front of him. His head was bashed in and there was a dog leash around his neck. Someone in a dark cloak stood behind the tree as the pressed the knife to his throat before dragging it across in a quick motion.
Odette's hand flew up to her mouth, trying to hide a scream but who ever was behind the tree seemed to hear her. The figure suddenly charged towards her making her jump and gasp as they stood behind her. She could feel their breath on her neck as they leaned forward making her squeeze her eyes shut.
"The ultimate sacrifice..." She heard them whisper. She went to turn to look at them but right as she was about to look at their face she was suddenly pulled out of the dream.
"Odie!" Allison yelled as she lightly shook Odette who suddenly shot up with a shakey gasp. Once Odette caught her breath she looked over to see the worried faces of her cousin and uncle. "Are you okay? We heard you scream but when we came in here you were still asleep and whispering something." Allison said and Odette took a deep breath and nodded.
"I'm fine, it was- it was just nightmare." She said and Argent raised his eyebrows, "You've been having those a lot lately." He said and she sighed and shrugged. "It's probably just the natural dark energy of the town, my empathy isn't used to it yet. It's fine, dont worry." She said calmly but they still just looked at her worriedly as flashes of the dream still played on in her head.
⊚
"Are you sure you're okay?" Allison asked as she drove herself and Odette to school, "Alli, I promise you I'm okay. It was just a nightmare, people get those all the time." Odette said and Allison sighed. "Yeah, but-" Allison started to say but Odette cut her off.
"It's fine, Allison. You don't have to worry, they'll pass once my magic gets used to the energy around here." Odette said and Allison sighed and nodded before glancing at the back in Odette's lap. "Okay but are you sure you're okay enough to do track. And I thought you wanted to do Lacrosse like you did in France."
"I have to do something athletic until the Lacrosse season starts. Fighting other werewolves will only do so much for me." Odette said and Allison chuckled as she pulled up to the school. "Just know, when you do start play lacrosse. It gets intense here." Allison said as they got out the car and Odette laugh.
"Oh Alli dear, you should've seen the games at my old school. I'm pretty I knocked at guys tooth out once."
⊚
The cross country team gather beyond
the fence. Ahead, trails lead into the outlying woods. At the starting line, Isaac kneels to tighten his shoelaces. But then pauses, holding still. Gripping the laces, his hands curl into fist as he slowly turns to find Aiden getting into position on his right. Ethan steps in at
his left. Both looking on Isaac like an old rival. Coach blows the whistle and the twins race forward, moving far faster than any other runner.
Stunned, Isaac kneels there, motionless. But shock falls away to fury and he rises, bolting forward when- Scott grabs him, yanking him back. Isaac looks at him with eyes glowing yellow, "It's them." He said before shrugging free of Scott's grasp.
"Isaac, wait--Isaac!" Scott called after him but ut he's off, vanishing into the woods ahead. With a frustrated breath, Scott charges after him.
"Is this normal?" Odette asked as she and Stiles watched Scott and Isaac run off into the distance and Stiles sighed softly. "I think it's starting to be." He said and she nodded, "Should I go after them?" She asked. "Feel like dealing with a few werewolves?" He asked and she pursed her lips slightly and shook her head, "I'm good." She said and they started walking.
It was quiet for a moment before Odette spoke up, "I can talk to you right? About weird supernatural stuff and you won't suffocate me with worry?" She asked and he looked over at her with furrowed brows and nodded and she sucked in a deep breath.
"Ever since I came here, I've been getting nightmares almost every night. Normally I wouldn't care but lately they've people dying and then hours later they turn up dead. And I shouldn't be dreaming of people dying, I'm not a Necromancer Witch. And I've been feeling three times more protective over Allison then before, I'm becoming really protective of Lydia." She explained and he shrugged slightly.
"Isn't being protective of your friends and family a good thing?" He asked and she sighed, "Being protective is normal but this protective only happens to Protector Witches and I'm not that. And then theres what happened last night." She said making him look at her. "What happened last night?" He asked and she slightly shook her head.
"Before my dreams were only really short flashes, but last night was different. It started off as flashed but it changed to were it was like I was the person being killed. I could feel something wrapping around my throat and I actually couldn't breath. And then it changed again and this time I was standing in front of the person and watched as a knife slid across their throat." She explained and Stiles looked at her wide eyed, "Sounds... terrifying." He said and she nodded.
"And that's not even it. I screamed and it was like the killer heard me and they stood behind me and whispered something." She said and he raised his eyebrows, "What did they say?" He asked. She was about to answer but all of the sudden a loud scream ripped through the woods making them look at each other wide eyed before running off in the direction.
They run into a clearing where the rest of the team has gathered. Stiles and Odette pushes forward to look while
Scott steps in beside him. "It's him, isn't it?" Stiles asked looking at Scott who
doesn't have to see the face to know who it was. Because this time the garrote used to crush the young man's larynx is not made from wire.
But instead, a dog leash.
"Stiles." Odette said making him look at her, "He's who my dream was about." She said, not looking away from the body as his eyes widened.
⊚
Tearing through the woods, hands pushing aside errant branches, Graeme and other Deputies try to keep up with Stilinski who leads the charge. They breach the clearing where a cluster of teenagers surround the body. "Hey, get out of the way! Get back! Get this area cordoned off before they trample every piece of evidence." Stilinski said and a couple Deputies started trying to push the crowd back.
"Back up! Everyone back!"
"Get these kids out of here!" Stilinski yelled and Stiles stepped forward, Dad, just come here. Look, look! Look at it- it's the same as the others, you see?" Stiles said, pointing at the body and his father sighed and nodded tiredly. "Yeah, I see that. Do me a favor? Go back to school, yeah?" He asked making Stiles frown slightly as Stilinski turned to Coach, "Coach, can you give us a hand, here?"
"You heard the man! Nothing to see here! Probably just some homeless kid." Coach called out and Scott stepped forward this time, "Coach? He was a senior." He said making Coach's eyes widen. "Oh... He wasn't on the team, was he?" He asked making Odette roll her eyes slightly.
Suddenly, a panicked voice cries out from behind them. Heads turn to a girl named Ashley frantically pushing her way through. "AHHHHHH! KYLE! Oh, God, Kyle! Oh, God!" She screamed as Deputy Graeme grabs her before she can get to the body. She struggles, but then finally relents, falling into Graeme's arms in grief-stricken defeat.
"Go on! Go." Stilinski yelled and the team started walking away.
"You see the way the twins looked at him?" Isaac asked when they were out of ears shot from other students and Stiles scoffed. "Yeah, you mean, like, they had no idea what happened?" He asked and Isaac shook his head, "No. No, they knew." He said making Stiles squint at him.
"The kid was strangled with a garrote, all right? Am I the only one recognizing the lack of Werewolf-itude in these murders?" Stiles asked and Odette nodded, "Stiles has a point. I don't think a pack of alphas would take their time bashing someone's head in then strangling them and then cutting their throat when they have razor sharp claws." She said and Stiles dramatically gestured to her.
"Thank you!" He said and Isaac raised his eyebrows at them, "Oh, you think it's a coincidence they turn up and then people start dying?" He asked and Stiles pursed his lips. "Well, no, but I still don't think it's them..." He said before turning to Scott, "Scott?" He asked making Scott look up at them alarmed.
"How 'bout you?" Isaac asked and Scott glanced between them awkwardly, "...I don't know yet." He said making Stiles squint at him. "You don't know yet???" He asked and Scott shrugged slightly,
"Well, he's got a point... Seriously, dude? Human sacrifices?" Scott asked and Stiles looked at him appalled.
"Scott, your eyes turn into yellow glow-sticks, okay? Hair literally grows from your cheeks and then will immediately disappear, and if I were to stab you right now, it would just magically heal. Let's not even start about how Odette over here is both a werewolf and a witch. But you're telling me that you're having trouble grasping human sacrifices???"
"That's a good point, too..." Scott said and Isaac shook his head slightly, "I don't care. They killed that kid. They killed the girl that saved me. I'm gonna kill them, too."
⊚
"Come with me." Stiles said as he grabbed Odette's arm the second she walked out of class and started pulling her down the hall, "Where?" She asked. "We're going to go talk to Ashley about Kyle." He said and she nodded slowly, "Why do I have to come?" She asked.
"Because you're the only one on my side and you haven't annoyed me yet. And you both are and seem like a nice person so hopefully you being there will make it go better." He said and she furrowed her brows slightly, "Is that a compliment?" She asked and he nodded.
"Yes."
They walk up to the office right as the door opens and Ashley walks out, escorted by a Deputy. "Um, hi, Ashley. Hi. Can I talk to you for just one sec?" Stiles asked nervously and she nodded slowly, "Sorry, I just need to ask you something really quick, and it's gonna sound really unbelievably insensitive, so I apologize in advance... Um... Was Kyle a virgin?" Stiles asked making Odette look at him weird, not expecting that would be the thing he asks.
"What?"
"Your boyfriend- was he a virgin, or did you guys... You know what I mean-" Stiles tries to ask but was cut off when she slaps him. Hard. Stiles's hand comes up to his cheek, but he's more stunned than stung. Odette just stood there, jaw dropped, watching in shock. "No. He wasn't a virgin." Ashley said before a Deputy pulled her away as Stilinski walked up to them
"Have you completely lost your mind??? I've got four murders, Stiles. You see those men in there? That's the FBI- they're pulling together a task force to help, because it looks like we've got a full-blown serial killer on our hands. You get that?" Stilinski asked and Stiles nodded, "Yes, Dad. I get that."
"Then what are you doing?" Stilinski asked and Stiles sighed, "I'm trying to find a pattern." He said before grabbing Odette's arm and pulling her down the hallway again.
"That was what you were going to ask her?" Odette asked incredulously, "If I had known you were going to ask her that I would have tried to stop you." She said and he glanced at her. "How else are we gonna figure out if he's exactly the same as the other?" He asked and she sighed and shrugged, "I don't know, but you don't just ask a girl is her dead boyfriend was a virgin." She said as they walked up to Kyle's locker.
Photos of Kyle with Ashley, a perfect looking couple. A picture of Kyle on a skateboard, one in a Raiders jersey, another with his dog, Bullet. Stiles steps back to leave and nearly walks right into Boyd, "Whoa! Hey, Boyd! I didn't know you were back at school!" Stiles said and Boyd shrugged slightly.
"Yeah, I would have told you, but we're not actually friends." He said making Stiles purse his lips and nod slightly, "Oh, yeah... Hey, so, did you, uh... so, did you know Kyle?" Stiles asked and Boyd nodded.
"Yeah, we were in junior ROTC together." He said as he places an airforce ROTC patch with the words "Crossed Into the Blue" hand written below it. "So, you two were friends, then?" Stiles asked making Body look at him, "I only had one friend... She's dead, too." He said before walking away.
"Well that was awkward." Odette said and Stiles nodded in agreement.
Trying to whisper but rarely succeeding, Stiles and Odette follow Lydia down the corridor. "You know that there's a temple in Calcutta where they used to sacrifice a child every day? That's every day a dead baby, Lydia-- every day! Hey, you want to know what today is? It's Dead Baby Day. Oh, no, wait, that's every day, because every day is Dead Baby Day, yay!" Stiles said making Odette look at him confused "What?"
"Why are you telling me this?" Lydia asked exasperatedly, "Because Scott is dealing with the Alpha twins." Stiles said making Lydia stop, turning to him with a look of alarm. "Do you not know about the Alpha twins?" Odette asked
"Alphas?"
"Ethan and Aiden...?"
"Oh, yeah. Yeah, I knew about them." Lydia lied making Odette raise her eyebrows at her, Stiles on the other hand apparently didn't catch the lie or didn't care. "Okay. Okay, good. So, look, he's what I'm thinking- I'm thinking that the murders maybe come in threes. Ancient people love things in threes, right? So, maybe first it's three virgins, and then, I don't know... Maybe it's three people who own little dogs?"
"I own a little dog." Lydia said then noticed the look on Stiles's face, "I am not getting rid of my dog!"
"Would you just think about getting rid of your little dog?"
"No! And, by the way, you cannot discern a pattern by a single data point, so stop trying. And why are you dragging Odette around with you?" Lydia asked and Stiles's eyes widened slightly, "She asked!" He said making Odette furrowed her brows. "No I didn't, but I don't mind." She said making him gestured to her.
"See! She doesn't mind. And so, what? I'm just supposed to wait around for someone else to die, then? I'm just supposed to sit there and watch them die? Just wait around for them to wither up and die right in front of me?" Stiles said making Odette look at him confused again, "Wither?" She asked. "You know what I mean! Die, in just a hideously awful, strangulating, head-bashing, throat-cutting kind of way!"
"Maybe it's not your job. You said it yourself, they were strangled with a garrote. That's a human thing to do, so... Maybe just leave the figuring it out part to someone human?" Lydia said and Odette hum slightly. "Stiles is human." She said making Stiles dramatically point at her while Lydia shot her a look, "One, don't encourage him. And two, I mean your dad! The Sheriff!"
⊚
Deaton leans over a file making notes when the front door of the animal clinic chimes and Stiles enters, holding the door open of Odette. "You're out of school early." Deaton said and Stiles nodded, "Yeah, free period, actually." He said awkwardly.
"Um, I was just headed home to see my dad. He's, uh... You know, I guess you probably heard people are kind of getting murdered again. It's his job to figure it out." Stiles rambled making Deaton nod, "I gathered as much from the "Sheriff" title." He said and Odette chuckled quietly.
"Yeah, um... You know, but it gets kind of hard for him to do his job when he doesn't have all the information. And we all know he's missing pretty much half the story here, right? So then, I started thinking, and I remembered someone else who does have a lot of information. Someone who always seems to know more than anyone else around here. You." Stiles rambled again and Deaton hummed slightly and nodded before looking at Odette.
"Oh, right. This is-" Stiles started to say but Deaton cut him off, "Odette." He said, smiling softly at her making her eyes widened slightly. "You know who I am?" She asked and he nodded, "Ton Père et moi étions amis." He spoke in french making Stiles looked between the two of them confused while Odette just raised her eyebrows.
(Translation: Your dad and I used to be friends.)
"I didn't even know my father very many friends. Let alone any in America." Odette said and Deaton smiled and nodded, "You're quite famous in the supernatural world being the first Argent to be born a werewolf and then become the first were-witch. A lot of people knew you and your father." He said. Stiles and Odette glanced at each other wide eyed as she sucked in a deep breath, "That's a bit terrifying." She muttered.
Deaton smiled softly before opening the small gate to go into the back of the clinic. "Come on in." He said and they followed him into the examination room.
"All these symbols and things- the triskeles, the bank logo, the mountain ash- all of it is from the Celtic Druids. And anyone who has ever looked up "human sacrifice" before knows that the Druids had a pretty big hard-on when it came to giving one up to the gods." Stiles explained as they walked into the back were Deaton had a bunch of jars and more on one of the metal tables.
"You ever hear of the Lindow man? Two-thousand-year-old body found in England? He was found strangled, head bashed in, throat cut-- three-fold death. They also found pollen grains in his stomach... Guess what favorite Druid plant that was?" Stiles asked and Deaton picked up a jar and pulled out a small branch of the plant. White berries stuck amid dark green leaves making Odette's eyes widen slightly as she quietly took a step back.
"Mistletoe."
"I'm just telling you everything you already know, aren't I?" Stiles asked and Deaton didnt answer, "Then why aren't you telling us???" Stiles asked and Deaton sighed softly.
'Maybe because when you've spent every moment of the last ten years trying to push something away- denying it, lying about it- becomes a pretty powerful habit." He said and Odette came up to stand next to Stiles,
"So this person... are they a Druid?" She asked and Deaton shook his head.
"No. It's someone copying a centuries-old practice of a people who should have known better. Do you know what the word "Druid" means in Gaelic?" He asked and Stiles shook his head, "No." He said and before Deaton could say anything Odette spoke up.
"Wise oak." She said making them look at her and Deaton nodded, "The Celtic Druids were close to nature. They believed they kept it in balance. They were philosophers and scholars- they weren't serial killers." Deaton explained and Stiles sighed. "Yeah, well, this one is." He said and before anyone could say anything Odette's phone started ringing making her pull it out to see Lydia calling her.
"Hey, I can't talk right now." She said when she answered it but Lydia quickly spoke up, "The music teacher is gone." She said making Odette furrow her brows. "Wait, what?" She asked, "The music teacher is missing. Gone. Not here." Lydia said, completely freaked out making Odette look at Stiles and Deaton with wide eyes.
"Are you sure he's missing?" She asked making Stiles park up slightly, "Not just missing- taken."
⊚
Deaton hits stop on the recording on the tablet, a disconcerted look in his eyes. "Can we get a copy of this?" He asked and Lydia nodded and takes the tablet and opens a browser on it to upload the music file to a cloud storage server while Stiles and Odette scours the teacher's desk and room for clues.
"Hey, Doc...? Any help would be, you know... helpful." Stiles said, "Each grouping of three would have its own purpose, it's own type of power. Virgins, healers, philosophers, warriors..." Deaton said making Odette's head shoot up. "Wait, warrior, could that also be, like, a soldier?" She asked making realization cross over Stiles's face.
"Absolutely." Deaton said and Stiles pulls out a photo of the Music Teacher from an open desk drawer. It's a wedding picture. Arms around his wife, he wears the military dress of an Army Officer. "Kyle was in ROTC with Boyd. That's got to be it. That's the pattern." Stiles said glancing at Odette who nodded in agreement, "Where's Boyd?" Deaton asked.
"He's probably home by now. I'm gonna try and get him on the phone." Stiles said as he pulls out his phone while Deaton notices Lydia's expression. "Lydia...? Something wrong?" Deaton said and Lydia who shook her head. "No, it was...I mean... I just thought of someone else with a military connection."
"Who?"
"It's sitting right on his desk... the West Point honor code." Lydia said making realization cross over Stiles's features, "Harris." He said making them all look at him.
They quickly run out of the room and over to Harris class to see Harris no where in sight. Deaton glances up from the West Point plaque on Harris's desk to Stiles, Odette and Lydia in the otherwise empty room. "This is just one of many possibilities. He could have simply left for the day." Deaton said trying to stay optimistic.
"Yeah, well, not without this..." Stiles said, holding up Harris's briefcase before his eyes wander to the uncapped red marker atop the tests Harris was grading. One is marked F. One an A. The next a D. But Stiles picks up another paper with a curious look. "What?" Odette asked noticing the look on his face. "This test is graded R." Stiles said and she stood next to him, looking at all the tests.
"This one's H." Odette said as Deaton steps between them. He picks up the tests, moving several around to form a word. One with an ominous impact on his expression. "You guys remember I told you "Druid" is the Gaelic word for "wise oak?" Deaton asked and they nodded, "Yeah..."
"If a Druid went down the wrong path, the "wise oak" was sometimes said to have become a "dark oak." There's a Gaelic word for that, as well." Deaton said and they all looked down at the lines up tests that spelt a word
"Darach."