xi. cold to the touch (reprise)
chapter eleven
cold to the touch (reprise)
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"COME ON, Derek!"
Odessa Stone sighed from her spot outside of the elevator. The hospital seemed to finally be empty of Alphas and the lights were completely shut off. After she and Stiles watched Scott walk away with Deucalion, they went back to Derek who was still passed out in the elevator. The two teens didn't speak about what happened a few moments ago, but they felt the heavy weight that fell upon them when they watched their friend turn his back on them. Odessa didn't even try to console the boy, knowing it wasn't the right place or time, no matter how much she wanted to help. She just had to listen to his shaky breaths and rapid heartbeat and help him when the time was right.
After a few good slaps, nothing was working to wake the Hale. Stiles lifted his fist and brought it down, only for the man to catch his wrist before it could connect with his face. The blonde turned her back from the hallway to face the two.
"Where is she," Derek asked gravely, looking around the elevator.
"Jennifer? Gone with Scott's Mom."
"He took her?"
"Yeah," Stiles nodded rapidly, his breathing still erratic, "and if that's not enough of a kick to the balls, Scott left with Deucalion, okay? So we gotta get you outta here. The police are coming right now, and we gotta get you the hell out of here."
Derek sat up with wide eyes, his hand still wrapped around Stiles' wrist, "woah. What about Cora?"
"She's safe, Derek," Odessa interjected, "she's with Peter and Isaac on the other side of the building."
Derek didn't hesitate to speed out of the elevator, leaving the two teens in silence. Now it was time to hold off the cops.
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The sound of sirens was something Odessa was getting used to. The blonde sat next to Stiles in their chairs against the hospital hallway, the two not saying anything to each other. Odessa wanted to start something to take his mind off of what he was thinking, which was no doubt his Dad, but she knew nothing would work. The door opened to see a man in a suit, presumably giving orders to the FBI agents that roamed the halls. It was only when the man look over to them did the Stone see Stiles' reaction.
"Who's that," the girl asked, watching the man stride over.
Stiles sighed, leaning his head against the back of his chair, "someone you don't want to know."
The man stopped in his tracks in front of the boy, "a Stilinski at the center of this whole mess. What a shocker," as he spoke, Odessa's eyes widened while reading his badge; Agent McCall, Scott's Father, "think you can answer some questions without the usual level of sarcasm?"
"If you can ask the questions without the usual level of stupid."
Agent McCall chuckled humorlessly before turning to the blonde, who was watching him closely and quietly, "and who might you be?"
"Odessa Stone," the girl introduced dryly, "I just moved to town."
"You got parents, Odessa?"
"... No," Odessa answered hesitantly, glancing over to her friend. She shuffled uncomfortably in her chair, "I've been living with Melissa and Scott since I got here."
Agent McCall seemed surprised that she spoke of his ex-wife and son, but didn't press on it. He had more urgent issues ahead of him. The man turned back to Stiles, "where's your Dad, and why's no one been able to contact him?"
"I don't know," the Stilinski answered, "I haven't seen him in hours."
"Is he drinking again?"
Stiles looked down with a heavy sigh, "what do you mean, again? He never had to stop."
"But he did have to slow down," the man pointed out, "is he drinking like he used to?"
"All right, how about this," Stiles started blankly, seemingly fed up with the Agent's words, "next time I see him, I'll give a field sobriety test, okay? We'll do the alphabet, start with 'F', end with 'U'."
Agent McCall smiled falsely at the boy's words, "how about you just tell me what the hell happened here?"
The Stilinski exhaled sharply, but before he could answer, Odessa spoke first, causing both guys to look at her, "we don't know," she lied, "we were stuck in the elevator the whole time."
"You two aren't the ones who put the name on the doors, are you?"
Stiles looked up intrigued, "what name?"
Agent McCall's eyes looked between the two teens, "Argent," the two didn't show a reaction, but on the inside they both felt their hearts stop, having an idea of what it meant. The man continued, not picking up on their knowledge, "look, if you two come up with any knowledge of what happened here, or see your Dad, don't hesitate to call the station," and with that, he walked away, causing the two teens to let out heavy sighs.
Odessa pursed her lips, looking to her friend, "I'm sorry he spoke to you like that, about your Dad."
"Don't apologize," the boy shook his head, playing with his hands, "he's always been a dick," he looked to the doors, seeing officers slowly leaving the scene, "do you wanna head to my house for the night? I was gonna catch up to Argent and Allison to warn him. You can come with me if you want."
"That's okay. Thanks, though," Odessa smiled lightly at his offer, "I was gonna head over to Lydia's, see how she was doing," her voice got softer with her last thought, "seeing as it's my fault she got hurt..."
Stiles' eyes softened, being completely unaware of her struggle with guilt, "Odie—"
"It's okay," she got up from her seat, causing him to do the same, "you can always stay at... my house," she offered, not knowing if she was allowed to call Scott's house hers, but did anyway, "I know I don't mind, and I'm sure Isaac wouldn't. No one should go home to an empty house."
Without her noticing, Stiles' figure slouched slightly at the sound of Isaac's name, forgetting she lived with him. He didn't give her an answer, only responding with, "come on, I'll drop you off at Lydia's," before walking ahead of her, leaving Odessa to look after him with furrowed brows. What had she said or done to change his demeanor?
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Sleep didn't come easy for Odessa. Once Mrs. Martin let her through the door, the blonde asked as many questions as she could about her friend's condition. Mrs. Martin informed her that Lydia had bruising on her neck and was exhausted, but other than that, she was ultimately fine. When the Stone reached Lydia's room, the strawberry blonde was sitting against the headboard of her bed, looking blankly ahead. Odessa didn't say anything. She just took off her shoes and sat next to her friend. They stayed like that for most of the night, and eventually, Lydia fell asleep, leaving Odessa to her thoughts screaming at her in the silence of the room. The blonde didn't even realize it was morning until the sun peeked through the closed blinds. Odessa sighed as she ran her fingers through her friend's hair, Lydia had fallen asleep with her head on Odessa's lap.
What could she have done differently? Odessa basically led Lydia right to Ms. Blake, or at least that's what she had been telling herself. As soon as she saw the empty hallway, she should've taken Lydia far away from there. Or she should've been able to hear Ms. Blake's heartbeat and breathing from a mile away. Seeing her faults, the blonde couldn't help but wonder if anything would've been different if she hadn't lost her memories. Maybe she came from a place where people like her were trained and disciplined—like she saw in her dreams. But like most days, she pushed her own struggles to the side. When this was all over, she could focus on improving her abilities and fighting skills and finally be useful to her friends.
Odessa didn't bring any attention to her lack of sleep, even though Lydia noticed the bags under her eyes right away. Around 8 in the morning, an hour after the girls started to get ready for school, Mrs. Martin came in with two cups of coffee and a soft smile. Odessa took small sips as she watched the mother daughter duo from her spot on Lydia's bed.
"Okay, sweetheart," Mrs. Martin started, watching her daughter trace her fingers on her bruised neck, "this is not a problem. Having gotten my share of hickeys in high school, I developed some patented cover-up methods," the woman eyed her daughter carefully, "if you don't want to go to school, honey, you don't have to."
Lydia shook her head, eyes still on her reflection in the mirror of her vanity, "that's not it. It's just... someone tried to strangle me... and I survived. I don't need to hide that."
"No. No, you don't," her mother kissed her cheek, "but we're still gonna do your hair, right?"
"Of course we are doing my hair."
As the mother and daughter laughed together, Odessa couldn't help but look down to gaze at her coffee cup, feeling like she was intruding. She wondered if she ever had moments like that with her Mom. The blonde always had thoughts about what she looked like, how she acted. Was she kind? Was she in love? Did she miss her daughter? No matter how many thoughts roamed in her head, Odessa had a feeling none of those questions would be answered any time soon.
Odessa flinched at the sound of her phone chiming, "sorry," she muttered to the pair in front of her before seeing who texted her, "hey, Lyds," the girl called, "Stiles is on his way over."
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"I don't believe it," Lydia spoke after Stiles told her what happened at the hospital the night before, "Scott can't really be with them. He can't be."
Stiles sighed, glancing over to Odessa, who kept her eyes on her hands, "you didn't see the look on his face, though. It was..."
"Lost," the Stone finished for him, looking up to glance between her two friends, "he looked lost."
"Then what can I do," the strawberry blonde asked, "I mean, I get that I'm some kind of, like, human geiger counter for death, but... I don't know how to turn it on and off yet. All I know is that she tried to kill me because of—"
Stiles furrowed his brows at the thoughtful look that came across Lydia's features, "because of what? Hey, Lydia, what?"
"When she called me a Banshee," Lydia started, eyes wide in realization, "she was surprised by it. What if that's not why she tried to kill me?"
Odessa frowned, "then why did she?"
"That's what we need to find out."
Lydia excused herself to get her bag for school, leaving Odessa and Stiles together in her living room. It was quiet, only the sound of the clock ticking on the wall, until the latter spoke.
"You okay?"
Odessa glanced up at the boy, who watched her closely, "yeah, why wouldn't I be?"
"Because you look like you haven't slept, like, at all."
His blunt response made her chuckle shortly, "I'm fine, Stiles, don't worry about me."
"Odie, you know what happened to her isn't your fault—"
"Stiles," she spoke sharply, causing him to close his mouth. The blonde kept her gaze firm while her tone softened, "all I wanna do is help you find your Dad and Melissa, and stop Ms. Blake. After that you can ask me how I am... okay?"
The Stilinski was hesitant to answer, wanting to push her to talk to him, but knew her intentions to help over trumped her ability to worry about herself, and it was useless to try and convince her otherwise. So he simply responded, "okay."
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The halls of Beacon Hills High School were buzzing with teens who were ready for their classes of the day. Odessa used her morning before classes started to catch up with what happened while she was over Lydia's. Allison informed her that her Father was aware that their family name was plastered on the elevator doors and they were prepared. With that settled, the blonde and her two friends were trying to find a way to get a hold of Scott.
"Aiden's not texting me back," Lydia told them while they ventured down the steps into a main hallway of the school. While her and Odessa walked further, they paused at the sight of Stiles stopping in his tracks with a panicked expression. The Martin sighed, "okay, well, maybe we could just—we could go over there and—"
The vibration of Stiles' phone caught their attention as the two girls watched him take it out. Odessa furrowed her brows at the change in the boy's demeanor, "what," she asked, hearing his heart beat increase, "oh, God, Stiles, what happened?"
"It's from Isaac," the boy shared, his eyes glancing up from his phone for a second, "Jennifer, she t—she has Allison's Father. She took him. She's got all three now."
The Stone looked to her friend beside her with wide eyes before watching Stiles' shaky hands put his phone back in his pocket. She took a step forward closer to him, "hey, there's still time," she listened to his pounding heart, "there's still time, okay? Stiles," he didn't respond, only started to gasp for breath, "are you okay? What is it? What's wrong? Stiles."
"I think I'm having a panic attack."
Odessa inhaled sharply before nodding and taking him gently by the arm, being careful not to use her abilities too heavily. She brought him down the hall to the empty locker room, hearing Lydia's heels hit the ground behind her. The blonde turned to the girl, "guard the door, okay?"
The Martin nodded without hesitation as she closed the door, giving them privacy.
"Okay," the blonde muttered under Stiles' panting. She guided him to sit down against the lockers, "Stiles, I'm gonna grab your hand and calm you down slowly, okay? But you need to breathe. Can you do that for me?"
"I'm—I'm t-trying."
"I know, I know, you're okay, Stiles, you're okay," she gently grabbed both of his hands in hers, "just try to slow your breathing," seeing as her abilities weren't enough to help him, she asked him a question she didn't even know would work, "can you name all the colors in the room, Stiles?"
Through his panting, he asked, "w-what?"
"Name all the colors you see in the room, okay? What colors do you see?"
Stiles lifted his head weakly to look around the room with shaky and small breaths, not noticing the white lines going through his veins, "black... white... beige," as he went through the colors, his breath slowly started to turn deeper and slower, "pink," he observed her sweater, before looking into her eyes, "brown..."
It seemed the world had stopped around them. Odessa could feel her own heart pounding as her brown hues locked onto Stiles' hazel, and didn't know how to look away. The blonde couldn't help but watch his eyes glance down at her lips before connecting once more. She could feel her powers complete their job and heard his heart finally calm and steady completely. The blonde swallowed thickly before speaking quietly, "you okay?"
"Yeah," he answered just as softly, looking down to their hands, but making no effort to release his grip, "how'd you do that?"
"Odie! Odie, breathe! Come on, Odie, what colors do you see?"
"I... I don't know," she fibbed, not wanting to go into detail as to how she remembered something from her past, "it was just instinct. I wanted to distract you and take your mind somewhere else..."
Stiles smiled tearfully at her, "thanks. That was really smart."
She smiled back, "nothing a hand hold can't fix," they shared a chuckle and shifted into more comfortable positions. Odessa released his hand from hers, "and if I was really smart, I would tell you to sign up for a few sessions with a guidance counselor."
Her comment made another chuckle come out of his mouth before his figure turned serious. He furrowed his brows before locking eyes with her again, "Morrell."
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After leaving the locker room and catching Lydia up to speed, the three teens made their way to their guidance counselor's office. For some reason, Odessa found it hard to look at Stiles without looking away right away. What happened in that locker room was strictly a friend helping another friend. So why did she feel so awkward after the fact?
Odessa watched Stiles burst through the doors of Morrell's office, only to come face to face with another student and an empty chair facing her.
"Are you here for Ms. Morrell?"
"No," the girl answered Stiles in a deadpanned tone, "I thought this was gym class."
"Sweetheart, we are not in the mood for funny," Lydia snapped at the girl, "do you know where she is?"
"If I did, I wouldn't be waiting here for 20 minutes. So how about you three back out the door and wait your turn?"
"We're not here for a session."
"Well, I am. And I've got some serious issues to work on."
"Hey, wait, wait," Stiles interrupted their back and forth, "you're Danielle. You're Heather's best friend."
Danielle looked down as she answered, "I was Heather's best friend. We've been working on that issue three times a week."
"Hold on, did you say Ms. Morrell's 20 minutes late," Lydia furrowed her brows.
"And I don't know why either. She's always on time."
Odessa watched the strawberry blonde purse her lips in thought, "I was seeing her at the beginning of the semester," the girl shared, "she was never late."
"Then she's not late—"
"She's missing," the Stone finished for the boy as they all glanced around with wary features.
"What if we're not the only ones who think she knows something?"
"Then I want to know what she knows," Stiles moved toward her desk and into her drawers.
"What are you doing?"
"Trying to find her," the Stilinski shortly responded as he began grabbing papers.
Danielle scoffed, "those files are private."
"Yeah, she's kind of right..."
"That one's yours."
"Let me see that," Lydia grabbed her file from Stiles as the boy kept looking. Odessa peered over her friend's shoulder as she ruffled through the different papers the folder held.
The blonde furrowed her brows at one reoccurring paper, "wait, Lyds, that's your drawing."
"Yeah, I know. It's a tree."
Stiles stopped his digging, "but that's the same one, though."
"Same as what?"
"The same one you're always drawing in class," Odessa answered, peering down at the drawing again.
"It's a tree," Lydia shrugged, looking between her friends, "I like drawing trees."
"No, but it's the exact same one," Stiles stressed, "don't you see?"
Ruffling through Lydia's journal, they found the same drawing of the same tree on multiple pages. It was only when Stiles flipped the drawing upside down to show a tree stump with growing roots did they discover where their parents could be, the Nemeton.
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Odessa sensed a feeling of deja vu when feeling her cold and clammy hands from all the ice she had carried inside the Animal Clinic. While Scott, Stiles and Allison went to their respective homes to collect personal items connected to their parents, she, Lydia, Isaac and Deaton started to fill three tubs full of ice and Mistletoe. The plan was for the three teens to be sacrificed in order to find their parents. Reuniting with Scott wasn't the most awkward exchange in the world, but it definitely wasn't the greatest. The Stone just didn't know what to say to him. She knew he would forever be loyal to her and the pack, but the image of him walking away with Deucalion was something she wouldn't forget for a long time.
Her thoughts were interrupted by Deaton, who called her over into another room, "Odessa, can I talk to you for a minute?"
With furrowed brows and a confused glance to her two friends, she followed the man into his office, "what's up?"
"I figured out what you are."
The blonde's wide brown eyes blinked rapidly, not expecting that sentence, "you have?"
"Yes, I have," the man answered firmly, "would you like me to tell you?"
Odessa's first instinct was to blurt out a 'yes!', but she stopped herself. There was so much going on around them. Something much bigger than her and more important. Swallowing thickly, she made the decision to put her personal needs on hold for her friends, something she would always do, "let's wait until this is all over."
Her words hung in the air as they both thought something they would never say out loud; all of this would never truly be over.
Before the two could exchange other words, the three teens who would be sacrificed gradually returned to the Clinic, their items in hand. Odessa let Deaton go first out of the office door as she hung back to lean on the doorway.
"All right," Deaton caught their attention. His eyes flickered between the three teens, "what did you bring?"
Stiles glanced around at his friends before looking down at his item, "um, I got my Dad's badge. Jennifer kind of crushed it in her hand, so I tried hammering it out a bit. Still doesn't look great."
"It doesn't need to look good if it has meaning," Deaton reminded the boy reassuringly.
"Is that an actual silver bullet?"
"My Dad made it," Allison answered Isaac, fiddling with the bullet in between her fingers, "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."
"Scott?"
The McCall raised his head to Deaton before glancing down at his item, "my Dad got my Mom 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."
Deaton pursed his lips at the three teens before sparing a glance to Odessa, who was watching her friends with sympathy at the loss of their parents, "okay, the three of you will get in," he started to explain, "each 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," the blonde in the back of the room was so engrossed in Deaton's words, making her miss the fleeting glances a certain hazel eyed boy sent her way, "someone that has a strong connection to you, a kind of emotional tether."
Hearing his words, Lydia started moving toward Allison, but was stopped in her tracks.
"Lydia, you go with Stiles."
While the teens looked around with surprise and confusion, Odessa simply let her head drop. She shouldn't be surprised. She just had a talk with Stiles about his love for Lydia only a week ago. This was what she should have expected. So why did her heart sink to her stomach at the simple sentence?
Allison looked between Isaac and Scott, her eyes conflicted, "are you sure? I mean, Scott and I both have to go under."
"It's okay," Scott sent his ex-girlfriend a reassuring nod, even though his stance and demeanor told a different story.
"Wait," the strawberry blonde halted everyone's movement as they were about to start the process, "what about Odie?"
The girl in question lifted her head, and found everyone staring back at her, "what about me?"
"Odessa has her own role," Deaton shared, catching not only the blonde off guard, but everyone else in the room, "when looking up what you are, I also found your abilities. They're quite rare, but manageable."
"How can I help?"
"You are going to create a mass of calm energy and spread it to each of them."
Odessa felt her eyes nearly pop out of her head, "I'm gonna what?"
The Doctor continued to explain, seemingly unfazed by her reaction, "with your energy, the sacrifices will have more of an opening to create a better outcome for them once they're under. In simple terms, you make the process easier for everyone involved."
The pack watched their new friend process the words that came at her like a shooting arrow. Odessa simply stared at him before blinking excessively, "yeah, okay."
With that, everyone got to work. The three teens who would be sacrificed changed into all black clothing while their tether's got behind their respective tubs. Odessa felt intimidated with her stance in front of everyone. When her brown eyes met hazel, she couldn't help but send him a small reassuring smile at the sight of his nervousness.
"Okay, Odessa," Deaton started from his spot behind Scott, "I want you to imagine a ball of energy coming from your hands. Think of summoning the energy you give out to others, but keeping it to yourself."
The Stone nodded shakily, before closing her eyes and bringing her hands in front of her. She started to imagine the white lines she produced over the past month and how they would travel through her hands and into the body of another. It was only when she heard small gasps from around the room did she open her eyes. There, in front of her, was a ball of white energy coming from her fingertips, forming a ball in between her hands.
"Now gently bring your hands in front of you and share that ball of energy with Scott, Stiles and Allison."
Meeting all three pairs of eyes, Odessa moved her hands to a pushing position and directed the ball of energy to her friends, who seemed to relax instantly. She stopped producing the beam of energy once they relaxed completely and watched from in front of them. With their new found calmness, turning into confidence, the three climbed into their freezing tubs slowly, but didn't seem as scared as before. Neck deep into the water, they were all shivering and holding onto their items tightly.
"By the way," Stiles shakily started to his best friend, the temperature of the tub invading his entire body, "if I don't make it back and you do, you should probably know something. Your Dad's in town."
Scott's jaw dropped as he looked to Odessa, who was looking on with apprehension. The girl nodded in confirmation, her lips pursing.
A couple moments later, the three tethers got behind their person and placed their hands on their shoulders. With the three sacrifices still encased with calm energy, they didn't struggle as they were pushed down into the freezing water.
The Clinic went silent at the sight of Stiles, Scott and Allison floating to the top of their tub, but unmoving and deathly pale.
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finishing a chapter at my own pace and loving the outcome>>>>
one more chapter until 3b!!
we're finally finding out what odessa truly is next chapter!!
don't be a ghost reader, i love reading comments <33
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